Popping in

RIP Elvira

Would you believe I haven't put ink to paper since my last post?  I've been learning the ins and outs of Photoshop Elements 10 and I am really loving it, especially the Organizer. Speaking of organizing, I have organized my craft area again! I think I have finally gotten it to where I want it. Just a few final touches and I should be ready to post photos.

It hasn't been all fun and games unfortunately. Elvira, my Black Australorp hen, began laying her eggs internally, developed peritonitis and had to be put down. Didn't find a vet who treated chickens so had to do the deed myself. Not fun but I couldn't let her suffer. I ended up buying 2 baby chicks to cheer everyone up. OK, to cheer me up but I think Hazel and Penny are a little happier too. This is my first time raising chicks and I can tell you that I will never buy another chicken already raised. It is such a joy to watch them grow and develop.

Here is Wanda and Dotty at 4 1/2 weeks old. This is an awkward stage with their sleek grown up feathers coming in but their fluffy baby feathers still on. They are most likely Easter Eggers and should lay either blue or green eggs. When I bought them I didn't really care what breed I was getting. I picked the two who were the most people friendly. Wanda is darker in color and has the dramatic eyeliner.  Dotty is lighter in color and doesn't have any markings on her face but is more friendly.

Wanda

Dotty

They will need to be kept apart from Hazel and Penny until they are about 5 months old but I have them in a very large dog cage out in the chicken yard on warm days so they can all get used to each other. 

Hopefully I will get time to stamp in the near future but in the meantime I am having a blast learning new things and raising my chicks.


Til next time...

Life Musings

This week my oldest son turned 33 years old. Now 33 isn't usually considered a momentous occasion but for some reason it hit me hard. Where have all the years gone? Did I spend so much time being all things to all people that I didn't have time to be me?  Was I the Mom I wanted to be or did I fall short? I do know that he is a chef because of me and I have proof, written in black and white. In the article written about him when he made Junior Chef of the Year, he stated that it was my love of cooking and the fact that we always ate home cooked meals together as a family and the kitchen was the heart of our home that influenced him the most. I am proud of my son, the man he has become and the great chef that he is. Today we will be celebrating him by gathering around a table together as a family, sharing food and brew, love and laughter. So maybe I didn't do too bad after all. I only wish the clock would tick just a little bit slower.

Stamps, dies & jute button thread by Papertrey Ink

Paper, ink, button & brads by StampinUp


Embossing folder from Cuttlebug.


Til next time...

Family Craziness

Sorry I haven't posted anything in a week. A friend has been out of town and we have had to care for her dogs. Then we had to rush our daughter-in-law to the hospital with appendicitis. On top of that, while I was waiting at the hospital on Saturday for my daughter-in-law to be discharged, my wonderful husband ran down to Petsmart for dogfood.  CAWS happened to be there with rescued dogs for adoption and "The Dogfather" found one he just couldn't walk away from. He had been abused so he's a bit skittish but he follows me everywhere. We took him to the vet yesterday for a complete checkup, shots, medicine for his eye and dewormer for his tapeworms.  Other than the irritated eye and the tapeworm, he is in excellent shape.  Once he learns to negotiate the staircase to my craft room, I'll be working on a few techniques I have wanted to try.

So here is MacTavish Muck-

Katie's Kitchen

One of the main reasons I haven't posted in so long is the total renovation of our kitchen area.  We completely gutted the room and started all over from scratch with new electric, plumbing, insulation, wallboard, ceiling etc.  It was a much larger undertaking than I thought and took far longer than expected but it was definitely worth it.

Here is the old, dark, dismal, cramped kitchen. It looks way better in the photo than it was in real life.

And here it is torn apart.

On it's way back together.

Here it is waiting for tile backsplashes and a big tile something or other over the stove.

Our tile installer got involved with a big job out in California and while I was waiting for his return I realized that tile would be too overwhelming.  That and I really wanted the darn room DONE!  So out came the paint, roller, blue tape, then starch & iron for the curtains.  A trip to Hobby Lobby for something to hang over the stove and it is finally finished! 

The west wall.

The north wall.

The south wall.

This has been a dream come true for me.  The kitchen has always been the center of our home and family and now it is the heart and soul as well.  We have already shared some great times together in this room and are looking forward to many more to come.

 

Til next time...

My Two Cents... and a recipe

The recent developments between MTC and Provo Craft have been preying on my mind enough that I finally have to say something and be done with it. Read on if you wish or scroll down to the very bottom of this post for just the recipe page.

