Chipboard Mini-Album

I love making mini albums but have only made a few. When I was cleaning through some of my stuff a few weeks ago I found these pieces of 4x4 chipboard I had cut to make some albums but never got around to doing them so I set the chipboard aside so I could do them when I got stuff back in order. And...offf cccoouurrsseee I didn't make just one, I made 4 *okie is seriously thinking of seeking therapy for this making of multiples sickness she has*.

I used a lot of different products on these dang little albums and could have kicked myself for even starting them but once they were done I liked them. 

The patterned paper is from  K & Co. by Marcella 6x6 paper pad. I used a large pearl brad for the center of the purple flower and then added some other little hot fix blings. The stamped sentiment is from Stampin Up Define Your Life stamp set.

The large butterfly is a Cuttlebug cut and emboss set and the smaller one is the Martha Stewart punch. I added a few stamped butterfly's in the background.

Where the photos go I cut some white cardstock so the person who has the album can cut the pictures easily to put in place. I used some ribbon on the corners to dress it up a bit.

Trying to come up with a different design for each little page was a bit difficult do to the small size and wanting to have enough space for a decent photo.

I decided to do a pocket with a tag on the page on the right. I used a Stampin Up stamp from the Vintage Vogue set on the pocket, added a white border using a Stampin Up border punch. I also added rivets on the corners, they are actually little metal hot fix studs.
 

The border on the left page is a Martha Stewart border punch and the photo corners are done with an EK Success punch.The pearls at the bottom are some Imaginisce flat back pearls that are hot fix as well. After taking the picture I noticed I missed one and went back and added it.
The sentiments on the right page are from the same Define Your Life stamp set as the sentiment at the front of the album. I tried to decorate the page up a little so it wasn't too plain.

I got my Purple Cows paper trimmer out for some of the picture mats. I always forget to use that thing! Using the sheer ribbon added some elegance and the photo will still show through.

The Sentiment and butterfly on the right hand page are both Stampin Up products. The glitter brads as the flower centers are some I did sometime ago using my heat emboss gun, clear embossing powder and then quickly dipping in glitter.

The postage stamp is a Stampin Up product, as is the punched postage stamp background. The object is glued at the bottom but free at the top so a photo can slide behind it just fine.

By the time I got to the last page I was running out of ideas and tired of working on these suckers so I just added a border from a Stampin Up border punch, a touch of ribbon and a few brads.

I did very little decorating to the back because it isn't something people will see much. I did add my personalized stamp in the bottom corner so no one else can say they did all the dang work and made this sucker! *okie cracks up laughing*. I used my Cinch to punch the holes and then bind the book together with 1.25" wires.



I will be selling 3 of these albums if anyone is interested. The price is $25 and includes first class shipping. I accept Paypal if you are interested in purchasing one.   

Button and Small Flower Storage

I promised I would post my button and small flower storage today and thought I better get on it since it is already past time for my post to go live. I didn't get the post written up last night and scheduled so you guys are getting to have a cup of coffee with me this morning while I do this post. I am having my coffee with a bit of sweetener and some Hazelnut creamer...MMMMM! *okie hears someone ask about her mug* Yes! Those are ladybugs on there! I actually have this mug and another larger one that has one large ladybug on it, both were sent to me my crafting friends and I love them! I don't allow anyone else to drink out of my ladybug mugs!

Oh yes, we are talking button and small flower storage. I have went through several metamorphosis over the years with my button and flower storage...well with all my storage actually *okie figures her craftroom should be one ginormous azz butterfly with all the metamorphosis it has gone through over the last few years* but I think I am going to like this method the best for my buttons and storage. I got the idea from a crafting friend of mine when she posted hers on Facebook. I knew immediately this was something I wanted to do!

The containers are the Iris Photo Keeper and can be found at most craft stores. I had to order mine from Joann's when they were on sale and there was a free shipping offer.

I have my buttons and flowers by colors and have them in their own containers. I did have some of the colors together, such as red and orange, but after getting my candle jars back out and taking out the larger flowers I was able to separate the colors which makes it easier. I have them in the ROY G BIV, most of ya'll know I do most things in that order. 

I obviously need more purple buttons and flowers and a whole lot less green. I am not sure why I have so many green flowers other than when my friend closed her scrapbook store I was able to get bags of embellies for $2 a bag and I got a lot of green flowers and I don't use green flowers much.

It's a lot easier to sort through the items now and I like not having to dump a whole container on the table and then putting them back in. 

