Sags Bags Wrinkles and Clogs

HCG Diet

2011-02-13T20:14:00.002-06:00

I was on the HCG diet last summer and lost 30#s. I still can't believe it as I have tried for literally years to lose weight after kids. I have tried every fad video out there, even hired a personal trainer for over a year and half and was not able to lose weight. I went to my dr last summer and he told me about this diet and I was impressed with how it works. I have never been one to try real "diets" before but I knew I could do this one. It basically is a diet that requires you to eat 500 calories a day and that is it. There is also a list of foods you can only eat and you have to drink tons of water. There is also a shot involved daily which is the HCG human chorionic gonadotropin. I don't want to have to go into details to explain HCG so you can read up here about it. http://www.hcgdiet.com/ I don't recommend buying drops or anything over the internet to do this diet. I only recommend going through a doctor and be under a dr's care if you ever decide to do this diet. After going to talk to a nutritionist they were a bit concerned since I am a Type 1 Diabetic and they had never had one go on this diet before but I guess they felt I had enough knowledge and dedication to taking care of myself they approved me for this diet. I still can't believe I was able to drop the weight and feel so much better again with who I am, I hated me for the longest time. I have started a second round of the HCG diet a couple days ago and am going to try my best to update here on my progress.
Here is the meal I had today
Breakfast:
Protein Shake-- 86 calories

Lunch
Halibut-- 100 calories
tomatoes-- 30 calories

Dinner
Chicken-- 164 calories
Romaine Lettuce-- 17

Snack--
Medium red apple--72

Total: 469

I have lost 3.6 pounds since Friday morning.

See ya tomorrow. :)

Found a new candle maker

2010-10-23T18:24:00.003-05:00

I'm so excited to have found a new candle maker in town. I have tried my hand at candlemaking but it's just not my thing. I am so excited and doing the happy dance. Here is the link to their site. http://bnbcandleworks.blogspot.com/

Bakers dozen key fobs

2010-09-26T17:41:00.006-05:00

Testing

2010-09-15T21:02:00.001-05:00

Testing my new Kindle. Sooooo cool!

Fine silver fusing bracelet

2010-05-16T10:33:00.003-05:00

I took a class on fine silver fusing. We used a torch like chef's use on certain foods. I can't believe how easy and fun this craft was to learn. Only thing is, fine silver is quite expensive. I have a teensy bit left over from my class so I have enough to make another bracelet. I made every part of this bracelet, the jump rings, eye pins...all but the beads. Everything is fused together as well, jumprings have no way to be opened which makes it nice.

New job for me

2010-03-28T10:41:00.003-05:00

I got a new job last week and I'm so happy. :) I am the shipping person for a company that sells bath and body supplies online. I love it and it's so fun if you can call work fun. lol I won't be around much posting as I will be super busy now but I hope to still craft and post what I've made in the future.

Easter is around the corner and that means Lent is almost over and I can have dessert. :) I miss my yummy dessert foods. I can't wait.

Yesterday we went to a new local Farm to Market and I was able to get fresh eggs. I bought two dozen eggs and can't wait to eat them. I miss having fresh eggs like when I was a teenager my mom had 6 chickens and we had free eggs all the time and they were so yummy.

Bang bang bang hammer hammer hammer

2010-03-22T11:39:00.003-05:00

Those are the sounds on my roof today. We are having our roof re-roofed from the hail storm last year. Our poor little doggie hates all the noise and she doesn't get to lay in the sun today as I have the kitchen curtains closed. The kiddos are back in school from being off for Spring Break.

Okay off to do more things, not to much say today.

Cool site to make a cute bubble skirt

2010-03-20T23:00:00.002-05:00

http://smashedpeasandcarrots.blogspot.com/2009/11/bubble-skirt-tutorial.html

And of course we forgot to bring our reusable bags for groceries.

Brrrr Saturday......First day of Spring ya right

2010-03-20T14:29:00.003-05:00

What? First day of Spring and today hasn't even gotten to 40 degrees. We have had sun all week and now rain last night and freezing weather today. Very weird indeed.

Last week I went to Bunco and the host made Paula Deen's Spicy Shrimp Casserole and it was delicious! I made it last night for dinner and it was just as yummy as the first time. We will have the leftovers tonight for dinner.

I'm supposed to be writing up a menu for the next two weeks but I'm typing in my blog instead, this is more fun. ;p Then we will head off to the grocery store to get what we need. I hope I remember to bring our reusable bags as I can never remember to grab them before leaving. I have so many but haven't gotten into the routine. Maybe if I pay my kids $1.00 to remind they would. lol

This weekend will go by fast and Monday morning will be here soon and the kiddos will go back to school...bye bye Spring break. School will be out for summer break before we know it.

Okay, now off to make my grocery list and menu.

2010-03-19T23:41:00.001-05:00

I can't believe how much she has grown, she will be 11 in July. She has matured so much over this past year and has really tried hard at school and has made up for a lot of lost time. What a sweet sweet girl I have and gorgeous to boot. When she was a baby and toddler I would just stare at her thinking how beautiful she is. Eric is going to have to fight those boys off like crazy.

