Someday soon we’ll meet again
03 Mar 2012 3 Comments
in Journaling, Personal notes Tags: death, diy, journal, journaling, losing loved ones, pinterest, qr codes
My Uncle died yesterday. I’m really going to miss him. He was a great man and will be missed by so many great people. He died just 4 years after his sister, my mom. I never thought he would be gone so soon. Why is it that the best people get taken from us so early in life?
I relapsed a bit today and slept until 7pm! I woke up shivering and the house is 75 degrees which is usually way too hot for me. I decided to just take it easy and journal some more today. My 15 year old son, Riley, has been taking care of me today. He is going to be such a great dad someday. He actually made a pizza for dinner and brought me a cup of my favorite hot tea. He asked if I would like the TV turned on for me or if I’d rather listen to music. Be covered me up with my favorite lap blanket and brought me a big bottle of water. How sweet is that?
I’ve been finding some neat free printables online for jounaling and I thought I would share some here.
Here is a printable library card holder and cards to go in it. There are also printable cards that look like actual library book cards.
Source: creaturecomfortsblog.com via Donna on Pinterest
Source: kristanlynn.com via Donna on Pinterest
Source: scrapbookprintables.wordpress.com via Donna on Pinterest
Source: sakuraofamerica.com via Donna on Pinterest
Source: sweetlyscrappedart.blogspot.com via Donna on Pinterest
Source: thecottagemarket.com via Donna on Pinterest
Source: 4shared.com via Donna on Pinterest
Source: cutetape.com via Donna on Pinterest
I love this tape. I bought some of the blue a while back and was disappointed at first. The white flowers looked so white in the picture but it didn’t look very white on the roll. Well, now that I’ve actually used it I noticed that the flowers are not white they are clear. So they will be whatever color your paper is. I love it even more now.
Love sick… or just plain sick
06 Feb 2012 6 Comments
in Personal notes Tags: cute sayings, flu, flu shots, friends, medicine cabinet, needles, pinterest, rectangular basket, senile, sick, sticky note
Yeah, I’m just plain sick. It turns out that I actually have the flu. UGH! Why do I get flu shots again? Apparently it is just so they can poke me with needles. I’ve had a fever over 100 degrees for the past few days. I take medicine and it goes down and then I wake up shivering/sweater with a fever again. My husband just left to pick up some more medicine.
The last love note I made with the sticky note has been our favorite so far. I say “our” because we both keep passing it back and forth. That’s the one that said, “I’m glad I picked you out” and it has been moving back and forth between his and my side of the bathroom. Last time I went in there and didn’t see it I found it on the inside of the cabinet on a bottle of lotion.
Since I’ve been so sick the last few notes have been really simple since I haven’t been feeling very crafty. I just used some cute sayings I found on Pinterest. Yesterday’s note I wrote on a small card I had that is about 2″ square. It just has a butterfly on the front and has a small blue envelope. Inside I wrote what is on the pin below…
Source: 25.media.tumblr.com via Donna on Pinterest
When I got up I didn’t see it so I wondered what he did with it. Then I opened my side of the medicine cabinet and it was slid into my little plastic rectangular basket thing that I think is for pencils. It was opened and facing out so the words could be seen. I think that is his way of saying, “back at’cha”.
For today’s note I used a square note card with a grey-blue border around it. It doesn’t open up. It’s just a simple card. I wrote on it another phrase I got from pinterest… see below.