On the cold, corporate level, these are what I believe to be the basics: Provo Craft and their partner/half owner Bank of America, filed suit against MTC for alleged copyright infringement and MTC settled out of court rather than run up legal bills it could not possibly pay. Quite frankly, if MTC had the time and money to fight PC and BOA, I think they could have won.  The only thing MTC may have done wrong, in my opinion,  was create a means to back up the Cricut Cartridges that the user owned but that feature was removed after only 2 weeks of existence so there was no reason for a lawsuit.  If you are reading this then you use a computer, so you should know that once you buy your hardware, you are free to use any software that you choose.  There are tons of legal precedents showing that a hardware developer cannot prevent a software developer from creating a program to utilize their hardware.

On the warm, human level, MTC is not a corporation.  It is a young programmer, Andy, who wrote a program for his wife, Ann, so she could cut her own designs rather than use the cartridges full of designs that did not appeal to her.  Once written, he chose to share it with the rest of us.  MTC is the only reason I bought my Cricut Expression.  And with he and Ann expecting, he really had no choice but to settle out of court.

On the warmer, personal level, MTC allows me to keep busy and to keep my mind off the pain. You see, I hurt… ALL the time.  Some days it’s just a little and other days it’s a lot but the pain is ALWAYS there.  I have arthritis in my spine and have had my neck fused.  I have arthritis in my knees.  Crafting has always been my oasis. I have often said that as long as I have the use of my eyes and my hands and can craft, I can overcome anything.  When crafting, my mind enters another world where there is no pain but the arthritis is in my hands and has gotten to the point where it prevents me from crafting. There are days when I can’t hold a scissor or use a paper punch or even hold the paper to ink the edges so I use what the medical professionals call Adaptive Therapy.  I find a tool to help me do what my hands can’t.  I have a Teflon coated metal plate and magnets to hold my paper while I use the ink applicators from Tim Holtz (love you Tim) to ink the edges.  I have magnets on my Stampa-ma-jig to hold everything in place while I stamp.  And I had MTC and my Cricut Expression to do the fussy cutting around my stamping, my paper punching and die cutting.

I shouldn’t take it personally, but I feel like Provo Craft and Bank of America have told me to put my big girl panties on and just live with the pain.  Well I have been wearing big girl panties long before I was a big girl and I’ve been dealing with this pain for most of my life with very little medication by crafting!!! So for now, I will continue to use MTC with my Cricut Expression.  I will not be able to update MTC and will miss out on any new wonderful things Andy adds to the program until I can find a way to purchase a different cutter but I will be able to keep smiling, laughing, joking and creating. Thank you Andy and Tim and Penny and Kim and StampinUp and all my other fellow crafters who have made it possible for me to continue doing what I love.

Which brings me to the recipe I mentioned...  It was my month to supply the recipe for our SU Recipe Club and since it was March I decided to do my version of Irish Soda Bread.  This is the original recipe as I did it for years but now I use butter and put the whole batch into 1 greased cast iron skillet. I hope you enjoy it.

 Til next time...

Kitchen Update...

Monday, February 14th, the cabinets will be delivered!!! And they will be installed on the 15th! I'm not sure if I thought this day was ever coming. The last of the "Let's see how filthy we can make Katie's entire house." work was completed about 30 minutes ago. I have a lot of cleaning to do! The last 2 really dirty jobs were the sheetrock mudding and the wood floor sanding so the entire house has a hazy film of white powder overlayed with red oak dust. Now I can finally vacuum and then dust and polish everything and have it stay relatively clean for more than 5 minutes.

Here are the lights we chose for over the sink and island as well as the ceiling fan. What do you think?

Til next time...

I'm Baaaaack!

Didn't mean to be gone this long. The hand took several months to heal, which I expected, but then I got involved with a bunch of other things. Since I wasn't using it, I decided that it was the perfect time to have the craft room reorganized. I just love Ikea! I also rescued and adopted two 6 month old girl kitties. After 33 years of being the only female in a nearly all male household (husband, father-in-law, sons, dogs and cats) I finally have my girls. What a totally different dynamic! I have also managed to do some stamping, scrapbooking, gardening and house hunting. And in 2 weeks I'll be able to reveal my latest endeavor.

I plan to start posting almost daily now. I have so many photos to share of the girls (as well as the boys) the craft room, my work, the garden and I may even post about some of the homes we've seen. Here are a few shots of the hand, post surgery.











I was fine when they took out all the stitches until I looked down and saw the pins sticking out. Then I was OK until I saw the Xrays and could see where the pins went. After they removed the stitches I got to wear the nifty little cast with the pins STILL in my thumb joints. Ack!!
Finally the pins were removed and I could really start healing.

Til next time...

The Perfect Sentiment

Today's card is for Week 4 of August's VLV Sketch with a Twist, the Twist being to use a favorite color combination. This designer paper is from the Porcelain series by Basic Gray. I paired it with SU's Cameo Coral, Barely Banana and Chocolate Chip. I tried not to make it too girlie because the moment I came across this sentiment from Verve I just knew I had to use it and give this card to my husband. Last night I heard him open the envelope and then he joined me in the living room. He didn't say a word but I got a very long, long hug. The card said it all.

