Once Again Time Moved On Without Me

March 4, 2021 - already? The last thing I remember is it being Valentine's weekend. Then the Polar Vortex came through the state of Texas! 

We lost power, had to boil our water, cook around small pockets of time when we did have electricity. Slept all bundled up with layers of blankets over our heads in hopes of staying warm. 

Remember my posts a few weeks back when I was discussing survival tips and what you would do when the need arose? Well, we had to reach into that bag of tricks and use a few of those tips I shared with you. They were our saving grace…

Flashlights twinkling through the house when the sun and the light should have been shining brightly. (Thank goodness I had batteries!)

Playing dice at the kitchen table with our youngest daughter and her husband by the twinkling of the same flashlights. What an experience it was...

I couldn't finish the Ultimate Blog Challenge as I had set out to do on February 1st. I'm bummed about that just a little bit...there will be others I'm sure. I'm not sweating it...

A few months back I was told about a small Boutique in a town near where I live. It's called The Hangout Gift Shop & More. They have unique, handmade things in there for sale. I told the individual who had told me about it I would check it out...time-lapsed and I just recently was able to swing by with a friend of mine, Glenda Cates of The Mommies Review.  I met the owner and asked a few questions. We looked around and we left.

Since my initial visit, I have been tossing around if I wanted to commit to doing something like once again. You see, I have tried my hands at Craft Shows and honestly, it's more trouble and more money out of my pocket than I earned at the show. I have sold more of my crafty creations by word of mouth than I did at these craft shows. Should I commit or should I not? That is the question at hand. 

I told my daughter about the opportunity and she said, 'do what you want mom - I know you enjoy crafting". Still tossing the possibility around I buzzed my daughter on Tuesday of this week and asked her if she would go with me to check out the shop. I wanted her to see what I was considering...she obliged me and tagged along. Well, she drove us since she has the car seat in her car for my grandson! LOL

Visiting with the Owner again, I decided that I would place a few things in The Hangout. We left. As soon as I got home, my mind was going all over the place...I can make this, I can make that. I need to do this, and I need to do that! Oh yea, did I say this would even play into my blogging journey? Just think about all the other vendors in that little shop I could do shoutouts for!!! 

I'm so glad my crafting mojo has finally begun to make me happy again...it's been two years of hard-fought tears of trying to find my happy place again with it. Why you ask? LIFE. Marriage. STUFF! Thank goodness I know about Self-care, Coping Tools, and enough gumption to push through it all. Prayer also helped me muddle through the daily ups and downs with time moving on without me. 

This week, I have started another album. I am going to make five of these from different paper themes. I will also make a few legal pad holders, some Mother's Day Loaded Envelopes and a few other goodies. I will blog about this experience as I walk through it...I'm excited about that, to say the least. Who knows, one of these days I may even venture out and do a few videos of my own. It's not like I haven't been asked to do them... :-)

Since I started blogging in January 2020, I have been trying to juggle the nuances of the ins and outs of blogging. Some of that has been trying to find my niche and being comfortable with it. If you have followed my blogs any over the course of the last year, you will see I write about Crafting, Genealogy, In the Kitchen, Life's Journey, Reviews, and from to time a Give-A Way. 

I would be lying if I said it has come easy to me. It hasn't. I constantly question if I'm sharing topics that others find interesting or if they are just for my own personal gain. You know, CONFIDENCE building!!!?? I'm sure I have many flaws in my writings and the way I do things, but these are my thoughts, and I can only do me. So, I will stay in the arena that I have lived experiences with and expertise. Thank you for rooting me on...I appreciate it VERY much!!! I enjoy reading all the comments that are left on my blog posts. Do you ever see my responses when I reply to them? 

I am going to be juggling time to get these creations made in between watching the little guy for my daughter, and days that my health seems to be acting up. This week has been the norm for sure. Here we are on Thursday and I've had three horrific days of low energy. Thank you, Thyroid Disease, - for me being told the latter part of 2013 that Thyroid Cancer would be the easiest to live with, it has NOT been in any way shape, or form. I had surgery for cancer in January of 2014 and here we are in March of 2021. Still, I live with the challenges of the disease daily. UGH....anyway. 

I need to get off here as the little guy will be coming over soon. (It's my day to watch him while my daughter edits weddings). She is a professional Wedding Photographer. I have a new album sitting on my desk that I started yesterday. I'm still in the early stages of it...but here is a sneak peek. 

I refuse to let time move on without me today...how about you? What does your day look like? 

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Crafting and Junk Journal Pages - day 14 UBC

It's day 14 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. Today is also Valentine's Day...with the family visiting, we put a pot of chili on the stove and I made a batch of cornbread in one of our cast iron skillets. 

