Linda's This 'n' That

2010-05-22T21:18:00.002-04:00

Well I am behind again. I think I will probably be that way a lot. But I am going to catch up a little now. First I have had all kinds of things going on in my life since last I wrote. I have been going thru all kinds of tests. I have a few medical problems that they thought were worth checking on. So far everything has come back ok. At least no cancer. I have a couple tests that I am still waiting on the results, hopefully they will be in by the end of next week.
My youngest son got in a terrible car (truck) accident and was in the hospital for a while. I spent almost every day up there with him. He broke both jaw bones, his nose, his shoulder and has a couple small fractures in his neck. A long with some mild brain damage. But he is home now and is doing real well. It will be a while until he is back to `normal' but he is on his way.
I have been working on a couple things in polymer clay and hopefully will have them done soon. I will post pic when I do. I have been looking around the web and have found some good site for some free tutorials. So I thought I would share one today. Go to: http://polymerclayexpress.com/sept2001.html
to learn Faux Abalone Shell with Black Oxide Powder. This is an easy tutorial that I am sure will please many of you.
Until next time have happy day and have some fun clay playin'.

Starting over again.....................

2010-05-12T18:09:00.005-04:00

Good morning everyone. Here I am again starting over. Hope this time I make it to at least post on here once a month. But I really want it to be once a week. Since I have been gone a few things have happened.

I finally finished my "things for God to do" boxes. Everyone just loved them.I have made some new earrings and sold some and gave some away.

I went back to crocheting and have made a couple doilies and am working on a table covering. That one is going to take a while but I will post some pic as I go along.

I have some new blogs I am following and as time goes on I will post a little about each one.

I am also on Face Book, so come visit me when you can. It is a great place to stay in contact with your claying friends and get some live craft videos.

I will be posting more about that also. So please come back often or sign up to be a follower then you will know when I update. I hope all of you have a good day and get to play with your clay.

CraftyLinda

YouTube made easier

2010-01-23T13:36:00.002-05:00

Do you use YouTube? I know I do and sometimes I would like to save some of the videos that have a technique that I am trying to learn or one that I think I will need later. Well I found this easy way to download your favorites videos. Just click here to read the whole story.
http://www.worldstart.com/tips/tips.php/download-youtube-videos-the-easy-way
This comes from WorldStart.com which is a great place to get computer tips. You can sign up so they will send you an email daily with tips and some of the newest items on the market. They also offer discounts on these items. This is a really cool site offering lots for everyone.
Well I am off to work some more on my polymer clay, things for God to do, boxes. I will post pic soon. Have a great week-end.

A good link to check out

2010-01-21T14:45:00.005-05:00

A few days ago SaraJane Helm was mentioned on my COC site and I was a little slow at going to look at SaraJanes site but I am sure glad I finaly had the time. This room is just remarkable,as is SaraJane. All the detail and love that went in to make it shows in every picture. If you haven't had time to take a look I urge you to take the time now. You won't be disappointed. Here's the link. .http://polyclay.com/pieces.htm
I have been working on making some "things for God to do boxes" for some friends of mine at church. These ladies made sure we had some nice dinners while I was taking my treatments so I wanted to give them something I made from the heart. The idea came from one of the members, Kay, at COC. Thanks again Kay. I am using some little tin boxes that I had purchashed at the dollar store after Christmas. When I get my camera to working again I will post some pix.
　
CraftyLinda

Back after a looooong time

2009-10-24T23:38:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone.
I think it is about time I got back in here. I feel like I have been gone for ever but there has been a lot going on in my life these past 10 months. Bear with me and I will try to fill you in without boring you.
In January I found out I had breast cancer. Some of you were following me on my blog. http://tinyurl.com/cngfk4 I must admit I have not kept up with that one either. But I won't repeat what I did say on there but will try to fill you in on what has been going on since I started my radiation. I had to have 30 treatments. They were everyday 5 days a week for the 6 weeks. But that is not all that goes on. There are a lot of tests that need to be done, xrays and doctors appts. It makes for a very busy time. The radiation knocks the wind right out of your sails. If you are unfortunate like me you have a bad reaction to it and end up with third degree burns. They burned an area up on my neck and breast bone so they could kill the lymph nodes up there. I think that is my worst spot. And of course the breast area. Everything is third degree and sore as hell. They say I should be feeling better by next Weds. but I don't see how. My brother-in-law had some chemical reaction when he was in the hospital for open heart and they gave him some gel filled pads that had him feeling better in one or two days. He brought a package home with him and remembered he had it the other day. I started using it on Friday. The pain is a little better but I am not healing. I am done with my radiation so now that is all I have to do is get better. Which would not be to hard to do if I could take naps etc. like I should.

