Wonderful Words

Sorry for not making good on my necklace posts... I've been hit with some sort of stomach bug. :( I just came across this quote though and really loved it, it's one of the hardest things for me to do in life. I suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and I obsess thoroughly over minute details and decisions in my life. I strive for perfection and always want to wait until that perfect moment, or put things off until I can try to do everything all at once so that I feel like I completed something instead of allowing myself to be human and just do things as they need done instead of putting it off and stressing myself out, and lastly learning to find confidence in myself and not need others to tell me how well I am doing or give me their approval. I was awesome in school because I got grades and feedback about how I was doing and it was just there to follow, now in life I constantly worry about how well I am doing because no one gives you grades in real life. There are no grades for how well you do your job (teaching), how clean you keep your house, how well kept your yard looks, or how kind you are to others. Life doesn't give you the feedback and objectiveness of grades. Even in my medicated state I still worry and obsess on a smaller scale. I'm a straight A honor student living in a world that has stopped grading my performance and it makes me question myself and continues to hinder me from gaining the self confidence I so badly need and have never had. Now that I've given that little rant... here you go:

Begin where you are.

Don't wait for the right moment

or the easy moment.

If it needs to get done,

do it.

where you are.

be better now.

change your life now.

waiting for an assurance of success will only stop you.

begin where you are.

Floral Bib Necklace and Earrings

I found this awesome tutorial from Larissa over at Just Another Day in Paradise for a beautiful floral bib necklace:

Tutorial 1
Tutorial 2

I love it! I didn't have brads that would have worked for this so I used buttons and beads from other leftover projects! I adore it!!!!

I decided I needed some matching earrings...


Found the camera today under the front seat of the car! Tune in tomorrow to see more necklaces that I've created!

LoVe!
~Amy~

Crafts from the Cell Phone Files...

I had this cheapo tv stand made out of particle board I guess, that I bought on clearance at a CVS for like $5 a couple years ago. I found something better for my tv in the bedroom at the flea market, but didn't want to throw this out. So I whipped out the scrapbooking paper and modpodge and here we go. Basically I traced the pieces on the paper, cut out, mod podged, sanded the edges, punched holes to reconnect the pieces, and put on a finish coat. The top I just cut out without drawing and pieced everything together on top. It's in my hallway now... I LOVE it! (The picture frames on top I'll have to take a better pic of... they are pages from the Green Stack set at JoAnn's with chipboard letters that spell out JOY.)


I love Sara over at Sara's Art House... I want her house... badly. My house consists of a red and white kitchen, very pale yellow living room (like lighter than ivory), a periwinkle craft room, purple spare room, and pale pink bedroom. I wanted some BRIGHT, cheery colors! I just slapped this paint on the canvas, realized it doesn't go anywhere in my house, and decided I'll take it to my new classroom! :)

Here's my inspiration: http://sara-mincy.blogspot.com/ (Check out the right sidebar... there's some small pics of hers there!)

Fabric Flower Pins

Tutorial: http://myblondeambitions.blogspot.com/2010/03/fabric-flower-tutorial.html
Note: I used my glue gun instead of sewing and I bought scrapbooking brads from JoAnn's for $2.99 and $3.99 to use in the center (I poked it through and then glued the felt with the pin over the arms).

Dahlia Brooch

Tutorial: http://www.notmartha.org/archives/2010/05/06/mothers-day-felt-dahlia-corsage-a-few-notes/
Note: I used hot glue on all of it and left off the pocket!

Dog Biscuits

Recipe: http://robertapm28.blogspot.com/2010/02/recipe-dog-bone-treats.html
Note: I'll admit it... I taste tested them... and BLECK! The dog loved them though, and so did his doggy friends that we shared with. :)

OH NO! I've lost my camera!

(My little weed eater... I chopped these down with clipper things and he laid down and started eating them!)


Holy cow... it's gone.

I can't find it anywhere!

