New Year's 2008 Intentions

I love it! I googled resolutions and came up with the synonym intentions! How appropriate since most of our resolutions are like everything else, the best of intentions, whether we succeed or not~

Wanna know some of mine? Here are ten! I tried to chose ten that would be easy to follow instead of making a list of 100 that I know I wouldn't keep or just one that I would feel bad as soon as I break it!

1. Be Healthier
- Notice I didn't say lose weight, I just want to be healthier - mind, body, etc and if eating healthier and losing weight is one way to do it, than so be it, but it doesn't have to be the ONLY thing...
2. Scrapbook More (10 pages per month at least)
- I know that isn't much for some people, but I have not scrapped any for the month of December. It is something I LOVE to do, but never make time to do~
3. Make 10 cards per month
- 5 Christmas Cards and 5 "other" cards just to have on hand
4. 365 Picutres of Abby
- I want to take a picutre of Abby every day of the year!
5. Think before I buy
- I would LOVE to be able to save some money and pay off debts instead of going check to check because I shop too much!
6. Cut back on the amount of soda I drink
- This would probably help with the amount of money I spend too LOL
7. Have a more well kept house that even my MIL would be halfway proud of (or at least not ashamed of!)
8. Be the best wife to Gary Joe, Mommy to Abby, daughter, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, friend, and most importantly CHRISTIAN that I can be!
9. Lead a sucessful Beth Moore Bible Study and keep up with my homework during the process!
10. Craft more!!!

What are your resolutions - - uhm... I mean "intentions"!

Short Christmas Sharings

I know that it has been a while since I blogged, but I don't have a good excuse other than the fact that I have been busy and have not made anything to share (except the million nugget tins I made for Christmas presents and forgot to take picutres of!).


I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas - we sure did! Gary Joe got a flat panel tv for the bedroom from Abby and I. More of a family gift, but I am pretty sure he enjoys it! As for Abby - well, my living room looks like toyland - if that tells you anything!


I did digi picture frames for the parents for Christmas and gave them my memory cards - therefore I really don't have many Christmas pictures at all :( I will have to borrow the cards before I can share a picture of the three of us.... In the meantime, here is a picture of
Abby, my MIL Ginger, FIL Gary, BIL Josh, and DH Gary!
Here are two of Abby opening gifts that I found also:




I hope that as the first of the year comes, I can be more fruitful in my blogging both here and Picked With Love... As for resolutions, I am not quite sure I want to call them that yet, but don't know what to title the list.... I will share it later!

Cookie Swap

Today was my first ever cookie swap, and guess what? I LOVED it! We had a blast!

I think that I had a pretty good turn out for the first time... 9 people not including myself! My mother-in-law would not come, but maybe next year - I did take her some cookies from it though!!

We played the left right game and it was a blast!

Ruby made some awesome pumpkin cookies, they were so moist and gooey... Aunt Joanna's special crispy treats packed a suprise that was oh so good... Granny ReJeana and Kelly brought some cream cheese fingers that I could have ate the whole tray of... Stephanie's first attempt at no bake cookies was definately a success - even Gary Joe loved them... Renee's smores...oh my goodness... Linda's brittle didn't turn out that well, but love her heart, it may have been because she was following 2 recipes instead of one! Michiyo's Christmas rock cookies were not only perfectly tastey, but perfectly packaged as well! Mam brought sugar cookies with the prettiest red and green sprinkles imaginable!

Here are some pics from the event:

Snowman Ornament

I have something that I want to share with you! Here is my snowman ornament that I made for an ornament swap and he was seriously so quick and easy!

Pin It

First of all, let me share with you the site I saw that gave me the idea. The tutorial on that site is wonderful, I just didn't have the time to do all of the steps.

http://stampact.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/08/snowman-ornam-1.html

Here are the shortcuts I followed in case you would like to make one of these, but are like me and don't have all the time!

- The hat on his head is held on with none other than glue dots!

