Yikes!

So last night I put on a pair of jeans I hadn't worn since before Christmas. Yikes! They're really tight! How can that happen in just a week or two? UGH!!! Ok. So now to avoid the cookies and candy and pies and all this other stuff! My mother-in-law arrived here in Ohio yesterday with her car loaded with goodies. I guess since she didn't have any of the kids or grandkids at her house in PA, she spent all her time baking! Oh, boy. So I'll start my chant: I will not gain any more weight! I will not gain any more weight! I will not gain any more weight!

And starting Jan. 2nd, my new chant will be: I will lose weight! I will lose weight! I will lose weight!

Ok, off to eat more junk . . . dum de dum dum . . .

We made it!

We made the trip to Ohio in 16 1/2 hours (not the planned 14 hours but close!). So now we are in northeast Ohio and it's snowing like crazy! My sweet 2 year old granddaughter keeps wanting to go outside. So we go out for a few minutes and come back in to warm up. But she wants to go right back out. It's too cute!

So far I've learned a couple of things since we left Mississippi yesterday:
1. If I had half the determination to stay away from food that a 2 year old can have to keep from going to sleep, I'd never have to diet.
2. In the time it takes one grammy to put on a pair of pants, a 2 year old can inspect everything on the bathroom counter, empty out a suitcase, and throw Dora in the toilet! Amazing!

But I'm having great fun enjoying her. (And, yes, Brittney I'm making sure she eats healthy food.) Of course, she also has to eat a few of great grandma's cookies, too.

Anyway, I have pictures to post of some journals I made for Christmas presents but since my sis-in-law doesn't have wireless, I haven't managed to get my laptop hooked up to her internet yet. So that may have to wait till I get back home.

Hope everyone had a blessed Christmas!

Our family

This is a little blurry but getting this many people still at one time is no small feat! On the left is our oldest daughter, Andrea, her husband, Paul and their son, Gavin. Then me in the front. Behind me are Liz and Lee, our oldest son and his girlfriend. To the right of me is our daughter, Brittney and her little girl, Jolie, her husband, Aaron is behind her. On the right in front is our youngest, Crystal and behind her, my husband, Richard. We're missing our middle child (and youngest son), Nathan and his wife, Candace. Maybe next year we can get them all there! 

 

Brittney, Jolie, and Aaron

Liz and Lee

Paul, Gavin, and Andrea

It's here!

Wow, what a great evening with family, presents, and tons of food! We had a wonderful time at my parent's house eating chili and lots of other goodies! Then the chaos begins - opening presents! Four of our children were there, our oldest, Andrea and her husband and their son, Gavin; our oldest son, Lee and his girlfriend; our daughter, Brittney and her husband and their daughter, Jolie; and our youngest, Crystal. And that's just our kids! Then there was my brother and his wife and five kids. And my sister and her husband were there, also. PLUS Mom and Dad. That's LOTS of people in one room opening presents at one time! What fun! It was awesome. There is nothing sweeter in the world than having a sweet little grandson and granddaughter give you hugs and kisses and say, "Meh Ki-mah!" (That's Jolie's translation for "merry Christmas". Gavin's is definitely more clear, but just as sweet!)

So, hope you all have a blessed holiday. I know many of us are struggling with economic difficulty. But I know that no matter what happens, my Lord is still on His throne and still interceding for me with the Father. I can come boldly before Him and make my petitions, my difficulties, my challenges, my sorrows, my needs known. And He listens. And He loves. And He answers! God bless and Merry Christmas!

2 Days to Christmas!

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve! We had a really busy day Sunday with the childrens' musical at church in the morning, Jolie's birthday party Sun afternoon (my adorable granddaughter) and the adult program Sun night at church! Mon. I ran errands and bought the last of the Christmas groceries and a few little happies. Tue. I did laundry and started cooking for Christmas and went to my dear friend, Beth's house to visit with her family for a while. So today is my marathon day! I'm wrapping everything and finishing a couple of little projects for my kiddos and finishing the baking. I'm always running around like a crazy woman on Christmas Eve trying to finish everything. (No comments, please!) So I've purposefully planned to NOT  be busy Thursday. We'll see what happens! LOL!

Yikes! It's almost here!

Wow, Christmas is only a week away! Baking and shopping and planning! Oh, my! And I'm also planning for January kits and pages and cards - oh, I'm tired now!

So anyway, if you are interested in giving any input to what you would love to see in a card, page, or album kit, let me know! Looking for ideas - to go with all those other ideas that are keeping me awake at night! Heehee!

So, anyway . . . here's a card I have in my etsy shop. It's from a Martha Stewart kit. These turn out absolutely beautiful! But just a word about the kits - the pictures don't always match up with what comes in them. (I think it was the bird kits that didn't match.) So if you are anal and your project has to match the picture - don't buy these card kits! Just sayin' . . .

CRAZY DAY!