My camera has disappeared! I'm so sad because I've made tons of awesome crafts :(.

Guess I'll have to use my cell... even though I've gone over my messaging/data package! (Oops!)

I'm so excited about my crafting... I can't wait to share! :)

LoVe YoU ALL!

Life...

(got this in an email once a long time ago... still cracks me up)

So... I really have done a few crafts over the last couple months. I've made necklaces, fabric posey pins, felt flower brooches, a mod podged table, a painting, and others I'm sure I'm missing. I just don't seem to have the patience to upload pictures and post them. That's a new goal of mine starting this week, I want to post at least one craft or creative post per week. So, my classroom is all packed and waiting to be moved to the school I've been reassigned to (80 boxes). I got a violation letter from the city for having weeds or grass in excess of 12 inches tall (I killed the weed eater, had no money for a replacement, was packing at school 9+ hours a day for the last 10 days, and it's rained like you wouldn't believe). I proceeded to take care of those much overgrown weeds last night, then tried to finish up today since the letter I received Friday had today as the deadline... and managed to drop a large cement block on my toe. OUCH!- which doesn't even begin to cover it. Possibly broken, won't be spending the money to find out since there is nothing that can be done for it. At any rate, I'm basically a broke 27 year old again for the time being except for a small allowance I have to get a few things at a craft store in the next few days. Then my summer goal will be to learn to be okay with not spending money and spending more time tending to things at home. That means lots of yard work and tons of inside work. I've lived in this house for just over two years now and I've neglected the homemaking duties for far too long. Can't wait to post pics of a clean and decorated house! Wish me luck... I'll need it!

Little Irritated

Okay... I'm a little irritated here... maybe more than a little. Why are there random comments being left on my blog that look like they are written in hieroglyphics? Then when I click to check out the user who left them, it's a blog full of the same hieroglyphics. I try to delete the comments, but they don't go away. It's frustrating me. So... I have now turned on comment approval in order to try to prevent more of these comments from posting.

BTW... it's summer break!

Right now that means I have to pack up my entire classroom for the district to move to my new school because they closed our current school due to budget cuts :(. I am so sad to be separated from my school family and students, but I won't go into that right now because I've cried enough today!

A parent came in today and volunteered to help me... she was in shock at how much I had... that's kinda what happens when you are a resource teacher for ALL grade levels!

Hope to be back posting soon!

LOVE!

Aquarium Background Project

Alright, so this summer I bought an aquarium from my brother for my pet turtle. He says it's 100 gallons, I'm not sure if it's really that big... but it's sizable. Anyway, it was going to make it's home in my living room because there's no room anywhere else in the house! So, I put it in front of the window and HATED seeing the cords and window through the back... I needed a background.
The catch...

I HATE the generic ocean themed backs (sorry for those of you that have them, no offense, it just doesn't suit me!)!

Instead I went to Walmart, bought myself two poster boards and a roll of wrapping paper. If failed to take pictures of the process, but here are the steps!

1. Measure the size of your tank, tape your two poster boards together and cut off the excess.

2. Cover small portions in Mod Podge and affix your wrapping paper to the poster board, smoothing out bubbles as you go.

3. Trim off excess wrapping paper and flip your board over.

4. Add any needed embellishments. I made my poppy flower with construction paper and used a permanent marker to draw the swirlies!

5. Scotch tape onto the back of your tank! You're done! :)


OH!

And... that aquarium stand?

My brother had totally ghetto'd it up with unfinished two by fours and scraps of wood from other furniture to make it more 'stable'. We took the raw two by four pieces off the sides and then he 'helped' (sorta forced/bribed him) to spray paint the multi-colored fake wood finishes all white. I distressed the edges some and later used foam stamps and paint to decorate it with a couple pink flowers and green swirly accents. I'll have to post that pic later! Hope you enjoyed!

Friend Makin' Monday

It's Friend Makin' Monday with Amber again!
(Click the button above to go visit!)