- His nose was drawn on with an orange Sharpie marker...yes, I do have sharpies in all colors!

- The ornament itself is a white Martha Stewart ornament instead of the clear bulb painted with white paint as called for!

I love to craft, but often don't have time for all of the steps, so whenever I find a shortcut that works, I like to take full advantage of it and share it with others too!

In other news, it's getting close to Christmas and I logged on to Wal-Mart's website to make some photo greeting cards of Abby. I had 10 printed up for testing and they were wonderful! So, I ordered 50 more. When Gary went to pick up the 50 that I ordered, they refused to give them to him and said that I needed to bring proof of copywright (?) and sign a paper saying they are my own! I feel kind of offended - not that they think the photos are good, but that I am having to go through this much of a hassle!

*HUGS*

Mary

Blogger Candy - Pay It Forward!

There is a blogger pay it forward going around. It goes like this. I have three goodies. I will send them to the first people who leave a comment on this post. By doing so you agree to send three goodies to three people who comment on your blog. (so yea, you have to have a blog to play, sorry non-bloggers, I love you guys too!)



The things you give away can be anything, supplies, stamps, hand made items, whatever you like. It can even be a suprise.I am giving away three grab "envies" if you will, but I will not be sure of what until I have time to look upstairs tomorrow evening! If you are up for a mystery blog package and have a blog --the first 3 to comment will win!! Please email me with your address at mjcollins@mikrotec.com.



I really like this concept and it sounds like it will give me a good chance to share some of my overabundance of stash, so check back often, I plan to do this more frequently!

Black Friday

You know, I'm still not really sure why it is called black Friday. It really should be red Friday, because that is where I always think my checkbook balance is going to be after shopping that day!

Today's finds included just like every year, things that were not completely necessary, but ended up being purchased none the less...

FIL's Christmas gift - a digital picture frame...

A dart board for BIL...

Garland for the stairway railing...

Ribbon hangers for our ornaments...

More stuff that even though I can not remember, totaled about $250.00 today!! *eek*

This evening we were blessed to be visited by our dear friends Brandon and Becky. Abby eventually warmed up to them and made two new friends!!

Oh, and here is a little creation me and the girl made one day that I was home from work. It was from a scrap of wood I found in the garage that had been stained. I took some old paint and whitewashed over it, then wrote my message and drew my heart with paint pens. Abby was sweet enough to hold the paint pens in between colors for me!

The house is so cozy right now this minute, I wish that I could bottle it up forever. Abby is asleep peacefully on the couch, Gary Joe is playing his XBOX, the fireplace is lit, the Christmas trees are on bot upstairs and downstairs with overhead lights off and lamps on, and the garland on the stairway railing is up and twinkling, I am so blessed! Thank You Lord!

Happy Thanksgiving

I just wanted to do a quick little post and tell everyone Happy Thanksgiving! We are still at the in-laws house now, but will be heading to my mom and dad's house soon! Here are some family pictures... Needless to say, no one went along with my idea of us having a nice family picture made... So much for that!

DH's grandfather, Uncle, Father (at the head of the table) and half of DH's face on the right side of the picture!

Collins' Hundred Acre Wood

Abby loved trick or treating! The "special case" she trick or treated for was the Relay for Life! I made this for her to carry:

Here are some extra pics to share:

Notice the lovely watermark? It was made by Dina! You can see her creations at:

http://digisigis.blogspot.com/

She does great work!

By the way - we are in a MAJOR project at my house! tearing up the carpet off of the stairway and finishing the hardwood under there! Here's where we are as of now!

Are you getting ready for Christmas? My shopping is almost finished, but I will pick up a couple more things for Abby before Christmas gets here!

*HUGS*,

Mary

Birthday Fun!

Not my birthday or Abby's birthday (although hers will be next in the family), but Gary Joe's 28th!!

