Productive Weekend On the Homestead

I love weekends like this one has been. It was a three-day weekend for me (hooray for federal holidays), and we couldn't have asked for better weather for what my husband and I were able to get accomplished on our homestead. 

We have been trying to prepare multiple garden beds this winter so they will be ready for planting in 2017.  It's the first January/February since I bought this property that I haven't been getting ready for our wedding (2015) or pregnant (2016), so I've been anxious to give this fledgling project the proper attention it deserves.

We've been making compost here on the homestead for adding organic matter to the soil, but we haven't been able to make a large enough quantity for what we need to turn lawn into garden beds.  But we found our solution, and it's free!  Our county in which we live has a recycling center, and it's free to pick up wood chips that result from the tree-trimming along the roadways that the county conducts on a periodic basis.  Because the chipped branches are from the roadways, they should be relatively free of pesticides and herbicides.

So, we packed up our baby, two tarps, rope, shovels, and plastic buckets in our truck and high-tailed it to the recycling center.  We knew we were going to load up some wood chips, but what we didn't know, was that we were going to find free gold while we were there!  OK, not really gold, but the garden equivalent.  At the back of the ginormous pile of wood chips, we found wood chips that had aged to a beautiful stage of compost!  The wood chips were soft and absorbent, and had begun to break down into rich dirt, evidenced by the new plants growing here and there on this fertile medium....and here it was, just waiting for us to shovel it up and take it by the truckload to our garden beds. Oh yeah, we will definitely be going back for more.

After eating a delicious meal at one of our favorite burger joints and running a couple errands, we arrived home and continued our productivity.  We finished setting up the second half of our dog's new pen (another project that's been on the books for over a year), put some compost in our soon-to-be herb bed, burned a pile of branches and an old tree stump, and talked about future plans.

The next day, we test drove a SUV we are interested in purchasing, which is yet another project we've been working on completing.  Then we bought some fruit trees, raspberry bushes, perennial bushes and flowers, and a lavender plant.  When we got home, we planted five of the seven fruit trees and mulched them with compost and mulch we picked up the previous day.  We also planted the lavender and the dianthus before the sun went down below the horizon.

Then today, we had a lazy morning and slept in until 11am (our bodies were a bit tired from all the physical labor - sad, I know).  We went through two boxes of kitchen stuff and reduced our drinking glasses in the cupboards.  We took these and other donations in to town and dropped them off at one of the thrift stores near us.  We purchased a bike for our baby to grow into and some DVDs of some TV series we enjoy at said thrift store, and because we donated items, they gave us a discount on our purchase.  We returned home after a lunch of the Monday special at one of our favorite chicken eateries, running a few more errands (clearance clothes are great, but even clearance prices add up *sigh*), and grabbing a quick bite for dinner.  We then took care of evening chores, washed some dishes, purged a few more kitchen items for our next donation, fixed our daily milk kefir, and spent time together as a family.

If only every weekend could be such a wonderful mix of relaxation, productivity, time together as a family, and wonderful time spent outside working our little piece of God's creation!

Future and Hope Card & Scrapbook Page

Products Used

Designer Dries Clear Adhesive, 159723
Majestic Morning Background Cling Stamp, HCPC-3578                                                                         Majestic Blooms Die, HCD1-742
Deluxe Flower Shaping Kit, HCST1-401                            Decorative Oval Die, HCD1-762                                           Decorative Butterfly Corner Die, HCD1-730
Soar on Eagle’s Wings Cling Stamp Set, HCPC-3765                                                                    
Farmers Market Paper Collection, HCDP1-257

Instructions

Other Products: Tim Holtz Distress Inks – Fossilized Amber & Abandoned Coral; StazOn Jet Black Ink; Bronze Splendor Glitter by Sparkle N Sprinkle; Spellbinders Nestabilities Deckled Mega Rectangles Large Dies; Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Twenty-Five Dies; White Cardstock; Decorative Scissors; Straight Line Scissors; 2-Inch Wide Green Organza Ribbon; Foil Heart Stickers.

Watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp3oNIO0q-M  to learn how to create the small flower with the Deluxe Flower Shaping Kit. 

Instructions: Pick out a page of your choice from the Farmers Market Paper Collection. 

Cut out a Decorative Butterfly Corner Die out of the white cardstock for a pocket, use Dries Clear Adhesive and glitter to embellish the butterfly, and glue the pocket to the bottom left corner of the scrapbook page.

Fold a piece of white cardstock in half for the card, cut the outer edges with the decorative scissors, and ink the edges with the Fossilized Amber ink.  Stamp the For I Know The Plans scripture stamp from the Soar on Eagle’s Wings Cling Stamp Set using the Fossilized Amber ink in a decorative rectangle of your choosing from the Farmers Market Paper Collection.  Cut out and glue the decorative rectangle with the scripture verse on the front of the card.  Place a heart sticker on each corner of the card.  Insert the card into the butterfly pocket.

Stamp the For I Know The Plans scripture stamp from the Soar on Eagle’s Wings Cling Stamp Set using the Fossilized Amber ink once more on a piece of white cardstock and cut out the arrow with “HOPE and future” from the white cardstock using straight scissors.  Glue the arrow to the top right corner of the scrapbook page as shown.  Embellish a few paper design segments near the arrow with glue and glitter.