Busy crafting away

2010-03-18T17:51:00.002-05:00

Can't post what I am making as it's for a swap person but once she gets her pkg I'll post pics. It's so super cool!!!

Crafting month continues

2010-03-11T14:09:00.005-06:00

I made this new key chain/card holder today. I wanted a change so I whipped this baby up on my embroidery machine. Easy peasy!!!
Now what am I going to make tomorrow. ;)

Tissue cases galore

2010-03-10T16:15:00.006-06:00

These are tissue cases I couldn't stop making on my embroidery machine. They as I have discovered work great as Ipod touch cases, they hold phones and would be perfect for little knick knacks in your purse. I made 15 but sold one to a friend so I have only 14 now. I am itching to make more.

March has come!!!

2010-03-01T11:21:00.002-06:00

Happy Birthday Eric. :) I am making him an upside down pineapple cake for him and not sure on what to make for dinner.

March is national craft month so I need to get busy and start crafting. I have tons of ideas and just need to sit down and do it. I should get Daph and Nicholas involved too, they always have great ideas. A little sewing, a little knitting and a little soap making. Yay, sounds great to me. I may have to give myself a challange to write a little bit here everyday. This makes for a great journal for my kiddos to read one day.

So, let the crafting begin. :)

See below slideshow of our trip to NYC

2010-02-11T11:46:00.002-06:00

2010-02-11T11:45:00.001-06:00

2009-12-26T08:57:00.008-06:00

Around Christmas I see the phrase " I believe" in reference to Santa Clause. I however feel the reference should be about The Baby Jesus instead.

I Believe.

"No more ring around the collar"

2009-12-07T12:41:00.007-06:00

I was scrubbing out a stain on my shirt today and was reminded of a commercial from when I was a kid that was funny to me then. It's for Whisk and this man was on a boat and the stewardess loosens up his tie and tells him he has "ring around the collar". lol I guess nobody talks about that anymore as probably 90% of men don't wear white shirts with ties anymore. Times sure do change. Here is the original commercial from way back when.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5chKFOpRiE

One last post

2009-12-05T12:14:00.002-06:00

I made this snowflake purse recently for fun, have no clue what to do with it but making purses is just fun for me. :)

I have been in many craft swaps lately and here are a few things I have made and some I have recieved

2009-12-05T11:47:00.018-06:00

Here are a few swap items I have made and swapped with other crafters. I made the treek quilt with the circles. I have never quilted before and I did the free motion quilting and binding for the first time. I am happy with what I made. I in turn recieved a wonderful tree quilt too but it is interactive. I can switch out the seasons and leaves, so fun.
The other recent swap was a Dr Seuss inspired swap. I made some glass pendants, knitted/felted Cat in the Hat mini hat, charm bracelet, machine embroidered hot pad and small ring. In return I got some glass pendants too, an awesome Seuss inspired piece of pottery, an insporational wall hanging, and a journal made from a Seuss book. All great stuff and fun swaps.

New blanket

2009-12-05T11:41:00.003-06:00

I embroidered a new blanket last night. I love the lime green color so much, it matches my kitchen but I don't need a blanket in my kitchen.

Last month of the year

2009-12-04T16:08:00.002-06:00

Wow, how fast did this year go by. Christmas is knocking at the door and I'm not ready to open it yet. lol

Today we had snow, a small amount..well...errrr... more like flurrries for a little while. It was nice and I'm afraid that is it for us and snow this year. Maybe an ice storm may come our way in the new year.

Happy turkey day

2009-11-26T15:11:00.001-06:00

Best wished to all on this yummy day. :)

New pics of the kiddos

2009-08-04T15:21:00.004-05:00

Nicholas, he's such a cutie.

I have a comparison of Daph from age 4 I think and 10 now. She sure has changed.

Yay!!! I finally learned how

2009-08-04T14:21:00.004-05:00

I have wanted to change my background to something other than the Blogspot stock layouts and now I have a cool background. I came across a site on another blog for cool backgrounds and it took seconds to switch it over. It took a lot longer to decide on which one to use but for now this one is pretty. I am happy now. :)

New glass pieces

2009-07-03T13:06:00.005-05:00

I made these two in my fused glass class a couple weeks ago. I really enjoyed that class and hope to take some more. One is a frame and I will be putting a mirror behind it and maybe put this piece in our hall bath as it matches the decor in there. The other is a small shallow bowl that was once flat and slumped to be a bowl.

My dog has a Ratta Ratta

2009-07-02T00:34:00.003-05:00

Our dog Sadie has the funniest growl and it sounds like she is saying "ratta ratta". We first heard it when she was a puppy and she saw a cat at our front door. We thought she would bark and scare the cat but instead her ratta ratta came out.

Happy Birthday to Me

2009-06-04T18:10:00.003-05:00

Today is my birthday. Hubby is out of town until tonight, I hope he walks in with a cake. :) My kiddos are so cute, they made me pistachio pudding since they couldn't make me a cake. I think that has to be the sweetest thing ever. That to me is the best gift anyone could ever give me, just knowing that my kiddos are very thoughtful and wanted to make my day special in the only way they could.