All in all, I guess everything went well yesturday. Elmo cake finally got finished. By the way, we had Elmo for cake because Abby has an Elmo fascination right now and she chose the pan! Everyone loved the food, (sorry to Linda, SCS: Spicygingersnap that I didn't take photos of the food...it slipped my mind!) Gary Joe was more than please with his gifts!

Here's me with the ELMO cake:

Gary Joe blowing out the candles:

Now here's Abby with her peice of cake:
I figured this is good practice for her birthday!

Gary Joe was well pleased with the gifts he received, too! From me and Abby came Nike Golf shoes, a UK business card holder, John Deere t-shirt, and a little sign about being a good dad. I would post pics of those, but Abby is being SUPER needy right now and posting pics would require being able to go downstairs and take those pics...

We are so blessed to have each other and to have the chance to spend yesturday with our family! Here's one last pic...mom, Abby, and I on my stairway:

I just wish Gary would have told me that I was hiding mom's head!

*HUGS*,

Mary

PS. The random number generator chose you Elaine as the winner of the blog treat! Please send me your name and mailing address!!

I hope everyone will continue to check back in...as I am clearing out the clutter, I am finding all kinds of blog treats to share in the future!!

Adventures in Cake Making

I usually only post about once a week, but I have a few minutes free and wanted to share some things with you!

Tomorrow is Gary's birthday, so I was trying to be sweet and stay home today to make him a cake! Abby is with my mom right now so I can decorate it and I even let her pick out the pan (she chose Elmo of course!)...

Anways, as I am baking away and everything is going wonderful... Something goes awful with the red for Elmo's fur... Keep in mind the creature is almost ALL red except those big eyes, nose, and mouth....
His "fur" turned out, well.... kinda like this....

I know that the picture looks like it is red, but the color is really a PUKE color of pumice pink.... Not Elmo at all!!

Here is what Elmo looks like at this point:
Needless to say, we are going to be making a trip to Wal-Mart this evening to get some red Wilton coloring and the cake is not going to be the surprise that I wanted it to be... Then again, he is in a bad mood so as much as I want to just hand him the cake the way it is, I will finish it and present it nicely tomorrow to all the family...

Cake aside, have you ever saw the mountains in the fall? If so or if not, here they are:

This is the view from my kitchen deck... (I know, the power lines are in the way - I have asked AEP to move them, but they don't seem to want to!)

Here is a view from my family room deck:

There's still a lot of green on the trees, but it really does look nice and it is so nice and crisp outside!

Oh, and for the Sunday School class treats... Here they are:

I am rather tickled with them.... the pails have little faces on them, but I don't think they showed up well in the picture...

I haven't decided on a tag line for my blog banner yet, but I am still open for suggestions!

Have a great day!

*HUGS*,

Mary

Blog Treat, Paint Tin, and Watermarks!

Trick or Treat Paint Can

- Patterned Paper 4 6/8" x 12" - note: this will note
wrap around the entire can
- Patterned Paper 4 6/8" x 5" - to cover place on can
where other paper was too short to fit
- Quart Sized paint can
- Extra patterned paper to make circle for lid
- Ribbon for handle if a handle is desired
- Various Embellishments
- I just used a Jolee's pumpkin sticks
- Some black gingham ribbon from Wal-Mart
- Orange Paper from Hobby Lobby
- SU alphabet stamps
- SU Basic Black Classic Ink Pad
- Mod Podge

I made this when I thought that I was going to get to meet Karen (SCS:Jusgottastamp), but then we didn't get to go and I was stuck with my can :(




On a side note, if you remember me talking about wanting a watermark, I have some on order from freckledfundesigns... I am hoping to use them mostly on my photography...(I know, ANOTHER new hobby that I am gladly accepting tips on...) especially my pictures of Abby. I am also wanting to order a banner from her for each of my blogs. But, I am unsure as to what I want on them right now...

So, you have an opportunity to win a blog treat from me...

