I have been busy again

First of all, I would like to say that a sweet chick gave me a call on Saturday, Connie at Living Beautifully. Although I have never met Connie, she sounds just like her posts, sweet, kind, gentle, and caring about blogging friends. Her call brightened my day. Thank you Sweet Connie.

Now I have been busy trying to keep my mind off the latest saga of my sister trying to hurt me, but she didn't do it. I found this mirror at Goodwill for $3.99 and looked at it and thought about how it would look white and use it temporarily for my bedroom dresser until I can afford or find an old round mirror. It took 2 coats of primer and paint and the pictures don't do it justice. I really like it, but there are 4 little areas that had the mirrors missing, so they've been measured and Al will get them for me. I did like the brown and gold, but I didn't need a mirror for my living room. It's really pretty in person and I always have fun painting. It's the one thing that I can do standing up straight. You can click on for a bigger image.

I found some more things for my blog store, but won't set it up until I have enough things to keep it going like Amy does. My prices will be reasonable and I will be selling things that I make or redo if they are not big. I do make squash scrapbooks and I will be selling those for $15 and my journals for $10. If I get around to beading cards again, they will sell for $6.00, a lot of work for little pay. I have a box full of linens with embroidery designs on them, one is blue that will go well with some blue ware I found. I do hope to sell to help pay for some of my co-pays for the surgeries I will be having.
One of the surgeries will be breast reduction and that is being set up right now. I have to have my mammorgram and the doctor ordered an MRI on my neck for next week. My daughter is happy that they are finally going to do it, because she knows how much I have suffered with them.
Not sure if I told you all, but last year my bad cholesterol was over 2000 and with diet and medicine, it is now at 143. I was shocked, but very happy.
I will try and come back on Thursday night, because Good Friday, we don't do anything, but remember why Christ died for our sins. On Easter Sunday, Al will come and have dinner with me. My son and family will be going to his mil's for Easter, so it's just us, but it gives us time to discuss things about our relationship, which we are hoping to re-build someday.
Well I have got to make 96 kiss roses so I need to get started. I will try and visit blogs tomorrow, between making roses and wrapper candy for bouquets. Wish me luck that my thumb doesn't trigger lock on my again. Love, Hugs, Prayers, and many Blessings for a wonderful Easter.

More Finished pieces

I just finished these two little cabinets but the first one is going to a friend on Thursday. These both are pieces that Al made but were in green and oak color. My friend Carol's bathroom is white with colored walls and accents. We don't have that much to do with her bathroom, but now that it is warming up from a long winter, we can finish the work. We didn't want to hammer either with the new baby there.

This is a cute piece I had in my hall and will now be used in my craft room or kitchen later. I am going to paint my cabinets white and look for a pretty pink rose wall paper and do pink accents in it. I have a couple of my watermelons that have pink, so I won't get rid of those. A lot of it will go into my blog store, even though it pains me to see it go, I need the money for surgery (copay). We used to sell furniture and I asked Al last night if he would start building them again, because I think I can get people down here to like pink, but will keep most of them white or unfinished which will be cheaper if you buy unfinished. The prices  at the Unfinished Store are really high and Al does good work, so keep your fingers crossed that he will do it.

I have car rosaries to make and  finish my giveaway, but since I am including overseas, there won't be many extras in it, only things very light like ribbons and lace. Stay tuned at the end of the week. Have a great day and let your Light Shine on others.

Proverb 58

You give but little when you

give of your possessions.

It is when you give of yourself

that you truly give.

Hahlil Bibran

My "New to Me" bedroom pieces

These are the pieces of furniture and things that I have been working on. The first was a ugly green box with Dora things on it. So I stripped and sanded, primed and painted and then put scrapbook paper as a liner.

This was a brown magazine rack that all I had to do was prime it. It is very heavy so it must have been a good piece.

