Very Sad At Our House Tonight

Well, we had the very difficult task tonight of saying good-by to our black lab, Samantha. She was doing really well this morning and even into the afternoon, she enjoyed both her morning feed and afternoon feed, but around 7:oo this evening as I was in our computer room I could hear that her breathing was very loud and labor. My husband and I were concerned because it just came on so quick and we both knew that we would not be able to sleep knowing she was having trouble. We called our vet and he told us to come to the office. Well she was so weak that she could not even stand up on her own, so we had to carry her out to the car. On the way out to his office, we thought that a couple of times she was gone, but she was just resting. He could see that she was distended in her abdominal area, her temperature was way low and her gums were very light pink, all not good signs at all. He thought that a cancerous tumor had ruptured and she was full of blood or she was full of fluid, so he took her in the back room and when he came back with her, the syringe was full of blood, not a good sign. We knew going out there that it would probably not be good, but this was not what we had expected. The only right decision was to have her put down. We didn't want her to be in pain and the vet told us that she probably would not make it thru the night either. Oh, what a painful decision it was. We both stayed with her until she passed away. I don't think that we will ever have another dog like her, she was so smart, loving and just an all around great dog. She would have been 14 on April 15, she almost made it.

She was a wonderful part of our family and we will surely miss her. Mary

Basket and Blooms Favor

Today I want to share with you two little, and I mean little, baskets that I made the other day. Don't let the size fool you in the pictures, they measure 4" by 4", but they are sooo cute and not too hard to make either. The first basket is copied after the one I saw HERE

Than I made this second one running the basket pieces thru the Textured Embossing folder from SU to add some texture to the paper. The flower, made with the 5-petal punch from SU, on the second one is also made out of vellum but I sponged the edges with SU Pretty In Pink ink. The small flower used for the center is one of the pieces from the Boho blossom punch, is also from Stampin' Up. The die to make the basket is also from SU, Basket and Blooms. The brad is one that I got from Jo-Ann's and the green and pink paper is Bazill.

I made these as a test run for some possible baby shower favors that my daughter is going to host for one of her co-workers. I just think these are just so cute!

Well this is all that I have to share for day, until next time, have a crafty day.........Mary

Scallop Square Valentine Gift Bag/Treat Holder

Happy Thursday to all of you, hope you are having a great day so far!

I would like to share with you today a project that really started a year ago, I know, I know, the thing is I made parts of this project last year after Valentine's day and just had no place to share it! Now I do!! This little treat holder is so very easy to make if you have the scalloped square die and either a Big Kick or Big Shot or the "old red" Sizzix machine. I sew the seam together on my sewing machine, you could use hot glue or Diamond Glaze to do the seam with too. I made the flowers with a Sizzix die, 3-D Flower, which I purchased HERE those are also made with felt. I attached the flowers with Diamond Glaze but you could use hot glue too. I think they turned out really nice for my first time making them, all you do is roll them up, so easy! The handle was made with a leftover strip of felt.

Well this is all I have for today, hope you like my little project, and as always, thanks for dropping in to see me, I appreciate you all!! Have a crafty day........Mary

Cards for Those Who Need A Lift

Well today didn't start out like we wanted it too. Hubby woke up sick, so I've been taking care of him today (not to hard to do because he has been sleeping all day long, so that gave me some time to play in the craft room). Hopefully it is only the 24 hour bug and that I don't get it too!

I wanted to share the cards that I got to make today. I will be sending these off to people I don't even know. Over at Splitcoaststampers, they have a forum where you can post requests for cards for friends, family or whomever. Some or most are going thru health issues and just need some good old-fashion cheering up! I'm sending out a total of four cards. Hope they all like my simple cards! I CASE'd this card from HERE . I used Stampin' Up stamp set called "Awash with Flowers", I haven't used it very much, so today I decided to get it out and show it some love! One embossed background is from Cuttlebug and the other from Stampin' Up. The ribbon is from Jo-Ann's and I used markers to color onto the rubber, those were also from Stampin' Up (I really like their markers)!

