Hello, family!  I hope all's well in blogland!  OMG, do I have a bit to say so I'm going to try to make it as short as possible!

Being busy with my kitchen remodel, I have squeezed in some blogland visiting and have been so impressed with your projects!  I apologize for not reaching all of you yet but I'm trying to get to as many as fast as I can with everything going on -- thanks so much for your patience and support!

I've got new followers!!!  Every now and then I glance over at all the beautiful faces of my followers, and I noticed I have several more!  Thank you ladies for becoming members of my family circle and welcome!  I know we all love having you!  Google Friends hasn't noted where I can find you so please comment letting me know where I can visit or email you.

I also noticed I'm only 32 away from 500 followers -- WOW!  My time here has flown, doesn't seem I've been around for a couple of years now!  Anyway, to kind of scoot things along to getting to the 500 followers mark, I'm preparing a giveaway as incentive  to reaching that goal!  I'll  have all the info ready to post by the time things begin to settle down with the family and work going on around here in another week or so. Be on the lookout for that ! I'll have something I think you'll be very pleased with!  In the meantime, thank you so much for being here for me, I appreciate it, love you all, and I've enjoyed every minute!!!  I don't plan on going anywhere, so the more family-friends, the merrier!!!

As far as the remodel, all I want to say is  I promise I'll never-ever take on another task like this again in my life -- nor can I remember ever shedding so many tears!!!  I'm not a cry-baby but this has all been more than I bargained for taking on.  Had I known this would be such a stress involved project, I would have lived with my ugly-old kitchen!!!  I'll have pictures soon for you to see.

Finally, my share project!  A couple of years ago when I visited the CHA craftshow portion of the JFA here in Chicago, I found and purchased several dichronic and other assorted pendant pieces to use for making jewelry.  Later I found some beads at Walmart which matched these pendants perfectly to do matching earrings.  So, while just sitting here watching/monitoring the workmen, I worked on some jewelry sets for Christmas presents.   I wanted the jewelry to be incorporated into Christmas cards as I thought it would be a nice way of presenting them -- as present and card in one neat package.  Here're the unfinished gatefold card covers for my jewelry sets:

 

 

 

Here are the pendants and earrings on the inside of the cards:

 

 

 

Don't the earring beads match those pendants just perfectly?!!!  Because I don't yet know who will be getting these sets of jewelry, I haven't yet completed the card fronts, and I'll later add a Christmas saying to one of the inside panels of the cards.  So, if the cards look a bit plain this is the reason for that.  I plan on doing several sets of jewelry for family and friends, and here are some other beads I had around I'll be using for jewelry sets -- all purchased at Walmart:

Aren't these pretty?!   Soon I'll have more sets to share with you.  My sets came together really quick.  I started and completed both sets yesterday in a couple of hours.  It was such fun and just the break I needed!!!

Well, I've got to go for now.  Got some dusting and vacuuming to do so this stuff doesn't overwhelm me with the continuous work going on; it goes and settles everywhere, and just makes me sick having to breathe it all in.  I'll be back though as soon as I can, and keep those wonderful projects going!  Whether I've visited you or not, I have seen everyone's projects on my Reading List!  Thank god for that...lol!!!

Hugs, and I'll be seeing you!

A PRETTY LITTLE SOAP POCKET

Happy Friday, everyone!!!  Hope all's well in blogland!

Being so caught up in my kitchen-remodel, I'd actually forgotten until last night that it's my turn as DT designer over at Pam's today.  But first let me give you an update on the remodel -- THE WORK BEGINS TODAY!!!   We finally purchased everything needed, cleared out the kitchen, and now the real work starts!!!  YEAH!!!  I've survived so far although it hasn't been easy -- and it ain't over yet!!!  LOL!  Soon now I'll have before and after pictures to post for you to see.

Realizing at the last minute I had to have a project today, I had to come up with something really fast and easy, so I decided on a little ribbon pocket to hold a bar of soap. This one came out so cute I think I'm going to make a bunch of these to have around for unexpected Christmas presents.  Here are pictures of the pocket closed and open:

 

 

 

 

The ribbon I used for this project was 4 inches wide (to accommodate the soap bar).  I purchased it at Cosco's and it's a wired ribbon.  It is a beige and creme color ribbon with a suede texture, and the back side is like a gold satin -- very pretty.  I embellished it with a satin leaf, creme bow, flowers, accented around the edges of the pocket with bling mesh, and I added a polymer clay cherubs embellie that I molded some time ago and found in my stash to add to the cover-flap.  I painted the cherubs gold, and accented it and the flowers with gold Stickles.  The pretty soap bar comes in a pack of 3 and  I purchased them from a Tuesday Morning store -- they smell marvelous!

