Grapefruit Goodness

Can you believe it's Wednesday again?! Since I started up my little business the days just seem to fly by- it's true what they say, you never work harder than when you are your own boss lol! I really want to work in some time in my week to relax and do some stamping though, so I've treated myself to signing up to the Holiday Card Boot Camp with Jennifer McGuire hoping it will force me to take some time out to relax and learn and get inky! It starts on November 7th, can't wait!!

For now though, it's time for another Watkins Wednesday :)

One of my little Watkins addictions has to be the Grapefruit flavored Cleaning products...

 All Purpose Cleaner

Dish Soap

Hand Soap

What I love most about them is that they don't smell like cleaning products- they just leave a nice clean grapefruity smell in your kitchen. Once again, I'm a sucker for that label too- those bottles look so pretty sitting out on my counter!

Importantly, they are all natural- so good for us, and for the environment. Why is it important to use natural home care products? Well, I'm glad you asked ;)....

To Protect Your Family -90% of our time is spent indoors.
-Triple pane windows and high efficiency insulation make it harder for indoor air to escape. –The products you use are directly released into the air and stay on the surfaces of your home.
–Children breathe faster in proportion to their body weight than adults, making them more vulnerable to chemical exposure. (www.healthychild.org)
•EPA reports that air pollution in our homes is five times worse inside than outside and ranks indoor air quality among the top five risks to human health. (www.epa.gov) ... Eww!

To Protect the Environment
What you use at home has a direct effect on the ecosystem around you! What you use goes down the drains, into the water ways, and releases into the soil and water supply. Certain chemicals in cleaning products act as a food source to algae. When they reproduce to this extent they do not allow oxygen into the water source and kill the fish, damaging the eco system. (Smith and Schindler, 2009) These chemicals also end up in the water supply which pollutes ground soil feeding your vegetables and fruits. These chemicals can end up in the water that you drink. (http://www.thegreenguide.com/)

What’s the difference between cleaners that are plant-based vs. petroleum based?

•Studies have shown that making household cleaners from plant-based materials uses less energy than making the same cleaners from petroleum.

•Using less energy helps reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses.

•If every household in the U.S. replaced just one bottle of 24 oz. petroleum-based dishwashing liquid with our 24 oz. plant-based product, we could save 85,886 barrels of oil!

•That is enough to heat and cool 4,941 U.S. homes for a year!

That blurb was pulled from the Watkins website- but I find it really interesting, and had to share! Can you believe that if each of us replaced just one bottle of regular dishwashing liquid with one plant based one, it would save that much oil!! That's crazy! Plus, from experience I can tell you the Watkins plant based dishwashing liquid works just as good as any yucky petroleum based one, and it's much kinder on your hands.

I'm sad that my favorite thing in the whole catalog isn't available in Grapefruit yet- but I'm holding out hope it will be soon.

Isn't this Sink Set, containing natural hand soap and lotion, just gorgeous!! It's perfect for the guest bathroom, or by the kitchen sink. It's great to have lotion right there by the sink too- especially when it's getting cold and our hands are getting dry this time of year. Like I said, they don't do it in grapefruit yet, but it does come in Lemon, Lavender, and Aloe & Green Tea. Even better, this month it's on sale!!! Yep, buy one at regular price, and get one 50% off (just add one set to your cart, and you will be invited to add a second matching set for 50% off at checkout)!

Woo hoo!!!  That's two christmas gifts taken care of in one go, or one for you and one for them! Wouldn't it be nice to have this in the guest bathroom for when you start getting company for the holidays- you wouldn't believe how much sitting this set by the sink can spruce up even the plainest bathroom!

Well, that's all for now- I have two custom coaster orders to work on and another package to mail out by tomorrow too so I'd better get a move on! I'll hopefully be back on Friday to update you all a little more on what we've been getting up to, and I may even have a card to share- shocking, I know!!!

Lynsey x

Introducing Watkins Wednesday!

It's 10.18pm exactly over here on the West Coast you know, so I'm not late posting this... technically it is still Wednesday ;)

I promised a new feature yesterday- and here it is! I mentioned a month or so ago that I had signed up to become an Independent Watkins Associate, and it fell kinda flat to be honest lol! I understand, most of my readers are here expecting to see cards and the last thing we want when taking our daily time with a cup of tea (or coffee for you non-Brits!) is to have people trying to sell us random stuff.

I get it, I really do...

But, the more products I try from this company, the more I just LOVE them! So, I have to share!!!

I mean, who couldn't love a company that started here- in a little red wagon back in the 1800's.. and is still around today!

Even more amazing to me, is that the very first product that J.R Watkins sold in 1868- from a little wagon just like the one above- is still one of Watkins number one sellers today! All they had to do to make it 96.5% natural was remove the artificial red food coloring it was previously formulated with. Isn't that amazing!