Cut out the “You are…beautifully and wonderfully made!” sentiment from the Farmers Market Paper Collection.  Cut out a rectangle slightly larger than the sentiment out of white cardstock using the Spellbinders Nestabilities Deckled Mega Rectangles Large Dies.  Glue the sentiment on the rectangle, add heart stickers for embellishment, and then glue the piece to the scrapbook page near the arrow in the top right corner, as shown in the photo.

Cut out a Decorative Oval Die from white cardstock.  Cut out a background approximately the same size as the Decorative Oval Die out of white cardstock using the Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Twenty-Five Dies, and ink the front with Fossilized Amber ink.  Use a smaller Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Twenty-Five Dies to cut out a picture of your choice.  Cut out the “All things grow with Love” sentiment from the Farmers Market Paper Collection.  Layer the large label, Decorative Oval, sentiment, and small label picture as shown in the photo.  Glue the layers together, then glue the piece onto the lower right corner of the scrapbook page.

Stamp the Majestic Morning Background stamp with black ink on white cardstock.  Cut with the coordinating dies.  Ink the centers of three or four small flowers with the Fossilized Amber ink and the flower petals with the Abandoned Coral ink.  Mold and shape the flowers using the tools in the Deluxe Flower Shaping Kit. Layer the flowers and glue together with Dries Clear Adhesive.  Once dry, glue to the upper left corner of the scrapbook page.

Add a 2-3 inch piece of ribbon to the left corner of the scrapbook page.  Wrap the ends of the ribbon around the edges of the corner and glue to the back.

Heartfelt Creations Products available at: https://www.heartfeltcreations.us/

 

Created by: Cymbre Kooker

Special Graduate or Birthday Money Gift

Products Used

Designer Dries Clear Adhesive, 159723
Soar on Eagle’s Wings Cling Stamp Set, HCPC-3765                                                                   
Farmers Market Paper Collection, HCDP1-257

Instructions

Other Products: Tim Holtz Distress Ink – Abandoned Coral; StazOn Jet Black Ink; graduation cap and stars stickers; a money gift envelope; tan cardstock; Gold Ribbon; Spellbinders Shapeabilities Fancy Tags 3.

Instructions: Cut out two rectangles of the tan cardstock and the Harvest of Blessings sentiment fit to the size of the money gift envelope.  Cut out desired sentiments and images from the Farmers Market Paper Collection.  Cut a strip of the Gold Ribbon about an inch longer than the length of the envelope.  Create a bow with another strip of the ribbon (I cut the ribbon in half lengthwise first to make a smaller bow).  Cut out a decorative pattern from the Farmers Market Paper Collection using the Spellbinders Fancy Tags 3 center tag die as shown in the photo.

Front – Weave the Gold Ribbon through the Spellbinders die cut.  Glue the ribbon and die cut lengthwise to the remaining tan rectangle of cardstock.  Wrap the ends of the ribbon around the edges of the rectangle and glue to the back.  Glue the rectangle to the front of the money gift envelope.  Embellish the front of the card with the remaining sentiments and images you cut from the Farmers Market Paper Collection, as shown in the photo.

Inside - Glue the Harvest of Blessings to the inside flap of the envelope.  Trim one of the tan rectangles to slide inside the money slot of the envelope, trace the oval, remove the rectangle, and cut out the oval using scissors.  Stamp the Praying for You sentiment from the Soar on Eagle’s Wings stamp set in Abandoned Coral ink on one side of the oval.  Embellish the remaining areas of the rectangle with stickers.  Glue the rectangle to the inside front of the gift money envelope.  When a monetary bill is inserted in the envelope, the presidential face should be visible. 

Heartfelt Creations Products available at: https://www.heartfeltcreations.us/

 Created by: Cymbre Kooker

Asters Abound Card & Envelope

Products Used

Designer Dries Clear Adhesive, 159723                                Delicate Twining Asters Cling Stamps, HCPC-3496             
Delicate Asters Die, HCD1-726
Deluxe Flower Shaping Kit, HCST1-401
Soar on Eagle’s Wings Cling Stamp Set, HCPC-3765                                                                   
Farmers Market Paper Collection, HCDP1-257

Instructions

Other Products: Tim Holtz Distress Inks – Fossilized Amber, Mermaid Lagoon, & Cracked Pistachio; StazOn Jet Black Ink; Bronze Splendor Glitter by Sparkle N Sprinkle; Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic Ovals Small Dies; Card Base with Envelope; White Cardstock; Decorative Scizzors.

Watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdsIOVMXjIQ to learn how to create flowers with the Deluxe Flower Shaping Kit. 

Instructions: Cut out a square with an oval image from the Farmers Market Paper Collection.  Use your preferred size of oval die from the Spellbinders Classic Ovals Small dies to cut out the center of the oval on the paper.  Using the same die, cut another oval from the same paper collection, choosing an image that has green swirls.  This will be your background.

