If anybody still "follows" this blog, I've started a new blog over at

http://studio456.blogspot.com/

Come check it out. It's still really new so there's not much content ... yet.

Today I made 2 matching games for the kids. One for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas. I printed these images out onto Avery 8293 1.5 inch round labels and stuck them onto milk jug lids I've been saving up for just such a project. I am considering using about half of the Christmas ones to decorate a small tree that the kids can play with. Hopefully this will keep them from playing with the one in the living room! I can't take credit for the images. They all are from Microsoft Office. I hope to get a picture of the kids playing with these but right now the camera is out of batteries...again!

Boy oh boy. Just reread that last post and sometimes I get a teensy bit cranky. :) I'm better now and have scanned some of the Wordles I made and am going to post them now. Hopefully tomorrow I can post a real, live, honest-to-goodness post. (Once again, if you're on Facebook you've already seen these.)

Thanksgiving Word Art

Audrey's Word Art

Edgar Family Rules

Easton's Word Art

Just found a fun site called Wordle. It is super easy to use to create cool art. Just type in any text you want and it will randomly generate a "word cloud" for you. I made 5 different ones tonight. One for my kitchen with spices/herb names, one for my living room as a decoration for Thanksgiving (words like turkey, stuffing, family, gobble, thankful), one for each of my kids with their nicknames and date of birth and one for "family rules" (eat your vegetables, use your manners, count your blessings, use nice words). It is SO addicting!
Here's a link to my most boring one (the spices one). Didn't realize you could save them and link to them until I was doing the last one!
Have fun with it and be sure to let me know if you do one of these. Seriously, I played with this for hours after the kids were in bed!



P.S. GRRR!! NOTHING HAS GONE RIGHT TODAY! The first time I try to blog in forever and I can't get the stupid link to work. I am going to bed and hoping I have more patience to fix this soon. I am so mad! Whatever. I'll try to fix it soon.

Since finishing up with my last class, the Crafty Lil Devil is back in full swing. I've finished so many craft projects in the past week! Two paintings, party favors for E's big 3rd birthday party, two Halloween costumes (a ghost for Easton and a bat for Audrey) and a Halloween wreath. It's been really fun finally getting to do something I want to do for a change! These pics are from my phone. My camera has eally and truly bit the dust. Now my camera phone takes pretty good pictures for a camera phone but it can't really do justice to my two little sweeties or capture the colors in a painting, etc. But they'll have to do until we get a new camera. Maybe at Christmas. I don't even know what kind of camera to buy if we do get a new one. I'd like a big, fancy schmancy DSLR but that is REALLY not in our budget...even at Christmas time! Jason says his Canon at work is really good so we might look at those. There are so many choices! All I know is my little Kodak is history. I used it a lot and loved it (Thanks mom!) but now it's all beat up and the lens is stuck all wonky and can't be fixed.

wonky old camera

Here are some pictures I took with my Blackberry. It is SUCH a pain to get pictures from my phone to my computer and then to Blogger!

If you're on Facebook you have probably seen these already:

Oh happy day!

Painting for my mom (sorry to ruin the surprise Mom! I'm no good at secrets!)

Audrey's bat girl costume

Spooky, spidery Halloween wreath

My precious little ghost boy.

Easton and Audrey like to go around the house saying "GHOST!" in their creepiest voice. It cracks them up and they laugh so hard they almost choke. Too funny!

That's what I've been up to. Craft projects and dishes and laundry and all that good fun stuff. So happy to have more time for me now that I'm finished with school!

P.S. Guess who got an A on that last final paper? Me! And that means I got an A for my overall grade in the class. And that means I have truly and properly earned the words "graduates with distinction". Oh yeah! SO glad to be done with homework for good! Or until I am crazy enough to go back to school to get my Master's degree when the kids are old enough to go to school. But until then, Crafty Lil Devil is back at it again!

Man, I really needed that break! Things just got a little chaotic there for a while but have calmed down to a dull roar now so maybe I can manage this blog a little better. Too much has happened in the time off to completely catch everyone up to speed but let me just tell you the most important:

I graduated from college! Finally, after all these years... I can proudly say that I am a college graduate. No more checking "some college" on surveys. Sorry to brag but holy cow I am proud! I made an A on my final paper, which earned me a grade of a 96% in the class. That means I graduated with distinction and will be on the dean's list. I am so proud! Two friends are planning a small graduation party for me and I am so happy.

I've only been finished with school and homework for four days but I've already finished four craft projects. I will attempt to upload pics soon. They'll be kinda crummy camera phone pics because my regular camera is all but unusable. I have no idea what we'll do at Easton's birthday. Maybe I can borrow one from a friend. Katy? Amanda? Jessica? I'd really appreciate if I could borrow a camera from someone. Even if it's just for the day. Thanks!

That's all for now. It's late and I've got a lot of crafting to do tomorrow. Hooray! Crafty Lil Devil is BACK! Pictures and how-to's coming up.

Blog closed until further notice. Too much going on right now! I can be reached by email (sometimes not very speedily), on Facebook or on my cell or home phones. Thanks!

Oh man am I ever sunburnt! We went to an air show here called "Thunder Over the Blue Ridge." It was so fun! Too bad my camera is on its very last leg or I'd post pictures. It does take pictures but they are so bad! The lens of my good ole point and shoot Kodak is really scratched up and crooked (won't retract back into the camera or straighten out either). It's bad. I definitely cannot do without a camera! My Blackberry takes alright pictures but my babies are far too cute not to have a real camera! I wonder if maybe I can get a fancy digital SLR as graduation present to myself? Ha! Yeah right. Those babies cost a fortune! But I can dream, can't I? Sigh. Maybe someday.