To all my friends and Family

Just so everyone knows I am not ignoring anyone.

I am at my mom's as my dad is dying and it is now just a matter of time. We wait... He has outlasted the Dr's expectations by almost 23 yrs. He is so tired and just wants to go to sleep, but doesn't want to leave mom either.

I have limited internet connection and have been having password problems so I think it is just best for the stress not to be messing with it right now. I will be back around later when I can.

Hope everyone is doing the best they can under what ever circumstances you are facing. Remember to love your family and let them know they are loved. And if I haven't told you lately, know I love you too!

Sorry this is short but I am needed elsewhere.

Love Nana

My go at a couple of cards tonight

I have been wanting to make something creative and haven't had the energy to back it up. Well tonight I made my self work in the No No Room and I had a blast.  (Mom if you see these please don't show dad)
I will get his mailed tomorrow. ;-)
Dad isn't feeling to good so wanting him to know I was thinking of him. I enjoy making cards when I have a person in mind for it to begin with.

I got this template from http://www.krewellakreations.co.uk/blog/?p=2813 for the copper frame.
It is cut out of heavy brown card and heat embossed with copper. Hand made paper roses and hand cut leaves set it off nice.

On this card I got the template from Bird at http://www.birdscards.com/free-digital-cut-files/bird-cages/
It too was printed on heavy brown card and heat embossed with silver. The little bird is colored with inks. Just a real cute idea. And of course I had to line the bottom of the cage with newspaper. LOL

A big "Thank you"  Ladies for all the gifts you freely share with all of us! (((Hugs)))

Surprize....

This is what we got up to this morning. Sure makes out little tree look pretty! We still call it our little tree because we planted it as a twig. It is getting pretty big now We love it and so do the Quail, which we love to watch.

 Marv decided we needed some good soup so I made Tomato at his request. He doesn't like cream soups so... His is with out. See mine? lol I like mine creamy..

  

Here is how I made it:

Tomato soup

1 Qt Chicken Broth

2 cans diced Tomato's

1 small can Tomato Paste

1 ts Kosher Salt

2 Cloves Garlic minced

4 ts dried Basil

1/2 ts or to taste Black Pepper

1Cup Sauteed Onion 

(I used a Sweet onion, sauteed in 2 ts bacon fat and a light sprinkle of salt 

Then added 1 cup of this to the soup I'll show you what I did with the other 1/2 in a minute) 

Mix all together in a large sauce pan and blend with an immersion blender, 

(or blend in batches with a blender or food processor.) 

Heat until hot and serve with Crackers, Popcorn, or a good sprinkle of Parmesan Cheese. MMmm

If you have any suggestions on how to make this soup better Please leave me a comment.

**********************

Now what I did with the rest of the onion was add it to tonight's dinner...

 To be served with a nice salad and pork tenderloin.

Mac & Cheese

 

 I use Dreamsfeild pasta.

1 Box pasta cooked to directions

1/4 C Butter

1/4 C Flour

1/2 ts Salt

1/2 ts Pepper

1 C Milk

1 egg

1egg yolk

1 C Sauteed Onion

8 oz Grated Cheddar Cheese

Make a rue by melting butter stir in flour and cook until slightly brown.

I add salt and  pepper and stir in milk, cook slightly.

Mix egg and extra yolk together then temper with a little bit of the sauce. 

Stir egg mixture into the pot with the onion and cook until it starts to thicken.

Add grated Cheddar Cheese. Stir until melted.

Drain pasta and add sauce. You can eat right away or put in fridge 

and place in 325 F oven for 20 minutes before you want to eat dinner.

This is SO YUMMY if you use mixed cheeses too. I have used Sharp and White Cheddar, Romano and Parmesan.

I do have a couple of crafty things to post as soon as I can get pictures of them. My camera broke so am using my phone for now to take pictures. Will post when I can. Have a great day!! (((Hugs)))

Been craving something chocolate

Hubby and I have been craving something chocolate. So last night while he went and helped our son get home due to radiator problems I made this....

 Kind of a cream cheese fudge...

