life the good and the bad

{Weekly Weigh In: Week 4}

2012-01-27T17:42:00.000-07:00

Ugh, that's all, just UGH! I have forgotten breakfast all this week, forgotten to not eat after 7pm and I have bought and eaten junk food when stressed. depressed and overly hungry. I really shouldn't shop when I am hungry, I tend to make poor choices.

Hoping next week I do better...I know what I should and shouldn't do but it's been hard.

Start Weight: 302 lbs

Last Week: 299.3

Loss/Gain: + 3.2 lbs

Current weight: 302.5 lbs

{From Black to Color}

2012-01-23T08:13:00.000-07:00

Just some more of what I have been creating over the weekend.

3 ladies I sculpted and painted in black

this is them after a little painting

{all done}

2012-01-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

She's all done, the little bunny gal that I was inspired to create. she's going to sit next to my computer and help remind me to keep looking up.

{weekly Weigh In: Week 3}

2012-01-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

So it's now week 3 and I am no where near what I had planned to be at, but it is all my fault between stress eating, fighting depression and just an over all struggle to love myself I haven't made much progress in three weeks.

So there it is, this week sucked in terms of weight loss but I am trying to get my act together one day/week at a time.

Start Weight: 302 lbs

Last Week: 300.6

Loss/Gain: - 1.3 lbs

Current weight: 299.3 lbs

{Inspired}

2012-01-19T08:00:00.001-07:00

I have a wonderful artist that I have been following for a couple of years and she posted a couple cute bunny people and I was inspired and tried to make one of my own for by my computer and so far this is what I came up with.

Colleen Downs is amazing and creates the most wonderful little creatures and is a great inspiration to me. You can find her blog here and her etsy shop here.

{first REAL snow}

2012-01-19T00:20:00.000-07:00

It is the first real snow of winter, sure there was a splattering of snow that came and went in like 5 minuets last week but this snow stuck, even after it started raining.

I heard the kids squeal with delight as I was waking up about how it was snowing. It was big fat fluffy flakes that were falling when the kids went to school and it continued to fall until about an hour before picking up the kids and then it turned to rain - that didn't stop the kids from building a snowman when they got home though.

of course hot coco followed and they changed into warm, DRY clothes. as a side note Myrna hated the cold on her hands and didn't care for being out in the cold as much as she thought she would.

front of house at 8:30 am

drive home from dropping off the kids at school

back yard 8:45 am

toby was out for like 2 seconds and hated it but Sorry was fascinated.

Noon - snow still falling and getting thicker on the ground

Kids get home and start to play around 4 pm - it's starting to rain

Myrna's first real experience with snow

See aaron in the back rolling the bottom of the snowman?

right after this Myrna started to cry and came inside where it was warm and dry

The kids snowman turned out great!! as you can see the kids are soaked - praying they don't get sick

but they were so proud of their snowman!

{Owls}

2012-01-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

These are some of my owls, I have more but this is what fit on my shelf. Some are thrift store finds, others were found in antique shops and some were gifts. A couple got new life injected into them with a fresh coat of paint and others look amazing with graceful wear.

This owl was repainted to freshen it's look up

this guy was so badly damaged he was in dire need of a repainting so out came the black spray paint and gold dry brush gave him new life.

{camo princess}

2012-01-17T20:58:00.000-07:00

My girls playing around around and on the guest bed while I worked on a couple projects at the computer. Myrna was having fun with a little panda that had velcro on it's hands and daddy kept sticking it to her pj's.

Then Ruth put Myrna on the bed and put her "camo princess" hat on her while Myrna played the psp. Soon after the girls left and the cats showed up...amazingly they didn't fight with one another.

see the panda on her jammies

Ruth and Myrna aka "camo princess"

Toby

Sorry

{Weekly Weigh In: Week 2}

2012-01-13T08:00:00.006-07:00

Start Weight: 302 lbs

Last Week: 299.5

Loss/Gain: + 1.1 lbs

Current weight: 300.6 lbs

It's been a bad week. I have been stress eating like crazy. I am just glad that I haven't eaten late at night and I haven't forgotten breakfast which has helped alot in only gaining 1.1 pounds back. I also have been exercising this week - not in a conventional way or even in the way I wanted but I have been burning calories like crazy whenever I can.

I am going to try harder to keep my stress eating down and hope I can choose better foods when I can't resist to stress eat. I am hoping to get out and walk and enjoy this non-winter weather while it lasts. I am keeping fresh vegi's and fruits on hand and I am going to make an effort to make home cooked meals instead of eating out or ordering in.

I am trying to make lifestyle changes - most I kept from before but I have lost some I had before and need to reassert them back into my life. This is alot harder the second time around but I am going to take it one day at a time, really that's all I can do.

{Girls New Bed}

2012-01-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

I found a great deal on some twin bed frames for the girls room. I pulled them up from a basement by myself and then hauled them up our stairs to the girls room. I am so sore but it was worth it because the new beds don't take up a ton of floor space.

I will recover the headboards during the summer but I just adore the shape of each headboard and the guy said his mom had them since he could remember and he was at least 65. I got them both for fifteen dollars. What a score not only for me but for my girls!

I sold Myrna's crib and decided to forgo the toddler bed and just go head long into a twin bed. Now I just need to get a bed rail for her bed (easy enough to find). The girls are so happy with their new beds and Ruth doesn't miss her daybed frame (which over powered the room and needed to go anyways).

Finally I am making sense of their small shared room and hope to make it more them in the next coming months!!