But our land lady came by the end of Sept. and told us that she needed her house back her boyfriend had kicked her out and she had no where else to go. We are to be out by the first of Nov. You would think that finding a place wouldn't be to hard with the economy the way it is. But it is not as easy as you might think. We were really getting worried, we couldn't find a place we liked and could afford. Then one day last week my sister-in-law called with a phone number to a place. We called it, went to see it and put a down payment on it that next day.
The same day we found out about the house our truck broke down we were on our way home from my 2nd to the last treatment and the seal in the transmission blow out. And one of the shifter rods broke inside. It was making all kinds of noise but we just kept trying to make it home. We don't know how we made it home. We still had about 20 miles to go. But God was looking out for us and we made it.
The next day we borrowed our good friends truck and made it to my treatment and to go see the house. That night his son-in-law called and said he would like the truck and his wife had a car they would trade us for with a little cash. So again God was looking out for us and we got the car that next day.
So now we have a new house and a new (to us) car. Next Sat. we have a lot of friend who are coming over and moving all our furniture in one day. This week we will be taking boxes of things over as I get them ready and have friends who are going to help us with that and the cleaning.

In between all of this my computer went out so I couldn't get on line to let my online friends know how things were going. But tonight I picked up a new to me computer from my sons father-in-law, that he fixed up for me.
I can't tell you how thankful I am to have such good friends and family at a time like this. Maybe things are looking up.
Well that is all that has been going on since I last wrote. In a condensed form.
I want to thank all of you who have come back to my site after such a long time. I am going to try to keep it more updated after the move.
Again thanks and have a good night everyone.

P.S. I just joined Facebook so if you would like to be my friend just go to Facebook and look me up.

No hearts here,yet.

2009-01-30T23:56:00.002-05:00

Hearts may be in the air and on everyones minds, but I have been busy with cat paws and cows. I know, they don't go together and don't have a thing to do with hearts and Valentines Day. But that is what has been on my worktable. Whats on yours?

Cat paws buttons! I had an order for 40 buttons shaped like cat paws for Balckcataprons. That is an Etsy sore specicalizing in hand made aprons. Tey will be used on some of her aprons in the future. I made some black with black pads, white with black pads, black with white pads. Also some that are white with a black cat in the center. They all have some gold running through them. I realy enjoyed doing these and have posted pictures on my Flickr album. See them here.

The cow earrings are a continuation of a project I started a while ago. First I made some Guernsey cow earrings for a friend of mine. She had people tell her they would like different ones. So now I have made Jersey, Brown Swiss and Holstien, to add to the group. Each one is a little different. I an going to be adding more varities soon. You can see them here.

If you haven't seen them yet I have some monkey, elephant and love bug earrings in my Etsy store. They're a little different than anything I have seen before. I hope you like them.

Well back to my work table. Till next time.

May your day be crafty, CraftyLinda
http://LGdesigns.wordpress.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5125957
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lgdesigns_by_linda/

One Good Idea for an 8 year olds Birthday

2009-01-29T00:35:00.003-05:00

Monday was one of my Grandson's birthdays so I thought I would start him out with some polymer clay. I made a box and decorated it with his name and put some clay,tools,string and some pony beads inside then I started thinking about some ideas to get him going.
So I went to Garie Sims site. Garie is every active in teaching kids polymer clay amoung other great things. He has pages of ideas for kids, with great pictures of the kids. He works with the elderly, and has many articles written about him and his kids in some of the best polymer clay magaizes. He does all kinds of experiments and shares them with the polymer clay community.
This didn't start out to be an article on Garie Sims but sometimes when writing your ideas change and you go in a different direction. If you have the time, because there is a lot to see I suggest you check out Garie's site. You will ahhing and uhing the whole time you are there.
Well I must get back to what I was doing. Finding some creative ideas to include in my grandson's clay play box. Like I said there is a lot to look at and then try to pick just one or two to get him started. Oh my that is a hard one.
I am also working on 42 polymer clay buttons for a special order and 6 pairs of earrings for another order. I will post some pictures as soon as I get them done and uploaded.
So my firends I hope you have a great day whatever you are going to do. Till next time.

Help our American Vets.

2009-01-10T16:46:00.003-05:00

Do any of you save coupons and then go to use them and find that they have expired? When going through your coupons, if you see any that are expired or will expire within the next day or so,(or even good ones you don't use) hold them out of your package. Below is a list of military commissaries that participate in the expired couponprogram. Our military families need financial breaks too & they are not inan area where the newspapers & magazines don't have coupons like we do.
This is the list of addys I have for military bases that accepts expiredcoupons. As far as I know, this is up to date. If anyone has any othersnot listed, please let me know, I would be glad to add them. The locationlisted under them is for you, it does not need to be on the envelope. Same goes with the service affiliation.
APO and FPO Addresses work the same as in the USA. No extra postage isrequired to mail, just the normal cost for mailing within the US. The following military bases welcome expired coupons up to 6 months past the expiration date:

