Look what I found down my mother's top.

While we were taking pictures, a bug landed on my mom.   She swatted at it and we lost it.  Trying to find it, I checked inside her top and there it was.  I got it out and noticed how beautiful this beetle was.  I put it on a rock so that my dad and husband could take photos of it.  I teased that I was going to take it home and make it into some of my resin jewelry I make.  But alas, I can't even find it in me to hurt even a bug, so I left it on the rock.  I keep thinking I really wish I had kept that bug.  I told my dad and brother to try and find me some.  They could not.  I googled beautiful beetles on saw many beautiful beetles, but none like this one.

What do you think?  Do you know what kind it is?  When you look at the picture blown up, it's colors have a metalic fleck about them.

I had posted on Facebook that this is a year of God showing me beautiful things.  I have been seeing ones I have never seen before.  First it was the painted turtle I found.  Did not know they existed.  Then it was the wonderful experience of watching the Decorah Eagles hatch, grow and fly.  Then it was the Blue-tailed lizard (skink) in our backyard.  I have lived her for almost 20 years and this is the first I have seen or heard of them.  Now it is this beetle.  What have you got next, Lord?

A couple of quilts

Just wanted to share a couple of quilt pictures.

The monkey quilt is one I made for my grandson Koa.  The other quilt is a Quilt of Valor that my friend Sharon made.  I did the quilting on it.

4th of July

What a fun day we had.  We drove up to my brother's house, were my parents, grandmother and her sister were.  We played games, had a BBQ and took lots of pictures.  For desert, I baked a strawberry rhubarb pie.  I decided that I wanted to make it more patriotic, so I used food coloring and a paint brush to paint the flag and some stars on the crust.  I also made these eagle cookies.  Here are some pictures of them and one of our 5 generations.

Duane and the kids went home, but I stayed.  Mom and I joined Nana and aunt Val at there hotel suite and had a great time.  Was enjoying myself so much, that I decided to stay another night.

What a wild but fun weekend.  Started out with Relay for Life on Friday night.  Sat hit a couple of garage sales and then took my parents to Elk River Falls for a day of hiking and picture taking.  Then into Elk River for the best nachos around.  While in Elk River, we saw a wedding start.  It was an outdoor wedding on the air field.  There was an arch with antlers that they would be married under.  The procession started from the lodge, with the groomsmen and bridesmaid paired up and ridding in on four wheelers, also the flower girls and ring bearers.  Then came the bride with her dad in 2 seat off road vehicle.

Got home tuckered out, but woke up early Sunday to lightning and thunder.  Some were quite close.  When I looked out our front windows at 6am, it was to find our street flooded and everything in mud.  Had to get Duane up to get our cars moved and he and our neighbor Brian began dig and wash away the mug.  One of the fire trucks came up and hooked a larger hose to the fire hydrant to wash it down.  As the rain poured.  What a mess.  My parents had also stayed the night and I had to wake them up so that we could move their van.  Clay street was even worse, and they will be working on it for quite some time.  There was quite a bit of damage done to streets and hills and driveways.  A few houses also.

Then it was off to church, and around town for the art walk.  Then home for a nap and not much more.

24 Day Challenge Update

Well I am on day 14.  I am doing good.  The chocolate meal replacement shakes are sooooooo yummy. 

I have lost 11 pounds and 3 inches from my waist. 

I love the products so much, that I have decided to sign up with them.  My site is https://www.advocare.com/120534212

If you want to learn more about these products for weight loss or for energy and fitness, email me or read more on my Advocare site.

Memorial Day and QOV Quilt Block

I was hoping to be quilting a QOV on Memorial day, but had a customer's quilt still on the frame.

So instead I decided to do a little sewing.  I worked on a quilt block I have been wanting to make.

It is a paper pieced eagle and I intend to use it in a Quilts of Valor Quilt.  Now I just need to design a quilt around it.  I may try to make it square before I do or work it in as a rectangle.

