Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Hello and welcome to my blog. Today is Thanksgiving and it's not very often that I take a day off from stamping. But hosting the meal today will wear me out and I know I will be too tired to work on a card. I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy the time with your friends and family. I will be back tomorrow with a fun card to share with you.

Thank you for stopping in today,
Wanda

This is an AI generated pic. It's free to use as you please, so if you find it of interest to you, by all means copy it!

Oh So Sorry, Too Ill to Stamp

Hello.  I'm sorry to say that I am unable to post a card today. On Easter we were with a lot of family members and one (or more) of them brought a nasty virus to the event. On Thursday afternoon it hit me. Friday I felt wiped out. By Saturday I had pulled a muscle in my back coughing and as of today I have a pulled muscle on my left side which makes it extremely painful to cough.  I wish this on no one, it's awful.

I am hoping that I can get to my workroom tomorrow and make a card to share with you.

In the meantime, happy stamping and I'll see you tomorrow,
Wanda

August 1, 2020, Vintage Jewelry

I can not believe it's the first of August!  This year is flying by. I spent my day with the granddaughters and I'm exhausted.  Plus I sewed them each a new mask.  The 7 year old wanted a celestial one and the 5 year old wanted an Elsa (from Frozen) one.  Children's masks are pretty quick to whip up and I only made them one each.  But it was still exhausted.  We had a late dinner and I decided that today I was not going to post a So I'm going to take a day off.

But I am going to share with you something I had been working on in between all the other projects I have going on.  I got this at an estate sale.  I cleaned it up and removed all the old rhinestones and replaced them with Swarovski crystals.  I'm still trying to figure out what it is. Is it for your hair or for a scarf around your neck?  Once I figure out what it is I think I will be putting it in my web store.  Anyway, this is what I have for you today. Come back tomorrow for a card.  I'm on a short break!

Thank you for understanding and stopping by,
Wanda

Easter

With Easter being a day away and so many things to do, I have decided to take the weekend off from stamping. I will be back on Monday with some fun new card to share with you.

Have a fun, safe and happy weekend,
Wanda

Questions?

Sometimes I get comments left on posts that ask me questions.  I can not reply to questions that way. I can only leave a comment with the answer and hope the one asking the question comes back to read it.  But how would they know there's a comment there that is related to their question?  They don't.  

On the right sidebar of my blog is  "Got A Question" and below that is a link to my email address.  Just click on that and you can email me your questions and I will be able to get back to you.  

But now that you know you can also check back in the comments section, you have two options for your answers!

Have a great day,

Wanda

Beaded Bracelet

Today I took the day off from card making and thought I would play with some beads. I had found this fun bracelet on You Tube. It was easy to follow, though I did modify it a bit so it was more solid and not so wobbly.  

I just needed a break from stamping and I had missed beading. 

I plan to make some of these and put them in my web store.  I will be back to card making tomorrow.

I'm off to make some more bracelets!

Have a wonderful day,
Wanda

Rilu

This is Rilu.  Rilu is a male orange tabby about a year old (according to the vet).  We got him in December and were told he was a teenager. No one knows how old he is.  He LOVES to be held. He purrs a lot.  He's extremely soft.  His meow is like the high pitch sound of air being let out of a balloon.  LOL  He lets you give him kisses (even on his shaved belly) and he loves to plop on your chest when you are in the recliner. He's very good natured and he was sick.

In the photo he is basking in the sun and warming his shaved belly on the heat vent in the dining room.  He's been pretty good through all of this except when they had to take his temperature (twice) he cried.  I would too.  That's not a nice place to take a temperature.  You would think by now that they would have some type of thing they can take it though their ears.  But we managed to make it through that too.

