It is feeling like crafting time again!!

Howdy!!  Well today I think I FINALLY hit my crafting mode again which is a great feeling.  I've been battling some stress with having a new job and dealing with my foot issue and physical therapy but today something hit me like a ton of brick.  I said nothing should get in the way of what I enjoy and love doing and that is my crafting so I started pulling out my wood I've stock piled and plugged in my table saw and away I went!! 

So what is on my agenda with all these wood pieces?  Oh lots of things lol.  I thought some word blocks, some frames, some holiday items and well, maybe I won't tell you everything.  You'll have to just wait and see lol.

So what else have I been up too?  Well I have to confess that my thoughts actually started changing last night as I was sitting here listening to some good ole country music and I was crocheting a cute little hat for a baby shower that I am going to at the end of the month.  I sat there and it felt great to shut down the computer, focus on something relaxing and finishing this little hat all within an hour :) The picture doesn't do it any justice but I just couldn't get a good shot of it.  The little pink on it is actually the end of the rim which I folded up :)

Well I promise that I won't be away so long this time.  It is time for me to get my priorities right and have that work/life balance and do what I enjoy most.  That is to make people laugh, enjoy my crafting and cherish my memories we're making with family and friends!!

Have a wonderful evening and happy crafting!!

xo ~ Laura



New Technique :)

Well hello!!!

Hope you are all having a great week so far, I know I am and enjoying myself :)  I'm trying very hard not to let all the stress at work over take my happiness and so far, knock on wood, this week has been great!  OK...so it's only been 2 days but it's a start right???  lol

When I made my chicken wire frame a few weeks ago, I loved the detail in the wood as it look worn and beat up which is perfect for our country decor so when I was out on one of my excursions on the weekend, I found just this plain old light wood frame.  Boring huh ;-)

So to give it that beat up look, what did I do???  Well brought out my trusty hammer!!!  Start banging it with the claw part to however you'd like it to look :)

Next you just take black paint and put it in the lines that you've made and don't worry about being neat because it doesn't matter.  (I forgot to take a picture of the black paint portion so here is another project I'm working on with the same technique so you'll get the idea)

 Last step is paint over it with what ever color you'd like and you can see how cool it looks!!  Isn't that fun???  And easy too :)

So what did it turn out like???  TaDa!!!  This is actually going to be a Christmas gift to my oldest daughter as she loved mine so I just put my thinking cap on to see how close I could come and I'm saying 99% perfect!!  Total cost.........$1.50  Can't beat that huh :)

When I was putting my supplies away, I came across this Mother's Day card that Carissa had gotten me last year and I took the time to open it up and read it again.  Do you do that too?  Go back and remember that warm feeling you get when your children gave you something?  I love doing that :)  Anywho......it has a Rascal Flatts song that plays when you open it and I just loved being in the moment remembering the day she stood there and gave it to me.  So I thought I'd share :)  Makes me feel like I did a great job raising my kids.

BTW, I'm sorry I haven't given an update on my friends grandson, Gavin.  I shared a few weeks ago he had open heart surgery and had actually gone into cardiac arrest.  Well here is a recent picture of Gavin.  He isn't out of the woods by any means but the Dr's are calling him the miracle baby!!  He is still in the hospital but just got released out of the ICNU and put into the regular floor and will be in there for at least another 10 days while they finish his therapy of bottle training.  Please continue to pray for him and the family as the results should be in tomorrow on whether or not he will just have to get another heart surgery to replace the stent or if he will have to have a transplant.  But wanted to let you know and the family truly appreciates all the prayers.

This is Macie (the big sister) loving on her baby brother.  She has told her parents all the way along, "Don't worry, Gavin will be fine"

 This is precious baby Gavin.  He's off all his machines except the feeding tube which you see in his nose.

Have a great evening and happy crafting!!

xo ~ Laura

Birthday Block

Happy Friday !!!

Wow what a week this has been.  I got a call on Thursday afternoon and I got the job that I was waiting to hear back from and start Tuesday the 7th!  Great timing let me tell you.  Guess my Summer vacation is overwith now lol.  My crafting will be cut down big time but I will definitely keep busy.   Carissa and I went back to the bridal store and she tried on her favorite dress she had chosen last Sunday and she found "The One" and so that is another big one off the wedding list :)

Tuesday was my 2nd oldest granddaughter's 9th birthday and she loves crafts just like her Nana so even though I bought her a few things, I wanted to do something extra special for her so this is what I came up with.

She absolutely loves pink and purples so this was a no brainer on how to decorate this block.

I also made her a couple of washer necklaces and tried a different technique I've never done before :)  I just took a plain metal washer, put some glitter lines and dots on them, then covered it with glaze and they turned out so cute!  Now mind you they are still semi wet in the pictures lol.

I also sat down and painted some watercolor designs for some more card making.  It is hilarious as now that the family is starting to see what I'm doing, they are wanting me to make cards for them to give away also since they can be customized so that is keeping me entertained since my back isn't 100% yet.

I also received my necklace that I won from Haley over at The Autocrathaley and she wasn't kidding when she said this was Texas size!!  Take a look at this one.  It is gorgeous and I will love wearing this proudly.  Thank you Haley!!

Linky parties I'm doing today:











Have a fantastic day and happy crafting!!

xo ~ Laura