Service Affiliation: U.S Air Force
Address: RAF Alconbury
423 ABS/DPF
APO AE 09470
Location: Ansbach, Germany

Service Affiliation: U.S. Army
Address:CAFAP
ACS - 235th BSB
Unit 28614
APO AE 09177
Location: Atsugi, Japan

Service Affiliation: U.S. Navy
Address:U.S. Naval Air FacilityNavy
FSCPSC 477
Box 32FPO AP 96306
Location: Bad Aibling, Germany

Service Affiliation: U.S. Army
Address:ACS - 279th BSB
Unit 27535
APO AE 09139
Location: Brussels, Belgium **

Service Affiliation: U.S. Army
Address:CAFAP
ACS - 233rd BSB
CMR 441
APO AE 09175
Location: Gaeta, Italy

Service Affiliation: U.S.NAvy
Address:Volunteer Coordinator
Navy FSC
PSC 811
FPO AE 09609
Location: Giessen, Germany**

Service Affiliation: U.S. Army
Address:Outreach Program Coordinator
ACS - 284th
BSBUnit 20911,
Box 132
APO AE 09169
Location: Grafenwoehr, Germany

Service Affiliation: U.S. Army
Address:ACS - 409th BSB
ATTN: AETTG-SB-CFA-ACS
APO AE 09114
Location: Hanau, Germany

Service Affiliation: U.S. Army
Address:CAFAP
ACS - 414th BSB
APO AE 09165
Location: Ikego, Japan ***

Service Affiliation: U.S. Navy
Address:COMFLEACT DET.
FSC
PSC 474, Box 700
FPO AP 96351-0007
Location: Illesheim, Germany ***

Service Affiliation: U.S. Army
Address:Coupon Program Chairperson
ACS - Illesheim AST
CMR 416, Box I
APO AE 09140-0015
Location: Incirlik, Turkey

Service Affiliation: U.S. Air Force
Address:Incirlik Commissary
Unit 7105 Box DECU/EU/INC
APO, AE 09824
Location: Iwakuni, Japan

Service Affiliation: U.S. Marine Corps
Address:USMC Community Services
ATTN: 5PSVC
PSC 561,Box 1867
FPO AP 96310-1867
Location: Kitzigen, Germany

Service Affiliation: U.S. Army
Address:417th BSB ACS
ATTN: Coupon Exchange
CMR 449
APO AE 09031
Location: Lakenheath, U.K.

Service Affiliation: U.S. Air Force
Address:48 MSS/DPF
ATTN: Coupon Connection ProgramUnit
5200, Box 105
APO AE 09464-0105
Location: Naples, Italy

Service Affiliation: U.S. Navy
Address:Director, Navy FSC
PSC 810, Box 53
FPO AE 09619
Location: Okinawa, Japan (USA)

Service Affiliation: U.S. Army
Address:Volunteer/Outreach Coordinator
ACS - 10th ASG
Unit 35115
APO AP 96376-5115
Location: Okinawa, Japan (USAF)

Service Affiliation: U.S. Air Force
Address:Family Services Program
18 MSS/DPF
Unit 5134, Box 80
APO AP 96368-5134
Location: Osan, Korea

Service Affiliation: U.S. Air Force
Address:Family Support Center
51st MSS PACAF
Unit 2097
APO AP 96278-2097
Location: Rota, Spain

Until next time:
Don't forget to check out my other site, and:

Happy Crafty Day, CraftyLinda
http://LGdesigns.wordpress.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5125957
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lgdesigns_by_linda/

2009-01-02T10:23:00.001-05:00

I love the Rose parade and every year I would set out to sit down and watch it and then something would come up. So this year, I thought ahead. I took and Christmas decorations down early. That was always something I did on New Years day. I put dinner in the crock pot (black eyed beans) I was ready. And this year I made it. I got to see the whole parade. The theme was 'Hats off to Entertainment'.
There were so many really good floats the Amer Asso. of Realtors float had a Robinson Family theme that was out of this world.
The bands were great. Can you imagine walking, dancing and marching for 5 miles. Made my legs hurt just to think of that. The one for the Salvation Army actually came from Wales, UK.
One of my favorite floats was the one from National Balance pet foods, with the English bull dog skate boarding. There was this big English bull dog on his skate board all done in flower petals and veggie. Then they had a track that went around him and on the track they had the cutest real English bull dog skateboarding. He was going to do that for the whole 5 miles. It was just adorable.
Cal Poly U. had an amusement park theme with the rides moving in all directions. And beautiful colors.
The one was from the city of Roseville boasted a replica of a 1909 steam engine.
China airlines had a huge Phoenix which was bright and beautiful.
There was one with a Jack in the box, using 76 performers, dancers records playing. Just spectacular.
The float from Alaska had bears and a canoe.
The Ronald McDonald house was magnificent. Did you know that Willard Scott was the first Ronald McDonald clown and he was the one to invent him? Interesting!
I not sure but I think the biggest one was by the International Music and was 410 ft long. Had big bird, Elmo,Abby Cadabby and Oscar.
Ftd's theme was the Big Screen with elephants and peacocks.
Every float was just magnificent.
It takes some talented artist to come up with the designs and then incorporate it with flowers and vegetables. It takes as many as 13,000 men hours per float. Uses over 100,000 flower petals and 16,000 tons of steel per float.
With all of that and the colors and movement is it any wonder that it is my favorite parade to watch. I hope you all got to see it and enjoyed it as much as I did.

