Freckled Star

The State of Being Grateful

Random things I am grateful for in no particular order:

My family: Frank, Zachary, Lindsay, Tyler, Chris, Dad, Frank's mom and dad, Frank's Gramma Lec and Gramps, Andrew, my cousin Amy and her husband Rodney, my goddaughter Riley, Uncle Robert and Aunt Tammie, my cousins Miranda and Stephanie, Uncle Tony and Aunt Mary, Little Michele, Ron, Jordan and Anthony, my Aunt Jessica, Glen and Uncle Larry.

That my Dad is healthy and still has his faith.

My wonderful friends: Char and Elaine. You 2 just go together. I know I can talk to you about anything. That you won't judge me or be harsh. And you are the only two that think I am witty. My friend Grace you make me want to be more optimistic and nice! Michele I know you'd help me with any of my kids if I needed you to. And Michele's mom Deanna you are just so nice to me. Kim, I am rooting for you. Dawn you work so hard! You are so good to your family.

The time I had on this earth with my mother, my brother and my 2 grandmothers.

That my children and I have a roof over our heads, insurance, food in the pantry and a husband who works to provide all of it.

Our beach house in Cayucos. 4th of July, Duckies Clam Chowder, Birds of a Feather.

That I live in the United States of America. That I will not be denied any of my basic rights because I am a woman. Don't know what I am talking about read "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini.

That I have a reliable car. That gas prices are no longer $5 a gallon!

That I have 4 dogs that follow me all over the house. Including the bathroom:) They make me laugh.

My scrapbook room where I can just go and sit and be surrounded by beautiful things.

The quite of my house at 5:30 in the morning.

Walks with Justice. That I can take yoga and hang out in the Claremont Club sauna afterwards.

There are many other things I am grateful for, like hot water and electrity, but if I named them all I would be here until Christmas and I have a cheesecake to check on. So all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and remember to appreciate the little things in the end you'll realize they were the big things.  

I miss you my sweet brother. I am especially grateful I had you for the 30 years I did.

Raid Ann's Closet - Change of date!

Remember these?? 

I think we did these jars 2 years ago?? Maybe 3. And guess what I still have tons of stuff!!! 

I checked all these and they are good to go. 

You can either do this project or wrap a candle.... 

Details: Saturday December 13th at 11:00a.m. Workshop fee will be $15. I will provide the jars, tons of mosaic tiles and other fun embellishments. Plus the texture paint and tools. I think it would be fun if everyone brought something for a little buffet. Nothing fancy. I will provide the drinks and I think a little wine may be in order:) R.S.V.P's by Thursday the 11th please.

Memory Keeper

Sorry this took me so long to post. I tell you I am wiped. With getting ready for the fundraiser, workshop and Frank's grandma being in the hospital the last week has been draining!! But the good news is Electa (great name!) is home now and although she still thinks she is riding on a train she is beginning to come out of her morphine high:) So onward and upward. Just not that up!! 

These boxes are on page 98 of the current catalog. They come flat and with just two folds become a box. TaaDaa!! So they are super easy to wrap paper around. I used the Notebook paper packet and the MyStickease. And lots of liguid glass even though you can't see it in the pictures to well. 

It also has a magnetic flap so the contents inside will stay put. They stack easy too. You can store all sorts of things in them. Birthday cards, kid's awards, concert tickets or anything else you can think of. I have all my prayer and rememberance cards in mine. Not very fun I know but not everything in life is. I wanted someplace special to keep them in so that I can just open it up anytime I want and see them all there. Along with pictures and trinkets that meant something to me like both my grandma's and my mom's glasses. Just a thought.

Well I am outta here! Last weekend of baseball until February!! Whoo hoo:) And workshop is Sunday. Can't wait to try out that Texas Sheet Cake. Next week I will have details on December's workshop. I have been asked to do the mosaic jar workshop AGAIN! Looks like that may be a go...... More later. Have a wonderful weekend. And to my friend, Grace, I hope you feel better soon.

Get Ready to OHH and AHH!

So here it is. This is so stinkin' easy!! 

