I'm out of commission for day three... and it just keeps getting worse!

Friend Makin' Monday

I'm joining Amber's Friend Makin' Monday! Cuz I love friends!
Go check her out at aefilkins!

1. Favorite things about Spring: flowers growing and being able to wear cute floral flirty things!

2. What I'm doing for Spring Break: enjoying the last three week break of our disappearing year round teaching calendar... cleaning, crafting, hanging with friends, and doing school work!

3. Favorite Spring flower: i love seeing violets growing in the yard! once i refused to mow the lawn by the driveway because of all of the pretty violets!

4. Do you have a garden? well.... did... but... i don't weed... so the flower garden is now a weed garden

5. If so, what do you grow? flowers... and weeds

6. Do you do Spring cleaning? i like to call it decrapifying!

7. What is your weather *really* like right now? it's been nice, mid to upper 60s and mostly sunny

8. Snapped any weather related photos lately? not really, but i did take a pic of a squirrel and a robin in the tree outback!

9. What's your favorite thing to do on a sunny afternoon? drive to the flea market or play outside with my pups

10. Favorite TV show right now? One Tree Hill/Vampire Diaries/or Grey's Anatomy, I can't choose

COME MAKE FRIENDS WITH ME!!!

Resolution

Alright... get ready.... because I'm going to be posting more often!

The reason I don't post that often is because I'm lazy when it comes to uploading pics. I'm also lazy when it comes to emptying my memory card... so when I go to upload there's like 300 pics to go through to get to what I want. So today I'm going to go burn everything to a cd, empty my memory card, and get goin' here.

I have so much to show you!

1. I've repainted an aquarium stand and created my own background for the tank
2. Learned to make rolled fabric rosettes
3. Made an adorable button headband
4. A few chalkboard trays
5. And I'm in the process of cleaning my craft room... you will die when you see the before pictures- it gives a whole new meaning to unorganized

Anyway, I'm sure there's more that I'm forgetting... like all of the necklaces I've made, but I'll be posting soon. I'll also be buying envelopes and needed packaging to send out those giveaway items and FINALLY my pay it forward items as well! I'll email you when they are shipped (either Monday or Tuesday).

LOVE!

VICTORY IS MINE!

GUESS WHAT?!?!?!?!?

I DID IT!!!!


I FIXED THE BATH TUB FAUCETS! I EXCHANGED THE OTHER PART, REALIZED THE GUY PROBABLY DIDN'T HAVE IT SEALED ALL THE WAY WHEN HE PUT ON THE SHUT OFF PIECE AND FIXED IT BY MYSELF!!!!

NO MAN!

NO PLUMBER!

JUST ME!

26 (27 IN ONE WEEK) YEAR OLD ME!!!

WITH THE MORAL SUPPORT OF A VERY ENTHUSIASTIC POM...



LOVE!

Saga Continues

Okay, so I started out with hot water running in a stream as if someone had not turned it off in the tub like this...
And drove downtown to the plumbing supply store and paid $60 for two new faucet gut pieces (the receipt says ceramic cartridge... basically it's everything that screws into the pipe in the wall and is covered by the handle). Mom said, "Get both Amy, otherwise you'll end up needing the other one before you know it." So, I did and spent the $60. Came home all excited, put the new parts on (with Charlie the pomeranian/puparoo in the tub with me), turned the water back on...




and now....




drum roll please....
WE HAVE A TRICKLE RUNNING OF COLD WATER INSTEAD OF HOT!

If I was a mermaid this wouldn't bother me as I would live underwater and most likely wouldn't have issues with air leaks ya know?


Anyway, saga continues- mom is going to go back downtown to the plumbing store and exchange the cold piece for a new one. My reasoning is that if the hot water is now fixed with the new part... then the cold water part must be defective. Right? Uh... sure... just go along with it here. I'll let you know what happens next...

Until then....
I'm Soggy with a Chance of Dog Paws

The Joys of Home Owning...

Alright, here's a little rant...