I also took Sadie to obedience training and that went okay, she could have done better but she needs some work to become an obedient dog. Oh and today, she peed on her bed again. She peed on it last night so I washed it this morning and gave it back to her this afternoon after it dried. I took her out to go potty and she didn't need to go. No more than 5 minutes later she had already peed on it again. arg!! What is with her and peeing on her bed, I'm tired of washing it. I am not giving it back to her for several days, make her forget about it. She is very unhappy right now and wants her bed.

Only 4 more hours to Eric coming home, the kids will not want to go to bed until he is here. I need to clean and pick up before he gets home.

Couple new purses and accessories

2009-06-03T21:11:00.005-05:00

Purse and accessories I made for a swap. A knitted and felted watermelon purse. It still needs a lining but almost finished.

Pics of our latest crafts

2009-06-03T21:09:00.008-05:00

These are the items we put in resin, way to much fun.

I'm on Etsy now

2009-06-03T21:08:00.001-05:00

I have been working on a new purse pattern and finally got it all written up and am selling it in my Etsy shop. I'm so excited, wish me luck.

School's almost out

2009-06-03T18:01:00.003-05:00

I am shocked at how quickly the 2008-2009 school year has gone. I can't believe Nicholas will be in 7th grade next year. He was inducted in the National Junior Honor Society this past week. He also tried out for symphonic band for next year, we won't know until during the summer whether he made it or not. Next year will be a busy year for sure. We are thinking of putting Daphne back in school in the fall and starting her out in 4th grade again and also at a different school. It has not been decided but we are thinking on it. Otherwise she is excited about summer too and going swimming.

Daph and I have been playing with resin lately, we have been making all sorts of goodies and fun things with it. I'll post pics later.

Tomorrow we start dog training classes as Sadie needs some leash training in a major way. I hope she does well. We took her out for a long walk today and took her to a field and let her run wild, she loved it. What was so funny was a bird for some reason started to dive bomb her. Sadie would run by and the bird would swoop down and chirp at her. I wish I had a video camera for that one. Sadie didn't seemed bothered by it, it was just a bird. lol

I know, I'm behind on catching up on my shows but I finished watching The Celebrity Apprentice and was so disappointed that Joan Rivers won. I would never have wasted my time watching it if I had only known. What a set up and rigged show. We also watched Lost last week and that was pretty good, very exiciting ending. I can't wait for next season. I am all caught up now. Harpers Island still has several episodes to go and I like that one, I can't figure out who the killer is on that show.

Okay, I have a gripe today. People who drive cars to fast in neighborhoods just irritate me to no end. Daph and I were out walking and I see this man in a white Mustang going at least 45mph down a 30mph street. He kept going back and forth and when I was at the end of the street and I yelled at him to slow down. I know lots of kids play around here and sometimes they do run out in the street. Is he just waiting till he hits a kid one day? argh!!
Okay, rant over.

We also got some guinea pigs, a few weeks ago actually. First we bought one at Petsmart and it died within 4 days, we were all so heartbroken. The kids wanted another one so we got from a local pet store who only gets one in at a time and so far so good. We have 2 girl guinea pigs and they are so fun, more than I expected.

Time to watch WipeOut with the kiddos. Bye for now.

Not to chatty

2009-05-07T07:16:00.013-05:00

I'm just not a wordsy person so it's hard for me to keep up this blog and not to mention my life is pretty boring. I'll keep it short and simple. We took the kids to the air show last week. I was impressed with the acrobatics of the planes. The kids enjoyed it quite a bit and would have liked it more if they could have gotten closer to the planes but they were roped off.
Nicholas got an academic all star award again this baseball season for having all A's this past year. Way to go Nick. Daph is working hard at school and getting better with her multiplication tables. The kids at the schools just took the TAKS and I know she is glad she didn't have to this year. I think I may have her take a pratice one here at home to see how she is doing based on Texas Assessment. She is looking forward to summer but we will still work on math to keep up her skills.
Nicholas has a bday tomorrow, the big 12, next year he will be a full blown teenager. *sigh* I can't believe he has grown up so fast. Not much else is going on. I'll just update with some photos.

May time more crafting time

2009-05-07T07:07:00.013-05:00

Travek purse a friend asked me to make for her trip to Vegas.

Diaper bag for another friend who wanted an inconspicuous diaper bag. lol

And new spring purses.

Oops..didn't add the front of the keychain holder

2009-02-28T23:27:00.005-06:00

I don't know what I was thinking, I forgot the front of the pocket keychain. Here it is.

New Fabrics

2009-02-28T21:18:00.007-06:00

New fabrics

I bought some new fabric yesterday and I ordered some online so I hope those come soon. I have been working on a two new swaps. They are both from the movie Coraline and from two different places. I am having so much fun with it but can't post any info since my partners may peek at my blog. Once I am finished and have sent them off I'll post them. I did however make something super cool, a keychain pocket thingy. I even put my initial on it, it is super handy.

