Rag Quilt

Well, I said a few posts ago that I was going to take a photo of my rag quilt and post it, but still have not done it. So here it is:




I absolutely love it! I didn't make sure the batting was not showing on the edges (which I knew I should have cut it out...) and you can see it some on the edges.



Oh well, maybe eventually I'll take scissors and cut each little piece out. I started doing that the day that I washed and dried it, but soon I was tired of it! I bought more fabric yesterday at Hobby Lobby only because I actually found some homespun fabric. It will be red, white and blue. I think it will turn out beautiful, just gotta get it all cut down. That's the worst part! Hopefully I'll have enough fabric to make a matching pillow too! Let me know what you think about the quilt! ~Kim

A Couple of Cards

Well, I've been crafty lately, even though I've been super busy. Unfortunately, I've had to create some sympathy cards. Those suck. My boss's father in law passed away while we were on vacation and I'm just now getting a card made. I didn't have a single stamp having to do with sympathy or losing someone. So at stamp club this month, I ordered a sympathy set. Now, someone else that I know has lost his wife very suddenly, so I've got to make a few more cards for him and their two adult daughters. It's all very sad as she was only 55. So, here is one of the cards:



Here's the inside:


I made another one last night with the same stamp set but different layout. I've got two more to go. I think one will be an exact duplicate of the card above since it is going to my boss's wife and the other will go to the friend who lost his wife. The other one I'm going to try to make completely different since they will be going to the same family.

It's so odd when someone dies. I've only been affected by death a couple of times in my life, and it really makes you numb. Just the thought of any of my family dying cripples me. I've lost my Pop, and that alone was terrible. I wasn't as close to him as I wish I had of been, but he was a wonderful man. His death made me see my dad in a different light. I've grown closer to him, and I'm so happy for that. Jason's lost his granny too, and that was awful too.

Sorry this has been such a bummer of a trip...death just gets ya thinking!

Butterflies & Scraps

Well, I'm finally posting my butterfly card. The card I cased this from was so beautiful, and I thought it would be easy, well, except for all the cutting. Boy was I wrong! I couldn't get the color to stamp correctly. I had to sponge a lot of color on. I was really discouraged after stamping, but I continued on. I had decided I wasn't stopping until it was finished. Here's the card. I loved it in the end. Nope, doesn't look like the card I used as the inspiration, but that's ok. I'm fine with the way it turned out. And my sister loved it.



Well, me and Kara made a pact...to only have WHOLE sheets of paper by the end of the year. We both have a LOT of scraps and frankly, I'm sick of having little pieces of paper everywhere. So I decided that by the end of this year, we either had to use all of our scrap pieces, give them away or throw them away. WHOLE PIECES ONLY in our stash!! I'm not quite sure she's really in for it, I might have dragged her (drug her?) kicking and screaming. But, the night that we (I) made this pact, I made count 'em FIFTEEN cards!! All with scraps! I was so proud of myself. Tomorrow is another scrap/stamp/craft night. I think I'm gonna try to do it again. Maybe even more cards. I'll post more soon! ~Kim

ETA: I finally finished my first rag quilt!! It turned out BEAUTIFUL!! I'm so glad I did it!! I've got more fabric to make another one. The next one is going to be made of flannel instead of homespun material. Hopefully it'll fray halfway decently. I'll take a picture of it soon and post it!

I finally made something!!

February 28th
I finally made something! Today my hubby and I attended a birthday party for our "faux" nephew, Peyton. His birthday is actually February 29th, but since the 28th was a Saturday, the party was then. Of course, since his birthday won't happen for another three years, it is celebrated on the day after February 28th. So, tomorrow is his "birthday." Anyway, since I am known around my circle as the one who makes handmade cards, I made a card for the wee one. And ya know what?? I enjoyed it! I decided this morning after spending HOURS on this card, I wanted to come home and create. Here is the card:



This is the card I cased. Turned out nothing like it, but I tried!! Details: Classic Laid Duplex Cover Ponderosa Pine/Alpine White (base), bubbles and plaid paper is Martha Stewart paper, 80# Cougar Cover White, generic markers for outside stamp, and I think that's it. Oh...the number 1 was covered in Versa Mark and then heat embossed with Clear Embossing Powder. The number was cut out using my Cricut and the cartridge was Cuttin' Up. Stamp set for outside was So Many Scallops.