Good by 2008 Welcome 2009

2008-12-31T20:06:00.005-05:00

As this year comes to an end and a new one begins I wish all of you good health and lots of wealth, happiness ,forgiveness, a working muse, lots of sales (if that is what you are into),lots of love, more time to spend the way you want, and good cheer.
I have much to be thankful for this past year. I have a wonderful loving and supportive DH. Great kids and grandkids, whom I love very much much. A roof over my head, heat to keep me warm, food in the cupboards and lots of good friends. Although my health wasn't the greatest this past year, I am still better off than some and am thankful.
I have met a lot of really nice, talented people through the Internet and the groups I belong to. And have learned and shared quite a few things. Not only polymer clay and other arts but life issues which has brought us all closer together. Without them my life would not have been as full as is it. And for them I am thankful. I have found that artistic people are in general the most giving of their time and knowledge. A truly talented artist is not afraid to share.
So, to the many people in the groups I belong to and the many people from the websites I visit, I wish you all a prosperous 2009.
I am praying for an even better year in 2009. Bigger sales, more money, better health, more time to spend on my creative adventures, more time spent with my kids and grandkids, more love to give and to receive.
I have a large to-do list and right at the top is to become a better person all around. One who gives more freely of my time, love, talent and hope. That is also a wish I have for all you talented friendly people out there.
We will be staying at home as we have done for the last few years. It is so much safer that way. And if we happen to be awake at midnight we will see the new year come in. My DH says we are not celebrating the beginning of 2009 but the ending of 2008.
May God bless us all.
So until 2009,
Happy Crafty Day, CraftyLinda
http://LGdesigns.wordpress.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5125957
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lgdesigns_by_linda/
http://lindasthisnthat.blogspot.com/

Update and book review

2008-12-30T13:44:00.006-05:00

mistakenly thought I was going to recieve the new Bead Star magizine and the supplies to make Valerie Aharoni beautiful necklace. So imagine my surprise when I opened my mailbox the other day and I had actually recieved Fabulous Fabric Beads by Kristal Wick. But what a wonderful surprise it turned out to be. Kristal has written this in such a way that even someone like me, who has never made fabric beads can understand it. By the time I had gotten to the techniques pages I was already in love with the book. She starts out telling us what tools we need but she doesn't stop there she shows pictures, has little notes and points to the pages where she used that technique. The techniques she shows are easy to understand with pictures and notes here and there also. I was saying ' well I'll be darn' all the way through that section. She take the basic bead design and adds embellishments to make really special and unique one of a kind beads.
And on to the beads themselves. Wow! She had me wanting to get busy trying most of them. I really love the Batik and the Vintage Kimono ones, but the Talisman message beads and the wire lace beads are beautiful also. Actually I loved most of them equally. She has wire wrapped, beaded, dipped and fiberous ones.
Last but certainly not least she shows some of the items she has mad and tell you which beads she used. The first one I fell in love with was the Mixed-Media Medley earrings. I am going to do those. I have to have them! Then the Dream Catcher necklaces, OMG. That one is for me too.
I guess I don't have to tell you that I just Love this book. Thank you so much Valerie. I now have one more medium to try my hand at. So if you have been wondering about this book I give it a 5 star rating. It is a must see..
Well I am off to start something new. Until next time.
Happy Crafty Day, CraftyLinda
http://LGdesigns.wordpress.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5125957
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lgdesigns_by_linda/

Dogs are sometimes under rated.

2008-12-22T20:02:00.003-05:00

While I was checking some of my favorite sites , Sue over at Art Ravings had a picture of her furrie baby with a cute little story. I have to agree with you Sue I think our furrie friends are pretty smart. I have a little mixed dog, mother was a miniature Schnauzer and dad unknown. His name is Pooh. He is the smartest little guy. I talk to him just like a kid and I know he knows what I am saying. This is a picture of him sitting in front of the electric heater we have to help keep the living room warm. When he comes in from outside he use to go in his box ( doggie carrier) now he knows if the heater isn't on I will turn it on for him and he can sit there until he gets warm and dry. This morning I turned it on and went to let him in. He went over there but then decided he was going to go play around. I just told him that I would turn it off if he didn't want to use it and back he came. It sure makes you wonder just how much they do know. I have heard of people getting an autistic child a dog, I think it was a yellow retriever, and that child learned how to talk because of talking to his buddy. I know Pooh gives me and my DH lots of love and more than a few laughs. I have always had a dog, some were super smart and some weren't. But all were nice to have around. So here is to all the dogs and their owners... Have a Merry Christmas.

