Honey Lamb and I

2011-10-29T14:03:00.000-07:00

A Hexagon Kinda Summer

This summer I got a bee in my bonnet and went crazy making hexagon that I affectionately call "Hexi." I made about 15 different projects and have 500 more in my head.

This is a family tree that everyone in the family signed their name to and then I embroidered them.

This was a fun project. I love aprons (but NEVER wear them).

This was a fun one to design. Notice how the flowers look like they are falling off the apron.

This is the only thing that I have ever made for Maranda that she will wear lol!

I have only worn this a couple of times but I love my funky hexagon tie.

More bees to go along with my bee obsession. Notice how the wings are 3D.

I am onto my new obsession now. I am knitting and crocheting. So fun!

Bee's Wax

2011-10-11T09:18:00.000-07:00

Bee's Wax

Bee's wax, tissue paper, fancy napkins, stamps, photos etc.... These are a few of the ingredients I used to make my bees wax collage last week at My Heart's Fancy in Edmond. Robin and I decided to try this class out. I wasn't sure that I would like it but am always up to trying anything new when it comes to art. Well needless to say, I fell in love. I wasn't looking for it. It just happened!

This is what you need to melt bee's wax (found at hobby lobby). We used a small iron, electric griddle, chip paint brushes, and loaf pans.

We started with a practice sheet so we could practice how to work with the thickness of wax and all the different mediums that we could use.

This one is Robin's, and it was exquisite! It was definitely first place among the whole class! So beautiful!

We also used tags and melted crayons right onto the tag! It was really cool.

Robin is in work mode.

So of course I had to drag some bee's wax home and try it for myself!

I made this one for my girl Leslie.

I made this one to go in my china cabinet.

Maranda made this one! I love that she wrote LOVE -- EVOL! She had fun helping me design hers. :) Love that girl!

Thanks Robin for suggesting the class. I enjoyed being with you and love bee's waxing now!

Painted Farm Halloween Pumpkins

2011-10-10T19:51:00.000-07:00

Painted Farm Pumpkins

We had so much fun at The Painted Farm tonight! We painted and glittered pumpkins. Mine says "BOO" not BO. It was so much fun! We all picked out different colors and sizes of pumpkins.

This beauty is Tammy's. It turned out gorgeous!

You can't tell but we glittered our crows too! There is never too much glitter!!!

This beauty belongs to my friend Michelle.

This great one belongs to my girlfriend Stacy. She had excellent polka dots!

So proud of their pumpkins:)

Michelle looks so pretty in her fancy Burton Control shirt!!! I love her personalized pumpkins.

Hexagon tea towels

2011-09-30T20:19:00.000-07:00

More of my hexagon obsession!

I had fun this summer playing with different sizes of hexagons. Of course, I had to tie my honey comb and bees into my tea towel project.

I love this Anna Maria Horner fabric and thought it would make lovely butterflies!

These hang on my ovens in the kitchen and everyone in my family knows NOT to use them to dry their hands! They are just for looks! :)

Groupon Groupies!

2011-09-29T19:34:00.000-07:00

Groupon Groupies!!!

Kasey and I bought Wine and Canvas groupons last April and had to use them before they expired.

We finally made plans to go to Kamp's and paint. It was so much fun.

This is where I wish I would have thought things through a little more. lol!! My canvas was too dark but Kasey's looked awesome!

Kasey's was so sweet and delicate unlike mine. I think she actually had the best one of the 50 people there. (Even the teacher!)

This is my finished product. I went crazy with the leaves!

This is Kasey's. She was very selective with her leaves.

We had a great time together and plan on doing it again. I do not love to paint but I had a great time none the less!

Handmade U

2011-09-23T18:13:00.000-07:00

Handmade U

Freshman Semester

All I can say about handmade you in Omaha, NE last week is Home Sweet Home. It felt like being in a friends home crafting all day and night with good girlfriends. Rachel Velder, who I think will be in the nut house soon since she is planning a wedding that will be in November! lol, hosted us at the Minglewood Lodge. I loved the setting and that I got to park my stuff and self all in the same place for the whole weekend. Rachel was a fabulous hostess. I can't wait for the spring semester!!!!

I made all the girls a pin cushion as a gift.

Rachel had our "school" packets ready with a crazy amount of ephemera and other awesome goodies in it.

This was my spot close to the beautiful fire place, and I sat next to my pal Lisa (also an Okie.)

We made journals and I fell in love with mine. Michelle Geller was our fun, generous and sweet teacher. I pondered over my cover for hours I think!

This is my journal's front, back and spine.

Then we made our painted quilts. Of course I did hexagons and made it look like honey comb the best I could. I wish I would have done it more like Grandma's flower garden and think later this week I will.

We took a field trip to the Velder's home and it was a gorgeous setting! I wish I had a picture of their charming log cabin. It was so cozy and beautiful. Rachel's mom, Sara Velder, has a long arm quilter and I was in awwwwwww. This is a cream can. Gerry, Rachel's dad, prepared a cream can dinner for us! It was so fun and tasted delicious!

It reminded me of a southern shrimp boil just done Nebraska style.

Here we are posing with our event shirts in the Velder's cabin.

Rachel's mom, Sara Velder, has a long arm quilter and I was in awwwwwww. Maybe I was a bit JEALOUS too!!!!

Here are all of our quilt canvases.

These are all of our beautiful journals. I was amazed at how different everyone's journal was and how gorgeous they all turned out.

Me and my girlfriend Lisa!! She created some gorgeous projects.

Me, Rachel and Lisa

The journals are all lined up for a little photo shoot!

I cannot wait until spring semester!!!

Hexi Girl

2011-08-01T21:10:00.000-07:00

Hexi Girl

I love this Bari J. Bag!!!!

I am crazy about Anna Maria Horner's fabrics!!!!

Amy Butler Origami Bags

2011-07-26T07:56:00.000-07:00

Zipper Week

I have been really trying to tackle zippers lately. I really have been wanting to make these cute little Amy Butler origami bags for awhile now but have been terrified of how to put in a zipper.

I finally found time to practice in the last couple of days.

I embroidered on a few.

Leslie has already claimed this one:)

You can't really see it but I embroidered a daisy on this one.

Maranda decided Winnie needed to be in this pic. You can see Maranda's little feet in the background.

I have not mastered the zipper and am learning a lot by screwing up when I put them into the bags.

Happy Sewing Friends!

Loud and Proud

2011-07-24T13:03:00.000-07:00

More is more! Or is it????

I love Bari J. I already made one Bari J. bag after I had seen how great my friend Jackie's turned out. Pink Chalk offered a video seminar on how to make this Patchwork Rose "Zippered" Bag. (I realized that the zipper wasn't so bad to put in after watching her video.) Anyway, she says in the video when it comes to embellishing that "more is more," and she may change her mind after seeing my bag. lol!

I chose the brightest of my fabrics and even ordered in a few of Bari's new fabrics to use in it.

I chose the sweet blue and tangerine from Bari's new collection for the interior.

I embellished with buttons,

embroidery,

and beads.

Yes it is overdone and probably only appropriate to take to the circus! However, it got my creative side excited again and I loved the process!

This is the back and a bit more of a calm view.

Side note..... Maranda (yes in her pajamas at 2:00 in the afternoon on Sunday) and I just hung her banner that she made in art class. It spells out her name on each of the banners.

2011-07-18T06:24:00.000-07:00

The Painted Farm

We are so (I am flipping excited) happy to have a new art studio in our neck of the woods called the Painted Farm! Out south, in the country of our small town lives my new friend Mindi. She was an art teacher in Moore schools and now has decided to open a studio at her home. It has turned out beautiful!!!