Rilu had a trip to the vet and then immediately to the animal hospital.  He had ultra sound, hence the shaved belly.  They x-ray at the vet showed something in his intestines.  The ultra sound showed it was possible inflammation of the intestines.  He was fine until we had to take him in to be neutered and shots.  He started throwing up after that.  Then he started to get better and 3 weeks later he had to have a booster shot . He began to get sick again.  He couldn't keep anything down.  That's when we took him in.  So now he's being treated for inflammation of the intestines with prednisone.  It's not fun giving a cat a pill. It's not a big pill but with a cat it doesn't matter what size it is.  We put the pill in his mouth and held it shut until he swallowed.  And we let go and out comes the pill.  After several tries we managed to get it down.  The next day the pill was broken in half and wrapped in a piece of shredded deli chicken from the local Cub Foods store.  He swallowed it without chewing.  Pilling suddenly became easier!  Yay. He's on the road to recovery. He's back to jumping on the counter and the table and the entertainment center.  All the places he's not suppose to go.  I now have mixed feelings about that.  Doing it means he's healthier but doing it is gross!!

I often get asked about his name.  I tell people that Rilu is Swahili for "Get off the damn table".  But it's really a combination of two words.  Riley, because living here he will have the life of Riley (I'd like to learn more about this guy Riley and find out who he was and how he lived. Apparently he lived well) and the lu part comes from the word Lucky.  Ri and Lu for Rilu.  

So tonight I will not be posting a card as Rilu wants to be held and cuddled.  I will be spending my evening with him.  I will post tomorrow.  I do like to post daily but sometimes more important things come up.

Thank you for understanding.  

Wanda

Polymer Clay Christmas Ornaments

Today I would like to share with you the two ornaments I made for my granddaughters.  

I like like the Santa one except for his mouth.  It looks like he's panting or sticking out his tongue.  It's suppose to be his bottom lip.  I think I used a little too much clay there!  I am hoping to be making some of these to put in my web store.  They were very fun to make plus you can personalize them.  

The baby's 1st Christmas one I won't be posting since it was something I found on the net and copied it. I have a different layout that I use to make years ago but I couldn't find it.  Oh but I did find it after I had this one all made.  Isn't that how it goes.  So I will probably have some in pink and blue in my store next year too!!! 

I love playing with polymer clay.  I like playing with earthenware clay too but I don't have a kiln so this is the next best thing for me. Plus with polymer clay you don't have to paint it or use colored glaze.  You use the colored clay and when it's baked it's done!!!

I just wanted to share these with you!  I will have a regular post later tonight.

Thanks SO much for looking,
Wanda

Happy 4th of July

Have a fun and safe holiday!

Sterling Silver Spinner Ring

Wednesday night I was at Sarah's Quench Jewelry Arts Studio with my fellow employees and a few others, making this ring.  It was our Christmas gift from our boss.

It was such a fun glass and a great group of gals to be with.  

I burnished my ring but wished I hadn't afterwards. I can tumble some of the darkness off it.  Though it does look darker in the photo than it is in real life.  

I thought I would share this photo with you.  I ordered some of the patterned silver in the center part of the ring (the piece that spins around the ring) so I could make some rings for gifts and to sell.  Keep an eye out for when I post them.  I will add them to my web store when I finish them.  Tonight I am looking for my metal cutting scissors and my ring mandrel.  Both are lost!!!  UGH!

Thank you SO much for having a look at my fun ring,

Wanda

Happy New Year!

 My 2015 bring you all the best.  May all of your dreams and wishes come true!

I found these images at Know Truth, Know Justice blog.  I had done a search for a "Happy New Year" image and this is the image I found that I liked.  But you know me, I have to give credit, so the link to them is here.

I had to copy the bottom image as well, because it's pretty true for many of us!  Me especially, so that is why I do not make New Year's Resolutions!  I don't like to set myself up for failure!  So when you're making your resolutions for the new year, be realistic, set small goals, and most of all, just be good to yourself!

I am taking the day off from stamping.  I have a million things around the house that need tending to.  Plus there's a mess in almost every room in this place!!!    I will be back tomorrow with a fun card.  Plus I have a few projects I'm working on to show you in the near future too!


Happy New Year!
Wanda

Happy Thanksgiving to You!