This was taken the night I set up the beds

the following images were taken the next morning as Ruth was playing Cinderella for Myrna

{Standing Girls}

2012-01-10T09:25:00.000-07:00

I created 3 new gals that are free standing with hinged arms. They were so much fun to make I think I will be making more this next week.

{Before and After}

2012-01-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

I just finished another gal today. She was so much fun to do as they all are. She is listed on etsy if you want to purchase her. I am in the process now of making 4 more, two of which will be for my girls since they loved how this one turned out. The one for Myrna will not have arms or legs but Ruth's will.

when she was clay to all painted up.

{Weekly Weigh In: Week 1}

2012-01-06T08:00:00.002-07:00

Start Weight: 302 lbs

Loss/Gain: - 2.5 lbs

Current weight: 299.5 lbs

Last week I was 302 pounds and today I am 299.5 pounds. Even though I haven't been eating so well (check what I have been eating here) I have lost a bit of weight and I think it's because I have been making the effort to actually eat breakfast in the mornings.

I have been working on making sure I drink lots of water, eat at least 3 meals a day and have a snack or two inbetween meals and I really think it's helping. I am just working on stifling my cravings for sweets. This week has been hard since I have been "visited".

This next week I am going to work on my eating habits, (eating better and watching my portion sizes). I am also going to start walking a minimum of 30 minuets each day and increasing it by 30 min each week until I am up to 2 hours of walking. I need to get moving regularly and I think this is the first step to getting back into shape.

{First creation of 2012}

2012-01-05T10:59:00.000-07:00

This is my newest creation for 2012. She is made entirely out of paperclay and was so much fun to make! most of my dolls are stuffed dolls that have a paperclay overlay but I wanted to try something new and different. I think she turned out great!

{New Cut for the new ME!}

2012-01-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

click image to view larger

Well it's not a new hair style but it is a new hair cut and different from what I had before and my hair feels so much lighter!! I am so happy with this new cut, it's exactly what I asked for and I am not upset in the least bit!

I am so glad I found a stylist who lives in the same city as me!!

{Weekly Weigh In starts again!}

2012-01-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

This is my first weight related post of the new year. My goal for this year is to lose at least 50 pounds in 2012. I want to be healthier, happier and lose the weight in a fashion that will be a lifestyle change and not some fad pill or diet that won't help me in the long run.

My weekly weigh in posts will include what I have eaten, how I exercised and healthy tid-bits on how to make lifestyle changes.

I will be using My Fitness Pal to help me track what I eat every day. It's free and is extremely helpful.

I bought a weight watchers scale from costco 'cause I needed a new one that was more accurate and had a nice bright and was easy to read and plus I wanted it to photograph well because with each post I will include a photo of what my scale says.

My starting weight

My starting weight: 302.0 pounds

Where I want to be by the end of 2012: 252.0 pounds

{New Year, New Color, New Goals}

2012-01-01T09:00:00.002-07:00

image found online

This year I decided to ring in the New Year with a new color, something darker and more deep then I normally do. It's not permanent which I like and you wouldn't believe how hard it is to find non-permeant hair color. I really like it and it suits who I am right at this moment.

It's not a bright shocking red but more subtle

I am going to work on some new goals for myself this year. Lets go over my goals for 2011 and see how I did.

1. Lose 42 lbs bringing my weight down to 234 lbs. I gained back everything I lost while pregnant with Myrna and gained more on top of that. Partly due to poor eating habits and stress eating and partly due to the fact that I was sick most of this past year.

2. Become more Domestic. I have become more domestic, fixing 75-80% of the meals for the family. The rest of the time they fend for themselves.

3. Do more crafts with the kids. I did more things with the kids but didn't do as many crafts as I would have liked.

4. Spend less time in front of the TV. I had the cable shut off in December of 2011 and since then have spent less time in front of the tv.

5. Take a photo a day. I did this for like a month or two and quit. I am hoping to do better in 2012.

6. Get all our debt paid off. We got most of our debt paid off but still have a few more things to clear up but we are well on our way!

7. Go to Reunion this year. This did not happen but we did spend a week on the oregon coast. visited family and friends.

8. Make a trip to see Family. This HAPPENED!! We saw everyone! and even some family we hadn't seen in YEARS!

9. Become my husbands "Girlfriend". This is still an on-going process but I am striving to do this more and more.

10. Be Happy. This is something I struggle with but for the most part this year I tried to be happy and enjoy the little things.

2012 goals

1. Lose a minimum of 50 lbs. This will bring my weight to 252 lbs. I want to lose more but I think that 50 lbs is something I can manage and maintain. I want to get healthy and be a good example to my children on safe weight loss.

2. Cook more from scratch. I want to move away from pre-packaged meals and make more home-cooked meals that are better for my family.

3. Pay off debt. This is an ongoing pursuit and I am hoping that by the end of the year we will only have our mortgage to worry about.

4. Photograph more. This means taking time to explore the area around me and seek out great places to photograph, bringing one or two of the kids with me while I do it so I can spend more one on one time with them too would be great!

5. Spend Quality time with the kids. this means doing things with them that not only interest me but them too and taking the time to be not only their mom but their friend too.

6. Be Happy. This means enjoying the little things and not letting the big things overwhelm me and try not to stress out so much.

{Ruth Turned SIX!!!}

2012-01-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it! My little girl is now SIX!!! The day before I took down the tree and hung all the fairies above the table - got it all done before the whole family was hit with a case of food poisoning. But Ruth and everyone was feeling well enough to give her a good party the next day - thank goodness.

