Sunday, October 8, 2017
Time to Try Something New!
Once again, it had been a long time since I have blogged. I like to wait until I have something fun or worthwhile to share. In this case, I'm going back a few years, ok, a few times 10 to to my next story. When a was a child, my sisters and I took items to our local County Fair. We enjoyed making many different things and competing with other exhibitors. As I mentioned in earlier blogs, I'm an empty-nester looking for new and different things to challenge me. So, this year, I decided to compete once again. I decided to exhibit at the Wisconsin State Fair. I reviewed the categories and decided to take 5 different items. I'm taking 2 photography entries, a set of three handmade greeting cards, a holiday item and a mason jar centerpiece. If you're anything like me, you run into a creative block when you first start a project. There are so many things to choose from and for me, I have to narrow down an idea or I waste a lot of time. LOL I decided to visit our local flea market to secure some old looking mason jars. My first thought was I would put them in a wooden box and decorate around them. Success! I found 5 old mason jars and a nice and interesting wooden box. Now it's home to put things together. After fighting with the wooden box and wire grating that was attached to it, I decided tetanus was something I didn't want to give the judges. I headed to my local Hobby Lobby in search of something to hold the multiple mason jars I needed for the challenge. Fortunately, I was able to find a wire set of stacked luggages. This turned out to be the perfect base for my centerpiece. I then spray-painted the jars with a copper paint followed by an extremely durable lacquer. The copper color took me in the direction of fall so I dug out some old fall pics, purchased some new copper ribbon and mini cream pumpkins. I went to Michaels to find some fall florals and I found a some in an interesting teal color. The teal color was a nice accent to the copper of the jars. Now you might be thinking that I'm in the home stretch but, oh no, my work has just begun. Without exaggeration I must have rearranged these items 27 times! The hardest part was figuring out how to attach the jars so that they would not move during transportation. I ended up using an extremely strong two-sided tape and E6000. Well it took me much longer than expected but I'm really excited happy final product. Enjoy!
Thursday, September 3, 2015
TIME TO GNOME!
Once again, time flies!
I can't believe how long it has been since I've blogged! It looks like it has been two years! I was introduced to the Periscope app. within the last two weeks and I'm loving it! I met a broadcaster named Scott from Taking the Florida Plunge. He was doing a broadcast called #ScopeForGood. It was all about "paying it forward". I liked the idea a lot and decided to piggyback off of the good he was doing.
Now for my take on the idea. Last year, I gave each of my three children a gnome for Christmas. They were to compete against each other in several different categories like most creative picture with the gnome, best photobomb with the gnome, best short video with the gnome, etc. (I'm anxiously waiting to see what those gnomes are up to!) I thought I could expand on the theme and #GnomeForGood. I will do random acts of kindness and have the gnome be the "giver". I started the process this evening and couldn't believe the response. I posted a status on my Facebook page, Mother Gnomes Best, that said once I reached 50 likes, I would donate $50.00 to the Women's Resource Center of Racine Co., WI. Within a couple of hours, the challenge was met! I will be donating the money to them tomorrow!
In two weeks, we will be headed to Disney where we will be doing fun give-aways each day! If you have any suggestions, please comment below. If you have something you would like to donate, please let me know that as well! Many thanks!
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Time to be Productive
TIME TO REVISIT MY HOBBIES!
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to do stamping and paper crafting of all kinds. Lately, unfortunately, I have done more pinning than actually stamping. At night after I get home from work, I get sucked into the vortex of Pinterest. (That may explain some of the recent weight gain!) I have made too many excuses as to why I haven't been doing anything at night. So, I think it's time for a change. I have decided to organize and purge at least one night a week and stamp or craft two nights a week. (With the holidays coming up, it might be a nice way to make a little extra money.) Not to mention, I need to go back to Weight Watchers meetings and exercising a minimum of 2.5 hours a week. I love to see what other people have created and I also love to create designs myself. Here are a few of the card designs I have created. I hope you enjoy them!
Saturday, June 29, 2013
TIME TO GET MOVING
Playing on the internet all day, I found this neat pin. Simply click on a body part and the website will give you exercises targeted for that area.
Very cool!
Very cool!
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TIME FOR A COCKTAIL!
Haven't blogged in forever; now two in one day! I've really fallen off the diet wagon and I need to get back on track! Summer is the time for parties and I was looking for a new, low-point, foo-foo drink. Last night, I came up with this super simple but extremely tasty libation.
I've coined it the Perfect Purple Popsicle and it is only 4 points for 11 ounces.
I've coined it the Perfect Purple Popsicle and it is only 4 points for 11 ounces.
Ingredients
| 1 fl oz vodka | |
| 5 cube(s) ice cube(s) | |
| 1 1/4 serving(s) Aldi's Fit and Active Light Cranberry Grape Juice (1 serving = 8 ounces; 1 1/4 servings = 10 ounces) |
Instructions
- Combine ice cubes, vodka and juice in tumbler, stir well. Recipe makes an 11 ounce drink.
ENJOY!
TIME FOR A CHANGE...OR THREE!!!
Well the last few months brought about quite a few changes for me. I became a Close to My Heart Independent Consultant, a Thirty-One Consultant, and changed primary employers.
Starting with the least exciting one, my primary occupation, I moved from THE National Bank to Associated Bank. Not much of a stretch but the move granted me an upgraded benefit program, an increase in income and a much shorter commute. All for which I am very grateful.