SIDETRACKING HERE...try to keep up! As we're on the way home, I remember I need to go to work and print some film before tomorrow morning. After spending WAY longer at the party than intended I decided that this has to be done. Now, we're under a weather advisory tonight as it is snowing/sleeting tonight. So, we decide to come home and walk to the dog, then go by work. As we're driving there, we decide that Huddle House is good for dinner, so I stop by work, turn everything on, print the film and then go to the House. It'll take a while for the film processor to warm up, so I'll go eat while it's doing it. Had a great dinner/breakfast and then ran the film through. We had to wait a good 15 minutes for that slow machine to work, but finally we were able to leave. We were going to go grocery shopping (cause that's what you're supposed to do when it snows. But I told Jason, we have bread and milk, what else are you supposed to shop for?) So we didn't go shopping and came home. Luckily nothing stuck so no need for going to the store!! So, I didn't go home and create. I was too tired. Plus, I wasn't feeling creative at all.

March 4th
The next morning, I started working on my sister's birthday card because I KNEW It would take all morning. I was casing a card by Mary Jo Albright that was inspired by a cover of Martha Stewart's magazine. It took forEVER to stamp, and once my mom told me we were postponing the birthday party, I didn't work all that hard on it. After getting all of the butterflies cut out, I stopped. I might work on it tonight after I get home, but I'm not sure. If I do, I'll post it. Gotta run...I'm at lunch so I'll try to post later! I need to update my details on this card! Kim

Greetings from Conch Key, Florida

Hi All. Nope, I promise not to post each and every day of vacation, as that might seem as if I were trying to rub it in your face that I'm on vacation and you're well, OK, probably not. Anyway, this first picture is the view if you're standing on the boat and looking to the right. I thought it was just a beautiful sight and had to shoot it!



This is the second fish I ever caught (yesterday, while WITH the inlaws on the Gulf of Mexico while vacationing in the Keys vs. the first one that was caught while visiting the inlaws when they lived on Merritt Island in Florida in 2003.)



This was probably the biggest fish of the day!! Woot Woot!! Actually, Jason caught one even bigger than mine, but I didn't get a picture of it. So that means I caught the biggest since it's the only record we have. (And as I tell the story over the years, the fish will get larger and larger...ya know, cause that's how fish tales go!!)

The weather is pretty nice here. A little cooler that I had hoped, but nothing to complain about. The boys are out on the boat fishing. I decided I didn't want to join them as my touckas is a little sore from all the bumping around we did yesterday, and the water is even choppier today. Plus, tooth is still hurting from root canal on Wednesday. What a thing to have to get done right before vacation!! MIL is out shopping at some "Florida-y" clothing stores ("Lazy Lizard" and some other store that I can't think of the name now) and to Publix...I almost went just to get to go to Publix...love me some Publix.

OK, I think I'm gonna go nap. Yep, that's what my people do when on vacation. Heck, that's what I do on any day that I don't have to work!!!

I'm not off to a good start on my Resolutions

OK, it's now February and guess how many resolutions I've stuck with? Zero. I haven't even started on most of them. So, since I don't want to be all negative, I won't even try to address any personal resolutions that I've ignored. I'm just not gonna go there. But, I will address my crafting resolutions.

Craft resolutions
1. Make three cards every week. Nope. I made thank you cards, but that was it. And they were all the same. I really should post some pictures as they were super cute (in my opinion). I cased them from someone, but of course I don't remember who!!
2. Get crafts organized and set up where I can sit down and create whenever the mood hits me. Nope. Houseguests and the overall situation with the ice storm prevented anything I could do. Of course, I probably wouldn't have done anything anyway.
3. Make a rag quilt. I'm actually working on it. I started it on January 24th, and I'm down to 4 fat quarters that need to be ironed before I cut them. I should be ready to start sewing the sandwich squares together tonight.
4. Complete all projects that I start (or that are halfway done now.) Nope.
5. Get all Christmas stuff (cards, presents, etc.) completed before December 1st so I can concentrate on the season and all that it stands for (family, friends and celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ). Nope.
6. Decorate my new house (provided that we get one!) Nope.
7. Learn one new craft or technique each month (this can probably be accomplished at stamp club as Tonya always has good stuff for us to try!) Well, it's only the 5th, so I'm sure that will happen.
8. Record all of the details of the cards I make, so if I get good enough and have the confidence in my abilities, I can submit cards/projects for publication. Here's a link of Cammie's article with tips for publications. Nope.
9. Along those lines, I'd like to become a design team member for a stamp company. I love all of the stamp companies and it seems like I'm finding new ones every day. I'll keep my eyes open for design team calls and hopefully I'll be right for one of the. The idea of free supplies is something I love!! Of course, I have to get good enough to achieve that goal too. Nope.

What was the reason for this post again??? I guess I am trying to keep myself accountable. I'll forget all about making this post until I get it in my inbox tomorrow, so maybe that'll keep me on track. Hopefully I'll post some pictures this weekend of cards and maybe a quilt?? Later! Kim

Weather sucks...but we're OK.