Not only does this Pain Relieving Liniment have a great history, it also works!! Boy, does it work! My husband suffers from lower back pain after a fall from the top of a plane (that was on the ground at the time at least :-P ) a few years back, and he has pain meds for it but they affect his sleep and just make him feel horrible. So when we read about this liniment we figured, why not give it a try! The science behind this stuff is that all-natural camphor and capsicum (that stuff that makes peppers hot!) stimulate nerve receptors that feel heat, masking the feeling of pain and relieving discomfort. The camphor works as a kind of anesthetic, stimulating some nerve endings and depressing others. The bottom line is, Jason says it feels gooood and really does work! I haven't had a need to try it yet, but I'm holding out hope that if those endometriosis pains return at some point that this will be my saviour!! It's priced well too, $12.99 for a 11floz bottle- and this stuff lasts forever as it's so strong you really don't need much (oh, and they advise you pat it on rather than rub it or it could get a little too hot- phew!).

 According to a testimonial on the Watkins site, a Minnesota Twins trainer recommended it to Johan Santana- and he was amazed by the immediate relief and now uses it for all of his aches and pains and suggests it to other athletes....

That might impress me a little more if I had any idea who Johan Santana is, and what sport the Minnesota twins even plays... but hey, if athletes uses the stuff it has to be good right?!

Ultimately though, I don't need any testimonial other than the one from my happy hubby, who as I said LOVES THIS STUFF! :)

If you would like to order some Pain Relieving Liniment you can do so at my Watkins site here! While you're there, why not take a look at all the other hundreds of natural products available too :) If you see a lot that you like, why not host a catalog party- I send you some catalogs for you to share with your family and friends, you collect the orders and money, send me the orders via email and money through paypal, and then I ship the products to you to distribute to your family and friends. If your catalog party totals more than $150.00 in sales you get 10% of the total sales in FREE product.... if your party total is more than $500, you get 30% FREE!!! If you're interested, you can find my email in my blogger profile to get more info :)

So, that's my very first Watkins Wednesday feature all wrapped up! I look forward to sharing more with you each week as we explore more of the products available, and add to our list of The Wronas' Recommendations!! Hehe, how cute is that, I just made it up as I typed :-)

And remember, even though you are more than likely reading this on Thursday morning- I wrote it on Wednesday night (now 10.51pm!) so I wasn't late with my first Watkins Wednesday post! Ok, glad we cleared that up :)




Lynsey x

Time for my monthly update...

Um, oops... there I went again neglecting my blog for almost a whole month!

I have one question- where did October go?!!!

I can tell you one thing for sure, it's been a reallllyyy busy month for me, and a fun one too!

It involved lots of meeting new people, making lots of crafty things, and researching lots of boring business stuff!

I launched my new Etsy Store, and little company Oak Valley Crafts & Gifts!

 I made some Halloween Themed Coasters- BOO!! ($8.00)

 Fall themed Candle Holders (Vintage Pumpkin ($12.00), and Coasters (Vintage Autumn Butterfly ($12.00)

(I found the vintage pumpkin and butterfly designs on a great blog called The Graphics Fairy, and I've linked them up to her weekly Brag Monday feature!)

Lots of coasters featuring our local covered bridge and community motto! These were super popular at the Octoberfest carnival here in town!

 And, I've been busily working on custom, personalized coaster orders too! ($20.00 for set of four)

I was excited to be invited to join the Tehachapi Valley Arts Association and start working at and selling my items at Gallery & Gifts!

I'm also signed up to sell my crafts at two more car shows (Lancaster 10-29, and California City 11-13) and at a big Holiday Bazaar next month (11-25, 11-26) at Bear Valley Springs. Last but not least, I'll also be at Souza Family Vineyards for their Holiday Boutique events (11-11, 12-9)!! Whew!!

As you can probably tell, I've been making quite a lot of coasters, candle holders, and cards lately. That wasn't enough for me though, so I'm adding magnets and tree ornaments to the selection... watch this space :)

I haven't had time to spend on much of anything else lately lol! But, we've been making decisions and making plans... I'll share more on that soon.

The new Watkins catalogs arrived yesterday too, wooo! I already have a list as long as my arm of more products I want to try, and an ever increasing list of my faves!! I'm introducing a new feature, Watkins Wednesday tomorrow- so again, watch this space! :)

Ok, time to get back to work- I have 20 sets of coasters to make today lol!!

Lynsey x

Here's what made me happy today....

This arrived in the mail today!!!!

Yeyyy!!! You wouldn't expect anything less right? For someone as addicted to Distress Inks as me lol! I saw the release post by Tim Holtz on my birthday and was super excited, but when I tried to buy them everyone was out of stock already :( But then, I think it was a couple of days later and I was doing my usual morning thing of checking Facebook and Twitter on my phone when I woke up, and I saw a tweet by Simon Says Stamp that they had a few left in stock!! Well, I've never actually purchased anything through my phone before- but you bet I clicked that link right away and bought me a set :) Hubby was very confused when he turned over next to me and I told him I just bought that seasonal Distress Ink set I wanted lol! As a bonus, when they arrived today, SSS has included a pack of pink rhinestones- could a little package in the mail be any more exciting to open!! I can't wait to get my stamps inky with these new colours!