I’m having a day
26 Jan 2012 1 Comment
in Personal notes Tags: bad day, dry eyes, eyes, good day, million things, pin board, pinterest, valentine s day, valentines day, watch tv
First, it was really bad. I woke up feeling awful….. at NOON! I went to bed kinda late last night but before midnight so I really didn’t expect to wake up after noon. I’ve been having a lot of problems with my eyes burning. I get really dry eyes and I have special drops and this gel stuff that I put in my eyes at night. Apparently it’s part of the Fibro fun. It’s getting worse though and for the last few days I haven’t been able to see very well so I couldn’t read my book. Grrrrrr
Okay, so then I took some stuff and after a while started to feel better. Yay. I started thinking about Valentine’s Day and what I could do for my husband this year since I have no money. I need to get creative. My husband isn’t into the cheesy stuff so I need to think of something sweet, unique and cheap. Hmmmmmm anyway, I ended up going pinterest crazy. I pinned about a million things today. I was going to put some here but couldn’t decide which ones and there are a lot. So you can click here to check out my pin board called “My Valentine So Sweet“. If you need an invite to pinterest just holla! Of course I didn’t find what I was looking for…… but I will figure it out.
Then, when I decided I wanted to watch American Idol my TV wouldn’t work….. you know the TV that is networked to the whole house. I wish I could just turn on cable and watch TV like normal but noooooooooooooooooooooooo. I was so bummed because this is the first year I have ever watched American Idol while it’s going on. I’ve only watch youtube after it was over…… sometimes years later LOL I actually just watched the last two years this winter…..backwards. Not actually backwards but I watched 2011 first and then I watched 2010. Of course I didn’t see nearly as much as there was since youtube deletes everything. Anyway, I was pretty upset that I couldn’t watch the show but my kids told me to just wait because it looked like it was being recorded. It was set to record as a backup. That was a good idea! Well, after the show was over and recorded my kids started working on it and now at almost midnight it is actually working! So, I can finally watch American Idol today…. and tomorrow since it will be past midnight when it’s over.
So, bad day……… good day….. bad day…..good day…. done!!!!!!!!
Upcycling
25 Jan 2012 3 Comments
in Craftyness Tags: air bubbles, beautiful things, cd's, chalkboard paint, clutter, dishwasher, glue stick, hot glue, magazines, magnet, mod podge, motto, old magazines, pinterest, pretty flowers, Quote, recycle, refrigerator, reminder, something useful, super glue, toilet paper rolls, upcycle, waste, Weight loss
According to Wikipedia, ”Upcycling is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or a higher environmental value.”
I love trying to think of ways to use what would otherwise be waste for something useful. I’ve seen a lot of uses on pinterest.com for toilet paper rolls lately and I think that’s great. There are some beautiful things made with them like this…..
Source: marthastewart.com via Donna on Pinterest
See? I love that!
So anyway, I was trying to get ride of some clutter and I was thinking… What can you make with old CD’s? I also had a stack of old magazines that I hated to just waste.
Here’s what I did. I found a page in a magazine with some pretty flowers and traced around the CD with a fine tip marker.
Cut out the circle staying on the inside of the line you traced.
Then look through the magazine for words or letters that you can add to the picture. There are so many things you can do. You can also cut rectangles out of colored sections to “frame” the text you want to use.
I used a glue stick to position them on my background piece.
After I had that finished I used a flat paint brush and applied a thin layer of Mod Podge to the CD. I carefully positioned the circle of paper to the cd trying to push out wrinkles and air bubbles. You need to try to avoid the center area where there is a hole in the CD. You don’t want to push through the paper that is softened by the mod podge. After that has dried brush a layer of Mod Podge over the top and if you want you can touch a bit to the back where the hole is to strengthen it. Once that is dry you can embellish with some paint or markers, stickers, etc and then add another layer of mod podge to seal it. No need to worry about newspaper to cover the table. Just use the magazine. I also found that glossy magazine pages are great for mixing paint on. Use Super glue or hot glue to add a magnet to the back of your CD. There are so many things you can do! Paint the CD with chalk board paint or glue a paper pocket for holding coupons or other things you want to remember. You could even take a large paperclip and bend the top out at slight angel in the middle. Use hot glue to add it to the back for a wall hanger.
Add a quote you like or a motto to help you through a challenge like weight loss. The refrigerator is a great place for a reminder if you are trying to eat healthier.
