Oh No, Another Hobby! Hooked on Jewelry Making ~

Yesterday, I mentioned that my sweet DIL Jami {Crazy Daisy Creations} taught me how to make beaded bracelets. We had so much fun and I may very well be hooked on this new hobby! I thought you would enjoy seeing the two bracelets that I created. . .


I tried to make earrings to match the second one and I struggled with getting the wire wrapped correctly. Making the bracelet was much easier but I really would like to make earrings too...and necklaces! :)

I'm curious if any of you have tried beading and jewelry making. Let me know if you have any tips for this beginner, ok? Do you know of any good websites to order beads & supplies? What is your favorite beading magazine?

Now I really should fold some laundry and unload the dishwasher. ugh! Isn't it the pits when work gets in the way of your creativity?!

I hope you're all enjoying the weekend! Happy Day!




Quote for Today ~
“Today is life-the only life you are sure of. Make the most of today. Get interested in something. Shake yourself awake. Develop a hobby. Let the winds of enthusiasm sweep through you. Live today with gusto.” ~ Dale Carnegie

Word for Today ~
panache \puh-NASH; -NAHSH\, noun: Dash or flamboyance in manner or style.

A Little Birdie Told Me . . .

. . . it's your birthday!

Two of my stamping buddies ~ Jason & Karmen ~ celebrated their birthdays this week and this is the card that I made for each of them. I hope it made them SMILE! :)

I love this set and had to have it, but I've used it very little so far. It is appropriately named "A Little Birdie Told Me" by Stampin' Up! The designer paper is also by SU but I don't see it in the new catalog so it must be discontinued. The little birdie is paper-pieced with a coordinating blue polka dot paper.

Today was a fun and busy day. First, I walked along with our company float in the local parade and handed out freebies and candy. There were many community bands and floats and it was simply a perfectly beautiful autumn day for a parade.

After that, my sweet DIL Jami came out to "play". {yes, she is the one who has neglected her blog "Crazy Daisy Creations" even more than I have neglected mine!} Jami brought out some fleece material and we made two cozy Nebraska Husker blankets for her niece and nephew. I didn't think to take photos until just now. Maybe I can convince her to take some and post on her blog. :) By the way, if you're wondering what Jami is doing these days...she's busy with her student teaching. Hopefully, she'll find time to share a few of her cute kindergarten experiences with you soon. She's got some funny stories! :) After we made the blankets, we did a little cooking and made snacks for the Husker football game that was on TV tonight. From that we went to jewelry making. No kidding! Jami has made some awesome bracelets and earrings for me in the past and I've been wanting her to show me how she does it. Tomorrow, I'll post photos of the two bracelets that I made today. I think they turned out quite well for a beginner, but then I had an excellent teacher! :) Oh, I forgot to mention that we made a quick trip into town because Hobby Lobby had beads half price and I wanted my own supplies. Seriously, I can't afford another hobby, but I really enjoyed this and may very well be hooked. Yikes!

Well, it's getting late so that's all for tonight. I have some terrific new patterned papers I want to use and hope to do a little stamping tomorrow.

Enjoy your weekend!

A Beautiful Autumn Wedding ~

Happy 3rd Anniversary
Andrew & Jami!

Our son and daughter-in-law were married three years ago today in an especially beautiful autumn wedding. I thought you would enjoy seeing a few of my favorite photos from their memorable day.

And, this is the card I created to wish them a very "Happy Anniversary". . .


(inside of card)

This is a short post, but it took me forever to finish because I went through and viewed ALL their wonderful photos while I was selecting these three to share with you. Enjoy! :)

Quote for Today ~
"A wedding anniversary is the celebration of love, trust, partnership, tolerance and tenacity. The order varies for any given year." ~Paul Sweeney

Stampin Up Club Creations!

It was a fun-filled morning yesterday at stamp club and I left feeling totally inspired by all the creativity. We got to try some of the cool new "in colors" and played with some new sets and the awesome new scallop punch. Not to mention, how much we talked, laughed and ate! I've got to give a shout out to our talented demo Jason and to Karmen ~ our hostess with the mostess!

My favorite card we made is the "live with passion" watercolor on the right. This one blew us all away with how simple it was, yet how beautiful. We all thought Jason was fooling us with a Hallmark original. :)

Stamping with markers isn't a new technique, but I forget to use them in this way. We've used the new "Inspired by Nature" set. (p 100) Using the brush end of the marker, we applied ink directly to the stamp. Once it was inked, we spritzed the stamp lightly with water and then stamped it on the white cardstock. Easy-peasy!

Our challenge for next month is to make a card like one in the Stampin Up catalog. Afterall, they've created this beautiful idea book for us to use, right? You'll notice one of the cards below is very similar to the one on the top of page 16 in the new fall-winter catty. Would you have thought to use the spiral edge punch in this clever way? Not me! :)















Now, I better get busy here because I need to make two birthday cards for my stampin buddies (Happy Birthday Jason & Karmen!) and also a 3rd anniversary card for my son Andy and sweet dil (Hi Jami!)

Have a terrific Sunday everyone! Smiles 2 U!





Quote for Today ~ "The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas." - Linus Pauling

Word for Today ~ beneficence \buh-NEFF-i-suhns\, noun: 1. The practice of doing good; active goodness, kindness, or charity. 2. A charitable gift or act.

"Hush little baby, don't you cry"...

... "Mama's gonna sing you a lullaby."

This image was sent to me by Nancy (directmailscrapper) at the Stamp Shack for a Virtual Swap she is hosting. Our challenge was to color the image and create a card with it. I don't think I've ever colored an image quite like this one. It has all kinds of little black dots in the image. It was a challenge to know how much color to add or when to stop. I used prismacolor pencils and a blending stump dipped in odorless mineral spirits. If you like the image, Nancy said the stamp is by Paper Inspirations.

That's all for tonight, but I'll be back tomorrow to show you all the fabulous creations we made at our Stampin Up! get together this morning. We always have such a great time and our demo (Hi Jason!) always inspires us to try new techniques.

Have a wonderful weekend! Smiles, Pam :)

Quote for Today ~ "Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." ~Elizabeth Stone

Word for Today ~ halcyon \HAL-see-uhn\adjective: Calm; quiet; peaceful; undisturbed; happy; as, "deep, halcyon repose."