Ruth was super happy with the turnout but out of all the people we invited only one family showed up and so there were lots of tutu's, wands and wings with no one to wear them...

Ruth had a nice lunch set up for everyone - peanut butter and jelly flowers, yummy cookies and tea, peppermint coco or apple cider to drink followed by a pretty cake decorated by her and then crafting of fairies afterwards!

It turned out quite well and all the kids had tons of fun!! Ruth was sooo happy!!

The tutu's, wands and wing station in pinks, purples, reds and whites

the table scape

teacup fairies hung with care

all the girls in their fairy costumes!

casia helping Ruth read the card from her family.

there were loads of shirts hiding in her bag...one you could color and another with a pug

She got the dollie she wanted which made her sooo happy

she quickly changed her shirt to this one because it matched her tutu!!

plus it looks like ceasar in pearls and a bow!

Time to blow out the candles - 6 for her age and one extra for good luck!

poof....all blown out!

These are fairies I made as examples of the craft the girls were to do

Ruth and her clothes pin fairies

Willow and her clothes pin goth fairies

Ariel and her clothes pin fairies!

Aaron made one too but his is a killer zombie

and Aaron is a renegade fairy enforcer!

casia and her clothes pin Mom, sisters and Dad.

My clothes pin gals

Carla's clothes pin people include Me (with big boobs), my son Sam as a super hero and her daughter casia

casia and myrna had so much fun together!

{Christmas: Part 3}

2011-12-31T08:00:00.000-07:00

Christmas Lunch proceeded after opening of presents and a dungeons and dragon game broke out upstairs and before my dad and step-mom left we all got to talk and chat with my sister and brother and their families via skype!

a yummy dinner!

Aaron's ship that he got for Christmas and put together in like 30 min!!

watching Doctor who on his new e-reader

the aftermath of dinner!

Yes, I have a family of techno-geeks!

Ruth sharing Cinderella with grandma

picking out mini's for their characters before their game starts

sooo silly!

babies hanging on the floor

and now I have to leave 'cause my camera is distracting them from their game!

{Christmas: Part 2}

2011-12-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

The stocking were hung with great care and were ravished by the kids like tasmanian devils! and then on to trying to get a few group shots and family pictures while everyone was together.

ravishing their loot!

My m&m's!!

Standing around while I set up

This is what I get when I try to take everyone's picture - NO COOPERATION!!

Grandma & Grandpa with their grandbabies

Mother and Son

my favorite image of the day!

{Christmas: Part 1}

2011-12-29T08:00:00.001-07:00

Christmas morning we woke up and called everyone to make sure they would be there for breakfast...it was a small meal of pancakes and juice.

Which was quickly followed by opening of christmas presents!

Sam patiently waiting to open presents

My step-brother played Santa so I could get pictures

This is Myrna's first time unwrapping a present!

I gave my step-mom an album full of 4x6 memories!

My dad enjoying his new phone from my Uncle Clay

Our kids opening the very special presents from their daddy!

They all got e-readers that play books, music and videos!! Ruth's is pink the boys are black

The mess, oh the horror!

William opening his gift from me

What is it?

Dragons of course!!

{The night before christmas}

2011-12-28T17:03:00.000-07:00

The night before Christmas Myrna found some cute glasses that once were sunglasses but are now just play reading glasses. After all my cooking and cleaning and prepping for the next day, I headed off to get my brother and his family and that night we decorated gingerbread houses...

every time William gave Myrna a candy to put on the house she put it in her mouth instead.

Sam and his creation!!

Kyra's gingerbread house

Myrna's gingerbread house

Ruth's gingerbread house

Aaron's gingerbread house

{Loving on Sorry}

2011-12-22T15:09:00.000-07:00

These were taken earlier in the month and I just got around to downloading them to my computer.

Myrna loves loving on Sorry, our docile female kitty. Toby won't allow this at all but Sorry just takes it and waits til the grip on her lessens so she can escape.

{Alfajores}

2011-12-22T15:05:00.000-07:00

I made some "Alfajores" today. Next time I will make the cookie part a bit thinner. Either way they turned out great! Below is the recipe I found on the "Made" blog. Mind you 1/2 the batch of cookies only made a dozen cookies but then again because I made them a bit too thick and my smallest circle cutter was a biscuit size so this recipe made 12-18 finished cookies for me. I am sure if I made them a bit thinner and got a smaller cookie cutter it would be more cookies.

The Dulce de Leche sauce was nice and easy to make and I know they will make a nice gift for dipping fruit into...

This is a picture of how mine turned out...so easy to make!

Alfajores

Makes about 2 1/2-3 dozen

For the Dulce de Leche:

- (2) 14 oz cans sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)

- pinch of coarse salt

Directions:

1. Pour condensed milk into a pie plate or shallow baking dish

2. Mix in salt

3. Place baking dish into a larger pan. Pour water into the larger pan until it reaches half way up the sides of the baking dish.

4. Cover the dish tightly with foil.

5. Bake at 400 degrees for 1-2 hours. Checking now and again to stir the milk and making sure there is always water in the larger pan.

6. It will be a beautiful brown and carmelly color when it's done. There may be lumps, but you can whisk it a bit (or not). When it cool it should be the consistency of creamy peanut butter.

Dulce de leche makes a fine Christmas gift on its own. When it's hot out of the oven pour into small jars. It keeps for about a month in the fridge.