I can toss the flowers in the lid when I am sorting through them and then when I am done I close the lid and POOF the flowers are back in the container without me having to make a huge mess of flowers all over my table.

I have some of my large flowers in the containers and also some specialty flowers since I didn't have anything better to put them in right now. I plan on using some of the larger flowers and the ones in the bottom left hand corner on my cruise layouts whenever I get around to those.


I guess now that I have done some serious organizing it is time to do some crafting. It's suppose to be around 105 degrees today, much too hot to be in the sun in the pool so I figure it's a good day to craft!

I Love Foamcore Board!!

So yesterday I told ya I would likely work on my little unorganized corner and make some shelves so I can put my candle jars and other things in a place where they can be seen and get to easily. Well that is just what I did!

Here is the picture I showed you yesterday...

My friend Linda is taking the little brown drawers. I use to keep embellies in them but have reorganized those and didn't need the drawers anymore. I had a set of gray ones as well and I gave those to my friend Wendi who was thrilled to get them. I also am giving her my old stamp pad holder that I had made.

I wanted something nice under the built in shelves that could be used and that is why I came up with the idea about the foamcore board shelves.

I measured the jars I was using and made the height of the shelves accordingly. I cut four pieces of riser shape so I could have the ends and then two braces in the middle of the shelves.  Here ya can see the 4 pieces cut. Notice all the ink marks on one of the pieces. I kept having to remeasure to make sure I got it how I wanted it, ya know the whole measure twice and cut once rule. With me it is measure 10 times and cut twice, but what the heck...I got it done.

I used a box blade to do my cutting and a quilting ruler to measure with and keep a straight line while cutting.








Here is the shelf unit almost done. I added a bottom piece and one on the back as well for extra support. I used my hot glue gun to put the pieces together. I did got back in the cracks and add more hot glue to make sure it was going to stay together well.

You might ask for more detailed instructions but I really can't give them because this is something that is custom for my area I had available so specific measurements wouldn't be helpful to most people *okie knows the real truth is that she is way too lazy to try and remember all the measurements and type them all out but figures the custom comment sounds believable*.






Here is the shelf all put together. There are a few rough edges but it looks better than some boxes stacked up being used as shelves!And to tell ya the truth the rough edges aren't even really noticeable and aren't going to bother me *okie sure wishes she could sand those few rough places smooth* because I am not that picky. The top shelf is 6.25" deep and the other two shelves are 5.5" deep. I did decide to put about a quarter inch bottom on the unit so it sat up off the table a little bit, only because I thought it would look nice. The risers are about 4.5" tall. There is about a quarter inch overhang on each of the shelves.







I got the shelf in place and got my jars on there. I think I will get my other jars and separate my flowers a little more by color since I have more room. I had almost gotten rid of all my candle jars a few months ago and had them stored in a cabinet in another room. I was glad that I still had them since I made the shelf because I was able to separate the flowers a little more by color so they weren't so crammed in other jars or containers where I couldn't see them easily.

It took  longer than I thought it would to make the shelf thing but it was worth the time and even then it didn't take more than a few hours to get it how I wanted it. I tell you guys, if you are wanting to make some cheap organizational shelves and such foamcore board is the way to go!!

I spent the rest of the evening sorting through my smaller flowers and buttons and breaking them down by color more than they were since I was able to move flowers to the jars. I will show you that storage method tomorrow!

Ink Pad Holder....SCORE!!

One of the hard things to find the perfect storage for is ink pads. I think it is because we all know they need to me stored horizontal and upside down. The good thing about Stampin Up ink pads is that they are upside down when they are right side up *okie scratches her head and wonders how that makes sense*.


I had made a ink pad holder out of foam board a few years ago and while I loved having a cheap way to store my ink pads I didn't like that they didn't have individual slots. I am too cheap to pay for the Stampin Up ink pad holder, although it does look to be a nice little storage idea. I had thought several times about making another foam core board holder and having individual compartments but it just seemed like a lot of work and I never got around to doing it.

I started seeing where folks were using the Napa Valley wood cassette holders for their ink pads and I thought it was a great idea but I wasn't sure where I would find one for a decent price. I kept watching at my Salvation Army but never came across one. Yesterday I went into Goodwill and I found one! It cost me a whole $1.96! The price was $1.99 but I have one of those Goodwill discount cards where I get 10% off.

