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Friday, July 29, 2011

Five Minute Friday: "Still"



Still. What does that word mean to me?

My life is often lived in silence. It means quiet and not so noisy. I still have my aid; but, I rarely wear it at home. It means calmness. And, patience.

I observe people and always, I notice that they are forever busy multitasking. They are forever on their phones talking or texting. They are forever checking up things on emails and the internet. In their cars. In the grocery stores. In the park. Everywhere I go, I see them with a gadget planted to their ears or in their hand while doing other things including when they are visiting others.

In their busyness, they often neglect the important things in life. It is hard to be still and let things go. It is hard to just simply be still.

God says for us to sit still and know that He is God. He wants us to be calm and always listening for Him. He wants us to be worry free and to trust in Him. We often miss His little nudges in our attempt to fill every second with busyness.
Be still and know that I am God Psalms 46:10



1. Write for 5 minutes flat for pure unedited love of the written word on the prompt, “Still.”
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Get a little crazy with encouragement in the comments of the five minuter who linked up before you.


I thought I try my hand at the challenge. This is not easy to do! Read the post at the link, give it a whirl and see what you come up with. :-)

Link Roundup


To resist the influence of others, knowledge of one's self is most important.
~Teal'c (Stargate TV series)


This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in His presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything.

( 1 John 3:19-20 NIV)

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Painted Toenails



I decided to paint my toes way back in March. So, I grabbed a bottle of Sally Hansen’s Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear nail polish I had on hand and proceeded to paint one of my big toenails. I did such a bad job that I abandoned my efforts. However, I left the one toenail painted because I was too lazy to remove the polish.

I showed off the lone painted toe to Dan when he got home and he was amused. He asked why I did that and I said that I wanted my toenails painted; but, I did not do a good job. He said that it did not matter if I did a bad job or not as no one will see them. He was right because at the time, I was going outside without shoes on (it was still early in the year to wear sandals).

So, I cleaned up the mess I made with polish remover. I then grabbed the nail polish to try again. Dan gently took it from my hand. I was surprised; but, I did not argue. He shook the bottle while I placed my foot in his lap. He then proceeded to paint my toes for me.

Crush

This made me feel so special and I was so tickled with my painted toes. It is amazing what pretty painted toenails can do to a girl’s psyche. I felt silly and, at the same time, pretty. The color name was appropriate because I certainly had a crush on my toes. I told Dan I would pay him a dollar if he would paint them from now on. He just smiled.

About three weeks later, my painted toes were looking shabby. So, I reluctantly removed the nail polish. I then grabbed another color of polish and handed it to Dan. He smiled, shook the bottle and applied the paint to my toes.


Pacific Blue

Once again, I was so tickled with my painted toes. And, it was just in time for our anniversary getaway. I loved this color.

Approximately three weeks later, the pattern repeated. I removed the polish and Dan painted my toes once again.

Deep Purple

My favorite color! I have worn this color twice so far.

Bubblegum Pink

I was not a big fan of this color; but, I was still tickled to see my toes painted. I stopped taking pictures of my feet after this one. But, I since worn three more colors: Emerald City, Cherry Red andThe Real Teal. I was surprised that I loved Cherry Red and was not big on The Real Teal.

When I last removed my nail polish, I thought about going with naked toes as I had gone through all the colors I had on hand. However, I did not like my naked toes. I actually could not stand them. So, I let Dan pick out the color and he chose purple. I am tempted to go out and buy a few more colors. Maybe Black Out? Or Wet Cement? or Mellow Yellow? I am not sure what color(s) I will choose; but, I certainly will have fun.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Wordy Wednesday

Here are some random pictures I found while cleaning out the photos on my phone. I forgotten about a few as they are several months old. I thought I'd share my madness before deleting them forever (from the phone).



An extremely friendly male dog landed on our front step and vegetated for awhile before moving on. It was a very hot day and I think he was thirsty and needed rest. It is my hope he returned home. He had a collar; so, it was obvious he belonged to someone nearby.



A train had slammed into an 18-wheeler backing up traffic for miles on both the freeway and frontage road. I had a tough time trying to get to the realtor's place to pay our rent; but, I managed to get in and out with a little difficulty.



Rolling Pin Lights at Collin Street Bakery in Waco. I loved these lights.


This was taken last night and the reason for my going through the pictures on the phone. Chessie was fast asleep beside me in this position for the longest time. Let me tell you, it's not easy trying to take a picture with a phone without disturbing her highness. This was the best one I could get and I still chopped off her ears and toes.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Quilty Tuesday: On My Design Wall


I have been busy cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, recycling, reorganizing, Goodwilling, and trashing stuff. As a result, I have only done a few things in the way of crafting and quilting projects.

I did the garbage container recently as the original was driving me batty.

We are slowing working on the trash-to-treasure nightstand. All that is needed is a couple of coats of polyurethane and that project will be completed.

And, I finished adding the borders to the Layer Cake blocks which I last posted about on June 21st. They are all squared up.


As of this morning

As you can see, I have made very little progress on the quilt. The next step is cutting fabric for the sashing and sewing those on.

I am planning to relax and enjoy a week or two for myself before getting back to cleaning, cleaning, and cleaning! We are trying to simplify and organize our lives. We have already gotten rid of a dining table and two folding side tables via Craigslist and I am planning to sell off more including an antique sewing machine. (No, it is not my Grandmother's sewing machine).

I am anxious to get the Layer Cake quilt top and backing finished because I wish to play with my newest "toy" in the house.


