Conversion Charts

I found a cool site that does numerous conversions and thought I'd share it here.

Valentine's Day Heart Magnets

I teach art at my youngest son's school, so thought it might be kinda cool to make something sort of crafty for them this Valentine's Day. Inspired by Red Bird Crafts, I made these magnets. When finished, I sealed them with a clear sealant. Easy to make. I free-handed the heart designs on each disc, but you could also just use a rubber stamp.

Make a Photo Cube

Check out: Tabblo to make a photo cube you can print out on your own printer at home!

Long Overdue Update

This past year has been an overwhelming, busy one... lots of life changes and juggling happening... going to try to get back into updating this blog again.

We've moved! First snow

We recently moved from the greater LA area out to the desert and this morning we woke up to this! Just in time for Christmas!

MSLO Bluelines Blog

Say it ain't so! The Blueprint Magazine Bluelines Blog closed up shop today!

Our New Neighbor

Martha Stewart Crafts Now at Wal-Mart

According to Market Watch and many other sources online, Martha Stewart Crafts can now be had at... of all places... Wal-Mart.

Photo Tutorial - Coasters

Craft Project: Coasters

Supplies:
Plain Tiles
Stencil Paste
Stencil of Choice
Acrylic Paint of Choice
Plastic Spoon/Knife
Plate to mix on
Clear Polyurethane

Directions: Place stencil on tile. If it doesn't have a sticky film on it already, then spray with repositionable spray adhesive. Scoop amount a small amount of stencil paste and place it on your mixing plate. Next, squirt a small amount of acrylic paint onto the paste and mix together. If you prefer to have a white design, you can skip this step. Now you're ready to begin applying the image to the tile. Slather on a glop of the mixture onto the tile and work it onto the entire stencil. Once the entire stencil is covered, you can begin scraping some of it off so that there is a layer just thick enough to not see the tile through the paint. Carefully lift the stencil up. If there are spots that need to be touched up (paint went under the stencil?), just gently wipe it away with your finger or a baby wipe. If you decide you don't like how the design turned out, no problem! You can wipe the tile clean with some soap and warm water and start again. Once you are happy with your tile, set it aside to cure overnight. Seal with a clear polyurethane and you're done!

Free 411 from Google

In case you haven't heard... Dial 1-800-GOOG-411 for FREE 411 info courtesy of Google. Click the link to watch a short video clip about the free service. If you call from your cell phone, you can even have the search information sent to you in a text message!

Bees!

Found in the peach tree in the back yard recently... a bee ball!

Happy Spring!

Here in Southern California, we've been experiencing some really wonderful weather over the past few days! It was in the high 80's on Easter. Gotta love that! Here's a shot of my peach tree in the backyard. It only stays like this for about two weeks and then the flowers start falling off and green leaves begin to sprout.

I've been busy planting some flowers this year as well. So far, gerbera daisies, dahlias, and another hydrangea plant (there are already 3 in the front of the house that the previous owners planted). Later this week, some strawberry plants will also be going into the ground... just as soon as the kids get around to putting on their gardening gloves and planting them. :)

Sizzix Die-Cutter and Converter

Score! I just got my hands on an original Sizzix Die Cutter and Converter for $15 total! I have been intrigued by these for years, ever since seeing it demonstrated on The Carol Duvall Show, but could never justify the hefty price since I'd probably only use it once in a while. Well, I am glad I waited, because I got a great deal on this one! I popped by Jo-Ann's a little while ago to scoop out the dies and picked up the circle set. If anyone has any tips on using one of these, please let me know!

Sponsoring A Child In Africa

Ever since I can remember, I have seen countless commercials on television asking for people to pick up the phone and sponsor a child living in poverty. Having also grown accustomed to hearing the horror stories of countless organizations misusing the funds, I would quickly change the channel and go on about my day. It was not that I had no heart or that I didn't feel that these kids really existed. It was more of a fear of being taken advantage of and the money not really getting to the kids like it really should. That is until a couple of weeks ago. In my list of blogs that I read is one called Rocks In My Dryer. I'm not quite sure how I originally began following this blog a few months ago, but for some reason I added it to my Bloglines notifier and would make a point to stop in every now and again to read her latests posts. Well, a couple of weeks ago she started writing about a trip she was about to embark on to Uganda. Seeing as how Africa is a country I have longed to visit, I decided to tune in during the days that followed. What I quickly came to learn is that she was going there with a group of bloggers to meet a child that each of them sponsor through a program called Compassion International. As the days went on, I grew more and more curious about the organization. They actually do help the kids? You get to correspond with the one child that you sponsor and they write you back? Well, long story short - a few days into the groups' trip, I logged on to Compassion with my two sons and we chose a young man named Denis in Kenya (see photo) to sponsor. With the promise of a packet and more detailed information about Denis and his family arriving in our mailbox within 10 days, we nearly stalked our mailman in the days that followed. Yesterday our packet arrived and my kids can't wait to get our first, of what will be many letters off to Denis. For a mere $32 a month, you too can sponsor a child. Gosh, I sound like such a commercial right now! Having seen through the Compassion Blogger trip firsthand that these kids really are helped by the money and the organization in general, how could I not? Be sure to pop on over to the RIMD blog and check out the posts about her trip. There were also some great video clips shot of some of the sponsors meeting their sponsored kids.

Pink Legos

Finally... Pink Legos!

Smores on a Stick!

Bad picture, but delicious treat! The kids and I made Smores on a stick. I'll try to reshoot a better photo for this soon.

Things You Just Don't See Everyday

A few months back, there had been a few whales washing ashore here in California. Seeing as how this just isn't something one sees everyday, I loaded up the kids and we headed to the beach to catch a glimpse of this magnificent sight! There were crews there scooping out the insides so that the bones could be removed and taken to a museum in Santa Barbara. Sorry for the somewhat grotesque shot. The smell was rancid, but that still didn't keep the hundreds of people away that had gathered around the area.

Location: Faria Beach Summer/Fall 2007

Send an E-Cookie 4 A Cause

Betty Crocker has a cute e-card set up that let's visitors decorate their very own sugar cookie and send it as an e-card. For every card sent until December 25th, .10 is donated to Toys For Tots. The service itself is FREE to use.

Amazon's Black Friday - A Bust?

So, I thought I would log into Amazon and see what special Black Friday deals they have going on today. I signed on about 10 minutes before the next Amazon deal was about to start. With eyes glued to the countdown of 10...9...8... the anticipation mounted. Within moments, the next item up for sale was listed... and with only 1 second ticked off already 25% had been claimed! As you can see from the picture accompanying this post, after only a few more seconds, all 100% of the stock had been depleted! What?!?!