Today I would like to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!  I will not be posting a card or project today.  I am taking the day off.  We will be spending time with our son, his wife and our beautiful granddaughter.  This year she gets to eat people food! She's such a mess when she eats!!  This promises to be fun and entertaining!!  She's such a doll and we love spending time with her.

Whether you are at home our on the road, have a wonderful, memorable, and safe day.
Wanda

Celery

My sweet friend and co-worker Amanda's husband built me a raised garden bed.  It's on legs and it's at the right height to just stand there and garden!!!  I have not had time to plant anything yet but tonight I thought I should at least plant my celery plant in it.  

I started this plant from the end of my celery.  I saw it on Pinterest so I thought I would give it a try.  It was in some section that referred to it as "food from garbage."  I don't much care for that wording.  There were other vegetables you could make grow again too.  I know one of them was carrots.  We did plant a few potatoes in large planters.  They were sprouting in the bag so we figured we'd give it a try.  I would also like to plant some garlic but it sounds like it's a bit trickier to plant than the easier stuff!  Maybe next year!!

Now this is not my first attempt at this. I had tried it earlier this year but I didn't think it was growing so I tossed it out.  But with this one I left it in water for almost a month before I saw any growth on it!  And once it started growing it grew.  It took almost 2 months for any roots to show.  The leaves were starting to yellow so I thought I should plant it.  It was big enough that just water alone was not enough for it anymore.  So I planted it outside in my new standing garden and I will keep an eye on it.  I'll post on here from time to time on how it's doing.  I also planted 3 tomato plants in the garden too.  I have some other vegetable seeds in wet paper towels that are rooting so I will be planting them tomorrow evening.  I put the seeds in a paper towel and fold it into quarters.  I set that in a bowl and get it sopping wet.  In a few days I can see which seeds are starting to sprout and those are the ones I plant.  The sprout is the root so it's easy to know which way to put it in the dirt too!

I have some more celery in the refrigerator that I will have to see if I can get it to grow too!  It was fun having it on my counter.  It was nice to see something green when things outside were still so brown.  Not anymore.  It's not only greened up here but it's warmed up as well!  

So there you have it, a free celery plant!!

Thanks for putting up with my weirdness!!
Wanda

My Granddaughter

Tomorrow this little girl will be 3 months old.  Today I do not have a card for you.  Well, I do have a card but I will post it tomorrow.  I wanted to share with you a photo of my 1st granddaughter Paige. 

I have the privilege of babysitting her on Mondays and other times when needed. 

It's going to be fun watching her grow up!  I'm starting to scrapbook photos of her.  I'm not big on scrapbooking so it's going to be quite a challenge for me!  

She looks a lot like her dad and she's a fussy baby just like her dad was.  If she keeps on track like her dad she will be mellowing out soon and be a TON of fun.  I'm SO looking forward to Christmas this year.  She will be 6 months old and getting into stuff!!!  

I have wanted to share a photo of Paige with you for a while but I kept forgetting to ask our son if it was ok. I didn't want to post it without asking them.  So here she is!

I forgot how much love one heart can hold when rocking a baby!

Thank you for stopping by today,
Wanda

Toilet Paper Folding Happy 4th of July!

Now for something completely DIFFERENT!!!  Now you will know how really weird I am!  I LOVE to fold my toilet paper roll after I get done cleaning the bathroom.  I just do it for me.  It's the thing I do to make me feel good after cleaning in there.  A job well done and even the toilet paper roll gets a cute and tidy look!!!  

These are easy to do too.  You've seen them folded to a point in hotels, I use to do that until I saw this one and thought how fun it would be to do. And it's not difficult at all.  And of course you are now going to want to give your bathroom that finishing touch once you are done cleaning it!  So that means I will need to tell you how to make this pretty pocket!

First you need to remove one square of toilet paper and fold it back and forth to create a fan.  Fold the fan in half and pinch the bottom where the fold is.  Set it aside.  I suppose you could color it with Stampin' Up! markers but I don't think I'd like to be the one to use that!!!  The color may transfer, if you know what I mean???