I also picked up a great find in the Dollar Store today...

I've wanted to try my hand at making those painters tray wall decor thingys for a long time now, and when I spotted these for just $1 each, I couldn't pass them up! I almost took all of them- but I figured I had better actually try making one first, as even at a $1 it's silly to spend that if I won't use them. I have all kinds of ideas running around my head for some great gift ideas for Christmas, and I'm going to do a few holiday decor ones too!

Another thing that made me happy today?

 I ordered The Help through the local library system a couple of weeks ago, and I think I was something like 35th on the waiting list! I figured maybe I'd get to read it by the end of the year lol, but it came in this week!! I plan on taking a nice hot bath this evening and try out my new bath soak from the Watkins stuff I shared yesterday, and starting the book. Have you read it yet, or seen the movie?

You might have noticed I change my profile blurb yesterday- after all I had to update my age at least :( lol! I mentioned a new addiction I have developed over the past year..... couponing!! Yes, I am one of those annoying coupon ladies hehe!! Well, I'm no where near as extreme as those shown on Extreme Couponing- which by the way, is very exaggerated for TV- and I refuse to buy junk just because it's cheap, or even free! I don't get huge savings, and don't even buy the Sunday paper to get the coupons anymore (as it's mostly full of junk food coupons), but the savings really do add up, plus I enjoy researching and working out the deals. It's nice to get my brain working now and again lol! So, I decided I will share my couponing adventures here from now on, as well as everything else I have been over sharing lately lol! I had a disappointing trip to Rite Aid today as they didn't have what I wanted in stock. I'll go back on Friday when I'm next in town, so no biggie :) I did a little shop in Walgreens though while picking up a prescription.

This is by no means what I would call a big haul- I didn't have a coupon for the trash bags, and only 2 for the carmex- but still they are things we use and needed, and they were a lot cheaper than usual.... The trash bags were on sale for 5.99 and with an in store coupon I got $1 off that, so $4.99. They are usually around $8-9 I think. The Carmex is usually $1.79 each, and there was a coupon in the ad for 3 for $3. I had 2 printable coupons for $0.30 off one, so got all three for $2.40, or $0.80 each.  So, with tax I spent just over $8 and saved $7. Again, these weren't awesome stock up prices, but we had 3 trash bags left and hubby will only use Carmex, and only the squeeze tube as he gets coldsores a lot in the winter. This is stuff I would have to buy anyway, and I saved almost 50%! Do you coupon?

So those are the things that made me happy today! I'm also excited for the new Modern Family and The Middle tonight... and Grey's Anatomy tomorrow!! We had been talking about cancelling our satellite all summer, but now with all my shows starting back up I think it might just have to stay!

Hope you had a happy day too!

Lynsey x

A fortnight in review.....

Wow! It's been a busy couple of weeks since I last posted! Here's a quick roundup....

Sept 10th- Woken at 5am by LOUD thunder right above our house- eeek!!! I love storms, as long as hubby is home with me, and the power is out... and a new condition that will be explained in a second....as long as they are accompanied by lots of rain. We spent a little while watching the lightning out of the window and then as it passed over us, we headed back to bed. Just as we were falling asleep we both sat up with a jolt- 'I smell smoke!!' We headed back to the window and see flames, not too far away at all, and start to panic. We get up and dressed and after a few minutes standing outside watching, Jase heads out to take a look. Luckily, he reports back that lightning stuck the ground at one of the ranches nearby, but that the firefighters got to it quickly and had it almost out already, phew!!!

However, as the morning went on, we heard more and more news of fires that had been started in the area by the lightning. We tuned into the radio scanners and listened to the fire crews strategize who would go where and which fires were higher priority. We hear from a friend, on the edge of the community, that their house is being threatened and they are evacuating. Then we get notified that the whole area has been put on precautionary evacuation. This just meant we had to be ready to leave if needed, so off we went around the house, room by room, determining what was irreplaceable and had to come with us if needed. We got important papers, photo albums, my wedding dress... and veil... and shoes lol and little things like my first teddy, aww, and packed them all up ready to go. By the end of the day though things were still looking pretty good. There was a fire down the side of the mountain still, but the wind was blowing in our favor.

Sept 11th- After a looonnnggg day of stress and not much sleep the day before, we slept in late on Sunday and lazed in bed watching some of the 9/11 anniversary shows on tv. We decided not to turn on the radio scanners that day, as all it did was stress us out even more. The skies looked clear, and there was no sign of fire on the horizon so we figured everything was fine. After all, we'd get a call from the emergency system if needed, and I was following updates on Facebook. By the afternoon though, it hard turned from a nice clear day, to this...