For the Cookies:

- 4 cups all-purpose flour

- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

- 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

- 1/2 cup water

- Sanding sugar or powdered sugar, for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. (once your ready to bake cookies)

2. In a food processor, pulse together flour, sugar briefly. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

3. With machine running, pour in the water in a slow stream, and process 20 seconds. The dough will probably not come together, but that's okay. Roll out a length of plastic wrap and put half of the crumbly dough onto it. Wrap it up tightly in the plastic wrap, then with the heel of your hand press the dough 5-10 times until it comes together. Repeat with the other half of cookie dough. Refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight.

4. Flour your surface and roll out one disk of dough to between 1/4 in and 1/ in thick. The cookies should be thick, but too thick and you won't be able to fit the finished cookie in your mouth!

5. Cut out rounds (roundish cutters are best, those stars up there? they fell apart right away) from the dough and transfer to a parchment lined cookie sheet. Continue with the rest of the dough. Gather up your scraps and re-roll, but only re-roll once (they will be tough otherwise).

6. Sprinkle half the rounds with sanding sugar or if you don't have sanding sugar, sift powdered sugar on half the baked cookies (when cool).

7.Bake until golden brown and a little puffed up, about 15 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

8. Spread a heaping teaspoon of dulce de leche on half the cookies. Top with the sugar coated cookie and serve. These cookies are lovely right away, but I like them best the next day when their flavors have melded a bit.

{Geese a plenty}

2011-12-22T08:10:00.000-07:00

I took these during a photo session for my friend Carla at a local park in Boise earlier this month. I just now got around to editing them.

The water was frozen on top (enough that the geese could walk on but in areas even they would break thru the top - it was quite comical at times).

See the one upside down?

on the other side of the walkway the lake wasn't frozen and some ducks were trying to stay warm in the cold, cold wind.

{Happy Birthday To Me}

2011-12-19T08:00:00.001-07:00

I am now 32! I can't believe I am THAT old! I don't feel that old but according to my birth certificate I am!! When did that happen!! Then again I do have 4 kids and my oldest is 10.

William got me an early birthday present and I just love it! It's a RCA wireless "roku-like" device that allows me to watch Netflix, Hulu Plus and Vudu on my little TV and I can listen to Pandora too. So I have been watching streaming while trying to get Myrna to sleep after everyone goes to bed and I love it!!

{New creations}

2011-12-15T08:00:00.005-07:00

I have been working on new patterns for my cloth and clay dollies. I finished two creations today and because I have been so busy I just took a couple quick pictures with my webcam because I just didn't have time to take the pics with any of my cameras...

Please ignore the fact that I am in my jammies...I couldn't wait to share these two with everyone...One is a pregnant mama (made from a cloth pattern and covered entirely in clay and sculpted) the other is "Maxine" (she's made from a cloth pattern too and covered in clay but she has wool hair).

{Family Photo Wall}

2011-12-11T14:56:00.001-07:00

I am almost done with my family photo wall...I still need to add more pictures but for now it will have to wait until I can get more frames and print some more images...

I took thrift store frames and spray painted them either black or ocean blue then added the images and hung on the wall...the tree was found on clearance at Big Lots for less then $5. The frames were all $2 or under - most being less then one dollar.

I found this wall saying at Walmart

this view is from The girls room facing William's "man cave"

this view is from William's "man cave" facing the girls room

{Flying Fairies and birds}

2011-12-09T21:47:00.000-07:00

I have been busy crafting birds, (I found the bird pattern on spool) and I couldn't seem to find a good flying fairy pattern so I created one of my own and it turned out AWESOME!! I am really happy with how it turned out! I made 2 mobiles for the girls room that included both birds and fairies.

I took a drawing of how I wanted my fairies to be and then turned them into a pattern. I am really in love with them and I especially love how the wings turned out. I am planning on making a few for my shop too. They really have been fun to make!

{Messy with a side of Christmas}

2011-12-06T10:19:00.000-07:00

When I did a session for a friend Ruth got a cat tail and although I told her to keep it outdoors, that just wasn't in the cards and of course Myrna got ahold of it....

fluff everywhere and she wasn't done yet

Ruth didn't want the fluff cleaned up

she was trying to save it from the vacuum

the fluff was everywhere

Mind you, this mess didn't last long but the fluff was everywhere!

Now onto a couple days later...Our tree is up along with the small amount of christmas decorations we have. (makes it easier to take down before Ruth's birthday). We got rid of our big tree and got one a bit smaller and more manageable.

Last year I never did put up our tree...this year I forced myself to do it for the kids. They helped put the ornaments on the tree. This time of the year is so hard for me - it's just not the same without my grandma....

Our christmas tree

Our Homemade tree angel

my grandmother's wisemen

a little girl made for my birthday many, many years ago

our newest edition that I got for a steal

our noseless snowman given to us a few years ago

the stockings hung with care

{Busy, Busy, Busy}

2011-12-04T15:39:00.001-07:00

I have been so busy lately making items for my new etsy shop, editing images for photography clients and making time to take my christmas card photos. Well I still have projects needing finished for the shop and I have to finish up a couple things for some clients but I did finish taking the pictures I wanted of my kids for our christmas card - now I just gotta figure out which one I want to put on the card!

I took a total of 39 images and of course I loved them all but after editing them I choose just 14 to pick from. I made them both in color and black and white but right now I am thinking I want them all BIG on my wall but I know really I just need to choose one or two to make big. *sigh* choices, choices...

This is an image that I have been wanting to do for some time but I had to wait until Myrna could sit up on her own. I think they turned out great! Sure I didn't get "the shot" but I never do but I am so happy with what I was able to get in 10 minuets of shooting the kids before they got bored and uncooperative.