Stamps: Verve -Enjoy, Because of You, Bountiful Backgrounds
Paper: DSP- Basic Gray; SU - Cameo Coral, Barely Banana, Chocolate Chip
Ink: SU- Cameo Coral, Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke
Other: Spellbinders Oval dies

Thankful Thoughts

For the 3rd week of August, Verve's VLV with a Twist challenge was to use tags. I added an additional twist of my own by making myself use something from my vast collection of "Why the heck did I buy this?" items. I chose to use some paper from one of those ginormous pads from Provo Craft. These are the first 2 sheets to ever be pulled from this pad! I also threw in a BIBHUIY (Bought It But Haven't Used It Yet). I bought the Tim Holtz mini stapler thingy with a box of additional staples the minute it hit the retail market but of course it hasn't seen the light of day since the purchase.

To coordinate with the printed paper, I chose Always Artichoke, Pink Pirouette and Rich Razzleberry. I cut the tag with a Cuttlebug die but it looked rather plain next to the scallop layers of my focal point so I mounted a scalloped circle onto the tag. Threaded some ribbon through the tag and used one whole mini staple from my stash. It worked rather well and it doesn't look tacky like office staples do so I just may get some use out of this "tiny attacher".

My sentiment is one of the free stamps I got for ordering from Verve and it got me thinking about the things I am grateful for. First and foremost is my husband, whose love, devotion and unswerving conviction that I can do anything has made me who and what I am today. Another thing I am grateful for is my card club. Last night was our first meeting of the new year. I shared the "overflow" table with a new member who is a delightful woman and I am so glad she has joined our little group. Shared thoughts and ideas about "Copics vs Prismacolor" with another new member who fits right in. And then there are the returning members who are now my friends and confidants. Those very special friends with whom you can share not only techniques and ideas for stamping, but your personal joys and sorrows. I am grateful for this group of very special women and look forward to another year of sharing.

Til next time...

Stamps: Verve
Paper: SU Always Artichoke, Pink Pirouette, Rich Razzleberry; Provo Craft
Ink: SU Always Artichoke, Rich Razzleberry
Other: SU Ribbon; Spellbinders plain & scalloped circles; Cuttlebug tag; Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher; SU Dimentionals

AWOL from Extreme Conditions

Sorry to be gone so long but things just got in the way again. Last week I was given a cortisone shot in my hand. NOT a pleasant experience in the least and I honestly can't remember the rest of the week after that! LOL And the shot didn't do much good either. Bummer!!

Saturday I went to a friends Open House/Stamp Sale and I was her best customer (no surprise there). She was getting rid of last years SU In Colors which I hadn't bought so I got everything - pads, reinkers, 2 packs of Pink Pirouette cardstock - for a great price along with a Hostess set that I somehow missed, a few brass embossing templates and other miscellaneous stamp sets. A great haul!! Sunday we went down to Riverton for a wonderful visit with some friends. It has been so long since our last visit that I almost forgot just how much I love being with this couple.

Monday I had a visit from a delightful woman who needed some instruction on Parchment Craft Techniques. Somehow she found me through the Internet and gave me a call. It looks like I will be picking up my needles and embossers again. In fact, that is what I've been doing off and on for the last 2 days - making my husband a new parchment bookmark to replace the old one that he thinks he left in a library book. Throw in a visit to the dentist, gardening, canning bushels of string beans, reading a darn good book and all the other assorted things I do around here and there is my week so far.

And while doing all of the above, I have to contend with this obstacle. Now just how am I supposed to get anything accomplished while working under these extreme conditions??? If I can work around this beast I will be posting my Technique Junkies One for One Swap for July, the Parchment Bookmark once it's done and hopefully getting around to this weeks Sketch Challenges.

Til next time...

Bye Bye Birdies

I'm working on 2 cards that I hope to upload sometime today. Should have had them done and photographed but cleaning, draining and refilling the hot tub seems to take longer every time I do it. Hmmm... could that be (GASP) age? So in the meantime I'll just fill you in on my Robin Family. This is the final shot taken the day before they all flew away. I feel like a proud Grandma. Hope they come back next year.

Until next time...

Buried Alive

I have been buried alive in "stuff" for the last few days. I am finally dejunking under the stairs where I tossed everything after closing down my Dollhouse Miniatures business over 10 years ago. I am nearly done but I still have 2 small table saws, a drill press and router table for the Dremel along with 2 jewelers lathes that need to find new homes. I have a 1/2 inch scale house that is only a quarter finished so I will probably just toss it along with my 1 inch scale fully landscaped gazebo unless we blow it up with fireworks.

I am hoping to upload several projects I have done since my last post as well as the final update on the baby robins before the weekend is out. Today is a major holiday here in Utah so I'm not sure just how caught up I will be by that time but here's hoping.

