Homegrown Hospitality

TJ Maxx, Spaghetti & What's old is new again

Happy Rainy Wednesday...I am finally coming out of my whirlwind CHA overload and have started to go into create overload....so first is spaghetti..it is not just for dinner anymore...it is for journal ling...who knew! so, at the show, from afar,  saw all of these great journal stamps, rub-on's etc. from lots of vendors specifically for journalling...and because I don't have any of them, and I did not do any make-n-takes at the show, well heck...I came home and made my own...so without further ado...right from the kitchen cupboard...

STEP ONE - paint, foam brush, cute paper and good memories & a piece of Spaghetti...

STEP TWO - Done

and then there was this...a set of HEAVY weight cardboard vintage-y looking flash cards that I picked up at my favorite store..TJ MAXX...what????

and turned them into this....(the project in the lower part of the picture)

and then heck...how bout doing another project...an cute little journal I picked up at TARGET for $2.99 and I embellished it with Me & My Big Ideas Vintage "Scrappy Chic" postmarks & international stickers....I am not one to use alot of stickers, but these are soo perfect for this...

anyone reading this & maybe traveling soon....I will happily give you this for being the reader of my bloggity blog blog...97th caller wins....

CHA...

For my non scrappy readers, it stands for Craft & Hobby Association...It is the "World's Fair"...the biggest in the arts & crafts industry's convention

For my scrappy friends...you know..the show of shows

for two days I walked the floor "star struck" & pretty much by myself ...I got a little bored & bitter....I wanted to play, touch & feel everything, but good designer etiquette says that thou shalt not...so I did not and I respect & love my job, that I really followed the rules...except once when I sat down to chit chat with my pal Lisa. So, to recap, the Martha Stewart key note speaker thing...yeah, um...no comment...I did one of those head nod wake up quickly things during her presentation of everything we already know about her..two thumbs down.....anyways..so, only after two days of walking the aisles, and about 15 minutes before it was over did I realize, um that I missed TWO complete halls of products...seriously, probably about another 500 vendors...maybe even more....duh!

so I did not take any pictures...except for one or two...not even of my own line....duh, just of our booth...It looked so grand! I love our saying "Live Creatively"...I wonder if I can get it on my license plate....I may look into that...anyways, I admired, from afar, the super stylish Heidi Swapp...so cute!  and Rhonna...Rhonna..Rhonna, Rhonna...21 day Rhonna...I want to thank her for so much...she is the cutest thing...just a spunky little ball of energy, and Tia & Emily...they are just so..I don't know, just so! and Laine..you know, Knitandpurlgirl......I think we are sisters..we have so much in common...and Michelle Hill ..so stinkin cute, fun and just girly...she is going to be teaching at the store soon...can't wait...and Teresa McFayden...I recognized her by the super cute bag she was carrying...she is a PEACH...so quaint. soft spoken and PRETTY! amazing...lots of amazing women...totally star struck...

and then there was me, Little ol me...just a girl, mom, sister, friend, neighbor, sewer, baker..scrapbook page maker...that has be completely drenched & overwhelmed with this whole entire new world of possibilities...I was so aw struck by the compliments from those who came to see me, and visit, introduce, take pictures, just look...I am so just a girl in the world that loves to create, make, pray, live, homemake, bake, sew, volunteer...that was at the right place at the right time, that by the grace of GOD..he put some creative energy into my fingertips and love into my heart to create!  Thank you all for embracing me, teaching me & accepting me and the things I love to do!

Maybe the company should be called

Me & My Big Long Arms....  Now, for those who do not know me, I have ALWAYS talked about my long arms and why God gave them to me....now,  some tell me that I am crazy, that it is all in-portion...I beg to differ.....www.meandmybigideas.com and if you happen to be at CHA on Monday at 2:00 p.m....come on over to the Me & My Big Ideas booth and check them (my arms) and our little fashion show out....

more tomorrow about CHA...

the third letter of the alphabet

is the letter "C".....and it is the letter of many a word!  Let's just say this and then move on....The letter "C" has many great words in its family...and a really bad word, maybe the "black sheep of the family" word...and it is a bad, nasty, awful word....made me cry this week...But, in the midst of one little crude icky blahhhhkkk moment...there is, my friends, as always....a rainbow...and if you are super lucky, there is a cute little man in a green suit, hopping and skipping around flinging gold coins into the air....

so, in honor of "Closing" down the week...some "Chores" for you to do over the weekend..."Concentrate" a little on the things you "Cherish"  the "children" around you..the things you love to "Create" the "closeness" you have with friends and family...your "Connection" with God, the fact that the bathrooms need to be "Cleaned" but that it is a "Clear, Crisp and Chilly" day so you would rather go outside and play with the kids..."Call" someone you love instead of emailing...bake someone a "Chocolate Chip cookie, or a "Chocolate Cream" pie, or a "Coconut Cream" Cake..."Cuddle" with the love of your life, or if you don't have one of those at your side, "Cuddle" with your kids...don't have those..."Cuddle" with the Cat...or,hey, just "Cuddle" up with a blanket, a pillow and a good movie!

what ever you do...try to fill your live with Compassion  Create, Cherish, Congratulate, Cook, Clean, Concentrate, Chill...and leave the crud at the curb.

have a great weekend...I am headed for CHA on Sunday...so I will be MIA for a few days.....

ever have one of those days

I mean I know you do, we all do...and in the end it makes us stronger, wiser and smarter...I am just glad YESTERDAY is past and I am moving on...so, in the pursuit of strengthening my faith for the year and then for life, today I am going to focus on sacrifice.  It starts with the fact that Ben's birthday is in March, and he has decided that he wants his own room for his birthday.  It totally pulled at my heart and I thought it was so sweet that he is growing up...here is where SACRIFICE comes into play...