Next you will need to make sure your toilet paper rolls from the top. Take the next piece of toilet paper (don't remove it from the roll).  Then fold the end up about 1".  You don't need to be exact and the more you do this the easier it will be to guess where you want your fold.  Make sure you pinch the bottom of the fold so it's nice and tight and sharp.

Now we are going to form the pocket.  Fold the bottom right corner towards the back of the toilet paper. You will be folding it from about an inch or so in from the end.  Repeat for the other side.  Pinch the lines tightly with your fingers.  See in the photo how the pinched and folded edges for a "V" with a flat bottom?  

And the last thing you will do is open the picket just a little and slip in the fan.  Open the fan up a little so it looks like the one above.  And you're done.  Now go use your other bathroom so you don't have to disturbe the pretty toilet paper!  And yes, that is exactly what I do!!! LOL  

Have a fun and safe 4th of July!

Thanks for stopping by today,
Wanda

Garage Sale Weekend

Today I am unable to get to my workroom to play.  It's the neighborhood garage sale week/weekend and there are several families having a sale here in our garage with us.  So my time has been devoted to digging in cupboards and cleaning out things we don't use anymore.  I have pulled TONS of Stampin' Up! sets off my shelves and spent a day pricing them.  I don't usually sell many of my retired sets but it's time. I need the room and the money will come in handy to buy new sets!  I will try to head down to my workroom tomorrow to play.  I miss it when I can't get down there.  I LOVE being in my workroom.  It's a room FULL of my stuff.  I will take a picture of it sometime and show you (after I get it cleaned up, of course!).  We are not planning on a long day of being open tomorrow.  Up early to finish setting up, open for 4 or 5 hour and then close up until Saturday morning when all the "fun" starts.  It's crazy here during this sale. It's like a zoo out there.  TONS of people and there's a few rules. If you don't have a garage sale you must either leave early to avoid the traffic jam or stay home and NEVER open your garage door.  People walk up your driveway the minute it opens up!  Before I realized I had too much stuff, we would just hang out at home until after 3 when things died down and you could get out safely. It is a crazy day, a crazy sale but the people come to shop and they shop!  It's a perfect way to get rid of stuff!  So that is my excuse for no card tonight.  But I will head on down to my workroom tomorrow and create or copy something fun to share with you!  And maybe after the sale I will take some time to post stamp sets in my web store.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by,
Wanda

More Snow

Once again we are getting a lot of snow.  It seems that Minneapolis is the epicenter of this storm.  We've already shoveled about 4" and it's still snowing.  And the bad news is that it's suppose to snow all night.  UGH!!!  I have to work in the morning and I'm going to have to leave an extra 15 minutes or so earlier so I can drive like a little old lady!! LOL

After the shoveling was done I got to make a snowman with hubby.  Or should I say, hubby got to make a snowman with me? LOL  He's such a good sport.

I had gotten a very fun Christmas gift from my friend Katie.  It was a box full of snowman parts.  The smile killed me and I just had to put it on this snowman!!!  I LOVE the nose too! And the hat was in the box too!  Cute, isn't it?  There's a lot more snowman parts in there too.  There were heart shaped buttons, sunglasses, a bow tie, other eye and button shapes, different shaped mouths and noses.  Such a fun present and I finally got to play with it!  The snowman won't last long but at least I finally got out to make one this snow season.  Between colds and a bad hip I didn't think I would get to make one but today I was actually feeling good and got out there.  Man was that snow heavy.  I had hubby lift the body parts for me.  And he helped pack them and smooth them off.  I had the 35mm camera and he had my cell phone and we were both taking pictures.  This is one he took with the phone.  It was fun making the snowman and it was especially fun that he helped me make it!  And this guy may end up being on our next Christmas card!!  He's cheery enough!!! LOL

I have a fun little project to show you tomorrow so be sure to stop back.  

Thank you for visiting today,
Wanda

Time Off

I have not done this before but I am going to be taking a few days off here to regroup and get things ready for the New Year.  I will also be figuring out what I am going to post on January 1st for my New Year's Day Blog Candy.  I can't break with tradition now can I?  

