Sunday, September 9, 2012

Pinterest Project

Hi everyone...it's Angie...long time no see. I've been hiding in my own little world here on the farm. We are busy getting things ready for winter. There is already snow on them hills. This morning the sun is coming up through the trees, a fire is going in the wood stove and I'm watching the roof thaw as the frost melts and drips like rain. It's going to be another beautiful sunny day. I'm hanging on to every last bit of summer/fall that I can. So onto my Pinterest project. I've become a pinterest addict lately. I get so many great ideas from there from crafting to well everything. So this challenge is perfect it made me actually go back through the boards and pick one to do. I chose a pin from Smallbitsofpaper.blogspot.com. I love the colors...so cheery and bright. I used papers from recollections, ribbon, my gypsy, the paisley cartridge and cricut craftroom basics.
See what I mean about the bright colors. They are so pretty. One of the biggest things that I love about my gypsy is that I can see how the pieces and parts are laid out and I can use scraps of paper that I would normally just have thrown away, that and I don't have to keep changing cartridges.
Here are the pieces all cut out...not much wasted paper at all.
And here is the card. Isn't it cheery?! The frames were cut using the cricut craftroom basics The lady bug was cut cut from Paisley...as well as the rectangles. I used some pink ribbon that I had, and a stamp for the sentiment in pink. I hope you enjoyed. If you are a pinner I strongly suggest picking just one and getting started...I know that I will be.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Repeat Adventure

"Here I go again, down the only road I've ever known....." Whitesnake sings this one and has a beautiful girl in a white dress on a hot car ;) Yep definitely an 80s child. That is about how long I've been on this back and forth adventure. I've been dieting....including crash diets, pills, Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, you name it for the past 20some years. I've used the pregnancy excuse for too long...then again after 6 of them I honestly don't think I will ever get my boot camp body back. So here it is July 2012 and I'm almost....a few pounds shy of being twice the girl I was when I got married....literally. This isn't something I talk about much, but somewhere in the past month I've had a "time to get started" moment. I joined a gym way back in October of last year, then all Hades broke loose around here. I went off an on, but not regularly. I started in Feb. with a trainer, and then again still didn't go regularly. So March came around and we had our 20th wedding anniversary and then it hit me....so I started going to the gym yet again. I still am not going as many times as I should, but I'm doing better. I'm working twice a week with a trainer and have been since April. I've managed to lose 2 whole pounds. Talk about not being a motivating factor. Yes a few inches here and there, but nothing like I wanted to see happen. May rolled around and I turned 40. I was more depressed turning 30 than 40, but I can't stand who I am right now. I have no energy to keep up with my kids....al 6 of them. I've been outgrowing my clothes...and refuse to buy bigger ones. Yet I still haven't made that commitment to change....bringing me to today. It's July already. We had went camping for a weekend and I had come back with more weight than what I had lost. I'm so tired of having to worry about everything I eat and yet I know that if I don't start making changes that will be how it will be the rest of my life. I know me well enough to know that I have to make small changes, a little at a time in order to make them stick....after all I've done this before and a few of those changes from the past are still here. So this morning I've decided to make that commitment. I have decided that I will write about this journery/adventure/change for a few reasons. Accountability is one. If I write about it, and can read it...and share it then I will be more likely to stick a little stronger. Motivation, this will keep me going when I don't want to. It's harder to say I don't want to, or to completely go the other direction when I will be writing about it as well. As a reminder, I can reread posts and see what I've been doing, what has been working, and when I feel like I'm not getting anywhere to see the progress. I hope that this works for me the way that I see it in my head. Maybe along the way I can be an inspiration to some, or some can help inspire me. I don't have an actual number or size goal...I do have a general one and that is I would like to be around 125-135 lbs again. At this point in my life it seems that it will be impossible to ever see those numbers again. That is around 90lbs overall. That is an overwhelming number to me. So I'm going to break it down to 10lbs at a time. I will be constantly losing those last 10 lbs ;). Some of the changes that I have made already are: I've stopped drinking soda daily. I don't tell myself that I can't have it because then I will want it. If I do get one it's now a diet Mt. Dew (because that is the only diet one I like.) I've started making myself drink at LEAST 64 oz of water a day. I've been to the gym at LEAST 3 times per week....and I want that to be 5 by the time I am finished...if not more. Some of my goals are: I want to be able to jump rope, and play with my kids on the trampoline without worrying about going thru it. I want to be able to run again...even though I hated running I want to be able to do it. I want to be able to shop in the Misses department, instead of the plus size departments of clothing stores. I just keep telling myself over and over that it will all be worth it. I can do this I've done it before. I've got to learn to eat differently...that will be my biggest challenge. I am a carbatarian...and I don't like veggies. I don't care for meat that much either....so those changes are going to be harder probably then going to the gym. So please if you read this and have any to die for recipes for veggies or meats please share them with me. As well as any other tips....I will need the help along the way. Change isn't easy, but it can be an adventure. I don't want to have to keep repeating this one over and over. I would like for it to become a way of life, a constant. Not just for my health, but for my family as well. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I will be rambling more often.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Normal or not?

