Thoughts For Thursday – Merry Christmas!

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? [Christmas] came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before.  

What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”

—Dr. Seuss (1904-1991); writer, cartoonist

Rejoicing in the Birth of our Savior and Wishing You & Your Family Inky Smiles and a Blessed Christmas!

Faux Stamped Candles

I am feeling loads better today. It seems that the iron is actually kicking in and I am feeling human! YAY! I even went grocery shopping for last minute food items that I’d forgotten on the “big pre Christmas” trip on Saturday. I planned on posting this yesterday but got caught up helping B in the woodshop with a couple of Christmas projects for two small girls….

This year I wanted to give something fun and simple for neighbor gifts with the usual treats. I picked up these candles on a super duper clearance after Christmas last year at WalMart. Luckily my wonderful husband was on board with the project! Neither of us wanted to do the traditional stamp on tissue paper method since we were doing these in bulk so we found some fabulous pre-printed tissue paper at CostCo and decided to make Faux Stamped Candles.

As always, you can click on the photos for a larger view.

Step 1: Gather your Materials

Beg your hottie husband to help…

Note the happy husband supplies… Dirty Jobs DVD & a couple remotes! :)

Step 2: Measure and cut tissue paper to fit your candle.
I’m using a 3” pillar so my tissue paper needs to be 9.5” x 3 3/4”.

Step 3: Measure, cut, and tear ( 1/8”) DP for candle band.
Mine measures 9.5” x 1.5”

Step 4: Make a note of missing supplies and beg sweet, hottie husband to find them and fetch them for you (because you’re sitting in a recliner trapped behind the craft table in your family room). Measure and cut wax paper (4” x 12” or so).

Steps 5 A, B , C & D: (A) Cut out circles and mats for sentiment. I used my Nestabilities classic circles and classic circle scallops. (I purchased them from myself… I have more in a variety of shapes and sizes for a great deal if you’re shopping for them.) (B) Stamp background snowflake, (C) Stamp sentiment in darker ink, (D) Add glitter to sentiment with a glitter pen.

Step 6: Make assembly pile of candle parts.

Step 7: Realize that you’re a dork and left more supplies off the supply list and beg your darling, sweet, hottie husband to find and fetch the forgotten goodies (because you’re still trapped in the recliner behind your craft table in the family room).

Steps 8 A & B: (A) Roll candle on versamark pad. This sticky ink helps the paper stick to the candle for eas(ier) positioning. (B) Adhere tissue paper to candle and smooth out wrinkles.

Steps 9 A & B: (A) Wrap wax paper tightly around candle. (B) Heat up heat gun and blow at wax paper to melt tissue paper into candle. Keep the wax paper held tightly to prevent bubbles and drips. Be careful not to burn your fingers (yeah, yeah… I’m a slow learner!).

Step 10: Peel off wax paper and use heat gun to touch up any spots that need to be smoothed out or finished.

Steps 11 A & B: (A) Place candle in a craft tray and use heat gun to quickly melt the wax on the top of the candle. ~ Seriously, you have to be quick at this… it melts fast and it cools fast. (B) Sprinkle glittery sprinkley stuff (I used Beadazzles by Suze Weinburg) all over the top. You may need to heat again to help them melt in.

Step 12: Finish it up by wrapping the DP around the candle and attach the sentiment with foam pop dots/squares. I used American Crafts squares because they are my fav dimensional adhesive. Voila! You have a beautiful, simple, relatively quick gift. :)

We made a few variations with different tissue papers… it’s loads of fun! You can also stamp on plain tissue paper with reg stamps.. just be careful about using water based inks, especially reds, because they can sometimes run when the wax becomes liquid and the images can blur out.

PS/Disclaimer/Warning - for decorative use only... remove paper if you're gonna burn the candles.

Merry Christmas & Inky Smiles!

Missing In Action

Hi all!

I am just popping in to let you know that I am still alive and kicking... barely kicking because my energy level is nearly non existent. For several weeks now I have not had the energy to do much at all. I get up out of bed and accomplish a few things around the house, suffer through work, whatever it needs to be, and then crash out. I have not slept through the night in months... Naps have not helped at all. I have not been able to focus on anything. I mentioned a while ago (vaguely) about the issues I've been working on with my health and trying to figure things out. The pain in my back is still here, but it's manageable now, but other issues are not figured out yet. I was at the dr several times this past week for some reg check ups and also for testing.

