You Have My Cheese

My boyfriend's 50th birthday is soon approaching. I wanted to give him something special. I am still thinking about what to buy him - but I knew what I wanted to make. We met at work several years ago. We were very friendly to each other and there was a draw to each other. But I had been burned a couple of times by dating someone at work - with me ending up in tears and looking for a new job. So I swore I would not do it again.

One day his group was given the book "Who moved my cheese". I asked if I could borrow it since several coworkers were talking about it. I read it one night and saw the page where it said "What would you do if you weren't afraid". Immediately I thought "I would date him". So I put a sticky note on that page and wrote - this is my favorite quote. Then I gave him the book back and asked him to read it so we can talk about it. It took a while for him to read the book, but when he finally did he understood what I meant by my note. So a couple of weeks later we went out to lunch and he asked me out to dinner. The rest is history. I could not have asked for a better man. He loves me just as I am, warts and all - and I love him dearly too. We have been together for 10 years.

So as part of his birthday present I wanted to make him a felt mouse holding a piece of cheese. Not sure what the note will say yet. It will either be "I found my cheese" or "You have my cheese". Anyway, I hope he likes it.

Goldfish Plushie for Kitty

Woke up too early this morning. Was browsing through the web watching you tube videos of crafty stuff and then kitty cats - my two favorite things. Not sure what sparked my interest to suddenly make my kitty cat a catnip toy - but I decided, hey I want to make him a goldfish with lots of catnip stuffed inside of it (he loves mega doses of catnip). I looked at some cotton material that I had (yellow with little flowers) and thought how thin this was and perhaps he needed something more substantial - something he can sink his claws and teeth into (although he usually licks the thing to death - lol). So here is the final product:



And here is kitty enjoying his new catnip plushie. :)

Halloween Pumpkin Decorating Contest

Our department decided to have a pumpkin decorating contest. There were six designated teams. They provided us with one big pumpkin and some decorations. Each team was requested to decorate their pumpkins in a way they believe exemplifies one of our company's core values – Respect; Quality, Integrity, Customers, Teamwork, and Performance. We were allowed to add anything we wanted - so we were only limited by our own imagination and creativity.

After our team stopped complaining about having to do something else on top of all the work we had to do – and someone finally volunteered to be the team leader - our group threw out a bunch of ideas. We all really liked the idea of doing Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (that was my idea!). The Seven Dwarfs represented teamwork, integrity, and performance. The seven individual characters – Happy, Sleepy, Doc, Bashful, Sneezy, Grumpy and Dopy – are a true team, always going off to work each morning whistling a happy tune. They embed the concept of teamwork and cooperation illustrating how different talents and personalities can be brought together to accomplish shared goals.

We decided to carve out Snow White on the large pumpkin we were given and paint the faces of the dwarfs on small pumpkins that we bought. So many of the people on our team were afraid to create these because they felt they had no artistic talent and would not be able to draw or paint. We booked a meeting room to do our project and everyone took a small pumpkin and started drawing. Many of our team members surprised themselves of just how well their pumpkin came out! And we just had so much fun decorating the little guys!

We placed our pumpkins on display and everyone in our building was asked to vote for their favorite. They voted by dropping change into a bucket by each team's display - all the way up to $1 bills. Anything above a $1 was not allowed – but you could drop several $1 bills. This was to prevent each group from voting for their own pumpkin by dropping in large bills. The monies collected were going to be donated to the The Community Food Bank of New Jersey. The pumpkin that collected the most money was the winner. There was so much excitement around the whole event!  We collectively raised over $300 and our company matched the donations!

And the winner is …. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs!!!!!!

BASHFUL ......

DOC ........

DOPEY .........

GRUMPY ......

HAPPY .....

SLEEPY ........

SNEEZY ......

SNOW WHITE .......

To Pet Moms on Mother's Day

I know this is a tough holiday for some people, including some of my friends. For all of you who hoped to have children but didn't, I just want to say ... if a living creature depends on you for love, security, safety, comfort, understanding, companionship, or any of the other millions of things that a mom provides with good cheer and dependability and (most of all) love, then you are part of the big wheel of life that is mainly steered by moms, (and Mr. Moms)... and although you won't get flowers or dinner or an aqua chenille bathrobe out of it, the love and gratitude isn't any less pure for being unspoken.

Cherry Blossoms in NJ - Bloomfest 2009

Today we went to see the Cherry Blossoms in Branch Brook park and they were in full bloom! So glad the day cooperated. Lots of people came out to see the beautiful blooms. There was lots of good food and activities. I took over 200 pictures, wow! No wonder the battery was low by the time we were leaving ... lol. This year I picked up a t-shirt to as my memento. So here are some of the pics from this year's Bloomfest. If you live in NJ, I highly recommend that you go to Bloomfest next year.

Next weekend they are hosting the Susan G Komen Race for the cure, so if you did not make it out there this weekend, you can go there next weekend to support a good cause. For info visit: http://www.komennorthjersey.org/site/PageServer?pagename=race_RaceHome

SOME BUNNY LOVES YOU

Today I made a little ATC card for the Studio G Easter Challenge on Paper Craft Planet. I used the Studio G Series 29 stamps, Bo Bunny papers, and Bazzill 'Bling' cardstock. I love how it came out - so cute. I will give it to my boyfriend on Easter. I will try to make other ones - if I can find time before Easter.

The final product!

I made one of the mini pincushions with matching pins for Valentines. I love how it came out! Check it out in my shop. I am now working on some for Spring!

Mini Pincushion and Pin Toppers

I have been wanting to make some mini pin toppers except I did not want to spend money to buy shrinky dinks. So off I went to search online and found out that #6 plastic is the same as the shrinky dink plastic! A great explanation on this can be found at Education.com.
Once I made some of my cute pins of course I needed a cute pincushion. I made this adorable little pincushion from a soda bottlecap, some craft felt and embroidery floss.

Will be adding some of these in my Etsy shop for Valentine's. Stay tuned.

Happy crafting new year!