We didn't put up a Christmas tree this year but I do have some of my Santa's sitting around. Pooh can't figure them out but does like to sit and listen to them "talk". Here is a couple pictures of some of my decorations this year.

Until next time Happy Crafty Day, Linda

I can't beleive I won!!

2008-12-19T16:48:00.004-05:00

Did you know that the members of PCAGOE ( Polymer Clay Artist Guild of Etsy) have been sponsoring a Scavenger Hunt? It started on Dec. 10th and runs thru Dec. 22nd. I read about it on Valerie Aharoni's site. I went to Valerie's Etsy shop and found the little elfin miss, covo-ed her to let her know I found it and where. And Today I received a message telling me I had won. I am so excited and pleased. The prize for that week was a copy of BEAD STAR ( a new magazine, I'll tell you about later) and the polymer clay components to make my own version of the Best in Show (which Valerie won) necklace.
I have been meaning to tell you about Valerie's site, She is a very talented lady. If you haven't already clicked the link above you can see her Best of Show winning necklace here. She was among more than 1,00 entries in the contest that BeadingDaily.com had in April 2008. Out of 180 finalists her necklace was one of 45 chosen, and will appear on the cover of the new magazine Bead Star.
She talks about transfers, and how she used parchment paper with an ink jet printer. Very pretty out come. She has pictures on her site of the prettiest items she has made using this technique. Sounds interesting I think I will add that to my to-do list for after the Holidays.

2008-12-18T09:32:00.002-05:00

Ya'll know about my love for Santa's. Well in my search for him online I have run across some really remarkable artist. This morning I am looking at Maureen Carlson's wee folk. Her web site is just packed full with a list of her upcoming classes and virtual tours of your shop, both in the spring and winter. I love the expressions she gives to her people and even tho she doesn't have a Santa her site is well worth looking at. Or better yet for those of you who live in or around Jordan, Minnesota, go see her in person.
We are due to have either a lot of snow or freezing rain starting tonight so I am trying to figure out what I need from town so I can get it all in. We live 8 miles from town, which isn't to much if the roads are good. But like with every small town they have not been able to keep our roads clear this year. We have a lot of back roads between us and town and those are the last ones to see a road truck. So we must plan ahead.
Of course with the colder, wet weather comes all the aches and pains of someone with chronic pain ailments and "old age". I know I must pace myself but this time of year with Christmas just 7 days away it is real hard. I have been busy doing what every household is doing this time of year, wrapping packages, baking cookies and other treats, send cards and packages, the list goes on. But one thing I am doing different this year so I don't over work myself and then not enjoy the big day when it gets here, is to put a timer by me ,set for one hour. This helps to remind me to take time for myself and just relax.
That of course doesn't work when I have to keep doctors appointments or deliver packages, but it does help here at home. The end of last week was a rough one as I had to travel 90 miles one way to a doctors. That took some time to recuperate from and then the bad weather hit us with the dampness. But I am back up to par today so hope to get more done today. Got some more polymer clay 'playing`to do.
I hope you all are taking time for yourselves and enjoying this Christmasie time of year.
Don't forget to check out my other sites. Thanks and
Happy Crafty Day, CraftyLinda
http://LGdesigns.wordpress.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5125957
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lgdesigns_by_linda/
NEW!! http://lindasthisnthat.blogspot.com/

Santa's, Santa's everywhere.

2008-12-13T13:32:00.005-05:00

While sitting here with my heating pad and hot cup of tea ( it is cold here in Michigan this morning with the wind blowing and I over did it yesterday) and trying to find a comfort zone, I have been reading my email. I opened the Polymer Clay Daily post I will thrilled to see Dennis Brown mentioned on her site.
Being a Dennis Brown and Santa fan, I of course had to check out everything. His page on Reasons to Believe is just full of amazing Santa's that he has sculpted using polymer clay. He is a very talented guy who obviously loves Santa.
There is a page where you can see works from other clay sculpture artists like, Janell Berryman with her whimsical characters, Laura Benge with her Rolly Polly Santa, Becky Goasdoue with her creatively detailed works, and Kathy Cornell who is a reuse, recycle artist. You will have to be your own judge as to whom you like the best. But if you are like me I could not make up my mind to just one. They are all so great and have their own special technique.
There are pages and pages of Santa's, from wood carved to resin and whimsical to folk art.
So if you love Santa as much as I do and have some time to spare go take a look. But be warned you may get lost in there and have to have your familiy come and rescue you. hehe
And while you are looking around you might want to visit my other site at LGdesigns, I have a good post on the different uses of Future floor polish.