A Sneak Tease




I'm linking up with:
Fresh Poppy Design  WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Friday, July 22, 2011

Link Roundup


  • Six Beautiful Quilt Patterns by Amanda Murphy Designs

    Six beautiful Gorgeous Quilt Patterns


    Note: I know this is a terrible picture. I didn't take the time to set up everything. I took it this morning and it's extremely cloudy! Go to this link to see the patterns in full glory!


Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Wordy Wednesday



A Screw Inside a Screw

Dan was working on setting up something HUGE for me this past weekend and encountered this screw with a tiny screw inside the head. I thought it was amusing and took several pictures of it with my macro lens before giving it back to him. I think he eventually got the tiny screw out of the bigger screw.


Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Crafty Tuesday: Garbage Container


Both Dan and I are lazy. We tend to leave little bits of trash, such as strips of plastic from prepackaged shredded cheese, all over the kitchen island. Rachael Ray has a garbage bowl. Well, so do I. But, instead of a plastic bowl, I use a recycled Slimfast container. And, this is only used for trash – not for food to compost.

I use a different kind of container for food that is compostable, which usually is an old empty plastic Folder’s container with a couple of recycled fruit/veggie or Wal-Mart bags inside. Speaking of which, I need to find people who buy coffee in the big Folder's containers and beg them to save me a container or two or three because we don't drink coffee. I used to grab empty containers from my folks; but, life changed and well, they are no longer available through them and I now have to find another source.

Once my garbage (Slimfast) container is somewhat full, I take it to the garbage can and dump it out. This keeps the island somewhat neat and trash free. This container lasts for a long time because we do not throw anything in it that could potentially cause grossness to breed.

I disliked the look of the Slimfast container itself; so, I decided to change the look. I have learned a few things from reading crafty blogs. This idea is taken from the various bloggers who do these kinds of crafts. I cannot really pinpoint nor remember any one blogger who was the inspiration for this. I just took what I learned over the years and ran with the idea that I had for this container.


I found some cute scrapbook paper on sale at Hobby Lobby. It had pigs! And, a brown background! (Pigs are my thing for kitchens and I love the color chocolate brown). I bought four sheets – two to use now and two to use later, should I ever need to replace this container.

You’ll need a variety of tools to get this job done.

  • Rotary cutter (using an old blade), mat, and ruler or scissors along with pencil to mark where to cut the paper

  • Mod Podge and a brush

  • A recycled container of your choice. I used a large Slimfast container.

  • two sheets of scrapbook paper


The first thing I did was overlap two scrapbook papers to match up the pattern. I then cut through the two layers creating a seamless joint between the two. (A rotary cutter with mat and ruler makes this so much simpler because there is no marking involved.) I then measured the width of the container and cut the two pieces to fit the container.




This is where I would change the process next time. I used a glue stick to place the paper onto the container. Next time, I will remove the Slimfast paper from the container, then use Mod Podge to stick the scrapbook paper onto container and then spread Mod Podge all over the top. Lessons learned.


Once the paper was stuck onto the container, I took the Mod Podge, spread it all over the paper with my brush, and let it dry.


My “new” garbage container. I like it very much in spite of some flaws. And, it now looks great in the kitchen. Note: This was not quite completely dry when I took the picture. I was impatient and needed to clear the floor (I was using a tripod to take pictures of the process). I did not want to come back and set up the whole thing again to take a final picture. AS I said in the beginning -- I am lazy. I really like this project and would do it all over again in a heartbeat.


I am linking up at: Today's Creative Blog,
      The Girl Creative  Making Monday Marvelous Linky Party

Monday, July 18, 2011

Pictorial Mondays


I have many pictures to process from DIY projects, vacation, and crafting. I just have not gotten around to doing them. I also have not taken pictures solely for photographing practice lately. I plan to do both (photographing and processing pictures) soon.

In the meantime, here are a few more random pictures of my cats that I have processed; but, never shared. As you probably already know, my cats are the one constant source to photograph. The first picture was an attempt at getting a good photographic shot; but, I did not quite succeed. The rest are more like snapshots than photographs as I was not aiming for a good photographic picture. Instead, I just wanted to record for posterity sake. Ha!



3/9/2011: Chessie Sunbathing in a Window

I was trying for a silhouette and did not quite succeed. However, I liked this picture well enough to keep. I personally like the black and white version better than the color.



5/22/2011: Gracie on back of my Dad's chair
[Two different shots/pictures]

This chair is very old and was my Dad's favorite chair. It is a disgusting mess; but, still sound. My mother was going to throw this away when she purchased a brand new Lazyboy after he passed away. I would not let her throw Dad's chair away. I dragged it home and it is now just taking up valuable floor space. (We don't use the chair itself.) I am planning to have it reupholstered whenever we get a home of our own. In the meantime, Gracie lies on the back of the chair quite often and is in the seat frequently. She has adopted it for her own self and thinks it is hers. I let her think it is hers.



5/22/2011: My Sewing Companion
[Two different shots/pictures.]

The second shot is a perspective from my sewing chair, which is rather high considering the sewing cabinet is also a cutting table. You can see my shorts and a wheel of my chair at the bottom right corner. You can also see that I do not sew with shoes on my feet.

Gracie sneaked into the sewing room and made herself at home beside me while I sewed. I have to confess that I liked having a companion in the room. However, it just is not safe for either one of my cats to be in there. I think in my future studio, I am going to establish safe places for them as they really do want to be with me.