The wind had changed direction, and was now pushing the fire up the mountain.. towards Stallion Springs! There was ash landing all around us and the smoke was giving me a headache and affecting Jase's breathing. Then came the phone call!! We were notified that we were now under a recommended evacuation, and that they might not have time to notify us again if it became mandatory. Eeek! This being our first fire experience up in the mountains, by now we were pretty freaked out! We talked to our next door neighbours and they said they were packed up ready, but wouldn't leave until they saw fire cresting the hill..... our 'behind' neighbour has lived here 20+ years and told us he wouldn't be leaving either, and was instead watering down the dry grass around his property just in case. But, then we spoke to the family across the street, who it turns out has a friend who is a firefighter, and they had asked him if they should leave and had been told it was better to be safe than sorry... We watched them leave, and another family across the street with young kids, and decided we would go too. It was unthinkable that the fire would reach our home- look at how many houses it would destroy to get to us- but, fire is an unpredictable beast, and with all the ash falling around us we didn't want to take any chances. We also knew it was going to be a battle to round the cats up- crawling under beds and into closets to get them- and fight to put them in their crates to leave. Plus, who's going to get any sleep when one of you has to be on fire watch all night!! So... we packed up our cannot live withouts, followed all the evacuation tips (ladder against the house, hoses hooked up and visible, doors and windows locked, automatic garage door opener disabled and left unlocked) and headed down the mountain to stay with friends for the night. It was still a restless night, with the cats being unsettled, and being in an unfamiliar bed, and worrying about what was happening. But at least we knew we were safe, just in case.

Sept 12th- Over the course of 2 days the fire had grown over 20,000 acres!! But we were relieved to read that it was now starting to be contained. We called our neighbours who said everything was fine and the smoke was a lot better than the day before. The evacuation order was still in place, but there was talk of it being lifted for our part of the community. So, we packed up our poor cats again and headed back up the mountain. It was a little scary, driving into town and seeing the hundreds of fire trucks and firemen every where, but it felt so good to be back home. Late that afternoon, the recommended evacuation was reduced back down to precautionary and we heaved a sigh of relief and went out to eat heaps of Chinese food :)

Phew! What a weekend.How ironic that after my last post about how much we love the mountains, we experienced the not so fun side of living here! Seriously though, it was good preparation for if/when it happens again and we are maybe more in danger- and in my true 'dancing in the rain' attitude... we got to know our neighbours better :-) Luckily no homes were destroyed in the fire, just someone's back deck and a lot of beautiful land. I saw a photo on a friend's Facebook page of her neighbours house and the fire had literally burned her property up to about 4 feet away from her home!! Those firemen did an amazing job. There was over 1100 personnel battling our fire alone that week, and there were 40 others burning in the area- they came from as far as San Diego and Laguna Beach. I heard that many of them, after being relieved from our fire were reassigned to fly to Texas to help with their awful fires also. These men and women truly are heroes.

Last week was a little less eventful, and more cheery!

I celebrated my birthday on Sept 14th (I turned 29, shhhh!), and spent a nice relaxing day with hubby shopping (with coupons lol- got some amazing deals!!!) eating Indian food, and visiting with friends. I was very spoiled with lots of lovely cards and gifts arriving from family and friends. Hubby had even secretly gone into my craft room and made me a handmade card, awww!

He decorated the envelope too, see!

The rest of the week felt like one long birthday celebration :)

On Thursday I got another package in the mail... my first Watkins delivery! Look at all these natural products and yummy packaging goodness...

I can't wait to try them all out!! There's cleaning products, foot care, facial care, bath soak, shower stuff, first aid thingys, and spices, extracts and BBQ sauce!!! And that's not even a 10th of the products they offer!

 I can tell you already, the Warming Balm (in the white tube with red stripes) is amazing and hubby says it has really helped with his bad back at night. It really does get warm and soothes aches and pains, a little bit goes a long way... and it's all natural :) Love it!!

As I get to try more of the products I will be sure to share those that I love with you on here. It's also my 1st blogiversary coming up next month, so I plan to do a fun give away incorporating some of my fave stamp sets and Watkins products :)

Last, but not least- the highlight of the past craaazzzyyy two weeks was on Saturday (when I forgot my camera so we had to make do with my phone!).

We ate lots of crab, while sporting very fashionable bibs, lol!

And sat 20 rows from the front at a Rascall Flatts concert- yey!!!!!!

So, that's us all caught up on my past couple of weeks!

Lynsey x

New Neigbours...

(side note... I can never decide if I should use UK or US spelling in my posts lol- oh the trials and tribulations of being an English girl in America :) )

We've been living here in Stallion Springs, just outside of Tehachapi, for six months now. Wow, time has flown by! We've had so much fun experiencing our first summer living in our very own little home in the mountains, and we're both eagerly awaiting our first fall, and winter and all the new experiences those seasons will bring. Time for this girl to learn how to put on snow chains- eek!

