Fall

Fall is one of my favorite times of years. I love the crisp air, the changing leaves, and being able to spend time with family and friends. It is time to curl up on the couch with a good book, it is time to gather with family and friends to watch football, make caramel apples, and apple crisp. It is also the busiest time of the year for me. I have to gear up for my show season and try to get it all done. Even though it is absolutely a crazy time for me, I do love it...I love being able to create! Here are some of the things I have been working on. :)

Faith

One of my assignments this week is to write a blog post on one of the topics that I have studied this week. I have focused on faith. In a lot of matters, I really have a very simple faith. I know that I am a Child of God and that He loves me. I know that He is always there for me. However, knowing that and believing that are sometimes two very different things. My heart knows that it is true, but my mind doesn’t always seem to trust in what my heart knows.

One of my favorite scripture verses is 1 Nephi 3:7 - "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." Anyone who has ever listened to me as I was/or am working through a struggle has most likely heard me say this verse. I tell it to my kids all the time. It is a promise that I hold onto when I can’t see how on earth I am going to get through or accomplish something that I need to do.

Life is hard, and it most often doesn’t go the way we had it planned. Each of us are on a journey that is as unique as every one of us is. We are all at different points on our journey of faith and knowledge. Hopefully most of the time we are making forward progress, but as we are all human, we will take steps backwards, and that is okay. They are opportunities to learn and grow. We need to have patience and understanding and faith in ourselves and others as we travel on our own paths. It is faith in this promise/verse that gives me hope that I will make it…someday…according to His will.

Time to brush off the blog!

Wow, where has the time gone! It has been a few years since I have posted anything to my blog, and I am giving the push through a school assignment to dust it off and hopefully breathe some new life into it. I thought I should try to do a catch up post if you will. The past few years brought some major changes in my life.  I went through a separation and then divorce which was a difficult time for all of our family. Even when it is amicable, it is still an incredibly hard thing to go experience. Through wonderful support of my family, friends, and much prayer we seem to have weathered through most of that storm. My oldest son was called to serve a mission. He is currently serving in the Baltic Mission in Lithuania. I couldn't be more proud of him and the service that he is giving to all he meets there. My next son just started college and I swear he was just in Kindergarten! My girls are in high school and middle school and are both loving choir...I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree as I sang my way through school as well. I know have a job that I enjoy doing, I work in accounting for a property management company locally. I have grown a lot there and it has given me a focus and push to get my degree. All in all, it has been a time of change and growth, and I am excited for the next chapter in my life as I set goals for my personal life and business.

Charmed Pennies Giveaway!

With the Holidays right around the corner, I thought it would be fun to start by giving out pendants to my fans!  I am giving away 5 prizes! 

3 lucky winners will be able to pick out 3 Charmed Pennies of their choice and receive a ball chain necklace as well!

2 more winners will be able to pick out a pair of my new Charmed Penny earrings! Check them out!

The Giveaway runs today through October 31st! 

Enter here to win! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Charmed Earrings

I am having a blast with these little earrings! I am using many of the same images from my Charmed Pennies line and it is fun to find out which images will work that small. The earrings are only 10mm or about 3/8" in diameter! Daylyn did a great job being my earring model for me. :)

 

Homemade Oreos

While posting on Facebook today, I mentioned that I was making "homemade Oreos." A few friends asked for the recipe, so here it is! I will add pictures later when I get a chance. They are kind of like a whoopie pie, and I love to color the frosting in fun colors. My kids love these!

Cookie:
1 box Devils Food Cake Mix
3/4 c. shortening
2 eggs

Frosting:
2 oz cream cheese (softened)
1/4 c. butter (softened)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 - 4 cups powdered sugar
Milk as needed

Combine cake mix, shortening, and eggs. Roll dough into balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 6-8 minutes until tops barely start to crack. Cool on pan for 1 minute than move cookies to cooling rack. Let cool and frost. Enjoy!

Working Away...

It has been a productive week so far, I have made a bunch of new Charmed Pennies and Scrabble Tile Pendants, and just got a big order for acorns so I am off to torch today! When the customer called, I needed to take pictures of the acorns I had in stock, but had a computer glitch. Okay, so I was the computer glitch. I moved my printer and somehow disabled my network and internet...have no idea how I did that. So I had to take the pictures with my camera phone, I have to say I am impressed at the little camera, I think it did a great job!

A dresser Redo

This summer, we moved the kids bedrooms around, repainted and arranged, and in the process, Tyler lost all of the dressers and drawers that he had shared with Travis. We brought in an old one, but I promised him that I would get him something better. We looked and looked on Craig's list, and the only ones that Tyler and I found that would work were just too much money, so I finally convinced him to at least let me try to refinish a dresser we had in the garage. I am so glad I did! Here is what it looked like when I started, definitely not in the best shape, but loved the lines of it, and thought it would be perfect in the spot I had picked out in his room.

First thing to do was remove all the hardware and then we sanded and sanded. Then I got smart and borrowed a powered sander that made the job go so much faster. Thank you Simpson's! By the time we were finished with that, it was time to bring everything back in the house for the night. You can see the sanded drawers in this picture. I wanted all the "shine" off the drawers and tried to sand any large scratches off.

Next up was the staining. I stained the top and middle accent wood of the dresser. We are painting and staining to match the desk already in his room. I used a stain with poly in it already. After about 4 coats, I was thrilled with the color.

Next up was the painting. I painted a nice soft cream on all the drawers, the sides, and front of the dresser.

Looking much better right? Well, now the real fun began. Daylyn and I antiqued the dresser and drawers by taking sandpaper and sanding all around everything. I loved the look, and the dresser has the same style.

Now came the finishing touches. I bought new hardware for the drawers, but they were silver and we wanted oil rubbed bronze (same handles were over $1 more each at the store), so out came my favorite spray paint (read all about it here), and an hour later we had the perfect handles. :) A few coats of poly over the painted parts of the dresser, and I was done!

I love it, Tyler loves it, so I think it is a complete success!

Another look at the before and after. I think I will keep my eye open for other fun pieces of old furniture that will work in my house! What a difference 2 days, a little paint and stain can make.:)

Can't believe I hadn't blogged this yet! It's been done since before school started. LOL! Who would have thought that it would take longer to blog about the dresser than actually redoing it! :)

I'm linking up here!