{Works in Progress}

2011-11-30T10:26:00.001-07:00

Below are some of the dollies I am working on for my shop. They will be a mixture of painted cloth and clay...I am having so much fun with these!

I also finished up my tree topper and made 4 dolls to put under the tree for the kids.

the blonde is for Ruth, the zombie is for Aaron, Doctor Who is for Sam and the brunette is for Myrna

{Etsy Here I come}

2011-11-28T12:26:00.001-07:00

I am starting a new shop venture for some of my handmade items, photographic work and art work. I am slowly adding new items to the shop and hope to have it in full swing December 1st.

{and then there were 6}

2011-11-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

These are the last 2 of the 6 "teacup" fairies I am doing for Ruth's birthday party - they are not finished yet but painted and varnished...all they need is hair, tutu's and wings...

the below images show the last two fairies from start to varnish.

Foil over wire armature

base clay

all sculpted and have hands

All painted & varnished

{Christmas Tree Topper}

2011-11-25T08:00:00.001-07:00

This is my newest project - a tree topper for our christmas tree...she isn't done yet and still needs hair, wings and to be stained but for now she has to wait until I find a good felting tool.

{Happy Thanksgiving!}

2011-11-24T18:38:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Thanksgiving on Wednesday. It was impromptu and so much fun! One of the gaming groups William GM's came over and we enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving lunch/dinner and they headed up to William's room and played pathfinder while the kids ran off their energy outside.

I made pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin pie, rolls, turkey, sausage cranberry stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy. I was a very busy gal for 2 days. I actually got everything done and done on time - which is a first for me and ya know what ? All our guests were late by more then an hour - but that's ok. Everyone had a nice meal and had fun playing a great game.

Towards the end of the night Sam and Aaron started fighting and as punishment I made them sit and hug eachother for ten minuets. Mind you Sam had no problem doing this unlike Aaron who threw a massive hissy the whole time - you would think I had him hugging a rabid badger or something.

Finally the kids were in bed asleep, the game was done and all went home and Myrna and William were sitting on the couch and next thing I knew Myrna was asleep in his arms and both he and I were pooped.

It really was a good day! Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving!

This is what greeted me when I put the turkey into the oven

Myrna eating paper - she was starving!

Sausage Cranberry Stuffing

Carved Turkey

Turkey carcass

a Slice of my pumpkin cheesecake...it turned out awesome!

A slice of my pumpkin pie

After dinner they played some pathfinder

toby found some loves from both Tim & Chrissy

This is the dungeon that William created - well part of it

Aaron and Sam were being bad so as punishment they had to hug for 10 minuets - Aaron wasn't happy about that

So tired after a very Looooong Day!

{In progress}

2011-11-22T08:00:00.001-07:00

I still have 2 more fairies to do to complete the six fairies that I am going to make to hang from the ceiling during Ruth's birthday party next month but I did get four somewhat done, (they still need hair, wings and tutus but they are painted and varnished).

I think with each new creation I get a little better and more comfortable with my work. I love to create art with photographs, watercolors, charcoal and many other art mediums but never had the time or desire to work in clay and now I am wondering why that is because this project has really pushed forth my creativity like nothing else has.

I am becoming more confidant in my clay work and I am relishing this new found freedom that the clay allows for.

I took the below images with my workhorse and will do more detailed images with my big girl camera once I have them completed.

This is the first "teacup" fairy I did

This is my 3rd "teacup"

This was my 2nd "teacup"

and this lovely is the 4th "teacup" I sculpted

{New Trays}

2011-11-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

I picked up two trays from goodwill for less then a dollar each and even though I thought they were hideous I could see the potential in them. One is now painted the same robin's egg blue that MJ's high chair is and the other will be painted a nice deep red to place my grandmother's wise men on for christmas.

Ceasar was watching me while I was taking pictures of the before and after....

BEFORE

AFTER

{She's walking!!! OH NO!!!}

2011-11-20T17:37:00.000-07:00

Myrna is now walking more then crawling and is taking more then 5 steps at a time!! Look out world she's on two feet and wanting to take over the world!!

Today while William played with one of his role playing groups up in his "man cave" my dad and his wife came over to see the kids and hang out and Myrna walked to and from them for quite some time and then from grandma to Sam until she got tired of it.

Walking to Grandma Kitty

Walking to Grandpa Barry

Walking to Sam

Grandma Kitty painting Ruth's nails

with special nail polish that crackles and shows the color beneath!

Ruth showing grandma her new dollies

Myrna is so happy with her success at mastering the walk that she is trying to take the house by storm. Everyone is so excited by her progress but I am a little sad because it means she's growing up and learning and I want her to do that but at the same time I want her to stay a little baby for just a while longer...

Why does time have to speed up when you start having a family. When I was a kid and before I got married I would complain about how looooong everything took and how the day just dragged on and now I am wondering where whole months and now years have gone. *sigh*

{Easy Stockings}

2011-11-19T12:56:00.000-07:00

This is a fun crafting project and it's super easy too! You can make your own stocking with scraps of felt or fabric (there are lots of free patterns online) or you can do like I did and use pre-made stockings.

I found some stockings a few years ago for less then a dollar a piece during an after Christmas sale and I got a few extra because at the time we were trying to have a baby. I took everyone to the store and let them each choose what their letter was going to be for the top of their stocking. I made sure they choose letters that were the "iron-on" kind so no sewing involved in this so far.

