Cute as a Lady Bug

A card I made for my great-niece.  It has cherry sours in the plastic cup.

I apologize for the blurry photo!  This is my new creation.  It's an acrylic photo cube that I decorated with papers from Close To My Heart.  I topped it with a post it note pad.  The recipient then can add their own photos to it and use it on their desk.  If you would like to special order one for $8, please email me and we can work out the details.

 

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

Dry Erase Boards

I've been busy for another craft show this Saturday.  It will be at HighRidge Church in Fort Worth (details at www.highridgechurch.com). I made several dry erase "boards".

  I also made several of these hearts that have been so popular.  Stop by and see me!

Close To My Heart website

My Close To My Heart website is up and running.  I would love for you to check it out!  If you love to scrapbook, make cards, stamp or know someone who does, this is a great product line!  November special is buy 2 stamp sets and get 1 free.  Great for you and the peeps on your Christmas list.  Check it out at www.belindak.myctmh.com

Christmas Clock

I made this to sell at the craft bazaar on Saturday.  I altered a blah "rooster" clock that I found on sale.  I used SEI "winter song"  and "Christmas Mint" papers as well as Coredinations for the snowflakes, lettering and little girl.  I used the Cricut "Storybook" cart for the words and A Child's Year for the little girl.  The snowflakes were cut using Joys of the Season and A Child's Year cartridges.  The rhinestones for the clock were in the $ bin at Michaels.  I also used red and icicle Stickles to give it more sparkle. 

Close To My Heart

I have signed up as a consultant with Close To My Heart.  They have beautiful scrapbook papers and acrylic stamps as well as all the accessories you need to create wonderful scrapbook layouts, cards and gifts.  I hope to have a website soon that you will be able to visit and order from.  For now, if you'd like to take a look at the products just check out www.closetomyheart.com.  If you would like to place an order just email me at antbee@texans.net and I'll take care of you!

I plan to schedule a gathering in my home this month to showcase all the wonderful products and to share a project with guests to make and take home.  Stay tuned!

Even More

I think this is one of my favorites out of the many desk Post-it holders that I've made.  These really come together quickly and are so much fun to do, I'm finding it hard to stop!

More for Craft Bazaar

I'm not sure who had this idea first (not me!) but several ladies have made similar ones on the Cricut message board.  These fun cards have either a  hot chocolate packet or a tea bag attached to the note card inside the tea cup or mug.  Great teacher or coworker gift.

Harvest Craft Bazaar

I will have a space at the Harvest Assembly of God Craft Bazaar (on Crowley Rd) on Sat., Nov 7.  Here are some of the items I've been working on to sell there.  These cards are so much fun with the little sweet treat cups from Stampin' Up.

Post-it Holders

These are quick and easy to make and the designs are endless. They are simply an acrylic frame laid "flat". I put scrapbook paper inside and then decorate the outside. Take the backing off a pad of post-it notes and stick to the frame. If it doesn't stay put, you can use a little double sided tape. I put calendars on the larger ones.

Joy Triptych

I made this triptych out of 3 "mdf" tags that came in a kit for a wedding type photo display that I found on clearance months ago.  I kept looking at them knowing they could be something different and here they are.  I used spray adhesive to adhere the background papers (so much easier and better look than mod podge).  I then used pigment ink in brown and gold to give the sides a finished look.  I cut out the stars, angels, peace and background of tree using a shiny thick paper with the Joys of The Season cart from Cricut. The love was cut from Home Accents.   I then used alcohol inks in butterscotch, brown and copper to alter those images.  The word joy was cut from the Storybook cart  I also used the same alcohol ink for the background of Joy.  The angel charms on the word joy were purchased from Hobby Lobby.  The green tree was cut from the Lyrical Letters cart and I used Design Studio to weld the stand from JOTS.  I adhered gold crystal to the tree.  I used the Xyron to adhere all the words and images.  The eyelets and hinges were originally silver so I put them in a baggy with a few squirts of the copper and brown alcohol inks and smooshed them around until they were antique looking.  I attached the eyelets and hinges and voila a lovely Christmas decoration!

Piggy Flu

Well, despite ordering my sons to NOT get the flu, Kale has now been officially diagnosed with Type A flu.  The pediatrician is "pretty sure" it's the infamous H1N1 and because he has mild asthma she has put him on Tamiflu.  She also put me on it since I have MS.  Interesting thing is I was certain it could NOT be the flu since he only had a sore throat and fever.  Guess what-you don't have to have body aches and pains to have the flu.