I had to move some of my Bygel bars that hold my punches so I could have a place for the ink pad holder but it was easy enough. I also had to raise one of my shelves which wasn't a problem either. I didn't really lose any storage space since I had my foam core board ink pad holder on the white shelves. Just removing and moving a few screws and WALLAH!

My next project will be fixing this ugly corner.  Once again I will be using foam core board and plan on making a step shelf, for the lack of a better name, and store my candle jars and such on there. The jars hold my larger flowers. Maybe I will work on that today!

Facebook Fan Pages

A lot of crafting folks these days have gone to personal Facebook pages and Fan Facebook pages. I thought about doing that some time ago but then decided not to for 3 main reasons...

• 1. Fans are fanatics and by definition that means... a person with an extreme and uncritical enthusiasm or zeal. Now when I read it that way, and took it for what was defined, it actually scared the chit out of me. I am not sure I want anyone to be extreme zealous of anything about me. Okay maybe Denzel Washington or Sean Connery, but that is where I draw the line *okie smiles at the thought of Denzel or Sean stalking her and swears Sean could be 105 and she would still do him*.

• 2. I would have to post on two different pages. *okie does a few sideways glances* and we all know I am a little to lazy for doing such a thing.

• 3. I would have to separate *okie is so glad for spell check because she spell separate wrong every time* my crafting from my personal life and well...it's impossible. Crafting is such a huge part of me I don't think I can separate it. I have been crafting since I was 8 years old and have always been working on one thing or another throughout my life.

I can understand why some people have separated their personal Facebook pages and their Fan pages, a lot of crafters I know sell things or teach classes...well make a business out of it and I think it would be easier to keep it all straight for them. Seems like it would take a lot of time to keep up with two pages and a website along with everything else and that would take more time away from crafting for me.

But let's face it my dear friends....I haven't done it because I am too dang lazy and I just wanna make chit!! *okie crosses her arms across her chest, smiles and lifts her chin in a 'that's that' manner and gives a nod*

Do You Know Me?

Have you ever had someone come up to you and just start talking to you and you just smile all friendly like, while the thought is going through your head "Do you know me?" I have that happen to me quite frequently but I chalk it up to being Native American and well let's face it, with having brown skin, brownish blackish hair, brown eyes, and having the same wonderful round belly build of most Native American women I probably do look like a lot of other women...especially in Oklahoma!

But the question today isn't about my physical appearance but that of who I am. I have gotten some wonderful comments on my blog the last few days and one really hit me when she said she considers me a friend even though we may never meet in person. It got me to thinking "do my readers really know me?" and I have to say...yes, you probably do. Over the years I have been blessed with meeting many people that I have met on the Cricut messageboard, Facebook and through my blog. All most every one of those people have said "OMG! You are just how you seem on your blog" or Facebook, or messageboard, whatever the case may be. Evidently I type a lot like I talk, or type a lot like I think for folks to think I am the same in person as I am coming through their computer screen. I am not sure if that is good, or if that is bad. I will let you be the judge on that one! *okie grabs her gavel to bonk anyone on the head who has a bad judgement*.

I am not feeling quite at the point of despair that I was a few days ago. I think the prayer warriors must be working overtime, and let's face it, we can always use some prayers!

I also got a nice surprise yesterday. Not long after I got home there was a knock at the door and I didn't want to answer it but Lucy wouldn't stop barking so I thought I better go see. As I got to the door there was a lady walking to her car and she had a vase of flowers. She turned around and asked "are you Shirley Thompson?" and I told her "yes" and she handed me the most gorgeous yellow flowers and said "these are for you". I took the flowers and told her thank you. The note wasn't signed but simply said "Unless life hands you sugar and water, your lemonade is gonna suck! Hang in there". I had to laugh and think to my self "self...whoever sent these definitely has the same sense of humor as you do".

I guess there are plenty of folks in this world that I will likely never meet that feel they know me and to tell ya the truth, if I met them in person they would probably feel like they did know me. Most people I have met from the crafting world have been much like they have been on my computer monitor. Of course there are a few that were a bit different but all in all I would say YEP! WE KNOW EACH OTHER! *okie smiles and heads out the door to work*.

Brad and Charm Reorganization...COMPLETE

It's been so hot here that doing anything outside is insane so I have been working on getting my brads and charms reorganized. I don't use a whole lot of charms but there are times I like to add them to pages or cards so I do have a few.