Last year after Myrna was born my mother in law sent us stockings with beautiful cross stitched snowmen and our names. I wasn't too fond of the stockings she choose to attached her stunning work to, so I took the cross stitch piece off and took black ribbon and some of "Aleene's Fabric Fusion" fabric glue and trimmed the edges and then used that same glue to attached them to the stockings this year.

I love how each stocking is different yet they all have a consistency to them that makes them the same. This craft can be as simple or as hard as you want and even little kids can do this (with the exception of using the iron).

What I used to create this craft is:

(you can make the stocking as interesting as you want using other craft items such as bells, buttons, glitter, ribbon and anything else you can think of)

• Stocking (store bought or home made)

• Iron-on letters (you can find these in the fabric department of most stores that carry fabric - even walmart has them)

• fabric glue (I used Aleene's fabric fusion because once dry it's permanent)

• Cross stitch image or an iron-on transfer image or even a fabric image

• Iron

I still need to get an iron-on "M" at the top of Myrna's

I love how each cross stitch is different and fits the person whose name is on it.

my MIL sure did a beautiful job on these adorable cross stitch name pictures

{Teacup fairies beginning}

2011-11-17T08:00:00.003-07:00

I am working on 2 of the 6 teacup fairies I will be creating...I made the armature for them last night and today I have been busy sculpting their faces and such...These little cuties will have real hair and not clay hair, (hated painting the hair on the large fairies I made).

They still have to dry and then I need to sculpt some clothing on them and then let them dry again and then sand them then I can paint them. It's a long process but oh so fun and I know they will look awesome in the end. (fingers crossed).

This one will be in a large teacup

while this one will be in a small teacup

Awe, they already like each other! YAY!!

{They have wings}

2011-11-16T13:51:00.000-07:00

Now Ruth's doll fairies can fly because their wings are finally done and attached...each wing is different and I still have a whole other way I may make the wings but at least these are done. Ruth hasn't seen them yet, because she's in school, but I am sure she will love them!

{My Nephew's Onsie}

2011-11-14T13:00:00.000-07:00

I wish I could have been there to see my little nephew in his onsie that I created for him during my mom's last visit but my Mom sent me some pictures of him in it and oh my goodness he's adorable! I miss seeing him grow and he's getting so big - they don't stay little forever.

I miss being around my family but when we do get together it's so much fun. I realize I am the one who moved away from them but darn it, I wish they would move closer to me 'cause the world revolves around me don'tcha know! (haha)

The below images were taken by my mom with her camera and are left exactly how she sent them to me.

Noah and his daddy - i think he likes his onsie!

Noah and his grandma

Noah and his grandparents (aka my mom and dad)

Noah and his grandpa

{New Ring & Self Portraits}

2011-11-13T18:13:00.001-07:00

I have some Zuppa Soup cooking in my crockpot and I just pulled out some Parmesan crusted rolls out of the oven and now I can just sit and relax for a moment and blog. Of course I don't really have much to blog about, life is what it is - I am struggling with my weight and my health and have been for over a year BUT I am trying to look on the bright side of things.

I was able to get to church this morning and earlier this week my new wedding set came (nothing fancy or expensive, just more me). It's perfect and it doesn't catch on anything (not even Myrna) and it fits my personality much better. It's Sterling Silver w/cubic zirconia stones all around and it didn't cost much at all. I also got it not only for me but because I was tired of the "looks" I would get when I didn't have a ring on my finger and had all the kids with me. I know it's probably not real (the looks I mean) but now I don't have to wonder...They can clearly see now that I am married.

After church, I was feeling good and so I took some self portraits with my little workhorse. I want to cut my hair but Ruth says she likes it longer so I think I will keep it long til summer comes around...

Below are the recipes for the Zuppa soup and the rolls - both I found on blogs in my blog roll but I couldn't say for sure which one as I forgot to put where I found them...

Zuppa Tuscana Soup

1lb pork sausage

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

6 slices bacon (optional)—I added what was left after my kids ate most of it

6 cups chicken broth (I used boxed broth and chicken bouillon with water)

4 potatoes, peeled and sliced

2 cups chopped kale

1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning

1 cup cream

pepper to taste

Brown sausage with onion (add garlic the last couple of minutes. Drain if needed. Cook potatoes and kale in broth till tender. Add sausage, Italian seasoning, and cream and heat through. Add pepper to taste.

Parmesan Dinner Rolls

For the Dough

1 cup warm water

1 cup warm milk

1/3 cup sugar

2 1/4 teaspoon (1 pack) yeast

1/3 cup oil (I used veggie oil)

1 T salt

1 egg

4 1/2 to 5 1/2 cups all purpose flour

For the Topping

1/2 cup parmesan

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

2 T butter

1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

1 egg white

Directions:

In mixer combine yeast, sugar, and warm water and milk; let bubble for about 5 minutes.

Add in oil and egg.

Slowly add 2 cups flour, mix and then add salt.

Add 1/2 cup flour at a time until it comes away from side of bowl. Add the cinnamon chips when it gets close to the right consistency. The dough will be very sticky but the softer the dough the lighter the bread. So use the least amount of flour you can handle.

Let rise in mixing bowl for about 30 minutes.

Form in to rolls (pulling sides under, tucking the sides and and pinching into balls )

Let rise and additional 30 minutes.

Melt butter and let cool. Beat egg white and combine with the rest of the topping ingredients. Press combination onto the top of each roll.

Bake at 400 degrees for 12-20 minutes. Cover with foil if the topping is getting to brown.

Makes 16-32 rolls (depending on size)

My fingers look so old - up close that is

My messed up guest bed in the background...lol

This one is my favorite of me...I may just get this framed.