 2 pkg Cream Cheese  Whipped
1/2 C Half & Half  Heated and then add
1 Cup Dark Chocolate chips
2 pkts Stevia
1/8 - scant 1/4 C sugar Stir until melted and let cool a bit
Add to the whipped cream cheese and then stir in 1 Cup of chopped walnuts.
Spread in a dish (I used 9 in round) cover and place in freezer over night.
It is very creamy and not real sweet, but very good. Felix even likes it. He doesn't like dark chocolate. lol

Not much done today...

Had Felix for the night as his mom had her wisdom teeth pulled. Poor little man was up and down from 3:46 am on. Sicker than a dog that ate chocolate. He was feeling better this evening an went home with his daddy. He wanted to stay here, but I need some sleep tonight. He will be back if his mom still needs to rest tomorrow. I don't mind at all. Well off to bed and will post again soon I hope.
Have a wonderful evening, morning or day... Whichever you are having at the time you read this.
(((Hugs)))

2 new cards

These 2 templates were from a lovely lady at http://www.krewellakreations.co.uk/blog/  She so lovingly shares her talents with whomever wants to enjoy them. I for one appreciate the free gifts she gives. And most are for cutting machines but she also puts them in PDF so they can be hand cut too if you don't have a machine. Like me

The first one is a beautiful candle, I made it into a stand up card and gave it to the love of my life, my flame   Hand cut, embossed with brass on candle holder, flames are embossed with candy red, gold and clear. Candle has glue with glitter over the drips. And I love using roses for anything I make for my hubby. So used dark hand made roses for accents instead of the holly that came with the file.

 The second I made for myself in memory of a dear friend that loved poinsettias. Makes a lovely card too.

Hand cut and embossed then put together. I love it! Thank you Leza!!

Made my Little Man HAPPY!

Felix our youngest grandson has been wanting me to teach him how to crochet and knit. And make stuffed animals, cards, cookies etc... His favorite thing to bake is Pumpkin Roll from scratch. The only thing he can not do is flip the hot pan onto a towel.

Well anyway on to today's post. We took a trip to see the folks and Mom and I had to go to Goodwill. You can't go and not shop there... I got Felix a Boye Small Round Loom. Oh boy he just loves it!

He said "Hey Nana look... WOW By the time I'm a teenager I should be pretty good at this. I want to make dad a bottle cover and Mom a Scarf and I want to make a hat and.... "

I just giggled he is so sweet. His papa is working on his pickup and Felix looked out and said "Can I put this on pause for a bit I want to help papa."  I about lost it.. Put it on pause?? LOL It isn't a game or a video it is a craft of course you can put it down and pick it back up later.

I love their little minds, always thinking of something. Hope you all have a great day! XO

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad

Here is the card I made for the folks and the 2 horse sleigh was for dad with chocolate. I got a nice big smile and a thank you from Dad and big hugs from Mom. Made the whole trip worth while.

I love you both so very much!!! XOXOXOXO 

All ready miss you two, too!

Short post

Oregon Duck Bow

This was a quick little bow for our great niece. There is one on the other side too. 

So she will have a matching set.

Well Ta Ta for now...XOXO

Apron for David

Here is the apron I made for our great nephew, 

He loves football and of course the Oregon Ducks.

 Close up of the top of the apron.

 His grandma liked the one that I made for Felix. And he likes Cars so he ended up with this one.

I have made a bunch of girls aprons too, so if anyone wants to 

see the pretty aprons let me know and I can post them too. 

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, xoxo

More wraps

I made a few more wraps today. I found out a older friend loved the one I gifted to Chris and was trying to figure out if she could make one. So I made one for her. (The plaid one)  The solid red one with poppies is for my Mom in law. She is 90 and frail so there is no filling in this one, as you can see I top stitched it. She is always cold at her neck and top of her shoulders. (so is her son) we figured this would be light weight and comfy for her. This is very warm and comfortable even with out the rice and herbs, and 2 pounds lighter.

 For Leah

 Close up of Poppies, I got the template from here: http://www.krewellakreations.co.uk/blog/?p=2116

For Someone Special!
Happy Anniversary Mom!!XOXO
Couldn't post who before as you would have known for sure ;-))

For BJ

Well I need to head to bed, have a Apron to make tomorrow for a special little boy who loves footballs.