Well, during that time I got the results of a couple of tests back, negative on two (YAY) but positive on one... moderate anemia due to iron deficiency (There are 3 levels of anemia - mild, moderate, and severe which requires blood transfusions). GREAT. That explains a LOT of the issues that have been going on. I told a friend yesterday and her response was, " Well, didn't you think that when you couldn't get out of bed in the mornings?" Uhm... not really, I've never experienced anemia before. I've got fibromyalgia and have always thought that I was just fatigued because of it! ANyway... I am now on iron pills for a min 30 days and the dr said that I should start to get feeling better.... I am so looking forward to having energy again!!

I have just felt like poodoo for so long and have let pretty much everything go, my blog, my house, my projects, etc, because I haven't had energy to stay on top of it. I am tired of feeling like the woman who whines about all the drama in her life.. LOL! This year has been INSANE... I'm not the sort of person who has this much drama in her life.. UGH. SOOOO... I am hoping that these iron pills start kicking in and that I get to feeling much mo bettah! I am finally mostly sleeping thru the night, so that's a start!

I am working on a fun little tutorial to share with you... hope to have it up this evening sometime tomorrow.

Inky Smiles!

Faux Stitching & Girls Night Out

Last week was Kristin's birthday. We (Renae, Kristin, Trish, Kaylee, and Amber) went to dinner at Los Hermanos and then went to see the movie, Twilight. (Didn't love it, didn't hate it... discussion for a different day). I made this birthday card for Kristin and totally cased one of my old Christmas cards that I made when I was a consultant for CTMH. I really like how this pink n chocolate one turned out, too!

I did some faux stitching on the card by poking holes with my SU paper piercing guide and then drew lines using a white gel pen. I love how it worked out! I used the CTMH edge distresser to rough up the band across the front of the card. The card is a bi-fold card. The top flap folds over the bottom flap (folds at top and bottom). I cut out the curved pink flap and glued it to the card base flap to extend it and create the curved piece.

Supplies:
CTMH - Cardstock: Blush, Chocolate, Cocoa Cafe paper
CTMH Organdy ribbon
White Gel Pen
SU Paper Piercing Kit
Nestabilities Classic Circle and Scalloped Circle
Wire & Wire Cutters/pliers
Glass Beads


Cased card:


I also made a quick little football album for her to capture her BYU football game adventures in. She is the most intense BYU Football Fan that I know and goes to games with her brothers and sis, even out of town games. I typed up the BYU Fight Song and snagged some pics from her sister's Facebook account and printed them off to put in the little album.. We had a super fun night!

PS - Kristin's the cutie patootie in the new pink shirt and chocolate vest :)

Thoughts for Thursday: Just do it!

“Our doubts are traitors and makes us lose the
good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.”

—William Shakespeare (1564-1616); Measure for Measure

I loooove this quote!!! Do you ever feel doubtful about something you want to try? This month, Brent has been talking about wanting to make candy and other assorted goodies for neighbor treat trays. I've been saying, "No, candy is too much of a pain and really hard to get it right", and all the while B has kept bugging me about just doing it anyway, "Come on, it can't be THAT hard.. you make caramels!" LOL!

Anyway... last night I was out at cleaning out the storage closets for our women's group at church (we're moving to a new church house in Jan). When I got home, I expected/hoped to be welcomed with the scent of something delicious cooking for dinner, but was welcomed by the scent of a butter and sugar syrup simmering on the stove. Brent was standing at the stove in his work clothes and apron stirring away when I walked in the door, getting ready to pour it out in the pan to cool. I guess when he was picking up my prescription at Wmart he was hit by an overwhelming urge to shop the candy making goods... LOL!

So go "pull a Brent".... try something new this week! Don't be afraid, just do it!

PS... The toffee is DELICIOUS! I had to cover it and hide it out in the garage so I wouldn't be tempted...

RAK Winner Announced & Craziness Update. LOL!

We have a RAK winner from the Single Lovely Action/RAK Challenge post! YAY!

The winner is:

Michelle said...

Its funny how such simple things that we do can affect someone. Wednesday I had some last minute things to buy at the grocery store. I had less than 10 items. The lady behind me had a couple more than me but her two kids were tired and kranky so I let her in line in front of me. She started crying. She was having a really bad day and just wanted to get home.. and was so thankful I would do that for her. It was no big deal to me? What an extra 5 minute wait???

I will think of something to do this week. Not sure what but I'm sure the opportunity will arise.