Best of all over the past few months though, has been getting to know our new neighbo(u!)rs. Friendly waves as you pass on the street are common place here, and as we start to recognize these faces we feel more and more at home. Recently I've been getting involved in some new projects in town, and am starting to make more new friends- and so feel even more at home and part of the community. We are truly blessed to have found our little corner of the world, and to have been able to buy our home and start setting down roots here.

Our most treasured new neighbours however, are those of the four legged, and winged variety! I never really thought about it when we were in the process of moving up here, but of course when you live out in a small community in the mountains, you share your neighbourhood with lots of other little residents. We've had all kinds of visitors to our back yard, and frequently see them when we're out on early morning, or evening walks. We've got quite a collection of photos from this past six months of our encounters with creatures great and small just outside our door. I thought I would take a moment to share them with you today :)

Now, remember, I never claimed to be a photographer- and these pics are taken on a point and shoot, often rushing to get the pic before the subject ran away lol! I'm trying to say they are not great quality lol, and that I want a good camera for Christmas.... please Santa!! hehe!

Aww, I know some people see them as pests in a garden- but I just love my little rabbits and squirrels that hang out daily in our yard.

 Can you see our next visitor up in the oak tree?

How about now?! lol!


A few nights later, our cats were making all kinds of fuss by the patio door and Jase went to take a look and see what was going on...

Ok.. now that's a little close for comfort Mr Raccoon!!

We also discovered the other night that we have a skunk living under our shed!! I'm sure you'll understand we didn't try to get close enough to photograph him!!

My favorite neighbors of all though, without doubt, are these guys...

I love living in the mountains :-)

Lynsey x

Feeling Vintage

I'm just going to pretend I didn't go missing for a month again, ok? ok... I promise I will fill you in on what I've been up to over the next few weeks- it's been a busy and exciting few weeks!

Hubby went to visit with a friend this afternoon, something about cars, guns and just generally getting oily and sweaty lol! I opted to stay indoors in the cool, with the ceiling fans running and take some time to catch up on bloggy land and do some creating.

I was feeling in a vintagey (is that a word? If not, I'm making it one!) mood since we spent Friday evening wandering around town exploring the local antique stores. We're starting a little collection of antique finds and like to rummage around to see if anything stands out to us. Jase loves anything old military, or old toy trucks etc. I love anything old style with a country or vintage home feel. How stereotypical are we? hehe! Anyway, we didn't find anything on that adventure, but got to meet some lovely new people in town which is always fun.

Another thing that's got me into a vintagey (if I use the word twice in one post, then it definitely counts as a word- whether spellcheck agrees or not!) mood, is my new venture... but more on that in a minute!

Firstly, and of course most importantly, here's my vintage feel card that I created this afternoon.

I used the current Hero Arts color challenge to inspire my color choices, and reached for my HA Make Your Own stamp, to ink it up for the first time... with Distress Ink of course! I stamped onto kraft paper and then distressed and inked the edges to add to that worn, old look. I then stamped HA Dots and Flowers onto a piece of burnt red cardstock and distressed and inked the edges of that piece also. I used my crop-o-dile to add the eyelet and threaded through a piece of ribbon that I had dyed green using more Distress Ink. These pieces were then adhered to a piece of sandy colored card, and matted onto some green cardstock. I inked the sentiment, from HA Thank You For Being My Friend set, lightly with Stazon so that it wasn't as crisp and bold as usual when stamped, again adding to the aged feel of the card.

So, my new venture.... let me ask, do you remember Watkins?

Maybe this picture will help jog your memory?....

If you grew up in America, then depending on how, erm... vintage.. you are, you probably remember your grandmother, or mother using J.R Watkins products in their baking. You might even remember the Watkins man coming door to door, delivering all kinds of lotions and potions and spices and extracts?

I don't have these memories unfortunately, having grown up in the UK. But, I was happy to stumble upon this company, and their products recently at a local country craft day in town. I was drawn in to the stall by the display of all kinds of bottles and tins and boxes, packaged in this old fashioned design which we've established already that I am increasingly a sucker for :) I was told the story of the Watkins man, and about the award winning Vanilla, and Black Pepper and Cinnamon. Then, when I took a closer look at the products, I became even more intrigued..... the array of personal care and cleaning products I saw before me amongst the spices, and mixes, and extracts, were all natural!!!

If you know a little about me, you will know that since being diagnosed with Endometriosis, I have been on a mission to eliminate as much processed food, and chemicals and preservatives as possible from our home. It turns out that Watkins' mission is to produce natural products that are good for us, and the environment.

Natural products? Vintage packaging?

I'm sold!

