It Just Makes Me Smile

Doesn't this just make you smile?!

Yet another one of Mona's beautiful quilts.  So glad she shares her accomplishments with us.  Always a treat to see what she's been up to.

Go Griz!!!

The 113th "Brawl of the Wild" is tomorrow.  Prediction. . . .Griz 31 - Kitty Cats 14.

Carved Pumpkin Inspiration brought to you by our beloved "Craft Master" Mona!  

Have a great weekend :-)

Crafter Xtra-ordinaire!

How dag-gum cute is this little guy?!  He's part of the backing fabric for this adorable quilt Mona just finished for her daughter's new baby boy.  As always we were blown away by her talent.  And we loved, loved, loved! the colors.  Lucky baby to have such a crafty Grandma!

A Look Back

By the time you all are reading this post I'll be in the air heading back to Jacksonville.  It will then be exactly 2 weeks away from coming back home for good.  Can't wait!  

Looking back on this trip home, it was much more restorative in some ways than the last trip.  Had lots of alone time to just breathe which was good.  But kept fighting a few restless feelings which I think were more about just being ready to have Allan home with me and back to our routine.  Soon I know.  As folk singer Dave Wilcox says in one of his songs. . . 

"Someday Soon made a promise I will follow

Someday Soon is why I try"

So while I was at home and piddling in the craft room I saw these cute little friends that Mona gave me last trip sitting and smiling at me.  Aren't they adorable?!  Thanks Mona for including me and Val as part of the "kids" in your life and making these for us.  You're the best!

Our Super Star

 

 

Was sifting through e-mail and found the picture Mona sent last week of her quilt at the cabin.

Wow! It turned out so great and looks fantastic on her brass bed.  Love the mathing pillow shams!

Our Gal Pal Super Star!  Thanks for sharing Mona!

Gobble, Gobble

Well I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving holiday.  I don't know about you but I'm stuffed!  We had a full turkey dinner with our friends Colleen and Diane on Wednesday night - a tradition we started back in the 90's since none of us had family in town.  And then another full turkey dinner on Thursday with our neighbor family - a tradition we started after Stephen passed.  And then if that wasn't enough, we had another full turkey dinner on Friday night so Allan could show off his cooking talent.  And boy! is that Cricut Man talented!!!  It so delish!  I think I've lost my position as head chef for the holiday dinner. I'm not sure that's a bad thing ;-)

Here's the next in line of the holiday wobbly owl cards.  I liked how this one turned out MUCH better than the silly one I did for Halloween.  And something cool I wanted to point out on this one. . . .the back feathers - the ones punched with the scallop punch - used an old coffee sleeve.  The puckered craft color paper was just perfect and added a little texture. 

So next up for the owl cards is Christmas, then New Year's and finally Valentines.  Once those are done it will be a full year of holiday owls.  I have to tell you it's been pretty fun.

I'll leave you with another turkey project - and one that's much cuter than mine.  Here's Mona's quirkey turkey placecards.  She was inspired by this post on Tim Holtz's blog.  Didn't they turn out cute?  Can't wait to hear about how everyone in her family liked them.

Another Easter craft

I saw this in a Michael's ad and just had to make it.  I think it took me longer to find all the stuff (Michael's didn't have anything except the paper) than it did to make it.

Easter fun

I had so much fun making these little guys.  Doug kept asking me how many I was going to make.  I just said "I don't know, they just keep multiplying as bunnies do!"

A Great Teacher

Just wanted to give a big shout out and THANK YOU!! to Mona for all the work she put in to teaching us how to make those adorable Christmas trees.  It was a fun night.  And looking forward to yet another fun one tonight.  See ya' soon.

Reindeers and Rooftops

This was the card Mona gave me and Val for Christmas this year.  How over the top beautiful, huh?!  It uses dies from the Tim Holtz collections.  I just love the style. It feels so artistic vs. crafty.  I have to admit I'm a little intimidated still of playing with some of the Tim Holtz toys I have.  I just have never felt like I was artistic at all so I kind of feel lost.  But maybe some snowy day soon I'll get brave and just starting playing - and learning! - see what I can come up with.  I just need to remember "it's the about the journey not the destination", right?  Right!

So Very Special

This is the gift Mona gave me and Val this year for Christmas.  It's so very special.  Special because of all the talent and time she put into it and special because it came from our very special friend.  I know we will treasure it always.

Wednesdays are Mona's Day

Last  year when I was posting daily, I always made sure to post a card that was made from scraps.  It was a special dedication to my Gal Pal Mona who is trying to use up all kinds of scraps in her craft room.  So in that same vain, I'm declaring Wednesday to be Mona's Day - a day to feature some of her handywork or to post something that I think she needs to make ;-).

Check out what she did a couple of  weeks ago. . . .this ADORABLE little Christmas tree made from a Tim Holtz die cut and a bunch of scraps she found - thread spool, baker's twine and star embellishment.  Now how CUTE is that??!!! 

Here's another one where she used some hardware for the embellishments.  How clever!

I'm thinking  this needs to be one of our projects for our monthly craft group.  I think they'd love it!

Autumn Leaves

This is one of Mona's cards from last yearr that I thought was just perfect for this week - well it's just perfect for anytime :-) - but especially perfect now given that our wallks through the University district on our way to and from work are so beautiful right now with all the maples in various stages of their color change.

See ya' tonight!  I'm really looking forward to getting back on schedule.

What a "Treat"

Our Tuesday night craft night was fun. I know it seemed like we didn't get alot done but we really did!!; my Gal Pals helped me play with some Martha Stewart punches, found paper for the post-it note holders I'm making for my new team, caught up on happenings in our lives (one of the best parts of our time together!), browsed the new Stampin' Up mini catalog (Uh-Oh! That could be trouble :-) ) and shared recent card crafting adventures. Here's a super cute card Mona made with the Stampin' Up treat cups. She's so funny (and clever). . . said she just couldn't fill them with treats somebody couldn't get to so she used small buttons. Kind of like a shaker box card. Isn't it great! And guess what my favorite part is. . . .. . . .. Yep. . . . .RIC-RAC!!!! :-)
Have a great day everyone!