OK, so anyone who might be reading this post knows what's going on with the weather in Western KY. Well, our power was out all day yesterday, starting conveniently right after Jason's alarm went off. So I wasn't late for work or anything, but spent all day worried about Lucy being cold and if it didn't come on soon, I'd be cold too. (The way I knew my power was still out was by calling the house. If it rang and rang, that meant the power was out because the answering machine didn't pick up.) I called my friend Shawn to see if there power was on and she said they were at a hotel. If worse come to worse, we could pile up in their room. So, I call and get the very last room at Days Inn. So, I'm happy. They still have power and we've got a room. Well then I call Jason and let him know. He gets mad at me and tells me he can get a room at Baymont, which is closer to our home and we can get home to Lucy quicker. So, we decided I would cancel the room at Days Inn. When I did, she said, "You realize this is the last room we've got, right?" I say yes, I realize that. We've got reservations elsewhere. And we did...on paper. Our card was charged, but the hotel said they did not have any rooms available. I called everywhere, and I was at my wits end. Days Inn booked the room probably as soon as I got off the phone, so even that was out. I even checked Murray Plaza (which anyone that knows Murray knows that its a No Tell Motel). Even they were booked. So, it looks like we're shackin' up with the Johnson's.
So, we get all of our stuff and pack them up a flight of stairs to their room. We move beds around, blow up an air mattress to sleep on, bring food, etc. We are there about an hour, hour and a half, something like that, and I think to check our house to see if power came back on. I got the answering machine, so I was stoked!! I was gonna get to sleep in my bed afterall. SO, we pack back up most of our stuff, saying we'd get the rest today. So, I get to go home, play on my computer and get the internet (which I was unable to do at all at work yesterday as the internet went out and I didn't feel right asking them to come fix our internet when lots of people were without power). So, I was a happy camper. I get in bed around 10:30 or so, after turning on the electric blanket and am diggin' it. Well, evidently, my sleepy time medicine worked because Jason said the power went out a little after 11. And he said , "Well sh*t! The freakin' power just went out." Luckily, it didn't wake me up and he didn't try to since he could tell that I was out, so he just left me alone and let me sleep. Now this morning when I woke up, I realized the power wasn't on and he told me what happened. So, I ask him to get me another blanket to go on top of the comforter to try to get warm again. Finally, after a little bit, I get up and get dressed. Jason decided if we drove around we'd be warm. So, that's what we did. We decided we'd drive by my work to see if there was power. Nope. Then we drove over to his work. Nope. Then we go to the animal hospital to see if we could pick up Lucy (as we couldn't bring her into the hotel). They had a note on the door that said due to power outages, they were closed. It also said that someone had come by this morning to take care of the animals and that they were in a warm place. It also said that we could do pick ups from 3 to 4, so that's what we intended to do. We drove back to the Baymont to check on Kris, Shawn and Peyton. The power was out there too. We sit there chatting as its still warmer there than outside or at our house. We decide we're all gonna jump in the car and start driving south to look for a generator. This was around noon I guess. Nobody had them, so the wild goose chase began. We ended up in Nashville and still wasn't sure we were gonna one anywhere. So finally around 8 pm, we go to IHOP to eat and it's the first meal we've had all day. All of the sudden, Jason's cell phone rings and says that they've got a generator at Home Depot. The one that was directly behind the IHOP. So Jason and Kris go to get it, leaving Shawn, Peyton and me there. It was fine until Peyton dropped a deuce and Shawn left the diaper bag in the car. I offer to walk over there and get it. By the time I got over there, the generator was in the back of the car and they were getting ready to come back. So, now we've got a generator, but it was getting close to 10. Shawn has a great friend Jennifer who has a big three bedroom house in Nashville. So, this is where I'm posting from. Yep, NASHVILLE! We've all bathed and put on clean clothes and are currently washing the clothes we were wearing today. We still haven't been able to reach my parents or sister. I've tried my bosses, but couldn't get through to them. Jason got a hold of his boss luckily. They are saying that power will be out for 5-10 days, but in reality it will probably be two weeks. We're hoping the generator will be able to get our house semi-warm with the space heaters we have. I love the way everything looks as it looks very magical, but I hate being without power. SOOO, if anyone is reading this, we (us and the Johnsons) are OK. I talked to the Sizemores yesterday and they were without power, but had a generator. I think everything is going to be OK eventually, but it's been rather nerve wrecking today. Having a baby and a drama momma with us has not helped the situation. Luckily, the baby's been pretty good as is his momma.

So, I'm signing off. Hope everyone is well. ~Kim