After talking to the lovely lady manning the stall (Hi Sandy!!), and finding out that I could save 25% on these all natural, beautifully packaged products just by getting the membership package and becoming an Independent Watkins Associate, I decided, hey, this sounded like something I might be interested in! So I signed up! (something you may have been well aware of well before getting to this point in the post seeing as I have a badge declaring this fact right at the top of my blog, hehe!)

Here's the thing.... I don't want to put you off, thinking I'm now going to be aggressively pushing these products down your throat. I don't intend to do that at all. However, I'm excited for this new venture, and to try some new products that will hopefully help me in my goal of using all natural products in my home and improving my health. When I try these new products, if I love them as much as I hope to hopefully you won't mind me sharing them with you and sharing links to these products so you can try them too if you wish. From time to time, I will share offers with you and incentives for hosting catalog parties etc. Best of all I hope to offer regular blog candy- and we all love blog candy, right?!!!

If you are interested in Watkins, and what they have to offer- either in terms of products, or the chance to save 25% and start a home business of your own with no minimum sales goals like other direct sales companies, then please take a look at my Independent Watkins Associate site Natural Living with Lynsey.

The new catalog will be released in October and I will be offering incentives for anyone who would be interested in hosting a catalog party with their family and friends, and earning free product- a great way to save on Christmas gifts this year :-). If you are interested, or have any questions, please leave a comment here, or email me at lynzwrona521@yahoo.com.

I hope you will join me in my excitement in my new venture! Tell me, do you have memories of Watkins? Do you use Watkins already and have a favorite product you couldn't live without?

Hope you are having a wonderful holiday weekend!

Love Lynsey x

If friends were flowers....

Just popping in with another entry for the HA Summertime and Parties challenge that ends tonight.

As I said the other day, I seem to have a very limited amount of summery stamps..... so the Be Happy set is being put to use again here. Isn't that the beauty of stamps though, how they can be used over and over and create something different every time :)

When I was inking up the flower from that set for my Be Happy card I remembered the Lawn Fawn Hello Friend set that I had bought and still not used yet! I had bought it specifically for the sentiment I used in this card, so it's about time it got all inky!!

For this card, I stamped the HA Envelope Pattern with Distress Ink onto watercolour paper and the flowers and sentiment with Stazon. I inked the edges, and watercoloured the flowers, again with Distress Ink. Have I mentioned my Distress Ink addiction before?...... Finally I added the ribbon, tied in a bow and adhered the panel to a purple HA card. Simple!

I hope you are all having a great day! It's super hot here so I'm hiding inside in the air conditioning, waiting for it to cool down so I can go to the Farmers Market this evening.

Lynsey x

Be Happy :)

I just had to get a card in for the current Hero Arts challenge before I get on with those chores I was talking about in my last post!!

The challenge theme is Summertime and Parties, and I was a little stumped, as having started stamping in fall last year I don't seem to have that many summery stamps yet lol! Then I remembered the cutey set Be Happy (CL377).

I stamped the flower and bee using Memento black ink, and coloured them both with Copics. I cut them out by hand- doing a horrible job I might add, I think I will be looking into the other part of the HA challenge to use die cuts and printables this evening lol. I inked a white Hero Arts card with Tumbled Glass and Broken China distress inks, and adhered the grass die cuts (EK Success) to the bottom. I tucked the flower into the grass, and put a foam square behind the flower part to give dimension. I then cut bits of vellum and attached them to the bee to make its wings, and then adhered him onto the card in position. Finally, I stamped the bee's trail, hand drew his antennae, and stamped the sentiment in Stazon.

I like the overall look of this card, but I'm not so happy with my detail cutting skills- I blame it on being a leftie.... and possibly impatience and blunt scissors lol! So, like I said I'm going to explore the Hero Arts die cuttting files and work out how to use them tonight :)

Ok, now I really must do the laundry or hubby will have nothing to wear for work tomorrow, hehe!

Lynsey x

Ribbons and Rub-Ons

You won't believe this, but I actually did get in my craft room yesterday and made not one but three cards for four challenges- yey!!! The Play Date Cafe was a regular challenge of mine a few months ago, along with CR84FN. I have played at the Shabby Tea Room before too, but this is my first time at CAS-ual Fridays!

Ok, first up my card for CAS-ual Fridays and Play Date Cafe.....

CAS-ual Friday's challenge this week was to use Rub-Ons in a CAS card. When I read this, I knew I had to play along as I had bought a bunch of rub-ons at a little scrapbook store up in Big Bear last year and had left them sitting in a drawer since I bought them home. So, it was time to dust them off and have a go at them!

The Play Date Cafe challenge was to use a splash of colour in your card. I thought this would be the perfect match to the rub on flowers I was using.

Nothing too difficult here, just rub on the rub-ons (by KaiserScrapbook) and colour in the large flower with pink copics. The sentiment is a rub-on also from a little set that came with my Texture Boutique when I bought it. I just finished the card by rounding the corners, and it's good to go!