Until then...

Another Bird Update

This photo was taken Sunday, just 2 days after the last photo I posted. They sure do grow fast!

Waltzing Mouse

Last week I received 2 stamp sets, Celtic Heritage and Irish Blessings, from Waltzingmouse Stamps in Ireland. Besides being very talented, I find Claire Brennan to be warm, funny and generous and just plain delightful. I finally managed to squeeze in time over the weekend to have a go at these new stamps. I had the whole card designed in my head but just couldn't decide what color to use for the main card itself so I did 2 versions. Now that I see them here, I think I like the white one better.

The decorative ends on the label were made with 2 coordinating corner punches. Punch a corner with each of the 2 punches then neatly trim away from the rest of the cardstock. Trace onto another color of cardstock and cut out slightly smaller. Stack the 2 pieces and Voila... very nice accents to coordinate with the border punch.


Cardstock -SU Bashful Blue, Elegant Eggplant, Lavender Lace, River Rock; Neenah Classic Crest Solar White

Ink - Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ice Blue, Wisteria; SU Mellow Moss

Punches - Martha Stewart border; EK Success Corner punches

Other - Scor-Pal; Spellbinders Labels die, plain squares

Baby Bird Bulletin

Just an update on the Robin and her brood. The eggs hatched and there are 3 babies in the nest but "Baby Huey" is the only one I've been able to photograph. He (or she) is the biggest and has no fear so to take this photo all I had to do was whistle and he popped up looking for food. He certainly won't be winning any beauty contests yet. LOL

Garden Update

It amazes me how much the gardens have changed in what seems like such a short time. The Serenity Garden has gone from Spring to Summer mode. The vegetable garden is growing strong and needs 2 more trellises. My husband designed and built the first one for my Butternut Squash. Isn't it wonderful? He plans on making 2 more before the cucumbers get much bigger. And my poor Robin is sitting on the nest looking so bored. She won't be bored much longer though.

When I’m Not Stamping

I have been very busy these past 2 months with a lot of things other than stamping. My "pot" garden is doing very well and I have already had several salads from it. The Serenity Garden is doing extremely well especially with all the rain we have been having although the snails have been having a field day with my Hostas. For several years we have been planning to replace the grass and weeds on our parking strip with something that does not require any maintenance or water and will not be affected by all the road salt that the plows toss on there every winter. Finally, this year, as an Anniversary gift, we purchased several thousand pounds of red sandstone pavers. We were going to use red gravel but after losing several shear pins on our snow blower while clearing our neighbor's sidewalk because of the gravel in her parking strip, we decided to go with the pavers. It was backbreaking work and took us a few weeks to complete but our efforts were well worth it. When we were about halfway through the project we decided that it was too flat and boring so we purchased a few large sandstone rocks to add some interest. Then it poured rain and water shot out of all the gopher tunnels so we needed to relocate the downspout to our rain gutters. Once we did that we realized that our rain gutters had seen better days so we replaced those. Who knows what we'll find next! Any one making a run up to Idaho for lottery tickets?

Glorious Nature

It has been raining here nearly every day for what feels like forever but I am not complaining. One of the things I miss about living back east is the vivid green of the trees from the rain. After years of what I call Utah Drab Green, we finally have a true green. The roses, trees, grass, perennials and herbs are all basking in the wet glory and if that isn't enough we frequently are treated to spectacular rainbows. A camera just can't capture the true beauty of it.

We also have a pair of robins nesting in the apricot tree on our front lawn. They were nice enough to build it in a crook right outside the kitchen window so I can get good shots of the action with my telephoto lens without disturbing the feathered family.

Generations

Two years ago my dearest friend Lynn was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma in the brain. By August she was gone, 4 months before her 57th birthday. Her daughter, Alicia, had just married a wonderful guy and there was talk of them starting a family. One of Lynn's few regrets was that she would not be here to crochet the baby's Layette if and when Alicia became pregnant. I promised her right then and there that I would fill in and crochet a complete layette - hat, sacque, booties and blanket. Alicia became pregnant, she and Tony will be welcoming their Baby Boy Flores by Mother's Day and I fulfilled my promise this week. The layette was delivered to Alicia and Tony on Monday. This is for you, Lynn. I hope I did you proud.

Part 2 On Hold

Thought I'd have some cards posted but had to do more Visio for the Hub as well as check on son's cats and run a bunch of errands. Got some really good shopping in though! Slice accessories at 30% off, a Big Shot at 40% off, a Spellbinders Leaves die at 40% off, a bunch of Big Shot Accessories at 30% off, Inkadinkado stamps at 40% off and my entire order at Ellen Hutson's for 15% off. It's snowing today so maybe I can get some playtime in and get some cards scanned and uploaded.