This is a night stand that I only stripped the legs and sides, The top is lamenated so I left it alone. It's small but cute as a nightstand. I need find tiny handles because the standards don't fit. I also stripped and painted an end table, but I need to paint the handles on it. A man was going to buy it, but he changed his mind and gave it to me. I will show that one later.

This is the dresser that had 5 coats of paint on it. Only one drawer was good, but the other three have to be made and that is not a problem, since Al is a wood worker and builds country furniture.

The last piece was already painted, but I will give it another coat, but not until I move. I also found a head board and frame that was painted. All in all, these pieces all cost under $50, not counting primer and paint, of which I have only used half and painted 3 other pieces which I will also post later when they are put back together. If I am able to, I take things apart because it's easier than trying to sand and prime when it's all one piece.

I'm going to buy some embellishments from Home Depot to add some vintage look to them all. I love them and now I am on a search for a cute bench for my sitting area. I have one that I have on my porch, but it's not deep enough to be comfortable. I have milk glass lamps that I in the process of re-wiring and all will look great with my "new" pieces. Opinions are welcome.

My thoughts today

It's Easter Time

Well I am thinking how much Easter means to me and all I could think of was 3 nails and a cross. When I did craft shows, I took 3 nails and wire themed together with a tiny little wreath at the top and sold them as ornaments that you hide inside your tree, because the tree symbolizes the wood used to make the cross. Jesus has always been there for me and I have been through a lot in the last 12 years, but He has always gotten me through. Being on life support and my family knowing that I might die was supposed to be a lesson for them, not me, because I didn't know what was going on. But once I found out, my life became simple, well almost, but now I find myself living the way God would want. I have always dreamed of living in a pretty new larger home, but I realized I have a roof over my head, food to eat, and clothes when it's cold. I am a very Blessed person with a few friends who stand by me when I need them, plus I have all of you in Blogland that have helped me through some very difficult times. I don't have all my graphics from my other hard drive but I am hoping to transfer all them soon.

Easter Season gives us time to repent and become a new person. Most Catholics give up something for Lent, but I choose to give it up forever. Mine is to be a kinder, more gentle person and not let anyone hurt me. I forgive all who hurt me and then go on with my life. I humble myself and quit dwelling on the past. What has happened is over and we can't go back to yesterday, but we can change today. The future holds our destiny and if we change today, our destiny can be everything God wants of us. I have never felt this good about myself before. I have been reading a lot of Christian books and found a lot of answers to what I need to do, so my bucket list is a pleasing one for God,not for myself. I love all of you, and even though, I no longer get many comments, that's okay also. This is my blog and I see it as a journal of sorts.

I still "like" things, but I could easily live without them if I have to, but God wants us to have nice things, but He doesn't want us to worship them. So my thoughts for you today are that you are as Blessed as I feel today. Life is good, even though I am not healthy, but working on what I can fix and leave the rest to God, only he can fix those. He gives me strenght to endure some of the pain, but I still have to rely on medicine. I want to be around to see my grandchildren finish school and see my granddaughter married with children of her own. Have a Blessed Day and May God Bless you all. Love and Hugs, Pat

If you can search for "He grew the Tree", listen to it. I will try and find it. I have it on cassette and need to try and get it to a CD.

Happy St.. Patrick's Day

                         Happy St. Patrick's Day

I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful day we are having. I'm working on finishing a dressing table and night stand, then priming a cabinet Al made me about 15 years ago, so I can paint it white with pink doors. I also have 3 stools to sand and prime and it's a nice day to be outside. I still haven't down loaded my things from my other hard drive, so maybe this weekend, we can hook them together and transfer everything to this one. I am so enjoying DSL again and now back in the 21st Century.

My spring fling giveaway is almost finished and I will try and get it posted next week, so I hope this time, word will get out. Have a great day everyone. Love and Hugs, Pat :)

My Temporary Craft Room

Having fun even though I don't have all my craft stuff here. This is my temporary room for crafting. It was actually my bedroom and apartment at one time. This was used as a kitchen and dining area and my bedroom that I am in now was me and my babies room with a bath in the middle.

