Seems the busier I am (or want to be) the more I attempt to take on :)

Maybe it is just plain restlessness that has hit me this Christmas. Along with the things I have going like making cards and doing some quilling projects I have so many other things I want to do.
 For starters this year it seems I can't give enough.  Like the donating bug has hit me. And it feels fantastic.  Gave to the Humane Society in memory of my cousin and if it helps some animals that is a wonderful thing.  I gave some gift money to Sick Kids hospital because I cannot stand the thoughts of those kids being stuck in the hospital with nothing to open or to do. To do by themselves or to do with their families.  I gave some money to Veterans when getting a poppy, yesterday while shopping I gave to people with disabilities.  Today I will get things ready for a womans shelter. They need gently used (or new) clothes, linens etc. So as my linen closet is packed I went through it to give away sheet sets, comforters, and some clothes too. Am in the process of washing it all before I take it to them. My sister , who just took up knitting a year ago also made some beautiful scarves and went out and bought hats and mitts to go with them. She has a box of that kind of thing ready too.
   I am not writing all this to get any attention or thank yous from anyone.  I am writing about it because there are so many out there that don't have as much as I do.  I always thought I didn't have much but this year I feel I have a great deal in my life and it is high time I gave some back.  Next year at this time I will give to the above again.... and any other time of the year I can too. Because it feels so good to do so.
  Ok other things I am taking on.  I want to start painting rocks or river rocks to be exact.  On pinterest there are so many great ideas to do so. Want to paint wine glasses or old jars or old flower vases. Make more cards. Continue acrylic painting. Between my sister, my niece and I we could likely sell some of this at one of the town festivals during the year. :)
  I just can't fathom how people can just sit and watch tv all day when there is just so much to do out there. So much to experience. So much to enjoy. But then it took me till I got in my 50's to find I had a lot more interests and how large my heart was.

  All that is a wonderful thing.  I hope I am always able to at the very least attempt those crafts, attempt to help those that don't have all I do.  I hope I always realize how truly blessed I am with the family I have, the friends I have and for those people that are no longer here with us. Because they helped make me who I am too.

Thank you for weekends :)

It is finally the weekend. Well I started mine at 9:45 this morning when the line I was working on was shut down.  Though I could use the money I was ready to come home. When I got home I checked what I wanted to make for dinners next week (Yeah I like to get that figured out as soon as I can) , made out my grocery list and got to that shopping. Now it is done and I can get into Christmas shopping tomorrow and football on Sunday (on tv).
  One of the things I will make for dinner next week is Stuffed meatloaf.  Looks very easy to make and delicious too.
http://skinnyfiberdirectholly.blogspot.ca/2014/04/stuffing-meatloaf-1-package-stove-top.html?spref=pi&m=1



 Now for crafts this weekend.  I have to get to quilling because I need to get it done and posted here before Christmas. So tomorrow night I will work on it and most of Sunday... well when not watching football of course.  This project is coming along wonderfully. Colors coming together very well.  Just have to make the little extras off the canvas and then glue them to it.  There are many many blogs and pinterest postings that are helping me a great deal. Some are in my links at the left hand side .

  Gotta love Pinterest.  I began with two boards about crocheting and knitting. Now I have 80 boards of those and painting, making cards, mexican recipes, bread recipes and on and on. This is such a super way of learning about my interests, finding new techniques , new recipes, new quilling methods.  The list goes on and on.

  Tonight I am going to go look at the blogs I have here on my blog because I know there is a lot to learn from those who know more about this craft than I do.

NEW YEARS resolutions

I know, I know I am not great at keeping new years resolutions. Never have been. But I am hopeful that this time around I can keep at least a few of them .,  So here they are and I may add to them before New Years rolls around

Volunteer- at the SPCA or to read to seniors , something useful

Get more exercise-  I have a pair of urban poles to go walking with and have no excuse not to

Watch more of what I eat-  much less candy and snacks and more vegetables and fruits

Begin cutting out more meats - Have Meatless Mondays all sown up and now need to move to cutting meat out of another day of the week


Ok this is a beginning.  Come on New Years

Back again and no excuse either

Been ages since I have posted here.  Maybe in the New Year I will keep this blog up much better.  I have found some new interests and one I have pursued and plan to do more of in the New Year too. Acrylic painting. My niece talked me into going and I am glad she did. This is the new rage over here in North America and even overseas.  The paint place I go to is called Paint-club.ca but there are many others such as Painting with a Twist, Paint Nite and Paintlounge to name just a few.  You go to usually a bar and you have a drink or two and learn how to paint. The subjects are not really hard to do. They are not really involved but something you can do in a few hours. Well when I went to that first one I immediately came home and found oodles of paintings done by other paint clubs and put them up on my Pinterest in "I can paint this".  I may set up a painting place right here at home to do some of those works.
  Another thing I want to try is painting on glass especially on wine glasses or wine bottles. Something simple yet elegant like flowers but there again I have a board on Pinterest about this too. :)
 Still another thing I will begin to attempt (once the snow is gone in spring and I can get to smoother river rocks) is painting on rocks.  Things like mountains, streams , lighthouses etc etc.,
  There are just so many new crafts to try or new for me anyways.
  My project for my sister , that I am quilling is coming along alright. I have two of the three canvases, the words done. The third one is started and when I get the lettering done I will begin to put flowers, butterflies, bees, hummingbirds and a few other things on the canvases too. Will post them on my blog when I get them done.
  Before I forget I will post a pic of my first acrylic painting. :) I am pretty proud of it. Love this new thing called Social Painting.....

