My lovely blog award is from a dear friend, Liv. She is such a digital whiz and a creative soul with a great sense of humor. Thank you Liv!!!!

http://countrylivs.blogspot.com/

This store window inspires me in so many ways...color, texture, details. All the things I want in my studio. I have been working on my studio...but the finishing details just aren't there. I have to move some shelves and rework the displays. I do have one little project to show you. I took a frame from Hobby Lobby and used a staple gun to attach chicken wire to the inside of it. Then, I backed the frame with a cotton material that needs steamed. It is simple but a nice place to place items that inspire me or items I love. Over my computer, I feel I need a larger one~ A wall of inspiration. My old studio had this wall right above my workspace. I didn't realize how much I missed it and how much it inspired me. I wonder how many artists, crafters, and scrapbookers also have a wall that inspires them!

Kara

Okay, the best story comes from this little bracelet Miss H made. She learned how to make these candy wrapper bracelets from this website....

http://fluffyland.com/blog/?page_id=50

So, she took her money with me to the grocery store on Monday. She bought a bag of Starburst and 2 packs of gum for bracelet making. I was paying at another check out stand, when she came up and said that she didn't have enough money for the tax...so I gave her the tax money and sent her back to the check out stand. When she got there, some stranger had paid for her entire $6 purchase and was gone. We couldn't even thank them. There are so many kind people in the world and sometimes we forget to notice. I think this will be a President's Day Miss H and I won't forget.

Here they are just waiting for books....and things to put on all the little shelves. Nothing that a trip to Hobby Lobby can't fix. Oh, so much to look forward too! I tried taking a picture with the lights on but...not much success with my little Cannon.

Kara

Forty Baby!!!!

Today is my birthday...I share the date with many greats! My friend Nay-Nay's Twins, John Travolta, Cybill Shepherd, Yoko Ono, Vanna White, and today another baby was born. Evan Lee was welcomed by our friends Brad and Angie. Coincidentally, Nay-Nay and Brad are Mr. S's Godparents. They both have babies born on February 18th.

When I was a baby, "Sugar, Sugar" by the Archies was popular. Hawaii Five-O was on television. The hot new toys were the Easy-Bake Oven and Weebles. The average price of bread was .23 cents a loaf and gas was 35 cents a gallon. Most people made $11,000 a year and a car cost around $3,400. Those were the days....

I had a very special birthday today...many well-wishes. Sushi with Shane and a cute cake. Pedicure with Suzy Q. And a big, huge present....6 wall library bookcases for the living room. I will take photos once I get the shelves in them. They are gorgeous. Each one lights up and covered in crown molding. Forty brought me furniture. You know your old when furniture lights your fancy.....Here are the home-made cards my family made. You know how much I love home-made cards...taking the time to make something with your own two hands means it comes from the heart!

Card made by Mr. S-

Card by Shane-

Needle Felting 1

I finally figured out how to do this...I am on cloud nine!!!!!

Needle Felting 2

So happy it is working!!!!

Needle Felting 3

Yippeee!!!!!!

Love, Love, Love...Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day on a Saturday was a fun treat! Shane was home from work so he could also partake in our yearly Chocolate Breakfast. It is a tradition passed down by my mom to have a breakfast with chocolate as the main course. Heaven!!! We plugged in Mr.S's chocolate fountain, cut up some fruit, and had chocolate pancakes. As a special treat, we made Shane a heart- shaped chocolate chip cookie. The kiddos had Friday off school, so we did a little bakin' and a lot of frostin'. Miss H and I went a little treasure shopping and came home with this antique card holder. It was perfect for our Valentine's and it was only $1.48. Can't beat that!!! Below is a picture of the candy necklaces that we created for Miss H's friends. She is at that awkward middle school age where you still want to make a Valentine box but don't want look like a geek. So, we had some crafty fun with these...all you need are:

• candy necklace
• tiles
• Rub-on's
• solder
• jump rings

We wrapped the tiles in the copper foil, fluxed them, and add the solder. Attached a jump ring to the top of the tile and wha-la! A personal gift for a middle school-er.

I love fresh flowers! But when I want them, I go buy them myself. I love chocolate but know I am having it for breakfast which makes it hard for poor Shane on what to get me for the holidays. He did great...a humorous card ( I love them...) and Pink's New CD (Fun house). I love every song...especially SOBER, Crystal Ball, and Glitter in the air. You couldn't pick a better gift. My birthday is in 4 days...and I can't wait to show you what he bought me. It will be delivered on my birthday. How lucky! I am going to be 40...I thought it would bother me more, but I guess you are as old as you feel. I am not a dinosaur yet!!!!

I hope everyone had a special Valentine's Day with the ones they love...wink,wink

Hugs-Kara

A Home-Made Valentine

I haven't been very good about updating this week. I apologize- it is just that my head is still in a knot with You Tube. I figured out how to save the video to my library, downloaded a more current version of Flip, and tried to upload again...a storm caused us to lose Internet connection. Still no luck and the camera is locked up. Sigh-

More good news. Our shower is no longer leaking into the living room. Thank you Andrew!!!!! The ceiling is repaired and looks pretty good.

Next problem, no heat. The furnace is not working again. I feel like I have this on-going list at all times. I get through one obstacle and the next one jumps in front of me.

On a happy note, Sutton made his Valentine's. There is just something special about a home-made Valentine. I had the cardstock and the glitter. I had to purchase googly eyes and lollipops. He decorated the wings with a Zig glue pen and sprinkled chunky glitter all over them and the floor and the bar downstairs. I hot glued googly eyes to the lollipops and cut a slit to slide the lollipop into the butterfly's wings.