Stamp the Praying for You sentiment from the Soar on Eagle’s Wings stamp set on white cardstock using the Mermaid Lagoon ink.  Use decorative scizzors of your choice to cut around the sentiment to create a small banner.

Stamp the aster flower stamp with black ink on white cardstock.  Cut with the coordinating dies.  Ink the centers of the flowers with the Fossilized Amber ink, the flower petals with the Mermaid Lagoon ink, and the leaves with Cracked Pistachio ink.  Mold and shape the asters and leaves using the tools in the Deluxe Flower Shaping Kit. Layer the largest and second largest aster flowers and glue together with Dries Clear Adhesive.  Place small dots of glue in the center of the flower and cover with Bronze Splendor Glitter.   Layer the next two smaller aster flowers and glue together with Dries Clear Adhesive.  Place a dot of glue in the center of the flower and cover with Bronze Splendor Glitter.   

Ink the edges of your card base with the Mermaid Lagoon ink for a distressed look.  Glue the paper square on the card, raising the center in a slight arch for dimension.  Before the glue completely dries, glue your background oval flat onto the card, as shown.  Glue the sentiment banner in a slight arch across the bottom half of the oval, tucking one side behind the front panel and the other side in front of the panel.  Glue your large flower onto the top left of the oval, then accent the flower with the leaf.  Use the Dries Clear Glue to add Bronze Splendor Glitter around the exposed parts of the oval.

Stamp the small stamp from the Delicate Twining Asters Cling Stamp Set onto the bottom right corner of your envelope using black ink.  Color the buds with Mermaid Lagoon ink, and add color to the leaves using Cracked Pistachio ink.  Glue the small flower on top of the flower of your stamped image.

Products can be found at https://www.heartfeltcreations.us/

Created by: Cymbre Kooker

The Dreaded Flu

I knew I wasn't feeling well when I posted my first blog post, but I didn't know until later that night that it was indeed the flu that was making me feel so achy.  I spent the night alternating between the sweats and the chills, all the while feeling achiness in my joints, upper back, neck, and head.  Did I mention I get whiny when I'm sick?  But Tylenol took the edge off on the worst days.

Fast forward a week and a couple of days.  I'm feeling much better, just a little bit of a cough and the need for an occasional nose blowing.  My husband is still a little feverish, but he seems less grumpy, so he's on the upward climb to normalcy.  Our baby is feeling better too, but he has a cough and sneezes a lot, so we're still keeping a close eye on him.  Poor little baby; he's had to deal with his first tooth coming in WHILE being sick with the flu.

Needless to say, with all the illness in the house, I hadn't been very productive in the crafting arena until yesterday.  Yesterday's projects are mostly done...I still have to glue the pieces together and maybe add some finishing touches.  With any luck, I'll be posting those soon.

CONSERVATION / UPCYCLING IDEA:  Here's a super-quick card that can be made re-using materials you may have at your house right now!  This is a great way to re-use the left-over sticker pieces after helping your kids make Valentine's Day cards for their special friends. After I used all the heart stickers, I pulled the remaining sheet of the sticker and affixed it to my card as a background (no glue required for this - SCORE!).  Then, simply add a cut-out sentiment on top with glue, or with foam dots for dimension.  I used a "free image" I found on googleimages.com a long time ago.

A New Adventure

I've been thinking about starting a blog for a while now.  In fact, I have a "secret" Pinterest board with who-knows-how-many (OK, 61) pins on blogging and vlogging how-to's. 

So, what was the push that started me down this scary and exciting road of blogging for fun? 

Short Version:
Heartfelt Creations's call for Design Team Members.

In Cymbre Speak (longer version): 
I found Heartfelt Creations last year when I was at home for recovery from the birth of my first child.  Whoot-whoot!  My husband kinda rolled his eyes when I told him I had found...yet another...company that creates beautiful rubber stamps and dies.

"But this company is different!" I told him.  "They have rubber stamps WITH COORDINATING dies!  On top of that, the stamps and dies are pretty intricate!  And they have HOW-TO VIDEOS to show you ways to use their products!!!  They are a Christian company with excellent customer service!!!  And their angel policy is WONDERFULLY FREEING (you can sell what you create using their products without having to jump through ridiculous hoops or red tape)!!! And, and...." 

Can you tell I was excited?

So, my wonderful and supportive husband let me make several purchases from this fabulous company.  But there came a time when I...OK...he had to rein in my excitement/spending because we are a family of 3 on my modest income.  Note:  My husband is a Stay at Home Dad because it was cheaper than childcare with both of us working, and he fulfills his DAD role SUPERBLY!

Needless to say, I was bummed.  I knew we needed to save the money for needs, not wants.  But, there had to be a way I could continue enjoying the new Heartfelt Creations products while still trying to adhere to our budget.

Insert text from the 'Short Version' here.  :0)

If I can manage to figure out a way to make a decently nifty blog, use my Heartfelt Creations products I already have to make some samples of papercrafting pieces that do the product lines justice, and manage myself to make weekly submissions (all the while enjoying the creative process of designing new projects with quality products), I might have found the answer to my riddle!

I think I'll give it a try, with the Lord's help!