MY 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE PROJECT

DAY 1  Here is the second composition journal cover I did. My first is the second picture and has a Halloween theme. I was on such a roll from making a few Halloween cards and items with my grand daughters and had lots of "leftovers", so did the journal cover with them. Then my DH said, " Isn't it supposed to be the 12 Days of Christmas"? SOO I flipped it over and did a partridge in a pear tree. The background is my new Martha Stewart flower quilt punch anywhere punch. My 7 yr old grand daughter figured out the magnet mechanism for holding the paper in place. We  had a fun time with it. I looked on line and got my own idea for the tree, the partridge, and added some leaves on top of the flat tree for texture. I gave the  partridge a little glitz with Stickles on its back and the pears are pale green glitter paper.

This is the first attempt at the journal cover and I liked it and did not want to throw it away, 
although I am not usually a big Halloween fan. I do however
like all the fun food that you can have at Halloween. So I will keep the fun recipes in here on this side, and use the other side for Holiday Recipes. The main Pumpkin image is from a wood mounted stamp, the cats are a cling border, and the small images ( bats, ghost, spider and web ) are clear stamps, and the big Jack O'Lantern was made with the Martha Stewart Pumpkin features punch anywhere on the page punch. I cut the pumpkin free hand and the one side is a little lopsided, but hey, pun'kins are not always symmetrical and round...just like people! LOL! I kept the colors true with orange, black, purple, white, and a little lime green and blue in the buttons. I added a Washi tape border on three sides to mirror the dots elsewhere. It was fun.


Day 2 My card is an example of the mosaic technique. I used a variety of design paper to make my triangles. I added a shiny gold star at the top and round red bling scattered on the triangles.. This is simple enough for a young child to put together or when you need to make lots of Christmas cards. I think it needs something but not sure what.




                                                                                                                                                             

Day 3 Bath Salts gift in a decorated jar. This one was not something I would normally do since I only take showers. But I had my idea right away and bought the large yellow silk flowers at the Dollar Store, cut them apart and hot melt glued them on the base. The gold ribbon and Merry Christmas tag makes it ready to give away.

Day 4 Everyone loves Post It Notes and making a cover to make this one extra special was fun. I decided to use one of my new We R Memory Keepers tools which makes small gift boxes that close with punched out corners that over lap and hook together. I used only the corner punch feature with the hooks.. I also wanted to use some bright colored card stock. Mine is double sided and some of the red shows from below. I added a scalloped circle and hand wrote Thanks and added some bling to mirror the dots in the paper. I know someone who loves these colors...shhh....don't tell!

 

Day 5  3-D gift tags  Boy, I goofed this one up a little. Yes, my stars are 3-D but I made ornaments and not gift tags. I cut 4 of each paper star. I have a red glitter paper star, a shiny gold, a green glitter paper, and the last one is made from primitive print papers and I added crystal Stickles to the edges. It is the one to the left. I could still add a tag to these and they would be fine.

Day 6 Candle gift in a mason jar. This too was not something I would choose to do since we have 3 cats and I do not use candles much. I used hot melt glue to stick the ribbon alternating around the sides leaving a goodly space to let the candle light show through. I added the red lace collar and green satin bow. The circle from the lid was removed while the candle was lit and Epsom salts holds the candle in place.

Day 7 Mouse Trap refrigerator note holder. Painted this with red craft paint and started adding things. I had some scrap pieces of red glitter paper and added one piece to the upper right corner and the other in the lower left. I looked my papers over and chose the trees to fussy cut out. I added the torn white snow banks after the trees and I added crystal Stickles to the torn edges of the snow. The ribbons on the "trap" were an added embellishment for some softness. Yes, it won't hold lots of notes, but what it does hold will stay up on the fridge. Magnetic  strips are added to the back for that purpose.

