Vintage Children Image Freebies

Altered Board Book

I LOVE this idea and can't wait to get some board books to try this out myself! Take a peek at this site to see the inside of this altered book: http://www.craftstylish.com/item/2466/altered-board-book

My Favorite Views

I just love to spend time at the family farm where I grew up. My parents have a lot of farmland and a few great pastures with nice meadows. Here are a few of my favorite places.

Happy Birthday Abbie!!

It's hard to believe 7 years have gone by already since Abbie was born! But they have ~ my little girl is now 7! Not only did she turn 7 today, but she also lost a baby tooth while eating supper - the 5th tooth she's lost so far.

Happy Birthday Abbie!! Mommy loves you!!!!!!!

Another Wonderful Prim Giveaway!!

Shay of Olde Colonial Peddler is holding a wonderful giveaway on her blog. The first place winner will receive these awesome prim Halloween noise shakers. Second and third place prizes are just as wonderful! Take a peek and enter here: http://oldecolonialpeddler.blogspot.com/2008/08/my-first-giveaway.html

Martha's Blog Contest

Martha Stewart is having a blog contest! To enter, visit her blog entry, leave a comment, and include a link to the contest on your own blog.

Jacob & Daddy

The other day Michael was outside mowing the lawn. Jacob LOVES being outside and loves going for rides on the 4-wheeler or anything with wheels, and knowing his Daddy was outdoors, he kept peering out the window and whimpering that he wanted to go back out. He had just been brought inside a few minutes earlier as he had fallen asleep while riding with Daddy on the mower, but of course brightened back up the second he was brought in. He put in a good amount of time helping Daddy - his hair is frazzled and his face filled with dirt from all the "hard work". I know he should get a haircut soon, as after this he looked like "Einstein" when he came back inside, but I can't bear to cut his hair quite yet.

Beautiful Morning!

It sure was a beautiful morning on my drive into work today. Here's a couple pics I took quickly along the way . . how I would have loved to have had time to sit and watch the sunrise and take in the view a bit longer.

Implant - Joy, Joy!

Yesterday was a day of excitement in the dental chair - oral surgery. Joy, joy. I had the misfortune a few years ago of taking a direct hit to my #9 big front tooth with a steel door. Due to the impact of that hit, my dentist discovered last summer during a routine exam that my tooth was slowly dying from the inside out ~ "internal resorption" in technical terms. It's rare, but my luck is such that it would happen to me, afterall, I have already endured jaw surgery when I was 17 to correct an overbite that would have resulted in unmanagable TMJ.

So, after consulting first with an endodontist to see if it was possible to save the tooth with a root canal and finding out it was too late for that option (oh wooh is me, I was not too happy to hear that news), and then consulting with a peridontist who's mannerisms caused me to shudder (he was in his 70's, a bit shaky, had an unorganized slightly dirty looking exam room, and had informed me I would have to go without anything in the place of my front tooth for up to a full month after it was removed and healing), I consulted with an oral surgeon who made feel a bit me more at ease. Apprehensive, but better than how I felt after consulting with the old shaky peridontist. Not only that, I would be able to have a tooth bonded in place immediately after my front tooth was removed so I wouldn't have to walk around looking like a hillbilly (and feel like one!).

So anyway, yesterday I had the second step in my implant process done - about 4 months ago I had underwent the dreadful tooth removal (oh my word, I was soooo scared, but it turned out to be "better" than I had imagined, though I did end up with a bone graft at the time as well. The second step was the implant - not the finished tooth - but the implant of the screw into my jaw which will hold my finished tooth. It went okay, but low and behold I discovered while using the restroom before final x-rays that they had BROKEN OFF PART OF MY GOOD TOOTH to the left of my implant when removing the "fake" temporary tooth that my dentist formed for me, which was bonded to the adjacent teeth. Oh my word, I couldn't believe the surgeon had broken off part of one of my good teeth without even saying a word to me about it! Again, such is my luck.

After being at the oral surgeon, I drove back to my dentist for him to again form a "fake temporary" tooth so I wouldn't feel conspicuous as it would be quite obvious I was missing a front tooth otherwise, and he fixed the broken tooth with the dental bonding agent as well. I explained my concern that when this is removed for the next step in the process that perhaps they would break my adjacent teeth again causing further damage. He eased my worries in that next time I'll see my dentist the same day to have the bonded temporary tooth removed CORRECTLY before going for step 3 in my oral surgery. I can't believe the oral surgeon of all people didn't CORRECTLY remove the bonded tooth. My gosh!!!

Well anyways, I'm alive after the screw was put in my jaw . . . and, no I don't have a screw loose! LOL It's in there good. I ended up with another bone graft around it and several stiches. Today my face is puffed up larger than a chipmunk with a mouthful of nuts, but I came in to work anyway. The pain is not great considering how it looks. I might take a photo of myself to share, but I haven't yet.

Next step is in another 5 months after this heals, they will cut open the area where the screw is to prep it for the final finished tooth. Right now they have my gums stitched over this area so it heals in place well. Hopefully this entire process will be done within a year and I end up with a nice smile once again. :)

Altered Art ~ Halloween Clipboard

I spent some time today making some more vintage Halloween altered paint chips, then decided to use them to make an altered clipboard.

Ephemera

Here are some ephemera images you may use in your arts and crafts projects if you wish:

My Family - Outdoors

The summer flew by so quickly this year, but we did find the time to get outdoors and go camping a few times with family and friends. Here are a few pictures of me and my family taken within the past month.

Aunt Manny's Giveaway

Check out Aunt Manny's blog to enter for your chance to win these awesome witch potion bottles! http://auntmannys.blogspot.com/2008/08/aunt-mannys-witch-potion-bottle.html

Vintage Thanksgiving Image Freebies

Free for your use, simply right click and save to your hard drive:

Stephenie Meyer - Twilight Series

I haven't read in ages ~ not because I don't like to read. I LOVE to read. Problem is I have so little spare time. However, after recommendations from others, I decided to go to the library and check out a series of books written by Stephenie Meyer. The first in the series wasn't available, so I've skipped for now and have read most of book #2 - New Moon. I highly recommend it! It's GREAT reading, so much that I wish I could spend a full day reading and will definitely check out the rest of the series ASAP!

http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/twilightseries.html

More Altered Paint Chips

I love making these! Thought I'd show some more I've made over the weekend. I just posted some on my website if you're interested in purchasing for use in your craft projects, magnets, as scrapbooking embellishments, ornies, etc. The possiblities are endless.

Altered Paint Chips

I "made" some time last night to alter some paint chip sample cards, while Jacob kept trying to grab onto my leg. If I don't "make" time, I'll never find it. Anyway, here's what I came up with. I do plan to work on the little girl with a wand a bit more and add some glitter to jazz it up a bit more yet, and think I'm going to add magnets to the back of these. I hope to make several more this weekend as well.

Vintage Halloween Image Freebies

Feel free to right click and save these images to your computer for use in your arts and craft projects:

Some of My Favorite Things

Here's a portion of my living room . . a bit crowded, but until I get a larger home it will have to do.

Taking a Bath

Jacob loves taking a bath. I couldn't help but love this pic of him with his tongue sticking out and his hair sticking up on top 'kinda looking like a 'lil kewpie doll.

Back to School

It's the first day of school, 2008. Taylor's in 8th grade this year and Abbie's in 1st. This is Abbie's first day at a new school district. She's a little apprehensive, but excited too, in that she now gets to ride the school bus to and from school with Taylor.