Saturday, February 26, 2011

Buuurrrrrrrr...... Ice Bowl

Good morning!!

We have had some very strange weather here in the PNW this past week.  Record breaking temperatures, ice, snow and sunshine all in one day!!  Here is an unexpected ice bowl that formed in our dogs outside water bowl.  Wasn't planned but pretty cool huh :)  It's been sitting outside like this for 24 hours now so you can see it is really cold and it isn't melting. 

I finished a glass block for Brandon and Carissa which will be sitting on their table at the wedding reception.  I still have to put a LED light in it to light it up but that will be a few days before I get that done.  I was so excited at how pretty it came out I just had to share it :)  The shadow is not really showing Brandon's name very well but the flash is too much so this is what you get I guess lol.

Decided to work on a few of the small vases that will be placed on the tables for the reception.  I have already bought those water beads to put in them and will get the waterproof lights to go inside.  Should be very pretty :)

Have a wonderful day and happy crafting!!

Today's quote:  Without courage, all other virtues lose their meaning.

xo ~ Laura


Wednesday, February 23, 2011

What do you do on a snow day????

Hi and happy Wednesday!!

So the weather guessers said there was to be a big snow storm heading our way today and it took me 2 hours to get home yesterday so when I got up this morning, I called my boss at 5:30 a.m. (don't worry, she always gets up at 3:45 a.m.) and said it was starting to have snow flurries so she said just stay put and stay home.  Did I argue with her???  Absolutely not!!!  lol  So starting work so early I actually got off work at 2:00 p.m. so what did I decide to do???

Yup......more wedding stuff!!  I had a wonderful evening last night and was floating on air as I was FINALLY able to get the kids airline tickets booked and off our miles we've earned so now I have two very excited young adults who will be flying off to Cancun after the wedding, and First Class!!  My miles handled both of them and only cost me $217!!  Can you believe that????  So now I can stop worrying about that and finish the other things.

Very easy items today after work.  We had picked up the guest book and just wanted to dress it up a little.

Then we found the other day when we were out the knife and cake servers and I had found these monogram pieces for them before so another thing off my list :)

And I have to just show you this adoreable Flower Girl Dress.  My youngest granddaughter is so excited and she told me when she saw it, "Nana, it's my wedding dress just like Carissa!"  lol.  I will be making a small alteration so you will have to wait to see what that is :)

Have a fabulous day and happy crafting!!

Today's quote:  “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life’s about creating yourself.”


xo ~ Laura

Monday, February 21, 2011

Final Flower Arrangement

Howdy!!

I feel like I am in over drive right now and am on a mission to finish as much wedding items as I can.  I had already done a few other larger arrangements and just had one more to do which will go on the food table.  It turned out beautiful!!!  Her color scheme has been so easy to work with :)

Just a little bit at a time when I get home from work and I'm getting it done!!  Yay!!  She's informed me that in 90 days she is getting married.  No pressure huh lol.  Think she's a little excited???

I have been looking around for a flag shadow box for the Veteran's flag I received after Dad passed away and I was at Michael's and it was 40% off!!  So now it is safe and protected.  I am thinking I may put some vinyl on it but the jury is still out on it right now.  I have other things to focus on :)

Today's quote:  ..do not ask of me what you are not willing to do...

Have a wonderful day and happy crafting!!
 
xo ~ Laura

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Everyone needs "ME" time :)

Happy Sunday!!

How many times have all of us forgot about ourselves because we are busy with everyday life and caring so much for those we love????  I know I am very guilty of that and since my Dad passed away in December, I've now tried to make sure I take some "ME" time and pamper myself.  I try to do a pedicure (full blown one) with the hot rock massage at least once a month and also try to do a relaxation massage twice a month.  Granted I don't always succeed but with the help and gentle nudging of my hubs, I get one at least once a month.  Well Saturday was "MY" day :)

I ended up getting there about 20 minutes early and my masseuse was running a few minutes behind so I got to go into the relaxation room.  Love that room......soft cushy couches and the lights dimmed with this wonderful waterfall :)

Picture the water running down it, the sound and relaxing music.....starting to relax some yet????

Then when it was my time, I got to go into my very relaxing room, lights dimmed and my wonderful warmed table :)

You can just feel the stress melting away now huh :)  Can you say I'm in heaven right now????  So remember, take some "ME" time for yourself because you all deserve it too.

Have a fabulous day and happy crafting!!

Today's quote:  The secret to happiness is not in doing what one likes to do, but in liking what one has to do.

xo ~ Laura

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Bridesmaids gifts/Totes

Hi!!