Day 8 Candy gift "stick". This puzzled me at first because I wondered what kind of stick was needed. But after I saw some of the samples, it is only a group of candy made into a vertical strip. I put candy canes on paper tress which were stick together with red double-sided tape. Each tree has a shiny gold star on top and a little bling scattered on the trees. Sorry the picture is small. I added a folded scallop at the top to look a little like snow. Very easy . I cut my trees by hand but if you have a tree die or punch, it would go faster.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
 
Day 9 Craft stick sled All I had was wooden coffee stir sticks which are narrower and thinner than craft sticks. So I went with them.I used hot melt glue to hold them together. I painted them white and added some white sparkle paint on top. I was stumped as to what to put on the top until my DH related a story about the movie "Citizen Kane" in which the main character played by Orson Wells dies at the beginning and his last words were"rosebud". The whole movie they are trying to figure out what he meant by "rosebud" and what significance it had.I won't give the movie away but the audience finds out at the end what it meant. I had just bought some pretty little roses recently, so added one to my sled, along with some pieces left over from using a Cuttlebug die, and added the red/white bakers twine for the rope. Kind of different and cute as an ornament.

Day 10 Salt dough ornament. I have heard of these before but this is my first time trying the recipe out. (1 C flour, 1/2 C table salt, and 1/2 C warm water.) At first I was going to make Santa faces since I have a stamp with four squares with four different facial expressions on Santa. But I could not find that stamp and instead decided to use the snowflake retired set from Stampin Up. I cut the rectangles and then stamped lightly right on the "dough". The  top two I experimented with the edges using the tines of a dinner fork. After they are baked at 200 degrees until dry (mine took 3 hrs), I painted them with some pale ice blue H2Os. the bottom row I tried out some 12 Days of Christmas cookie cutters that I have had for years. I experimented with coloring with markers and the light blue is again H2Os.The hanging holes need to be cut out while the dough is still wet using a straw.

Day 11 Banners  I made a simple card using some scraps of green and red paper. I added the chalk board inner triangle and added the white chalk letters to spell JOY. the sentiment is a clear one from a new set of lots of Christmas sentiments. I added the bling between and the red/white bakers twine for the hanger.





Day 12 Mini album made from toilet paper rolls. Not sure why, but the toilet paper rolls from Wisconsin are a bigger diameter than our MN ones, So this craft had lots of room for inserting a card. I covered each flattened roll with patterned paper. I punched two holes in each and hooked two "O" rings in the holes.. I decided to make a Memorize Bible verses album. Each flattened roll has a white card inserted with a Scripture written on card. The bottom of each card has a pull out tab. There is room for 6 verses counting the front and back of each card. They are printed so my grand daughters can read them easily. I added the heart on the front with the gift paper because Jesus loves His creation and died to provide a way for us to be forgiven and be with Him eternally. He is the ultimate Christmas gift for all who would believe. This is my prayer for all, that you seek the living Word of God, Jesus Christ, and make Him your Lord and
savior, asking for forgiveness of your sins, and following Him and trying to mirror His example as recorded in His Word. God bless you all.

AUTUMN MISTS

Hi  family, friends, and followers,

We are in the cold rainy throws of Autumn. Nice napping weather. I often hear the Canadian geese over head. They stay up north all year and are I think, beautiful birds. Hope to do some watercolor paintings of them some day. It is on my bucket list.

We had a nice early Thanksgiving dinner with our son and  his wife's family today. The  turkey was cooked in the Green Egg and had a slight smoked flavor and was moist and tasty. Lots of the traditional side dishes and lots of good conversation. We will redo Thanksgiving over in MN the end of the month.

I have made a couple of cards and presently working on 12 items for a challenge called The 12 Days of Christmas. Need to finish by Nov 11 to compete .Here is a BD card for my exchange student/daughter. The Halloween Step card is  also a birthday card for a friend whose BD is Halloween.

Sorry my photo skills are so poor and the pictures small. Maybe I should add that to my bucket list too.
The floral card went quickly once I had the background paper chosen. I really liked the colors, but altered the look a little with a bit of spritzing with Pearl Glimmer Mist, that does not show in the picture but gives a shinny pearlized surface.  I had to weigh the wet paper down to keep it flat and let it dry. Then I added the vine in a green print and primitive hearts for flower buds. I cut the sentiment panel with a Spellbinder and edged it with some Baroque Burgundy ink. I used a grass green for the mat.  I added two small hearts and a bow to finish it up. Hope you had a wonderful birthday, Krissia.