Today we're listing our five favorite things... aside from obvious ones (crafting, pets, family, etc.)

Here are mine:

1. Shopping (shoes, purses, dresses...)


2. Quotes that mean something...


3. Flea Market Adventures and Finds...


4. PINK!!!!


5. Old towns lined with shops and friendly people...

One Week Later

In just over an hour it will be one week since I took my precious dog, Buddy, to the vet for the very last time. I still miss him terribly. I have cried every single day over him, with the freakish exception of yesterday which may have just been exhaustion. I still look for him to come down the hallway when I'm getting ready for bed. I wake up in the middle of the night and look down off the side of the bed to check on him and he isn't there. The pain feels like it's going to rip me apart sometimes. I've had the screaming cry, the sobbing, the quiet never ending flow of tears... to some people they are just pets, to me he was my furry four legged child. The librarian at school put a book called "Dog Heaven" in my mailbox. It made me cry, but it made me smile too. I know Buddy is out of pain and in a better place. Within the next week the vet I took him to will call and let me know that his ashes are ready for me to pick up. I know it will be hard, but I'm hoping it'll help in some way to know that Buddy is back home here where he belongs. Thank you for all of the comments on my posts this week. Every single one distracted me for a few moments and put a smile on my face. I love every single one of you so much! I'll be back to let you all know what I've been up to in the craft and flea market therapy soon.

Dishing It!!!

Okay, so I just stumbled upon Amanda's blog Serenity Now and saw this amazing "Dishing It!" party. I love making new blogging buddies and I totally need a pick me up right now, so here it goes!

~How long have you been blogging?
I've been blogging since the summer of 09... I think LOL!

~Why did you start blogging?
I started blogging because my best friend from birth, Sarah @ Love, Love, Love, and I had recently reconnected and discovered we were both craft junkies and flea market addicts... well she showed me my first craft blog (Reinvented)! Well, after that I was addicted! I couldn't get enough of the craft blogs and we spent HOURS online with her sharing blog links with me while I flipped out over this newly discovered world!

~Tell me about your blog's title. Why did you choose it?
I have OCD- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and I wanted a fun title, then OCD: Obsessive Creative Disorder struck me! I HAD to have it!

~What do you blog about?
I blog about crafts, flea market finds, life events, mostly crafts.

~What is your favorite thing about blogging?
My favorite thing is finding all the awesome crafts everyone else has posted and getting comments on my posts! I love knowing someone out there actually reads my posts and likes them! Just when I was hating on my photo taking skills I got compliments on them!

~If you had to choose one famous person to become your blog's next devoted reader, who would you pick?
When Traci over at Beneath My Heart became a follower of mine I nearly wet myself! Seriously! I love Traci's projects and her comments and emails are always so sweet. And then The DIY Showoff Roeshel! Whenever someone whose blog I've followed and drooled over becomes my follower it's like I've had a celebrity run in! Goofy, I know, but hey, it makes my day!

~What's the funniest comment you've ever received on a blog post?
Not sure I've really come across a funny comment yet, I just love every comment I get!

Alright, hope on over and check out everyone else!