Now mine are vintagy. But you can literally use any paper and fun stuff you have. The candles are called Sanctuary Candles and I found these at Target for $1.59. But you could also go to Michael's or some other craft store (or even a florist) and buy clear cylinder vases and wrap. I do suggest lighter colored paper so the light shines thru. Also double sided tape to adhere to vase. Makes it so much easier. Scotch brand makes one and you can find it anywhere. 

So much fun!! And such a great gift. Who wouldn't love this?? All together it won't cost you more than $5 bucks. Depending on your embellishments:) Speaking of which....... 

Are you drooling over these pretties then go to http://www.fadedplains.com/.

That's all for now. I have workshop samples to get done. Have a lovely day!

Think, Begin, Create

Well the journal seems to be working!

 Two weeks in a row and I have done something creative or something having to do with my business everyday!! It's amazing how much I seem to get done when I have to. With a fundraiser and a workshop coming up it kicked me into gear. That combined with the fact that I really think my future is holding more glitter and glue than a psychology degree. Still pondering the thoughts. My head seems to jerk me one way while my heart goes the other.

Here are some of the pages I have gotten done: 

 

If you belong to Paper Club you have everything you need to make these 4 pages. All I did was pull out a Paper Club packet and follow the Guide directions. So easy! Sounds like a weekend project......:)

Have a wonderful weekend. I am going to the Pilgrim Festival in Claremont this weekend. Hopefully find some inspiration from other creative people. I love seeing what other people have made. Have something fantastic you've done?? Send me a picture. I would love to see it. I will be posting a super easy candle project next week. Great idea for the holidays. Oh and my Memory Keeper box. So adorable. It's drying as I type. I love liquid glass!!

Ramblings from a Soldier's Wife

Frank's job is not always easy. Yeah there are times when it's like big boy Boy Scout's but for the most part it is up at dawn, frustrating and only vaguely rewarding. But he and many others like him carry on. It's not like he can just quit. Even when he'd LOVE to. It's a commitment. A commitment he values. A commitment to the country he values. The country he loves. It's a different kind of love then say what you or I have. It's protecting the weak and the innocent. Giving them a voice in an unhearing world. He would sacrafice his life for that voice. And he does get frustrated. I get frustrated. Listening to a media that only wants to report our death count for the month. Listening to politicians that only look on disparagingly at the uniform my husband wears. While he fights for them to have the freedom to speak of him disparagingly. My husband has more love for this country than many will ever know.

All some people ever hear is how much it costs. Well I will tell you something I don't care how much it costs in dollars if it will help more soldiers come home. And keep terroists there and not here. It's not perfect. The United States of America is not perfect. Our military is not perfect. It's grossly underfunded to tell the truth no matter how much it has been reported costing. So while we worry about what Michele Obama and Sarah Palin are wearing to fundraising events there are men in Iraq and Afganistan without basic combat needs. Like clean socks. I no longer romanticize what the military is. But we are the most advanced military in the world. All of our humvee's should be armored.They should be dressed up like the guys from HALO(my kid's play video games:)for Christ's sake. Instead of every unit fighting tooth and nail for every little thing they are "GRANTED" to carry out a mission. I know they are trained to be crafty and "make do" but come on!!! Enough already. I could be here all day.

So here is what I know to be true for me. Frank is my love. He leaves at roughly 5 every morning. And I watch him from our warm, safe bed and I wonder how on earth he can put on those combat boots every day. I think to myself all the strength that goes into the soles of his feet. Enough strength to carry a fallen man on his back, enough strength to carry his children when he knows he has to leave them. His poor feet have seen better days. Somalia was not kind to his feet and Haiti was not kind to his skin. My mom used to say he was visiting all the "garden spots" whenever he was deployed. But as I think about this I am amazed.Those feet have carried him places I will never see. The things he has seen that I never will. He flinches at night. He has for years. I wonder what he dreams about. The things he has seen. The things none of us ever will. Thank a soldier. 

Thank you to all our soldiers. You are all my heroes for your unending love and sacrifice for this country. The lion's at the gate. HOO AH!

Once I get started....