This pocket is certainly nothing new, is very simple, and probably doesn't require a tutorial but I'm going to explain and show you how I did it anyway -- just in case!

Without cutting the ribbon, I started by measuring out enough ribbon from the spool to cover the soap forming a pocket , leaving about a 1/4" allowance to fold a hem into the bottom; this will hide the raw edge opening of the pocket when folded over to encase the soap bar.  Pictures below are side and top views of pocket fold:

 Next I measured and cut off enough ribbon from the spool  to form the cover-flap, this time leaving a 1/2" allowance to fold 1/4th inch and double-fold another 1/4th inch to form a hem -- again to hide the raw edge.  Here are pictures of the first and then double fold:

 

Last, I hot glued down the hem folds and the side-edge folds forming the pockets, and cleaned up the pocket by cutting away any loose glue and/or ribbon strings:

 

 

NOTE: I do not remove the wire from this ribbon as it helps to maintain closure of the top flap; however, you can remove the wire and use your own desire closure.

 

 

Now how easy is that!!!

I hope my little project inspires you to do quick presents when needed too!  It can be sized to fit and hold any size gift as long as the ribbon is long and/or wide enough.  I'm also going to do several of these to hold hand sanitizers too!  We all need them, right?

Well, gotta run -- still really busy (and watchful!  The workers are still strangers in my home).  But thanks so much for stopping by and, I hope to get around to visiting with you all soon!

Love ya, and I'll be seeing you!

REACHING OUT TO TOUCH... (A PROJECT TOO)

Good day, family-friends.  I hope all is well in blogland.

Considering how things are going, I haven't had time to get around to visiting all of you and/or visit with any consistency; therefore, this post is mainly to  reach out to each and everyone of you saying hello, and to let you know I'm thinking of you; particularly those of you I haven't reached yet.

Update, the kitchen-remodel is one I wish we hadn't began!  We've had to move up the work date and delivery dates by a couple of days because I did not anticipate how much preparation time it would take before the work could start.  I am still packing and trying to find places to store things I'm determining to keep, and I still have to decide on and purchase flooring and wall tiles.  Between praying, crying, and expelling a few choice words I wouldn't normally use, I'm a wreck!!!  Disregarding my bathrooms, my kitchen is one of the smallest rooms in my home and I can't imagine I've packed sooooo much stuff in one teeny-tiny space  and causing me so much frustration!

An example of how bad things are going, the other night I was so tired I broke down and literally threw a tantrum accusing my hubby of this all being his fault.  Thank GOD he laughed at and overlooked me.  What a great stress-reliever that was because I ended up laughing at myself too.  Unfortunately, my son didn't think it was so funny when he came to help and I got "snippy" with him; but, of course, he understood and has forgiven me.  Seriously, this is turning me into a maniac!!!  I'm not liking myself very much right now.

In the meantime -- and between --  I completed a project to share (aaaah, my crafting -- another stress reliever).  This project came about when I saw my aunt's address/phonebook  which was small, so worn she could hardly read it, and was held together by rubber bands.  Of course to me that meant making her a new one.  Here it is:

I added a page on the inside that shows all her emergency numbers (I did not picture this page as, understandably, it's completed with the names and numbers), and alpha-tab pages for her to add her own additional information, and a page to write notes.  Here are pictures of the inside pages:

 

 

 

I even made the last back page to match:

I did all the pages in WordPerfect.  As quick and easy as it was, I'm so pleased with how it turned out -- but a problem is that she'll be as pleased and won't want to use it!!!  LOL!!!  Knowing her, she'll want to wrap it in tissue and only pull it out for "show"!!!  Maybe I should start on a plain and ordinary one she'll actually use, huh?  LOL!

Again, I know I'm behind on visiting and commenting but, unfortunately, it's not going to be any better until my work is done. So, please hang in here with me as you've always done -- oh yea, say a little prayer for me too... LOL!!!

Well, I'm off  again.  Still got packing and shopping to do, so I'll be back when I can.  Hugs and love to you all, and...

Thanks for stopping by.  I'll be seeing you!

SWAN GIFT BOX TUTORIAL (WITH CUT FILES)

Hello, family!  I am doing well -- just haven't been around the last few days because I'm really busy getting everything in order for my kitchen remodel.  I can honestly say this isn't  fun! I'm still searching for/deciding on the right accessories and trying to determine what to get rid of (when I  want to keep everything I don't need or have room for).  Then there's trying to find additional space to place kitchen items outside the kitchen before work begins next week.  However tiring this is, it's the excitement of the outcome that's keeping me going... lol!!!

Before I get started I want to say hi, and welcome, to Misty and Angie for becoming new members of our family by following me.  We're glad to have you both and look forward to getting acquainted!