Have I been crafting? Yes... tons... you wouldn't believe all the projects I haven't posted on! Why haven't I posted? Because uploading pics is a pain with my camera and it's sucking batteries dry like you wouldn't believe! Also, life gets in the way.

Secondly- giveaway? right? Yeah, well it sorta stinks because all of the post offices around here are open school hours... and I'm a teacher. Therefore, my lovely giveaway winners, you will be receiving your prizes next week when my break starts and I am free to ship and craft freely! (I will be including an apology goody as well for each of you- not that I've decided what that is yet!)

Thirdly, the meaning of this post, I have lived in my old little house for two years now. It was built in 1957 and is just under 1,000 sq. feet. It has a big yard and it makes me happy to come home to (though it could be much much more organized- side note to be added to break to do list for next week). Anyway, there were plumbing problems when I was in the process of buying the house and the realtor's repair guy fixed the copper pipes and that was a total Jerry Springer show drama, but we got it resolved and i bought my house.

Now... for two years I've had a drip... drip... drip... in the tub. I tried to find people to help me fix it, but no takers. SO! I got this awesome book...


And in it's awesomeness it told me how to repair a leaky faucet, that over this weekend decided to go from dripping to running water....

Except the hardware stores don't carry what I need!

So I put it back together...

HAHA! The water wouldn't shut off in the tub! Then when I got it rearranged again when I shut it off it made a terrible screeching sound in the pipes!!!

AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!So I turned off the main water supply! :(

Then I called in today and have been up since 6 making sub plans for my kiddos, pm sub plans for my assistant, and calling every plumbing supply complany possible.

I FOUND ONE! It's in the middle of downtown and about 30-40 minutes away, but they think they probably have the parts I need! So... I'm going to go to my mom's to shower, then drive myself to this place and see if I can get some home repairs done.

BTW... all of my repair time was spent sitting in the tub with my pet pom drinking the dripping water... I tried to get my mom to take a pic for my blog, but when she went to leave the room my pom took off with my wrench and my mom had to retrieve it instead! :(

(all pics found through google image search)

GIVEAWAY WINNERS!

And the winners are.... (as provided by www.random.org random number generator):

22 (choice of a tile and a necklace)
Gail said...

Blog entry made, I hope you get some more traffic.
http://decoratingmytinshack.blogspot.com/

Happy PS

23 (choice of tile or necklace)
Ruth J. Hartman said...
Hi Amy,

Love your Blog! It looks like you and I have a few things in common. I live in Indiana, love cats, and also have OCD (unfortunately, NOT the creative kind :)).


20 (choice of tile or necklace)
CC said...

Tis me again. I'm already a follower..have been for some time now..CC

I will also be sending Beverly her choice of a prize for hosting Pink Saturday and getting me so many of my followers and readers!

Congratulations! I will be contacting each of you shortly to get your address and prize choice! I'm so excited! I wish I had enough prizes to send one to everyone! That sounds like a good idea... I might have to work on a surprise Giveaway for that one....

Thank you to all of you for entering my first Giveaway and becoming new followers <3!>

MY FAVORITEST ETSY SHOP!!!

Okay, I have found... the best... the greatest... the most AWESOME etsy shops! I was searching for some pastel pearls to use on a necklace I was going to make. In my search I happened upon a pair of pearl earrings at the One Dollar Jewelry shop. Not only does she have tons of fun and pretty pieces, they are all really cheap and shipping is only 75 cents!!! The most expensive thing she has on this shop is a $15 necklace people!!! She has 192 items listed and only 8 are over $10!!! Anyways, I ended up ordering FOUR pairs of earrings... here they are:

One Dollar Jewelry


Pink hearts anyone? For Valentine's day maybe?

Guess what?!?!?! $1.00. ONE DOLLAR!!! And shipping??? 75 cents (50 cents when you order more than one piece)!!!


$1.00... again.. SERIOUSLY


$1.00 PEOPLE PLEASE!!!