I ordered some of the 6 compartment containers from FireMountain Gems and Beads and they were the perfect thing I had been searching for. They were $9.95 for a pack of 10 and that price was cheaper than any other place I could find for what I wanted. Their shipping price is phenomenal as well!

These are almost exactly the same size as the containers the Spare Parts brads come in from Hobby Lobby and that was what I had been searching for. I even searched for pill boxes and found some but they were all about $2-$3 each, which I thought was ridiculous!

Here you can see I have my Basic Grey brads and buttons organized in the containers and have them labeled. This will make it easy for  me to grab my embellies for the paper collection I am using and decide what I want to use. Getting the buttons in there took a bit of work and much like figuring out a jigsaw puzzle but persistence paid off and I was able to get them all in one container. And for those wondering, no that is not all of my Basic Grey embellies...ya'll know I have a craving for anything Basic Grey!

A wonderful crafty friend of mine, Mona, sent me these 5 compartment containers. She was wanting to get rid of them and while they weren't the 6 compartment ones I was looking for they still came in handy for some other things. I have some of my Stampin Up brads in some of them and then various others by theme, in the picture there is beach and sea life.

Since I got my Plaid Essentials Spinner back out I have my brads stored in it so I can have them out on my table and grab them easily. I use brads more than any other embellishment and probably use them on most every project I do. I have most of them labeled so I can see what is in the container without having to lift each one and look at it.

Here is a picture of my Plaid Essential Spinner on my table. I also keep my Cat Eye Chalk Inks, refills as well as Stickles and Liquid Pearls in the spinner.

When not in use I like up the squares and push it flush with my wall where it is out of the way but when I need to look for something it is easy to slide it out spin it around and then return when I am done.







I would like to say thank you to all of my readers who have offered words of encouragement. I feel I am truly blessed with the best readers out there. You guys come here for me, not because I do giveaways, but because you want to see what I am up to and read what is going on in my little corner of the world. Without a doubt I have the most loyal and kind readers in the blogging world!!

What's At The End Of The Rope...

I have heard so many people say they were at the end of their rope and there have been many times in my life where I felt I was at the end of my rope. Each time I never lost my faith and would pray, and things would turn around for me. I have often wondered what happens to people who get to the end and don't have the strength to hang on just a little longer.

Right now I am dangling at the end, frantically trying to tie a knot with what little rope is left, I keep praying and as soon as things start to look a little better a strong gust of wind comes along and is making me sway harder and my arms are getting weaker and weaker. I still have my faith because at this point there is hardly anything else left. I am normally a happy, upbeat and positive person but there are only so many hits a person can take until you feel that the rope is going to snap and you are going to free fall into an abyss. I won't look down because I am afraid of what is down there, and if there isn't ground close I will be in real trouble because I am afraid of heights and I will simple have a heart attack and let go of the rope.

I do have some bright spots I am trying to focus on.

One, my daughter is doing better. Her moods have stabilized and she seems to be getting back to her old self. No longer is she the ball of attitude and hatefulness, although she still can have her moments, but can't we all. She started training at a new job this week and she thinks she is going to really like it. For this, I am very grateful to God because without Him I am not sure what would have happened if she had continued down the path she was on. She was able to get off the Depo-Provera shot this month and hopefully it will all get out of her system soon.

Two, I was able to sell every set of the Naughty Princess cards within a few days. I still have two sets that I am waiting on payment but they are packaged and ready to send out once the payment is received. The extra money helped, if only I had about 20 more sets to sell I might feel a little better. But to be honest I don't think I could keep my sanity long enough to make 20 more sets *okie shudders thinking about all those tiny pieces*.

Three, I have a home, a job and a working vehicle...which is a lot more than a lot of people have these days. So for this I am grateful...very grateful.

Four, the MRI showed I have a slight bulging disc at C6-C7, or something like that. There is no pressure on my spinal cord at this time but the doctor is going to keep an eye on it.  I still don't know why my hands go numb, nor does my doctor. The Neurontin does seem to help some though.

Five, I have a wonderful support group of family and friends that no matter how down I get they can always make me laugh and smile. For instance, I was talking to BFF Karen on the phone last week and was letting her know how she needed to buck up and her life isn't that bad, and explained all the stress I have going on in my life and the conversation went like this....

ME: "but on the upside my a1c is standing at 6.8, my cholesterol is 132 and my blood pressure is 117/69"

Karen: "HOLY F*$%ING SHIT! You are gonna have to live in hell forever! I AM LUCKY! My cholesterol is around 300 so at least I am going to die some day!"