Great Weekend of Church, Kyaking & Storms

What a fun weekend.
On Saturday, we picked up our fruits and veggies from our Bountiful Baskets drop.  Then we headed to a park in Pullman for some picture taking.  This is a couple of my favorite pictures, I took.  I laid down on the grass under the purple flowers.  Convinced my husband to do it also.  He did not want to.....but finally did.  I suppose to shut me up.  I know his pictures probably turned out better....but I had fun.  Then off to get other groceries and some more flowers for my yard & containers.  Then home to relax while hubby went flying with his brother.

On Sunday we had another great day at church.  We are doing a 60 days of dreaming challenge.  If you want to learn what God's dream is for you.....check it out.  Then hubby and I went Kayaking.  Last year we only had one kayak, so I only went once with him and stood on the dock when he paddled around and then I paddled around.  This year we now have two, so off we went.  We went to Bonnie Lake.  You have to go up a creek to get to the lake.  At first I was nervous, but then started to have lots of fun.  Quite the exercise.  It was a little overcast, but warm.  Seeing the wild life was great.  The water lilies are getting ready to bloom.  We saw lots of turtles and beautifully colored birds.  Would see a fish jump or a turtle head pop out of the water next to the boat.

You are not suppose to be out on the lake if the wind picks up.  So we were out on the lake and I said, I think it just got kinda dark.  Then the wind started blowing like crazy.  So we hauled it out of there as fast as we could.  It started to sprinkle on us, but was not cold.  We made it back to the creek and it settled down.

It was fun, but I was so tired when I got home.  I can't wait to get a life jacket for my little Morkie (Harley).  I think she will like going with us.  Will try taking her mamma, but don't think she will like it.  MerSadies gets a little nervous.

Then during the night we were woke up by loud thunder.  Man it seemed close.  This went on for a little while, then it began to poor.  My hubby said "the avocado plant is still outside"  I said oh well.  He got dressed and I said what are you doing.  He said he was going to go get my plant, since I had worked so hard to finally grow one.  What a sweetheart.  Sometime during the morning, we must have lost power, since everything is blinking.

New Journey to Health

Well since my daughter and grandson came to live with us for 3 months.  Things changed in the house.  The schedule changed, the food changed, the stress levels changed.  Loved having them here, but what she was going through caused stress for all of us.  Unfortunately I am a stress eater.  I know better.....but......  I try to keep things out of my house that I should not eat.  But my daughter likes lots of processed foods and bad foods.  So there were pop tarts and cereals, goldfish & donuts, etc.  So as I got stressed I turned to comfort food.  All the while telling myself, "you know that is not good for you.  You know that you are not going to feel good after eating that".  So now they are gone and so is the junk, but, I have gained lots of weight and am tired all the time.  I have no energy.  I have no excuses.  I knew better and I did this.

So now to get healthy again.  I watched a friend on Facebook go through a program and saw how great it was.  I went to the websites and learned about it.  Then she was so thrilled with the products, that she started selling it.  She offered her friends and family a great deal on the program, so I jumped on board.  I am taking the 24 Day Challenge.

I am on day 2.  They say by day three, you should be feeling better and feeling a difference.  I look forward to feeling better and looking better.  I will post again as I progress.

Here is my friend's website:  https://www.advocare.com/120319228/default.aspx

Quilting it out!

I love longarm quilting.  I have so much fun deciding how to quilt each customer's quilt.

Sometimes quilts come to me with problems.  Sometimes I can.......sometimes?

Here is one I did recently.  My customer knew that her borders had issues.  She hoped I could quilt it out.  I am and she was happy with the results.  Here are some before and after pictures.

Someone wrote a very funny song about it.  Not mine.....her experiences  The song is called "You Can Quilt That Out"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzoL7ddTEnA

Avocado Plant

As a child, I watched my mother try to start an avocado plant from a seed.  I have tried for years and years.  I would sometimes (rarely) get just one root started and then nothing.  One time it started to grow from the top, only to die.

I have finally succeeding.  Only took me over 40 years.  Yes I am old.  I am very proud of my plant.  Why the obsession to grow one?  I don't know.  I guess my mom started it.

I proudly showed my 25 year old son.  He said "mom, why?  Don't you know how big that will get?  They are trees."  I don't have an answer except because I finally could.