{New Glasses}

2011-11-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

My old pair of glasses had one of the ear peices break off and when glued back together it wasn't fitting the same way and the non-broke side kept pulling the broke side into my eye lashes so needless to say I had to get new glasses (I even tried to use my "back up" pair aka my even older glasses but the reason I replaced those ones was because the coating was peeling off making it hard to see out of them)....

I was hoping that these glasses would last until December or January but no such luck. I headed into eyemart express and got a new prescription and one new pair of glasses (they got 'em done in a little less then an hour). The longest part of the whole ordeal was waiting to get my eyes checked and waiting in a long line to pick up my glasses.

Ruth wanted me to get pink frames because they would "always" be pretty on me and help me look beautiful. She was disappointed when I got basic black frames again - I am so boring! Below is a picture of my broke glasses (aka before) and my new ones (aka after).

{Teacups}

2011-11-11T08:00:00.001-07:00

I am going to be making some sculpted fairies that will sit inside some paper mache teacups. I found the pattern for the teacups on Ann Woods blog. She is a wonderful artist and I am very grateful that she took the time to share how to make these lovely teacups. She spent a long time trying to figure out and perfect her pattern design.

The smaller cup is from the pattern as is from Ann's template the larger cup is the one I enlarged slightly so that I could have a bigger cup for my sitting fairies - both are super cute though.

Ann's pattern was a bit small for me (making a teacup approximately 2" high and 3" across the mouth of the teacup) so I enlarged it a smidge, making my teacups approximately 3" high and 4" across the mouth of the teacup. Now they are the perfect size for the little fairies I intend to sculpt and have sitting inside the teacups for Ruth's fairy tea birthday party.

These still need a light paint wash over them but I love how they look now and wanted to share

{Mostly Done}

2011-11-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

I finished up three of my doll size fairies, well they will be fairies once they get their wings for now they just look like pretty ballerina's. Thru the whole process I kept hearing how "creepy" they looked because of how big the eyes are and such and now they don't look as creepy because they are all painted and lovely. Ruth just loves them!

I don't know what I am going to do with the fourth doll but she will eventually get painted and dolled up too but for now I am done with the three and now I need to get started on my teacup fairies.

I really like how they each turned out different and with their own personality

{Mom Visit: Take Three}

2011-11-09T08:00:00.001-07:00

Mom left early the next morning, not as early as she would have liked but that was ok by me because everyone got to say goodbye to her before she had to leave.

Nana and her grandbabes, MMMMMMMMmmmmuah! Myrna blowing kisses!

Mom makes the weirdest faces and Myrna thinks so too...lol

This is her deer in a headlight look!

Ruth trying to fill mommy's shoes...lol

this is what happens when Ruth wants to sneak in the shot

Me and my girls!

Yes, she bites...NOT!

bye Nana! We will miss you!

Myrna's last monster onsie!

{Mom Visit: Take Two}

2011-11-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

The next day Mom, Jeanie, Ruth, Myrna and I had a girls day out while William stayed at home and played some Starwars with his buddies and the boys went to boy scouts.

The girls and I went to several stores but our favorites were the second hand stores and let me tell you we scored on some lovely items. It was a great girls day out!

Afterwards I found a washer and dryer set to replace my old one that is giving me trouble. It's amazing how much better life is when you have a working washer and dryer!

Myrna's green monster onsie

William and his buddies getting ready to play some Star Wars RPG

Myrna trying to decide what she wants for lunch

Girls day out!

Trying to get everyone in the picture but my arms are not long enough, missing MJ and Jeanie

Myrna playing with an ice cube and a cup - who needs fancy toys when you have this!

Dad and his bird - he has 4 cocktails and a yellow bird

This is one of the babies that his mating pair hatched out

Myrna loves her grandpa

Jeanie and Kitty

{Mom Visit: Take One}

2011-11-07T07:41:00.000-07:00

My Mom surprised me by coming a day early and it was so nice to have her here! She stayed that night and the next day she checked into a hotel because she and Jeanie were going to hang out together.

I bought 4 long sleeve onsie's before mom went to go hang out with Jeanie and dyed them different colors and added monsters to them. 3 of them were for Myrna and the last one I dyed green and added a cute little monster for my nephew Noah. You will see pictures thru out the posts from my mom's visit of the ones I did for Myrna. I forgot to take a picture of the one I did for Noah...

That night we had a big family get together with Clay, my dad Barry and his wife Kitty along with Jeanie and of course my little brood. We ate at a nice chinese buffet called Jade Garden. They always keep the food hot and they keep the food full on the buffet.

Mom and I passed the camera back and forth to get different angles of everyone, even me! It was nice to have a big family gathering, everyone had fun and got to catch up with one another. It was a good evening.

Myrna in her new monster onsie!

Sam always smiles for the camera, I love it!

Myrna now drinks from a straw! How awesome is that!

Daddy does have to hold the glass or she would dump it all over her

Kitty, my dad & Clay

My Aunt Jeanie and Ruth, they are the best of friends

My Mom and Sam...he kept closing his eyes so mom helped him keep them open

all they need is a pitchfork

My dad is such a ham...which makes him a great grandpa!

My Mom (aka Nana) and My Step-mom Kitty (aka Grandma)

Clay, Jeanie and my Mom - Brother and sisters

Jeanie was so happy to have her brother and sister visit her!

{Happy Halloween}

2011-11-03T08:00:00.000-06:00

I helped William with his Halloween party for his group the TVGamers at a local game store. It was tons of fun and even though we wished there was a bigger turn out everyone seemed to have tons of fun.