Too which I went into fits of laughter, ya know the kind where tears run down your cheeks and your stomach hurts bad you grab your sides? Yeah...that kinda  laughter.

Right now I am taking each day one day at a time and hoping that tomorrow will be brighter. Okay, maybe brighter but without so much heat, as we are in the triple digits now and I am sure that adds to my feelings of despair.

I think while I have that knot in the rope I will just stop and rest for a bit and reflect on what I have to be grateful for in my life. As I sit here now thinking of how things could have been so much worse with my daughter and the MRI I am realizing that this too shall pass. Maybe it won't pass as fast as I think it should, or even as fast as it could, but it will pass. It's time to close my eyes and reflect on the situations and find what I can learn from everything that has been going on. As I always say...

There is no such thing as a negative experience as long as you learn something from it.

Naughty Princess Cards - All 8!

***WARNING*** If you are easily offended, do not appreciate sexual innuendo's, do not like reading foul language, feel that I am desecrating the Disney princesses then read no further - and please do not send me hate mail telling me what a terrible person I am for making these cards. These are MY crafts and MY website so I will make and post what I see fit *okie rolls her eyes remembering some of the hate mail she got last time*

Thank you,

okieladybug

As most of you know I had a temporary moment of insanity and decided I would remake the Naughty Princess series of cards. I had a couple of people ask for them, wanting to purchase, and to be honest with everything going on in my life right now I could use the money. However I think it would have been easier taking a second job at McDonalds than making the princess cards! *okie makes a note to never try and craft for a living*.

I tried to match the papers and sentiments to the theme of the Princess as much as possible. Some of the sentiments are the same from the original series and then some I changed. I also added Mulan and Pocahontas to the series.  I also added a little graphic on the inside of the cards to help carry on with the theme of the card or sentiment. I just thought it was a nice touch.

So without further ado here they are...in alphabetical order since that is the way they loaded up for this post.

Princess Ariel

front - He smiled and asked "hey baby what's your sign?"

inside - and I told him "SLIPPERY WHEN WET"

Princess Belle

front - I need a prince in the ballroom

inside - and a beast in the bedroom

Princess Cinderella

front - My glass slipper

inside - Isn't the only thing I lost last night!







 

Princess Jasmine

front - Arabian Nights like Arabian Days

inside - are hotter than hot when riding...My Magic Carpet!

Princess Mulan

front - He brags about his sword...

inside - Imagine my disappointment to find out it was only just a CHOPSTICK






 

Princess Pocahontas

front - I said "give me the colors of the wind"

inside - so he...FARTED DURING SEX!

Princess Sleeping Beauty

front - Damn Right I'm Good In Bed!

inside - I can sleep for DAYS!



 


Princess Snow White

front - You would eat a poison apple

inside - if the 7 inches you were promised was actually 1 inch 7 times!







I can't believe how long it took me to complete all 80 cards. I knew it would take awhile since the princess cuts have so much detail but GOOD FRIKKIN GRIEF I feel like I haven't gotten anything else done in WEEKS! Oh well it did keep me focus on something else than all the stress going on in my life, and I will share part of that later on in another post.

The good news is that I already have 4 sets of the cards spoken for so that leaves 6 more sets available. The pricing is as below...

8 Naughty Princess cards - $55, includes priority shipping with delivery confirmation.
International orders add an extra $5.
I use the Click N' Ship through the USPS.COM website so I am able to ship out the next business day after payment is received. If you so desire an email can be sent to you informing you that your order is ready for shipment.

I Need A Shotgun...

if I am ever going to finish the Naughty Princess cards!! Nooooo, I am not gonna shoot my paper but instead all the damn "SQUIRREL"s  that keep popping up to distract me! I think I have a more difficult time staying focused when I have a large project to finish because I want to move on to something else but still have so much left to do on the project and I keep finding even the smallest of "SQUIRREL" distracting!

Right now this is the state of the cards. I have stuff all over my table, and most of you know I can't stand a dirty table but since I have more work space I am able to leave things out and not have it bother me so much. I still need to pick papers for 2 of the cards, and all the colors for the card base and then I can start assembly. I have all the sentiments printed and cut for both the inside and outside of the cards which was quite a job within itself! All I can say about these is that I certainly hope that the people that requested I remake this series so they could buy them come through, otherwise I have wasted a lot of time! LOL

One "SQUIRREL" that hit me was that my order from Happy N Scrappin came in and of course I had to put that stuff away but ran into a wall when I had to think of a way to store the brads and buttons! Shari had a great clearance sale on Basic Grey and I was able to pick up a bunch of stuff for 75% off. Here are some of the items in my Plaid Essentials Spinner for now until I get some more small containers to put them in.