A lot of these baskets and little shelves I got at Goodwill. They were brand new with the tags still on them. I am working on a Spring Fling giveaway, but I took it out of the room until it's finished, then I will post it for the giveaway. If you click on the picture you get a better look at things. I've also been painting furniture and I was finishing what I started, then got Al to bring 2 more things for me to work on.....3 stools from my kitchen and another cabinet he made for me that needs to be primed and repainted. I think when the time comes, I am painting my kitchen white with pink accents..I already found some pretty rose dishes at my neighbors garage sale. I am going to mix some soft green into it also.

Al has the money to start my bigger craft room and I am looking forward to it. We aren't getting the house, so I have to let go of that and move on. My sister posted something ugly about me on my Facebook---she called me "One sick Individual" and yes I am, but not in the way she puts it. God forgive me but I never liked my sister---ever. She lives a totally different life than I do and I want no part of the things they do. Thank goodness Jackie, one of my former craft friends, sent me a message about it, but I couldn't block her, so I got adminastration to do it for me. She told me that all Donnie's friends could read my Facebook posts, but she is wrong because I have friends only that can post. What makes people so hateful? Is is because they are jealous seeing someone happy? I just don't know. I only know I lost my very best friend with all this and she will never speak to me again. Oh well, that was how our mother was, she held grudges forever and could not say I'm sorry ever. It was always me that went to her even though I knew I had done nothing wrong.

Okay, I'm rambling now and I don't want to. So I am going back to finish one last coat on 2 pieces of furniture, then to bed. Have a great night or day. Love and  Hugs, Pat

Going off line to get back on line!

I've been doing a little decorating and this is the only thing I have that is St.Patrick, but I love these little guys and I collect minature tea sets. I am part Irish, as my great grandmother was a McFarlain and you can't get any more Irish than that. She had the brightest red hair and I guess that is where my carrot top hair came from when I was young.

Most people believe that a Shamrock is a 4 leaf clover, but as far as I know from a friend that went and brought me back some things, it's actually 3 leaves. My mom has some wild clover growing and it's rare that you find a 4 leaf.

These are a little child's pieces but I seen the possibilities of making a little showbox with the hutch and although it's not completely finished, I have gotten to the point of only adding embellishments.

This is step 2 and it wasn't easy cutting little pieces to fit inside the hutch.

This is the bottom and I didn't like the chunky knobs for legs, so out came the bead box and I like the way the they look. I am going to use beads for the handles unless I can find some tiny little crystal beads that look like old knobs.

Now for the other news. My computer will be cut off soon, so I am going to work on my Spring giveaway while I have DSL installed--yes you read it correctly--I'm going into the 21St. Century here in the country-LOL! Dial up is so bad and the trouble I had with ATT is more than one person should endure.

So until then, I bid you a great weekend, like we are having.. It's shorts  and capri time, but I will miss Old Man Winter, but this has been the longest winter I can remember in the South. Love and Hugs, Pat

Blog Store

I mentioned in a previous post about making a blog store to sell some things I have collected over the years and things that I make. I will let you all know when the link becomes available. Right now I am on dial up, but on Friday, I am having a satellite put in for Hughes.net, so I will have DSL. This dial up sucks and it takes too long to get or do anything. Al is going to pay half of it for me, so I will still be paying what I paid for dial up and will cancel that. They sent me a bill for $1800 for the same number just for trying to dial up after I cancelled my long distance service. I still had LOC and Lake Charles was within my circle, but yet they still charged me. Needless to say, it is their fault and I told them I would not pay a crazy charge like that. They changed my password without telling me and so when I tried to get on line, it kept dialing up to get on with an error. Oh the trouble I have had with ATT and I had enough, spending 4 hours one day on my cell phone to get it straight, so we went from 4000 rollover minutes to 800 just by having to call them on my cell phone. They can't help you if you are on the land line, because it's dial up. Why can't they just leave things alone. I liked my old Internet Explorer page and they now have a new one and you have to click on every subject, news, entertainment, etc. and that is just not a good thing. Even ATT, since they joined Yahoo, has changed. Your emails now open at the bottom of the page instead of opening completely. I am all for change, but they are getting out of hand. Well I need to get to work on a Spring Fling giveaway, so will chat later. Blessings to all who have had surgery lately, Joyce and Carole, hope you are all well and healing. I need to get another card in the mail, so need to get off line and get some work done. Will have before and after pictures to show you later. Love and hugs, Pat