Five of my girlfriends and I went out one hot July evening with a couple bottles of wine in tow and made these collage /paintings. It was so fun! We laughed so much and all fell in love with our projects:)

Leslie and Mindi getting our canvas's started.

Misti working away!

Holly of course one upped us since she is a professional already! :)

My sister Stacie was so gleeful in her creative process. To quote her, "I love my painting, so if you don't keep it to yourself!"

Ta daaaaaaa!

The kids have loved art camp at the Painted Farm and Mindi sold out both sessions!!! My kids loved it so much we decided to do both sessions.

Mindi's sweet husband is building her a to die for chicken coop. Maranda fell in love with several chicks:)

Confetti Rag Quilt

2011-07-17T12:58:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to make a flannel rag quilt for awhile and finally got the chance this week. I was down in Blanchard last week and found a little quilt shop that had Bliss in flannel. I love the colors of Bliss!

If it wasn't for these spring loaded scissors, I would have been in big trouble when it came to clipping all the fringe into it. Everyone told me that it takes twice as long to clip it all than it did to cut and sew it together. They all underestimated my speed and I don't give a crap if I cut into the seam one in awhile mentality! :)

Again with the yummy to die for colors!!! It is definitely a happy rag quilt:)

I made a lap quilt so I had 300 squares to cut. I just watched a little Flipping Out on Bravo while I worked and was done in no time.

I haven't washed it yet because I love the look of it. It looks like confetti right now!

I have missed all of my blog friends! I plan on getting back on here and updating my blog more often. I have made (ok started) several quilting and embroidering projects that I hope to post soon.

Honeycomb Hexi's

2011-04-05T21:15:00.000-07:00

Hexi Honeycomb

At quilt camp, I decided to try my hand a paper piecing hexi's.

I basted all of the hexi's and then hand sewed each together.

Ryan took a shot of me sewing them one morning.

This is the backside with the paper hexi's in them still.

I machine sewed the honeycomb onto a rough piece of osenberg.

I made a little bee out of wool and then embroidered my blog title on it.

I have not made a pillow in a long time.

I was pretty happy with my out come.

Maranda's Pinwheels

2011-04-03T10:35:00.000-07:00

Maranda's Quilt

I adored the 3 Sister's Line "Martinique." I bought up tons of it at the end of the bolt sale. I had been wanting to make Maranda a pinwheel quilt with it ever since. I decided last night at 6:30 after having been at Luke's baseball tourney all day that I would start it! I now have 16 of the 30 I am going to make done.

I started with two charm packs and cut them at a 2 inch at top and 3 inch at bottom angle.

I lay the pieces into the pinwheel pattern.

With my trusty Sonic tea in the back ground, I started sewing it together.

I am not much of a "pinner" but really believe in ironing.

Viola! I pretty little pinwheel.

I love my little stack of pinwheels:)

I am anxious to crank some more of these babies out today!

Quilt Camp

2011-03-20T16:14:00.000-07:00

Can Cuffs

I decided I needed something to put my scissors, pencils, etc to stand up in while I am at quilt camp this week. I used a large can and some scrap fabric.

I noticed a stamp I had of a mason jar and decided that I would stamp, embroider and sew. :) I used a large can and some scrap fabric.

I wasn't really sure what I was going for at first. Nothing was measured or pinned. (Just eyeballed!) I like to use a lot of creative expression while I work! ;)

I made these for a few of the gals I know that will be at camp. Now I need to come up with a little something for the other ladies that will be there. I don't want to look like a jerk if I give gifts to a few of the girls. I am thinking maybe some lavender sashes or something. I have 4 days to figure it out! lol!

Spring Break

2011-03-20T07:17:00.000-07:00

Applique

I definitely need more practice! Over spring break on St. Patrick's Day Leslie and I took an applique class. We had to get to know our machines a little more.

Fuzzy pic of me with my sample piece.

Turning the perfect corner and doing a swing stitch was not as pretty and easy I had hoped. Leslie and I are going to be at quilt camp this next week and are going to start our "Tiny Town" quilt that is all applique.

Leslie looking cute in her green working on her sample.

This pic sums up the end of our spring break! The kids had a great spring break. They got to spend a good part of the week playing and staying nights at their nana's and papa's and then going to friends houses. This is a picture of the return trip home from going to visit great grandma in her assisted living home.

Big Fringie Hobo

2011-03-15T08:16:00.000-07:00

Fringed Hobo

I bought this fabric a couple of months ago and it has been screaming at me "make me!!!"

So, I finally dug out my Amy Butler pattern and made the larger version of this bag. I love it and can't wait to use it. This is really a pretty easy bag to put together. It's always fun when you use fringe!!!

My Crazy fun Birthday!!

2011-03-12T10:39:00.000-08:00

My 37th Birthday

Leslie and I started the day with my interview on Fox 25 talking about my heart attack, GO Red, and risk factors for a heart attack. I did this a couple of years ago too. It was fun getting to be on the set with Angie again. She is our MC at all of our Go Red luncheons. She is moving to another station out of the city so we will miss her greatly. (Yes our eyes are glowing and I don't know how to fix it. I just gave us black eyes when I tried!! lol!)

Me on the set and doing the interview.

I bought myself a ukulele for my birthday! Why I don't know! Leslie, Misti and I were running around the city and stopped at a music store to buy some flash cards for our kiddos who are in piano lessons. I saw the ukulele and decided to buy it!! I have been trying to learn to play and I am really bad!

A few of my girlfriends and my sister Stef threw together a little luncheon at my favorite restaurant Cheevers! We will use any excuse to go to Cheevers!

Thank you girls for making my day so special! I love you all!

My Sweet Valentine's

2011-03-06T07:38:00.000-08:00

My Sweet Valentine's

I like to document our Valentine's Day at our house. We all (probably not Ryan but the rest of us) LOVE Valentine's. It is the time of year that I make spaghetti and meatballs and set the table in red and white. I decorated a little this year. I did not have all the grandmas and grandads over this year because we had just gotten back home from our ski trip the day before. I was a little whipped out! In this picture we were having our ice cream sundae's:)

This is my beautiful bouquet of flowers that Ryan always gets me along with a sweet Valentine's card. I love getting and giving Valentine's cards with Ryan because it is the time of year we write a love letter to each other. I keep all of these in a special drawer and sometimes go back and read over them. Anyone who knows me knows how crazy in love I am and have always been with my sweet hubby. (I am sure he appreciates me sharing all of this!! lol)

Ryan got Maranda another huge stuffed animal this year! She loves these and they take up her full sized bed each night. She has three of them in there now! lol!

The best part was Luke helping clean up dinner and not whining and throwing a fit ;) Love that boy!

Bag making

2011-02-20T09:50:00.000-08:00

I am on a Bag Making Frenzy!

Lately, I have been busting out some Amy Butler bags and my new favorite a Bari J. bag! My friend Jackie (click on Jackie and it should take you right to her purse) made a bag back in January that I loved. I thought it was so cute and went on with my life. Then a couple of weeks ago Leslie and I were at the Super Bowl sale at one of our favorite fabric stores in the city and I started looking at books. I found Bari J's and realized that it was the same book Jackie got inspired to make her super cute purse.

I loved being able to use things I had in my stash of fabric for this bag instead of feeling guilty every time I look at it yet never use it! lol! The flower on top and the blue bird are made out of wool.

I embroidered my blog name onto it. Holly wrote it on there for me because I couldn't write it as pretty. Unfortunately, I did not give it the justice that Holly had put into her gorgeous hand writing. I go to her ever time I need something to look eloquently written!

As usual my work looks very "handled", but I love that it looks so homemade nonetheless:)

The process Bari uses is just layering fabrics and free motion appliqueing it on. What I love so much about this bag is that I got to make it really unique to me and use as much creativity as I wanted. I even enjoyed adding a few bugle beads.