Well it's that time of the month again where today I am the DT "Sassy" designer over at Sheila's.  So if you missed me there, I'm always here to share with you.  My DT project is a swan gift box:

 

I used my swan box as a towel holder and topper to a box of soap roses but, of course, it can be used separately for other small gifts.  I made the cutfile for this box using the Art Noveau and George cartridges (required for cutting files), and I've provided the .cut and gypsy file downloads at the end of this post below, if you're interested.

 

With that said, I began by cutting out the file:

 

 

Once cut, there is the box and 2 wings:

 

 

Please excuse my lines not being straight, however I wanted to provide you a picture schematic of the box folds which are indicated by the black lines:

 

 

These pictures show how the tabs (1) and swans (2) folds will look when bone folded:

 

                                                                                1

 

                                                                                 2

 

Now it's time to glue the box together by gluing the side tabs on each end to the inside body of the swans:

 

 

Once glued, the box will look like the first picture below and the next picture will show where to place the wings (I used pop dots on my box so that the wings would have a 3-D effect):

 

 

The box is now basically done -- just needs to be decorated and filled as desired!

 

For my box, I glued the heads on each side of the box together, and the tails, to give it the look of being one swan; for texture and to give the appearance of feathers, I added dimensional paint.  I finished the effects by adding eyes and highlighting the box with Stickles. Click on the picture for a close-up of these effects: 

 

 

 

My final embellishing was to add a ribbon bow and silk roses at the bottom of the box to complement the rose soaps

 

I hope you like my project, and that you'll have as much fun as I did putting yours together!!!  Now, don't forget to grab your cut file below!  LOL!!!

 

As always, thank you so much for stopping by, hugs, and...

 

I'll be seeing you!

 

 

Project Cut Files:

 

http://dc592.4shared.com/download/q6V8eS5L/swan_boxx.cut

 

http://dc592.4shared.com/download/sEM2FnO8/swan_boxx.gypsy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DARN GARLIC JAR!!!

Hello, and happy Labor Day!!!  Hope you're enjoying your holiday weekend!

I've had several things going on and must admit I fell behind in visiting; however, earlier this morning -- and later -- I've been working at catching up!  Between family matters and finally trying to get everything coordinated with getting my kitchen remodeled has taken up much of my time.  LOL... seems my life these days is one thing after another, but thank God it's all okay!!!

Of course the other day I spent an entire day trying to reach my families in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Alabama to make certain they were okay and not affected by Isaac; fortunately, everyone is fine and had little or no damage.  The hubby has family in Mississippi, so we were really busy on the phone.  What made it a bit difficult was that some of my elder family don't have cell phones and land lines were down; we finally got around to getting info on everyone.  I've also sent out many prayers to anyone/everyone affected by this horrible storm that's still travelling.

A while ago, we decided to re-do and update our ugly ole kitchen, so we've finally gotten 2 of the work groups together and have one more guy to  get in on schedule.  Finally made a decision on and purchased our appliances which I'm soooo excited about because I decided on a stove with double convection ovens and a convection overhead microwave!!!  The refrigerator is European style with pull-out drawers -- love it!!!  If we can get the guy scheduled who's putting in the counter tops on time, it should be all done in a little over a month -- it will take about 4 weeks for our cabinets to be made.  In that time, we still have to pick out our flooring, wall tile for the back splash, and a new back door.  Now what I'm not looking forward to is all the work getting rid of over 25 years worth of god knows what packed up and needless stuff thrown out before the guys come in to do the floors and walls.  So I'll probably be in and out the neighborhood less frequently the next few weeks -- but I will be checking in and as often as I can and I will be squeezing in a few projects (will be using crafting as a tension reliever...lol); probably will get more behind to but just bare with me, I'll get to you!  And in a month or so I'll have pictures to share of my beautiful new kitchen!!! 

I did manage to squeeze in a little project for today!  It's an altered minced garlic jar!  I don't think I'll ever do one again using a garlic jar because it was totally disasterous and time-consuming just trying to get rid of the smell!!!  After hours of working at it with several products -- alcohol, bleach, lemon juice, etc. -- I finally got rid of the odor and I'm very satisfied with how it turned out:

Click to enlarge

 

I spray painted the lid of the jar and a $1 store candlestick with gold metallic paint; added lace, flowers, and of course some bling to the jar, along with a  ploymer clay Nefertiti embellie I made a while ago using a mold.  Other than cleaning the jar, this was a fun and pretty fast project to complete.  Here is a picture with the lid removed:

 

 

I think I'm going to do a bunch of these for Christmas presents and fill them with different things like little soaps, bath powders and salts, candy and anything else I can think of.  I hope you like it!

 

Well, I'm off and running again!  Going out to look at some flooring, so I'll be back as time permits but...

 

I'll be seeing you!