Sick Day

     So, I am home again today with strep throat. Yuck! Medicine is working as I have no fever today. I spent a little time in my craft room. Cricut updated their Design Space program and since I was feeling a little better I made a project! Lowe's had their little sample paints on sale for .99 while we were in Florida this summer and I bought 10 different colors. I found an octagon shaped piece of wood that had been on my craft room closet shelf for years. I painted it red. Then I cut a heart shape out of cardstock to use as a template/stencil. I laid the stencil in the middle of the red octagon and painted over the red with an off white color. I took the stencil off and had an almost perfect red heart surrounded by the white. I used sandpaper to distress the white and let the red show through. Then, I cut a split Mr. & Mrs. shape in black vinyl using my Explore machine. I added a cute filigree heart shape and our last name. This is how it turned out!

    The Mr. & Mrs. is a little crooked. I will re-cut and reapply the vinyl so it is straight. I think the little heart embellishment is cute!

Hello Again!

    Wow! I am such a slacker! I cannot believe how quickly time flies by. Seems like school just got out and here I am back at it already! Brian and I spent all summer traveling. NY, Cape Cod, Lake Placid, Hot Springs, Texas, Florida...whew!! I went back to work to rest up!
    We lost Brian's brother, Robert, to lung cancer in early April. We had a celebration of his life over the 4th of July in Texas. It was a strange mixture of happy sadness. It was wonderful seeing family again - but for all the wrong reasons.
    We spent some time in Hot Springs (One of Robert's favorite places). We visited the crystal mines and found some really great crystals! We did the whole Bath House experience with hot mineral baths, steam boxes, and massages! Bliss! Then there was the food! Sigh!
     We spent over two weeks in Florida again this summer! We love it there! We even looked at some places to buy in a couple of years when I retire! Even after Brian's melanoma diagnosis and subsequent surgeries, we still spend a lot of time at the beach both in Florida and at the Cape. We are just really careful with sunblock, umbrellas, long sleeves and timing.
     I am ready to get back into my crafting and spending time in my craft room! I have done one complete scrapbook for Brian and me. Working on our wedding and our selfie one now. I am also trying out some new crafts and learning how to use my new Explore machine. I seem to spend a lot of time on Facebook and YouTube for tutorials.  Here are a few random pictures from our travels.

NY trip!

Florida!

It's cold!

New Toys!

     So my new Cricut Explore Air arrived a couple of weeks ago and I have been in my craft room almost non-stop! I wish I could say I have made a lot of stuff but, actually, I have just been playing around! I had to send my Gypsy in for repair (I didn't want to). They lost it and all my content!! NOT happy!! Same company that sold the Explore. All my cartridges were on it and could not be linked to the new machine design space. REALLY not happy!! After lots of messing around and phone calls and emails I finally got a new Gypsy with all my old content (minus my designs). At least now I can use my new machine. They extended my trial subscription to the site for a month - that's not really enough but I guess I'll stop complaining. I'll add a picture of my new stuff later.

Soggy Saturday

     On top of our snow and ice storm we now have rain - both freezing and regular! It has packed the rest of the snow and ice into a thick slab of wet ice. It built up in our gutters and now we have a leak in the kitchen! We were up at 4:30 am cleaning it up and Brian went outside in the freezing rain to try to get the ice away from the gutters. Not my idea of a good time! I called the insurance company but haven't heard anything yet.
     I spent most of the day in the craft room! I have been practicing with my sister's Explore while I wait for mine to come. I made a couple of cards in a very short time. I'm liking it!

Too Much Time On My Hands!

    So today is my mother's birthday! Happy Birthday, Mom! She called me early this morning, which is unusual because we are all under strict orders to not call her before the crack of 10am!! She wanted to share the info that HSN has the Cricut Explore Air on special launch and she would be happy to help me buy it! I got out of bed - on a Snow Day, mind you, and booted up the computer. Sure enough, there it was! I did some research to make sure I could use my many cartridges and chose the flexpay option! It will be here in ten days!! I am so excited! Thanks Mom!! Oh, Brian says thanks, too!!

February Ice Storm!

    Crazy weather here in Middle TN! We have had cold weather but no snow all winter. As a teacher I have been very disappointed! No Snow Days! That all changed on Sunday night with at least an inch of freezing rain/sleet with over an inch of snow on top of that! School was out Monday for President's Day so, again, no snow day. BUT...the whole area has been declared a state of emergency and more snow is expected tonight along with record low temperatures! School has been cancelled for the rest of the week!!!! SWEET!!

icicles on the garage

ice on our Japanese maple out front 



See how thick the ice is!?

Mom's Pics

Ice Storm in Tennessee! Here are some pictures my mom took of both the ice and some birds at her kitchen window. Pretty awesome if you ask me!

ice is HEAVY

Lunchtime!

Waiting....