Nuttin'....

....absolutely nothing got done today, and my desk has a pile of paperwork on it. Ziggy's allergies seemed really bad this morning, so I thought I'd drop off some Zyrtec and eye drops at his school. I managed to see him in the lunch room, and he looked awful. The lunch aide looked at him and said, "That looks like pink eye!" Fortunately, the Health Center is across the hall from the Lunchroom, and we immediately went there. Long story short: he's home tonight with eye drops and a new nasal spray. Poor guy, the school campus is absolutely beautiful with the billion blossoming trees and spacious green grass, it just makes him sneeze all the time.



This weekend wasn't too bad though: We went to Goodwill , and I managed to find this pack of coasters for $1.99 !!!

I am super excited, as I was wanting to work with coaster board. I've been using the ones from Michael's, which are cardboard and a bit too thick. And I have made some from thick Costco boxes. I was about to order some actual coasters from some company back east, but they only sell in lots of 1000, and that's a bit too much, me thinks.

Anyways, these should do me fine for a spell, and if I don't alter them, they aren't too ugly to use...maybe.

Ladybugs & Lemon Bars

Pippin helped me with today's photos...basically, she sat in my sunshine, but that's kind of her talent.

Anyways, I made these over the weekend, using a fab tutorial by Dawn. The ladybugs are made with scalloped circles and are so cute!


This afternoon, I made some lemon bars with this recipe . I was going to take a picture of them, but we ate them all! I can't believe it...the recipe makes a 9x13 pan of bars, but we managed to scarf it all down in one sitting. They were so good and I will be making these again. Such a fresh taste that makes your mouth happy!

Easter Baskets

Angie showed us how to make the cutest little baskets out of 6x6 paper. They are 3" x 3" x 1.5".


I didn't have any bunny or chick stamps, so I used Tommy Turtle. I like it, but I needed a basket that had taller sides so that the Georges could use them to collect eggs or candy or Chuck E. Cheese tokens.

I did some fiddling with the measurements and made a taller basket. Then I found a cute chick stamp in the dollar bin at Craft Warehouse.
This basket is 3" x 3" x 2", which will suit the Georges just fine. I colored some with my Copics.

And I colored some with my Twinkling H2Os, for some shimmery fun.

Card Class

Tuesday night was Card Class and the theme was "vellum." Leslie showed us how to make cute vellum luminaries for electric tealights. I didn't finish mine yet, so I can't post a photo.

I did bring other vellum ideas, though. The first two are from Nicole Heady:



Stamp design on back side of vellum with Versamark, then emboss with white EP. Sponge ink on design, and wipe of excess. The sentiment is stamped on front of vellum with Stazon.


Stamp image on back of vellum with Hawaiian Shores ink (PTI). Adhere it to card base with Scor-tape. The glitter strips are made by putting 1/8" Scor-tape on either side of colored cardstock, then sprinkling glitter on it.

I messed up on my first vellum background, so I decided to use it to make a flower embellishment. I cut out the shape using my (favorite) Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die. The center is a Making Memories gem brad.

My third card used a pattern from Paper Crafts magazine. I cut the apron shape from vellum, then ran it through my Big Shot with the Swiss Dots embossing folder.

Finished pressure washing the driveway and sidewalk today! My arm is killing me, but IT IS DONE!!!

Yesterday

We had some sun! Jenifer loaned us her pressure washer, and it is awesome. I so {heart} this thing! On the left of the picture is before cleaned, and on the right is AFTER

Seriously, our driveway was black and now is gray with black. Driveways out here in the Northwest get that way, and it is not unusual to see people out cleaning their driveways.

I am a bit sore today, though.

Cards for Robin

Just sent a batch of cards to Robin. I had a lot of fun making these, because the colors were so Spring-like.


Some of the designer paper is from last year. I remember buying it, and making sure I had matching cardstock, but I seriously can't remember what I intended to make with it. I hate it when I do that.


Stampin' Up! had a cute set that I had to get. The silhouette of the girl reminded me so much of my Ladies when they were younger and every day was a sparkly rainbow tea party.
Thought I'd throw in some generic Easter cards for Robin, too. I love these egg images.

Now, I love blossoming branches, and they do remind me of Spring. But I like images of these branches more than the real thing. The trees are blooming like crazy now, and my allergies are just awful. Poor Ziggy has puffy eyes and a sore on his eyelid from rubbing it too much. Peebs has been rubbing his eyes, too.

Tonight is pizza night, so I'd better get busy and find out what kind to get...Caesar's, Papa Murphy's, Costco, Round Table?

90% of real crafters make real messes....

Well, here it is: where I craft. I guess it might look messy to some people. Like my friend, who peeked in, then said: "Hmm, I could never stand having open shelves like that!"

It doesn't really bother me.



This is the cleanest that my craft table will ever look.

All I really care about is that my paper cutter has no gunk on it, and that my craft mats have no grimy residue from that last craft project.


The Random Shelf holds random stuff: tape, new ribbons, sanding blocks, a new punch that doesn't fit in the punch drawer, and a couple of keychains (!).



My desk is about the same as the craft table, but I'm happy with it. I can sit in my pink chair, and do my stuff. Usually, one of the dogs will be sleeping in their cage.

The shelf does need a bit of reorganizing, but I never seem to get around to it.

On the weekends, it's a little more tidy, because the calendar & homeschool stuff isn't on there. But the coffee mug is usually there.


And there is a Random Shelf above my desk, too. It holds important things like glitter, ribbons, folders from long ago, and a stuffed unicorn.


I also noticed this today...book, craft, jar of dried flowers (?) and pencil basket with stuffed unicorn...all on premium shelf space. I just don't make sense!

And this is the bit that drives my husband bonkers: my printer sitting on top of Scooby's cage (but I put a red blanket under it, so she can't mess with the electronics). He's okay with me setting my craft totes on Pippin's cage, though.

This is as clean as it gets, and if it were any tidier, I'd probably be too nervous to make anything (especially if it involved glitter).

So, no excuses. This is where I do what I do.

Thanks for stopping by!