My second card is another really simple one that I created based on the colours in this weeks Shabby Tea Room challenge:

The challenge was create a card inspired by this photo, and using the colours pink, green and yellow. While rummaging through my stash for the rub-ons for my first card I came across these cute dragonfly stickers that I had bought last time I was back in England. They matched the colours for this challenge and even reminded me of the floral designs on the picture, with their patterned wings.

I ran a yellow card through my Texture Boutique with the Cuttlebug Leafy Branch embossing folder, and then inked over it lightly with Shabby Shutters Distress Ink to highlight the leaf pattern. I then simply stuck on the dragonflies (Paper Mania) and stamped the sentiment (HA CL342) in black Stazon. A simple summery card.

My third and final card was created using the CR84FN colour pallette for this week,



and is also inspired by the current CREATE blog challenge to make and use ribbon flowers in your design (though I won't be submitting this card for that challenge as I assume it can't have been posted on your blog beforehand?)

I really enjoyed making these flowers! I simply took three lengths of white ribbon and inked them with Worn Lipstick, Spun Sugar and Scattered Straw Distress Inks. Then I hand stitched a basting stitch along the bottom edge of the ribbon and pulled it tight to gather it into pleats. I then attached the buttons using thread. I stamped the light pink card base with Hero Arts Small Stitched Flowers in Worn Lipstick Distress ink and cut a banner out of white card stock, inking that with Worn Lipstick also. The sentiment is a rub-on, also from the set that came free with my Texture Boutique (love freebies!), and I faux stitched around the edge of the banner before adhering it to the card with foam squares. I then arranged the flowers and stuck them down with Glossy Accents, and voila!

I really did enjoy getting back in my craft room, and I also realised something about myself, and why I struggle with finding motivation sometimes. I LOVE to learn new things, and what initially brought me to stamping was the Thinking Inking series Jennifer McGuire did a while back. I was amazed by all the techniques available to try, and couldn't wait to learn them myself. The problem is, once I have done them a few times I get bored lol! I am no means an expert though so I need to push myself to keep trying those techniques I have learned already, and incorporate them into the colour challenges online. So, now I have figured myself out- I can push myself to do more, because once I get in that zone I enjoy myself so much.

One thing I really do want to work on is my photography! I haven't found that sweet spot in my house yet, where the lighting is perfect, so I'll keep searching for that too and trying new locations. Today, Odie decided he really needed to help out with this...

Lol, I have about 10 outtakes today with random cat paws, whiskars, noses and tails in!! I should probably iron that pillow case I use for my backdrop too hehe!!

I seem to remember someone doing a series on how to improve your card photography earlier in the year, was it Lisa Spangler? All I know is to use the macro setting, so I have a lot more to learn!

Anyway, that's it from me for today- I have a list of other challenges I want to enter too so I'll be popping up tomorrow again I'm sure... but for now I have errands to run, and laundry to do :)

Lynsey x

Ok, today WILL be the day!!!

So, after my last post on Wednesday, I excitedly looked up my favourite challenge blogs and started planning what cards I was going to make.... then hubby showed up home early from work (he usually gets home at midnight so the evening is when I tend to craft) and we ended up snuggling on the sofa watching TV.

We also got talking again about me looking into going back to school, and so there went Thursday as I spent the day trawling college websites and emailing a million people to figure out where to start with that lol! I have wanted to be a Dietitian for years now but couldn't figure out how to manage going back to school to get the required degree. For one thing, I already have a BA in Psychology (yes, I am reading your mind as I type :-) ) and I felt like going back to get another Bachelors kind of made those years I spent getting that a waste of time (though very fun!!!). Secondly, the closest colleges to me that offer accredited programs in Dietetics are over 2 hours away, and I no longer see an appeal in dorm living- probably something to do with being almost 30 with a husband and a mortgage! But, I have discovered a course that is offered completely online and that will lead not only to me being eligable to take the exam to become a registered dietitian, but will also end in a Masters degree! I'm very excited now, but also extremely confused navigating the prerequisites that have prerequisites that have prerequisites!!! Of course, this online college doesn't offer all of the prereqs online so I then need to find other online courses to get them- arrrggghhh!!!

Sorry, I'm boring you...... but you see how Thursday was overtaken and card making pushed to the side lines yet again!!

Hubby works 4 day weeks so has Friday through Sunday off. We spent Friday 'researching home improvemnt projects' which translates to vegging on the sofa all day watching DIY Network lol! I do have a list as long as my arm of things I want to do now though to give our 5 year old house more character. We also decided to stop procrastinating and actually build some much needed shelves in the garage for storage, so we got out the tape measure and designed us some shelving that would be much cheaper than buying them ready built. Then Saturday and Sunday were spent (with the exclusion of Saturday evening during which we ate Mexican food and cuddled babies at our friends' house) buying supplies and building our shelves! We're feeling very proud of ourselves for completing our biggest project yet...