Nicholas recently got an award for the poem he wrote. Schools all around the US have a program called "Reflections" and it is to encourage students to find their creative side. He wrote a poem in five minutes so he could quickly get an entry in and he got an award. Pretty cool! Next year he is going to take more time to work on something he submits.

Daph has started writing what she calls songs but they are more like mini poems I think. To my surprise they are very good for a 9 year old, very insightful. Not that it surprises me about her writing but I figured it would have been about ponies and dolls. lol They are really awesome.

I need to get back to sewing, I am working on a custom diaper bag for a friend.

New Key chain pocket

2009-02-13T13:15:00.005-06:00

Lets try posting pics on a new post. Having trouble with the other postie.

I'll try to post them later, still having issues.

Lots to catch up on

2009-02-13T13:01:00.003-06:00

Time flies when you are super busy like me. We had a great Christmas and New Year. On Jan 6, Eric and I had our 13 wedding anniversary. Wow, 13 years.
I've been busy sewing up a storm lately. I have made some new purses and I tried my hand at quilting to which I failed miserably. If I'm not to embarrassed I'll post a pic of my half done quilt thingy. lol Tomorrow is Valentines day and I have no clue what to do, maybe I'll do something fun with the kids and cooking. I have this cute fondue set that I could have the kids dip fruit in.
Lent is on the horizon which means for me, meat once a day and no snacking in between meals. ugh!! I don't know what to give up yet but I'm sure I can find something like...COFFEE!!
I started reading the Twilight book saga by Stephanie Meyer and was intranced for 2 weeks reading all four books. They were great books and I was left sad when I finished the last book. No more Edward. lol j/k I recommend them, they were great for reading. The movie was okay but the book was better. Now I'm reading The Host by Stephanie Meyer, so far so good.
Yesterday we saw the movie Coraline and Daph really enjoyed it but I don't recommend it for little kids as it can be a bit scary. I hope to get in on a swap soon. I hope I hope I hope. :)
Lets see, oh ya, at Bunco last night I won $20.00..yay me! I can always use a little extra cash for my fabric obsession.

Okay, time to get back to homeschooling. Here are some of my recent purse projects. I'll post new soap pics later.
First off a donut pincushion I made for a swap partner. She said she wanted a pincushion that looked like something real so I made her a donut. lol

December already??

2008-12-10T18:18:00.007-06:00

No way, that is what I can't believe. Where has the time gone. We had a great trip to Colorado to visit my mom. This time around we didn't focus to much on sight seeing as we have in the past but stayed and visited with family. My mom was diagnosed with Breast Cancer last year, in fact one year ago exactly is when I go the call from her. Anyway, she is fine and only had to have a lumpectomy not a masectomy. She had radiation for about 8 weeks in the spring of this year. She is fine now but she gets tired easily so I wanted to spend as much time as I could with her as one never knows how long God is going to keep them on this earth. Also, she worked so hard to get the kids a date for their First Holy Communion. We had a great time and it even snowed on Thanksgiving day and the kids had a blast in the small amount of snow that did fall. It was hard to say goodbye but my mama promised me she would come to visit us next spring. I hope so, I'll need another mom fix by then. Here are some pics from our trip.

First hand at embroidery

2008-10-23T16:47:00.000-05:00

While Daph played with shaving cream I sat outside and stitched my first embroidery project. I think it's cute. It's a mouse I use to draw as a kid and seemed like the perfect simple first project. In case you don't know what it is it's a mouse.

Shaving cream fun

2008-10-23T16:42:00.000-05:00

So today I decided to try and work with Daph on her multiplication facts using shaving cream. It was fun but later turned into backyard fun too. She had a blast for a long time and it was a beautiful day to do it in.

What a face!!!

2008-10-23T13:07:00.000-05:00

New clay items

2008-10-22T07:50:00.000-05:00

I met a very crafty lady one day at Michaels and we chit chatted in the polymer clay isle for a bit. We exchanged phone numbers and have become very close, she is like my substitue mom since mine is so far away. We have been crafting polymer clay for several weeks now and have a lot of fun together. I have even take Daph with me to craft and to my surprise she has a great talent with clay. She came up with these designs herself. She gave me the rippled (lower left) and I wear it everyday to show off. I am so proud of her and artistic side. Here are the clay hears she made. More of her latest projects to come soon, they are being glazed right now.

Maker Faire

2008-10-21T15:33:00.000-05:00

The Family and I went to the Maker Faire this past weekend. The Maker Faire is run by Craftzine magazine which always has awesome crafts. It was even more awesome than I expected. I took video of the kids doing stuff but no still pics, I need to upload them first which will take some time. We saw so many neat things but one thing that was my favorite was a man who had an entire car covered in yarn. It was the coolest thing, he has had it for 3 years and has to re-do the yarn often. We also saw an artist who draws on car windows with the sand, he was making Willy Nelson when we were there. There was also a huge livesize working mousetrap that only took seconds to finish but worth seeing. Nicholas loved all the electronics and anything that had LED in or on it. Daph got the hang of spinning wool into yarn so I have to have her teach me how to do it. lol I think even hubby had a better time than he expected. There is so much to say about the event but if one ever comes your way I recommend going.