I found another useful idea too. I made this so my kids will know when the dishwasher needs to be emptied and when they can put their dirty dishes in the dishwasher instead of filling up the sink.
I blotted orange and gold acrylic paint around the edges to give it a boarder. After that dried I added another coat of modge podge to seal it. I also used a nail file on the edge once it was dry to get rid of any overlapping paper.
The word “Clean” was right on the cover of a Real Simple magazine so that was easy. At first I was really frustrated trying to find the word “dirty” or letters that looked good together. I really wanted the font to be the same. I thought I was going to have to print something and then I found the phase “dinner party” in the same magazine. All I had to do was snip the parts I wanted and paste them together.
What have you upcycled?
It’s Friday
20 Jan 2012 3 Comments
in Personal notes, Photos Tags: ATC, ATC cards, beagle, browsing the internet, dark and stormy night, feet, finger nails, ladybugs, matchbook, nail polish, painting nails, pampering, paying attention, photography, pinterest, sweet puppy
I haven’t been feeling well but I’ve been trying to fix that. I decided to pamper myself today. That always makes me feel better. Today was a day for my tough guns though since this is the 2nd day with no pain patch. It was my own fault though for not paying attention and letting my prescription run out. It wasn’t done today though so now I’m thinking I have to wait all weekend. It’s a good thing I have some left over medicine from a surgery or I’d be sitting in their laps. I used my favorite nail polish and painted my toes which for some reason seem to keep getting further and further away. I’m exhausted.
I know, I have big feet don’t I? But isn’t that a beautiful color of polish? I didn’t actually paint my finger nails because then I wouldn’t be able to read or crochet until they dry. I wouldn’t be able to pet my sweet puppy either and that would be so sad.
Blue relaxing in my lap and nudging my hand every time I try to type.
I did work on the wool eater blanket a little but not as much as I’d like. My hands are really achy. I have spent a lot of time on pinterest and browsing the internet for more things to pin.
The NaBloPoMo Prompt for today is..
Which do you enjoy more – the start of a book or the end? The middle. Not all books but I’d say most start off slow…. ”On a dark and stormy night”…. Anyway, sometimes I can’t seem to really get into a book until until a chapter or two in. The middle is where is gets exciting! That’s the meat of the story you know? The ending is always sad to me because, unless it’s a series, that is the END…. And endings are sad. That’s when I start wondering what happened to so’n so and what about the creepy dude that wasn’t actually the killer? Isn’t someone going to do something about him too??? What about that matchbook left on the table that was a clue to where to find the bad guy’s location? Isn’t someone going to put those away before a kid burns down the whole place? You know, all of those millions of questions I always have.
Okay, I think I’m going to go get my watercolor pencils out and make some ATC cards. I’m doing a swap with a group and we are doing ladybugs. I have a idea brewing so I better get moving.
Focus! Focus!
12 Dec 2011 1 Comment
in Craftyness, Knitting Tags: bracelet, knitting, knots, pinterest, Turk's head, yarn
That is what my husband says to me all the time. I’m horrible at starting project after project and jumping into new hobbies one after another without finishing anything. What can I say? I’m a great starter… just not such a great finisher. So today I found this simple little project on Pinterest.com and I’m going to do it and finish it before doing anything else!
First I’m going to knit a simple icord. It’s just 3 little stitches a bazillion times. Sure, I can do that.. I think. Well, after I dug through my yarn stash for something to play with and found some suitable double-pointed needles to use I realized that I couldn’t really remember how to start out so I watched this video. It is really clear and easy to follow just don’t think you can keep up with her LOL Just watch the video and take notes and then try it. Really, you don’t need to take notes…. it’s only 3 stitches.
So once I have enough I’m going to make a bracelet from this Turk’s Head (Woggle Knot).
This is the pin that led me to this craziness. I think I need one in every color of the rainbow and more.
