Crafter's ADD

I'm wondering if you ever feel like you are a hopeless case. Do you wonder why on earth your husband still loves you, and why your friends haven't commited you yet? I am now convinced that I'm going through some sort of mid life crisis. Let's call it pre-menopausal crazy(maybe). Or, perhaps I'm just a very obsessive person that must always have something to obsess about; kind of like the "stages" I spoke of before in THIS post.

Well, last week I went nuts with the fabric flowers. I think I made dinner once, and my poor husband has to walk around all of my "stuff" in this already crowded house. However, I find myself getting so excited about every new fun crafy thing I run across as I blog surf that I just want to try it all!!!

So, I hope you have seen all the flowers I have posted before. Here is a new one:



I'm so mad, because I made some more super cute ones that I sold and didn't take pictures of. :(

Then I went back to Hobby Lobby to get more fabric, but I just can't get it all done. Here comes the ADD.

Cut out shapes with new fabric



Cut out more with more fabric




Go to Hobby Lobby and cut out more




As you can see, still getting nowhere, well, maybe a little somewhere.



Find old clothes you never wear, pick some out for your thin friend and then dream about turning the rest into FLOWERS!



Take a break and go to TJ MAXX buy a skirt! (must have flowers)






Oh! Didn't that girl at Ruffles and Stuff have a super cute shirt she made? It was so simple, I bet I could make it! (even though I don't sew, but she makes me want to quit my job, move next door to her and sew ruffles all day!)
Let's try:





Not great pictures, and it isn't finished yet, but I knew it was my first try with a shirt I was willing to "play" with.

OH! But let's not forget the super adorable wreath I began to work on before Easter:



and please note that right in front of it there is wrap bracelet that I began before the wreath! And no, it isn't finished.

This is my work area:





The sewing machine has to go on the kitchen table, so when it is time to eat it all get's shoved somewhere or lands in ... where can I put all this??






Please remember I have at least 6 picture frames that need atention and the letters "CREATE" that I painted but have no where to go.

Mercy me, What IS wrong with me? Do I seriously need intervention? I want to send my boys camping for a week and get it all done. HA! Who am I kidding? Then I would have twice as many unfinished projects that I have found serfing in my "free time."

Need more retail therapy. Must but new $9.99 skirt at Ross which is right next to Hobby Lobby anyway.




What else can I say?
Finished flower pictures coming soon.. But don't hold your breath!

POTTERY BARN

I'm about to do something I have never done before. I'm going to link this post to a blog. I feel like such a big girl now. I hope it works!





OK,so here is the Pottery Barn Inspiration. Although, if you check out my earlier post when I made the oval plate, you will see that I made it first (inspired by other blog surfing) and then found the PB one. When I found it I decided to complete the look. I went searching for a rectangle plate, and found a $9 one at Wal-Mart.





Here is my cheapper version:



If I had a great camara it would look just as good!

At PB they are sold out. But I think they were about $50.
Mine were $16 (with the plate holders) plus the chalkboard paint which I have used for other stuff and will use again for other fun projects in the future.

Not Happy till May 1st

Anybody that knows me knows how much I HATE winter and cold weather. I probably am running a great risk in saying this but.. I even hate SNOw. Even though I have always loved Fall, I can hardly enjoy it anymore because it can only mean one thing: Winter is coming. This winter in particular just seemed colder, darker and longer. I have been "over it" since January. So, you can only imagine my joy and delight at the arrival of Spring weather. Oh, just the feeling of painting my toenails and wearing flip flops. A short sleeve shirt and, opening the windows!!!

Yesterday my son had his first soccer game of the season and I got burnt to a crisp (of course it was only one arm, or part of it rather, and half of my neck). Thank goodness that my friend Shay had sunblock and I put some on my flip flopped feet! Why didn't I put any anywhere else? Umm...
Yesterday afternoon I was actually giddy! So much so that I was up till 12:30 a.m. working on lunch for today and some pretty things in between as well of course.



These are my pretty flowers I wore this morning to church with my spring HOT pink short sleeve cardigan.




Here is my pretty banner that I made yesterday. Oh my goodness! Lessons of a newbie crafter: This is time consuming business! And these were just made with scrapbooking paper!



And another. Can't see much of it, but trust me, it is adorable!