Now on the the stuff I really enjoy, Close to My Heart and Thirty-One! With the kids grown, I wanted to get back into some of the things I really enjoy.
One of those is stamping. That's probably too restrictive for what I like to do but we'll start there. I decided to go to open studio time that a friend of mine was having. She had out the latest and greatest Cricut and it really piqued my interest in it again. Mind you, when they first came out, I had to run out and get one. There it sat, in the box, used only a handful of times...over the last five years. Well, for those of you that know me, I needed to have the latest and greatest version. So, around the beginning of November, I bought a new one and I love it! I'm sure by now you are asking yourself what that has to do with Close to My Heart. Good question, the answer is Close to My Heart carries cartridges that you can only get through Close to My Heart. I saw the Artiste cartridge being used during the open studio time and I had to have it. (The cartridge has over 700 images.) By this time I was sold and I wanted to start receiving discounts on everything I wanted to buy for my hobby. Solution: Become a consultant. To tie two of the changes in my life together, I've attached images from what I made for my new employees with the Cricut and the Close to My Heart Artiste cartridge.
The final change occurred when I went to a craft retreat with the aforementioned friend known as Sarita. Bless her heart, but if we were doing a drinking game that weekend and we had to drink every time she said "Thirty-One", we would still be hungover. I didn't really participate in all the Thirty-One talk because I was busy working on the goodies above but she did plant a seed and lo and behold I became her first consultant!
Below are just a few of the wonderful products you can get from Thirty-One Gifts!
Starting with the least exciting one, my primary occupation, I moved from THE National Bank to Associated Bank. Not much of a stretch but the move granted me an upgraded benefit program, an increase in income and a much shorter commute. All for which I am very grateful.
Now on the the stuff I really enjoy, Close to My Heart and Thirty-One! With the kids grown, I wanted to get back into some of the things I really enjoy.
One of those is stamping. That's probably too restrictive for what I like to do but we'll start there. I decided to go to open studio time that a friend of mine was having. She had out the latest and greatest Cricut and it really piqued my interest in it again. Mind you, when they first came out, I had to run out and get one. There it sat, in the box, used only a handful of times...over the last five years. Well, for those of you that know me, I needed to have the latest and greatest version. So, around the beginning of November, I bought a new one and I love it! I'm sure by now you are asking yourself what that has to do with Close to My Heart. Good question, the answer is Close to My Heart carries cartridges that you can only get through Close to My Heart. I saw the Artiste cartridge being used during the open studio time and I had to have it. (The cartridge has over 700 images.) By this time I was sold and I wanted to start receiving discounts on everything I wanted to buy for my hobby. Solution: Become a consultant. To tie two of the changes in my life together, I've attached images from what I made for my new employees with the Cricut and the Close to My Heart Artiste cartridge.
The final change occurred when I went to a craft retreat with the aforementioned friend known as Sarita. Bless her heart, but if we were doing a drinking game that weekend and we had to drink every time she said "Thirty-One", we would still be hungover. I didn't really participate in all the Thirty-One talk because I was busy working on the goodies above but she did plant a seed and lo and behold I became her first consultant!
Below are just a few of the wonderful products you can get from Thirty-One Gifts!
Please like my page on Facebook, Fans of Thirty-One Gifts.
There I will be posting the monthly specials and product updates. You will also have the opportunity to participate in random giveaways!
Thursday, March 14, 2013
LONG TIME--NO POST
Well true to my word, I haven't posted every day (or for that matter), week, month, or quarter.
I'm not much of a drinker and since I have been counting points, I would much rather eat them than drink them. However, at a local restaurant last night, the waitress turned me on to my latest obsession. (Now, some of you may think I have been living under a rock but this was something completely new to me and the person I was having dinner with.) I asked what they had for hot drinks. She named a few and then asked if I ever had Ru#$%^&^. A what? "RumChata", she said. Well, as they say, the rest is history...
To accommodate my request for a hot drink, she added the liqueur to my coffee. I had one, two, three of them! Yes, on a work night no less! What's worse, I went to the liquor store tonight to buy a bottle! So what is this RumChata you ask? Well, here are the deets...
So this must be really something special that's causing me to get back to my blog.
Well.it.is!!!
I'm not much of a drinker and since I have been counting points, I would much rather eat them than drink them. However, at a local restaurant last night, the waitress turned me on to my latest obsession. (Now, some of you may think I have been living under a rock but this was something completely new to me and the person I was having dinner with.) I asked what they had for hot drinks. She named a few and then asked if I ever had Ru#$%^&^. A what? "RumChata", she said. Well, as they say, the rest is history...
To accommodate my request for a hot drink, she added the liqueur to my coffee. I had one, two, three of them! Yes, on a work night no less! What's worse, I went to the liquor store tonight to buy a bottle! So what is this RumChata you ask? Well, here are the deets...
Here are a few more facts about this divine concoction:
About RumChata:
- Rum-based cream liqueur made with Wisconsin dairy cream and flavored with cinnamon, vanilla, sugar, and other proprietary natural and artificial flavors.
- Retails for around $19.95/750ml bottle
- 13.75% alc/volume (27.5 proof)
- Produced and bottled by Agave Loco Brands, Pewaukee, Wisconsin
- Released in 2009
- Visit their website: RumChata.com
As Mikey says, "Try it, you'll like it!"
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