Source: animatedknots.com via Donna on Pinterest
Well, I made an icord that would loosely wrap around my hand 4 times and decided to get it a try. At first I tried using a cable pin to hold the loops so I could avoid binding off until I knew if it was long enough but the yarn still attached to the ball just got tangled up and made a mess (duh). I snipped the yarn leaving a bunch of yarn to work with if I needed to add some more stitches. Well, it wasn’t long enough so I knit until I used up all of the extra yarn until I had barely enough to bind off with. I had to use a crochet hook to help bind off actually. I ended up with 42 inches and then I tried again. Still too short!!!! So now I’m working on another length of icord and I’m just going to sew it onto the first one. Until then….
Hair today…gone tomorrow
09 Dec 2011 9 Comments
in Charity/volunteer work, Personal notes Tags: Charity, hair, hairstyles, locks of love, pantene long lengths, pinterest
okay, maybe not tomorrow. I love my long hair but I’ve always wanted to donate my hair so that someone going through chemo-therapy could have a wig. I had planned on that when I first started growing out my hair and I was itching to cut it for that purpose well before it was long enough. I’m glad I waited though because I have heard some things about Locks of Love that have made me keep my hair on my head for long after it was long enough. Not that they are a bad charity but it wasn’t the right fit for what I wanted to do. Locks of Love is more for people with Alopecia which is balding that can be in a small area or it can be the whole head. It can also be permanent and it affect people of all ages, men and women. I read several things online that I didn’t like about locks of love but I was leery of trusting information on the internet. Then I met a lady one day that told me her daughter who has cancer was turned away by Locks of Love because she was told that after cancer treatments are finished she will regrow her hair but children with alopecia may never regrow their hair. She also said her daughter had to write an essay about why she deserved to have a wig and that even though they didn’t have enough money to pay their medical bills they would still be expected to pay for a wig. Locks of Love uses a sliding scale for payment but if you are losing your house because you are so far in debt how do they decide how much someone has to pay? I have also learned that a large percentage of the hair that is donated is sold at a cheap price to wig wholesalers to cover overhead costs. So after this I went back to the Locks of Love website and read more. Of course now it has been redone and I didn’t see where it says that now but I learned that they do sell the hair to wholesalers to cover their overhead. I understand that it may be necessary but I just can’t stand to donate my hair that I’ve been growing for years to have it sold for cheap and not used for the purpose I had intended. There were many times I wanted to cut my hair along the way but I didn’t because I wanted to do something that would help someone. I wanted to color my hair but I couldn’t because they wouldn’t except it if I did. I don’t want to help wig wholesalers, I want to help someone who really needs help. So now my hair is really long and I still want to donate it when I cut it. I’m trying to find out about more charities that help people with cancer. I’m looking into Pantene Beautiful Lengths right now which is partnered with the American Cancer Society. I still want to learn everything I can about the program before I really commit but until then I’m enjoying the fun I can have with long hair.
I wanted to add here that even though that lady told me those things doesn’t make it true. You can’t believe everything you hear or read on the internet. I am not going to donate to locks of love because I know they sell a lot of the hair they receive and that I really want to help someone with cancer because that is dear to my heart. My mom had breast cancer and wore a wig for a while and they were so expensive she couldn’t get something she really liked. That is why I’m leaning towards the Pantene program which is connected with the American Cancer Society. If you want to help someone with Alopecia I would call Locks of Love and talk to them about their program.
I just got my hair cut the other day. I used a photo of Taylor Swift’s new hairstyle (left).
Source: disneydreaming.com via Donna on Pinterest
Of course my hair is a lot thicker and dark brown so it doesn’t look exactly the same. That’s okay with me though, I can’t dance or sing either. I had to have them thin out my bangs a lot because they were so heavy and they still are a bit. Now I’m going to try the sock bun for curling my hair!
Here is a video on youtube that explains it better
In this video she shows how to actually roll your hair up with the sock donut which you couldn’t really see if the above video.