I also made another birdie sling for myself. This one is out of some of the new Parisville fabric that I am now in love with.

This is also an Amy Butler bag. It is her market tote and it is huge. I am going to save it for our Disney cruise. I bet I can cram a lot of my kids junk in this for our days on the beach (which really sounds like fun to most people but a lot of work to me!!! lol!)

Stir Crazy!!!!

2011-02-03T10:03:00.000-08:00

We are going Crazy Around here!

We are going on 4 days of all of us staying in this house together. So far we have all survived each other. Ryan has been in bed the whole time with the flu. I have been staying in Maranda's room every night (which has been surprisingly comfortable). My parents and my sister Stefanie and her family all headed to the cabin in Angel Fire to get away, and now I am thinking that we should have followed! However, my other sister, Stacie, and I worked on finishing up booking our Disney cruise for the spring with a extra few days at Disney World! Being stuck in the house during this "blizzard" makes me really excited to go to Florida! Ryan was actually in Florida all last week on a golf trip with a few buddies and it was colder there at that time than it was here! ha ha ;)

Well, I get a little tired of sitting at the sewing machine nonstop. I love to sit down and do a little needle work (which is my favorite thing to do). I started working on a Crab Apple Hill piece that is called Winter. I still have to put the wool and beads on, and then finish the embroidery. I am just cooped up so I thought I would share what I did all evening last night as my children ran wild through our home!

I got to use my tracing light again to trace the design.

I like to sit on the floor in front of the fireplace and t.v. to work.
(Yes Robin you are seeing all your beloved Valdani!! :)

Here is the pattern and some of the flosses I found to use too. They are Weeks brand and it happens to be what the pattern called for. I got lucky!

All I have gotten done is the names and the stems.

My mess on the floor.

Gabe decided he wanted to make a flower for me for Valentine's. :) My sweet boy!

Coconut has enjoyed some nice leisurely days in the house! She absolutely LOVES the snow!

And to my mother in law Cindy...... Yes I have been cooking and cleaning. We have sat at the table to eat dinner every night. I actually let Ryan come out of the sick room for the first time in 3 days to sit and eat steak , potatoes and salad. ;) Then I made him go right back in. He is at the doctor right now. Pray they take the kids back at school tomorrow!!!!

Frenchy and Birdie!

2011-02-01T20:00:00.000-08:00

I have been sewing my tail off in this blizzard! I love making my Amy Butler bags. My partner in crime, Leslie, just taught a class on the birdie last week and I missed it! I won't miss her next one though! This was my second birdie sling to make. I think it may find a home with my dear girlfriend Holly:)

I cut out the Frenchy today (always so much cutting!). I put it together tonight.

Over exposed pic sorry! My plans are to make some pillows and ruffle pants for my Maranda. We will see though. I really need to work on my wool crazy quilt! My next class is coming up soon and I need to get it done!

Blizzard Days

2011-02-01T09:24:00.000-08:00

Valentine Table Runner

I love Valentines and I love the color's red and pink! I found this pattern by Shabby Fabrics and fell in love. It took me a couple of days to make it.

It is a table runner for Valentine's Day. I first cut all my 5 x 5 squares and made the runner on Saturday night.

Maranda is getting over the flu so I was able to stay home and work on the applique` and beading all day. I had to first trace all of my applique` with my light box.

The house was nice and quiet. The boys were at Nana and Papa's all day, Ryan was at his folks getting their generator going for the blizzard and M was in her pallet watching t.v. all day as she recouped. I sat on the floor with a nice cup of Tulsi "honey chamomile" tea.

Some of my hearts cut out!

I tried to contain all my mess into this container.

Ric rac, beads and sequence were sewn on to embellish.

This is a picture of it complete. The applique` is on both ends of the runner.

Maranda is feeling much better finally today however Ryan is in our room burning up with fever. The kids and I are enjoying watching the blizzard blow into our neck of the woods.

Published Paper Doll!!!

2011-01-18T17:57:00.000-08:00

Pink Cupcake

I got published!!!! :)

I sent a few of my cupcake liner paper dolls to "Art Doll Quarterly" magazine last summer. I got an email from Jana in November from the magazine letting me know that they were going to publish it this February.

I was super excited to receive my complementary copy today! The article talks about who I am and what I do. They even called me a mixed media artist lol!! This has been a really fun experience! In the article it also talks about my obsession with my Catherine Moore stamps that I use to make all my dolls. I love Catherine and her doll stamps:)

This is a couple of the other paper dolls I had fun making too.

Maranda's room

2011-01-12T05:04:00.000-08:00

Maranda's Room

This is my little Maranda's room. It is finally finished. I love this room! My girlfriend Kasey had custom made a bedroom set similar to this for Jennifer, another girlfriend of ours. I fell in love with it!

My mother in law also helped out with the work load and made the beautiful bed skirt and gorgeous balloon curtains. The curtains were an act of love to make I assure you! lol!

Maranda decided to put on her party dress and pose for a picture:)
Thanks again Kasey and Cindy for your awesome work!!!!

A few of my favorite things!

2011-01-09T08:59:00.000-08:00

A few of my favorite things!
I got some exquisite handmade gifts from some of my best girlfriends this Christmas!

Leslie took a lot of time (I am so flattered) to make me this sewing book. She is Ruth Rae Jr.

She kept having me pose for pictures lately but I didn't know what she was up to.

I love this new book with all of it's great little pockets. I will be able to use it for my scissors, threads, seam ripper, etc. Thank you Leslie! I love it and you too!

Holly made me this bracelet after I drooled all over her sister Amy's wrist looking at one she made similar for her! I love this and wish the picture did it justice for just how beautiful it is! I wear it all the time!!! Thank you Holly XOXO

Christmas 2010

2010-12-27T07:51:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas

I guess I wasn't alone in making Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls. I know about 8 other people that had the same idea. They turned out great and I made two big pans full. I love her cook book because it is sooooo Oklahoma. It is everything we always make around here and shows why we are such a fat state. ;)

I also made my friend Jackie Peter's blue berry, cream cheese French Toast. This is always a big hit!

Santa (PaPa Steve) comes every Christmas morning driving up in his red 38' Ford with Mrs. Clause (NaNa). Thankfully my sisters and I live in a 4 mile radius. Santa gets to make all the rounds and eat cinnamon rolls, biscuits and gravy and pancakes. The Clause's get stuffed Christmas morning!

This Feather Weight was one of my favorite gifts this year!

Luke loved his OU quilt I made for him :)

Gabe also loved his quilt of planets I made for him! I used glow in the dark thread to quilt his!

I am working on a quilt for Maranda and already made one for her in the fall that she now snuggles. In this picture Maranda is wearing a Christmas skirt that my friend Jemellia made for her. She got lots of attention in it!

This is what is going on with the wool crazy quilt this week. I will do another post on this and the class next month. I love doing this. Embroidery may be my favorite thing in the world to do!!

This is my hobo fringe that I made and have enjoyed carrying this holiday season. It is an Amy Butler.

This is a picture I took of myself to show my friend Robin. She made me this rosette necklace that I wore the whole season too. I even wore it Christmas day:) I love it!!!! I bought several of her rosettes to give away as gifts this Christmas too.

Still here

2010-11-24T05:35:00.000-08:00

I have been a busy gal lately and took a long break from blogging. I feel so out of the loop! I have been quilting and being a busy momma.

We have had a broken foot, birthday party, and halloween just to name a few of the events that have kept us busy.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday!

Breakfast with Chickadees

2010-09-25T08:47:00.000-07:00

French Toast with Maple Apple Compote

I found this recipe in my Cooking Light magazine and am still trying to figure out what was light about it! :)

The Paxton kiddos stayed the night last night and when they woke up this morning I made this really delicious breakfast. They said it tasted like apple pie.