Our youngest grandson turned 1 on Friday. We had his "Out of This World" birthday party on Saturday. It was freezing cold outside and today, we have snow. It's still coming down. 

Snow is a rare thing in the Dallas/Ft Worth, Texas area. We normally get the massive ice storms...I'll take snow any day though over the ice. The kids took the little guy out to experience the snow for the first time. He wasn't sure about it...they had him all bundled up his nice, thick coat, stocking hat, gloves made out of socks. They only lasted about 5-7 minutes. My son-in-law told my husband, "I don't see how you played in the snow for hours on end back in the day". LOL - - we all laughed and he and I both said, "We just did"...

After sitting with my grandson, a bit ago while he ate, I snuck off to my crafting room to get some crafting time in for a few minutes and write up today's blog for the Challenge. 

Looking around my room, thinking to myself if I wanted to craft or look at my family tree, I remembered that the current Junk Journal (JJ) that I have been working on now since Christmas was setting on the back desk. Two weeks ago, I got tired of seeing everything out in my room, so I put things away that I had been using. A tub of scrap ribbons. A tub of vintage embellishments. A tub of bling and pearls. A tub of lace and trims. A box of assorted napkins. Get the picture? These things were all over my room near my desk. I get a kick out of my husband when he comes into my space...his first comment is, 'where's the floor"?! I just laugh. 

I'm almost finished with this Junk Journal. But for some weird reason, the last signature always takes me forever...for those of you who craft, do you have that trouble? 

Looking through the pages I have already completed, I saw a few things I want to go back and add a thing or two here and there, but I'll do that once I finish the last signature. I also need to figure out the closure and complete the cover. My journal is thicker than I intended it to be, so another closure is going to have to be added. I have a few ideas swirling around in my thoughts. 

I just finished this page...there is no rhyme or reason to it...just a painted page with what little paint I had left on the plate. Do you see a flower? An apple? I found this to be inspirational to me, so I added the word, "INSPIRE". If the recipient wanted to journal on this page, there is still room for them to do so. 

I hear my grandson coming down the hall looking for Nonnie. He loves Nonnie's craft room. I don't let him in here much though because there are too many things that don't mix with small, curious hands. When he does come in here, I usually set things to the side and put him on my lap. We draw his hands...I have been doing this since he was a few days old. I have a year's worth of his little hands. (They are going to be a gift for his mommy one of these days...another project for another day). I always draw them right around the day he was born each month. A few of them, I have traced my hands too around his little hands. I think it would be neat for his mom to get in on the project, but she is never too keen on my ideas...LOL - guess that's why I'm the creative one in the family! <3

My handsome would like my attention, so I'm going to go for now...until tomorrow. 

What has been your inspiration today? 

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Ten Things of Thankfulness - October 9, 2020

 Today is Ten Things of Thankfulness...where to start? 

 

Number 10 - I am thankful for nature's beauty. The trees, the countryside, the animals grazing in the fields. The feathered birds in the sky. The leaves changing colors in the timber. 

Number 9 - I am thankful for another day of life. Each breath is a blessing from my Heavenly Father above. 

Number 8 - I am thankful for my family. This time last year, I was amid going through a divorce...BUT God! It has not been an easy year since, but we are making progress. Hopefully...

There are too many years invested to toss it away like a piece of trash. (That's how I felt last year...tossed out like a piece of crumpled up trash.) Rebuilding trust with another human being that was shattered by choices made is not an easy feat. Daily, I ask God to heal my hurts and to restore my love for the man I have been married to for nearly 22 years. I also ask God to teach me how to forgive and learn how to trust again...

Number 7 - I am thankful for the rest of my family. Children, grandchildren, siblings, and cousins. I will have the opportunity of meeting several new cousins along our journey to Illinois. We are currently traveling from Texas.  My husband is from there. He and his sister are the only ones left in his immediate family. His younger sister died on his birthday in 2010 from Bone Cancer. It was fast and furious...her suffering was short-lived. For that, we are thankful but losing her was and still is hard at times for the loved ones left behind. Rest in Peace Darlene...

 

Number 6 - I am thankful for my wrinkly hands. For as long as I can remember, I recall my mom saying, 'she didn't want to get old because she didn't want to have wrinkly hands'. As many of you know, we lost mom in February 2020 just before COVID hit.... her cancer had returned. Like my husband's baby sister, mom's recurring cancer was fast, and it was like fire through her body. Only this time, instead of it manifesting in the areas where it was before - it began eating away at her neck and on her face. She did not last long after the doctors told us they recommended radiation or chemotherapy. We decided as a whole, not to have mom go through the agony of those treatments...she was ready to be with dad. 

