We had a great Christmas

Lot's of fun with family and friends. Got some pretty cool gifts too. I even got a psp not a real big game player but it is cool. And as you can see from the picture some pretty red panties

More banners for some great stores

When I make a banner I will post it here and link it back to your etsy store. I love making these as sometimes they can be a challenge but that is the fun of it. I am learning things every time I make one. Click on the banners for some really awesome shops on Etsy

I make Banners for you store or blog

I love making these. Here are 3 I made and sold this week. Click on the banners to go to these awesome shops, And click on enya's avatar for some wonderful items too.

Also for some really pretty things check out jmonty's avatar

Just wondering

If I can use my animated pictures in my blog...let's see

mmm well that would be a big yes I can

Do you make your own Christmas cards?

I love making things in my Paint Shop Pro x2 program, you can let your imagine run wild with all the awesome things you can do. Want to make a card with this picture or use it as a screen saver. Just click on the picture and save it.

I bought a knitting board and I love it.

This thing is awesome. What I really like is the fact that both sides of what you are making is the knit stitch, It makes a nice thich fabric that dosen't curl up like when you do the stockinette stitch. I found it at Hobby Lobby and bought the 10 in. I like it so well that I went back and bought the 28 in. You can also do variations in your stitches too

Fun New Hats

I had an idea to make a fun little hat like we use to wear when we were young or at least when I was young. Just goes across the head and ties and you can still wear your hair in a pony tail.

I also bought me a knitting board and I really like this thing. Lot's of fun, easy to use and the ccol part is causes a dbl knit effect so the item does curl up like in stockinette stitch. I had bought the 10" and like it so much I went back for the 28"in one. I will post pictures soon of the things I am making.

Embracing Elizabeth

I hope that you have taken a moment and looked to the right and read about Elizabeth. My son and has created a new website all about Elizabeth at Embracing Elizabeth. This family needs a lot of help right now and especially lot's of prayers. You can read Elizabeth's journal at CaringBridge . just click on the names to take you to the sites.

Time to get out and vote

It is here election day and I swear I am still so undecided. I am so tired of the commercials I could scream. So must get ready and go stand in line at the polls and do this.

As the days get shorter

I become less motivated. I love lot's of warm sunny days. And now that darkness comes to soon in the day I find myself setting more than doing. That on top of cold for me is not a good combination. This is how seasonal depression feels. I know I need to snap out of it but that is easy to say and not so easy to do. I have lot's of projects I really need to be doing and have even learned a for me new knitting technique for knitting in the round called the magic loop. Beats those dbl pointed needles.

I really can't wait till this election is over. and here it is October 30th and still have not fully decided who I will vote for. I was all set but as it gets closer I wonder if either is a good candidate. It's kinda like should I just go to the polls close my eyes and punch and hope for the best.

Thinking pink in October

For the whole month of October I will be giving these away with every purchase in my Etsy shop.

They are made from polymer clay, and the pin backs are baked on.

you can use these for years to come

Practice makes perfect

or at least that is what I hear. The more I play with my polymer clay the more ideas I come up with. I figured out how to make a bracelet and how to make my own bails for making necklaces. I have a few pics but will be showing more soon

The longest part of doing polymer clay is conditioning. Seems like it takes forever to get the clay conditioned and yes I do have a pasta machine. I would say I probally have most of the goodies required for doing a lot of polymer clay work.

Polymer clay and shaving cream?

Well the other day I was surfing the web and found on mylifetime.com crafts. I was excited so I checked it out and there was directions for doing polymer clay with shaving cream. I had the supplies so I started playing. Now you have to keep in mind that if your item need a hole you out that in before you start the process. Using a heat gun starts the baking process and to try and put your hole in after will make it crumble.

you will need:
shaving cream
polymer clay
alcohol ink
heat gun
small bowl
tooth picks or a small paint brush


prepare your clay

Take your shaving cream and put some in a bowl
add a few drops of your ink using 2 different colors and mix
using your brush apply over the raw clay
use your heat gun as this will melt the shaving cream and spread the dyes

Bake as usual

For more info on this fun craft you can go to www.mylifetime.com

So cute I had to blog this

I found the cutest store on Etsy that sales these adorable costumes and tutu's. 2 QT 4 WORD'S Perfect for Halloween or those cute little ballet classes. You will not find anything this cute in a store.

She is even happy to do custom orders for you too just give her a convo. By clicking on the pictures you can go straight to her store

Home made Chicken Stew

As fall approaches I and especially my husband look forward to the cooler days and a pot of home made chicken stew. Talk about comfort food this is so good and just warms you all over.