This is the fun part!

The apple compote was just simmering a little butter with syrup and apples.

It tasted like apple pie on top of French toast.

Happy kids! They are a little sleep deprived from the sleep over.

Then the girls had a dance party to the Hannah Montanna CD!

This is the crappy part! I hate dishes!!!!

Crazy Quilt Class #1

2010-09-23T11:28:00.000-07:00

The Million Dollar Crazy Quilt!!!

Ok not a million dollars but it feels like I have spent that much on wool and thread!!

My friends Leslie, Robin and I decided to take a wool crazy quilt class. I had no idea that wool was so hard to come by and stupid expensive. So what if we don't send our kids to college! ;)

These are Valdani threads from Romania that are specially hand died! They look so pretty in the box. It is such a shame that I am about to make a huge mess out of them!

We had to first piece the wool together. It is not as easy as it looks!

Look at Robin figuring out here formula:)

This is the beginning phase of mine.

This is some of the wool I have collected.

These are my wools for a spring quilt.

Ok when I say quilt I guess I should be saying wall hanging. This is mine all pieced together. Now that we have this much done, we have to go and do decorative embroidery stitches on the seams. After we get that done, we will start all our applique. I think mine is going to be a Thanksgiving and Christmas quilt. In the spring, I want to applique another one with lots of flowers, bees, birds, hearts etc.

TCC in Minnesota

2010-09-20T13:12:00.000-07:00

We are back from Minnesota!

Leslie, Momma and I had a great time at the Creative Connection event!

We had fun meeting the Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond and getting our books signed too!

This is Momma and Leslie at one of the luncheons.

How cute is this felted pin we made in Betz White's class?!?!

We had fun showing off our bags to Amy Butler that we made from some of her patterns.

We took off to Shakopee, MN one day to visit this amazing quilt shop named Eagle Creek. It was in an old train depot. AMAZING!

Had fun seeing Jenn in her gorgeous booth!!! It was also great to meet Jessie and I am now crazy about her!! I hope to see them both again soon!!!

Tiffany was lead photographer for the event. I love her and she may be one of the sweetest girls I know!

I got to see Lisa my friend again. She and I have made a few events together and I am hoping that she and I can get together in OKC very soon. :)

This is the reason that I came to the event..... RUTH RAE!

Camille Roskelly taught a class making simple quilts. It was awesome to walk away from a class with an almost finished quilt.

I will link to everyone later. I have a flood in my bedroom and men working on cleaning it all up! growl! We are having to file an insurance claim that it is so bad!! That was lovely to come home to!

end of summer trips

2010-09-06T20:56:00.000-07:00

Running Around

I love my family and friends! I have not been able to balance all my blog posting and reading lately because I have been running around having fun:)

We stayed at the Wynn with some of our traveling friends. We were there when Paris Hilton got busted and missed the whole dang thing!!

There were 12 of us and we ate a late dinner at Smith and Wolinskies.

We rented a cabana and hung out in the pool at the Wynn the whole 2nd day! So fun!! Love you Tina!!! ;)

Went to the Michael Buble concert and almost sat at the very top! Thank goodness for the big screens. I love his concerts and had already caught one in OKC a few years ago:)

We were all needing a big breakfast by the pool. We had already had two long nights.

When we got back home a couple of days later, my friend Leslie's daughter Jess and son in law Wes (like family to us) had the most beautiful baby girl in the world. Maranda and I got to see Miss Lily Suzanne and love all over her:)

Then Friday afternoon my sisters, husbands and I loaded up the kids and left for Angel Fire to see our parent's new cabin. It is a pretty cabin that Momma has plans for big landscaping. Can't wait to see what she does with boulders and wild flowers!

This is a picture of all the cousins after their bear an elk hike!

Super Hero posing!

The living room clean before the kids ran through it:)

It has three suites and this is the one that I stayed in.

This last pic is from Vegas too. It is my sister Stacie, girlfriend Courtney and I. Apparently we were in a limo at 3:00 in the morning! lol!

This is where I have been lately. I have missed keeping up with all my girlfriends on their/your blogs. I am ready to get with it on crafting again. I am headed to two sewing classes with Leslie tomorrow! She actually has 3 sewing classes. I am skipping one! We are crazy!

Rosette Swap

2010-08-31T15:36:00.000-07:00

SWAP PARTNER FROM HEAVEN

I just got my TWO BIG BOXES from my swap partner Caleen! My friend Misti was here to witness and even join in on the masacre of the two postal boxes. The swap was hosted by Jill at the Gypsy Brocante (check out my rosette button to see more of the swap)! Thanks Jill!

There was every type of rosette imaginable! I love the one in the middle here that looks to be cut from an old quilt.

Look at all the extra vintage jewelry pieces, laces, bag and trims!

This GORGEOUS "Bryanna" necklace is outstanding!

Crazy in love with this lace bag with all the rosettes and bling on the top:)

Check out this scarf she made too! Leslie came over to see it all and I think she almost snuck off with it!

Thank you Caleen! You are amazing and my heart is still pounding from your generosity!

BTW The sad thing is that it was my Gabe's 7th birthday and he saw these boxes and thought they were all his! lol! He made out like a bandit at his party though!

I sent my partner Lynn .....

a cuff

and a couple of brooches.

Ribbon embroidery

2010-08-28T18:19:00.000-07:00

Practicing

I am practicing my stitches but am getting my ribbon too tight I think. It keeps twisting. It is not laying pretty on the fabric like in the pictures I am looking at for inspiration. I am slowly but surely getting there. Actually, slowly is what I should be doing to make sure the ribbons all lay right. Anyhoo, it has been fun learning.

Birdie Sling

2010-08-26T15:38:00.000-07:00

All By Myself!

I sewed this Amy Butler "Birdie Sling" bag without anyone showing me what to do yesterday! Yes I did use my seam ripper SEVERAL times but still pulled it off:) I read the pattern and figured it out! Yea me! lol!

(OK I did call Leslie twice but it was just for a little guidance. Thanks Natalie for teaching me this trick for disclaimers! ;)

Ribbon embroidery

2010-08-24T11:16:00.000-07:00

Ribbon Embroidery

I am so loving trying to learn how to do ribbon embroidery:) I have learned a few new little rosettes and realize that I still have a lot to learn!

The problem is that the ribbon is soooooo stinking expensive! I need to learn to dye it myself. All I need are more art projects! lol!

Sweet Marsha and Donna

2010-08-20T19:24:00.000-07:00

Sweet Sweet Friends

Marsha at Sassy Mini Dolls has been a very sweet and caring blog friend. We have fun emailing back and forth. She was super sweet to me when my doggies died this summer and it was comforting to read her comments along with all my other blog friends. She made me this GORGEOUS cuff with a beautiful vintage rhinestone "L" (for Lulu my sweet doggie). Thank you Marsha! I adore you! :)

Ok this is from my new friend Donna at Brynwood Needle Works. I drooled all over her blog until I finally commented and then Donna emailed me instantly. She has been encouraging and guiding me on my journey through embroidery:) She sent me beautiful beads, amazing fabrics, needles, and dreamy ribbons. Thank you Donna! You are so sweet and thoughtful. I can't wait to start creating with all these new goodies!

Recent Projects

2010-08-15T09:03:00.000-07:00

A few things I have been working on:)

I snatched up this sampler from Rebecca Ringquist when I saw it on a bunch of blogs.

I started it and got most of it done on our road trip to Colorado. I just finished it on Friday evening when I had the house all to myself! It was wonderful!!!:)

This is for a rosette swap I am in. I used my hand died velvet ribbon that I got in San Diego at Paper Tales. I love the ribbon and hated cutting it, but I think it looks great with it.