As I gaze at my hands. They have become withered looking. Wrinkly...a tear falls down my face. I miss you mom and guess what, I have wrinkly hands. They are not soft like yours were. They have the feel of hard years lived. Regardless of how much lotion I use. 

Number 5 - I am thankful for HOPE. Without it, we have nothing. I walk, talk, live, and breathe HOPE daily. 

Number 4 - I am thankful for being able to complete 8 out of my 15 Memory Albums project I am currently working on. Here is a sneak peek of a few pages from the latest one. This one was requested and purchased. 

Number 3 - I am thankful for a good night's sleep. I have not been sleeping well lately and am waiting on the Pulmonologist to determine the 'why's. I am off to bed after I publish this post...

Number 2 - I am thankful for each of you and your kind words when you take the time to read my posts and drop me a comment or two. 

Number 1 - I am thankful for Dyanne. She is the one who invited me to Ten Things of Thankfulness a few months back. I am going to have the opportunity of meeting her face to face when we go through Springfield, MO on Saturday. I am so excited to have this opportunity. Can you tell? 

Now that I have named my ten things I am thankful for this week, have you come up with ten things too? If so, let me hear from you...if not - surely you can find at least one thing you are thankful for. 

Until next week...

Good night.

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"Falling" into Place

October 1, 2020

The Ultimate Blog Challenge

Fall is upon us...with that said, I feel like I have been "falling" behind on so many things lately. I have literally taken the last two months to step back and re-evaluate life and figure out how I am going to "fall" into what it is I am destined to do with my life.

Just when I thought I had it all figured out - my health got in the way yet again. I spent most of my day today at several different doctor's appointments. Now, I am sitting at my crafting desk working on one of my 15 albums that I am creating by the first of November. I have three completed and 2 shells put together. I suppose they will all fall into place if I continue to set time aside each day without burning the midnight oil to work on them.

Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. I love the aromas in the air during this time of the year. Although, my asthma and I do not see eye to eye on most of them. Things like cinnamon pinecones, fireplaces, and pumpkin spice seem to cause me to hold my breath at the first smell of them. Staying indoors when I smell campfires or even the occasional fireplaces burning in the distance. Nonetheless, I love Fall.

I am determined to participate in the UBC Challenge this month as I skipped the last one. In fact, I have skipped many things lately. Tsk, tsk, tsk

We are planning a vacation very soon. We will be making a trip up to Illinois to visit my husband's family. I hope to see the massive bucks around the lakes and corn growing tall. I will also be meeting new friends and family I have met along the way in my 'walking with the ancestors' too. For that, I am very thankful. I have made many new friendships and am looking forward to meeting them face to face - even with COVID 19 still in place. Is this ever going to go away? I sure hope it 'falls' to the wayside soon. I am saddened that it has taken a toll on so many lives and businesses. It does make my heart sad even still today.

As for 2020, I hope it falls in the category of lessons learned, and in 2021 - we all have new beginnings. That is still to be determined.

I am going to enjoy Fall and continue putting things in place in life, in my crafting creations, and in my heart. I am going to let things fall off my shoulders that I have been carrying now for some time. Especially the things I cannot change. I am not getting any younger and these burdens I am carrying are beginning to take a toll on my health. It is time to lay them all down once and for a while and walk away...

Falling into place. Piece by piece...

Here is a sneak peek of several pages in one of the albums I recently finished. It is one of the 15 I mentioned above.

Fall - are you into fall or are you just falling? 

Heart to Heart Soul Creations
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day 25 Color of the Day is Fuchsia

We are almost to the end of June and that means we are on the home stretch in the Color of the Day Challenge. Today's color is Fuchsia. 

Did you know that Fuchsia was a purplish red color? I did not. I always thought it was pink! 

According to the World Wide Web, Fuchsia  - pronounced (/ˈfjuːʃə/, FEW-shə) is a vivid purplish-red color, named after the color of the flower of the fuchsia plant, which was named so by a botanist, Charles Plumier after the 16th-century German botanist Leonhart Fuchs.

I have crafted many things in Fuchsia. I find it to be a very pretty color even though I always thought it was pink. 

Meet my BFF. I created this scrapbook layout for her several years ago. Her favorite color is pink, but this paper had more Fuchsia tones than pink. 

Here is a picture of another layout I did on Friendship. The colors were Fuchsia.

I have made Christmas Tree Toppers that have had a color like Fuchsia. I always thought it was hot pink! I suppose it could fall into the color wheel of Fuchsia. What do you think? Yes or no?  

I enjoy making handmade envelopes. I found one that I made for Christmas several years ago. Purplish-red, I think this fall into those parameters. 