Do you know that feeling when you have held your tongue about things and it has just boiled up? That is me at the moment....and I'm ready to start screaming. I know that we are not a typical family, afterall we have been married for 20 years. (To the same person.) We have 6 kids, not the average 2.5...still don't know how you have 1/2 a kid. I am a stay at home mom, not a 2 income family, and we homeschool. We have all of that going against us, and then we decided to build a farm. Who in their right mind does these things, anymore? We have made these choices all for different reasons and at different times in our lives. We chose daily to stay in love with each other.....that is why we are still together. We have chosen a large family....mainly because of me and my love of my children. As for a stay at home, being a military family for so many years it was the stability for the kids. (I'm very thankful that I have been able to do that.) As for homeschooling there are many different reasons, one being that I had my children to raise them, not for someone else too. The farm well that one is new and different. We want to be able to raise the majority of our food. We want to have a healthier lifestyle that is more active, which is required on a farm....and well it is fun to have the livestock, relaxing to work in the garden, and it gives us a sense of accomplishment when our dinner doesn't come from a store. This isn't a life for everyone that's for sure. That doesn't make it wrong. We struggle like everyone else in this world, but our life is what we have made it. We don't regret our choices. We may seem backwards, out of touch with reality, or that we have our priorities mixed up....but before anyone judges us maybe they should look at the bigger picture. It is frustrating to me that if we were both working, kids in schools, and struggling to stay together, keep up, and so on it wouldn't be given a second thought. I know that not everyone feels that way. I know not everyone who has a 2 income family is struggling with their marriage or children....it all comes down to the choices we make in our lives. Our choices have always been based on what is right for our family. If I need to work outside of the house I do, and will. If the farm for some reason doesn't work for us in the long run, then at least we have tried. I would rather have tried and failed, then to have never tried at all. Anyhow I'm just getting this all out so that I can let it go. I try not to judge others, and when I'm told how wrong that I am I wish that they would take a step back and look at themselves first. On a bright side, we've gained the last of our ewes to build our flock. Our chickens and turkeys are exploring our yard. I have a garden growing, and we've had some very beautiful days. The kids have finished school for the year and we are enjoying our summer. I hope that the rest of you are too...and thanks for listening to me rant.

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Lollipop Love

Hey again....how's your summer going? Ours is just starting here in Alaska. This week at sweetsassydiva we are celebrating National Candy Month....for me that's 12 months out of the year. (Must be why I'm so sweet ;)) I have the perfect idea in mind for this week as soon as it came out. It took me a while to make it...and for it to come together in my brain...too much sugar I guess... but I finished it. My Mama sends her grandbabies these huge lollipops...that we were never allowed to have as kids...must be a grandma thing. My girls love it when they get a box in the mail from her because they know that they have all flavors of lollipops. So I decided a layout would be good to do with this one. I even had help putting this one together....starting them early ;) So here is the layout we came up with.... The paper is from DCWV pastel stack and sweet stack...and Colorblok textured cardstock. I used the plantin schoolbook cartridge for the letters. I welded thhe "I'm a SUCKER 4 a" on my gypsy. I found a lollipop cut on my Mickey and Friends however I wanted something a bit more so I decided to make my lollipops. I used dmc thread, 2 or 3 colors and twisted them together...and then wound them onto just a scrap sheet of paper. I used my glue runner to make a sticky surface...and then cut out around the edges. I cut a toothpick in half, colored it with a white marker....cut out a small square of saran wrap and there you have it...my own handmade lollipop. I cut out 3 (4.25x6.25) rectangles for pictures and a 4.25x4.25 square for either a 4x4 picture or a journal box. I added ribbon corners on each to add a little more color. Now all I need is to add the pictures of my sticky little girls. I hope that you are all enjoying summer!!!! Angie