"Dishing It" with Amanda@Serenity Now

Last Night

When I came home from work yesterday, Buddy wasn't at the door to meet me. He also didn't come when I called his name. I came through the living room and found him laying down in the kitchen. He got up and went outside to use the bathroom and came back in like normal. I took Charlie and put him in his crate, Buddy came in and laid down on his blankets beside my bed and we all went to sleep to take a much needed nap.
I woke up four hours later and couldn't find Buddy anywhere. I started to worry that I had left him outside and didn't remember. I checked the livingroom, kitchen, bedroom, and then checked them all again with no sign of him. That's when I went back and found him lying on the bathroom floor. He was just laying there, breathing pretty shallowly, and was fairly limp as I pet him. Over the next few minutes he got up and began to wander around the house. He was running into things and stopping to lean against anything near him and looking for some place to hide.
I called my vet's answering machine to tell them that it was time and I would need to bring him in in the morning. As I watched Buddy I began to worry he wouldn't make it until morning. I called the vet again and wrote down the number to the emergency clinic. My mom came to get us and took us there. Buddy let me pick him up and carry him which he hasn't done since he was a puppy. They took us into a back room and I laid Buddy down on a blanket covered table where he stayed with his head on my arm. One of the ladies came in with a vet and they talked to us and then gave Buddy a sedative shot to make him fall asleep. I stood there with my arms around him and my head on his shoulder as he slowly started breathing easier and closed his eyes. We left around 11:50 after kisses, tears, pets, and whispered goodbyes so that the vet could give him the euthanasia shot.
Today would have been his 12th birthday. Part of me wanted to stay with him until midnight so that he would be 12, but another part of me knew that he was sleeping and no longer really with me, and that God had already answered my prayer to let him live until his birthday because he would be born again in Heaven on that day.
I stayed home from work today. There was no way I could go in with how I'm randomly crying. Even though there are five other pets here, three of which are four legged mobile ones, the house feels empty without my Buddy. I will love and miss him forever.

My Children

I've just added pictures to the right side column under the blogs I follow of my pets a.k.a. children in case you are interested in seeing the rascals I refer to so often! I tried to choose pictures that I thought captured their personalities, but apparently I haven't uploaded any recent pictures of Charlie and he sorta moves too fast or is in too much trouble for me to capture it on film most of the time! LOL In light of my current situation with Buddy I wanted to have their pics posted on here since they are such a huge part of my life. :)

Give your furry, wet nosed, warm hearted friend a cuddle and kiss from me and my zoo tonight... we often take them for granted.

2 Quick Projects & 1 New Pair of Shoes

Project One:
What is this you ask?
Maybe you're thinking it's a decorated wooden block...
Or perhaps just a small plaque?

Nope.

and...

Nope.

It's a chalkboard eraser!!!

I have a post to show later of my shelf/coat hanger redo where I destroyed a scratched mirror and turned it into a chalkboard. When I put it on display I knew I needed the eraser, but didn't like having it just sitting up on the shelf... so I mod podged some white paper on, then added a scrap of burlap, hot glued on my chipboard letters and VOILA!

Project Two:
I LOVE the Family Rules that everyone has been making out in Blogland... but I don't have a family to make rules for! I doubt my six pets would follow the rules, not saying that they couldn't read them, just that they wouldn't even be able to see them if I didn't post them at floor level!

My solution: rules to craft by! I plan on hanging this on the door to my Craft Room in the hallway. It was super easy, just pick you rules, pick striped paper or some paper scraps, glue them down to a large piece of chipboard or wood and set everything out on the paper! Cute and so easy!

If you can't read mine they say:

Keep Calm and Craft On
1. Choose Happiness
2. Create
3. Be True 2 Yourself
4. Imagine
5. Do What You Love
6. Dream
7. Inspire
8. Flourish
9. See Differently

I spent an amazing day with my friend Sarah today for a late birthday celebration. She treated me to Chili's (my favorite) where we enjoyed their awesome chips and salsa (homemade in restaurant) and I had my fave monterrey chicken with loaded mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. We then did some shopping at Payless and JoAnn's, followed by going to see Alice in Wonderland! It was a great movie! I chose that over Remember Me because we figured Remember Me is probably sad and I said we should see Alice because it is full of bright colors (LOL)!

Here are some cute and super COMFY shoes I grabbed at Payless for $17.99!

I could sleep in these! There's a navy blue pair I'm totally thinking I need to go with the dress I posted about back on Monday!


LOVE!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

I will be hanging out with friends and forcing myself to do some grading and IEP paperwork for the return to school on Monday!

Beneath My Heart Linky Party and Inspired Project!