$2.00... whoa big spender! :P I LOVE IT!!!

Had my eye on this piece too... maybe next time!
($10 by the way)
This one is so simple, pretty, and elegant... I love it.

She has another shop too, by the way. The items cost a little more, free shipping at the moment, but one look and you will know why I am in love with everything! These are some of my favorites:

Nataliaraya

I didn't copy these prices... but I love how this flower necklace seems to glow in the light! It's definitely my favorite piece if I HAD to pick one... although it's really hard to choose just one!

This tea cup necklace has a story behind it, and a galaxy inside of it... I love story pieces!


This piece makes me think of a pearl in an opened clam/oyster whichever it is... I love the simple beauty of all her pieces in this shop.

Okay, so after you enter my giveaway you need to get yourself over to Nat's shops NOW!!! Do you see these beautiful crazily affordable pieces that you will love forever?!?!? Go get some!!!

Never Wanted to Win a Giveaway So BADLY!

Go on over to
Tales from an OC Cottage
and check out her amazingly awesome giveaway... it has pink, it has hearts, it has glitter, it has everything you could ever want in a giveaway!
(I want to win! LOL)

PINK SATURDAY AND A GIVEAWAY!!!!

Okay, here it goes... first of all- here's my Pink Saturday post. It's a large canvas acrylic painting I did the night I found out my mom needed to have double bypass surgery. It has hearts instead of leaves so I thought it was fitting for Beverly's challenge!

Click here to check out my fellow Pink Saturday Blogging Buddies!!!

Here's my GIVEAWAY!!!!

I'm considering opening an Etsy shop... but we'll see what the future holds for that. In the mean time I have 11 followers, which 11 just happens to be my FAVORITE number, and I have these items that I made that I'd like to share with some of you!!!

First Up: Ceramic tiles, scrapbook paper, permanent marker, mod podge, and some ribbon...
Then you get these adorable little wall hangings... they are 6x6 inches and ready for you to love!



Second Up: wire, beads, ribbon, lobster clasps... You get these darlings. The ribbons shown are brown, silver, and gold, but I also have thin black ribbon, a pale blue, yellow, ivory, red, and green if you'd like a different color. The ribbon is about 17-18 inches long.



So how do you enter to win? Here ya go:

1. Leave a comment on this entry (be sure to leave me an email to contact you at!)
2. Become a follower (leave a separate comment telling me)
3. Blog it on your blog (leave another comment telling me)
4. Refer someone over here and have them mention your name or blog (I'll give you an entry for every person you refer!)

That means if you do each you have at least 4 chances... more depending on how many people you can get on over here!

I'm thinking I'll pick a first, second, and third winner using the random number generator. First winner gets one of each, second and third gets their choice of one!
Enter by Tuesday at midnight and winners will be announced Wednesday evening. Hope to hear from you!

First EVER Giveaway

My favorite number is 11.
I now have 11 followers.
So, Saturday I will be having a Giveaway... my first ever. Tune in then for details!

Update

My mom got released from the hospital Saturday (January 23rd) after undergoing a double heart bypass that Tuesday. She is home and doing very well recovery wise. She's struggling with following doctor's orders on limitations and dieting, but we continue to try to support her in that. She's only 52 so it's very scary to think of someone having all of this happen at that age. Thank you for prayers and thoughts. They really helped.

Also, I'm still trying to get back in the swing of things and deal with life that has continued to go on as my mom was hospitalized. I hope to get some pictures of the crafts I've done the last few months posted and get to work on some other new projects. I'm hoping to make my own planner- but first of all clean up the crap room! (Then I'll call it the craft room again)

Much Love!
Amy

Queen Bee jewelry Giveaway over @ Beneath My Heart

Traci (whom we LOVE) over at Beneath My Heart is hosting a giveaway from Amanda at Queen Bee Designs. She has some super cute stamped pieces, so you have to hurry over and enter to win! You have until midnight Thursday!

(Personally, I am in love with the "Keep it Simple" necklace!)