Well, I hope you all are having a Great week-end, off to the craft room again.......Mary

Perpetual Birthday Calendar

Hello to all of my blogging friends! We had a major snowstorm last night and into the wee hour's this morning. I think we had 10 inches, need to watch the TV and find out for sure! We will be busy with the driveway today!

Today I'm going to share a perpetual calendar that I made. It was very easy to do! I used my Bind-It-All to put everything together. I'm only going to show you two of the inside pages, otherwise this post would be way to long! I tried to stamp different images on each month that I thought belong with the month. For January I used snowflakes, for February - hearts, March - shamrocks and so on.

You can find the files HERE

Now when I was getting ready to make my calendar, I copy and paste the month of January and moved it so I would have two months on one page, January and February (made sure I changed February so that I had the correct amount of days on it), I did this for the reminder of the year. That way I used only 6 sheets of cardstock instead of 12 sheets. I used Stampin Up decorative punch and also a retire stamp called Petite Pansies for the Birthday Wish on the front. Paper is some that I've had on hand, I got it at Michael's. Ribbon is some that I got free last year at Archiver's. These would make nice Christmas gifts!

Stay warm and hope you have a crafty day..............Mary

Italian Vegetable Soup

Brrr...it is getting cold here today. We are going to get more arctic air this evening and a big pot of soup just sounded really good today! I'm going to serve this with some homemade bread. I found this recipe over at Allrecipes but I did change it to suit our tastes. See the pot that the soup is in? That was my husband's grandmother's pot, it is over 50 years old and still going strong. It is my "go to" pot when making alot of the dishes that I make. I think she would be pleased to know it is still being used today!

Italian Vegetable Soup

1 pound lean hamburger
1 pound Italian sausage, ground or links (I use links)
1/2 to 1 cup chopped celery
1/2 to 1 cup chopped onions
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 - 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 - 15 oz. can tomato sauce
1 - 16 oz. can dark kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 - 14 oz. cans beef broth, I use low sodium
1 - 15 oz. can whole kernel corn, drained
1 - 15 oz. can green beans, drained
1 cup peeled, cubed potato

Since I use link sausage, I remove the castings from the links (usually 5 in a package). I take two links and mash them up and put in the the hamburger. Than the last three links I make into chunks and put in with the rest of the meat. Brown all of this together with the chopped onion, be careful not to mash the chunks of sausage; fry until no longer pink. Drain off fat. Put all of the remaining ingredients into your soup pot. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for one hour or until ready to serve. Serves 8.

I serve with a crusty bread (so I can dunk it in the juice)!!

Hope you all are staying warm and hope you have a crafty day too! Mary

Tooth Fairy Tins

Today I want to share with you a fun little project that I've had on the back burner to try my hand at. Are these not the cutest little tins ever! I saw a tooth fairy tin on someone's blog, but she used a digi stamp for her's and I really liked the idea of using these little favor tins that you can find at most big box craft stores. I got 30 of the tins (these are Wilton's), they come in a plastic container in the wedding section at Michael's, for $19.99, but being a crafty person, I used a 50% off coupon, so I got them for $9.99!! What a deal, huh?!

I used a Stampin' Up stamp called, "Tooth Fairy", their markers, 1 3/4" circle punch and dazzling diamond glitter (click on photo to enlarge it). I used a blender pen to color in the fairy's dress with. Ribbon is from my stash. I attached the circle to the top with sticky tape (red) and on the inside a punched a circle the color of the fairy's dress to hide the bottom of the top circle. I also cut a circle of batting for the inside of the tin for the tooth to sit on. Very easy and simple and oh so quick to make too. I think these would sell really well at craft shows!

It is sooo cold here, the wind is blowing and it is suppose to get down to -3 degrees tonight!