...it's hard to stop!! This last week I have tried implementing something new to keep me on a creative track. A little journal that I right down whatever creative thing I did that day. So far I have been pretty good. Granted it's only been a week but I did manage to get 44 pages finished and journaled this week. And I went thru and organized all my albums. To the best of my ability anyway. I didn't have much of a choice I had 44 pages to put in them. I have come to find out I am a very random scrapbooker! But it feels so good to know they are in some semblance of order now. So because of this I did something completely out of the ordinary. I scrapbooked recent photos!! Not one's from 2004 or even 1998 (yes 2 of the pages I did this week were from 4th of July 1998:)but from just 2 weeks ago. Don't get me wrong I still have Easter 1976 to scrapbook and Veteran's Day 2004 just to name a few BUT to have done a project using pictures I just took.....AMAZING! So here it is: 

I found the album in Target's clearance aisle for 50% off. So the little kit was $4. It's so darn cute!! And I have enough Halloween paper and embellishments to scrapbook my great grandkid's pages. So there you go a mini book is born:) It feels good to do one of these. It doesn't take too long and it's a complete little package. Love it! Speaking of Mini Books. Ali Edwards has a NEW book out called "Sharing Your Story-Recording Life's Details with Mini Books". It's awesome! It has some really fantastic ideas in it. Plus the pictures are amazing:)

 

So that about does it for this post. I am exhausted!!!

I am leaving you for the weekend with a quote:

" To Live a Creative Life we must lose our fear of being wrong"

Joesph Pearce

This is something I stress in all my workshops. With art in any medium, 90% of the fun is the mistakes. The other 10% percent is holding that completed project in your hands. Also the great thing with art is if you make a mistake you can cover it with say....a sticker:)

Keep creating it will make you smile!

Election Day

I can't believe it is finally here! It seems like these campaigns have been going on for an eternity and I frankly just want to move on. I am not going to get political in this post.I don't care who or what you vote for just VOTE! It's what my husband and many others like him are preserving for you. Also if you don't vote you can't complain! I voted so I can complain all I want:) Just kidding. Kind of.

So as a treat to myself for trekking thru the rain I am making Symphony Brownies or just for today Red State/Blue State Brownies. Can't we all just be Purple! So here it goes: (Thanks Paula Deen)

1 Box Brownie Mix and 3 king size Hershey Bars.

That's it! Make brownies according to box directions. Using a 9x13 pan spread out half of batter on bottom. Put the 3 Hershey's bars on top. Spread remaining batter over top. Voila! Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 to 40 minutes. The box usually has the time for thick brownies use that time. Let set for at least 20 minutes and the middle will be all warm and melty. Of course ice cream is a must. If you let cool completely it's like eating a brownie wrapped chocolate bar. Yum!

Warning: It is entirely possible to eat half of these in one sitting:)

Happy Election Day! No matter who wins I hope they truly have our country's best interest at heart. I am truly proud to be an American. Onward and upward.

Memories Made Here~My Creative Space

This room has come a very long way! Three of our four brothers have lived in this room. For years at a time!! I never thought it would turn out this way. At one time it had stained carpet, dirty white blinds and stacks of boxes and clothes everywhere:( Boys aren't the cleanest of creatures and I refused to clean it until they moved out. And then it seemed another would take thier place. I never thought I'd get the tub or the countertops white again. But thanks to CLR and rubber gloves it looks good!

Then one day it happened! The last boy left and the gutting began. First the closet doors and track came out. They were ruined anyway and what better way to be able to see all my things then just to yank them. Then the blinds came down and the carpet came out. No amount of cleaning was going to save either of them. Next was the painting and then the laminate flooring (thanks Rodney). The bathroom was cleaned out and the tub and cabinets are now used for storage of ART things. Oh joy! I hope no one ever wants to use it:) It is awfully pretty though with it's Anthroplogie shower curtain, all sorts of scented candles and various other niceties.

So that was the beginning of my labor of love and I must say I absolutely love it. It was worth nine years of brothers to be able to do whatever I wanted with it. Just walking in it makes me smile even during my worst days. I hope you enjoy the pictures. Oh yeah and there is a bed in it. I was supposed to keep it a "guest room" so there you go. I don't think Frank knows about my stash in the shower:)