Some things make no sense lol

There are days or lots of days I just don't come online and even when I do I just don't seem to find the time to come on here and post.  I am sorry for that because I had a blogspot years ago and faithfully posted. That is where I wrote about my Mom and losing her. I put everything in there, posted all my feelings when she passed away. How much I missed her and still do. But... I stopped posting for a few months and have forgotten the password for that blogspot and therefore have lost all those thoughts and feelings . That I truly regret.
 So I want to post here as much as I did that blogspot but we will see.
 So onto the things that make no sense. My workplace. They started a no smoking policy on the entire site. Which was ok with me as I don't smoke. But many did and I felt for them having to be without smoking because they would not allow you to go off the property to smoke.  Then shortly after that they adopted a new set of shifts. Only days and nights , no afternoons. And 10 hour shifts.  So a double whammy for some . Going from 8 to 10 hours was a kick in the arse and hard to get used to. But most of us did.  Now , exactly 6 months after the 10 hour shifts started they are going back to 8 hours and three shifts again.  Confusing eh !!! And.. now on lunch time which is 20 minutes you can swipe out and go out for a cigarette onto the public roadway.  Why make policies if you are just going to back out of them.  Seems the management loves to see strife and low morale in there.
  Me... I got used to the 10 hours but was super tired at the end of shift as were many others. Going back to 8 will soften this of course. Will miss the 3 day weekends though.

Time for yourself

hmmm well. I have heard so many people say, and yes I am guilty of saying it myself, that they don't have time to read a good book, do a craft project they wanted to do, go out for a leisurely lunch etc etc.  We all know that is a bunch of bull.  If you are serious about reading that book, doing that craft project or going to that lunch then do it. Make the time.  You can't always be on the go or putting off the things you want to do.  Maybe you do so because kids are taking up all your time, or your pets are or you just have to have a reason to natter :) . We all need time for us.  Even if it is just a quick walk around the block to help clear your head.  So just do it.
  Now me I have several things on the go for Christmas gifts and I know I need to get to them but use the above excuse.  That and I spend to much time on the internet looking at quilling or card designs, talking to friends etc etc etc. So I have to get myself motivated to get to the things I enjoy. No one is going to make me do it.  It is up to me. Only me to make the time to do something for myself.
  So... after I go do my errands today I am coming home to complete a birthday card for a friend.  I have the card all ready, a special. fold card. Now I want to do a wee bit of quilling to decorate it. I told my friend in Colorado that I was getting into quilling and sent her some things to look at on the net to show her what it looks like. Now I want to make her card  with some on it. Then I have to decide which font to use for my sisters quilling art I want to do for her for Christmas. One for my other sister too. I have Christmas stockings (4) to make, cards , ornaments and the lists goes on. So I will make the time to do all this because I love to do crafts and it is relaxing and puts me in a more relaxing zone. That is good for anyone...............

Debt what a pain in the arse

In debt?  More than 84% of consumers have some kind of debt.  Car payment, mortgage, credit cards, something we are paying on , or something that has gotten away from us. Like those credit cards that they ask you if you want to increase your credit limit all the time. And... we , or some of us , always click YES.  Fools aren't we. I know I have done so , more than once. I say to myself I will get the increase but I won't use it. It will be there for my rainy day when I really need it. Yeah ok.  I have used it, more than once and now have a high debt with those damn cards.  Today I took a good look and realize it is time to get off my ass and make a payback plan and stick to it.
 I have watched a show on tv called Till Debt do us Part with Gail Vaz-Oxlade.  Now some may really dislike this woman and her show because she tells it like it is and gives people hell when she knows they need it. But really... she makes a lot of sense. And has given people a lot of help, when they chose to take it. So here is her website because today I spent time to read a lot of what she has on there and it is giving me my kickstart to paying off some of my debt and earlier than when I am in my late 60s (10 to 15 years from now).

http://gailvazoxlade.com/

Go to her Resources section where you can find some interactive worksheets that can help immensely. I did . The one where you list your debt and it tells you what you should pay a month to get them paid off in 12, 24 or 36 months. Wonderful tool. Now if you don't think you can do that within the 3 years just do a bit of math for yourself and figure out what you would have to pay for 48 or 60 months.( Sorry Gail I know you would rather we pay off our debt within three years :)  ).

  This is a great website to get started and keep going. Lots of tips, advice , worksheets to use etc.  If you don't use Gails website find another online . Just take that first step and keep with it. Tell yourself you want to get rid of your debt . Go for it.