Life around here has changed so much in the past couple weeks. First of all Daphne is now being homeschooled as of a couple weeks ago. I had to pull her out as she was not being taught appropriately and a boy was harrassing her to the extent she had to defend herself and was the one getting in trouble. I had enough of that business so I pulled her out and have been teaching her myself. It is amazing how the schools have no concern but $$ in their eyes and will pass students just so they don't lose money. I am having to go back to square one with Daph and build up her foundation of math and grammar skills. Thank goodness she can read and reads very well but everything else is lacking especially math. The schools focus to much on the TAKS testing and not math in general. I have also become suspicious Daph may have dyslexia and maybe we can have her tested in the future. She's a smart girl but has trouble retaining what she is taught.
Nicholas is doing great in school, no problems there and in fact he has a high 90 average overall for the first 6 weeks of 6th grade. He started playing the trombone in the band and seems to like it quite a bit. Baseball is finishing up this weekend but he is going to be starting a program at school for trac skills. He is a fast runner and this will hopefully teach him skills to increase his speed.

Our puppy Sadie is doing great and is cuter than ever and just makes the Family complete.

I went to my Endo last week and my recent blood results show I have a spillage of enzymes in my liver. My test results have always come back great so now I worry about what is going on with my body. I have an appointment with my primary doctor which is what my endo wanted me to do so hopefully we can figure out what is going on with me. I'm sure my doctor will do some more bloodwork to be sure that those results I had were accurate, I hope they are wrong and all is well. It's scary to have something wrong and not know what it is.

New Blog name

2008-08-10T02:38:00.000-05:00

I changed the name of my blog and I'm not changing it again. . I am never happy with the title but this time I am sticking with it. The reason it's called Sags Bags Wrinkles and Clogs goes way back to when I was a kid. When I would look tired at night my mom would tell me I had bags and sags under my eyes and that is why she knew I needed to go to bed. Mom also use to complain about having wrinkles b/c she was getting older. I also had this facination with clogs, it was the 70's and everyone had some but me. lol Then, one day I woke up from a nap and for some reason I walked up to my mom who greeted me after I woke up and I mumbled I had "sags bags wrinkles and clogs" and she thought that was funny so from then on we always talked about my sags bags wrinkles and clogs. I have been racking my brain for the perfect name of a blog and it came to me yesterday so I have changed it again and this time it's not changing.

Happiness is a Pink Skull Purse

2008-08-03T10:37:00.000-05:00

I finally made this purse, it was all cut out and waiting for me to finish for months. But yes, finally it is complete. :) I did a couple different things to it that I had not done before to my purses like a serged edging to the top of the pocket and I made two large pocket areas instead of one. I am now in the mood for more purse making. Yay!
Diaper making is coming along but is frustrating as the girl I am making them for can't make up her mind how she wants them to be made. I turned in a really nice one I was proud of and she doesn't like the width of my stitch line at one spot and tells me it needs to be wider. So, I take home the next batches and try my hardest to widen the stitch space and the fabric just won't get caught in the line of sewing. More ripping and sewing. ugh! So, when I get to her house to turn in the un-finshed ones that she will finish for me I see the other lady sewer there and I look at her diapers and what do you know, her top stitched seam line is exactly how mine was. double ugh! I tell her that is my frustration and she says I say you use a 1/8 " seam allowance and you can use your personal judgement. It's like she is setting me up for failure and is never happy with what I produce. That is what is so frustrating, not the diaper making but the inconsistencies of the boss lady. We'll see how much longer I can do this, I'm just not sure it's for me and I will go back to making my own things to sell.
Well it's Sunday so we are off to do Sunday things. :)

I have a new job

2008-07-25T10:27:00.000-05:00

I started working with an at home company making cloth diapers. This company is taking off and I'm starting with it at the beginning stages, it's such an awesome opportunity. These diapers are amazing and well designed. I am considered a "sewer" and there are other people doing the "cutting" and other parts of the process. It's like an assembly line in different houses that makes it all come together. I am going today for training and will eventually be able to do my work at home and get paid. Yay! It's an opportunity I have been wanting for a long time. Yay me!!! Check out her site if you are interested in cloth diapers or know someone who is interested in Going Green. I know the price of each diaper is a bit much when you first see it but if you were to add up how much you spend on diapers over 3-4 years including potty training you litterally spend about $3-$4 thousand dollars in the time frame. If you buy these re-usable diapers you only spend several hundred dollars and you are not filling up the landfills with diapers.

Two scooters and one bike STOLEN

2008-07-23T17:20:00.000-05:00

Yes, that's correct. Nicholas' new bike of 3 months was stolen from our front porch yesterday morning. Two scooters were also taken as well, one of Nicholas' and one of Daphs. Both kids were supposed to be locking them up with bike chains but had gotten lazy and weren't doing it. Some thief had the nerve to just pick and choose what they wanted from our front porch. They didn't take Daphs bike or Nicholas' Power Wing which cost more than the bike. That was the 3rd bike we had bought for Nicholas in a years time. The other two broke, if you can imagine that. So, now he has no bike and we are not running right out to buy another one. I am not bothered by the scooters but more the bike. I also can't believe our big ole dog didn't bark up a storm and let us know. She sure has a bark fest when the squirrels come in our back yard.