Here is how to make it

Ingredients

chicken, better with breast and some dark meat
butter
evaporated milk
whole milk
salt to taste
flour


wash and skin your chicken, using a large pot fill with enough water to cover your chicken and cook till done. Add your butter to the water and chicken.

Remove the chicken and let it cool because you will be removing it from the bones.
using a strainer and another pot strain your broth so as to remove any possible bones that may be in there.

Take 5 tablespoons of flour and put in a plastic container with a lid, add some whole milk.
place lid on and shake till flour mixture is dissolved, you can also use a wire whisk for mixing this as well.

Place your strainer over the pot and pour the flour mixture in. By using the strainer you will eliminate lumps. Stir the mixture in the pot. If it doesn't appear to be thick enough repeat above process.

Add your evaporated milk and your whole milk, keeping your burner on med so as not to scorch the soup. Add your chicken and stir. When hot, ladle yourself a big bowl with crackers and sprinkle a little pepper.

Refrigerate the leftovers

Free form crochet meets scrapbooking

I have been dabbling into some free form crocheting which I enjoy very much so I came up with this fun little book holder or could be a pocketbook. After crocheting I decided to embellish it with all these fun scrap booking elements and added a chain for carrying. It will hold an average size book and the embellishments are removable if desired

knitting jewery

I love small projects and what's better than jewelry.
My local yarn shop has even started careing beads and supplies for making your own jewelry.
Then I spotted this incredible yarn there that is cotton, hand dyed and an incredible 33 dollars a skein and I could not resist.

I can even string seed beads on it and knit or crochet away with breath taking results.

Makeing a good pan of gravy

Being from the south I hate going to a restaurant and ordering gravy and biscuits and when it arrives the gravy is white and thick almost like paste or as my mom calls it thickening and in some cases where is the sausage? Now I learned how to cook from my mom and granny and they are true southern cooks. I remember my first pan of gravy when I was 15 and you could have actually paved the driveway with it. I would say that now a lot of years later I have mastered making some good gravy.

Ingredients:

Sausage

flour

milk

salt

pepper (optional)

Crumble your sausage in frying pan and cookwhen sausage is done take the sausage out and drain on a paper towel to remove excess grease and to prevent burning.

Add your flour amount depends on how much grease is still in your pan.

Keep a close eye on this. keep stirring and for a good brown gravy you let it get almost to the point of burned you want it to get to a dark brown.

Add your milk and keep stirring as the gravy starts to thicken return your sausage to the pan and continue to stir. If it appears to thick add a little more milk till it is the right thickness for you.

Serve on toast or biscuits

Sun Painting

Now this is fun. It is a special kind of paint that you can imprint items in the sun. I did this on a velvet scarf. Now this is only my second project using this but you can do this on fabric, and papers. As hot as it is right now in NC it doesn't take long for the design to imprint onto the paper or fabric and for it to dry as well. I love this stuff. The paint is a little more expensive than the tie dyes but you can be really versatile with it. Here is the velvet scarf or more like a wrap that I did. I would love your comments on this please.

Please help this ebay seller out

I have been selling on EBay for a few years now and also lead a couple of groups

doing this I have some great people all over the place. In my group Women over 40 we have a member who sells her items on Ebay to take care of the animals that she rescues.
She depends on this to make sure that the animals are fed and well taken care of until they can be adopted.
Well unfortunally about a week and a half ago she was out riding her horse Rosie and was hit head on bya drunk driver. Killing Rosie, Sara ended up with a broken arm and foot.
Her ebay name is lrfncritters and she could use the help now.Take a look at her auctions and maybe bid. She has some great childrens book up right nowthat are old and awesome. By clicking on the picture you can go straight to her auction.

Love the fun things being done with my buttons

I have had several great artist on Etsy to buy buttons from me and I love seeing what they have come up with. The first is Hemplady4u She took and made a beautiful bracelet and a necklace. Now if you are a fan of hemp jewelry check her store out. You will not be disappointed.

Next is sheilascrafts She crochets pretty little button bracelets, makes the coolest crochet monster bags. These bags are perfect for little girls. Check out her shop.

Later this week I will show off some other items that have my polymer clay buttons on them

Tie one on

More barefoot fun as I just crocheted these and they tie around the ankle. Very sexy and comfortable. Looks great with a skirt or capris.

This book is amazing for free form crochet

This is an older book from 1975 and it has some amazing pictures in it as well as directions for making your own free form designs, and since I have 2 I decided to put one on Ebay

and by clicking on the ebay name or the picture you can go straight to my auction and check out this amazing book.

Getting ready for the holidays

I don't believe it is ever to early to start your holiday projects, I just listed these 2 bracelets and hope to do more soon. Just click on the pics and go straight to my shop