Please help me come up with a tag line to place on my blog banner for the softangelkisses blog (this one... We will work on the banner for the Picked With Love blog for another treat later!)



I know that I want SOFTANGELKISSES to be the main wording, but I would like something cute and witty at the bottom! To enter to win the blog candy - post a comment with something cute that I could use as a tag line and I will use a random number generator to chose a winner on Sunday!

The treat: the stack of coasters you see in the picture with the paint can!!




If you would like to check out Beth's wonderful work, click here: http://freckledfundesigns.blogspot.com/




A "sample" of my fall watermark was sent to me by her and I want to share the sample with you by showing you on a pic of Abby:

Please note: the white background is only there because this is a sample of the one I am going to purchase as soon as she sends me the invoice!! Her finished projects have a transparent background!

*HUGS*,
Mary

Admittedly I wrote most of this while at work on Saturday, but I did not get a chance to post it last night!

Sweet Treats

I've received some sweet treats lately and thought that I would let you see them!

#1 - From my online Granny came an envelope that looks like this:

But inside were these:

Stamps!! 17 of them to be exact and they are all Halloween designs! I am so excited! I plan to use them to make some little treats for Abby's Sunday School class as well as using them to make tags on the bags for "the girls" at "the World". (My husband is assistant manager at World Finance and works with an office of ALL WOMEN! Bless s him...) I will post pics of both projects last. I am also going to make Granny a thank you note to send back and I am going to send her a couple of stamp sets that I have and she doesn't.

#2 From Gary Joe - some bling in the form of a three stone ring!!!

I have wanted a white gold ring for a while now and have always loved the three stone ring because to us it not only symbolizes the past, present, and future, but also that marriage takes three - God, Gary, and I.

Gary Joe also got me the newest Nicholas Sparks book The Choice. Now granted I had to tell him to stop at Barnes and Noble and ask the man if it was out yet, but still...

He watched Abby one night and let me read the book so that in itself was a treat!

And let me say, it is my fave of his and I have read them all!

#3 UGGS!! I know, so expensive, but I love 'em! Gary Joe bought my first pair for my last Christmas, then I got a pair of the flip flop sandals this Spring. ext treat... from me - to me...New Ugg Clogs!!

I am just waiting on Vicky Secret to send them my way!
P.S. I got the brown ones up front! :)

I think you should always plan ahead and have things to look forward to, so a few treats I am wanting include:

~Barnes and Noble Membership

~WaterMark (I will gladly treat anyone who will make me a nice looking one!)

~LapTop (okay so this one is in the far away future....but still...)

~Any scrapbook or crafting accessory!

I don't want you to think that I am all about receiving though! I have a few treats for others up my sleeve! Some of them I can share with you now - others have to wait for later!

~Treating my family to John Deere shirts for family pics - how fun!

~Gary Joe's family to family pics - There will be a whole blog about that in the future - prolly more than one!

~Gary Joe's birthday gift...well I can't tell you, because he may read it on here and that would spoil my fun!

So, today treat someone else and remember to treat yourself, too! Hopefully the one you treat will see fit to pass on the fun!

*HUGS & LOVE*

Mary

TEST

First off, this is just a test entry to see if I can get my blog back up and running!

Itty Bitty Sickies

Okay, I had a whole blog entry typed out and blogger must have eaten it...

The jist of it was that my itty bitty has the sickies for the first time and she is only 2 mos old...

My Abby is doing great...thanks be to the Lord!

I on the other hand have been having one problem after another. Now, the issue is chest pain. Talk about scaring you half to death. I have been to the Dr 2 days already this week and I am going tomorrow for a second opinion. It is just hard to believe that there is nothing wrong. I am hurting too much for there to be "nothing".

Abby Lovins

Okay, so I know that I am a new mommy for many reasons... one being that I worry about is she sleeping too much! I know, I know, she is a newborn and supposed to sleep!!