Check back I will post a picture when done.

XO Nana

Thank You Card

I made this for a friend who came and visited me. She loves birds, so I wanted to send her a special thank you for the visit.
I got the bird template here: http://www.krewellakreations.co.uk/blog/?p=2911
The roses and leaves are from here: http://www.birdscards.com/free-digital-cut-files/flowers-leaves/
(Scroll down to number 6)

Warm or cold Wrap Tutorial

Warm or cold Wrap Tutorial

Gather all items together:
1 fleece blanket 50X60
2 pounds rice
5 bags peppermint tea
 (depending on how strong you want it to smell you can use more or less)
1/2 Cup Lavender flowers dried
(again depending on how strong you want it to smell you can use more or less)
Thread to sew with

Mix rice with herbs a week before you want to assemble to let the smells permeate the rice. Place rice and herbs in a resealable plastic baggie, mix daily by rolling bag around.

 Fold the blanket into quarters, cut out all 4 pieces at one time (make sure the middle is right sides facing)

Sew all 4 pieces together, turn right side out. Two layers on each side.

On neck piece mark center, then mark 2 inches and 4 inches on each side.  Sew strait down from neck edge to top edge. making pockets for the rice.

 Sew all around outside edge of the body and turn same way.

  Roll seam edge between fingers and thumbs to round out. Do NOT clip edges, this fabric really stretches and will come apart at the seams if you do clip them too short.

Top stitch between each scallop to within 3 inches of neck edge, this creates pockets for the rice around the body.  All ready for stuffing.

 I used a spoon to add 3 spoonful to each neck section, then pin shut as you don't want it to spill out. And you don't want to overfill, set aside until the body is stuffed.

 Now for the body I made a funnel out of scrap paper and put it in the body between stitching lines and add 1/3 Cup of rice  to each of the 11 pockets. Careful not to fill the same one twice. LOL I know...

Pin neck edge to body neck edge, leaving one side free. Sew, then lay flat and turn raw edge under and hand sew shut.

 I found draping across my knee made for fast and easy sewing.

Before you know it you are done and have a wonderful smelling warm or cold wrap to make you comfortable. 

***NOTE*** When heating in the microwave, do NOT heat more than 1 minute at a time. Shake in between heating so you don't get hotspots and burn your wrap. My DH burned a whole in mine that way.

Or if you need a cold wrap put it in the freezer for a while and it will cool you.

If you find anything wrong with this please feel free to let me know. This is my first tutorial.  Sorry the pictures aren't real good, but it is hard to sew and do and take the pictures at the same time. lol

Not much going on today...

Been a kind of lazy day today...

Printed some card patterns but just couldn't concentrate enough to get them cut out.

Made turkey noodle soup for hubby as that is what he asked for.  Maybe I will have something to post soon. Hope everyone is having a wonderful Thursday.

(((Hugs)))

Warm Wraps

My sister in law gave me a very nice wrap. You heat it in the microwave or place it in the freezer if you want a cold one... I love it so much I decided to try and make some for a few friends. It is a little different than mine as mine is quilted on one side. I didn't bother doing that part. So far I've made 3 and have 3 more in the making.  They are filled with 2 pounds of rice with lavender (organic grown) and peppermint. Although I did make one without lavender as my friend is allergic to it. Hers has hops and peppermint. They all smell so good!!!

Green one is for an elderly friend with a bad shoulder that has been having a hard time keeping warm. She was so pleased. Stripped was for my newest daughter. I have more to make and will post pictures as soon as I can get them done. I didn't do too bad all 3 were made today in less than 3 hours. Pretty good. And make lovely gifts. For ANY occasion ;-))

Little MOO Cards

I made some MOO cards for trade. I found these pictures so pretty, I just had to make them into these.
Printed on card, hand colored with inks, watercolor pencils, paint, glitter and heat embossing.

These are all 1 inch wide by 2 3/4 in long. I had to use a magnifying glass.

If you want you can see each one individually at http://www.flickr.com/photos/abfnana/

I thought this little guy was cute too. I even added a real piece of shell.