"You make my heart FLUTTER, Valentine" {love, Mr.S}

The left-over red lollipops we added some punched flower parts and tied them into a bouquet. It made a sweet teacher gift with a Starbucks card wrapped in the little pink box. Mr. S's Valentine's box is an oldie but good-y. We made it back in kindergarten. He still loves cars, so it is a keeper.

Send me good vibes with my You Tube account...I need it!

Love, Kara

My Flip Has Me Flipped OUT!

Okay, I made a little how-to-needle-felt video...see project below. Little Mr. S video taped the entire process with his Fip Camera. I can't get is to load to You Tube...it says error, unable to connect to You Tube. For two days, I have been fighting with it and not sleeping because I am still trying to figure it out in my small brain. If anyone has success with downloading videos to You Tube, I am reaching out for help and sanity. I have so much to share and I am too frustrated to talk about any of it because the Flip and You Tube has me in knots. On small happy note, I am now on Facebook. It has been fun listening to and reading what all my crafty friends have been doing. Take care and say a little Flip prayer for me...

Hugs, Kara

WE {HEART} Sandy!

Meet Sandy...she is as beautiful on the inside as on the outside. She made our day today! It was a special delivery all the way from her home, Canada. You see, my daughter is learning about Canada for a Girl Scout project. I enlisted Sandy to help. She packed up this amazing box full of patriotic gear and even put a little surprise in it for me. It went straight to me heart (and my stomach)! CHOCOLATE! I met Sandy while soldering with Sally Jean. My first image of her was solder flying through the air, followed by a tiny scream...I just knew I would like this girl! She was brave! Make sure you check out Sandy's Blog...she is an amazing talent!

http://sandy-sandyscreations.blogspot.com/

Just look at the attention to detail she paid to the box of Chocolates...It is such a lovely presentation that I will save it forever...empty of course...in my studio.

Okay, here is a little nothing-ness...

I made my poor children jump out of a stopped car in our neighborhood. They were asked to get a lovely tree branch for me. I just can't understand all the protesting they were doing- Something about I was embarrassing them...yada yada.

So I brought home the branch and spray painted it a lovely champagne color. Then, I sprinkled on my Martha Stewart glitter-Carrara Marble Yummy! The picture just doesn't do it justice. We hung some glitter heart ornaments that I had lying around and planted the branch in a vase with clear marbles. I did see where Wal-Mart has heart shaped glass marbles. They maybe cute to mix in with the clear. It is a simple decoration that really had very little cost. Go out and embarrass your children, have them bring home a tree branch today!

Hugs-Kara

EK Success Brands = A Fine Department Store

Okay, here is the funniest story...


I was sitting in the airplane boarding area at KCI and I looked at this guy in sunglasses and thought, he looks like American Idol winner David Cook. I tried peeking at him over my magazine but gave up until boarding the plane. It was a Southwest Flight, so I had to line up by letter and then number. I let "Mr. Maybe David Cook" in front of me even though his number had to be behind mine. I was #1. This gave me plenty of time to check him out. I followed him and his sunglasses and red scarf to the back of the plane and sat right in front of him. He left those darn sunglasses on the entire flight. Sigh! I still don't know if it was David Cook or not but it sure looked like him and he is from Kansas City. If not, it is definitely his twin. I never recognize celebrities. They can walk right past me and I wouldn't notice, so this was probably not David Cook ( or maybe it was)!

Okay, on to more important things...CHA wonderfulness! This is what I saw when I found the EK Success Brands booth! Sigh--it was like walking up to a fine department store. My heart was all pitter-patter. Everything about the booth was elegant. If you didn't know, EK Success Brands is huge. It is made up of Jolee's Jewels, K and Company, EK Success, Inkadinkado, Dimensions, and Marth Stewart Crafts and many more. It has all your crafting needs at one place. Ink, tools, stickers, beautiful papers, glitter, jewelry, Perlers, and felt. The first thing that caught my eye was the Jolee's Jewels made with Swarovski elements. Talk about BLING! The samples were to die for...absolutely beautiful.

Check out the classroom for make-n-takes. It reminded me of my teaching days! Notice the flat screen TV. It played samples made from all the brands products.

Look how lovely the Perler Beads http://www.perlerbeads.com/ look in the jars. The displays reminded me of lovely New York window displays. Attention was paid to every little detail.

Inkadinkado http://www.inkadinkado.com/shop/pc/viewContent.asp?idpage=1 had large images of their stamps. The Inchies were exciting many customers. What you can do and make with them is fascinating!

I love the Felt Works...so many colors and so simple to do. I plan to do a demo on an upcoming post. Mr. S, who is 7, promised to video tape me and Miss H has U-tube figured out. I have a feeling this is going to be challenging.

We are in Anaheim so very close to Disneyland...the show wouldn't be complete without a huge Perler bead Mickey Mouse. The new Disney Perlers are made for the younger crafter. The peg board is clear and sits right on top of the pattern. All you have to do is match the colors onto the peg. Grown-ups are still in charge of the iron. I can see a Mickey Mouse autograph book made from Perlers. Mr. S would give anything for that large Lightening McQueen Perler. Striking!!!!

The Martha Stewart Crafts http://www.marthastewartcrafts.com/ section of EK Success Brands had the most amazing glitter tree. Living in the tree was of course, glittery birds.

I have always loved EK Success http://store.eksuccess.com/ punches. I call myself a collector. Look how lovely they were displayed.

K and Company http://www.kandcompany.com/shop/pc/viewContent.asp?idpage=1 had so many lovely paper lines...I never get tired of crafting with so much fabulous art.

I hope you enjoyed shopping in the fine department store....