Sunday, June 10, 2012

All About Dad

This week at Sweetsassydiva we are celebrating Dads. I'm very blessed to have such a wonderful man to be the "Dad" of my kids. He is amazing and I literally thank God for him every day. Making cards, layouts, or anything basically with a masculine feel is a challenge for me. It may have something to do with the fact that I have 5 daughters, and 1 poor boy surrounded by us. Pink and flowery just comes more natural. So for this card I started scouring magazines, websites and so on looking for something to scraplift. I mainly lifted the colors more so than anything. I chose blues, and stripes. They seemed "manly" enough ;) I layed everything out with my gypsy and got it all cut at one time. I used the calligraphy collection cartridge for my tags and for the "Happy Father's Day" and I used George and Basic Shapes for the "DAD" I used DCWV neutral stack (gray) for the card base, and the smaller tags (1 1/2 in), Latte stack for the striped frame,and white and black misc. scraps for the larger tag (1 3/4 in) I inked all edges of the base, striped paper and tags in dark blue. I layered my tags and centered the letters on them. I used small brads at the top for some extra color. (I don't have a paper piercing tool so I used my cricut tools...they work great) I used foam dots to raise the tags just a bit for added dimension. Then to finish the card I added my greeting on the inside. and the finished project looks like............. Thanks for stopping by. Make sure that you give all of the "Dad's" in your life a huge hug. They deserve them!

Monday, April 30, 2012

Busy Bee

This week at Sweetsassydiva we were given a wild card week. I chose to do a layout. I really need to work on my scrapbooking and this gives me a reason to do so. My inspiration was my 2 little girls who have been non stop all day everyday since they were born. My busy little bees....

As always I have one idea in mind, and then end up with something completely different. I started with using George and Basic shapes cutting out 3 in octogons. I cut them in a tannish and white cardstock. I really don't like such stark colors so I used my Ranger Ink (antique ivory) and distressed them just a bit.

I then used Create-a-Critter to make the cutest little bumblebees and bee hive. I cut them at 2.5 in.

Again I decided to distress a bit on the beehive.

I cut out the title using Plantin schoolhouse at 1.75 in. Then it was assembly time. I think it took me longer to play with how I wanted it to come together then it did to cut out all of the pieces. The one that stayed the same is the part that says "BEE"


I cut out 4 (4.5x6.5) mats for photographs. Or can be divided for a smaller picture and a journaling box. This will be cute filled with pictures of my busy bees. It was really simple to make and turned out better than my first thoughts. I hope you enjoy.

*recipe*
cardstock...black, white, tan, black, yellow, blues
cricut cartridges....george, create a critter, plantin schoolbook
markers, ink
(a napping baby is good as well)

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Feeling Beachy

This week for the Sweetsassydiva design team we were given a sketch to follow for our design. I'm usually not very good following sketches but this one I really liked and had an idea right away....and then it changed.


I chose colors that reminded me of the beach. (I'm homesick for warmth.) I made the base a 4 1/2 x 6 1/4 card out of a light green cardstock. I then cut another rectangle out of "sandy" beige that was 4 1/4 x 6. On top of that I layered a "sky" blue strip. A small yellowish strip, and a green strip that can be my beach towel.

I inked all of the edges in a blue to make them stand out just a bit.

Using the cricut and my gypsy I cut out a scallop cicle at 3 1/4 in (gypsy wanderings) a 3 in circle (also gypsy wanderings) 2 rounded rectangles to form the tag one at 3 in the other at 2 3/4 (from george and basic shapes) a 1 1/2 in flower (paisley) and "leaves" which were paisleys at 1 in (also from paisley)

I inked the edges of the "sun" in orange and the flower in orange as well. I stamped the happy birthday and beach ball on the tag. I colored in the beach ball using le plume markers. I then stamped the umbrellas on the beach towel/ribbon strip and colored them in. I affixed them all into place and added a center self stick dot to the flower...and called it beachy!!


I hope that this finds you with a warm and sunny week ahead.

*recipe*
green, yellows, beige, and blues...misc. cardstock
cricut cartridges: gypsy wanderings, paisely, george and basic shapes
blue ink pad
le plume markers
self stick gem
stamps: beach ball, umbrellas, happy birthday

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Kissin' Kate

We have yet another new addition. We have the cutest little girl here now. Kissin' Kate has come to live with us. She is a 2 day old Shetland ewe lamb. Her mama had never had twins and refused to have anything to do with her. I haven't had a bottle fed baby in a few months....my youngest is 16 months already.


Today we get to spend the day making a better home for our little goat. He has been living in what is our normal brooder house, but we have chickens and turkeys coming in this week. So he gets a room of his own...as soon as we can figure out where to put it. He is the sweetest animal. I've been very blessed with the tempermant of the livestock I've acquired the past few months. We get a lot of funny looks walking the goat down the road on a lead rope for him to get his exercise.