What do I want to do?

2008-07-13T16:08:00.000-05:00

That is the question I keep trying to figure out every day. I get so swept up in all types of new crafts and have tried so many and yet I can not decide what I like the most. I have so many different craft supplies in my house that I literally have a craft store. You name it, I have it. So why do I keep searching for the one craft that I will love and stay focused on? I wish I could and I'm sure my hubby wishes the same. I see so many talented people who can make the most gorgeous knitted items or beautiful lampwork beads. I get hooked so fast on new things and do that until something else strikes my fancy. I want to do one thing and stop flip flopping around. I have been working with lampwork beads and I do love it but a person has to spend hours upon hours to perfect that craft. I don't have hours and hours, I have a family to take care of no time to be on a torch for 6 hours. I bought a new book the other day on ceramic clay jewelry making. It looks like fun and simple enough to do, I have made quite a few things with polymer clay so how different can this be. Well, not to much difference except the cost of a high priced kiln to fire them in. Why does every craft have to involve hundres of dollars just to produce one item. Why is crafting so important to me, I ask that everyday. I don't get it, it lives inside me, I think about things I want to make everyday but go many weeks w/out making a thing. I spend more time running around town picking up all the ingredients to make the crafts and then there they sit in the bags for weeks and never get used. What is wrong with me. You know how some people have eating disorders and eat when they are sad or something? I do that with craft supplies. I'm not sad but just trying to figure out "what I want to do" with myself. I know I am mom and wife and daughter and sister and aunt but I want to be something else besides those things. I want to be someone that has a talent. All my life I have had no talent, I'm just me. I have no unique distinct qualities to myself, I'm just me. I want to be something interesting. I have no imagination despite what my mom thinks but moms always say nice and inspiring words to their children. I can copy most things I see but I have yet to create something of my own. So, today another day I sit trying to figure out "what I want to do and who I am" besides mom, wife, daughter, sister and aunt.

Been busy

2008-07-12T23:01:00.000-05:00

I've been busy so far this summer with the new puppy and the kids keep me pretty busy. Our little Sadie pup has been such a great thing for our family. She is just what we needed around here to perk things up. She is almost housebroken but still not perfect, but she is trying. :) She is doing so much better on walks too, she isn't pulling as hard as she was before. We take her out every evening and I think that helps her to get use to the leash more and more each day.
Today was such a hot day, we are looking at 100 degree weather for several days in a row without a chance of rain. Our electric bill for june doubled from what it was in May, we need to conserve our energy so next months bill doesn't double. I can say since we have lived in this house for 9 years we have never had a bill this large. I also got our June water bill and that one was almost doubled as well. We told Daph she can't use the sprinkler out front anymore to jump in to cool off unless we are watering the yard. She and her friend were using the sprinkler almost everyday so that makes sense why our bill was so high. We have to tighten up with everything since food is high, gas is high. *sigh*
Let's see, I started taking another lampwork bead class for shaping and control of bead makine. I am getting better but still no pro, that is for sure. I'll keep trying, I won't give up, I really enjoy making beads. Oh, that reminds me, I went to an estate sale today and the lady happened to be one crafty lady and I scored a small kiln. After I bought it realized this thing must have been made in the 1960's. Oops! I can't find any information about it so I am hoping the glass bead store will be able to help me with how to use this new thing. If not I just bought something I can't use. I will have to save up for a new one unless I come across one that is not vintage. lol
Daph's birthday is this Wednesday and we are not sure yet what we are doing but it will be fun.
Eric has been working on the front yard, tearing up the stretch up by the sidewalk that has been a pain to keep the grass green. He was out there with a pick ax digging out that large limestone rock. That was a tough job. Now we have some sun tolerant plants and it looks great. I'll have to take photos of his awesome work.
Guess that's about it for now. I'm trying to keep things updated as best I can.
I wanted to add some recent photos of my bead work from my recent classes.

New Puppy in the house

2008-06-17T10:52:00.000-05:00

We got a new puppy. If you had told me a week ago that I would have a new puppy I would have laughed so hard at you. But, we have a new puppy and she is a mini-Doxie Piebald. Eric has always wanted a weenie dog so he is super thrilled. The way I got her was when I went to get my haircut last Saturday a customer came in and said she was giving away her puppies and I jumped on that one right away. These are AKC registered pups and they were free, it doesn't get much better than that. We had talked about a dog but didn't want to spend big bucks to get one so this seemed like it was meant to be ours. The kids absolutely adore her and she has bonded so well with them too. Actually nobody had any idea I was getting her, I surprised them all and boy were they surprised. So, it's all good. Take a look at our new furbaby.

