Casing my cases

Some time ago I saw a challenge to case something in the annual catalog. Instead of blindly choosing page numbers, I picked the ones I wanted to case. Then I played with the ideas and create some of my own. 

This is cased from a card on page 68 of the catalog.  It's a little different but the same basic design. I really liked the piercing along the bottom. I forget to add some on those personal touches. 

So here are some others cards that were inspired by that design. No ribbon and two rows of piercing. I pierced every other hole and alternated between the two rows. 

Another - and yes I botched the stamp of the sentiment when I did it directly on the card front so added the Crushed Curry strip. I added piercing to it similar to the card front to tie it in more. 

This one has no flowers and a more elegant bow. The piercing was done using 3 rows. The middle row is pierced in every third hole. 

This card was cased from a card on page  80. The original was done in crumb cake but I had this retired Calypso Coral DSP with the white hearts that I thought was perfect for a new baby card. 

And if course, that inspired some more cards. 

The penant on this one is scored.  I scored on one side doing every other line, then turned it over and scored the lines I skipped on the first side. I like the look. 

I made a couple like this, using different colors got the circle and scalloped circle pieces. 

More tomorrow - I've been working on cupcakes inspired by the card on page 58 of the catalog. 

Weekend Wrap Up

Friday - lunch with Bekah to celebrate her successful summer and kick off the fall semester. She wanted sushi so we went to Asia Garden.  I had teriyaki chicken with rice and a salad. Really ?  A salad in an Asian restaurant. It was iceberg lettuce smothered with a creamy dressing.  I think that is what I got last time we went there - probably a year ago- l must try something without the salad next time. The teriyaki was good and had lots of veggies. I only are half because of the weight loss challenge.

I finally removed the Jamberry wraps. There was about 1/4 inch of plain nail at the cuticle so it was time :-). 2weeka plus and they still looked good. 

Friday night Tom and I went to choir practice for the Christmas cantata.  Love the music. I'm going to sing alto this year - can't hit those high soprano notes any more. 

Saturday - Tom worked and I crawled our of bed about 9.  Decided to get my hour of bike riding in first thing. Got interrupted a couple times but I went right back to it. Finished about 1130. 

Spent 3 hours prepping veggies for meals throughout the week. 

All of these got chopped, peeled or sliced for the week. Beets were roasted for 2 recipes. Cauliflower was roasted for supper that night. Pepper, onion and mushrooms were also for supper that night. 

And speaking of supper - here it is. Yummy veggie pasta goodness with pepper, onion and mushrooms. Pasta sauce and freshly grated Parmesan. 

The southwestern cauliflower and watermelon completed the meal. 

Sunday, church, then picking up a few things at Aldi's. Found this 

I've been eating lettuce and tomato sandwiches - no bacon - and thought the bacon flavored reduced fat mayo would be good on them. It's okay - very subtle bacon flavor.  

And the low carb bread - same price as the regular bread but same nutritional info as Healthy Life wheat bread. Saved me from a stop at Walmart too

And supper tonight 

Pork chop with sour cream sauce, beet and tomato salad, and roasted red pepper and basil quinoa.

Put in 100 minutes on the bike today. Sure hope it shows on the scale tomorrow :-) 

Jamberry still looking good

The Jamberry nails are still looking good. They are starting to pull away from the cuticle as the nail grows but still look okay.  Will probably wait a couple more dsys before removing. It's been almost 2 weeks. 

I did buy a few more colors of the Sinfil Colors Professional polish. 

Also tried some new molds I bought on Amazon.  They are for molding hard boiled eggs or rice. Thought they would be fun. Boiled some eggs the other day to try them. Peel the egg while it is still warm and place it in the mold, them snap together and chill. 

My eggs were medium so thinking a large  might fill the mold better. This was the fish. 

And a bunny.  It's a good way to store the eggs too. The mold snaps together tightly. Eggs peel much easier when they are still warm too. This way they are peeled and ready to eat whenever I want one. 

Jamberry Challenge cont'd and Redecorating

Day 2 

Both the polished nails and the Jamberry nail are looking good. 

Day 3 

Still looking good. Typically my nail polish would start chipping by Day 3 but the Sinful Colors is holding out pretty well. 

Day 4 

Still looking pretty good. The Jamberry looks like new. The nail polish looks good too although one nail on my right hand has a tiny chip on the tip. I think I need to pick up some other colors of the Sinful Colors.  It certainly wears better than my other polish. 

I really have not pampered them but you have to remember I don't do dishes - or at least not daily. 

I did spend some time wiping down anew piece of furniture for the living room. 

Bought this through an online yard sale on Facebook. I wiped it down with chlorox wipes and then some soap and water. Adelyn already likes playing with it and we don't have any dishes. We have a little basket of fruits and vegetables and  she would take the ear of corn and try to put it in the microwave. Just not quote talk enough to get it in there far enough to shut the door. 

It reminds me of two other little girls and their play kitchen. 

I wish I would have kept some of their toys. They had a birthday cake that you could put plastic decorations on and 'cut' into the wedges and also a canister of scoops of ice cream with rubbery toppings to put on them. And a little red basket with dishes and utensils. I'm sure we will collect some for Addie's kitchen too 

Jamberry Challenge

A few of my friends have taken the Jamberry Challenge.  This is where you painted 10 of your nails with polish like you regularly would and on the other 2 nails you place Jamberry nail strips. Then compare how they wear over days/weeks.