Here is a picture of how I like to store my Basic Grey collections of brads. These are the containers that I get the small brads from Hobby Lobby in and I always save them as they are emptied. I printed labels so I know which collection the brads go to and I find them more easily. As you see in the previous picture, I don't have enough containers and that presents a problem for me! Me and my damned organizational issues!!

I spent time online yesterday looking for some similiar containers and wasn't having much luck and then I went to Joann.com and found something for a great price. Only problem is that I don't have a Joann's locally and I don't want to drive an hour to get them. One benefit of Facebook is that I have over 1,500 friends on there and I get a lot of response to many of my posts. A friend of mine, who is a really good friend to my boss/friend Khrystal said she had to meet Khrystal today and would be glad to pick up some of the containers for me! WOOT WOOT!

I measured my boxes compared to these and they are a little larger which is perfect actually. I hope they have enough as I told her to pick me up 10 of them. That should hold me for a little while. Oh, who am I kiddin? Everyone knows if I like them I will want another 10 immediately! *okie cracks up laughin*

Since I am talking about brads I thought I would show you another way I store brads. My friend Naomi has to have Tic Tacs at night because her mouth gets dry from being on oxygen and they help keep her mouth from drying out so much and started giving me the empty boxes a few years ago. Oh and BTW, Naomi is doing rather well and has completely adjusted to her living situation at the assisted living center. She is actually rather spoiled by the staff there but if ya'll remember anything about me and Naomi you know that is exactly how I think it should be! *okie smiles thinking of how she always had Naomi spoiled*.

Here is a side view of the boxes. It makes it nice being able to see the brads easily but I do often put a little label on the top so I can find them more easily. I have a lot of shaped brads I use mostly for layouts and I got those at Eyelet Outlet. They often have some great clearance sales and their shipping prices are awesome, they never trump up the shipping and handling.

Okay guess I better get back to work on either the cards or my progress notes from last week. But first I must finish my coffee!!

Kindle Fire - Stampin Up!!

I think everyone knows how much I love my Kindle Fire. I have my Cricut Cartridge Handbooks downloaded on it and love that I can do that. If you missed it I did a video on how do this - Downloading Handbooks to Kindle Fire.

I found another reason to love my Fire! I downloaded the new Stampin Up catalog to my Fire and it saves in PDF form and it is easy to flip through. This is a picture of how the page looks like on the Fire.

Although I still want a hard copy of the catalog this will work for me for other reasons. Last night I was going through the catalog and tapped on the screen and a menu thing came up and I noticed I could highlight text. For years I have went through my catalog when I would get it and highlight what I had and then underline things I thought I might want to order. This always made it easier when I was going to a Stampin Up party or going to make an order.

Here is a picture of what the menu bar looks like when you want to highlight. There are some other options in the menu bar but I just wanted to highlight the items I have and ones I want. I did notice that there was an option come up where you could make a note on the item as well.

You can also change the color if you like. If you own a Fire and it is like mine you know it can be a little testy at times so you can understand when I say I had to tap "A LOT" in order to get through the catalog and get the items highlighted. I would say this process is not for those with very little patience *which okie is guilty of herself but her determination outweighs her lack of patience most of the time* and it will take some time to get use to where to tap and even then it will sometimes freeze up and you might have to close the application. The good thing is that once you have something highlighted it stays that way even after you close it.



I did find it was easier to make the page bigger in order to highlight. If you highlight the wrong thing you can hold your finger down on the area that is wrong and another little menu will pop up and you can select "clear" and it will remove it.

I think this will come in handy for when I go to Stampin Up parties and I can take my Fire instead of carrying the catalog. Since the catalog is saved to my Fire I don't need the wireless connection to access it.

Happy 4th Of July!!

Today I, along with my daughter Shiane, her friend Ty and Chuck, will be going to my Aunt Betty's for the 4th. I don't know what all family is going to be there but it will be our first official gathering since her house burned last fall. I know she is excited about everyone coming. I tell ya I love that woman so much and I can never explain how much she has done for me in my life. I shall share some of our relationship at another time and tell you why she is so special to me but for today I just want to show you the thread holder I am taking her.