From this:

To this:

It's not quite finished yet as someone (who, me?!) slightly miscalculated how many 2x4's we needed so we have to get some more to do the top shelves, and we want to add 2x4 to the bottom front of each shelf to give it a little more support. But like I said we're pretty happy with ourselves.

Ok, so it's just a bunch of 2x4 and plywood screwed together, but WE built it together :)

Fallen asleep yet? lol!

Anyway, all that just to say- bear (bare?) with me, I AM heading into my craft room today and WILL have cards to share tonight or tomorrow!

Watch this space :)

Thank you for your kind comments, and for not giving up on me :)

Lynsey x

Where did the last two months go?!

Seriously.... last time I posted was May 8th!!! I've still been checking in on all the blogs on my feed, and at the Hero Arts Flickr group etc, and have even checked out some challenges here and there and started coming up with ideas for card entries. I just don't seem to have felt the motivation to sit and write, or blog the cards I have made- which is strange as I loved it when I was active in all the challenges and blogging before.

A post by an online friend,  Virginia, inspired me today. She was just picked as a Moxie Fab World winner, and will be published in a future issue of their magazine, along with another card she already had picked up for publication!! I was so excited for her to hear this, and reading about how she was so happy to have achieved one of her goals I remembered all those goals I had set for myself in my card making and stamping. Being new to both, having stamped my first card in September last year when recovering from surgery, my goals don't stretch to being published yet- though I suppose it wouldn't hurt to check out the submission calls and submit some cards here and there- my biggest goal since finding the Hero Arts blog and Flickr group has been to win one of their monthly contests. I was entering 2-3 cards for each round for months, but haven't entered at all since March I think. Well, I can't expect to win if I don't even take part can I lol!!

So, as of tonight I am heading back into my craft room and going to get back into entering all the challenge blogs I love, including the Hero Arts challenge.

I have been crafting over the past few months in my absence however, and branching out into other crafts. I actually took part in a craft show in our new town in April, and was really successful- hence the Etsy store I started :) I haven't kept up with that much since it's inception though, and really do need to start adding more items to it. I started making photo coasters, which sold really well at the show and sold quite a few sets online- but honestly there is not much creativity involved in it and I quickly got bored lol! I enjoy making them using photos I have taken as at least that way I get to do some photography in the process, but I started doing personalized ones where people sent me their photos, and that wasn't as much fun... though more popular!!

Here's an example of my own photography on a photo coaster I made:

The photo is of daffodils that popped up and surprised us in our new garden!! It has been so much fun discovering new flowers coming into bloom everyday as the summer unfolds. I'll have to share some more pictures soon.

Mum and Dad bought me an early birthday present of a sewing machine too, which I originally wanted for sewing on cards but now I've been doing some little sewing projects too! I don't have any photo's of projects yet, but will share them as I make more. My biggest project so far was for my Mum's birthday which isn't until August, so can't share it until then!!

As I said in my last post, my parents visited in May and we had lots of fun with them. I got to teach Mum a lot of new stamping techniques and her favourite was heat embossing :) She went home very excited to buy her own heat gun and get embossing! We also made a trip to Yosemite, and hiked up to Vernal Falls, which was beautiful.

That's my Mum and Dad celebrating reaching the falls after the looonnnggg climb :)

We had a housewarming party on our 6th Wedding Anniversary, and enjoyed sharing our new home with some of our friends, eating BBQ and smores :)

That's me and hubby having fun lol!

Before the party, we built our own fire pit in the back yard....

There's me adding the final brick :)

We've had so much fun doing little projects around our new house. So far we've changed out all the fixtures like towel rails etc in both bathrooms, changed out the faucet in the kitchen, fixed our own air conditioning by researching and buying a part online (saving lots of $$$ lol!). I already shared our kitty bathroom project lol, and my craft room. We're planning what to do with the yard next year.... I want it to include some raised beds for veggies, but other than that we're still pretty stumped lol!

I've been enjoying trying new recipes, using my new oven and Kitchen Aid mixer in my beautiful new kitchen! Here's the red velvet cupcakes I made from scratch for hubby's 31st birthday :)

They were sooo yummy!! Though not really in keeping with my other goal I have been working on to avoid wheat and to eat Clean. I'll be posting more on my new healthy eating adventures soon I think. I think I will end up expanding my blog to more things I am interested in, as well as my cards. I enjoy when the people I follow share more every day life things in their blogs as I feel like I get to know them a little more- so I hope you don't mind my rambling about things other than cards :)

I'm also waiting on a start date for a new job I should be starting soon. I decided it was time for me to head back to work after taking a year out to focus on my health and deal with my Endometriosis. I seem to have it more under control now, fingers crossed and so it's time to get out there and meet people in our new town, and make some pennies!

So.... that's where the past few months went lol!

Ok, now it's time for me to get in that craft room and start creating!!

Lynsey x