Found a Painted Turtle

So I was coming home from water aerobics tonight. I saws something in the road on main street. As I went over it, I noticed it was a turtle. Not a good place for a turtle to be running around on a hwy. So I turned around and just stopped a car from hitting it. I picked it up and brought it home to show my little grandson. The picture does not do justice for how beautiful the orange markings are. His shell is 7½" long and 6" wide

So I did a search on the Internet to find out about the turtle. It is a Eastern Painted Turtle. Reading about it, it seems likely that this is a female. Hopefully today we can get her someplace she will stay and not cross the street again.   http://wildlifeofct.com/eastern%20painted%20turtle.html
 This morning we took here way out to a creek.  Soon as she heard the water she started flailing around to get to it.  She ran through the grass and dove into the water.  Never saw her again.

Pet Corrector

Have to tell you about this new product that I just love.

It is called the Pet Corrector.  With 4 small dogs in the house, the noise can be stressful.  They want to bark at every noise or car outside.  When we come to the house or my husband gets home from work, it is horrible.  I also have been embarrassed with the noise when a customer comes over.  A friend who does not have a dog....sent me an advertisement about this product.  So I looked online to see where I could purchase it.

I purchased my first can at Petco.  The salesman tried to talk me out of it.  He said it would be best if I bought a shock collar.  That this stuff would not work.  I thanked him and purchased it anyways.  I got a immediate good response from my dogs when I got home.  It just makes a hissing sound.  No smell or anything.  They don't like it.  Unfortunately, my little morkie (who is not one of the noise makers) shakes and hides when I have to use it because of the others.  I shortly used up the can getting them trained with it.  Then I only had to show the can for the most part.  Then my daughters female Yorkie came to live with us also and she is the biggest mouth.  Barks a lot.  She got everyone started again.

I did not want to pay $14.99 for a can again, so started pricing them on line.  I found a place that I got 3 for $22.00.  I could not wait for them to get here.  Had to wait a month.

They showed up yesterday.  Great response from the dogs again.  Still having some trouble with my daughter's female Yorkie, but much improvement.  I take the can with me when I leave the house.  When I start to open the door and they are barking, I tell them to stop and if not hit the spray.  My husband was able to come home to a much quieter house as only my daughter's dog was still making noise, but quieter.

This morning I will be able to test it out when a new customer shows up today.

More Jewelry

My sister has been quite the salesman for me.  Wearing the necklace I made her has brought me more orders.  Here are a couple I made.

My friend who is in charge of Quilts of Valor in this area, just finished a big fund raiser.  She is also in charge of the fun run in her area in a week.  The money from that will raise money for QOV.  I found this picture of an eagle on the net and made a necklace, thinking of her.  She love it.

Crazy Times

Well I have not posted for some time.  Things have been a little hectic here.  At the end of January, my daughter moved in with our then 20 month old grandson and her Yorkies.  She also had to  bring everything she owned.  Make our house quite crowded.  But we were happy to help.  Routines had to be changed.  I had to learn to cook earlier at night.  I now have 4 small dogs, our 100 pound golden, our cat and our grandson underfoot.  I was watching my grandson while my daughter was at work and trying to keep my business going.

I got behind and it was apparent that some changes needed to be made.  Between the stress with my business, the animals and the crap going on, I was going to explode.  So we put my grandson into daycare.  I get him off to daycare in the morning and his mom picks him up on her way home from work.  This has worked better. 

Things are finally settling down and a routine is in place.

First Photo Necklace Order

A dear friend of mine ordered one of the photo necklaces from me.  It was my first order.  It is a gift for her daughter-in-law.  This is the 4th one of these necklaces I have made.

This is my friends first grandchild.  They have been waiting a long time.  I wanted to make them a little something extra. So, I made him a key chain and her a pendant.

Here is a picture of the necklace I made for my sister-in-law for Christmas.  The large circle has her and my brother in it.  On the back of that one is a picture of their two kids.  The first small one has a picture of their son and on the other side is their daughter.  The second small one is their dog.  On the other side it says family.

Patriotic Ornament

This morning I finished up this ornament for my friend.  Sharon is the coordinator for the Quilts of Valor in the Idaho area.  She has done so much for the organization, and so many vets have been blessed by her work.  I wanted to make a little something for her.