I received a sample of the Jamberry strips in May but have never found the time to try them. The sample is one strip and it will cover 2 nails. I chose the most subtle design in the choices for the strips - aqua with yellow polka dots- but had no coordinating colors of polish that I could use so I picked up a bottle of aqua at Walmart.  I got the cheapest I could find $1.98 I believe - and put done on 2 days ago just to see how I liked it. It is the most durable polish I have ever had. No top coat or clear enamel - and basically no chips in 2 days. Unusual for me. And tonight when I took it off do I could start the challenge , it took lots of polish remover and tissues to get the nails completely clean. 

This is the stuff. I may be buying more of it. 

I put the Jamberry strips on my index (pointer) fingers. It was pretty simple. You cut the strip in half and find which nail it fits the best. Clean the nail with alcohol

and push back the cuticle. Peel off the strip, heat with a blow dryer and place on your nail. Make sure to press firmly around the edges. Trim the tip to match the nail and file the tip with downward strokes. 

I was not sure where the blow dryer was - haven't used one in decades - so thought I would use my heat fun. Probably not the best idea. I almost burnt my fingertips. Next time - I'll dig out the blue dryer. 

I also had some trouble trimming the tip on the one on my right hand. I don't use scissors with my left hand very well. I was able to trim close to the tip and used a nail clipper to get it closer.  

So here is the Day 1 photo 

They are all looking pretty good. The one different nail on each hand is kind of fun!  We'll see how they look tomorrow evening. I plan to wash the kitchen play set so I can get it moved into the living room for this little princess to play with. 

The sunglasses are ones I picked up in San Diego with an elastic strap to keep them on her head.  Her mom and dad had trouble getting a clear photo because as soon as they put the glasses on her she starts dancing. 

I worked from her house today because her mommy is sick. When I went to get her out of her bed this morning she had red splotches all over her arms, legs and face. 

Doesn't she look pitiful.  They did not seem to bother her. Mommy called the dr and they suggested a small dose of Benadryl. If no improvement after 30 minutes they wanted to see her.  Well, grandma got to take her to the doctor. 

Nothing to be concerned with. Either viral or allergic reaction. Give some Benadryl or Zyrtec if she seemed uncomfortable. They already look like they are fading. 

You just never know what your day is going to bring around here :-) 

Grandma's House

Now that our house is a Grandma's House, we needed some additions to make it fun.    I found this on one of the Facebook area yard sale groups.    It was a great deal!

This will fit nicely in the corner of the living room where we currently have  a cardboard box full of Addie's books and toys.  This will hold quite a few toys  - and of course, I am now looking for play dishes, pots and pans, and kitchen utensils.

I also purchased this umbrella stroller.  Katie warned me to keep it out of sight unless we want to go for a walk :-)  It will be good exercise pushing it up and down the hilly subdivision.

Last week we had a girls' night out at the Muny and Papa Tom babysat.  When we got home, this is how we found them.  Too cute!  I moved her to the port-a-crib and she slept through until about 6 am, then Papa put her between us in bed and she slept until 830.  Of course, I had to stay in bed with her to make sure she did not roll off :-)

Weekend Wrap-Up

It was a busy weekend.  My sister, Carol, was visiting from New Jersey all week.  Carol, Katie, Bekah and I had a girls' night at the Muny and saw Grease.  It was good and a beautiful evening.  Who would have thought that Aug 1 would find us in sweaters.  The people sitting in the two rows in front of us left during the intermission so we have a completely unobstructed view for the second half. 

On Saturday it was the Phamily Phish Phry on the Pharm - hosted by my brother Phred and his wife, Jill.  We only had a small portion of the family there but we still had plenty of food and fun.  

 My niece Kelly had some crafts for the kids.  Here her nephews, Aidan and Landon decorated some fish.  Aidan made quite a few and was generously giving them away.

 Carol brought an album of photos from a trip she took in June with our sister, Jane.  They explored the 'hidden treasures of the alps' with a group from Carol's church.  Jane made her a lovely album with all the photos.  We all enjoyed looking through it and hearing about the trip.

Adelyn got a belated birthday gift from great-uncle Phred and great-aunt Jill.  She enjoyed playing with the snap apart bath toys on the rug they placed on the concrete.  It was great!  They plan to use the rug when they go camping.

The little kids got into the hot tub - not hot, just warm.   It was a great place for them to play.  Addie enjoyed splashing and kicking.

And of course, after swimming, you need a snack.  Landon is finishing off some watermelon.   His brother, Aidan must have eaten 3 or 4 plates full.

This was one of the uninvited guests, a skink.  He sat there and look over all the people watching him, then went running off.

Today we went to church and this afternoon Tom and I helped set up for the food pantry's school supply project.  There are over 200 children that will be given the necessary school supplies through this program.

  My DH Tom and Ron Prather help sort back packs.  The children are pre-registered so for the most part we know what each child will need based on the supply lists for the area schools.   The supplies have all been bagged and sorted by the parent's name.   Once the child has picked up their supplies, they can pick out a bookbag and will receive a pair of shoes.   There are over 200 children registered and we expect a few that will just show up so we have a supply room to make up more bags.   We are happy to be a part of this service project.