Where has the time gone?

Wow, it's been almost a year since my last post on here.  I have decided to go back to writing on here instead of going to Facebook every day.  I deleted my facebook page just so I won't be tempted to go on there.  I don't think it will be a problem though, since I haven't really found it interesting for a while.  I am currently re-reading the Work and the Glory series.  I am at the end of book 3.  I love that series!  I also discovered a new author (to me) this summer named Claire Poulsen.  I have read four of his books so far and just purchased another 6 or 7 which I can't wait to read when I am done with the current series.

I have been busy for the last year taking care of my now 18 month old grandson Jackson.  He is such a delight to have around.  He is busy all the time and most loves to go outside.  Last night, Becca, Alyssa and I took him for a walk around the circle in our neighborhood with him pushing his stroller instead of riding in it.  As we walked he pushed part of the time stopping periodically to try to pry the chip seal gravel off the road, pick grass off the neighbors lawns and throw it on the road or put it on the stroller seat to save for later.  He also stumbled and fell once making a slight scrape on his knee which he often stopped for to rub it every steps he took.  We got such a good laugh out of watching him walk a few steps and stop to rub his knee, walk again, stop and rub.  After walking halfway around he decided he had enough and only Grandma could carry him.  After doing that for a while and my arms aching more and more I had Becca lift him to sit on my shoulders where he stayed the rest of the way home.  He then bounced on my shoulders saying "Yeah, yeah, yeah".  He keeps us all thoroughly entertained and laughing most of the afternoon and evening.

I recently designed a couple of cards that I let my neighbor use for her monthly group of Stampin' Up demonstrators at their card swap.  One was a raspberry colored card and the other a blue Christmas card.  I will post those soon and hope to design and post more cards as well as scrapbook pages.  I love to do both but don't find as much time as I would like to do those.  Here's to finding and making more time.

Martha Stewart Glitter Shoes

Cassidy and I decided to do a new craft I saw on the Martha Stewart show. We loved these shoes and decided to do ours to show support for the Boise State Broncos. They turned out great and they were so fun to make. I did mine with some rhinestones on the toes and the backs of the shoes. Cassidy did hers with rhinestones only on the back. Both pairs look cute! We plan to buy some blue shoelaces as soon as they come back in stock at the store where we got the shoes. Then they will really look great. We had so much fun with this, I highly recommend it for anyone wanting to have some fun.

Mormon.org

Baby Blanket for my first Grandson

Last April, I learned how to crochet from my friend Nicole. After learning some basic stitches, I went home to practice. I started out with a simple scarf and did a couple of those figuring out along the way what was right and what was wrong. After the scarves, I wanted to start making something simple like a baby afghan. I found a book of beginner patterns and this was my favorite. The pattern calls for five colors which I did in the beginning, making three of the same thing. But when I found out my son and his wife were expecting a boy, I modified the original which had pink and purple in it to just the blue, green and yellow. So while this is the fourth one I've crocheted, it's the first designed for a boy. I gave one of the first ones I did to my hair stylist who is expecting her first granddaughter in a few months. I can't wait to see my new grandson in just a few short weeks!

Happy 15th Birthday, Cassidy

I made this card today for Cassidy's birthday. I used Stampin' Up supplies and one Martha Stewart punch. Papers used are whisper white, melon mambo, daffodil delight and DSP Razzleberry Lemonade print. Punches used are oval, scalloped oval and Martha Stewart Double Edge punch called Linked Trim. Ribbon used is Crushed Curry dot ribbon. Stamps used are Eastern Blooms and Warmest Regards phrases. On the back piece of Melon Mambo I used the Polka Dot Textured Embossing Folder in the Big Shot. I colored in the flower stamp with melon mambo and soft suede markers. Also I stamped the Happy Birthday with soft suede. When I punched the edge I turned the punch upside down so as to make sure not to punch off the edge so I could thread the ribbon. The ribbon wraps around the whole card so as to tie in the middle.

Some fun for Cassidy's birthday was her coming home early from school after her final exams and having to spend an hour searching for her pet gerbil, Henry, who had escaped his cage and went down our basement stairs and into the food storage pantry where he hid well enough that we had no idea where he was until we were searching for a while and he happened to come out of the pantry and Cassidy was able to see him before he turned and hid back in the pantry. We were able to catch him and put him back in his cage with his buddy, Charlie. We have forbidden Dad to go near the cage since he has a habit of leaving the door open so they escape.

Birthday Card for Sandy

Today I made a card for my daughter-in-laws birthday tomorrow. I used Stampin' Up and Martha Stewart supplies. Items used: Papers - whisper white, melon mambo, and pear pizazz print; stamps - hydrangea from Bloomin' Beautiful and Happy Birthday from Warmest Regards; ink - soft suede, pear pizazz, and regal rose and black; ribbon - melon mambo dot ribbon and the dot textured impressions embossing folder. Punches used are oval, scalloped oval from stampin'up and the Martha Stewart Linked Trim Double-edge punch.

White paper with stamped image is 3 1/4" x 3 1/4" square, green is 3 1/2" square and melon mambo is 3 3/4" square. Pear strip is 5 1/2" long by approx. 1 1/2" wide. Stamped image is mounted with dimensionsals and the happy birthday is mounted with double thick dimensionals.

I used blender pens with the ink colors to color the picture. Also used basic gray for shading around the outside.

Gerbils and crocheting

It's been a while since the last post. Yesterday morning as I was cleaning I came upon one of our gerbils dead in his cage. We have only had him a little over two years, so this wasn't really expected by me. My husband looked at him closely when he got home and determined that he died of natural causes as his teeth were too long and apparently preventing him from eating. This probably also was the cause of all the blood on both gerbils on Saturday night, as he must have injured himself and his buddy Gus was trying to help him and got bloody also. Poor Gus doesn't know what to do being alone now. For better news, yesterday afternoon my good friend from church, Nicole Rasmussen, taught me how to crochet. She taught me some basic stitches and then wrote down the name of a website with free patterns to get some from, and then I came home and printed a couple. Started a scarf last night and am having good luck with it. It has two colors and I can't wait to get that done. Went to JoAnn's today to get more of the main color yarn and bought some other colors and a pattern book of baby afghans. As soon as I practice on a couple more scarves, I will start trying afghans. Once I am done with the first scarf, I will post pictures.