Tatting the TIAS

So Jane Eborall started here 1st 2012 Tat It And See.  These are fun to do.  You don't know what it is.  She puts up a new part every few days.  It is fun to see everyone guessing as they work on in.

I finally started it this weekend and am caught up to Day 5 and waiting for the next part.  Here is mine so far.

If you want to join in on the fun.....here is the link http://tatitandsee.blogspot.com/

Snow and Ice + Cactus

We received lots of snow yesterday.  So, hubby did not have to go to work.  Well....not drive truck anyways.  He had lots of shoveling to do.  Watching are small dogs trying run through the snow after our golden retriever was hilarious.

Before we went to bed, looked out onto the yard and street.  All the snow was now covered in a sheet of ice.  Looks pretty, but......

When I let the dogs out this morning, found that a large brand of our pine tree had broke and was touching the ground, but stuck.  I was worried that either the dogs or the wind would knock it down and through my kitchen window.  Woke up my husband to take it down.

I have a cactus, that was given to me.  It was just a little piece and was told it was a Christmas cactus.  For years, it had stayed real small and now blooms.  Then I sent it home with my son-in-law and he got it to flourish and gave it back.  After a year we saw the first blooms.  Then last year we had lots of blooms.  This year we have 1 bloom.  Might have a couple more later, not sure.  So it always blooms mid Jan.  Is it Christmas cactus?

Knitted Baby Hats and Photo Tiled Pictures

The quilt guild I am in, started looking for projects we could do for charity.  Our hospital said they would love to have blankets and baby hats for the babies born at their hospital.  I found this pattern and could not resist.  I have 3 done so far and another partially done.

We saw tiled pictures at a craft fair.  My husband being a photographer wanted to try it.  So did my dad.  Well I found the info and the supplies.  I got this 5x7 one done, with a photo I took this past fall.  Then the next day my dad came down and he did an 8x10 of a flower.  They turned out great.  Can't wait to see what my husband does.

Cake Pops

I have seen all those wonderful Cake Pops out there and wanted to try them.  I was going to do them for my daughter last October, but had not sticks and could not buy them locally.

Jan 2nd, was my son's 25th birthday.  Now I had picked up the sticks a month ago.  I wanted to try something fun.  So I decided to try and make them look like mugs of beer.  I used a yellow cake mix.  I added some yellow food coloring to the almond bark for the mug part.  The handles are pretzel pieces dipped in white almond bark. I used white frosting on top for the froth.

Unfortunately, this is not my talent and they did not turn out the way I planned.  Hubby says they look like mugs.  My son is suppose to come to town tonight.  I will give them to him then.  Was going to drive to his work with them, but was disappointed in how they looked and did not want his co-workers to see them.

New Tatting Shuttle

I have been having so much fun with my photo jewelry, that it has inspired me to use it in different ways.  So, I thought......can I make a tatting shuttle from it?

My computer had printed out a test photo of some beautiful flowers.  I cut it into shuttle shapes and then did the process.  Here is what came out of it.  And, it works.  I love it.

What I worked on for Christmas

What a busy end of the year.  I had quilts to get done for customers, right up to Thur before Christmas.  Not doing that again next year.  I also was working on gifts for my family and friends.  I really love the new photo jewelry I am making now.  I made several pieces for family and for myself.  I did not take pictures of everything, but here are a few of the things.  I made hair bows for my great nieces with their pictures on them.  I also made one for my dog with her picture on it.  I made a photo necklace with my husband, grandson, daughter & son.  I made one of those necklaces for my sister and one for my sister-in-law.  I made photo key chains for their husbands.  I made bracelets for several people and some earrings.  I made photo votive.  Lots of rings.  I also made this snap bag for a friend of mine.  In the jewelry I am making, there is a technique that looks like the Dichro technique.  I made a piece and turned it into a button.  It is sewn on the front of the bag.  The Batman piece, is artwork that my niece did.  I used it in the photo jewelry technique and made her a necklace pendant.

My sister-in-law and I will be doing a craft fair in Spokane, in March.  I plan to have my jewelry and dog cloths for sale there.  For the photo jewelry, I will be taking orders.  I have so much fun with it.