Merry Christmas

Jon and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year in 2020.

Family Recipes Preserved

I love hand written old recipes, especially from those who are no longer alive.  I have developed a way of preserving them and applying them to a 100% cotton tea towel.  If any of you are interested, I will be glad to quote you a price and design them for you,

My Mom was famous for her pies.  I found this recipe that she hand wrote with the recipe for Chocolate and Butterscotch
Pie.   I added 4 pictures that are from a baby until her last years.  The middle two are when she was in the kitchen cooking.

I designed this recipe for a client.  She is giving all of her family one for Christmas. Her mother wrote the recipe and we added 5 pictures from the time she was a baby.

I also found this recipe that Mom wrote.  My cousin Lydia gave us the recipe for Pulled Candy.  My Aunt Betty, cousin Andy, Mom  and I spent an entire evening making candy.  We could hardly read the recipe and our first batch failed because we cooked it too long.  But, we finally figured it out and made the best candy I have ever eaten.  After we left  (December 10, 1981 2:00 AM) Mom sat down and rewrote the recipe giving perfect directions.  It is a night we will never forget and I cherish this recipe with her hand writing.

This is a towel I found on the internet, but wanted to show another style.  It is not mine.

A great week!

Jon and I at Boca Grande in front of the Banyan Tree.

Our daughter Lori came to visit with us for 10 days and we had a wonderful time.

Lori  under the Banyan Tree

We took a boat trip around Naples to see the beautiful million  dollar plus homes.

We also saw dolphins.  It was a gorgeous day too,

We did a lot of crafting and Lori made Tee Shirts for all the kids.

Sure hated to see her leave, but was very blessed with her visit.

Birthday Card for Kelsey

Kelsey, my 2nd Granddaughter is  a beautiful young woman inside and out.  She is the Mother of 4 adorable boys .  She and her husband Todd are doing a fantastic job raising them to love God, be kind and thankful.  I am so proud to be her Grandmother.

I made this card especially for Kelsey.  I think she will love it.  I used a  Cuttlebug Cut and Emboss folder,   I love this folder as it makes a simple gorgeous card.  Everything else was printed and then cut out with my Cricut.  Cutting has never been one of my favorite things to do, so the Cricut fills that need.  I love designing on the computer  and having the Cricut cut it out.  The new Cricut is so precise (my old one was not),  I am in love with it and it saves me so much time,

Mazelee's birthday card

Our Great Granddaughter, Mazelee Rose is turning 13 in a few days.  She is and has been so intrigued with fairies.  She loves them, she makes houses for them and she believes in them...strongly.  

I found this adorable fairly online and cut it out with my Cricut. I backed her with an Anna Griffins die which I also embossed and then I used a Craftwell Embossing folder behind it all.  Everything is popped up with dimensionals. 

I also found this sweet poem for Mazelee and included it on the inside of her card.  I think she will love it.

Happy birthday to a princess

Who we love to the moon and back

She is the fairy in our lives

Her smile is like a magic wand

Her hug is like a secret potion

Our lives spin into motion

Because of all the magic she has spun

Happy birthday

VIDEO OF MY NEW CRAFT STUDIO

I am thrilled to show you a video of my new Craft Studio this morning.  We finally were able to move into it last week.  I have it usable, but certainly not organized the way I want it.  I absolutely LOVE it.    I hope to be able to start designing soon.
If you get to Fort Myers, Florida be sure and come to visit.

News from Florida

It has been a while since I have had a chance to update you on what is going on in our lives.
You would not believe the whirlwind it has been since July.  We had an offer on our home on a Friday, our good friend Debbie arrived on Monday for a week long visit...,not a very relaxing one for her I must admit as she was a huge help packing.  Lori our daughter, good friends Sherry and Jeff Six and John and Marta Gerard helped pack us up and we left for Florida in 2 weeks and 3 days.  Unbelievable if you (some of you do) knew how much "stuff" we had.  I brought most of my crafting stuff with me too .  We had an estate sale selling everything our kids didn't want or we couldn't take with us.  We did not want to be there to see it go, so we left before it started and we hired a moving company to bring our big stuff.  The rest we broght in our truck and trailer.

Jon hurt his arm in Indiana, but we waited till we got to Florida to have it operated on. After unpacking most of our stuff from the moving company (no craft things are unpacked yet as we are adding on a 16x13 foot craft room) Jon had rotator cuff surgery where the doctor put in 10 screws.  He did great and has had no pain.  But, it limits us on what we can get done.

Then came Hurricane Irma (welcome to Florida, huh???)  We had to totally clear our courtyard, which I had just finished decorating and prepare our house.  We chose to stay in Florida as Jon was not able to drive the many hours it would have taken to get far away from Miss Irma.  

We were so blessed with no damage, but our association looks like a war zone,.  We lost 31 palm trees and several large trees. 3 trees fell on roofs, but as far as I know no damage was done.
Very scary indeed, but by the time it reached our house Irma was reduced to a category 2.  They say we had about 100 mile an hour wind, although we gals played cards all the time even using a flashlight after it got dark.  We were truly blessed.