Anyway... Even though I consider myself a very positive person, and most people would say I am, I just won't find myself settled in the joys of warm weather till May 1st. many people have heard me say it lately. "I will not be happy till May 1st." The reason why is because April seems to always be such an unpredictable month! I call it the teaser month. We have even had the "S" word  in April which in this part of the country should just be against the law. The law should be that, after the high temperature during the day reaches 80, (which it did this weekend) it should NEVER be colder than 50 during the night or day again.

So, even though I am basking in the warmth of this beautiful spring weather, I will have to brace myself now for what we in East Tennessee call "blackberry winter". Sigh...

But something seems to happen on May 1st. The cold switch just gets turned off, and on we go to the better things in life. Warmth, strawberries, watermelon, peaches, tomatoes, vitamin D and lots of sweat! If only I lived on the coast I could add sand between the toes on my list.

Welcome to SPRING and enjoy the NEW LIFE that God has offered us not just every Spring, not just every May 1st, but every day of our life.
Have a blessed day and a Great Resurrection Sunday!!!!

Potty Talk

Ladies, I'm sorry but this is just one of those things that I just HAVE to say. Please, this is really not vulgar, it is educational and it is a plea from me (and hopefully many other women) to you.

Let me set the record straight. You will not, and CAN NOT get a disease from sitting on a public toilet seat! I have heard this from a Doctor and confirmed it researching the Internet. What in the world is so disgusting about sharing a little thigh space with other women? Trust me, we do way more disgusting things throughout our day, unknowingly and knowingly perhaps.

There is a way you could get infected, I guess. (and I promise that this is as crude as I'm going to get). A nasty woman could come into the bathroom and rub "herself" all over the toilet seat, and then you could come in and rub "yourself" all over the toilet seat. That would be a problem, so, lets avoid that.

I'll tell you what is disgusting. Walking into a restroom and seeing your pee all over the toilet seat. Then, if I have a wipe I will go on to wiping off YOUR pee so that I can comfortably go to the bathroom. I am NOT interested at all in squatting. For three reasons.

 For one, we all know that our stream can be somewhat unpredictable, and no telling what direction it will be going in! I have actually peed on my pants and/or undies thanks to you, my dear squatter.

Reason number two, I have read that if you squat you are not able to empty your bladder completely which, can cause a UTI! Please consider THAT...

And third reason, I'm just lazy. I work out and run to get in shape, squatting anywhere other than at the gym or to pick up a heavy object is just not fair. I'm sorry!

Speaking of disgusting. If you have ever swam in a pool, taken a dip into the Ocean or, eeeeww, a LAKE? then you can share a little thigh space with the rest of us.

Finally, what I think is gross: is to squat, to come into the bathroom after you have squatted and have to wipe your pee off the toilet! So here is my plea! You know, you really don't have to agree with me. That is OK, even though I think I'm right. But do me a favor: If you still insist on squatting, since you aren't enjoying the modern luxury of a toilet seat anyway, please just grab a piece of toilet paper and RAISE the toilet seat UP. That way you can pee on the rim, floor, yourself, wherever and leave the seat clean for me!

Spring break creations

I began my week trying to redo this cabinet that I had painted back in August. I never did like the white, so decided to do something drastic. I asked my friend Edie to give me some advice. She said to paint it blue. Blue? Are you sure? So very reluctantly I decided to step out of my monochromatic comfort zone and go wild. When I got to Home Depot I fell in love with this color, it is called "Caribe". How can you not love a color with that name. Now I wanlk into my kitchen and smile at my CARIBE.
However, I must confess, I'm still not thrilled with it. I distressed it a little (you can't tell in the picture) but I still feel like it is missing something (that is why I bought those vinal thingis when I painted it white). Please feel free to give me some advice. And feel free to tell me that you hate my CARIBE.

OK. So here are a few other things that kept me intertained:







Much better with the button if you ask me!



This one will go on my pretty new pink spring swetter:



And this random one... who knows?




The week before Spring Break I worked on these that were from a Tutorial I found over at Crafty Sisters.




I'm working on something else real pretty, but it's not finished yet. And since it wasn't finished during Spring Break you will have to wait to see it.