Wow! What a busy, crazy day! But, with the exception of the one gift that didn't come in, lamb gifts are all bought, bagged, tagged, and delivered!  Woohoo! So tomorrow is full of getting orders filled and baking sweet granddaughter's birthday cake for party on Sunday. She will be terrific two!  And she wants a Mickey Mouse cake! Well, her mom wants her to have a Mickey Mouse cake. Guess that qualifies!

But for now, gotta get some shut eye! Toodles!

To-do-list!

Baby it's cold outside! And I have managed to sit here till almost noon on the computer! AAHHHHH! I have too much to do to be sitting here.

Ok, so here is my to-do list for today:

• Laundry done! (if you consider one load started and one load in dryer 'done') lol!
• Work on orders I have to fill by this weekend - half done!
  
• Pick up my parents when they get back in town - didn't have to do (woohoo!)
• List more in etsy shop - done!
• Figure out what I still need to buy for Christmas - too depressing. Definitely not done!
• More laundry (does it ever end?)
• Get Christmas cards done (why do always procrastinate on this one?)
• Figure out how I'm going to deliver all the lamb gifts to the Wingard home while my car is still in the shop! (ugh) - DONE!!!

Ok. So getting off of here and getting after this list!

Etsy shop

Hey, I finally have some items listed in my Etsy shop! I'll be listing more over the next few days!
Check it out!  http://www.etsy.com/shop/matildyjanedesigns

Today was a great day at the Belhaven Market. Then hubby, youngest dear daughter, and I went to a Christmas party. Los Papis played featuring the most awesome keyboard player ever - my sweet hubby! It was an interesting night. Elvis, Michael Jackson, and Jesus all in the same room! Elvis, also known as Shea Arender, was the host of this party. Michael, also known as Emilio (?not sure of spelling), was a guest. And Jesus is the really cool bongo player with Los Papis. Now, to bed so I can wake up in time to get to church in the morning!

Mini Journals

Pics of some mini journals I altered this week.

Betty's Gourmet Delights by BettysGourmetDelight on Etsy

Betty's Gourmet Delights by BettysGourmetDelight on Etsy: "BettysGourmetDelight.etsy.com"

The best homemade pepper jelly I've ever had! YUM!!! And my daughter LOVES her salsa!

12 tags

I'm loving these Tim Holtz tags!  And learning some new techniques, too!  Can't wait to try them!

Christmas Tree Book

This is the little Christmas tree book I made last week.  Had fits trying to get these pics uploaded!  As usual, the pics are all clickable if you want a larger view! Thanks for looking!

Santa Hat book

This is the little Santa Hat book I made this week.  All of the brims and the ball at the end of the hat are covered in white felt. I added bells to some pages and each page has a different ribbon or fiber around the brim and the ball. Really turned out cute!  The pictures are all clickable for a bigger view!

Market This Sat!

Hey! I will be at the market this Sat from 8:00-2:00. Come see me! I have a couple of really cute new shaped books. Haven't gotten the pics made yet but plan to get them done and post them tomorrow. One is a Santa hat shape. The other is a Christmas tree shape. Would love feedback when I get the pics posted!

Here is the link to the market bulletin with all the vendors that will be there!  It's gonna be packed!
http://www.greaterbelhaven.com/themarket/WhatsFresh_000.php

My morning!

As a mom, you have to do a lot of unpleasant things. Hold your children down while they get shots, while the doctor digs in their ears, nose, or whatever part he or she happens to be inspecting. Talk to them while they are getting stitches. Hold thier noses to pour medicine down their throats.  All manner of miseries are done by moms in the course of getting our children grown.

This morning, Grammy had to stand by and watch as Brittney got the job of playing the role of the mean mom holding Jolie's head and hands still. It was not fun. I went with Brittney to take Jolie to the ENT dr. The tubes in her ears were out in the ear canal so they had to get them out. For those of you who don't know, Jolie was born with a lateral cleft. The ear canal on the side where her cleft was is VERY small. Her ears were bleeding by the time they finished. Grammy did NOT like it! We had Bria, too, so I ended up taking Bria out while they were working on Jolie. She was getting very upset that Jolie was crying and they wouldn't quit bothering her. That part was really cute. The rest of it was pretty much torture - for Jolie especially, but also for Brittney and for ME!

Brittney did great! (Better than I did!) I was crying in my car by the time I got to the interstate! Jolie was asleep in the van by the time they got to the interstate. Children's ability to fall asleep immediately after being upset is a gift from God!

What's new . . .

So the plan was to quit Michaels. Turned in my notice. Was really happy with my decision. Boss was not happy. (lol!) So I thought about it for almost 2 weeks and decided that I could handle 2 mornings a week at Michaels. I will keep working Tue and Thu 8:30 to 12:30 for now. That works with my schedule taking Crys to Hinds anyway. So I will be working in my new scrap room pretty much all day on Wed and Fri and probably half a day on Mon. I will do the market on Sat. till Christmas then re-evaluate what I need to do for the first of the year. Sounds like a plan!

Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving! We certainly did! Had 4 of our kids and the two grand kids with us at Mom and Dad's house. Boy are those grandchildren a hoot! Little Gavin is such a gentleman and so adorable! Watching him play the Wii is about the funniest thing I've seen ever!  And if you ask him about his school, "u-ver-dis-i-ty Christian" (University Christian) he'll tell you all about God and Jesus!  So sweet! And Jolie is so definitely almost 2!!!  Terrible twos are so much cuter in my grandchildren than it was in my own kids! Ha!!! Her new dramatic teary-eyed-reaching-up-crying and through sobs saying, "Graaaammmmmyyyy!" is just too hard to resist! This grandma thing is absolutely the best!

New projects in the works!

I've been working on some little chipboard Christmas shaped books. I've gotten paper on the fronts and backs but now embellies yet. I'm amazed at how long it takes to do this stuff! So far I've covered a Christmas tree and an ornament shaped one. I'm going to do a Santa hat and a ginger bread man, too. Can't wait to get them done! But today I have to work from 3-10:30! YUK! So won't get anything done on them. Boo-hoo!

New pics! 6x6 Christmas album

I made two albums. They are similar but not exactly alike. The journal tags are in pockets on the back of the pages.  All of the white pieces of paper with measurements on them are the suggested photo sizes.  You just take off the piece of paper and stick your photo on.  Most of them slide under the edge of the embellishment.  (Oh, yeah, all of the pics are clickable for a bigger view.)

One of them has red journal tags with green grossgrain ribbon. The other has ivory tags with red rick rack ribbon. 

The little ginger bread men are felt.

This one I cut ornaments out of patterened paper to make a border  at the top.

This one is really pretty in real life.

Web site!

I'm in the process of getting my web site up so please be patient!  I hope to have it up and running by the first of the year. In the meantime, you can keep up with my products and where I'll be here. (Pictures coming .  . . I promise.  No, really, they are! Seriously!)

Come see me tomorrow at Belhaven Market/Farmer's Market on the fairgrounds here in Jackson from 8:00-2:00!

Good Morning!

I got a 6x6 Christmas scrapbook finished last night for the Sat. sale.  Still gotta get pictures done so I can post them.  It turned out really cute!  And my sweet hubby got my table put up in my new scrapbook room!  YEEEEAAAAA!!!!  Now I don't have to lug stuff downstairs to work on it and back upstairs to put it away and back downstairs because I forgot to finish something and go back upstairs because I forgot to bring down one little thing that i really needed . . . get the picture?  Thank you, Sweetie!!! 

Just so you know, you should be able to post comments here.  I'd love it if someone would try and let me know what happens!  Thanks!

Hey, ladies!  Thanks for joining!  I'll post some pictures later of stuff I'm taking to the Belhaven Market this Sat.

It's Official!

It's official!  I have started my little business!  This past Sat. was my first time to have a vendor booth at the Belhaven Market/Farmer's Market on the fairgrounds as "Matildy Jane Designs."   It was a lot of fun!  I got to meet several of the other vendors and got great compliments and encouragement from them and the customers!

I have thought about this, prayed about this, talked to people about this for over a year now.  Sunday morning my friend, Pam, was talking about the ladies retreat she had been on.  Through something she said, God convicted me that I needed to just trust Him!  I knew this was what I needed to do but was afraid.  This morning on the way to take Crys to school, I told her I'm turning in my resignation at Michaels today.  She had no comment.  (Those who know her won't be surprised!) When I questioned her, she said, "If it's what God told you to do, you need to do it."  Then she told me she thought it was the right thing to do.  When I sent Britt a text to tell her, her response was, "Yaaaayyyyyy!  Come get Jolie!"  Ha!  Love it!

On the way home from taking Crys to school, I prayed again, "Lord, I'm still scared.  Please give me just one more confirmation!"  After I got home, I got a phone call from a reporter who wanted to interview me about the "Happy Birthday, Jesus Festival" that my family helps with every year. Funny thing though!  God had more in mind!  She also interviewed me about what Christmas means to me.  She is going to add that I'm stepping out in faith to start my own business.  AND she's going to include my blog address for people to connect to me!  How awesome is that????

God is good!  All the time!  We just have to believe that He is going to be faithful to what He has called us to!

So ya'll come see me this Sat at the market from 8:00-2:00!  It's right by the big metal building where the flea market used to be on the fairgrounds.  It's free to get in so it won't even cost you anything to come look and say "hi"!

Veteran's Day

God bless our military! Thanks to all who serve now and have served in the past!

Card Swap

This is another one that I think Joette made.  So cute!

Gotta get busy on Christmas card kits.  Oh, inspiration, where art thou???

Card Swap

These are my cards from the swap.  Our friend, Sherriel made some beautiful cards, too.  But I can't seem to find pictures of her's!  Hate when that happens!

Card Swap

My friend Beth made these. Her stuff is always elegant and beautiful!

Card Swap

These are cards from the card swap at our crop in July. My friend Joette made these from a Hot off the Press kit. They are adorable!!