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend so far :)  I know I am......beautiful sunny morning here in the PNW.  A bit breezy and cold but sunny and blue skies.  No better way to start your day with a cup of fresh brewed coffee in hand :)

I am excited to say that I've got yet another completed project off my list now.  I've been working over the past few months on the wedding items (like you don't already know that from all my posts right??  lol)  and last night I finally finished all the totes that are for the bridesmaids.  I had made a few earlier and wasn't totally happy with them due to how the vinyl or paint was looking so I broke down and ordered some iron on vinyl and oh my goodness..... I love it!!!  So quick and easy and it looks so much better!! 


So here are just a few shots of some of the completed ones.  They turned out so cute!!


Have a fabulous day and happy crafting!!

Today's quote:  Without bad days we wouldn't know what a good day feels like.


xo ~ Laura

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Her bouquet is finished!!!

Heellooo!!

I had done up a mock bouquet for Carissa awhile ago and she really liked it but it was a little too big for her petite frame so I had to go smaller for her.  I was using just cheap silk flowers for her mock up so I could get a good visual so when I was at Michael's the other day, they were having 40 - 60% off the flowers so I was able to pick them up.  So this is the "official" one.  The picture doesn't do it justice but the white lillies look so real it's unbelieveable!! 

Another fun little project I did up was a "bride" hat with a detachable veil so if she wants to just wear the hat alone, she can.  How fun and cute it this :)

No...this isn't Carissa.  This is her loveable bear "Tubs" lol

Today's quote:  Into the house where joy lives, happiness will gladly come.

Have a wonderful day and happy crafting!!
 
xo ~ Laura

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Another special project....

Hi!!

I was finally able to get back to some sewing to finish the special pillow that I made for my son out of Dad's shirt.  This was Dad's favorite shirt that we had gotten him and Josh last saw him healthy in this shirt so since I had made the quotes already, I finally sat down and made it and gave it to him to cherish.  Although his eyes got tears in them, he loved it and it meant so much to him and I'm glad.


I decided to make a little stuffed heart out of some of the extra material and hang in under where I have Dad's memory ornament and some of his ashes.  It makes me smile when I look at it and underneath where it is on the shelf is my favorite chair that I sit in so he is looking down on me :)


Have a fabulous day and happy crafting!!

Today's quote: “Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better. Don’t wish for fewer problems, wish for more skills. Don’t wish for less challenges, wish for more wisdom.”

xo ~ Laura

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Special candleholder for a friend

Tuesday!!

I have a very dear friend of mine who has been going through so much sadness this past month which ripped my heart out.  She is also my boss who helped me through so much with everything I went through with my Dad.  She loves her animals and she had to make a very tough decision to put down one of her German Shepherds on Saturday.  He has been very sick this past month and the tears have flown.  A few of us at work ordered her a plant to send to her to just tell her we care but I wanted to do something special for her.

I decided to make up a memory candle for her to honor the love that she had for Brinner.  He was actually pretty young as he was only a little over 5 years old and they had a bond that was so strong.  I took 3 different colors of sand which represent the coloring he had and layered them.  Once I got them layered I poked a pencil down it to blend them in.  I then added a votive holder and a flameless candle on top.  To finish it off I put on vinyl to represent their 2 hearts and his angel wings.


I want to also do another smaller project for her but will see if I have time to get it done.  So there you have it!

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend and happy crafting!!

Today's quote:  "Sometimes where you land is better than where you were falling from."

xo ~ Laura

Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Good morning!!

I just wanted to wish all of you a wonderful Valentine's Day today.  May you have special memories created today with your sweet loved ones.

The hubs and I went out for a wonderful dinner last night as we both have to work today so I have my leftovers for lunch :)  I spent a few hours yesterday watching 2 of my grandbabies and my treat for them was this!!

They were so excited as they were able to help dip the treats and wow did I laugh so hard as they loved the chocolate so much I had to keep telling them to stop dipping their fingers in it lol.

Have a fabulous day and happy crafting!!

xo ~ Laura

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Up to my ears.......

Wow I feel like I am floating around my house, up to my ears in flowers!!!  I worked on the bridesmaid's bouquets and finished 5 of them all in one night!!!  Well almost finished, I still have the ribbons to add but then they are finished and out of the way.  So this makes a total of 6 of them as I have the "throw bouquet" done also.

Now I have to start packing things up and labeling them for easy transport the day of the wedding.  I think I'm going to need a vacation after I get done with this wedding lol.

Hope you've had a wonderful week and happy crafting!!

Today's quote:  “Half of the troubles of this life can be traced to saying yes too quickly and not saying no soon enough.”

xo ~ Laura

Friday, February 11, 2011

Organizing Family Room and more

Hi!!

