More pics to share of Saturday's shopping stash

Kitty has been so busy working on the saloon and trying to keep up with Sophie and Olive that she doesn't have much time to come and update on the blog herself, but she'd like to tell everyone hello.  Personally I think she just wanted to show off the new cowboy hat that I bought her yesterday - lol.  I have to admit though, she does look pretty darn good.  She asked that I start making her some more appropriate Western clothing for when the saloon opens.  I guess I better start practicing on my sewing again...

I'm thinking about taking the pearls out of her hair, which I think she would prefer anyway since she's been asking for a pearl necklace as of late.

Here's a cute pic to show everyone her curly red hair sticking out from under the back of the hat.  Kindly overlook the fact that the ribbon was coming off of her hat in the picture

Next I wanted to show you where I put the tiny rusted birdhouse.  This Jade plant sits on my desk and I am absolutely in love with it.  One side of it got some sort of plant disease, but I have pruned and sprayed and given it lots of tlc so I think now it looks wonderful.  You may have to click the pic to make it larger in order to see the birdhouse.  Another blog that I like to follow (and please forgive me for not remembering who atm) had a post about miniature garden setting and I've always wanted to do something similar with this plant.  The original post linked to a site called Miniature Garden Shoppe that gave me a lot of great ideas.  I would like to get some mini seating and maybe even some mini lanterns to add to my pot.

Here is a close-up pic to show you where the birdhouse is hanging.  This is one branch that had to be pruned to get rid of dead leaves and prevent whatever it was from spreading.  I can't wait to find some more accessories.  This summer I would also like to get a large flat pot and do a western garden setting with lots of cactus.

Ttyl blogland :)

Ben Franklin's, Hobby Lobby, and Michael's!

4-6 inches of snow isn't enough to keep me home.  Although it was snowing (and damn cold) outside today I journeyed out with my Mother.  I needed to get more paper for the V-day card swap and plus I was in the mood to see what kind of new minis I might find.  So off we went through the winter wonderland.  This was the first time I have ever visited Ben Franklin's and I can definitely say I will be going back.  My Mother (who said, "I told you so") has been trying to get me to visit for months now.  On one hand it's similar to Hobby Lobby and Michael's and on the other hand it has food and clothing and other items sort of like the Dollar Store.  Odd combination, right?  But anyway, on to the good part, here's what I got:

This is a clay gun set and it includes 19 different shaped discs.  I would really like to get into making mini food with polymer clay and I thought this might be useful.  I was playing around with the different shapes when I took this pic.  I made a tiny "dessert" that you can see on the side using a piece of chocolate brown clay and the red clay as icing.  I think I'll check out a few tutorials before I try again!

Next I got these awesome brown felt cowboy hats!  One is missing the brown ribbon, but that can be fixed easily enough.  I loved the look of the rusted pots as well.  I got the mini birdhouse to go in my Jade plant and I've got a better pic of it for a later post.  The four mini tankards will go great in the saloon and I've been wanting another set of corked glass bottles for a while now.

Next I found some great beads for 99 cents each!!!  I've been wanting some longer thin beads to put together some nail polish bottles like Tanya has in her albums.  I got the round white beads because I'd like to make a pearl necklace / choker for Kitty using Casey's tutorial.  Kitty is very excited btw!

Afterwards we journeyed on to Hobby Lobby.  Actually, that isn't right - next we made a pit stop at Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (lol) and then went on to Hobby Lobby ;)  There I found some great scrapbook paper to use for the V-day card that I'm making for Melly Kay's swap.  Don't you just love it?!

And also my Mom found some great V-day doily's that's she going to use in some of her scrapbooking.  But when I saw them I immediately thought, "mini doilies"!!!  In this pic I cut one out to show you the size.  These will be great if I can practice and get good at making mini food.  Too cute!

And finally today my Mom and I drove on to Michael's because I wanted to get a couple of hutches and spend the rest of my gift card.  And guess what?  We get there and they closed at 1 pm due to inclement weather!  Seriously?  I was so disappointed!  Anyway, maybe I'll be able to go tomorrow or Monday, I hope they send out a new email with a new coupon b/c the one I have was only good through Saturday 01/30!

Welcome to 2 new followers!

I would like to say hello and welcome to 2 new followers today!

First I would like to introduce Jenny who is from Arizona.  She has many blogs listed, two of which are:
http://jennymatlock.blogspot.com/ and http://tastefulgarden2jen.blogspot.com/.  From what I've read so far she's interested in gardening, candy (me too!), and something called Alphabe-Thursday that I need to find out more about...