 

I had bought her one years ago but it wasn't as large as mine. Her thread holder got destroyed in the fire and since I don't have the wall space for it anymore I figured she wouldn't mind having mine, actually when I posted on Facebook the picture and asked if she wanted it her reply was "Oh Lord yes, Mine did get destroyed along with all my thread..This time I'll keep plastic over it to keep the dust off..You should have saw all the black smoke that was all over it after the fire..See you WED..". I am also taking her a few spools of thread, just the ones I had double colors of, to help her get replenished. 

I am taking a big crockpot full of my baked beans everyone loves so there might be a lot more fireworks than what we had planned *okie falls out her chair laughing*. It was a job keeping my daughter out of the beans during the night. She would literally eat the whole pot if allowed to do so!

I got the last of my Disney Princess cuts put together yesterday and now I can start on my card designs. Luckily since some of them are repeats I will be able to get them designed faster, I hope at least! 

Oh yeah, I posted a picture of my beans on Facebook last night and had quite a few comments wanting the recipe so thought I would share it here as well.

 Cowboy Beans Recipe:
1 lb Hamburger cooked and crumbled
1 lb Bacon cooked and crumbled
1 onion, sauteed in bacon grease
3 cans light kidney beans
3 cans red beans
3 lb can of Pork N Beans
1/4 cup vinegar (I used it to deglaze the pan after sauteing the onions)
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups Head Country BBQ sauce
Drain most of the juice off the beans and put in crockpot. After cooking the bacon drain most of the grease away and saute your onions in the pan. Use the vinegar to deglaze the pan and pour into pot. Add remaining ingredients in crock pot and cook for however long you can keep people out of them. You can cut recipe in half but it's not recommended, people get rather upset when the pot is empty.

Hope all of you have a wonderful and safe 4th of July as we celebrate the birth of our great nation!!

OMG! Disney Made The Halloween Movie??

Okay, okay so they didn't but this weekend when I was on the phone with my friend Carmen in Florida and putting Pocahantas together I told her "OMG! With just her face on Pocahantas looks like Michael Myers from Halloween.

She told me to take a picture and I did and posted it on Facebook for her to see and she quickly agreed. Luckily she looks a lot better once she is all put together!

So what do you think? Can you see the resemblance? HA HA HA

Her eyes were some more that I used a marker to add the coloring since they were just slightly larger than the head of a pin. I thought I was gonna go blind.

Disney Is A Menace!!

Since I am doing a total of 80 princess cuts it is taking me like...FOR EV ER! All those pieces are so menacing, okay well maybe just time consuming LOL. I am still not done with them all but only have 3 more to go and I do have all the pieces cut out. I was going to finish them last night but my friend Lisa came over and we watched a movie instead *okie figures that was a great way to get a break from sniffin the glue*.

These are the princesses I have left to put together. While I was cutting them out I thought about how to keep the pieces together so I grabbed a few of my empty Stampin Up Stamp Storage Cases and put the pieces in there. The very small pieces kike mouths, eyes, etc I put in small bags and then stuck in the case. I think I will lay all of them out and take a picture when I finally get done with them so you guys can see why I have had to dedicate so much time to making these and haven't been able to work on any other projects lately.

Oh a little update on my daughter....her moods are stablizing a little right now and as she said "Mom I am working on it" and I think she really has been trying to be more, uh, normal...for lack of a better word. She is going to her counseling sessions, which I think everyone could benefit from counseling at least for a few sessions, and told me "it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be". I am sure we will have a few family sessions and that is quite alright with me. Being a counselor myself I know the importance of family counseling and how it can make a whole world of difference but many times the parents always think it is the kids problem. Oh crap I think I might have just said it's all my fault! HA HA HA Seriously though, it shows support and does help with family relationships. She will be getting off her Depo Provera shot this month as well and I am in the belief the shot is causing a lot of the problem. I have to share, when I told my daughter that I had wrote about this situation on my blog before she just rolled her eyes and said "I'm not surprised", I think she has gotten use to me writing about our lives a bit. She smiled as I read her some of the comments of support.

Okie dokie folks, I will be at work when this posts...ya'll do know that is how I do most of my posts don't you? I write ahead most of the time and then schedule them. Hopefully it won't be as hot today as my clients like to have group outside at the picnic table under the shade tree. But if it is I will make them be inside, they won't like it and they will complain, but they will do it LOL.