We've also had the "neighbors" visiting us more often now. (Neighbors being a mama moose with her baby) They like to come to eat and usually run afterwards. This morning I woke up to them bedded down under the trees in the backyard. The kids went out to tend to the animals and they never budged. I'm wondering if they were waiting to be served as well. Living in the area that I do you never know what is going to be visiting. We have more wildlife visit our farm then we do people.

I can definitely say that living in Alaska is a very different experience. It is one of the most beautiful states I've lived in...if not the most beautiful. The wildlife is everywhere. I love never knowing what you are going to see. I love having my farm in the middle of it. I need to learn more about how to really garden here. If I can master that I would have my complete farm....well maybe not complete, but a lot closer. I still plan on bees, pigs, and possibly a dairy cow. I would love to have a meat cow and a few more goats as well. After this season I only need 2 more ewes to have my complete flock. Oh and my 11 year old has informed us she wants a pony...since the other 2 girls have horses.

It's crazy how time flies and plans change. We had just celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary. When we were first married I never would have dreamed we would be in Alaska, have 6 children, or have a farm. I'm a very different lady then I was. I hope that I'm a better person than I was then as well. This year has really started on bumpy ground and spring is bringing hope that we haven't had in a while. We have definitely learned to be grateful for all that we have, because things can change so quickly. We were very blessed to have had an aneurysm found before it burst. Having to go through the surgery...not me but hubby....and the recovery has been very difficult. We are definitely thankful for all that we have, always have been, but now more aware.

I've learned that I'm one that tries to run from problems. I try to run from difficult times. I've got the flight instead of fight tendancy. I've been forced to stop and stand ground which has been something very new to me. I have high hopes that there will be great things in our future for sticking it out....and with the blessings that have already started to roll in...I believe it to be so.

This is one season I'm looking forward to....spring is just part of it.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Long Break

It's been a long beginning of the year. Things are finally starting to become normal again....or at least my sense of normal. There has been so much happening.

We've added 3 mini rex rabbits to our farm family...hopefully 2 of them are pregnant. Our doe Bonnie had a litter unexpectedly...I'm hoping that they survive. We are also trying to get our Jersey Wooly bred. Hopefully by May we will be having a lot of baby bunnies around here.

We've also added a baby goat...his name is Casper..the friendly goat. I would love to find him a friend.

We have turkeys and chickens coming in at the beginning of next week...so spring has definitely sprung here at the farm.

Speaking of spring there is nothing like a ton of snow melting and pooling all around the house. We spent the evening digging trenches to send it away from the house. Hopefully we will stop it from making it in.

My girls and I have started seedlings in 20 oz drink bottles and lined the windows with them. We have our own mini greenhouses all around the dining room. I'm looking forward to the snow melting off and being able to be outside.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

My Valentine

This week we were asked to make a Vintage type valentine. I love the vintage look, and am working on trying to make it more often. I still have trouble with the layers at times...but will only get better with practice.

I started with a 5 1/2 by 6 in base for my card...in natural (looks like cardboard) paper. I used paper from color bok that looked like old fashioned wall paper.

The first layer is a basic rectangle cut from George & Basic shapes. The second layer is a square also cut with George, then I used scalloped scissors to go around the edges. There is also tags this way on different cartridges...I was just in a mood to play with my "toys". The third layer is a large scallopped flower cut from Paisley...then a lace doily on top of that. On top of the doily is another flower cut from Paisley with a cardboard center cut from my 1 in. punch.
I topped off the card with corrogated cardboard and a wooden button with some shiny thread...used a "With Love" stamp...and called it a Valentine.

Some of the details of the layers....I used a light brown ink to distress the doily so that it aged the appearance. I also used a dark brown ink on the edges of the large scallop flower, the small flower and on the creases of the cardboard. I stamped the sentiment in black.

I love the look of all of the papers together. I am a creature of habit that uses a plain with a matching print...so to mix and match this way is always a challenge. I hope that you like this one.

*ingredients*
plain cardboard brown cardstock, colorbock paper
paper lace doily
cardboard
wooden button
embordiery thread
a With Love stamp
distress ink, rich cocoa brown ink, black ink
George and Paisley cartridges

Friday, February 3, 2012

Hidden Sentiment Card

This week on Sweetsassydiva we were asked to create a card or a layout using a hidden sentiment. This is my first craft back in over a month it seems. I have chosen a "Thank You" card to start...I have a ton of them that need to be made and sent. I do want to thank all of you who had us in thoughts and prayers this month as we went through hubby's surgery and now starting recovery. He still has a long road ahead of him, but he's getting there, he wants to plow the driveway...NOT HAPPENING!!!!