Next is miniannalee at Anna's Minis.  She is from Georgia and just started her blog, but she is into miniatures and dollhouses so she will fit in just perfect here!

Today's post will be short, but I'll leave you with some new pics.  Melly Kay over at LAMC is hosting a Valentine's Day card swap and I am getting my materials together.  I went through all of my (and my Mom's) scrapbooking stuff to find some great V-day inspiration.

And of course there has to be some "mini" element to the whole project so I went through an old box of cards at my Mom's and found some of my Valentine's day cards from elementary school.  I scanned them and shrunk them down to 20% so they're a bit bigger than 1:12 scale, but at least they're big enough to read.

I've never done this before, but I'll update with more pics as I work on the card.  Also I am experimenting with changing my blog template so if you pop by and things look a little weird just sort of overlook it for the time being!  See ya later blogland!

Lots and lots of beautiful jewelry!

Today I want to share an exciting giveaway with you guys!  Forbes Farm Gifts is giving away this beautiful spring necklace!

According to Sandy's blog this choker is made with amethyst colored glass beads and multiple strands of white seed beads.  To view Sandy's post about the giveaway and the complete rules click here.  I am so excited!  If you haven't already checked out her etsy pages then I highly recommend it.  She makes AMAZING jewelry!  Just to give you and idea of how beautiful her stuff is I picked out a few of my favorite items to share with you.  All of these pictures belong to Sandy at Forbes Farm and not to me.

Fairys Petticoat Earrings - Blue and Pink on Gold

Fairys Petticoat Earrings - Lavender and Purple

Tiny Bubbles - Hand Beaded Seed Bead Bangle Bracelet

OOAK Blue Lily Earrings With Vintage Floral Beads

Didn't I tell you her stuff is AMAZING!  I'm keeping my fingers crossed because I want to win!

On to another topic, but still on the subject of jewelry my 5 year anniversary at work is coming up in March.  I get to pick out a service recognition award and I received the paperwork this past weekend.  For my gift I chose a beautiful sterling silver blue topaz ring.  The picture on the website isn't as clear as the one in the brochure, but I think you get the idea.

Isn't it pretty?  Now I can't wait for March!  I'll definitely update with pics when it arrives.  Until next time - adios blogland!

Welcome to my 100th post!

Today I'm celebrating 100's and what better way than with my 100th post!  Here's some blogger stats that I was able to come up with:

- I've been blogging since March 2009
- I have 46 followers
- There have been 71 comments posted
- I am personally following 53 blogs
- I have posted 373 pictures to my blog
- My profile has been viewed 190 times

I would like to thank each and every one of my followers for reading and commenting and making this all worthwhile.  And to those of you out there blogging as well, keep it up, catching up on blogs is one of my favorite pastimes.  You guys are the best!!!

I thought I'd share a few other top 100's as well.  These lists are pretty fun to read through!

100 places to visit before you die

100 best novels

100 greatest songs

The Hot 100 Week of Jan 30, 2010 per Billboard.com

Top 100 baby names

Top 100 "green" cars

And another 100 that I wanted to share comes from my New Year's Resolution list.  I said that since my Mom bought me those great Reebok Easytones that I wanted to walk at least a mile a day.  I haven't quite been consistent enough with that yet, but I have reached 101 laps!  If you walk around the inside of the building where I work 12 laps = 1 mile.  So I have made it 8.416 miles just while walking while at work!  My goal is to get in 6 laps on my first break, 6 laps after lunch, and 6 laps on my second break, which would give me 1-1/2 miles per day.  If I could do it for an entire year (minus vacation days, etc.) I could amass 364.5 miles!  Think I can do it?

In the meantime I'll be working on some of my other resolutions.  I had an appointment this past Thursday with a gastroenterologist and hopefully someday soon will have an answer for why I am in pain all of the time (this goes with my resolution for overall health).  I also am looking into a debt management program (as scary as that sounds) to try and help my financial situation (debt resolution).  And finally I have all but refused to buy any cigarettes for David (stop contributing to other people's bad habits resolution).  I've been successful so far so who knows what all this new year could bring!

And oh yeah, I won $4 on a lottery ticket - it's a small amount, but still I was so excited!

Until next time - see ya blogland!

Mini necklace and earrings set - thanks to Casey!

Casey did a post on her blog a couple of weeks back that covered how to make mini jewelry.  She used brass beading wire and very tiny beads and also included a sketch to show how to put everything together.  Check out her blog if you want more details.  Now I'd like to share the jewelry that I made using Casey's expert advice.