November 28, 2008 7:40 AM

OH, and... I decided to give away a second set of covers!!! WOO HOO! The second set randomly goes to someone from my subscriber list!

rm3116@___________.com

rm3116 - please shoot me an email from the email you used to subscribe to my blog with your snail mail address and I will pop the second set in the mail to you this week :)


Oh man, I need to apologize for not announcing this sooner. You know how life gets away from you sometimes? Last week it totally got away from me! Here's an update on the craziness factor at our house:

1.) We have had a sale on RibbonStaks and InkStaks over at StamperStorage and have been super busy cranking out InkStaks.

2.) Brent sanded and re-painted the baseboard trim for the front room and nailed it back up so that we could get ready to do #3.

3.) We got the Christmas tree set up and lights put on it one night and I got it decorated the next day. I put up my nativities in my red hutch last night and we had a "Family Home Evening" with just me & B and made a new wreath for our front door.

4.) I worked a couple extra days. (Money is nice at Christmas time! LOL!)

5.) We're back to working on the house remodel. I think we got burned out in October and construction skidded to a putter/halt. Brent's been doing bits and pieces of things here and there, but I think both of us are ready for a busy week or two to finish things up for good and get working on the new piece of furniture for my studio and a few other items for around the house. (Thank goodness we have a couple of weeks off at Christmas to work around the house!)

* My master bathroom is soooooo close to done. The tile work is done and needs to be washed and then sealed. The floor is done, needs to be washed and sealed. The walls are patched and sanded and need to be textured and painted... which means I need to decide on a color... STILL... argh!

* We've also got to sand, paint and install all the trim (doors and baseboards) in the rest of the house. We also have to finish installing the wood floors in the basement.

* The master bedroom still has the nasty old carpet in it.. ick... we're waiting to put the wood floors down in that room until the master bathroom is done and put back together so we don't have to haul things over the wood floors and risk damaging the floor. Brent started the prep process by dejunking the bedroom and closet a bit yesterday. YAY! Once we get the bathroom up and running, we'll install the wood floor. YAY!

* I drew up plans for my very own new and completely custom InkStak.... B is picking up the materials for it today and hopefully once we get caught up on this most recent batch of InkStak orders we can build mine.... which puts me SOOOOOO much closer to getting the studio together and done and ready to show you! YAY!

6.) My back/hip is still killing me from time to time. The muscle relaxer that the dr prescribed seems to help a bit, but I can only take them at night and some mornings I just feel horribly groggy and oogy. I do better when I don't sit at a desk for long periods of time... which is also not conducive to playing with paper. Grrrr.

7.) I've been working on Christmas presents that I can not show on here because the recipients read my blog. I've also been working on some fun projects to show you all, too. I've taken photos and just need to get them edited and posted. Hopefully in the next couple of days! :)

8.) Been working on other projects we've got going on (like sorting out the supplies in my studio... I have way too much stuff that I may or may not ever use... ugh) and miscellaneous things that just take up time. Mt Grotegut is still lurking in my laundry room and occasionally calls my name, but I think I can avoid it for one more day.....

9.) Christmas shopping and project-ing... lol! ... 'nuff said. :)

So that's it in a nutshell... I'm going crazy or are already there and don't realize it. I am sorry that I've been taking such long breaks between posts. I'd rather be playing and posting, but I am having to deal with every day life issues lately. LOL! I guess it's really not that "crazy", just really busy.

Back soon with some fun art to share! Inky Smiles!

Washington ----> Utah or BUST! Road Trip, the Book.

Today I am grateful for lasting friendships. Some people come into your life for a season, some for a reason, and some for forever. I have many friends who I have kept in contact over the years and am so grateful to still have these friends in my life. Last weekend one of my forever friends, Sarah, came to visit from Washington.

She brought along her two daughters (L & S) and her fiance (Dustin) & Dustin's little dachshund, Chip, on their way to meet Dustin's family over the Thanksgiving holiday. Sarah and I have been friends since we were 15 years old and met in Berlin, Germany where our dads were stationed with the Army. We lost contact over time but 3 years ago found each other again. Like most of my friends from Berlin, when we met up again it was like time had not really passed. We just sorta picked up where we left off... only this time Sarah had two darling daughters to add to the mix. We had a BLAST hanging out together and enjoyed a lot of laughs. I have tons of fabulous photos that I have been working on editing and a disc to burn so Sarah can print off pics when she gets home and tons of photos to make some fun digi layouts with! I guess I better get busy!

Remember the sneak peek from the other day? Well, here's the whole thing...