I put together the necklace from my French General Kit that I got for August. It is very wine country:)

I am going to give this apron that I made in class to my mother in law today when we go to her lunch for August birthdays. I hope she likes it!!!!

fair day

2010-08-13T15:53:00.000-07:00

Blue Ribbons at the Fair!

Misti called me this morning while making her cake for the FFA fair auction and told me that I should enter a few of my embroidery projects. However, I only had 30 minutes before the registration closed. I grabbed my Paperbella ezine sampler and my Richard Crawford tart.

I called Leslie and told her that she needed to hurry and get her goodies up there too. She brought her diaper bag, apron and egg plants. She got blue ribbons on all of hers too.

Ok Leslie and I said that no one has to know that we were the only ones in our categories and almost everyone got a blue ribbon. lol! We will have more competition when we go to county:)

Our Lulu

2010-08-09T09:09:00.000-07:00

My Sweet Baby Girl Lulu

We will miss you.

It has been a tough summer for us. If you remember, two months ago we put down our beautiful Australian Shepherd Jay Cee. Well, this morning we put down my baby girl Lulu. I can't find all my great pics of her on the computer so I am posting what we have. She was 10 and my wedding gift from my hubby. This has been such a sad summer for us.

My poor Gabe is taking it the hardest.

I wrote a huge sad post for JayCee but I won't do that for Lu girl because it would be the same thing. She was just my angel girl that we dressed up and pushed her around in Maranda's baby buggy at times:) She thought she was a princess, and dog rules did not apply to her so there for we treated her that way. She was a little lady.

I love you and miss you my "prettiest girl in the whole wide world." (I always said this in that obnoxious talking to your sweet doggie voice:)

Family Vacation

2010-08-07T19:16:00.000-07:00

Colorado Family Vacation

Colorado is always the most beautiful place on earth to me! My parents took us every summer for vacation and every winter to ski. It is truly two totally different Colorado's each season. My sister Stacie and her family went with mine to the Springs last week. It was so much fun! The kids had a ball fishing, hiking, exploring caves, swimming, eating, finding deer, going to museums , dancing, going to the zoo and room service! Stacie and I had a great time chasing the kids while our hubbies went golfing three times! Jerks ;) It was so beautiful at Ryan's late Grandad's cabin which is now the Overholt's family cabin. It was fun waking up to deer every morning. After a few days, we went to the Broadmoor resort which was one of the nicest places we had ever been!

Making a camp fire outside of my husband's family cabin.

So nice to be chilly after frying in OK!

How pretty is this cabin?!?!

Touching a T Rex bone at the museum!!!

Getting rained on!

Two of my guys at the cookout.

Fire, beer and bb guns! How safe is this?!? lol!

At the Broadmoor hotel :)

Our Fancy Nancy room! Our little diva loved it! :)

Two spoiled kids in the cabana we rented for the afternoon.

This was an amazing beach entry infinity pool that ran off to the lake. Ahhhh!

One of the views from the cabana.

Heading out to a casual dinner.

This was the greatest thing to my kids. ROOM SERVICE! Their daddy spoiled them each night ordering cheese cake, brownies and ice cream. They thought they were at the Tipton (Suite Life of Zach and Cody lol!).

Bead Swap

2010-08-06T08:45:00.000-07:00

Bead Swap

I had so much fun collecting beads when I was in California. I bought all types of vintage beads while in Laguna. I was so proud of myself and thought that my swap partners would be impressed that I bought most of my beads in Laguna. Then when I went to mail my beads out I realized they were all girls in California! lol!

These are the boxes I sent out.

These gorgeous turquoise beauties are from Terry.

These amazing vintage red blacks and sparkles are from my friend Marsha.

This beautiful homemade box and crazy beautiful beads are from Becky.

I cannot wait to start mixing and putting all these beauties together. Thank you to my fabulous friend Cassandra for hosting such a great swap!

How to make a cuff

2010-07-28T18:47:00.000-07:00

Cuff Tutorial
"

Ok this is not the prettiest cuff I can make but it was a quick one I put together. They are so easy peasy to make.
1. Measure your wrist size and add a half an inch.

2. Choose a couple of fabrics for the cuff and what ever you want to embellish with.

3. Cut the fabric the length of your wrist plus a 1/2 inch. I like mine only an inch and 1/2 wide because I like to embellish so much.

4. I chose burlap and a soft cotton to make as the cuff. I then sewed them together on my sewing machine but you could easily do by hand.

5. I chose to make a ruffle with a vintage piece of velvet.

6. I then sewed a couple of pieces of lace on the top and bottom of the cuff. I hand stitched all the buttons and ruffle onto the cuff.

7. I then hand stitched some snaps that I bought at walmart onto the cuff. Now my friend Ellene McClay (who makes incredible cuffs and has joined our swap!) said you can also use a button on one end and a small pony tail holder on the other side.

8. I covered the outside snaps with a little velvet bow.

Voila! You have an easy peasy cuff:)

Ok this one is more my style and it was easy too.

1. I cut out a cute embroidered patch off my daughter jeans and a strip off my sons jeans to be be the base of the cuff.

2. I then channeled a little Ruth Rae and zig zag stitched on scrap silk and just made it look like a mess. (which was my goal!)

3. I made a flower for the center. I stitched on a few beads and lace. I also stamped "art girl" (which I bought at Red Lead) on a piece of cotton and attached it with a few French knots.

It is soooooo easy! You can do it if I can:)
Thank you for all of you who have joined our swap. It is not to late to join!!!
Grab our button if you haven't yet:)

Cuff Swap Announcement

2010-07-26T14:46:00.000-07:00

Victorian Cuff Swap

Maybe a little tattered and torn?

Sign up now for

the Victorian Cuff Swap!

The fun begins September 1st.

Hosted by Hungry Hippie and Honey Lamb and I

All participants will make a cuff to wear, then send it to their swap partner by Oct 1st. Pleanty of time to get inspired and make something unique.

Info needed: Name, Address, Email, wrist size in inches or cm.

Email Natalie with your info: hungryhippie@live.com

Entries due by August 30...

c'mon and join in the fun!

A tutorial is coming soon:)

Trying to Sew

2010-07-25T06:16:00.000-07:00

Sew we tried.

Leslie and I decided to try and sew a scraps and threads bag last night.

We drug everything out on my dining room table. We opened the pattern and saw that we needed plastic mesh, muslin, batting and velcro. We had none of that! lol! All we had was our fabric.

So instead, we decided to use our fancy new feet and make stitches and ruffles.

Don't we look cute in our new reading glasses? LOL!

I love my new Ellure Baby Locks machine:)

Sewing Class

2010-07-20T22:56:00.000-07:00

SEW IN LOVE WITH SEWING!

Back in the Spring I went to the Mary Engelbreit event and got the chance to meet Amy Butler. When I got back home, I bought a great pattern at a local store of one of her bags. I bought the fabric, brought it home, open the pattern and felt overwhelmed! I hadn't sewn in years and forgot everything!

There is a Be Sew Inn nearby me and I went in to look around. They sell Baby Locks! The lady working there told me that they had sewing classes (which is the hook to get you to buy a machine from them).

We went on vaca and I kind of forgot about it. When we got back, I saw the pattern laying on the table and decided to just go sign up. So, I did and then called Leslie (one of my partners in crime ) and told her she had to sign up too. She thought about it for and hour and then decided to do it too. I called another partner in crime, Misti and she already had a busy summer schedule.

So far Leslie and I have made bags.

My bag

Me sewing my handle.

Leslie working away!

Leslie's, mine and Kim's bag

......and YES Leslie and I bought a machine!!! LOL!