Cuppa Frogga

2008-06-16T10:42:00.000-05:00

We have new residents at our humble abode. I should have taken a pic but for awhile I had a garden ceramic high heel shoe in a pot outside on my front porch and when it rained it would fill up and a frog would stay in the shoe, it was adorable. Well recently we planted hydrangeas in those large grey pots and removed the ceramic shoe. One day I noticed the frog was back and living inside the grey pot under the leaves of the plant. How cute we admired and we would look out for him everyday. We also have a bakers rack on the front porch with some small potted plants sitting at the top. One day Eric was watering the small plants and discovered the frog nesting in one of the pots. We ohh'd and ahh'd on how cute it was to see him in his new abode. I was curious how he made his way all the way up to the top and into the plant but I guess those guys have sticky enough little paws to do it. This morning I went out and sure enough, he was back as he was missing yesterday. I said my good mornings to him and went about my way. Later when Eric was going out for a bike ride he discovered that there was now a second fron living in one of the other small planters. We now have a second resident. I hope they don't go telling all their frog buddies to come over as we only have one more plant left. I suppose they could make it a time share. lol Way to cute and the kids are loving the whole thing. Here are some cute pics of our new friends.

Lampwork bead class

2008-05-30T07:36:00.000-05:00

I took a class on making lampwork beading yesterday and it was so much fun. I felt very comfortable with the torch and making the beads. I can't say my beads look so great but I can work on that part more. I wanted to learn how to put dots and stringers on the beads so I practiced that and found out it is a lot harder than it looks. I also wanted to make a heart bead so the teacher showed me how simple those are to make. I bought my own kit so I can start practicing some more at home but I also might rent torch time at the studio since their torches are hotter than my kit torch. These are my beads and starting from the left is the bead I made first which is the black one and progressing over to the heart which was the last one I made in class. I am pleased.

Wow, it's been a long time

2008-05-24T12:21:00.000-05:00

I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted here but life is busy right now with school getting out and the kids having school projects. Summer is around the corner and that means the kids being home and me finding lots of fun things for us to do. They are both signed up for sports camp already at that is at the beginning of the summer. We have a new city pool that opened up so we will be riding our bikes to it often. We have no summer trips planned as of yet but who knows what we will end up doing. Nicholas wants to go see the Alamo and so we may do that and go to Six Flags.

I made lip balm for a swap I was in recently, they are orange dream flavored and remind of an Orange Juilius. An Orange Juilius just opened at the mall and I have been in heaven ever since. Yum!

Lets see, Daph reminded me in a cute way I need to dust more often. She drew smiley faces on the tv speakers the other day. lol

My kitty was helping me do laundry last week, she is a great help as you can see in the picture.

Daph was working on a report of Sacagewea and their school did a wax museum of all the reports. The kids had a blast and there were so many great "famous" people in history. Here is Daph in her costume I made for her and her tri-fold report. I made every part of her costume down to the faux mocassins.

This weekend will be a busy one too. Last night we went to a Round Rock Express game. They lost but we still had a great time and we got to see the Friday fireworks, they were just beautiful. It was super hot but bearable. The kids can't wait to do it again and now that Nicholas plays baseball he was all eyes on the game. I was able to get a pic of the kids but using our phone so the quality isn't the best.

Tomorrow we will eat the inlaws and then on Monday we are cleaning out the other side of the garage. We have lots of house projects in the works. I will try to fit in making some soap and more purses. I need to finish working on my e-pattern that I hope to sell soon. I'm out for now.

Oh ya, giving a shout out to Melis, I hope you are having a great time in Florida. *waving*

Today is Nicholas' birthday

2008-05-08T21:35:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Nicholas!! I can't believe you are 11 already, I remember when you were born and I held you in my arms for the first time. You made me a mama. I hope you had a great day.

Here is the cookie cake I made for him. I was not going to spend oodles of money on those expensive cookie cakes from the mall so I bought a tub of cookie dough and some disposable pizza pans and made two cookie cakes for him. I took them to school and the kids devoured both of them in record time.

Busy sewing me

2008-04-30T21:57:00.000-05:00

I've been busy the past few days making things like crazy. I made a new purse today. I just love this fabric, it makes me happy to look at it.

Swap apron

2008-04-28T22:51:00.000-05:00

I made an apron tonight, this was my first one ever. It didn't take as long as I thought it would, it came out just as I imagined. I'm so excited, I hope my swap partner likes it. Now I'm off to bed, enough posting for today.

Williamson County Candles and Red Poppy Festival

2008-04-28T17:03:00.000-05:00

I had a chance to finally make it to the Red Poppy Festival this year and didn't have enough time to fully see everything it had to offer. I went to see my candlemaker friend who was selling candles that day. I bought two new scents, Pipe Dreams and Warm Vanilla Sugar.

If you are on the search for the BEST candle I HIGHLY recommend these candles. I love love these candles. Did I mention that I LOVE them? I first discovered them at Cabbages and Kings when I bought an Iced Tea and Coconut Lime Verbena a couple years ago. I was blown away by how good they are and continued buying strictly these candles. I am on a few message boards and one day I find out that the girl who I buy candles from was part of the same board I frequent. I had no idea b/c her name is different then her business name. A friendship is born and we have gone to a candle conference before and stay in contact via email. She has become a friend to me and my favorite candle maker. I don't promote her candles just b/c she is my friend but b/c she is truly a wonderful candlemaker. She has been written up a couple local newspapers around town. Here is her website if you are interested in where to purchase her candles. If you do get some tell her Angelique sent ya. ;) http://www.williamsoncandles.com/

My roses

2008-04-28T17:00:00.000-05:00

I tried to post pics this morning but like I mentioned before I couldn't get photoshop to open but it's all fixed now. It's great to have a computer savy husband. :) This is just one pic but when the other rose bush on the other side of my house blooms I'll take a pic.