So, now we hunker down, push fluids and Motrin and pray it passes quickly and with little difficulty.  In many ways I have felt so inept as the "nurse mom" ever since I became disabled.  Thank God the boys rarely have been sick over the last 8 years. But, when they are, I feel so inadequate.  I can't get in their bathroom if they need me there because the door is too narrow.  If they need something out of my reach then they have to get up off their "sick bed" and get it.  I also try not to bombard myself with the "what if I get their illness" thoughts.  Any fever in me makes me too weak to move.

So, once again I am reminded that I am all too human.  I think everyone should be reminded of that truth frequently. The more we can face and admit our frailty and our inadequacies, the more we can turn to the One who is our ever present help and our all-sufficient One.  God is my strength in weakness.  God holds my family in His never failing grip!

Swap Book

This is the cover I put together for the mini album that was created through Kopperhead's recent swap.  I used some of my favorite "inchie" works of art that I made or received in a swap earlier this year.  The grid idea was Kopperhead's and I just love how it highlights the inchies and how quick and easy it is to put together.  Thanks for looking!  Now I have to figure out what to do on the inside and back covers! 

Tag Display

I was in a swap earlier this summer and we made tags with different themes.  They were such great miniature works of art that I just couldn't give them away or hide them in a book so I made frames using the $1 wood ones from Michaels.  I dabbed black paint on them and then used copper and currant alcohol inks to color in the rest.  I wanted the tags to stand out, not the frames.  I then mounted the tags on black cardstock and hung them on my storage doors in my scrap room.  I will change out the tags throughout the year so that I can enjoy all that I received.

Bittersweet

How bittersweet today was at the baseball field.  My youngest played his first game on the last field of his Little League years.  It seems such a short time ago that he began as a t-baller and in the last 9 years he has made his way all around the park to the Pony field.  It was even more poignant to watch my oldest son help his dad coach this team because he has been gone from the Pony fields as a player for 8 years now!  It is good to know that we have successfully (for the most part!) navigated the treacherous waters of the teen years with one son but now there's two more behind him.  I know God in his infinite wisdom will give us the tools we need to raise our last two sons to responsible adulthood but it just shocks me how quickly that they will be gone.  Guess by then I'll be sitting at the t-ball field watching my granddaughter!

 

I'm not a Halloween fan but I needed to do something with these bags and came up with this.  I think they came out fun and even the creepy spiders are cute with their rhinestone eyes.

Financial Peace even with a Dead Fridge?

Well, we are into our 2nd week of FPU and we saved $45 towards our $1000 emergency fund during the 1st week. However- 1st thing Saturday before Labor Day, our 7 yo fridge conked out!  Umm, why oh why does "Mr. Murphy" always have to rain on my parade?  Anyway, $200 and several hours later it was "fixed".  Fast forward to later that evening when said fridge began making funky noise again and once more conked out!  Now you know what happens on the holiday weekends-right?  Right-no repairman till Tuesday so we ended up spending more money than intended on meals for the weekend-teenage boys insist on eating!

Tuesday-same song, repairman comes at no charge, replaces part and several hours later the fridge is down for the count!  Needless to say, we have given up on fixing it (he says must be compressor).  However, wonderful FPU leaders have loaned their extra fridge to us indefinitely.  We are thankful for them!  Now, if you were keeping track-savings of $45, emergency of $200, new balance -$155.  Oh well, there's still time left in our month!  Phillipians 4:13 I CAN through Christ!

Writing on the Walls

Here's my newest vinyl project on our kitchen wall.  It says "Hope is the bird with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without words and never stops at all.

Financial Peace here we come.

This is day 3 of our journey on the road to financial peace.  We are following the Dave Ramsey curriculum that our church offers.  We both did really well at not spending money on Monday.  Tuesday wasn't quite as good but not too bad.  Today, we saved our first $20 towards our needed $1000 emergency fund.  Just $980 to go, woo hoo!  Hmmm, that's "just" $325 or so a week.  Repeat to self:  we can do it, you do NOT need to buy any scrapbooking stuff this week....  Repeat to children-NO, we can't stop at 7-11, Sonic happy hour or QT.  We have kool-aid at home:-)