I have tried this and it turned out so pretty! My bangs were grown out to my chin at the time so I had them pulled back and I just don’t look very good without bangs. I can’t wait to try this again now that I have some!
Source: flickr.com via Donna on Pinterest
Here is a haircut I would like if I cut my hair although I don’t know if it would actually work with my hair since my hair has a mind of it’s own. When my hair is chin length or a little longer one side whips one direction in a large wave and the other side goes the same way. So it looks like I’m constantly being blown away by the wind. Even really good hair stylists have tried to fix it and couldn’t. I would just have to cut it a little shorter or longer to avoid that.
Source: varioushairstyles.com via Donna on Pinterest
I’ll have to post a picture of my haircut later after I’ve had some time to play with it. The family and I have all been sick so I haven’t even felt like taking a picture let alone looked like I should. I didn’t like the way the girl styled it after cutting it so I didn’t take a picture after I got home. She didn’t look much older than my 17 year old and she said she’d had some of the same teachers so she is obviously a new hairdresser. She took so long to cut my hair my car almost froze up in the parking lot. My hair was already like the picture except the bangs so she took 2 hours to trim my long layers and add the bangs. My lady that always cut my hair before doesn’t work there anymore :’O(
Wishy-Washy Weather and a little Pinterest Interest
05 Dec 2011 2 Comments
in Craftyness, Personal notes Tags: alaska, Fairbanks, pinterest, stocking stuffers, weather
I think mother nature can’t make up her mind what she wants to do right now. Just recently we climbed out of a cold snap of 45 below weather. Then, we got dumped on and could barely get out of the driveway because of all the snow. The trees were heavily laden with snow and it showered down from the branches and caught on the wind creating a curtain of white that blocked all vision. On Sunday when I went to church it was about 42 above and windy. The roads were wet and icy and it was a lot like driving on an ice skating rink. Before we heading home it had begun to rain. So the roads were much worse. The rain froze as it hit the ground and we took the back roads home going very slow. After I’d been home for a while I looked out the window and the snow fall was flying horizontally by my window at a really fast pace. The wind got so strong that I kept hearing things (probably branches and maybe a few cats and dogs) hitting my roof and side of the house. I was so scared that one of the large spruce trees would fall on my house or something would come through one of my windows. I hate that feeling! I always turn on some music to try to block out the screaming wind and smashing sounds from outside but just can’t shake the jumpy feeling and fear of the roof coming down on me. The tops of the large spruce trees in the park across the street were swishing back and forth reminding me of last march when two of those trees fell. The base of the trees were twisted and splintered. During that same storm several people had trees fall on their houses or on nearby power lines and I had candles ready for the many power outages we experienced.
Today, school has been canceled and the wind has lessened some. Usually they wait till 5am to decide to close school based on the rode conditions at that time but there was an accident recently involving a school bus where 6 students were injured so I think they are being extra cautious. I don’t blame them and I would much rather know my kids are at home and safe and sound. In the past, during dangerous weather like this, I would drive my kids to school myself rather than trust a stranger driving a long bus in dangerous conditions. Things seem so different this morning than they did yesterday. The trees at the park are now just swaying like giants nodding in agreement with one another. I think they are all happy to be free of their load of snow. There isn’t any snow left on the branches. The bare-limbed white paper birch standing in stark contrast to the dark spruce don’t sway nearly as much as the heavily cloaked spruce trees. They divide the darkness of the trees behind them into bite sized pieces with their thin white trunks. There is a fine glitter-like snow flying parallel to the ground but you have to look carefully to see it. At first glace it just looks grey outside.
The newspaper has a few article about the dangerous weather conditions.