I wanted to give the girls something fun to remember their trip by. This is a big trip for them, meeting new "future" cousins and grandparents, etc. I made two little almost matching 6x6 mini albums for L & S to put photos from the trip in and added pull out tabs to journal their memories on. The back covers match up to spell out Road Trip. I kept the books to put vinyl covers on so the Stickease stickers don't peel off and the covers don't get destroyed on the trip. I'll mail them off this week so the girls will have them when they return home :)

Materials Used:
* Bind It All Machine
* BIA 1" white OWires
* CTMH Road Trip Papers & Stickease Pack (retired)
* Miscellaneous coordinating ribbon

Click on photos for a better view. Some might be a bit fuzzy... for some reason PSE was saving as GIFs and not Jpgs and I didn't catcht it on some and don't feel like re-editing the pics.

Stamper Storage InkStak Sale

We're having a sale over at Stamper Storage... Have you been waiting to order your InkStak? Don't wait any longer! Hurry over to Stamper Storage and save 10% now through December 5th!

Tradition! The Riley Tree

Today I am grateful for my sweet friend & client, Georgia White.

Many years ago a little boy (who lived across the street from Georgia) named Riley Thayer fell into his parent's hot tub and drowned. For the past 8 years I have been blessed with the opportunity to do something really special with her to honor little Riley.

Each year Georgia shops for toys and stuffed animals and books and fun things throughout the year and on the Monday before Thanksgiving we load up a pre-lit Christmas tree and drive to Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City.


For the past several years we've set up the tree on the same unit, the Neuro Trauma children's unit. We stuff animals and toys and coloring books and all sorts of fun items for children into the branches of the trees and then tuck in bows to fill in any holes.

Left to Right: Me, Lindsay (G's granddaughter),
Dayna (my secretary/coworker), Georgia, Melanie (G's helper).

There are usually so many toys and goodies stuffed in the tree that we don't need tons of bows & this year was no exception.

There are many children on this ward every year when we go up and inevitably there are a couple who are coming and going from rooms. (We are not allowed to photograph them, even with parent permission.) Some years there are even children who get to go home while we are there and we let them choose a toy from the tree to take with them. This year there was a small boy, maybe 2.5 - 3 years old who was wheeling back to his room in the little wagon his mom was pulling. He was propped up with blankets and was wearing a back brace and just did not look happy at all. His mom picked him up and walked him over to the tree and started showing him all the fun things on it. We all noticed when he saw the tree, and then when his little eyes locked on Sponge Bob and then how his little face lit up when he saw Patrick the Starfish on the other side of the tree. I could not stop the tears from welling up to see the joy on that little boy's face. He went on his way with a little Sponge Bob nestled next to him in his wagon.

Marie Hendrickson (PCMC Foundation Office) & Georgia

Thank you, Georgia for such a wonderful Christmas tradition! I look forward to doing this for many more years with you!

Thanksgiving Goodness

Today I am grateful for William Bradford and the brave souls who left their homes in England (1607 and 1620) and came to start a new life in the New World. (I'm pretty sure I've talked about this before but anyway...) Brent is a direct descendant of William Bradford, in fact his grandfather is named William Bradford Grotegut in honor of him, Brent's dad is William B Grotegut and Brent is actually William B Grotegut. Crazy, but cool.

Brent and I had a fabulous day. We slept in in the morning and got up and slowly starting making all the treats for the day. We only had Brent's parents over for dinner this year... his brothers were scattered elsewhere for Thanksgiving.

I did a semi homemade dinner this year, meaning I didn't make everything from scratch. Brent and I each have things we make each year... this year Brent made the stuffing, the turkey, peas n carrots, gravy, thawed out the rolls that Mrs Rhodes made, and the smashed spuds. YUM! I made a dutch apple pie, salad, ham, and green bean casserole. I'm very allergic to turkey and so we have a ham every year... I keep trying to get turkey completely out of my kitchen, but have not been successful yet. LOL! I made a yummy beverage by pouring Fresca over frozen strawberries... festive and delicious!

I snapped some photos of our dinner, but nobody would let me snap photos of them. (Brent's parents are particularly bad about the whole "no photo" business... ergh!)

I didn't go all out with fancy table decorations (candles, greenery, etc) this year... By the time we'd gotten most everything prepped and cooking I was sooo tired, so I just pulled out a festive table cloth and my china dishes for dinner and set Mr Turkey as a centerpiece. I do like to use my china to make dinner a little more "different than a normal meal". :)

Hope you all had a wonderful day wherever you spent your Thanksgiving :) Inky Smiles!