BP issues...ugh...up yesturday, down today, don't know whether or not to take the medication due to the BP being low... I think that is enough to make my BP go back up! I am keeping a good close check on it though!

Gotta cut it short tonight, I've got a little girl to spoil and a Disney website that is calling her name!

Abby in My Arms!

You read it right! Abby is home in my arms instead of my belly! I am so happy that she is finally here and that we are home! I am having some trouble with blood pressure, but with a lot of prayers, we know that will be okay!

I can't believe that I am learning to type with a baby in my arms...and I think that I am doing quite well with it! I love every minute of it!!

So, it's been a few days since I posted, but that doesn't mean that Abby has decided to make her debut! I have decided that I must have the most comfortable belly in the world!

As for my paper crafting, I am still doing that as much as possible while on bedrest, but it is hard to upload the pictures if you know what I mean!

I have been doing a lot of planning for our Relay For Life Fundraiser that we have coming up in April! A Spring Fling! I am planning to give my comission from any Stampin Up orders collected during that time to the ACS as are our teams Home and Garden Party profits!

I had mentioned earlier about blog candy and I just want to let everyone know that I am still planning to do that! I want to start during the month of March and the way to enter will be to leave your name and email address in the comment section of my blog!

Have a wonderful day and God Bless You!

Good evening! Just wanted to write a couple of quick lines...

Went back to the Dr. today and nothing had changed. Even though I am due Friday, they went ahead and made me an appointment for next Monday because I have not dilated... ugh! I am getting so anxious for this little girl!

I didn't get to do anymore crafting or scrapbooking to share, bedrest puts a damper on everything and going to the Dr today wore me out! Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day!

Here is my paper craft/stamped item for today: a Chipboard Coaster Box! These must be all the rave because it is hard to find the coasters! I bet some of the resteraunts are happy for the extra business it has brought in!

I used 5 coasters for this box - 4 sides and 1 for the bottom. I covered the 4 sides with my paper (from Wal-Mart) first, then added the embellishments. (Whisper White Card Stock, In Color '07 Inks, and Glorious Gifts from the new SU! Spring Mini was used to make all embellisments for the box) Since I do not yet have a crop-a-dile, I made do and borrowed Gary's power tools! That's right ladies and gentlemen, the dremmel tool came out of retirement and did a great job! A big plus: being able to cut through all four layers of chipboard at once! It also helped to ensure the holes were lined up because they were cut at the same time. To hold the sides together, I cut small strips of ribbon (from Wal-Mart) to tie through each of the holes. The bottom is held on with a hot glue gun!

I plan to give these to Abby's Sunday School teachers for Easter this year! Of course I will fill them with some lovely Hershey's Kisses or mini Reese cups first! This is also going to be one of my "mini classes" at our Relay for Life Spring Fling fundraiser!

Thanks for checking it out!

Good evening! Abby must think that it is too cold to come out because she's still in for now!

I had plans to upload some paper craft pictures today, but alas, my wonderful husband... has lost he USB cable to the Digi cam!

In other news, we did get some snow. It is on again, off again and is supposed to continue through the night and into tomorrow morning, but so far, it has already been enough for me and I am ready for it to leave until next year. I'm sure some of you can more than agree with me on that!

Here's a Bible verse before I go:
"And I, if I be lifted up from the Earth, will draw all men unto me." John 12:32

Happy Friday

Okay, I realize that we will be starting off pure sucky, but the best is yet to come!Keep in mind before you run with bordom, I am 39 weeks preggo, on bedrest, and have an impacted wisdom tooth that I can't get cut out until March 7th!

Today is Friday, (duh) and the start of a long weekend for a lot of people with President's Day coming up on Monday. Personally, I think the post offices and banks just needed ANOTHER reason to be closed...

I will be adding more soon! Things to look for in the next month...

• Cards, Scrapbooking, other Paper Crafting
• Abby Updates!
• Blogger Candy offers for the loyals! Keep your eyes open!