I am going to snuggle up and stay inside. I am working on a crochet-edge fleece blanket to donate to the woman’s shelter for Christmas. On Saturday a bunch of ladies from my church and I went there to help decorate for Christmas. Someone made a bunch of fleece blankets for the children and several of us are providing lap blankets for the women. We are also providing stocking-stuffers and I decided that since it is easier to think of gifts for the younger kids I will be making some gifts for the older kids. The other day I made a flower pin that I learned about on http://pinterest.com/. It turned out really pretty and I just used things I already had on hand. I’m going to make some more to attach to hair bands and clips.
Source: sew4home.com via Donna on Pinterest
Another idea I may try depending on how much trouble it is
Source: raisingolives.com via Donna on Pinterest
And this just looks too fun not to try! Melted crayons poured into candy molds!
Source: homemadebyjill.blogspot.com via Donna on Pinterest
Pinterest Interests
29 Nov 2011 2 Comments
in Personal notes Tags: pinterest
I didn’t fare so well yesterday. I woke up around 11:30 and was glad to be awake during the day but then I started hurting and when I tried to do anything I had a hard time focusing. I tried to read a little but I was too tired even though I just woke up! Finally I went and laid down but I couldn’t sleep because I was hurting so bad. I have OA and usually it is in my hands but when my larger joints start hurting I just don’t handle it well. My shoulders and hips were hurting. I’m sure it is from going out in the cold Sunday. I tried so hard to avoid getting cold though. I bundled up in a warm coat, hat, gloves and scarf and drove from my warm garage to the church. I just had to walk through the cold and wind to get inside and then I had to wait a bit for some young children in front of me to get in the door. When it was time to go someone at church started my car for me so it would be warm but again…. I had to walk outside. I was achy the whole time I was at church and ever since then but today was the worst. I took some ibuprofen and slept all day until 5:30 this morning!
Well hopefully it’s over now and I can get some things done at home. I’ve been taking it easy so far because I’m leery of it coming back. I was checking my email and playing around on pinterest.com a bit and found this neat little item that reminded me of a dear friend I have with a sweet Feline LOL I wonder if she already has one of these. I’m only half laughing because I’m a little OCD myself. My kids used to tell me I was like Monk.
Source: google.com via Jane on Pinterest
Here is another thing I found that was neat!
And one more…. I’m always having a hard time whisking things because of pain in my hands and wrist so I really like this idea.
Source: kitchen-dining.hsn.com via Jane on Pinterest
Knitting
14 Nov 2011 5 Comments
in Knitting, Worthy of Note Tags: free patterns, knitting, pinterest
Bernat Pattern
I love to knit and crochet but since I don’t have much money right now I’ve been on the lookout for free knitting patterns. I got this one in an email from Bernat. I tried to find it on their website but it didn’t come up in patterns. I love this and can’t wait to get the yarn to make a few of these.
I also just recently joined Pinterest. That is a great tool for saving things you love as you are surfing the web. You have to ask for an invitation to join but once you’re a member you will love it. Once you request an invite from the main page it only takes about a day to get it in your email. In Pinterest you have a board (think of a cork board) that you can title for a group of related items. Then you can pin items of interests to it. So say you have a board for hair styles. While you are out looking at websites about hair styles and you see a picture you like you can choose to pin it to your board. There is a handy link you can save to your favorites (Its on the main page). Once you have that favorited/bookmarked you can click it whenever you are on a webpage you want to pin. What it does is pull out the images from the page and you can click ”Pin this” on the image you want. When you pin the image you can copy the link to the page into the text box to find your way back if needed. Other people may “repin” something you pinned and add it to their boards. You can create multiple boards each with a different theme. It quickly becomes addicting.
I just created a board for “free knitting patterns” and when I am looking at one online I can pin the image and then copy and paste the link to the pattern into the text box. That way when I’m ready to make that item I know where to go to get the pattern. Until I’m ready though, it’s not taking up space on my computer hard-drive.
To sign up for Pinterest, follow the link below:
Here is another pattern I really like from Bernat.com
Jacquards - Directional Scarf (knit)