So here I go....
First I used my gypsy to weld a coffee mug from Gypsy Wanderings to it's shadow. Then cut it out on cardstock from DCWV Old World stack. I folded it in half and used small pieces of velcro to hold the top down.
I used my cuttlebug swirls embossing folder to emboss the purple layer of the card which the cup sits.
I added some self stick gems, and stamped a sentiment on the inside of the cup as well as inside the card. (I used a coffee cup because everyone I know except me drinks coffee.)
It's simple and to the point...but filled with a heartfelt thanks. I couldn't have made it through this time without everyone.
*recipe*
jewel toned cardstock except for the coffee cup (because my friends have been real gems...in the best way lately)
cuttlebug embossing folder and sizzix boutique embosser
self stick gems
studio g sentiment

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Winter Days

Most of our winter days are filled with schoolwork and indoor activities. Being from the South we really haven't gotten into much for the outdoors here. We still have our farm chores that need to be taken care of...and added chores of hauling in wood and shoveling (plowing) snow. This place is absolutely beautiful in the winter. I find myself wanting to learn to cross country ski, or ice skating, just because I could still be outside. I honestly don't know what keeps us from doing these things, but we just haven't.
Today our morning adventure was a bit more than usual. It's really windy...which is typical. However today hit the fence to the sheeps pen just right and sent it flying...allowing Annie and Oakley to make a run for it. They didn't go far, but they did visit with the horses and give the kids and dogs a good run trying to get them back in. Since we are depending on the wood stove for the majority of our heat there was an extra load to bring in. Oh and the wind took a trash bag out, which the dogs then thought was an open buffet. It makes for happy kids.
I do get a lot of time to think, plan, wish, dream, and so on when stuck inside. That is both good and bad. I've decided that no matter where I end up I want to have a farm. This is the life that I want. I enjoy having the animals, the fresh eggs, the fresh meat, wool and so on. I know that I truly do want a dairy cow...I'm thinking a Jersey...with a calf to raise for meat. I also then want pigs...at least 2 to go along with the turkeys, chickens and sheep. I know that a goat would be smaller, and maybe a better answer, but you can do so much with cow's milk...especially ice cream!!!!!
From there then my thoughts wonder to my garden. This is actually when my mind switches back and forth to moving to a warmer location. I want to be able to have a full garden in order to can, as well as be able to enjoy fresh through the season. Here there is only one season. There is no spring cool weather crop, summer warm weather crop, and fall cool weather crop....just one season of cool weather crops. I'm learning what to grow and how. I haven't mastered it by any means. I think the peppers and tomatoes are the biggest things that I want to grow that I haven't been able to. I would also like fruit trees, and melons....but those would be for another time and place. I hope to at least double my garden beds, install an outdoor sink, and maybe an actual greenhouse in the near future. Then I can fence it all in to keep the moose from eating it. (Guess no different than deer.)
The more I read the more this seems right. The more it challenges me to want to make from scratch...everything from our food to our clothing and everything in between. The phrase I read today that has stuck in my head from "Folks This Ain't Normal" (Joel Saltin...excellent book) is something like this....Coke cola is considered safe for you but raw milk is not. Crazy thought...don't get me wrong coke is one of my down falls, but I can understand the thought behind it. There is nothing in coke that is good for you...it has no benefits whatsoever....only calories and junk to put in your body for flavor. Whereas milk....well you get the picture. There are just some things that don't make a lot of sense. I made bread today...I used flour, salt, yeast and sugar...(and a sourdough starter) I know exactly what is in it. I don't have preservatives in it...it needs to be eaten within a few days...or frozen....never gets there anyhow. It hasn't sat on shelves for 2 weeks and been shipped across country from bakery to store. I know how clean or unclean my kitchen is...and all that is included in the process. I am thinking that I like that feeling and I would like to know that about more of what we eat...and what I feed my children. I look forward still to the day when we sit down to a meal and everything is from scratch...from our farm....that will be a day of accomplishment. The only thing that probably won't be is the sweet tea. (I'm southern just some things I can't give up)
So as another short day passes by (the light is out longer) I'm getting closer and closer to a full spring/summer/fall of increasing the life on this farm. I've also come to the conclusion that it may not be an exact farm that I'm building...but a homestead. I can only pray that someday the rest of my family will catch onto my dreams and help me to put us into a place where hubby don't have to work, and this is a lifestyle that we would enjoy. I don't know how....I'm so used to a "normal" life that it would be completely different. I do know that it takes a lot of work....and a family to help make it work.