Several years ago, I inherited a few things from an Aunt. I had no idea she crafted. Among the many crafting supplies, I received - this beauty was in there. It is called a Collage Mat. There were some in an Asian theme, one in Vintage Notes and Postcards, then there was this one pictured. Is it not just beautiful? Look at those flowers! I used this in a Junk Journal I made for a particularly good friend. 

Loaded Envelopes are one of my most favorite things to craft. I found one that has purplish-red paper used. I embellished it with the flowers and ribbon in the purplish-red colors. This Loaded Envelope was my favorite. I have made many in a variety of themes. Some of those have been for Mother's Day, Teach of the Year, Graduation, Father's Day, Businesses, Birthday's, Just Because, and Christmas. They are a blast to make and even more fun to fill up with special goodies for the recipient. 

Purplish red is the Color of the Day. It is called, Fuchsia. Do you have anything in this color? If so, tell me what it is. 

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day 23 Color of the Day is Teal

Teal is today's prompt in the Color of the Day Challenge hosted by The Mommies Review/Glenda Cates.

Teal is a combination of green and blue or is it blue and green? I suppose that depends on who you pose the question to. As a crafter when I think of Teal - I usually lean more towards the blue tones. But when I go shopping for Teal paper - -I find it is not easy to locate.

When my daughter got married in 2016, her colors were Teal, Purple, Burgundy, and Midnight Blue. The colors were beautiful together. The Reception Hall looked gorgeous with all these colors popping. This is how the tables were decorated. With pops of Teal, Blues, and Purples with the Cream in Vases. They were beautiful.  

Before the wedding, when she was getting all prettied up, we wore Flannel Shirts. They were in various colors coordinating with her color scheme of the wedding. Here is what ours looked like. I wore the Teal and she wore the Blue. 

TTeal is a very pretty color. My mom's wedding dress (her 2nd marriage) was Teal. 

When I went to visit my grandson today, he was even wearing a Teal Onesie...maybe he got the memo that today's Color of the Day was Teal! laughing out loud...

Teal is a pretty color. Looking around my craft room, I see pops of Teal all over the place. Several of my tubs have lids that are Teal. The cover of the last Glue Book I made has Teal all over it. As you can see - both items look blue, but they are really bluish/green. I made this Glue Book for the Self-Love Challenge I participated in. 

Earlier today (as I am finishing up this blog at 9:30 p.m.) my nephew had driven in from Amarillo, Texas for a doctor's appointment. He and his family had stopped by to drop off a few things that were my mom's that my sister had boxed up after mom died. When they left, I did not look in the two boxes immediately as I needed to go over and watch my grandson for a little bit while his mom worked. When I returned home, I sat on the couch and opened the two boxes. Inside of them were many different memories and things I had made mom throughout the years. Among them were these craft items (in Teal). 

As I continued to look through the box of memories, I found a card that I had sent my mom several years ago. It was Teal...

Looking even further, I found many of mom's coloring pages she had colored over the last few years. Funny thing is none of us knew she colored until about 3 years ago. As I looked through the different pages, I found this one...

I found many beautiful things today in Teal. These memories are priceless to me and I will treasure them forever. As you can imagine, the tears began to flow down my face as I looked through both boxes. I laughed at a few things, cried on many others as I held them close to my heart. Mom is here safely with me now...I have her sitting on the Hutch that I inherited from her many, many years ago. In just a few days, it will be four months since she left this earth. There are days I want to reach for the phone just to say hi and realize I cannot. I now have all these precious memories that I will treasure until I take my last breath. In the meantime, I am going to put many of these memories into a shadow box so my children and grandchildren will know who their Gammy was. The rest of the memories will find their way into Journals or Scrapbooks. 

In memory of Mom...

Now that I have shared several different items in Teal, what do you have in the color? Have you ever crafted anything in Teal? Do you have clothes in this color? 

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Day 18 The Color of the Day is Brown

It is day 18 in the Color of the Day Challenge and the color is Brown. The first thing that comes to mind is the book called, Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? Caiden, my grandson received one of these books at his baby shower. He is getting quite a library at his young age. Just today, he received a box of new books for his little library. Haaa, even the box the books came in was brown! 

Brown...cows are brown. Cats are brown. Dogs are brown. Chocolate Milk is brown. My husband loves Nesquick. I think he has a glass every night. 

I have crafted a few things in brown. The last brown thing I created was a SteamPunk Junk Journal. It was for my son. I had fun making it. There were tidbits from his childhood in it. Just random things I had put up that he gathered through the years. Junk Journals...there is no right or wrong. They are so much fun to make! 

Brown...that's the color for the day. My hair looks black, but it's actually very dark brown. The same goes for my eyes too. They are brown. 

I have altered brown paper sacks. It looked like this. 

I have also made brown layered embellishments before. They were fun to make. 

Brown, brown, brown...that is the Color of the Day! 

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