The Halloween BD card took a little longer with the step cuts and folds and lots of parts to color and cut out. The main picture of pumpkins with the Trick or Treat frame is from Rubber Stampede and called Pumpkin Patch. The row of cats on the middle "mountain" is from a cling set whose name escapes me right now. The ghost, bat, "BOO" (which I added DAY to ), the spider web and spider and Happy Halloween all come from a Paper Smooches clear set. The tree with owl is from Hampton Art called Spooky Tree. I just colored the big moon behind the tree for color on that side of the card. "Necessity is the mother of invention". I added the bat for the same reason, and when I made another card just like it in yellow. I added a second spider web to the bottom left to cover that blank space. The grass is a Martha Stewart punch and I used Stampin Up markers for all the coloring.

Hope I can keep up with my blog. I have a new Touch Screen PC and things do not work the way I remember, so this old bird is having to relearn a bit and DH help often. Thanks dear!

Thanks so much for checking in to see my creations.

Be blessed, Martha

NEVER GIVE UP

Hello family and friends,

This is my first post since Jan 2012. Yikes, where has the time gone. I have communicated with most of you in other ways. My  poor old lap top  has been neglected for 5 months and not even plugged in during that time. My only excuse is that I have had more surgeries since then, 9 within the last three years, That is a lot for any old person my age. But I am relatively pain free, and able to function fairly normally, although I am not and never had been a runner LOL Just ask the coach of the neighborhood ladies soft ball team I was on years ago.

This summer began with my left knee replacement, which turned out well and I have 98% range of motion which is really good. The 12 days in rehab and the 12 weeks after going to rehab once a week really worked in my favor. I am the poster child for joint replacements!Then we went through  Bill's prostate cancer in July with it being contained and removed, and I had breast cancer found in Aug and removed and not spread anywhere.  I will need to take Tamoxifen to keep it from developing at another location in the breast. Mine was called ductal carcinoma in situ and in women my age is considered non invasive when removed. They give the med if a  woman has the DNA hormone receptors and I do, It will block hormones from causing this again. So I am a survivor and count each day a blessing.

I will try to post a card soon. Thanks for your patience and for stopping by.

God bless you all! Martha

I'M STANDING UP...

There is an old joke about a little boy at church but I am going to switch to little girl. The mother keeps telling the little girl to sit down on the pew and the child keeps standing up. Finally the mother speaks in her authority and tells the child to sit down. The girl sits down but says, "I may be sitting down on the outside, but I'm standing up on the inside."

Doesn't that sound like most of  us at some point in our lives when we can not have our way and yet we still hold onto what we want in some fashion. I recently had to make the decision for my mother to go into Assisted Living. I had help with my sister and brother concurring and the rehab hospital telling mom she could no longer live alone. She fell in Feb right after my visit from 14-21. Her leg muscles have become weak enough that she can no longer walk and must get around with a wheel chair. I found out she had been falling on a regular basis. but she has strong bones and did not break anything. But one of these times she could have hit her head and be unconscious for days. She has refused to wear a Life Alert button. She has Parkinsons and we believe it has progressed now and affects her leg muscles. She is a strong person, her mind is good for almost 91 and she likes making her own decisions. She THINKS she is going to drive again...hence the joke about the girl "standing up on the inside".

Bill and I flew down the next day after her fall. He stayed a week but had to get back to MN because the neighbors were caring for the three cats and we did not want to impose any longer. I stayed 5 weeks; Bill took the cats to WI and our son took care of them while Bill came down again for a couple of weeks. During this time mom was in a rehab hospital and I was researching the Assisted Living facilities in the area. I picked a small one that only has about 50 residents. I thought it would be easier for mom to get to know people. Her room is not too far from the dining room and she can almost get there herself in her wheel chair. She is still having therapy, and they monitor her meds, take her to doctors appointments and such. It has been almost three months and she has adjusted to her new living arrangements pretty well. She doesn't like some things, but her basic needs are met and she is safe. She still insists on going to the bathroom alone and NOT calling for help (more of the stubborn little girl showing).