Really great finds.

Great Bargains for my blog Store.

This is a dish and swan from USA and as soon as I look up the value, I will place this in my blog store. As you can see I have been collecting many things to earn extra money to pay off my medical bills, which are continually mounting and with 3 surgeries that will probably happen this year, I need all the help I can muster.

Someone was wrote that they collected broken arms to use in their altered crafts. Well I have a few of these along with legs and they will also be listed in my shop for sale. I also have bodies without the arms and legs and head, but there are heads with black hair also available.

These little bunnies need some work, but they are so cute. the phone box, I bought because I liked it.

I adore this little piece and it is old. I have a pink one at Al's that has a squirrel on it and it is cute also. Probably will go in my store also.

This is a tackle box that I got at Goodwill for $4.99 and looked like no one had put nasty fish stuff in it, so I used it to store old jewelry that I use in altering projects. Below is just "Some" of the jewelry I have. I have the old rhinestone jewelry still in Crowley, but bringing them here to work on a giveaway that I have planned.

This is an AB cruncher that I got for $19.98 and it looks brand new. I can lay back with help and do zero gravity for 12 minutes at a time. The doctor thinks this might help my spine. Ad for as the ab crunches, I did 3 and was sore for a week. I didn't realize how weak my muscles had become, but I think I may keep trying until I get rid of some fat and make some muscle instead.

I love these kinds of snowmen and this one will probably go in my blog store as soon as I set it up. I need to finish more things to sell before I make it. I also have enough products to make some. I did find this one at a thrift store and was excited to find it.

Time for Spring

Don't you wish Spring were here and we are very close to it, but for the South to continue this cold streak, I'm afraid we are in for a very hot summer and a horrible hurricane season.

Below is a canvas that I altered in an MSN group, ABCrafting. I need opinions as to whether you would join for something similar for a giveaway. I only had 4 people join my last giveaway and I really would love to have more join in. Let me know what you think, then I will decide if it is worth my time. I used to get lots of visitors, but for some reason, I don't anymore. I guess it's because I talked about my health issues too much. Also, I always add extras when I have a giveaway or swap. So until I get a few opinions, I will leave this posted, then decide what I will do for a giveaway. Now that I am crafting more, I would like to have one every month, even if it's jus a journal that I make from notebooks.

I will also be making a selling blog where I will list things for sell and Al will use his paypal account until I can get started. I have collected some vintage and some really cute and sweet things. I make bookmarks with beads, journals, squash books, altered boxes and they are mostly one of a kind. I will let you all know when the blog is done.

Now to make it interesting, I will give away something with the best name for my new blog. I love pastel colors and have lots of things that I can make for the winner. So put you thinking caps on and come up with something cute and sweet. I thought about Patty's Pretties, because I used that name when I made printable graphics for a girl's web site that I joined.

Well I am headed off to sleep. I have been multi tasking while watching 2012. I have the new brad maker and so I can put pictures on the brads for special scrapbook pages. I don't yet have a laser printer, but that is in the works. Our PT cruiser had problems and it cost over $200 to change a sensor on it---seems like something always happens when things begin to look good.

Good night everyone and God Bless you all. Please remember my friend Joyce in your prayers as she is having surgery on Thursday morning. Love and hugs, Pat :)

                                                  Click picture for a larger view.