Stay warm and cozy and have a crafty day.........Mary

Pioneer Beans

Oh today we had some snow, about 5 inches. Before I went to work this morning I put the fixin's for this soup in the crock-pot (love my crock-pot). Actually I put some of it togther last night, sliced the green onions and the sausage up to make it super easy in the morning for me. As you can see I served it with corn bread. After working our driveway and sidewalks over with the snow blower and shovel, we went around the corner to our friend's house and did theirs' for them (she is pregnant and her hubby is out of town today). It must have been good, hubby had two bowls and three slices of cornbread too!! Still have plenty for another meal or two.

I found this recipe in a magazine back in the early 1980's. It is a recipe from Tabasco, so naturally there is Tabasco in the recipe.

Pioneer Beans

1 pound dried lima bean, I like to use small navy beans when I make it
1 pound smoked sausage, sliced, I use Eckridge sausage
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
4 beef bouillon cubes
3/4 teaspoon Tabasco pepper sauce **
6 cups water

Place all ingredients in a crock-pot. Mix well. Cover and cook on High for 8 to 10 hours. Serves 4 to 6.

Now today when I made this I accidentally put it on Low instead and didn't realize it until I came home from work (about 4 hours later). I bumped it up to High for a couple of hours, tried the beans and they were soft, so I put it back down to Low until we were ready to eat. I really think it would have been OK on Low all day.

**Now this does have alittle bit of a kick to it, if you don't want that, your could add less Tabasco sauce. If you want it more spicy, than add more.

You could easily make half of this recipe.

Well off to see some other blogs, hope you all stay warm and cozy........Mary

McDonald's Thank You Card

Today I want to share a card with you that I made for my daughter to give to her sweet co-worker. One day last week her co-worker brought her in breakfast from McDonald's as a "thank you" for all of her hard work!

I originally found this card over on Sandi MacIver's blog. If you remember back in August 2010 Sandi put a request up on her blog for thank you cards that could be used by the Ronald McDonald House. One of the cards she shared was this one (scroll down and you will find the original):HERE. I didn't follow it exactly because I don't have that tree stamp set and I made my card smaller too. The top picture is the outside and the bottom picture shows the inside. The message on the inside was done on the computer. I used a retired Stampin' Up set called "Short and Sweet" for the thank you. The arches were made with two oval punches.

Thanks for stopping by too see my latest card...I hope you all are staying warm and having fun in your own craft rooms! Mary

Desk Calendar 2011

Winter

Spring

Summer

Fall


Oh, I'm so happy to be able to come and visit with all of my blogging buddies! Life has finally slowed down enough so that I can get back into the craft room to play again, YEAH!!

Today I'm going to share with you a desk calendar that I made after reading two different tutorials on the web, one is from Frenchie of Stamping with Frenchie, you can see her video here: http://www.frenchiestamps.com/2010/12/way-it-hold-together-here.html.

The other tutorial you can read here: http://papersmiles.blogspot.com/2008/11/desk-calendar-tutorial.html. One uses an easel to help the calendar stand up and the other one uses ribbon, I made the one with the easel stand.

I used a retired Stampin Up set called, "A Tree for All Seasons" and SU markers to color in the image with, oh, also some Dazzling Diamonds on the Winter scene. The designer paper is some that I've had for along time, so I'm trying to use that up. You can find the free printable calendar on Frenchies' blog. Now for some reason, I had trouble reducing the calendar to 80%, just wouldn't let me (of course, it couldn't possibly be operator error, now could it, lol), so I had to adjust the measurments for my desk calendar, which is just fine. Click on the pictures above to enlarge. One of these days I will learn how to add the text before the picture, so please bear with me as I learn how to do this cool stuff! I'm going to suprise my friend with this, hope she likes it, if not, she can pass it on to one of her friends!!

Hope to be back soon....and as always, take time to play in your craft room.......Mary