Calling all Creative minds

I don't know if you are like me, but I go through stages. I sometimes think that I am crazy, or going crazy, or just way to insecure to settle on being myself. I do remember my mom going through stages like this, so I don't feel so bad, and I will assume that all (or at least most of) you have done the same. My mom went through the crosstitching stage, and the dog breeding and training to compete stage. Those just stick out in my mind, because they were when I was a teen, I'm sure there are many more, she had friends, there HAD to be more. I wish she were alive to tell them all. I may have to go ask her friends...

We like to be on top of it all, to be "in" with whatever your "in" crowd is doing. Really it all goes back to Keeping up with the Joneses. What happens to me though, is I just want to jump in, and I do, head first! Let me tell you about some of my stages. One was bread making. I was determined to make my own bread from scratch, with freshly ground whole wheat. I bought the mill, the mixer, the whole nine yards. My bread is delicious. I came up with my own recipe and I make, apple-cinnamon, and orange cranberry at Christmas time. Yummy. Isaac who is now 11, never had white bread till he was 3 or 4. The first time he tried it, he didn't like it and said with great surprise "MOM! This bread is WHITE!"

I tried the scrapbooking, but because I am just too much of a perfectionist and "non-creative" it was just too frustrating to me! I hated it and why was I spending so much time and money on something I hated so much?

I sold bread, I sold Pampered Chef and now I sell jewelry. So add on to that the new love of trying to be creative. I have decided that I am not as creative as most bloggers, but I am resourceful. I like the JUNKIN'. My husband makes fun of me. "I can't believe you WANT to go to the Flea Market. Two years ago you would have turned your nose up at all this stuff." Now, I try to look at everything with new eyes.

Yet, I am still a newbie!

So here is what I got Saturday:



the lovely tea pot is missing it's top. So it will have to be used as a vase. All three were $3





Mike sowed me these, thought they were so cool. He says they are insulators for electrical wires. However, what the heck am I going to do with those? $1 a piece


And what do you think of this crazy thing? I can't even decide if I like it. It was $1 so I figured I had nothing to loose (other than a dollar (it was a lamp as far as I can tell)









Today I went to Central Services and got these cuties:







What oh, what to do with these?!!

I also bought several picture frames. I'm lovin' the picture frames!

Any affirmation and advice will be much appreciated. Because right now I'm feeling like I just have a bunch of junk! $21 dollars worth of junk.

I hate getting old!

Yesterday in my attempt to keep up with my New Years Resolutions, I have started running again and have been working on losing weight. Of course when I was young I could lose 5 pounds the first week and 2 every week there after. But now days (sigh) it takes so much more than that! I have lost 6 ponds, but oh! my word. Good thing my motto this year is "Don't ever give up." Next year I will weigh something. It can be the same as now or it can be 30 pounds less. The year will still go on. I ran 3.25 miles in like 36 minutes (that, in case you don't know is very pathetic), but I gave it my all and increased my speed throughout the interval session, and payed for it dearly. My hip was hurting so bad after that I could hardly walk! And today I gave in and took some Advil to be able to walk like a dignified 40 year old woman.

Anyway, another thing that has me worried with age is my skin. I grew up on the coast of Chile (a country that sad enough is now on the map) and living among perpetual dark people makes you take drastic measures. So, I became a sun worshipper. My mom tried to warn me, but when you are a teenager, who listens to their mom anyway? I would lay out in the sun with the rest of my friends and while they tanned I burnt to a crisp, so bad indeed that my eyes would swell and I would look like an alligator for days, waking up in the morning with my bed full of dead skin. (If I had a scanner I would share a picture of my swollen eyes, too bad I don't have one "wink"). I have been wanting to go to the dermatologist for a long time now. And yesterday morning I said to myself "That's it" as I looked in the mirror and in horror saw something I had never seen before.



Do you see that?

I told my husband today my plight. "Mike I really think it's time for me to go get this checked out. What do you think? He smiled and said. "What I think is that you burnt yourself with the curling iron!" As I gasped and laughed at the same time I remembered "Oh yea, (inset blond moment here, or better yet, senile moment) it's all coming back to me now."

Getting old stinks!

The dermatologist will have to wait because a few months ago I lost my glasses and I can't pay for new ones because I'm a shopaholic.

Getting old (and fat) stinks!