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe New Year's eve.  I will be back on New Year's day to post the blog candy.  Be sure to stop in and leave a comment to be entered in the drawing.

See you soon,
Wanda

Bentleyville Duluth, MN

 Today I'm going to share with you a few photos of what I did this weekend.  On Saturday we headed up to Duluth to see the tour of lights at Bentleyville.  Bentleyville is a huge light display next to the aquarium up there.  It was a wonderful path of lights and displays.  There were people dressed in reindeer, snowmen and penguin costumes greeting the people.  There was a cookie shack (hubby honed in on that one) and I think they had either hot chocolate or apple cider.  I don't know because I didn't partake in any.  

There was a sign that said "North Pole" and that is where the portable bathrooms were and yup, you guessed it.  There were more at the "South Pole"!  Funny.

There were such fun light displays.  The first photo was the entrance and exit to the place.  The side you are seeing is the exit. At the top of the arches it read "Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night."  You walk along a tar path and there were lots of archways of lights and on the sides were themed displays.  There was one of the Duluth canal with Santa in a ship and the lift bridge.  There was so much detail in each display.  You have to go and see this for yourself.  Also along the path (near the South Pole) was a popcorn stand.  Of course we had to stop there and have some.  It was wonderful.  As we left that area we could see the spot where Santa was sitting and there was a long line of children waiting to sit on his lap.  SO cute!  As we traveled along the path there was even a little house with Mrs. Santa in it talking to the kids.  She looked so sweet.  And near the end there was a gift shop but we didn't get a chance to go in it.  There were a lot of people inside so it was too crowded. 

The second photo was of the giant tree there.  The photo below it shows some info on that tree. The lights would flash on and off to the music.  It was spectacular.  

We were told that the display assembly begins in late September. I can't even begin to imaging the man hours that went into this.  And I'd hate to see that light bill!!  

The story of Bentleyville is an interesting one.  There is a man named Mr. Bentley and he use to have this HUGE light display in his field.  It drew a lot of traffic to the area and the people living in the area were not happy.  So somewhere along the way some deal was stuck with him and the city of Duluth and now the display is there every winter.  I am glad it is there or we would have never seen it.  The hotel we stayed at has a shuttle that runs back and forth from the hotel to Bentleyville so we didn't even have to drive there.  It was a wonderful and beautiful experience and like I said, I'd do it again in a heartbeat.  If you want to see more pictures or know more about it just Google Bentelyville Duluth, MN.  

Then on Sunday morning we headed home in the horrible snowstorm.  A 2.5 hour drive took over 4 hours.  There were cars in the ditch, icy roads and limited visibility the closer we got to home.  It was good too be home.  We saw our home but not the driveway.  Hubby took a guess at where it was and just drove in!  That was the longest and worst ride home ever.  

Tomorrow I will have a stamping related post for you.  I just had to share this with you today.  

Thank you for stopping by,

Wanda

Happy Thanksgiving

I would like to wish each and every one of you a very Happy Thanksgiving.  As you gather with friends and family we take time to remember how thankful we are for what we do have.

The shopping craziness starts tomorrow.  Though through looking at the ads in the paper this morning, I'm thinking the craziness starts tonight. And I believe I may be among the crazies to go out there and do a bit of shopping.  I have to work on Black Friday (a first in MANY years) so I won't be able to go out shopping. Not that I was one of those early risers that stood out in the cold or long lines to get a certain item.  I have a list of gifts I need to get for a family we buy for and I'm hoping the stuff will be in the store.  If not then I just shop elsewhere some other time.  It would be nice to catch a break on the prices though.  This is our third year buying for this family.  It's fun but it gets more expensive each year because the kids are growing up.  I did make some bracelets and sold them to raise money for this adventure.  I was actually able to post one on here (and it sold) but the others sold before I was able to get them on the internet.  Which is a good thing.  Maybe next year I can get more on the website!  I have great plans for beading and stamping for the new year. Let's hope I can do it!  Anyway, I'm rambling here.  I want to wish you all a great day and I will be back tomorrow with some fun "stuff" for the holidays.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Wanda