I used silver beading wire as I'm not much of a fan of the gold look.  As per Casey's instructions you really do use quite a bit of wire.  The necklase took almost every bit of 8 inches and the earrings are 2 inches each.  The beads were leftover from years ago when I was into beaded jewelry.  It's hard to tell in the pictures, but the beads have some really lovely colors.  I'm eager to try this again with some different colors and also different style beads.

Now I would like to find an easy tutorial for a jewelry box.  If anyone out there in blogland has one that they would like to share please send it my way!

Followers and "wayback" pics...

I was looking through the list of followers and I saw two names that I didn't remember from before.  One was Rudoo and the other is Miniaturemaid.  I'm not sure how long you guys have been here, but I'm glad that you came!  I don't see blogs for either one yet, but if you have them please let me know and I'll link them for everyone else to visit.

I also wanted to forward on something that I saw on Kim's blog.  The "Wayback Challenge" that was making its way through Facebook last week seems to have made it to blogland.  I am copying and pasting this directly from Kim's blog:

I challenge you to find a picture of yourself as a child and post it on your blog.  There are no rules to follow or a required number of people to pass it on to. Just have fun and "pass it on"!

So here goes!  This pic is me at around age 5 I believe (I'd have to ask my Mom to be sure).  And I chose one with pigtails so Kim wouldn't feel all alone :)

Cute, huh?  Lol!

Anybody else a novice at editing html?

Trial and error.  That's how I've learned to update the html on my blog.  I've been experimenting with things such as the sidebar, the margins, the space between posts, etc.  I'm just trying to tweak the overall look.  I've never understood why blogs are all so smashed up in the middle of the screen - seriously, what's the point?

More to my point though, I finally figured out how to add a map to my blog!  I saw a blog forever ago where the author placed a "stickpin" in the location of each of her followers.  I thought it was just the neatest thing and I've wanted one ever since.  Anyway, I thought I'd share just in case any of you out there in blog land might like to add one too.

- First go to Google Maps
- Click in the upper left-hand side where it says "my maps."  At this point you'll have to sign in or creat a new account
- Next you'll click "create new map"
- You'll then add a title and description.  Then you'll have to choose if you want your map to be public or unlisted
- Then click done/save

At this point you can use the search box at the top to add locations to your map.  For instance you could search for New York City.  A map will appear on the right and on the left you will see:

New York City     Directions     Search Nearby     Save to     More

Click "save to" and it will bring up a list of your maps.  Pick the one you want to save the location to and it will place a stickpin in your map.

The only thing I can't figure out is how to add a "pin" to an actual country.  If I don't have the name of a city or state within the country for some reason I can't mark it.  Anyway, I've always loved maps for some odd reason so I'm really tickled with the way it turned out!

I think I'll play around and maybe make some more maps to share.  I'd like to do one for "places that I have been," and also one for "places that I'd like to visit."  Another cool feature of google maps is that after you've added a location you can add pictures and videos that you have saved on your computer to the map.  That way when you email the map or add the map link to you webpage other people can see your content for that location. 

I think it would be fun if let's say I took took the pictures from my trip to New Orleans from a few years back and used a map of the city to share the places I visited.  I could tag the sandwich shop where I had my first muffaletta, where we stood to watch the Mardi Gras parade, and the bar in the French Quarter where we toasted with Hurricanes!

If anybody tries it out and makes a cool map please feel free to share :)

Resolutions for 2010 and beyond...

Here we are at almost ten days into 2010 and I'm still working on my New Year's Resolutions, but I wanted to share what I've come up with so far.  I'm 30 now so this year I'd like to be able to keep some of my resolutions past the end of January!  This year has started out kind of yucky (I've been sick and have only left the apartment twice in three days - and one of those times was to the doctor's office) so surely that's a sign that the year has to get better!  Anyway in no particular order - here goes for my resolutions...

- I want to be fit, not skinny, but fit.  I don't need huge muscle definition, but I would like to be tone.

- I want to be at a healthy weight.  I think 130 pounds would be good for my height.  This would put me at losing about 50 pounds.  My doctor "mentioned" that my weight has been creeping up over the last few years so that definitely got me thinking.

- I want to be more proactive about my overall health.  My parents both have type 2 diabetes, my Dad has heart disease, my Mom has arthritis - I could go on and on listing all of their ailments.  If I don't take better care of myself then I have all of these things to look forward to as I get older.  I have IBS and my symptoms have gotten worse with every passing year.  I've tried weight loss, exercise, food diaries, probiotics, adding fiber to my diet, being tested for celiac disease - basically everything you can think of to control my symptoms.  So this week I finally got a referral to a specialist.  I have an appointment to see a gastroenterolgist and as nervous as I am I know this was an important step.