We are sewing up our aprons next week:)

Rosettes

2010-07-14T21:17:00.000-07:00

Showing off my Rosettes

The French Cupboard is having a show off your Rosettes party starting today.

I have had fun with making flowers over the past couple of months so I thought that I would rerun some of the different ones that I had made.

I took an ezine class from Cassandra at My Artful Adventures to learn to make rosettes. I love to make the ones with ruffles!

Thanks for stopping by! Go check out the others when you get the chance:)

http://frenchcupboard.blogspot.com/

My Tart is back:)

2010-07-09T09:28:00.000-07:00

My Embroidered Tart

This it the tart I posted about a couple of months ago that I had finished. I sent it back to Audrey from The French Knot where I bought it in Savannah, GA so she could finish it up.

It is a Raymond Crawford design. You can find the rest of his designs if you friend him on facebook.

This is my next project that Audrey sent me (she collected all the flosses and ribbons) from her Savannah store.

It is a piece of cake.

Below here is a picture of what it will look like when I finish it. Check out all the beads!

I can't wait to get it started!

Jill swap

2010-07-07T21:04:00.000-07:00

Jill can pack a box!!!!

Last week I received a wonderful stuffed box from my very awesome blog friend Jill at Bucks County Folk Art. Jill and I comment and email each other constantly and thought we would do our own special Red, White, and Blue swap.

Jill carved.....yes I said carved this patriotic Santa spool for me! I mean who carves?!?!? Jill does!! Amazing! I love him and he is one of my favorite possessions now! Love him!

All kinds of goodies that I have many plans for.

My petticoats and parasol friends from Savannah wheels will be turning when they see this pic of a tiny parasol and fan:)

Jill knows that I have a fettish for all laces! These are gorgeous:)

Love all beads:)

Sorry Jill, I did not get as great of pics as you did. This is just the 3rd time I have tried to post it! lol

It is always fun to connect with someone in blog land and Jill has been such a sweet friend. I love you Jill and all the great goodies! If you want to see better pics of our swap, check Jill out. She just finished sculpting a gorgeous santa. The girl has skills!

Check out my Make Over!!!!

2010-07-03T12:47:00.000-07:00

I got a make over what do you think?

Thanks to my friend Cassandra at My artful adventures I have a better looking blog. She did an amazing job and figured out what I wanted through all my confusing and sometimes contradictory emails. I bought her services from her etsy shop and couldn't be happier! Thanks Cassandra!!!!! I heart you! Happy 4th of July everyone!!!

I would love to share my new Honey Lamb and I button. It is over here to the right so grab it if you like!!!

Please let me know what you think of the makeover!! Thanks:)

Needles Book

2010-07-02T08:32:00.000-07:00

Over the last couple of days I have been working on my needles book. I found the book idea in Sommerset's Sewing magazine. I loved it and went straight to find the creator of this awesome book. It was Penney at Farie Acres. I emailed her and she was quick to get back to me with pointers.

I embroidered each of the titles. Penney wrote it out with her sewing machine and that looked really cool. I just need a lesson on how to do that.

I still need to look up what exactly crewel means! Lol! Penney just had it on hers so I put it on mine!!!

It is meant to have strings hanging off and have a Ruth Rae tattered look! I love it and had so much fun making it!

I made this ruffled rose with a hand died velvet ribbon that I bought in San Diego from Paper Tales:) If anyone knows a good site to get hand died ribbons please let me know!!!:)

Edward, Jake, Bella, Margarita's and Bloody Mary's

2010-07-01T10:48:00.000-07:00

OOOOOOOOOhhhhhhhhhhhhh it was sooooooo good! My heart is still racing. Eclipse was so wonderful and true to the book. I know I always made fun of all the Star Wars people because I am not, but now I am a Twilight person and I get it!!! Kasey (a regular on here) and I went to the 5:00 show yesterday. Now I have read all the books and I will not even tell you how many times Kasey has read the books (3 X's shhhhhh:). Anyway, in her expert opinion it stayed 99% true to the book.

Yes we are wearing our "New Moon" wolf girl and vampire girl shirts from walmart!

Me and the gang hanging out in front of the theater.

Kasey goes to the theater as soon as tickets go on sale and gets us our same seats in the balcony. We ordered wings, pizza, bloody mary's (surprisingly great at the theater) margaritas and Dr. Peppers! So fun!

I love when the theater gets into it and cheers and claps. So fun to be part of the craze.

If you "don't get it" or you "are not into vampire's," then I totally agree.....you don't get it! lol It is such a great love story. I think everyone making fun of us women who LOVE IT forget that when men are so into all their movies (star wars etc.), golf tournaments, video games, fights, football, etc. and they get all excited that that is ok. So, give us girls a break if we want to get excited about something that doesn't matter once in awhile!! ;) I am sorry for rolling my eyes honey when you have to watch golf tournaments and I get annoyed!

It was awesome and I had so much fun with Kasey!!!!

4th of July Swap is here!

2010-06-30T19:52:00.000-07:00

Late this afternoon while I was sitting in the theater watching ECLIPSE (will post on that later) my red, white and blue swap package arrived from Shawn.

My oldest son Luke and I dug into it!

Look and see what we got.....

Everything was wrapped tight!

We got paper plates, napkins and cupcake liners to use at our party!!!

Candles to set on the outside end tables.....

Icing, cake mix and sprinkles to make cupcakes for the kiddos.....

And an adorable apron with my initial on it!!!! Too cute! Thanks Shawn :)
Thanks Mamarazzi for hosting my very first swap:)

Hummus and Ruffled Flowers

2010-06-28T13:06:00.000-07:00

As I sat here last evening with my sick kiddos, I decided to make some ruffled flowers. I love making these flowers and they are so easy!

This morning I decided to make some hummus. I made a batch for my family. They usually devour it! They devour everything though!

I love the Barefoot Contessa and have always used her hummus recipe.

Having my food processor makes everything easier!

I made a special batch for one of my boys best buddies Jake. Jake broke his leg this weekend. I hope he likes the hummus. He is such a sweet boy and is now stuck on the couch for the rest of the summer:(

These are the days.....

2010-06-27T07:41:00.000-07:00

When we got back from our vacation, I had a beautiful box from my blog friend Teresa at Maggie Grace Creates waiting on my table. Inside the box was a journal, laces (I heart laces), beads, post cards, and her own crocheted pieces! It is all so beautiful and I love love love it! Thank you Teresa:)

After a lazy Saturday afternoon of napping, Ryan and Miss. M woke up to watch some World cup and color. I love my little family. It is so nice when we have no where to be. I made a big dinner and strawberry shortcake.

I love the rare occasion of getting to sit around the table and visit with our kiddos. Later we sat on the front porch to watch the kids do a "dance party" to the Black Eyed Peas. Ryan videoed it all!

Later, the kids and dad went into the basement to watch a movie. He let them eat popcorn and that was the end of all the fun! They all get terribly sick when they eat it. So, our wonderful family night turned into midnight puking. Everyone made pallets on the floor in our room to sleep by their trash cans! We didn't mean to poison our kids with popcorn! lol What is it about popcorn that makes them so sick?!?!? My poor babies! Oh these are the days!:)

The Vacationing Embroidery Tin

2010-06-24T19:38:00.000-07:00

When I saw that Amy Powers was working on a stitching kit, I got super excited! She announced the day before that they were going to go on sale the next morning and I was one of the first to jump on it! I received it in no time, and showed it off to anyone that would look! It was like getting a treasure in the mail:) It was hard but I waited to start it on our way to California last Friday.

On the tray in the airplane and working while

flying to San Diego.....

On the beach at the "Del" on Coronado Island......