Prayers Needed

Okay fellow blogging friends... I took my mom to the hospital Saturday night at midnight with chest pains. I made her take an aspirin before I let her get in the car. The pain went away and everything came back clear so that hospital sent her home at 4:30am to take aspirin and scheduled a stress test.

My aunt calls me at 10 yesterday morning to tell me my mom is still having chest pains. I call and my mom doesn't want to go to the hospital, just wants more aspirin. I take her aspirin and tell her if its still bad in half an hour I'm taking her to another hospital with a heart center. I take her in around 1 by the time we get there. They find elevated heart enzymes which is a sign of a heart problem (this all came out of the blue and totally unexpected)...

My mom calls me this morning and says they are taking her in in five minutes for a heart cauterization. We get there and the heart doctor tells us she has an 80% blockage in one of the arteries to her heart. She has to have bypass surgery tomorrow at 6:15am and is totally losing it over fear about the surgery and fear over having to be off work and not being able to pay bills.

We need your prayers. I'll keep updates on here and may open an etsy shop shortly to try to sell paintings and crafts to help with any bills I can.

Much love to all of you and yours,
Amy

Long Time No See...

Here's some of what I was up to the last month when I wasn't blogging...

Tote bag for one of my friend's four daughters whom I love...
(bought the bag, made the cupcake with felt and glued the pieces together, added ribbon, and wrote with shirt paint)

(didn't realize the pic was sideways until after uploading)


(so I added the one of the cat giving his stamp of approval)

My friend's youngest daughter just got her own bedroom for the very first time, she wanted a Webkinz room... so I freehanded these from looking at the icons on the website and then painted it on a flat canvas with acrylics....

Her third daughter got these headbands with felt roses glued on them that I made. She's all about being a girly girl...


And the oldest who loves purple and monkeys, got this hat box that I mod podged paper on and the little monkey is handpainted by me (bought blank at Michaels) and glued on the top... was supposed to be for the jewelry making stuff her mom got her- but that ended up distributed between all the girls.



And lastly...

I got my little Charlie neutered, so here we are- beginning week 2 of the conehead. He gets to stop wearing it on Thursday!


I have to thank all of you ahead of time as I go through a very difficult situation at this point in time. I am questioning myself and full of doubt with the choices I have made in life. I am working hard to overcome the shadows of my past that have defined me and made me into someone with almost no confidence who doesn't feel good enough for anyone. It has effected my entire life, and now it is effecting my career. So I now look ahead this year, just ahead to tomorrow really, and pray that I will be a little stronger than I was today... and another small step towards being more confident. Reading your blogs and experiencing the inspiration that I get from each of your crafts and posts is what brightens my every day. I am so extremely thankful for my friends and family who are supporting me as I deal with accepting that what I have worked so hard at isn't good enough for where I need to be in my fifth year of my job and doing everything in my power to break free of the past that has defined me for too long. I want to be the person I dreamed of being as a little girl, instead of the person I have let myself get trapped into by those who brought me down.

Much love to all of you and the very best of wishes...

More Sincerely than you will ever know,
Amy

Check out Disney@~Ruffles and Stuff~

Okay, so while I totally want to win the beautiful heart necklace she's just created and know this will bring more entries to her giveaway for you guys Disney is just too creative to not share (and I do get an extra entry for myself by posting this)! Go on over and join her awesome giveaway!

"Just pick somethin" Giveaway from
Disney@~Ruffles and Stuff~

~New Years To Do~

I've spent my two weeks vacation from school reading my Google Reader blog subscriptions, crafting Christmas gifts, but MOST importantly- spending LOTS and LOTS of time with some great friends that I couldn't live without. Now I look to school starting back Monday with a panic. I have so much to do that isn't done! My camera also threw a fit and wasn't working, so I have it going again (thanks to some hot pink Duct tape) and will have pics to post soon of my crafty projects and flea market finds. My poor puppy Charlie got neutered on Thursday and is running around with a cone on his head. Not that it is effecting him at all- he's still driving everyone insane. Long story short- here's my to do list!

