More Eberly Farms

So about 10 minutes into our visit to the farm my digital camera battery died.  Poof - no pictures - really ?  Then I remembered - my phone !  I can take pictures on my phone and email them to myself !  Woo Hoo - so even though the quality of picture isn't nearly as good I still have some pictures to keep those memories going !

Little Miss Hope - waiting ever so impatiently for Poppa to arrive with her hot dog.  This would be after she recovered from falling off the picnic table bench !  I don't know what it is with this little girly girl but she cannot hold still for long and she's forever tumbling off of things.

The girls waiting in line for the train !

All Aboard !  Choo Choo !

This train is safe - it has seat belts !

Time for barnyard buddies !

This guy was so sweet.  He was happy to eat handfuls of hay out of your hands and kind enough to let you pet him while he munched away !

Everybody loved sitting for a minute on this giant sized toy tractor !

Eberly Farms Drywall Systems Party 2012

Every year my husbands company has a Fall party out at Eberly Farms.  We have taken the grand kids with us for the two years my husband has worked for this company.  They really enjoy it and their favorite thing is the "train".  This year all 3 of them were brave enough and rode the train !

Their second "favorite" thing to do is play in the sandbox.  Oh my goodness !  We spent over an hour just letting them kick back and play scooping and digging in the sand.

Here they are - crossing the Cowskin creek and stopping for a photo op.  Such beautiful grandchildren they are !

Grandma's little Jewel Bug !  She's so sweet !

Handsome Ethan !  He climbed up like a pro but then when it came time to get down he got a little stuck.  He made it out on his own though.  Poppa can't fit into those tiny spaces made for kids !

Can you really eat low fat and have fast food ?

So we'll call this day two of my low fat eating adventure.  I met my daughter at the local "fast food" joint for lunch.  Yes, you too can eat low fat and still be satisfied.  Lunch consisted of a baked potato and garden side salad.  If I've done my research correctly, I managed to bring my lunch in at under 5 grams of fat.  I left the margarine off the potato, used half a packet of the sour cream provided  and opted for the low fat salad dressing that I only used a half packet of.  Bonus !  The sour cream they give is already a low fat version !

 I know, I know you are thinking - eww.  Truthfully though - it was good and I didn't miss the margarine or the full fat dressing.  

So far on this adventure I've learned - it's all about tricking the brain - tweaking the menu items just a bit - and I'm still satisfied.  Maybe in a year I can be Fabulous, Fair, and Forty rather than Fat, Fair, and Fancy food defined !  Stay tuned - I've already got my low fat tip to share with you for tomorrow !

A new adventure begins... no fat/low fat - really ?

This past week has been quite filled with ups and downs - mostly downs for me.  I woke up several nights last week at 3 am with pain underneath my shoulder blade.  Being a cancer survivor - almost 5 years now - I'm a bit past being jumpy with every little ache and pain.  Thinking I must of slept wrong - sat too long in the chair - or just pulled a muscle I went on about my business.  Friday evening - I realized - this is not pull a muscle pain.  This is that nasty gallbladder achy pain.  Too late for a doc visit - it will have to wait until Monday when I can get in.  Yes, I am one of those - Fair skinned, Fat, and Fancy food girls.  Well, at least I was.  I can't change the fair skin but the Fat and Fancy are going to have to pack their bags.  My doc visit pretty much confirmed my gall bladder "fear".  It is tender in that area so I'm off to have a gallbladder sonogram adventure tomorrow first thing in the morning.  Now my old friend "Cancer Fear" is peeking his ugly head in the door.  What if it is more than just gallstones ?  What if...  Ugh.  Oh, don't let me forget to mention - my doc's suggestion - of a NO fat diet.  No fat.  After a long night of googling and research I settled upon my adventure.  Keeping my gallbladder happier and a low fat diet.  No fat - well, I'm a veggie girl but I need to start a little slower.  I had no idea how much fat was in everything - EVERYTHING - I eat.  I thought I had changed my ways and was doing so well this past year.  Uh, yeah, no.  No, no, no.  Veggies are great for you - without margarine, or butter, or cream sauces.  Cheese has become my enemy.  Not only is it fatty, but it has sodium.  Here I was thinking - I buy no salt veggies in the can or frozen - I'm being healthy.  Only to put a nice hunk of cheese on all of that and add the sodium right back in.  Oh my...  So far I've learned I'm going to need to trick my brain into things until I adjust to this lifestyle.  Trick number one that I'll share with you all.  A whole wheat bun with mustard, lettuce, and tomato slices on it is like having a cheeseburger without the fat.  My brain is happy and content to eat this sandwich and doesn't miss the fatty hamburger patty that used to be on it.  Bonus - 1.5 fat grams or less depending upon the bun !  Not convinced - try it.  Your tummy will be satisfied, your brain will enjoy it, and you will be on your way to a healthier you !

Vintage - my way ?

