Winter Blahs....

As I sit here typing....

It's snowing....

AGAIN!

That darn ground hog has once more cursed us. 

So what does one do to beat the winter the blues???

Well, around here 

We craft! 

Helped the grand kids make some Valentines

MADE VALENTIN'ES FOR MY LOVED ONES..

  

and crafted  some more.

Cascading card

Saw one of these on Facebook
and had to have one.
So I made one with the Cricut!!

And when I can't craft any longer....

I break out the seeds..

and plan

and dream 

of a summer garden.

How 'bout you?  

How do you beat the winter blahs??!

Keepin' it Simple

And tryin' to keep warm!

My Garden....

it's gonna be awhile!

Craft Day-Homemade cards

I got busy this week making cards for some upcoming events. I wanted to get them out of the way so I can get started on Christmas crafting.

Take a look....

Hubs and I have an anniversary coming up.

35 years!

Yep, I was a child bride!

He will be taking (what he calls) a once in a lifetime hunting trip to Canada several days after our anniversary, so I thought this

 big buck card

 was appropriate. 

Plus, I am on a mission to test my skills with some new card folding techniques.

This is a side step fold.

We are expecting a new grandbaby in December and won't know if it's a boy or a girl until its born. 

So I avoided the use of pink!

(I think its a boy.....we shall see) :)

Made this tri shutter fold card just for the fun of it using some of my favorite chicken papers. :)

While we're talking cards

I thought I'd share the card I made for my son and our new daughter in law.

It is a  z  fold card.

Have a wonderful  weekend....

Tammy

Celebrations and the Crafts that make them SPECIAL!

Happy Labor Day!

Are you celebrating this day like most Americans.....

Cook outs..

Parades....

Perhaps some other family gathering?...

Labor day is a celebration of  everyday 

hard working folks.

At our house....

well....

WE'RE CHILLAXIN'!!

We are at the homestead this week.  

We left city life behind for a few days.  

The first several days home were jam packed full of gardening duties and home preserving. 

So today, we're gonna relax!

Even though we aren't exactly celebrating today,

we have done our fair share of celebrating during the month of August.

My daughter had a

Ladybug themed birthday party for our little princesses 3rd birthday. 

I can't believe she's 

Photo from the internet

She loves the Ladybug Girl books!

And she LOVED her party too!

Big brother enjoyed it as well!

His face says it all!

Around here, no celebration would be complete without something crafty or homemade.  

We like (and appreciate)  homemade stuff. 

Anyone can go to the store and dole out cash for a gift (or unneeded toy),  

but handmade gifts....

gifts from the heart ....

are just extra special-don't ya think!

So grandma made the
Ladybug Girl some crafty stuff 

to make her day memorable.

A ladybug hair clip made from ribbon.
How to instructions can be found here.

An explosion box purse.
Instructions can be found here.

The purse opens up like this.  We tucked
some birthday cash inside for her college fund!

A Ladybug skirt made from tulle and pom poms.

My brother also had a birthday in August.

He turned 50! 

And I couldn't resist blessing him with a special 

Because You're 50

gift!

An adult diaper cake!

One more thing while we're talking celebrations.....

Eleven years ago this month I was diagnosed with 

Acute myeloid leukemia.  

Which means I have been Leukemia free for 10 1/2 years. 

Woo hooo!

Reason to celebrate-eh!?

September is Leukemia/ Lymphoma Awareness month. 

Many have won the battle....

But there are many who are currently fighting this battle.

And many more who have sadly succumb to some kind of blood cancer. 

One way you can help is to be a blood donor.

Blood donors literally saved my life.  

And for that I'm grateful. 

When you give blood,

you have the ability to save someone's 

LIFE!

Thanks for stopping by and listening to my ramblings...

Have a great Labor Day,

whatever you may be doing,

where ever you may be.

Trying to keep it simple....

Tammy

Bridal Shower Craftiness!

So I hosted a bridal shower for our 

daughter in law to be.

  

While I may have been the hostess for this grand event, 

 I was not in charge of it. 

(Thankfully!)

Surprise!

But I did want to help to make Ashley's day memorable.

So I took on the crafty stuff, 

and let the food, games and other details up to the maid of honor and Ashley's mom.  

I have to say that I had fun ....

crafting....

creating....

and of course sneaking around!

I volunteered to make the invitations...

(card making is one of my favorite crafts)

       
                          
Since it was held at my house....
I did much (but not all) of the decorating. 
And because the bride and groom will be gettin' hitched in a barn and (the guys will be) wearing camo for the wedding...

decorating with burlap was a no brainer. 

Take a look.....

A good friend helped me make the ribbon flower pins that were used to secure the favors (wrapped in burlap) :) 

We also used these as part of the table decorations.

Painted Mason jars added a nice touch too...

                             

Ashley's mom brought some deee-licious 

(and cute)

cupcakes!

There sure was a lot of camo in the room...

(glad I'm not wearing that little diddy!!)

And a ton of fun!

And there's my favorite girl -she had a great time too!!

Love her!

I sure hope you enjoyed the pics. 

It's these little snippets in life

that somehow create fond memories 

for us to reflect on

and cherish as the days and the years pass us by.

Cherish your moments my friends

they go by so quickly...

and don't forget to live your life

Simply and Deliberately....

Tammy

Ashley with her Maid of honor.

Cricut Crafting

I've decided it's time to just make lemonade!

You know...

 when life gives you lemons-

Make lemonade!

So I've decided

I'm just gonna take all these harsh, wintry days..

and just do some things I enjoy doing....

things that give me 

JOY!

With several inches of snow on the ground,

and more in the forecast...

I can't get outside to work in the yard

or even get the chicken house cleaned out. 

my garden and raised bed :(

So, I've been doing some crafting!

I love to create...

My favorite crafting tool is the

CRICUT.

With Valentine's Day this week,

and a wedding this weekend....

I've been busy. 

One of my favorite things to do with the Cricut, is to cut vinyl.  

That machine cuts vinyl like butter. 

 Love it!  

And the sky's the limit on what you can do with vinyl.

For some Cricut inspiration, check out my Pinterest page.     

For the wedding couple,

I created this wall hanging....

I started with a frame.

Sprayed adhesive on the backing of the frame

stuck on a piece of white burlap 

cut out the vinyl and 

very carefully applied the vinyl to the front of the glass. 

Getting the vinyl on 

Just Right

was the hardest part. 

I sure hope the  lovebirds... 

love it!

I even used the Cricut to make some of the parts of this tri-fold wedding card.  

Friday is Valentine's Day

(in case you forgot)  

Here is a sneak peak

of just two of the cards I made.

For my sweetheart...

And for my son and his soon to be bride...

The cricut was not used to create this card, 

instead 

I downloaded this template

and used a craft knife to cut it out.

It's perfect for my deer hunting couple!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We will be getting more snow tonight and tomorrow,

so I'm hoping I will be able to make some more lemonade and

enJOY the free time 

and creative burst

it brings!

What about you...

How have you been spending your winter days?

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