Happy 2010!

Happy New Year! Here's to a blessed 2010 for all of us!

I actually made a card today for my dad's birthday but forgot the camera, so will sneak a picture of it tomorrow at their house.

I uploaded Christmas pictures, so for now you can see the crafty workings of my sewing machine on Natalie's dress. It's the teal one & she's the blond (as if you wouldn't figure that out! LOL!). Bethany's was store bought & truth be told it was cheaper to buy hers than all the stuff for Nat's dress. It was less time consuming, too! Thankfully Bethany is so small that she can still wear girls sizes smaller than most girls her age. The old "geezers" in the back are Phil & I. We strategically placed children in front of most of our fat cells! LOL! This was the day Phil rode his motorcycle in the 30 something weather with winds up to 50 mph. Yes, we are considering therapy for this problem. : )

I have a coupon for a local fabric store & a list of patterns I want to look at, so hope to have some new bags & such ready for your viewing in the next few weeks!

Have a wonderful New Year's Day!

Blessed Merry Christmas!

Hi Crafty Friends! Just wanted to wish you a Blessed Merry Christmas! I have finished baking, candy making, and dress making. Now I am off to wrap gifts. I'm hoping to make "New Year's" cards in the next week though getting them finished & sent is another issue. LOL! I'll post pictures of Natalie's new dress that I finished around 2:30 a.m. today. Praise God for Sonic Happy Hour with 1/2 price Cokes to keep Mom awake!

My husband rode his motorcycle in near freezing temps with close to hurricane force winds. He is questioning his sanity. We did that long ago. LOL!

In the busyness of gifts and fun and wrapping and turkey and all that this holiday entails, I pray that you will find a moment to spend celebrating and adoring the reason for the season, Jesus Christ, our Savior. One of my favorite Christmas Cards had this on it, and I will leave you with these thoughts to ponder:

If our greatest need
had been information,
God would have sent us an educator.

If our greatest need
had been technology,
God would have sent us a scientist.

If our greatest need
had been money,
God would have sent us an economist.

If our greatest need
had been pleasure,
God would have sent us an entertainer.

But our greatest need
was forgiveness,
so God sent us a Saviour.

If you give a girl a Copic....

Some of my friends & I will sometimes tell a story where one event leads to another. We then quote the title of a fun children's book, "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie." You'll have to find a copy to see what fun it is!

Most of you crafters know what Copic markers are. The first thing they are is expensive! I first bought a Prismacolor marker to make shadows around images. Then I broke down when Hobby Lobby had Copics on sale & bought one. Another time when they were on sale I got another one. In the past 3 or 4 years I've watched for sales or used coupons and I think I may have about 15 of the markers now. Needless to say, at that price, they are used sparingly.

In my house I have one young artist and one young crafter. I had never let them use my Copic or Prismacolor markers until recently when I had my younger dd (the crafter) coloring images for me for a craft fair. My older dd is the artist. Last week we took some girls ice skating. Another mom & I sat outside the rink at a table where we could watch. I had some images and my markers with me, so we started "playing" with them. Her 13 year old, also an artist (a VERY good artist) sat down with us when she was through skating. I asked if she'd like to try using a Copic. She did and she liked it. I need to apologize profusely to the mom for introducing her daughter to these pricey markers!

While this girl was coloring, my 13 year old, the artist, skated close to the window. We could not hear her, but she made enough hand signals that I knew I was in trouble. She "said" with her actions, "Why are you letting her use those when you never let me use them?" That night she was almost in tears when she brought it up again. I told her she could try them but she had to ask before using them.

Guess what? If you give a girl a Copic she's going to like it. And if she likes it she's going to want to have some. And if she wants to have some she's going to have to find a way to get them. Well, you get the idea. My other dd also wanted to use them. Sadly, they both can keep those markers from "bleeding" outside the lines better than I can. I'm going to blame it on the "progressive" glasses. LOL! I must add that I seem to have done a good job in raising frugal girls. My older dd, the artist, said, "If there is a Stampin' Up marker in the right shade I am using it first because I don't want to use up your expensive markers."

Fair warning to any of you out there with little artist & crafters in your home: If you give a girl or boy a Copic, you might just have to take on a 2nd or 3rd job!

Happy Monday!

New Items on Etsy!

I've listed some new items on Etsy! This batik bag is one of the items:


I also put some purse organizers. You can see my Etsy shop by clicking HERE or anytime just click on the link in the sidebar.

I have been coloring images to make cards & just need time to sit down to do the cutting of paper and assembling. Maybe tonight or tomorrow night!

Pampered Chef BARGAINS on my other blog!!!

Hi friends! Check out my PC Bargains on my other blog: http://chefmama.blogspot.com/2009/12/pampered-chef-clearance-bargains-with.html

New Items on Etsy!

I've just added some new items to my Etsy store. You can find these at www.chefmama.etsy.com I'd love for you to share this news with your friends! I also put several items on sale. I'll be adding more as the week goes on and will be listing my BIG BLOG CANDY GIVEAWAY!

Thanks for popping in today!

Lisa's Birthday Blog candy!

My friend Lisa just had a birthday and is celebrating by giving away some COOL blog candy. How sweet is she to give on her birthday! Here's a picture of the BIG item (and she says there is more!).

Now hop on over to her blog HERE and leave her a big birthday wish and enter to win this package!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISA DEAR!

Market Days at Community Bible Church

Today I had a booth at our church's "Market Days" event. It was also a fundraiser for the Single Parents' ministry. I've known several single parents, usually single not by their own choosing, who end up having to be both Mom & Dad. My paternal grandmother was widowed with 4 kids (the youngest was only 18 months), so she was a single mom long before it was the norm. I was happy to be able to be part of this event.

This was the best booth I have ever had. The flow of traffic was amazing. It was only a 4 hour event, but people were everywhere for all 4 hours. I saw some really creative items that I've never seen. Of course, Miss Craftsy here wanted to look at all of them & learn how to do them! LOL! Miss Natalie just wanted to shop. Good thing she earned a little bit of money helping me.

I did sell several items, but no purses. I don't think they processed through which booths would be next door to each other, plus I didn't know Loribelle Bags would be my big items when I signed up. I was right next door to a booth called "Purse-nickety" which sold higher end, big faux leather type purses. Big, bold, bright bags! They were pricier than mine, but as you can see a bit in this picture (you can click to enlarge this), it was a bit like the country girl & the city girl next to each other. I did have people take my info & hopefully will call to place orders.

I'll share details & take better pics of the bags another day, but here are some of the new items I had.



This batik print is SO pretty in real life. If you click on it, you might be able to see the gold flecks in the fabric. It is NOT paisley! LOL!
Okay, so this one is paisley, but I LOVE the colors. The stripe matched 2 fabrics that I picked out. I love blues, so these were just perfect.

A fun little Christmas apron! Mrs. Santa! This one did sell. I can make another if you are interested in buying one of these.

Purse organizer. My friend Traci told me about these, so I searched to find out what they were. These have flat pockets, but can be made with pleated pockets to allow more space. There are pockets all along the length of this piece (it is folded a bit in this picture). After filling it with your purse contents, just roll it up & drop it into your purse! It makes changing purses a snap!


Thanks for stopping by! I'm hoping to do some papercrafting this coming week to share with you.