I did take the kids to my dad's for a quick "trick or treat" and the kids were greeted by their grandma Kitty dressed up as a baby...they loved it!

Here are just a few quick snaps of the evening.

Aaron as a vampire version of James Bond

William as the Demon

Grandma Kitty all Babied up for the kids "trick or treat"

Josh as "The Dude"

I love how Myrna is looking at Aaron, it's priceless!

Chrissie got "Dice Shot" instead of buck shot...lol

Myrna was so tired but fought falling asleep the whole night

Roar

William and the girls!

Tim as "Dexter"

Joseph as "The Mad Hatter"

This was the shop owners wife, her and her girls were fairies

{and then they were done}

2011-11-02T08:00:00.001-06:00

well finished with the sculpting that is....now they are just drying and waiting for painting and of course wings, which I will need to make soon...

{Witchy Woman}

2011-11-01T08:00:00.000-06:00

I created a cute little witchy hat since I needed to sorta look like I dressed up for William's Halloween potluck and I found the tutorial to make it on Delia Creates. Not only does she have a witchy hat but a pumpkin and sunflower.

This hat was so easy to make and all it took was 3 pieces of felt sheets, some spider lacy veil, some feathers and a bit of hot glue and instead of using a ribbon for wrapping around my head I used a stretchy headband (one that looks like a giant hair tie).

a quick snap of me wearing it

Ruth modeling it for me

{A lovely Afternoon}

2011-10-31T08:00:00.000-06:00

Saturday afternoon my dad and his wife came over and we had a lovely visit while hubby was having his game day with his friends. The kids love it when they come to visit and so do I.

I had planned on the kids going to the "trunk or treat" at the church and I was told it was at five but it ended up being a whole lot later then that and due to it's lateness the kids didn't get to go but they did dress up and show grandma and grandpa their costumes. Aaron was a vampire James Bond, Sam was the 10th Doctor Who, Ruth was a fairy and Myrna was a little pegasus/unicorn.

Below are some images that were captured with my workhorse during their visit!

My favorite image of Grandma Kitty and her granddaughters

My dad being a goober - I love that he's still a kid at heart!

I'm a gonna getcha!

Aaron is James Bond as a vampire and Sam is Doctor Who (the 10th one)

Ruth is a fairy

MJ as the unicorn/pegasus

Boo to you!

{One Down Three more to go}

2011-10-30T10:59:00.000-06:00

I finished sculpting the face of one of the 4 fairies that I am making for Ruth's birthday party. I still have to paint her but I have to wait for the clay to dry first. What do you think? For my very first sculpted doll I am super impressed with myself - I am looking forward to sculpting the teacup fairies I have planned and wondering how they will turn out...

Isn't she just lovely? I sure think she is and Ruth thinks so too. I know hubby was impressed with how well she turned out too. I am just glad to have another creative outlet, I have really missed having one and this fits the bill for me.

Despite the fact that I ordered the wrong size eyes and had to order new ones and even though my patience isn't that great I am really enjoying this process of taking something that looks like an alien and giving it some personality and life.

Aaron wants me to make him a zombie doll and Sam wants me to make him a Doctor Who doll (the 10th doctor to be exact) so I know I will be busy for some time. Now I better get back to getting the other dolls their faces...

I am not a good painter of eyes, so I bought eyes and placed them in - Ruth loves how sparkly they are

One down and as you can see I have 3 more that need faces.

{Myrna's One: part 3}

2011-10-28T08:00:00.002-06:00

And then there was cake. I made chocolate cupcakes for the kids because the "free" birthday cake was for the adults as it was a small little round cake and MJ got her monster cake all to her self. She of course didn't finish it but she enjoyed mushing the icing up in her hands...you should have seen the bath water all purple afterwards...lol

The images in this series were taken with my "Big girl" camera (aka Nikon D200 w/bounced flash). Some of the images were tweaked in photoshop but most of them are SOOC (meaning no editing except for cropping). Enjoy!

This is how you get the frosting ALL the way up the nose!

Who you looking at?

All cleaned up and enjoying Grandpa Barry's hat

Now get it off me!

hey, it can be used as a phone too!

I see you!

{Myrna's One: part 2}

2011-10-27T19:51:00.000-06:00

It was a great day. I thought having extra kids (2 brought by one of the players and the neighbor boy who kept popping over made the grand total to 7 kids) over while hubby played his star wars game with his buddies was going to be more difficult then it actually was. Thank goodness for crafts that include paint, marker and crayon!

These images were taken after lunch but before the cutting of the cake. The images below were taken with my workhorse camera (aka point n' shoot). Most all of them are strait out of the camera (SOOC, meaning no editing except cropping took place) but a few have been tweaked a little bit in photoshop. Enjoy!

I have rearranged my livingroom again...lol

Albertson's gives you a "Free" cake for your little one's first birthday, you know I had to take them up on that!

This was her own personal monster cake!

{Craigslist Find redo}

2011-10-26T08:00:00.003-06:00

I found this high chair on Craigslist for only 15 bucks! Considering these high chairs go for quite a bit in my area I knew this was a steal. It did need some cleaning up and a new paint job but I knew it was the chair for us.

the before image is from a cell phone pic and the after was taken with my "big girl" camera

It's perfect for Myrna. It turned out wonderful. Isn't it amazing what a little spray paint can do to transform a dirty chair into something you can be proud of! And my little Myrna looks super cute eating her food in this high chair!