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