I live in a VERY SMALL, yet cozy comfy cottage-y three bedroom home.  When it became a home of "3" I put the boys into the big master bedroom with their own big bathroom so they Had more space to hang, study, play, etc.  They love it. I took a little room, and then I also took over the 3rd bedroom as my space to create...  well, all good things must come to an end..so I am starting to pack it all up.  I am so happy to say, though I love having my space, it is way more important to me that Ben has this room..he wants me to paint BMX riders on the wall, and wants new bedding...It takes me back to the very moment that Jack got his "big Boy " bed from the crib...big moments...the reason I scrapbook...I do not want to forget this stuff, or better yet, I want my boys to know how these little insignificant things can change our lives for the better!

New Day...Let's just move on...

well, I will let you in on a bit of my "process"...I am working on a 9x9 book...bought a cute wire bound Heidi Swapp album on clearance...and it is a book all about My boys and my sisters girls....cousins...but they are more like brothers & sisters....here is the cover in stages.... First thing i did was LIGHTLY pencil out where I want to put different words...LIGHTLY penciled in...cause once the paint goes over it, you cant get the pencil off...then I start layering colors ( as you see in the "C" of the word "cousins" or the "L" in "love"...I do several letters in the same color on different words before I start another color ( not for this though, so I could show you)

then I add another layer of color, like the "U" in "cousins" ...or the "m" in "Kamryn"...some letters I leave solid in color, some I do TOOO much ( like the "M" or "Y" in Kamryn)..anyways...then I use black paint the do the edges of each letter and detail inside the letters, like the dots in the "K" or "R" in Kamryn....It takes a little bit of alot of time, but it is okay with me, I am not in a hurry, plus, it may take four or five hours to do, but just think about how long it will last...forever.

I tend to use Making Memories paint...There is less water in them so the color does not bleed when it hits the fabric. I use a TINY brush for most of the painting...remember that I am "simply Complicated" the brush is a 4650 spotter brush by American Painter...I get them at Micheals...like $3.00 or so...

I will take more pictures as I continue...have a great day

and as Bon Jovi sings..."Keep the Faith"

**EDITED**journaling, writting & stamps Part One

The post that I posted yesterday, some how was changed but not by me. I forever apologize to anyone that was offended.  I left the comment so that you could see how one responded.  Whether you know me, or you dont, the things that were wriiten were not me and I have faith that you know that.  I am stumped on what to do...I love to blog, to share, inspire...but this may have been too much...

if anyone out there can help me on how to protect my stuff here on typepad, can you please send me an e-mail to help me out.

sad.

P.S. I AM HUMAN AND WHOEVER DID THIS, IF YOU WANTED TO RUIN MY DAY, YOU HAVE SUCCEEDED..I WILL PRAY FOR YOU.

something to think about

here is something to always keep in mind...it applys to everything in our lives...GODD STUFF! have a great day...I will post more later...

oh and just a little page, too...

Tell me what you think...

For the coming months, I will be asking questions and gathering information for a couple of "projects" that I will be working on and would really love & appreciate your comments...so please, "tell what you think"...about JOURNALING.

For me personally, I love to journal.  Whether it be detailed & specific information about a certain picture or event, or maybe just what I feel as I look at the picture.

Example:

on this page that I just did ( that spurred this little late night post) I just really wrote what my feelings were as I looked at this picture (and the month, place & year). I do it for me, my family & for my children, and my children's children..and so on.

I had a conversation with a couple of women today as they were scrap booking and they have INCREDIBLE pages, and LOTS of them...but there was no journaling. I asked them why they did not journal, and instead of answering at first, they came back to me with the question of "What can't they get from just the pictures??"  This subject and the response pretty much consumed my mind for the rest of the entire day....I'd  agree that there are definitely some pictures are just simply worth a million words...without using a single word.  (It reminds me of the picture Ali Edwards posted last week of her son waving at his dad from inside the house) and some themed pictures & pages like Easter, Halloween, Christmas are self explanatory, but what about some of those great one-liners or special moments, silly sayings and maybe even heart tugging never want to forget things...

like this:  we took prayer requests at Good News Club on Thursday from the kids, and one was from a little girl whose mom had just had a baby, but the baby was SEVERAL weeks early...she talked about how he was in a special room at the hospital, in a special bed, and that he was two pounds and that he is a "premium" baby...that, my friends is a heart tugging moment that may mean nothing to anyone but that family, but is something that they will want to remember forever.

by the way, his name is Max and if you could keep him in your prayers that would be wonderful!

so again please, let me know your thoughts on this subject...why you do it, why you don't, how you do it, etc....

have a great rest of your weekend!

La La La La LOVE...

I have a heart curling LOVE story...Not sure yet on how I want to share it, tell it or inspire some by it, so for now...here is a glance on how I create things about it..

   have a LOVE-ly day....

p.s. do you have one?  a Love story? 

I would love to hear about it...email me and share!