Sunny Monday

2008-04-28T08:52:00.000-05:00

What a beautiful day this has started off to be so far, the sun is out and it's a bit chilly but that won't last for long. I have a few crafts to finish up and get them mailed off to my swap partner this week. I am enjoying this swap, it is a letter "A" swap and I send my partner things that start with the letter A. I have some great things planned, I just need to put them in action. I'll post them once my swap partner get them in her hands. Today is a busy day.

I tried to post this earlier with some pictures but I couldn't get Photoshop to open so hubby has been scanning our computer for viruses. So far things are fine but he is doing so maintenance so I can't post some pictures I had wanted to.

A week ago

2008-04-27T21:52:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday the 19th I took a class on fabric jewelry. The class was given by Jennifer Perkins who is the host of the DIY channels show Craft Lab. It is my favorite craft show and it is not on the air currently. I hope they bring it back soon, I am missing my daily doses of crafty shows. Jennifer teaches a couple different classes and the one I took was on fabric jewelry. I had so much fun and learned a lot. I had to get a picture of Jennifer and I, it made my week. To me I am more excited to meet craft celebrities than the ones on regular tv shows and movies. Crafting is so dear to my heart. Here are the pictures of the bracelet and rings and yo yo's we made in class and of course a pic of me and Jennifer.

Another day another purse

2008-04-23T12:51:00.000-05:00

I made a new purse, I've had a dry spell and haven't made one in months. This one was a bit harder than most I have made in the past but it is all worth it. I really like the way it came out. I did not add a pocket like I normally do, I was just tired and wanted to be finished with it. lol I've been busy the past week with a sick kid and then I picked up the bug. I'm feeling better now and getting back to things.

Over and out for now.

Oops, I haven't posted. :(

2008-04-15T13:45:00.000-05:00

Okay, I've been busy as usual but there is always so much going on around here and making my self use my brain and write words is sometimes hard to do. lol I got a new haircut today, it's still about the same but a bit different and it feels great and still easy peasy to take care of when I'm in a rush. It's short but I can pin back my bangs for exercising. I bought some new fabric today for our couch cushions. I have a couch thingy that covers it and then I take the three large cushions off and cover each one of them individually with co-ordinating fabric. I like to put the cushions on top of the liner instead of tucking it into the couch crevices because it always comes out and looks messy. This way the cushions hole it down and it add some extra color and texture to the whole look. I'll post a pic maybe when it's finished.
Okay, off to take care of Daph, she hurt her foot at Nicholas' game last Saturday night and she is home recovering. It's an ugly owie.

Busy day

2008-04-11T23:01:00.000-05:00

The kids were home from school today so there was lots of things to do with them. We didn't get to make anything fun but we still plan to this weekend. I'm tired, not much to say. It's late and time for bed, a busy day is ahead for tomorrow. G'nite. zzzzzzzzzz

Day 2 and I'm here again

2008-04-10T14:38:00.001-05:00

Woo-hoo!! I did it, two days in a row to post. I added some music and a slideshow, this is getting easier and not so frustrating.

Today was a busy morning. I was off early to see my personal trainer to help get me in shape. Then after my workout I had some strength to make it to Joanne Fabric to do some fabric shopping. I am in a letter "A" swap on a message board so I had to pick up some things for that even though I have no idea who my partner is. I have to send only things that begin with the letter "A", so this will be fun.

Now I am home and have showered and ready for lunch and the kids will be getting out of school soon. They have no school tomorrow so we will have to do something fun. Maybe we'll make it a craft day and sew stuffed animals from this cute book I bought recently. It's called 'Cute Stuff' and they are simple enough for the kids to do. I bought Daph a sewing machine for Christmas last year so this is a project up her alley and of course Nicholas is cool with sewing too. (just don't tell his friends).

Some soaping

2008-04-09T21:41:00.001-05:00

I love to make soap. Did I mention I love to make soap? lol I have made several batches lately, it takes time to cure and be a nice hard bar for using in the shower so I made a lot of batches to last a long time. I am not through yet but still have more to go. Here are some pics of what I have made lately. I still have 3 batches I need to take pictures of and post.

Me again

2008-04-09T14:26:00.000-05:00

I have changed the colors and added some cute things. Still lot's to learn.

Cornfused

2008-04-09T13:21:00.000-05:00

I love that term "cornfused", it came froma message board friend.

Okay, I am so cornfused about setting up this blog, I'll keep working at it.

A whole new blog

2008-04-09T13:12:00.000-05:00

A new day and a whole new blog. This is new for me and I hope to keep it up. I'll be blogging more later, stay tuned. :)