I purchased a Cricut Air 2 from Terri at Joan's Gardens before I left and I am trying to teach myself how to use it.  I hope to make some Pine Ridge tee shirts at our craft show the end of August.  I have ordered the vinyl from Terri which should soon be here.

I will share what I am doing once I learn the program.  Would love to hear from you .

Hugs
Joan

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July to everyone!!!  We are so thankful for our country and all that has fought for our freedom.
May God Bless America!!!!

BIG SALE

 We are having a HOUSEHOLD SALE this Friday and Saturday from 9 to 4. It is amazing how much we have collected over the years. Items will be priced to sell. Our address is 25790 Stanton Road, North Liberty. Email me for a phone number if you want to call.

Vintage Dishes, Christmas and other Holiday items, Craft supplies left over from my business such as stamps, dies, punches, paper, crafting bags, tools and much more.

Camp Days at Grandma and Grandpa's!

Yesterday we had all 16 of our grandchildren and great grandchildren here for a Grandpa and Grandma Camp day. We had singing, flannel graph Bible stories, games, crafts, and of course lots of good food. What a fun day it was. The kids are already asking if we can do it again next year.

Whiskers anxiously awaiting for the gang to arrive.  He was "dog tired" last night.

My friend Sherry  and my daughter Lori leading the kids in songs.  They love singing and really got into it.

I am using a flannel graph board to tell them the story of Daniel.  They are having a snack while they listen.

Flannel Graph Story of Daniel

Jon sitting up the first game.  He purchased big washers for them to throw into the bulls eye.  We divided them into 2 teams...Red and Blue.  They loved this game and love the competition between teams.


Playing the game.  I hate that I  didn't capture them jumping up and down when someone hit the bulls eye.


Branch (the youngest Great Grandson) doing is picture frame with Grandma.




Caleb and Bleydn working on their frames.



Anna, Benaiah, Bleydn and Lisa working on their frames.



Lily (the oldest Great Granddaughter), Esther and Caleb finishing their frames.



Frames the kids did for one craft.

More of the frames.


Puff Paint that I made using flour, salt, soda and water.  They loved this and were very creative.


The little guys playing the potato game.  So fun.


The older kids playing the potato game.  What a hoot.




Eating lunch.  A favorite thing to do.


Eating ice cream before going home.


I made this treat for the kids yesterday. They love Rice Krispy treats and Watermelon, so it was perfect for them. Taco salad, hot dogs, veggie cups, Doritos, Cheese It's, Chocolate Chip Cookies and Ice Cream with Sprinkles and Chocolate Syrup were also on the menu for the day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is a picture of our fully screened Courtyard at night.  Love it!!

Congratulations card!

We are so proud of our Granddaughter Natasha Trozzolo who has just graduated as a Dr. of Audiology and has been accepted into the Air Force as a Captain.  Tomorrow her Mother is having a Congratulation and go away party for her, so I made this card for the occasion.  

The flag is a Tim Holtz die.  I cut it 3 times, red, blue and gold and layered the layers.

The stars are also on the die.  I popped the flag and stars up for more interest.  The Congratulations sentiment is from Elizabeth Craft.  I kept the card simple because I think it says it all.....just how proud we are of Natasha!

Happy 4th of July to you!!!

                                                                          Our Home

As we celebrate America's freedom, take time to remember those that fought for us.  Below is a message from Frank Graham (Billy's son) today.  He said it so well, that I wanted too share it with you.

"239 years ago today our ‪DeclarationofIndependence‬ was signed by 56 men. Many of them paid dearly for signing this document—they literally put their lives on the line. Some were hunted down by the British and ended up living in the woods, some lost their homes, some were wounded or captured in the war. There is always a price to be paid for freedom. As something I read recently said: “Freedom is never free and patriotism is not a sin!” The freedom our nation has enjoyed came at a cost by these Declaration signers, and at a cost by our first Continental army and every military service member since then. This‪ July4th‬, ‪#‎IndependenceDay‬, Remember to pray for the heroic troops fighting for our liberties and those who have sacrificed so much. America has been greatly blessed by God, and we should thank Him for that today—and every day.

Boy's Birthday Cards

We are celebrating Branch's 2nd and Benaiah's 4th birthday today.

This picture is our Granddaughter Kelsey's family at Easter.

Todd is holding Branch and Benaiah is in front of Kelsey.

They are growing up so fast. I will try and get individual pictures today.

Beckon and Bleydn are also in the front row.

They are a beautiful family.

This card is for Benaiah.  I stenciled it using Dream Weaver Stencils, added the eye and a spider.

White and black embossing paste was mixed to get the color of the elephant.  I did not smooth

out the paste to give a rough skin appearance.  I thought the map looked good with it for interest.

I am not sure why the card doesn't look straight, but it is.  Had to be the angle of the way I took the picture.

Using Dream Weaver Stencils and blue embossing paste I created Branches card.  I added some
silver itsy bitsy little silver balls and an eye for interest.