- I want to walk at least 1 mile per day.  My Mom bought me a pair of Easytones for Christmas and I plan to use them for all they are worth!  Twelve laps around the inside of the building where I work is a mile and my friends at work help to motivate me to walk during breaks and lunchtime.

- I want to eat healthier, cook at home more, and eat out less.

- I want to plant a garden this year with lots of healthy fruits and veggies for me and my family.  I want to do some research on natural pesticides.  I want to make/buy a rain barrel and start a compost heap in my  backyard.

- I want to buy local.  I want to go to the farmer's market and local fruit stand more.  I also want to use local bakeries.

- I want to pay off debt.  I want to make a budget and stick to it.  I want to try the snowball approach with my credit cards.  I want to only make purchases with my debit card.  I want to start a "Christmas Club" savings account.

- I want to be more organized.  I know that lists may seem anal to some, but for me they help to ease my mind.  I can see what needs to be done and I can check things off as I go - giving me a sense of accomplishment.  I want to organize my household chores so that I'm not spending all weekend cleaning when I should be relaxing.

- I need some sort of plan of action when it comes to my hobbies, that way I can be more productive.  Right now I'm into 1:12 scale miniatures, scrapbooking, and beer bottle and beer cap crafts.  I've been scanning and cataloging  old black and white family photos for my Mom, researching my family tree, and I've got a crate full of my own photos that have never been put into any albums.  I would also love to improve my sewing technique and I would like to try out cross-stitch.  I am desperate to learn how to crochet as well because I'd love to be able to make beautiful afghans like my Granny Frye.  A friend of mine does Amigurumi and is going to be teaching classes so I'm hoping she can help me.

- I want to keep my car clean.  Being a commuter I spend lots of time in my car so this is one goal that I am truly striving for.

- I want to stop contributing to other people's bad habits.  This resolution means many things to me, but my first step is to stop buying cigarettes for David.  I am trying to encourage him to stop smoking.  I've let him know that he can continue to buy them if he chooses to, but I won't be picking them up for him even if I am already at the grocery store.

- I want to read my Bible.  I would like to read it from cover to cover.  This is a personal goal that I have had for a while, but I plan to be more determinded this year.

- I want to do things that make myself feel better.  I want to dress up more, get my hair cut, and it's amazing how girlie a coat of nail polish can make me feel!

- I also want to learn how to reward myself.  Sometimes I get so caught up in paying bills and just trying to make ends meet that I feel that's all my life is about.    I want to take time to relax, read a book, and maybe even buy myself a new pair of shoes?

- I want to spend more time with my family and friends.  I want to spend quality time with David, hang out with my Mom and Dad more, and also with my sister and her boyfriend.  I want to put forth the effort to visit my extended family - and not just on Facebook.  I want to invite my friends over for dinner and plan more "girls nights out."  I want to call my friends just to see how they're doing, and just to let them know that I care. I also want to learn to not let it bother me when I'm the one who's putting forth all of the effort when it comes to my friends.  I have to understand that as we get older and start our own families that sometimes life just gets in the way.

- And finally I want to try and update my blog more regularly! 

I'll leave you today with a pic to prove that I am working towards at least one of my goals.  I organized David's closet today and I am very proud of the results - I just wish I had thought to take a before pic, but I'm sure it isn't too hard to imagine a 27 year old guy's closet, right?  It took nearly all day to go through the closet and all of his drawers.  I was also very impressed that he was more than willing to go through and get rid of things that either didn't fit or that he doesn't wear anymore.  We have so many clothes to take to the Salvation Army tomorrow!  Next I'll tackle my closet...or maybe my craft drawers, or my scrapbook supplies, or maybe even my desk...oh boy ;)

Off to see the wizard part 3 and finally what does this have to do with minis?

Dorothy and the Tin Man.

Me and the Cowardly Lion.

A Winkie Guard and me.  This is the character that I was most excited to meet!

The Wicked Witch of the West.  Great costume!

The Wicked Witch's Castle.

Adita and what is left of one of the trees from the haunted forest.  There was music playing from inside the tree and if you remember from the movie the trees didn't want anyone taking their apples.

And this is my favorite pic.  You get to pose with the characters and the Cowardly Lion takes his tail and swings it over your shoulder.  Too cute!