Then we made it up to Laguna Beach and I dug it out again.

I know the beaches look the same but I promise they are different!

In our hotel room.....

Getting ready to fly out in the Orange County airport........

I finished up on the airplane on the way to Houston. The flight attendant took my bag so I wasn't able to get my camera to get a picture finishing up!

In the Houston airport and eating some BBQ

It was soooo fun and I really feel like I barely worked on it! I loved having something to do in all our "down time." My bluebird in the bottom left hand corner looks more like a blue turkey! lol! Hoping that there will be another one to do in the future!!! Hint Hint Amy!!!!;)
BTW-those worried about me taking my needles and tiny scissors on the plane not to worry. I had it checked out with the security lady and they were the correct travel size for the plane. I was not that sneaky and am not a rule breaker. ;)

My chance to go to Paper Tales!!!!! ...and other adventures at the Del

2010-06-20T07:36:00.000-07:00

We are having such an amazing time here at the Del in San Diego!! This resort is so beautiful here on Coronado Island. We can't believe that 10 years have gone by so fast. We are loving just laying on the beach!

I got to go to Paper Tales and meet up with a couple of friends!!! When I walked into the store, I saw that it had everything that makes my creative heart pound out of my chest! My blog friend, Karin, works at this fantasy store. I was so excited to get to meet her!

Karin and I hit it off from the very second I stepped through the door! She is hilarious, sweet, witty, pretty and super creative! I hated having to leave but had to get back to the beach:)

Karin and I

I took a picture of all the loot I got while there! (I got it all out to look at and threw it on the bed while Ryan was in the shower) I didn't need his heart stopping too! lol! Hey I only get by here once every 36 years so I had to make the most of it!!! lol

We later got back and laid our on the beach for ours in rented cabana for hours. I loved that!

We then went to a wonderful Seafood Restaurant Peohe's. We sat on the water with a view of the San Diego skyline. So beautiful:) We had a great bottle of Conundrum.

Ryan got fried while he went deep sea fishing in the morning.

The food was amazing!!!

Not a good pic of me but you can see what the view was like. We definitely were not in OKC! LOL

I want to end with this t-shirt I saw at breakfast. So stinkin cute!!!!!!!

Swapping

2010-06-19T18:52:00.001-07:00

Ok I am just now stepping out into the swapping world!! This one was right up my alley because it is all about the red, the white and the blue! I am not ever a happy camper at Christmas time!! It is so much work to please everyone!!! However, I always love the 4th of July and already had some goodies made and thought that is the swap for me! Little did I know that Ms. Mamarazzi has a lot of rules and I had to go through a little blog boot camp to get in!!! lol! Which is a great idea for her, since she has had people flake out on her! I like the way she operates!! Come and join the fun! If you are my partner expect to be blown away!!! ;)

Getting on through crafting....

2010-06-17T12:44:00.000-07:00

Today is a better day for many reasons.

1. Not crying as much as yesterday (but still SO sad)

2. I am packing to go to San Diego and Laguna Beach with my handsome husband for our ten year anniversary.

3. It is the last day of boot camp and I have not lost a pound!!!!! lol!

4. I finished my French General jewelry kit and am loving it all!

5. I get to take Jackie's 4th of July legs class tonight!

6. I am so overwhelmed with the compassionate response I got about the passing of Jaycee. Thank you and I am hugging all of you if I ever run into you!!!

Here are the things I have been working on since last weekend. It is so nice to be able to sew and make jewelry through this time to keep my mind occupied.

This is a cuff inspired by three of the people I am obsessed with right now. The flower is a ruffle flower that I learned on an ezine from Cassandra. The other parts of it was inspired from my new Ruth Rae book and Rebecca Sowers blog pics!!! I want to make one of these after vacation for a give away if people like it. :)

This is the jewelry I have made over the last couple of days (through the tears) from my French General kits. I love them!!!!

This silk brooch is for a blog friend that I will get to meet in person when we get to San Diego! (Hope she likes green)

Amazing the healing power of creating is for a hurt soul.

I want to thank all my blog friends, face book friends, tangible friends, and family for all the love and support during this tough time of losing our Jay girl. Pets touch us in a way like no other and it was so comforting to hear from all of you in sympathy and empathy. I love you all!!!! It REALLY did help to hear each of your kind words.

I love you Ryan!!!! Happy anniversary my amazingly sweet and handsome best friend!!!

Free to Good Home (sad day at our home today)

2010-06-15T12:49:00.000-07:00

I really don't expect anyone to read all of this. It is something I wanted to write out for myself and kids to remember my girl (dog) and this sad day of her passing.

I know that people have real problems and there are a lot more terrible things happening in the world but that does not lessen the pain I feel in my heart today. Our Beautiful 10 year old Australian Shepherd JayCee was put down today. She has been sick over the last month. I took her last week and got her started on an antibiotic so she could get over a virus we thought. Well, she was just worse this week so Ryan took her back to see our sweet veterinarian Barry to do blood work. Barry called me last night telling me how awful the results came back and the it was probably cancer. I feel to my knees crying and hugging her.

She was more comfortable standing and was having such a hard time breathing the last couple of days and mostly last night. I took her to Barry, who was very gentle and quick, to put her down. I have not quit crying. We went out to my parents who have a beautiful area with a tree we burry our pets under. Ryan and my daddy cried and dug a hole while all my parent's cows gathered right behind them to watch. The kids were bawling, my folks were bawling, Ryan was crying behind his glasses (I have only seen him cry a handful of times in our lives) and I was out of control trying to pull it together. Everyone said something nice about Jay girl and asked Jesus to watch over her.

We got her in a "Free to Good Home" add in the paper 10 years ago after we were home only two days from our honeymoon. She was in a pen and all muddy in someone's backyard. She was really skinny and dirty. I told Ryan no and he (weird because I was the dog lover not him) said no I want her. We brought her home and gave her a bath. She was so beautiful, sweet, submissive, smart and later we would find out protective.

My heart has not ached like this in years. It was so hard to watch her go. She was the girl that slept by each of the baby's cribs at night, in their room when they were sick, by me after my heart attack as I recuperated, kept strangers soliciting at the door at bay, cleaned up the floor when the kids dropped food, playing outside with the kids (that made me feel safe), door bell dog, protected us at night when Ryan was out of town.......I can go on and on and on and on........

I don't care what you say but I think they are more like us than not. Dogs love, protect, care and comfort us. I am so glad she has been a part of our lives during my whole married life and my children's lives. She is missed terribly and I pray the ache in my heart eventually wanes a little. I told Ryan that it is weird not tripping over her in the kitchen while I worked, telling her to go lay somewhere else because she always tooted in her sleep by my chair, or hearing the knock at the door today because she would always bark before anyone could knock. We have a lot to get used to. R.I.P JayCee Louise Overholt We LOVE YOU!

She loved playing in the snow!!!

You don't have to be a dog lover to understand, you just have to understand love.
.........said my friend Jemellia

Plants + Heat = Love

2010-06-13T12:59:00.000-07:00

It is already super hot and humid in OK and I know it is only going to get worse!!! I cannot wait to get to go to California soon where there is a beach and not the crazy humidity.
Anyway, as much as I hate it my plants love it! I love that my begonias are starting to take off as well as the elephant ears, crape mertles and knock out roses. Yea!

Here are some shots of my "We love the Heat" plants.

The kids made bags of ice water and put it on their heads when they finished riding their bikes lol!

4th of July corsages

2010-06-12T21:17:00.000-07:00

4th of July corsages I made for a few of my friends:) I made one out of silks and the other out of silks and denim and can't decide which I like the best! I have been following my friend Cassandra's ezine class to learn to make these basic ones. They look easy however, I was really frustrated with the first few and feel better about them now!