Take care all. Have a good Sunday

Time flies doesn't it and Scammer warning

On Mondays I hope my four day (10 hour a day) work week would be over fast. This week seemed like it really did go fast. Friday was grocery day and that is about all I did, well except for taking my cats outside for walks. One runs free because she won't go to far away from me, the other two go on a leash.  Today is wash day and then I get the chance to catch up on what I miss online during the week as I seldom log on the first part of week.  I found a lot of free patterns for Iris Folding. Gave me several ideas for Christmas cards. I figure I have about 20 to send out so I better get my butt in gear. Also I got 12 packages of quilling strips and picked up the three canvases I need to make my sister her Christmas present this year. I know once I get that started I won't want to leave it. Long weekend coming so hopefully get a good start on that then. Oh yeah and got 4 large packages of 12 by 12 cardstock for making cards too so I am good to go.

Had a scammer call our house last night.... after midnight. Supposed to be with Microsoft and they try to get you to go on your computer. Tell you what buttons to click on and what screens will come up, They continue to do this , looking like they know what they are doing, and then they say for some amount of money they can fix your computer... even though you never knew there was anything wrong with it.  I had a friend attempt to stop that there and they had already froze her computer , by her clicking on what they told her too.  So if she had paid it she would of gotten the answer on how to fix her computer.... Most often these people who call are not English speaking , or hardly at all. Please be aware of them.  So many scams out there and unfortunately so many people fall for them.

 Anyway when the phone rang, I went to go answer it , in a panic , because you always think, that late at night , that someone is in some kind of trouble. I tripped over something and went ass over teacup. If I could of gotten to the other end of that phone grrrrr,   But all is well today... I think lol

I have a birthday card for a friend to get ready. I have most of it done except for doing some quilling on it . Will post it here when I get it done.  All for now

Videos of various papercraft tutorials

I became interested in making greeting cards several months ago . My niece in law is a Stampin Up demonstrator and I finally went to one of her wonderful seminars with another niece. We both got hooked on making cards. Since then I have joined Pinterest and created numerous boards with so very many techniques to use in making cards. Some are very easy , some are frustratingly fun. So I wanted to include on my blog some video links so others can see what I mean when I talk about.
First will be the technique I am really getting into.  Then others I want to eventually try too.

Quilling:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5ICwEBsvZM

Iris Fold
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIXY8AIW7dQ

Ornare or paper piercing. Pinterest page with many patterns
http://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=ornare

Incire or cut and fold papercraft on Pinterest
http://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=incire%20tutorial

Pergamano or Parchment craft
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hfedwc_aB9E


If you are a card maker you know there are many many different folds to try when making a card. Besides the usual folded in half and decorated cards, which are in themselves quite lovely too.  Here are some links to websites that either have videos showing different folds or have diagrams for those folds. Yes I have tried quite a few of them and plan on making more .

http://beccysplace.blogspot.com.au/2011/05/z-of-folded-cards.html

http://www.toocoolstamping.com/toocoolstamping/fancy-fold-cards/
This one above has a lot of techniques to help make your cards too.

Ok I know in the future I will have a lot more links to share in my posts but this is a start. I am off to do some cooking now :)

Great day

Almost the end of my day. But I had a good one. Made 4 cards up at my nieces . They were all special folded cards like diamond fold,  gate fold and a tri shutter card. But I have not finished any of the 4 of them. One I want to wait and heat emboss as it is a Christmas card and yes I know it is nowhere near Christmas but as I want to make quite a few for other people I better get started ...now. Want to put some nice snowflakes on that one or Christmas ornaments. The other 3 cards I plan on quilling different flowers on. Just have to keep looking at tutorials I have found on the net or in the blogs I follow here (they are all listed).
Also today I ordered a lot of quilling strips because I have a project in mind for one of my sisters. Once I find just the right font to use for the words , and the strips come in , I can get started with that. And there is getting back to the project I started in the winter for another sister. A granny square crocheted throw for her sofa. She loves to fall asleep on that sofa and needs something to keep her warm. Then there is the felt Christmas stocking I want to get made for family members. Thank goodness they are all kits with plain worded instructions. ..... hmmmm looks like I have a lot to work on before December 25th eh!!
Good night all. Be safe

Beginning

Well it is Saturday morning and it is raining outside and seems this might be a all day thing. Good thing I have something else to keep me busy. Will be going to my nieces to make some greeting cards. Between us we have made 30 to 40 cards. Most of them have not decided if they are birthday or sympathy cards. Just made them up. We have done sponged cards (one of my favorite techniques),  different folds for cards,  made some marbleized cardstock ( will post a link to that technique soon).  Had a blast doing all of this. Some cards came together really looking great , others not so much. But it is all learning and first cards are usually a bit off.  LOL
  I plan on posting a lot of links for card techniques I have used myself. Lots of recipes. Pictures.  All kinds of things . So stay tuned. See ya later