Anyway, now for what this has to do with minis.  One thing that I've always thought would be fun to make would be Professor Marvel's wagon.  There's a thread on Greenleaf that shows a beautiful gypsy wagon kit.  From the first time that I saw it I thought about Professor Marvel.  It would be so much fun to make things to fill his traveling wagon with.  And I'd need a horse named Sylvester too.

Remember the sign on the side of his wagon?

"Professor Marvel

 acclaimed by The Crowned Heads of Europe

Let Him Read Your Past ~ Present and future

In his crystal (ball)

also juggling and sleight of hand"

Off to see the Wizard part 2

After touring the house you travel down a set of dark steps into a large basement/tunnel area and you experience going through the "twister."  I'm not going to post any pictures of that area because they all look pretty crazy, plus in case you ever visit Emeral Mountain I don't want to give it all away.  Anyway, when you come back up to the surface you are still in Auntie Em's house, but everything is in disarray.

I will say that this part of the park is amazing.  You honestly feel like you've been though a natural disaster.  The floors are slanted one way, the walls are slanted another, and the furniture is every which way.  You can barely walk through the place because it gives you such a sense of vertigo.  I had to hold onto the walls just to get through and back out onto the porch.

Here I am with Dorothy and Glinda the Good Witch of the North.

A view of Munchkinland.

Adita, The Scarecrow, and Jessie.

Our feet!  We took this one to prove to everyone that we really had walked down the yellow brick road :)

Off to see the wizard...

I'm stepping back a bit from the New Year with this post to show you an amazing gift that I recieved for Christmas.  I know my sister loves me and I know this because she bought me The Wizard of Oz Ultimate Collector's Limited Edition!!!  I have number 180,427 out of  243,000.  I love love love it!

There is a place not far from where I live called Emerald Mountain in Beech Mountain North Carolina.  And on Emerald Mountain there was an amusement park called the Land of Oz during the 70's and the early 80's.  The park has been closed for many years now, but the yellow brick road and other parts of the park are still there.  They open the park one weekend a year in early October and the public is welcome to come and visit.  It's so much fun!!!  My friend Adita and I visited in 2007.  I would love to go back one year and work as one of the volunteers.  Could you see me as Dorothy?!

Pic 1:  Jessie, The Wicked Witch of the West, A Winkie Guard, and Adita

We ran into these two characters while waiting in line at the bottom of the moutain.  You can take a hay ride pulled by a tractor or a bus to the top.  Or if you're crazy enough you could walk up.

Part of the land where the amusement park was located is now I guess what you would call a subdivision with really nice fany houses - they also have houses available for rent with nightly and weekly rates.  The rest is now a ski resort and here you can see the emtpy chair lift.  Are you beginning to understand why I wouldn't want to walk to the top...?

And this is one of the breathtaking views from the top of the mountain.  Just to reiterate - I would not want to walk to the top!!!

One of  the first places that you see is Auntie Em and Uncle Henry's house.  This is one of the houses that can be rented for parties, vacations, etc.

All of the rooms inside are lovely.  On the shelf to the right you can see a collection of Oz memorabilia.

Hello and welcome to a new follower!

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful New Year so far!  I wanted to take a moment and introduce a new follower.  The follower's name is miniaturemaid.  I don't see a profile or blog just yet, but I just wanted to say that I am happy that you're here!  Welcome!

I apologize for not posting for a few days, but the first of the year is a busy time at work and it's been so cold here in Tennessee that I don't want to do much more than watch a dvd and go to bed when I get home.  It's been as low as 9 degrees in the morning just this past week!  David and I use space heaters because unfortunately our apartment is equipped with gas heat and we can't afford the hookup fee, the additional $130+ a month, or the added cost to our electric bill.  The heaters help, but it's so much nicer in my big comfy warm bed!!!  I really need to get a laptop because then I could blog from my pillow :)

I am working on a list of New Year's resolutions and I'll share them once I'm done - I think that will help motivate me to keep them!  One of my resolutions will be to update my blog more regularly.  I envy Casey's devotion and wish that I could post daily!

Below are some pics that I wanted to share of the recent snows that we've had.  About a week before Christmas we had almost a foot!  We rarely ever have snow (in these amounts) this early in the season.  We might get a little in March, but we haven't had this much since probably the early 90's.  I'm sure Kim probably thinks this is nothing - she has some beautiful pics on her blog of the recent snows in her area.

Here's the view off of the back porch.

                           

And here's the new school across the street.  See how high the snow is on the balcony?

And the view from my Mom's porch will all of her lovely decorations :)

And me - with a nice frosty border!!!