After a crazy week of spider bites (son), hospital stays with viral meningits (sister) and headaches (me), my husbands 3 brothers and their wives all came down to our home this weekend to take family pics and have May, June and July birthdays. It was nice to end on a fun note after all of that!

My mother in law got my niece Lily a new American girl doll and my Maranda got the American doll depression GLASS picnic set. Maranda and her doll Rebecca and Lily and her new doll Pearly (LOL) had a picnic upstairs while their daddies and uncles all played Call of Duty in the basement!! Check out the vintage hankie looking picnic blanket and napkins!

It was fun having all the family here. Glad Eric and Dedra were able to come in from L.A. an bring our beautiful niece Rachel:)

Troop #2 of my Paper Doll Army!!!

2010-06-09T15:19:00.000-07:00

I have had these girls in my head for awhile now! Life is so busy with the kids being home for the summer. There are so many things I want to get done but they have been sick, playing ball, etc. So I stamped my Catherine Moore Doll's out on Monday morning, cut most of them out while I waited in the waiting room on the kids at the dentist, colored them Tuesday night in between Luke throwing up because he is sick from his spider bite and then put them together after cleaning the house up today. (I know that is a terrible sentence my English teacher friends - sorry!) So I have a few done and have already given one to Holly for her collection lol!

I plan on adding on to the troop to make them a larger army! Maranda had fun helping me!

What is this thing!?!?!

2010-06-03T06:51:00.000-07:00

I bought this box at a local antique store in OKC. I thought it would be great to put all my little things that are cluttering up my drawers. It has names on it and words like judge, clerk, jury so I figure it is from some court house. What do you think all those little boxes were used for? If you know, please let me know. My friends, family and I cannot figure it out!

I love it and think it is super cool.

Thought I would put a shot in of my Juliet so everyone can see how she is settling in:)

I also cleaned up my studio area (a little) so thought I would throw it in too!

Can't wait to see friends tonight at class making our art journals with Jackie!

Happy Birthday to my baby Maranda! Big "5" today!! Love you baby girl:) She took this pic one day when she stole my camera and took pictures of random things including herself!! Little toot!

Spring Sampler

2010-06-01T11:27:00.000-07:00

I just finished my first embroidery sampler.

It is from a Paper Bella e-zine.

I totally neglected my family all Memorial weekend to finish this. Well, except for our trip to Vici to see Grandma and Grandpa Saturday and Monday going to my parents and my hubby's parents. I did ignore them most of the rest of the time!

I loved using the old laces, buttons, ribbons and velvet.

I was so intimidated at first and now am ready to make more!!!

I had fun going out on the ranger at my parents house to get this picture too!

The French Knot

2010-05-24T13:29:00.000-07:00

While in Savannah, we (Misti, Leslie and I) stumbled onto the most enchanting shop of all. It was the French Knot a Stitch Boutique. It was beautiful, intimidating and alluring all at the same time! I wanted to buy everything I saw in front of me. I ended up with a little tart to put together. I have never embroidered in my life and decided to just jump in and buy a project. Audrey was so sweet to mark every page of the "The Embroidery Stitch Bible" so I would know what to study before each stitch.

Misti is going to make this beautiful piece for one of her daughters! I love it and can't wait to see it finished!

So I got started on my Tart, and never quit! I have never embroidered before so learned from my new Embroidery book.

Phase #1

Phase #2

Phase #3

Now Audrey is going to finish it off and make it 3 dimensional!

I shipped it to Savannah today!!

Mail box surprise!!!!

2010-05-21T16:41:00.000-07:00

I was pulling out of my driveway today and as I looked over by my mailbox I see a package setting on top!

I didn't remember ordering anything that size.

I jumped out to see what it was and it was from my friend Renee!!!

We take classes together at the Paper Crown and really got to know each other at the Mary Engelbreit event. We e-mail back and forth a lot and I am hoping she and I can go to an event sometime together since she is a pro at them!

Anyway, I thought to myself "Shelley when Robin blogs about getting a gift in the mail she talks about savoring all of it.....so don't rip it open yet!"

I waited and when I got home went as slow as I could. I think I got through it in 5 seconds none the less!

At this point my eyes were crossing at all the cool things she had made so special.

I noticed all the special touches with the "Go Red" logos and all the cute bees. Then I dug a little deeper and found......

this amazing heart collage that had a tiny bee, buttons, flowers and heart reminders! Renee made this special for all my post I made related to my heart condition and my "Go Red" post! I love it and hung it on my cross wall close to one of my other favorite heart collages from Robin! So special for someone to think of me and go to all the effort to put all this together! I love you Renee!

Renee and Wendy Addison at ME.

It has found a special home in my home:)

I found a 1930's dress form in OKLAHOMA!!!!

2010-05-19T16:39:00.000-07:00

Ok most anyone knows from their American history classes that Oklahoma is a fairly new state by comparison. We were Indian territory so long. (I am a little bit of a few tribes according to my grandparents:) So my point is, we do not have all the really old amazing antiques you can find in a lot of other areas of our great country. I have found an amazing antique store in Bethany, Ok that is quite the contrary though. It is Norma Jeans!!!

I wanted a hard to come by dress form and she was my gal. When I asked her about it, she ran home and came back with two of them. I fell in love with one of them and snatched her up right away. She has a beautiful hand made wooden post and base too!

I love visiting antique stores when I get a chance while in different states because of all the history you can learn about that area. (I love visiting the ones in Colorado. They let you relive people's history of such a difficult life trying to survive in the mountains.)

Anyway, I being "Honey Lamb and I" (a line from our state song OKLAHOMA) found an amazing old bee hive that stands two feet tall. It is to be put in a garden as a dome for bees to make a hive! I had to have it and D'Ann gave it to me for 20% off!!

I also found some other great buys with old Barbie paper dolls, china dolls, and breakfast tray.

I had a great time with Norma Jean, her daughter and D'Ann. My mom found some great buys too. They were so sweet with my busy little girl roaming and having to touch EVERYTHING she saw while making me a nervous wreck!

Holly told me that I had to name my new dress form and so I did....... Juliet

Jewelry - obsession number 1,943,262 for Shelley

2010-05-15T14:58:00.000-07:00

Why can't I do a project and be like "no I hate doing this and I will never do it again!!" ?

Since I made the bracelet at ME a few weeks ago, I just want to keep cranking them out. I bought a few from Kaari while we were there and have put one together. I hinted to Ryan that they had a monthly club at French General where they would send me three new pieces to make a month. Being the sweetheart he is, he got me a gift card to do just that for mother's day!

It is so fun! Holly and I have made plans to spend some of our summer with kids playing and us making some baubles!!!

It was a little intimidating at this point. I was nervous I was going to break one of the glass beads.

But it all worked out......

Go Red luncheon!

2010-05-14T13:47:00.000-07:00

Go Red!

This is the 3rd Go Red luncheon for me to attend. I actually was one of the speakers at the luncheon a few years back. I wanted to run up there and grab the mic to tell my story again this time!! (ok this is the part where my life long friends nod off because they have heard it all many times before!!!) Anyway, I had a heart attack coming up on 3 years in July. I had just finished a sprint triathlon and 5 hours later had the attack! I have a really funny story about the whole episode. I have spoken to different groups, the go red luncheon, a spread in Distinctly Oklahoma Magazine, a local tv station interviewed me on set about my story, and I have been flown to D.C. this year to speak to our congressmen in their offices on Capitol Hill! Who would have thought my heart attack would give me so many opportunities to share about woman's number one killer!

(as usual I have bad quality pics)

This is Anna Miss Oklahoma International. She was super sweet and she and her mom sat at our table.

I was really glad that Holly and Leslie both got to come to the luncheon.