Crafts:
1. finish last touches on Pay It Forward gifts and ship them out!
2. post pics on here of crafts
3. organize the craft stuff

MOST IMPORTANTLY...
My cleaning to do list (I picked up a book called The One-Minute Organizer Plain and Simple by Donna Smallin, it is a quick and easy read of simple tips)
Here's my list of things to have cleaned and organized by my birthday (March 17th):

1. clear pile from corner of kitchen
2. pantry
3. craft table in kitchen
4. counter
5. laptop work counter
6. drawers in paper file
7. kitchen shelf
8. entertainment center
9. hall closet
10. craft room floor (boxes)
11. craft room desk
12. craft closet
13. spare bedroom
14. bedroom closet
15. bedroom shelf
16. end of bed pile
17. dresser drawers
18. dresser top

So- I've taken the first step, made a list of what needs to be done and broken it down into simple things, and giving myself a deadline. My next step is to spend 15 or more minutes a day cleaning. My plan is to buy some of those super cute reusable shopping bags and hang one in each room on a door knob or hook. I'll use each bag to hold things that don't belong in that room so that I can just take the bag and put things in their rightful place after I have finished the above list. Good luck all! Hope you had a wonderful holiday!

Amy

Flea Market, Dollar Tree, Dollar General, and Family Dollar!

I've just decided to run off and rummage through the flea market and dollar store in a couple hours. I'm hoping to find the following:

A chain and bells to make a card holder like the Centsational Girl:


Pretty random embellishments to help me make frames like Disney's @ Ruffles and Stuff:


Set of pin cushions to make Bob the Tomato like @ Dollar Store Crafts:


Glass candlestick holder and a pretty plate to make a cake stand like the one @ Oh So Crafty:
And also looking for some deer decorations, fabric, ribbon, buttons, whatever else floats my fancy! Check out the great bloggers I noted! You won't be disappointed!

Back and on Break!

Ahhhh! How I love being on break and being able to ACTUALLY read all of my google reader blogs. The tree is FINALLY up and decorated- as of last night at 10pm (No lights this year tho because Charlie is still a cord chewer- he's still only 4 months old tho so he should grow out of it)! Now I have to get to crafting my Christmas gifts!


Also, for my pay it forward gals, your gifts will be coming shortly! They may not arrive til the first week of January, but I have my supplies for my new (and awesomely awesome) idea that I know each of you will love!


Lastly, I've found myself getting mad at my blog choices because so many people have pics of these immaculately clean houses! Well- mine isn't! My craft room is currently called the crap room- because that's where all the craft crap has landed and hasn't been organized. So during my two week break, I plan for before and after pictures of my cleaning. There will also be some shelf installing in the closets or some major crap storage boxes bought. I PROMISE to show you where I've hidden all my junk because I always look at those pictures and scream, "WHERE'S THE CRAP? WHERE'S THE CLUTTER?" Not that I love crap and clutter, just that life happens.

So, I had an amazing week of Secret Santa gifts at school with fun poems and a touching letter on Thursday- for the reveal of my Secret Santa as the gym teacher on Friday. He was the best Secret Santa ever- he raised my spirits, made me smile, and touched my heart and soul. He still says we need to debrief to ensure that I understand the full meaning of everything in the letter- I think I've got it. So, I'm off now to craft some presents and wrap everything- can't wait to see more of you all!



Lots of LoVe,
Amy + 6 critters (Reggie, Buddy, Tink, Charlie, Squirt and Poppy)

Pink Saturday: Favorite Childhood Holiday Memory

(My three tree fairies from the very first year I lived on my own!)

My favorite holiday memory from my childhood was getting together with my mom's side of the family on Christmas Eve to open presents. My mom's side of the family is my rock that has made me the person I am today and stood by me through thick and thin. I LOVE my family more than words can say.

Check out Beverly over @ How Sweet the Sound for more Pink Saturday Bloggers!