Okay this is my FAVORITE project of March! And it is all thanks to Traci over at Beneath My Heart and her awesome video tutorial! I love her!

Traci uses cork board on the back of her sheet metal... but I'm far too cheap to buy it so I just grabbed some foam board from Dollar Tree!

Glue the foam board around the edges of your sheet metal to make it thicker and prevent a trip to the hospital for stitches (haha). I cut it with my trusty box cutter (more daring adventure for me!)

Now, you flip that bad boy over and are ready to put on your fabric if it's thick. If it's not thick your metal will shine through. Traci spray painted hers... spray paint and I do not get along and it takes too much time... so I grabbed out the mod podge and covered it with a thin coat.

I had some tissue paper on hand from my recent birthday so I just grabbed it out of a nearby gift and smooshed it on the metal (seriously- I didn't even stress over wrinkles). Then you cut off the excess... if any holes appear just rip a piece from the excess and dab it over the hole.


Now, when I saw this fabric at JoAnn's I had no idea what I was going to do with it. I just knew that I NEEDED it. So I only got a half yard because I don't have the money to blow right now. Ended up that wasn't enough... uh oh... cept... I had leftover BURLAP! So I decided to add some burlap and ribbon for magnet parking at the bottom.

(BTW at some point in this process I ran out of hot glue and had to run to Dollar Tree to get more. I had a stare down with it in the craft aisle when I got the foam board on the first trip, but I was SURE I wouldn't run out *eye roll here*)

Okay, so there was a massive hunt for the magnets around my wreck of a house- but no fear I found them! I painted them pink because those awesome little pebble stickers didn't cover the whole magnet and I didn't like the black showing!
All together now.... OOOOOOOH!!!!!


AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!


Thanks Traci!

Friend Makin' Monday

I can't sleep... so let's make some friends!It's another Friend Makin' Monday with Amber over at A.E.Filkins...

This week's topic is Spring Trends, here are some of my faves:

Florals & Scarves!:
Mark $16 Scarf
Target Liberty of London Poppy Scarf $14.99


Trench Coat:
Fashion Bug Pink Trench Coat $39.99


Ruffles:
Walmart Women's Plus Size Dress $14 (just ordered this one and the white one- oops :P)
I've also seen that for hair styles it's still long waves and loose braids... but I'm kinda stuck on the angled bob now that I discovered it just this year!

As for makeup, the liquid eyeliner look is all the rage and I've always liked a lined top lid only with a shimmery shadow and I'm addicted to lipglosses so here are my current makeup faves:

Sparkle Eye Dust from NYC (like $3.97 a pop at Walmart)I've currently got it in baby blue, pink champagne, and smokey topaz... a little bit of an addiction

Wet N Wild H20 Proof Eyeliner (cheap cheap anywhere)

Mary Kay Eye Primer (pricey... but all I've ever used on my greasy skin to stop the creasing!)

I love Mary Kay lipglosses, but this Winter I discovered Bath and Body Works C.O.Bigelow lip buffer and lip glosses (mentha organics in sheer rose and the mentha lip tint but not sure what color I have there), as well as the LipLicious in Watermelon Sorbet (although they are all super yummy and I'd love to try the jewel versions)... all are $7.50 each at www.bathandbodyworks.com or your nearest store :).

Now if only my healthy pets could get jobs to support my spending habits....

As for my dear Buddy I am not seeing any improvements from the drug cocktail injection :(. The vet will be calling me later today to discuss the next steps to be taken and when those arrangements should be made. I struggle with having to make the decision of what time is the right time to take my pup in (only a pup to me as he is almost 12 years old). I pray to God every night to take away his suffering and help me know when the time is right to let the vet take over. I don't have the heart to type the words about him no longer being here with me, for me it is as if I am losing a child and a best friend all in one. I continue to hope and pray each day for the answers to come to me when needed. Until then I try to enjoy the time I have left with him and distract myself from worries that I know God will take care of.

God Bless
~Amy~