Yay I finally have hit the weekend!  Work has been just crazy and am just swamped so it is nice to have the weekend to unwind a little more.  Will it be a slow weekend???  Nope lol!

Well I'm slowly taking over the entire house for my crafting lol.  My hubby said do I get any space at all and I told him of course.  He can have 2 drawers and a 1/4 of the closet lol.  Seriously he has more space than that.  I didn't want to get rid of the dining table/chairs I purchased for Mom and Dad when I moved them into the apartment so we kept it and put it in the "family room" which we really don't use and took over the corner.  Nice to be able to spread things out when I'm working on my crafts :)


I also did up the first of the Mother's coursages for the wedding.  Man I'm on a mission now.  Only 3 months left so I'm in high gear now.

Hope that you are having a wonderful weekend and happy crafting!!

Today's quote:  Wisdom is avoiding all thoughts that weaken you.

xo ~ Laura

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Prayer Request

Good evening!

I have a very special prayer request from a dear friend of mine.  This isn't a short term one either.  She found out in October that she was going to be a Grandma in June and the kids just found out that the baby (a little boy and not named yet) has a severe heart defect and needs to have surgery right after birth.  Here a post directly from his parents.  Please keep them in your prayers.  This is their 2nd baby and Macie is a very healthy 2 year old.

We were so excited to find out that we were expecting our second child in October 2010!


Everything had been going great with the pregnancy until our 20-week ultrasound. We found out at that point that we were expecting a boy! We were very happy. However, the doctor asked that we go to a Maternal Fetal medical clinic for a follow-up ultrasound to take a closer look at the baby's heart.

On February 7, 2011, we had a follow-up ultrasound appointment. There, they focused on our baby boy's heart and found that he has a congenital heart defect called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS). For more information about this condition, visit the American Heart Association website at: http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=1353

On February 8, 2011, we had a follow-up appointment with a cardiologist from Seattle Children's who confirmed the diagnosis and walked us through the surgical options.

Here's what we know at this point:

Our baby will be born via c-section in June at Evergreen Hospital. Approximately 24 hours later, he will be transported to Children's where he will undergo a number of tests before going in to surgery at 7-10 days.

At around six months of age, he will require a second surgery, and at around age three, he will require a third surgery.

xo ~ Laura

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Rustic Candle Holder

Welcome!!

I have had a vision in my mind about doing a rustic outdoor looking candle holder and decided to give it a try.  I love seeing all the birch crafts out there and wanted something like that.  I have collected a bunch of twigs that had fallen from the trees throughout the Winter and brought them inside and have used them for decorations so wanted to incorporate them also.  Here is what I used for this one.


I took velum paper and just found a picture of some birch and printed it out on my printer.  How simple is that huh :)  I then measured the sides allowing enough room for some of the twigs.  Add some Mod Podge and really get it wet with it to allow that real birch look.  Yes...you want it to bubble up some.
Next I took my broken twigs and hot glue and framed out the velum paper and Ta Da!!!  Not bad huh :)
Hope you are having a wonderful day and happy crafting!!

Give-a-ways:
Okie Chic

Linking up to:
Today's quote:  “Every problem has in it the seeds of its own solution. If you don’t have any problems, you don’t get any seeds.”

xo ~ Laura

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Valentine's project - finally finished!!

Hi!!

A few weeks ago I posted that I was going to do something with a few letters.  Do you remember these?

Well after getting the paper cut out I finally decided to sit down today and finish them!!!  This picture isn't showing the cute pink design on the paper but you get the idea.  I also hung up a few boxes on the wall and see, I put some of my recent projects on them :)  I love seeing things come together!!

I have also taken over a corner of our family room area that I am finally getting to organize.  One of these days I'll get back to my craft room to organize that once I finish cleaning out all of Carissa's old stuff she left here when moving out.  Why do kids leave things for us to deal with?  lol  Anyway...here is what I've gotten done so far.............
I hope you have a wonderful rest of the week and happy crafting!!!

Today's quote:  Remember, eyes may provide sight. But it’s the heart which gives insight.


xo ~ Laura

Monday, February 7, 2011

Very special pillow

Happy Monday!!

The sewing continues lol.  I took a break to work on a project that I had started right after Dad passed away so as you can see, it has now been 2 months already.  I have had a harder time doing this part of it as it has to do with a very special shirt that he owned.  My youngest daughter always told Dad how handsome he looked in this shirt as it brought out his baby blue eyes which could just melt you.  So what did I do????  Awhile ago, I posted an upcoming project that had to do with this................