Ya'll have a warm and fun day.
'till next time,
Happy creative day..Linda

A short post but a good site

2008-12-09T00:00:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone, I am so sorry that this is going to be short tonight. We had something come up today that took me away from home for longer than I thought it would. So I didn't have the time to look around like I would have liked to.
I did happen upon a nice site about jewelry making that might interest some of you. It is not just polymer clay, it has a long list of techniques that range from stringing to polishing and finishing.
It has articles on marketing & selling, creativity and design. The list goes on and on. So if you are into jewelry making or juct begining this is the site for you. Jewelry lessons by Eni Oken & friends.

Another great blog to check out

2008-12-07T17:17:00.003-05:00

While I was checking out The Queen Speaks site, I read about Chrystie's 29 days of give aways.. I had to check it out for myself. I had to post so that even more people will know of this, and not just because she is giving things away, but because she has spoken of things I truly believe in. The act of giving of ones self. It not only makes the receiver happy but it brings joy to your own self. I hope everyone who reads this post is reminded of what not only this season is all about but what we should all be doing in our lives at all times. Even just a smile to a stranger,opening the door for someone,or a listening ear can mean a lot.
Not only is Chrystie a very talented artist. She is a very compassionate person who writes a great inspiring blog. I have enjoyed reading every post. And I feel I have already been given a gift. She has a big heart and it shows in the way she writes and in her art work.
I am still looking around her site there is so much to look at with all the interviews, pictures and links to follow I just might be there a long long time.
I want to thank Queen Katherine for choosing to write about this amazing, giving person. Without her I would not have met Chrystie or seen her art or read her thoughts. So Katherine if your out, there, thank you.
I am off to check some more on Chrystie's blog. So until tomorrow have a great night.

2008-12-06T20:54:00.007-05:00

We're on the count down now and things are really getting busy. I have baking that needs to be done. I guess I will start that tomorrow. I have made three batches of cookies with the hopes of freezing some to have for Christmas but my DH has managed to find them . So I now must start all over again. I must say they are really good but the batches I do tomorrow, I am going to find a better spot to put them in. I found this cute plate at a dollar store. And I mean to full it with cookies ,brownies, chocolate covered crackers and banana bread. I thought it has the nicest saying on it.

Now does anyone know how to keep my DH out of them?

Like I mentioned yesterday I don't know much about blogging and was having trouble adding some things to this page. Well I am happy to say that I figured it out and have added some of things I wanted. I will hopefully put more on tomorrow. After I get some baking done of course. I would love to hear any idea you might have as to how I can make this site better.

I have also been working on a few magnets to put in cards that I am sending to people who live out of state. I think they turned out pretty good. I just wanted a little something to show them I care and am thinking of them. Sorry the pictures are such bad quality. I was in a hurry and I am still learning to take good pictures.

I have added these pictures now I have to remember what I wrote about yesterday and see if I can't put them in google image search. Wish me luck. I'll let you know tomorrow if I managed it or not.

Thanks for stopping by. Until tomorrow. Have a Crafty Day

blogging problems and some tips from...

2008-12-05T17:08:00.004-05:00

The tips I am speaking of have nothing to do with the problems I was having. More about that in a minute. I was having problems with wordpress today. My other blog LGdesigns is on wordpress. It took me 45 minutes to write my post this afternoon. My page was all messed up so that I couldn't see everything that I was writing. It would take a long time to pull up the add a link page. Just little things like that but it sure makes it hard to get a job done. Then I was worried that I would lose my post before I could publish it. I did get it done and I wrote about a web site Eugene's Creations. If you would like to read about it just jump right on over I'll be waiting for you.

The tips I am talking about from Contraiwise ramblings. She has a really interesting article on bring more traffic to your blog or website. She explains how to use Google Image search to help bring in more traffic. Here is one quote from your post.

"Three of the most important things that Google Image Search looks for, in descending order, are:
1. Alt Text
2. File Name
3. Surrounding Text"

She then goes on to explain each item , what it is and how to use it. She even show how she used it in her post. Like I have said before I am not a computer whiz but it all made since to me. If you are wanting to drive more traffic to your site you would do well to check out her post. You won't be sorry you did. She ended up saying,

"It may take a while for google to crawl through the web and find your site, but you' ll be AMAZED at how many more hits your blog will have if you remember these 3 steps. "

I am going to try it out when I get some pictures that I want to post.

2008-12-04T11:47:00.000-05:00

Hi, I haven't posted much but I do have a lot of links for you to visit. Some have tutes and some are for inspiration. But I am sure you will like them all. So grab a cup of what ever you enjoy and sit back, relax and look around.
First is a nice little weblog by a very talented artist who makes the cutest fairies. And has a short tute on how she gets rid of moonies and applying hair. There is quite a bit of info on this site. She has lists to other sites of interest and some great pictures of some of her dolls.