I've never been much for pearls and lace.  Frankly, vintage style reminds me of the smell of a room that has wallpaper peeling off of musty plaster and lathe walls.  I just have never cared for the style.  However, on my last little jaunt to the craft store I picked up this adhesive lace thinking I could girl it up a bit.  I guess I was having a "girly" moment and picked up this butterfly patterned paper - though I must say I liked it more because of the words on it than anything else.  Hence, the birth of Vintage - my way. 

I also happened to pick up a $1 pack of assorted chip board shapes on this little adventure.  I dressed it up a bit by sponging on some white ink and adding a few rhinestones. The finishing touch - a foam adhesive square behind it to "bump" it up and give some dimension.  The flowers on both cards are from a silk flower stem I got and disassembled at home.  It's much more frugal to buy a stem with 6 flowers on it for $2.50 than to buy pre-made in the scrapbook department.  Plus, I can customize the flower center with any brad out of my extensive collection - Bonus !  The beads you see sticking up near the  top of the flower are from the wedding section.  They are stems pre-made that you put into corsages or boutonniere's.  Really what I was looking for were corsage pins to bead and make myself for the cards but for some reason I couldn't seem to locate them that day.  Ah well, this works for me !  The flowers on the last card are ones that got in a package and had no idea how I would ever use that particular color.  It's hard to see in the picture but it's more of a teal color and not one I use often.  Glad I found something to use them up on.  The less leftover's I have the more room I have for new !

Sorting through the card box...

It was time to do some reorganizing of the scrap/stamp room.  I've actually been organized enough to pre-make cards for the coming birthdays and other events but needed someplace to store them until I was ready to use them.  I had a box that I had used in the past but forgot about it when my son moved out and we created my scrap room.  Upon opening the box I discovered some cards made last year.  This is one of the Valentines Day cards I made with my daughters last year. 

This is another one.  It's a simple card but one of my favorites.  The heart jewels are a dollar spot find.  The sentiment and the little line of hearts are from a stamp set from Verve.

This card was made using up my scraps of paper left over from other projects.  It's simple but sweet.

This card is a bit different.  I used ink jet transparency for the base of the card.  (it's a little hard to photograph so you can see)  You have to make sure that the part of the card you are stamping on is the rough side of the transparency so your ink will stick to it.  What you are seeing of the swirls is actually the reverse because it's stamped on the inside of the transparency.  The flower and hearts are on the outside as well as the ribbon.  The pink card stock is on the inside cover.  At the very top of the card you can see a black and pink pattern peeking through that is two layers of card stock.  I punched the design on black card stock and layered it over pink then glued it all to the inside back of the folded transparency card.

This is a birthday card made from leftover scrapbook stamps.  My daughter has kept all of her movie ticket stubs from the time she began dating her husband.  For their anniversary a few years back she made a scrapbook of all of the tickets and used this paper.  We had lots of scraps left over and I think it turned out to make a pretty good birthday card for a man.

Back in the craft room !

I've been working on more cards again.  These are going out to a few of my family members and the rest will go to a charity that helps out families with children who are facing a health crisis or families who have children with disabilities.  These latest designs were inspired by a family member and a friend.  This first card is the "Georgia".  I used a stampin' up stamp from the set Pocket fun.  It is the jean pocket stamp.  The decorative papers are from Micheal's.  White cardstock is from Walmart.  I get 250 sheets for less than $6 there and the quality is good so my white cardstock is always from there.  The metal buckle's are ones I ordered a year or so ago online - I'd give them credit too but can't remember where I got them. 

This card has added bling to it.  I used up my chipboard that was leftover from making Christmas cards.  I wish the picture was better.  I think maybe I should not have used my flash.  The cards looks a lot better in person.

This card I used a different punch on for the edge.  It is a Martha Stewart all around punch - double loop is it's name I think.  Once again I am using up some "leftovers".  The flower on the pocket is a cardstock sticker that came in a set I used for St.Patricks day cards.  The little tag on the jean pocket says *smile.  The picture's just didn't turn out as good as I had hoped.  I did use a different technique to get the worn jean look on the blue pocket as well as the background.  I took a cheap foam paint brush and tapped in onto my dark blue ink pad then brushed vertically then horizontally to get a brushed denim look.  It worked out fantastic and completely altered the look of the carstock.

I tried a different layout for this card but it turned out to be my least favorite.  I like the card but I think the others are more appealing to the eye.

Keeping Busy...

So, I've spent a little time down in the craft room making some manly cards.  I have several birthday boy's coming up so this is one of the designs I came up with.  The cards are made with white cardstock and layered with Kraft brown paper and a white and black stripe decorative paper.  I have had the felt black swirl for over a year now and just never used it.  I thought it went well with this design however and 6 cards later I've used it all up.  The loopy design around the calender is a 3 1/4 square of Kraft brown cardstock that I used my new Martha Stewart around the page punch set on.  The * and birthday are clear stickers that I got in a freebie "here, have these and subscribe to our magazine".  I've had them for 2+ years and never found a use for them until now.  I knew there must of been a reason I kept holding on to those things !