So I took a very deep breathe and said I'm sorry Dad but I have to do this as Carissa needs to have this and it will be right next to Ole Gus (the very special teddy bear she has from him).  Well I did it and now this will sit right next to Gus on her dresser.
As you can see, I left some of the buttons on it and also the pocket............are you figuring it out?????  lol

Yes, the very special message to her from Dad fits nicely in the pocket which would have been close to his heart.  I am really glad I did this one up...........2 more coming for my other children but with a different shirt so stay tuned.

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend and enjoying yourself and staying warm for some of you.  Happy crafting!!

Today's quote:  "The key is to have a dream that inspires us to go beyond our limits."

Linking to:

HOG




xo ~ Laura

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Superbowl Sunday!!

Happy Sunday!!

Both Larry and I have been fighting a bug of some sort so we have been bunkered down for the weekend which is fine with us.  Since we won't be going out to any Superbowl parties, we decided to have one ourselves this year lol.  Hey why not right??  I did have to go out yesterday for two reasons.  First to do the weekly grocery shopping and the other was to go check on my baby girl (even though she's 20 she's still my baby) as she was having some health problems. On Thursday she was feeling some pain in her abdomen and one of the Dr.'s that is in her office sent her over for a KUB test and he did an ultrasound and found a kidney stone stuck in her urethra.  Ouch!!!  So she's been taking it very easy this weekend also keeping a close eye on it and the Dr. is on call in case some further signs show up. Very serious as she may have to get surgery to get it removed if it doesn't come out on its own :(   So she is pretty much couch bound so I decided to treat her to one of these trays so she can indulge.  Chocolate always helps make you feel better right???  :)  Well it looked so good I had to make us some also which is the picture below. 

For breakfast I decided to make these yummy rolls.  I found them over on Kara's blog but instead of bacon, I used ham.


Then for later, I made Larry some homemade burger sliders. 
Well you have to have munchies also right??? So I cheated on this one and bought it pre-made lol but that's OK :)

And then I just had to get these because it's Superbowl Sunday lol.  Yes, never let me out when I am not feeling 100% because you never know what I'm going to come up with hahahaha.  Hey wait a minute...there were 4 before so what happened???  Oh ya, Larry got to them before I got a picture lol.


Yummy stuff.

No crafting this weekend as I just didn't feel up to it.  Hope that you've had a wonderful weekend and happy crafting!!

Today's quote:  Friends are relatives you make for yourself.


xo ~ Laura

Friday, February 4, 2011

Ring Bearer Pillow

Happy Friday!!

Well I must be on more of a roll this week with finishing off a few more wedding items lol.  I had made the Flower Girl's basket the other night and so after spending some time trying to help my oldest daughter figure out her newer sewing maching, I decided after she left.....Oh I'm in the mood now lol.

My oldest grandson will be the ring bearer for Carissa's wedding and he will be 6 so of course we didn't want anything frilly right as he is a tough young man so although we wanted it to match the color scheme, we came up with this!!

We decided to use the over sized yarn I had laying around as satin ribbon just didn't cut it.  We then put on a heart and a key on it vs. the fake rings and it turned out cute!!

So here is the two together.  They are going to look adoreable!!  Well of course I will say that as they are my grandbabies :)

Hope you are having a great week and have some fun plans for the weekend!!  Happy crafting!!

Today's quote:  "Commitment is the key to unlocking the door to your dreams! You must commit to your goals."

xo ~ Laura

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Recycle..............

Hi there!!

I know that many of you were wondering what on earth I was going to do with a recycled Folger's can.  Well to refresh your memory, it was like this.......................

Now it looks like this!  Didn't turn out 100% like my vision but it will do, at least for now.  I have all my decorative scissors and wire cutters all in one place now.  I should have painted it first I guess.  Oh well lol.


Well that's it for me.  Have a wonderful day and happy crafting!!
Linking up to:
















Get your craft on Thurs.
 
 
 
Today's Quote:  If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment

Beyond The Picket Fence

xo ~ Laura

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Flower Girl Basket

Hi There!!

I truly hope that you are having a wonderful week so far.  We have been very fortunate that the weather has been cold but clear and sunny so far so that is nice.  My prayers go out to all my friends that are battling the monster storm going around.

I was able to find this little basket at GW last week and knew I was going to use it for the flower girl basket for Carissa's wedding.  Unfortunately we aren't allowed to drop rose petals in the barn due to liability reasons so decided to do an actual arrangement for Sydney.  It started out like this......

After some satin that will match the bridesmaids sashes, the accent ribbons and some flowers and we get......

Hope you have a wonderful week and happy crafting!!

Today's quote:  Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success or failure. The way you think about a fact may defeat you before you ever do anything about it. You are overcome by the fact because you think you are.

xo ~ Laura