The next one is Karyn Kozak design. She does some incredible millefiori designs. And has a line a jewelry,vessels and letter openers. Very colorful.

ShinyAdornments has some good articles for artists. She talks about international shipping, with some good tips and links. Also she provided a list of venues for artists selling and is now starting to profile some of those sites. Very interesting.

And if you haven't checked out Layl McDill's site you are missing some really funky whimsical art work. She is the creator of Silly Millies but there is a lot more than that on her site, from silly millies to cosmic clouds murals and tiles.

Well these you keep you busy until I can write again. I hope you enjoy them all. And don't forget while your out there surfing around to pls check out my Etsy store and my flickr album.
Thanks and have a great day.

Thanksgiving is over

2008-11-28T12:11:00.002-05:00

Now that Thanksgiving is over and I must get back to the everyday things. I have a lot to keep me busy. First I must finish some clay projects I have on my table. There are earrings and pins and ornaments. Oh my! Not to mention letters to write and cards to send. My list seems to get bigger each day instead of smaller.
I hope each of you had a great Holiday, and are now back to normal. Well as normal as one can get this time of year. I still have Christmas shopping to do. This year most of my gifts will be handmade but there are a few that I must buy for. Don't know when I will get that done. Today would have been a good day as the stores are having such good sales. But I must do as my checkbook dictates and wait until I have the money. Story of my life it seems. Never in the right place at the right time. If I see a sale I usually don't have the money and when I have the money I can't find any sales. I have a friend who is the best at finding bargains and I have joked with her often that I will just give her my money and list and have her do the work for me. Wouldn't that be grand! No running around , just make my list and wrap things up when they come in...
How do you handle your Christmas shopping. Do you shop online? I try to buy locally as my town is in such need right now.
Well ya'll have a great day.

The this and that week

2008-11-20T12:18:00.004-05:00

I have done everything from work on here to bake cookies and peanut butter bread this week. There was a doctors appointment and grocery shopping. I got a pretty good deal on a turkey. so now if we decide to stay here at home we will have one. We have been invited to a couple places but we never know how we are going to feel or now the weather is going to be so I like to make sure all the bases are covered.
I have added a few new pics to my flickr. I made some awesome Guernsey cow earrings for a friend of mine who raises them.I had seen her at fair week and she made the comment that no one ever made Guernsey cow jewelry. So I thought I would give it a try. I think they turned out pretty darn good.
Then I have made some Christmas earrings, I love to wear holiday earrings so I just had to make me some different ones and while I was at it I thought why not make a few more to put on Etsy. I got them put on there the night before last.
I have some Christmas ornaments that I will be adding this afternoon or maybe in the morning. I am running out of the time that I give myself on here so it may well be in the morning. I have been trying to limit myself on here so I can get other things done. I have this habit of getting carried away when I am online. I start out checking out one thing and then that lead me to some where else. Before I now it I have spend half the day on here and my DH will come in and say "dinner is ready, honey". And I think OMG I should have been doing something else, like making dinner or something. Thanks God my DH loves and understands me.
This morning I decided I better do a few things before I get in here. So I made beef broth (to freeze) out of some bones we got with the cow I spoke about earlier, then I made some peanut butter bread. YUMMMMMMMM. Turned out really good. I guess you can tell we like peanut butter. Hehehe. If anyone wants the recipe for the bread you can either leave a comment here or look at Paula Deans website. That is where I got it from.
Well have a lot more to do. Have to skip over to my other blog and put a post on there. So if I don't talk to you before..Have a great week-end.

First Snow of the season

2008-11-16T11:29:00.003-05:00

Well, I woke up this morning to snow on the ground and still coming down. Now even though I was born and raised here in Michigan, I really don't care much for snow anymore. I used to love it but as the years go by that love afair is ending. Now the only thing that is nice about snow is that it is real pretty when I am in the house where it is warm and cozy. It is so pretty looking at it in the trees. And the first snow is still special. We don't have much but it is covering the ground and we are to get a little more as the day goes on. So even though I don't really care for it I did thank God for it and is beauty.
I don't think I have mentioned that I have a cute little inside dog that is my little sweetie. I don't think he likes this new change in the weather either as all he wants to do is sit on my lap. Now that would not be so bad but he is a very nosey little thing and has he have his nose in to everything. Have you ever tried to type with a dogs nose on the keyboard. Well it is a challenge. LOL But I wouldn't give him up for the world. He makes me laugh and gives me puppy hugs and kisses all the time. Who could get upset at that?
I am tring to make some Christmas earrings and some cow earrings this morning. Have some ideas runnning around in my head that I have to let out. Hopefully I willl have some posted in my flickr album and in my Etsy shop by tonight or tomorrow.