We then came home for a month and needing to clean her house out so the painters could work and get the house ready to sell, we had to make plans to return to TX. We did not want to put the cats through the stress of being boarded or the expense. We decided to rent a 26 ft RV and drive down. Bill did all the driving and as soon as we were there we started the task off emptying cabinets and such. Beth came from  TN to help for 5 days or we would not have been able to finish. But the job is done, the house is freshly painted inside and out, and we even had them put in a wood laminate floor in the great room/kitchen area and down the hall.That was finished this week and next week the carpet cleaners come to clean the bedroom carpets and the indoor/outdoor carpet in the little office.. Then the cleaning ladies come next Thursday and do windows and make it look nice everywhere. Hopefully a buyer will see the nice improvements and not notice the small imperfections. The house is 25 years old and needs lots of TLC but it is a solid house in a good neighborhood and houses are selling in TX.

Mom has now been in assisted living for 1 1/2 years and doing as well as could be expected. she has to use a wheel chair to get around, falls occasionally and is in a safe environment. She will be 92 next year.Her house sold within a week of being on the market. Must have done something right.

This is an old post that remained a draft for over a year. Not sure where it will land in the lineup but it has a date and maybe you can line them up when you read them for sequential continuity.

Martha

PASSWORDS, ETC....

Hello my few faithful friends! I know, I know! I have not written on my blog for EVER it seems like. It has been so long I almost did not remember my password! But I am still here, or at least most of me is. Jan 4th I had my left shoulder replaced and WHOOPEE! I am pain free! I can not begin to tell you how good that condition feels. I am three weeks after and have one more week to wear the "sling". I am supposed to wear it 24/7 but I keep the arm propped on a little pillow when sitting in my recliner and that gives me a break. I also sleep without it a lot but I am not a wiggler and there isn't much room to wiggle in my chair anyway. Friday I begin therapy once per week and that will help me progress quickly. I have 90/95 % of my right shoulder range-of-motion back, although I am not supposed to lift heavy things. I hope to go to the YMCA and strengthen all my muscles as best I ca later. I am beginning to have occasional pain twinges from the left hip and knees. But I am hoping they hold off a long time so I can just live without pain, surgery and nursing homes on my plate.

Bill is my Knight in shining armor helping do the vacuuming, laundry, and emptying the dishwasher. He also helps with the kitty litter and lifts pans full of water etc. We work together for meal prep when needed. Love him to pieces!Thanks !

My incision must be healing because it itches right now under the steri strips. But I am OK with that since it is so much better than pain. I only had pain meds for the first 6 days and have had nothing since! That is a blessing for sure!

Attended a Valentine Showcase which was offered free by my local Archivers on Monday.We had 3 inches of new snow in the early morning hours and I was the only one of four who showed up. I was able to get to know the demonstrator and learned she also is a Christian, a pastors wife and has a house cleaning business. I wrote her name and number down for future use. LOL!

Of course I had to get a few of the sweet stamps that were used and most everything I bought was geared to Valentines and spring cards. Hopefully I can get some finished and posted before the 14th.

Hope all is well with you. Thanks for remembering me and stopping by.

ANOTHER PIECE IS GONE

Hello out there in blogland. Martha is getting smaller/thinner/ tinier by the surgery. YEP! Another piece of me old bod is gone for good. I had my gallbladder out this past Tuesday and have been trying to figure out what I can eat successfully the last three days. They say if you eat too much or too fat of foods too soon, it will not digest properly and zip right on through the system. AND I do not want that for sure!

I did not get a picture of my GB to share...I was busy sleeping. LOL! I will go to the doctor in another week and find out how it all went down and what they learned from it. I do know I had gall stones and that was what was causing my pain and discomfort.

So goodbye to another piece of me. I tell people that "God is taking me home one piece at-a-time! Thanks for stopping by.

MINTY...

Some may remember seeing the movie Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Remember the scene where the dogs after being taken to the hotel after running all over Mexico, and were given baths and teeth brushing...one of the strays smiles and his teeth sparkle and he says, "Minty"! That scene cracks us up every time.

Well, yesterday we took Jack to the vet to get his teeth cleaned...and I imagine he says "minty" every time I look at him now. I would take a picture of his clean teeth for you if he would let me. He was awfully wobbly last night and the two girl cats had thought he was gone for good and welcomed him with lots of hissing and growls. I imagined they said "Oh no, he's back"! He does give them a few running chases around the house. Mari hisses at him and growls but Luci seems to like to run too and will tolerate him a little before she stops and hisses.

After paying the vet bill for the cleaning, even Bill and I were hissing and growling. Hope we do not need to do it often.