The other day I send a recipe for Peanut butter oatmeal cookie, did anyone out there make any? How did you like them? Mine are all gone and now I will have to make more. The only problem with that is that it is just my DH and me and we shouldn't be eating that many cookies. Darn!!!!

Check out my other blog I have a few website that you might be interested in looking at.

Have a great day!!!

Peanut butter,oatmeal,choc chip cookies

2008-11-14T14:00:00.005-05:00

Isn't it funny where our minds can lead us? While thinking about one thing all of a sudden something else comes to mind. This morning I was looking thru my emails and checking out Christie Friesen's web site, which BTW is a great site with lots of info and eye candy,I got to thinking about peanut butter,oatmeal,choc chip cookies. It got so bad that I had to stop what I was doing and go bake some. Then of course I had to eat a few with my DH. They were great by the way. So good in face that I thought I would put the recipe here so you can make your own.
So here it is.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup margarine, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 cup choc chips
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, cream together shortening, margarine, brown sugar, white sugar, and peanut butter until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in the oats snd choc chips until just combined. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until just light brown. Don't over-bake. Cool and eat.

Now is says you are to get 48 cookies and I never did like those little teaspoon size cookies so I got 30 man size out of my batch. Any way you do them I hope you enjoy.

After having eat my full and storing the rest I decided I better get busy with my Christmas earrings. But first I wanted to write and tell you my recipe. Now I will get in there and finish up with my earrings. They have the cutest little Santa hats and mittens. I will have them in my Etsy store shortly so please go have a look.
Would you like to follow my site? Is so just click on the link at the top right of my side wing. I would love to add you as a friend.

A busy time

2008-11-11T10:09:00.004-05:00

This is such a busy time for all of us. Getting ready for the holidays, deer hunting and that last minute canning or freezing. I have been busy with all of that. Last week-end my DH helped a friend butcher a cow. Yes a cow. He was a small one compared to some but it was quite and adventure. We hadn't done that in years, since we lived on a farm, and even then we had someone else come and kill it and dress it out. But they did the whole thing themselves and I must say they did a pretty good job. Considering they didn't have the tools of the trade so to speak. This friend shared some of the meat with us in payment for the work my DH did so we were real busy cutting and wrapping getting it ready for the freezer this week-end. I would guess that we ended up with about 75 lbs of really good beef. We ground our own burger and I can't wait to have one for dinner soon. There is nothing like growing your own and dong all that is needed to get it to the table. You have the feeling of accomplisment that nothing else can compare to.
With all of that out of the way now it is time to get back to doing more Christmas presents, working on this blog and my other one on wordpress. I have a few things that I want to get done, like a lot of baking, and it seems like there just isn't enough time in the day. I have a few of the things in my flickr ablum and hope to add more in the next few days. I also have an Etsy store that I am hoping to add more to shortly.
Also I am hoping to add a few tutes and things to this site but no promises as to how soon that will be. Please put me on your new follow this blog list and I will add you to mine.
Everyone have a good day. See ya soon.

Hello

2008-11-08T14:51:00.000-05:00

Hi, I'm glad you came. Some of you might have visited my other site on wordpress. While I like wordpress I thought that I would get better exposure using blogger. There are a lot of my friends on here and you can do so much more. When I started wordpress I had never had a blog before and wasn't sure what I was doing or what I wanted so I decided to try wordpress as it seemed the easiest to learn. I still think it is the best when you are just starting out it gives you the chance to try a few things and kind of ' get your feet wet' so to spell. But after you have blogged for a while and you want to add different things to your site this is the place to be.

Enough said about that. My name is Linda and a love polymer clay. I also knit and crochet alot. I have done and still do other crafts but those are my favs. This site is going to have my thought on all sorts of things, it will mostly be on polymer clay, but I love to talk about all kinds of things. So please come back often and let me know how you feel about my new adventure. I can use all the help I can get. I will not be closing down my wordpress blog but I doubt that I will be doing as much with it as this one will probably be all I can handle. Those of you who have been to my other blog that I am not an organized person so I usually run out of week before I run out of things I want to do.
I love to talk about my family and the way I had wordpress set up it didn't seem right to do that so that is why the name Lindas this n that. I have a great family so you will be hearing some about them. I have one daughter and 2 sons, I also have 2 step sons. My daughter has 2 sons, my oldest son has 1 daughter and 2 sons, and my youngest son has 1 of each. My oldest step son has 2 sons and a granddaughter, and the youngest has 2 sons ,1 daughter and 7 step children. So you see I have a nice size family. And I am sure you will be hearing more about them as time goes by.
I will have pictures of my polymer clay creations and hopefully some tutes. Although I am not good at doing tutes I will try my hand at, at least one. Also my knitting and crocheting. I will have some directions for some things that I like to make.
So please get a cup of coffee or if you prefer tea and sit with me for a while. I hope you enjoy your visit.