…….StAY TuNeD! 😉

Oh. Mama.  I just whipped this thing up last night and it was awesome!  A couple years ago, I remember eating Paula Deen's Cornbread Salad (made by a friend) and it was so good!  Whoever thought of crumbling cornbread in a salad?!  Genius.  So I was trying to think of something that would have a little spice to help my sinus's drain and remembered this salad (which wasn't spicy at all now that I think about it, but does that really matter?). 

Super easy and cozy on a cold, wind-is-howling, winter's night….

Whip up a batch of Chi-Chi's Sweet Corn Cake mix (this package calls for a can of creamed corn–yum).  While that's baking, chop a half onion and throw it in a pan with your beef.  Finish the beef with taco seasoning.  While that's cooking, toss together a can of corn and rinsed black beans and then saute (you can add your own spices to this mix).  Once the corn is tender, add a can of (drained) diced tomatoes and toss. 

For serving…

Into a bowl put:  shredded lettuce and cilantro, crumbled cornbread, meat, veggies, and sour cream.  You could also add some cheese. Done.  Good!

Ehhhg.  I'm sick.  This is my Mod Podged stamp stool turned, night stand with all the must haves to get through the night.  I've got a sinus infection and it's drying me out,  but not in spirit!

You know it's bad when you have a make shift trash bag for all those dang tissues.  My bed needs it's bed skirt desperately, doesn't it?  I just picked one up at the second hand store, got it washed and now to iron it.  Being sick, I've been surfing around the net looking at things like this and these.   Random.  I've enjoyed looking through beautiful books like these too.

They're all fantastic!  I want to make a nest ring in Sonya's book…..bad.  I met Sonya at CHA and her warm eyes and smile alone will knock you off your feet.  She gave me both books and after peeking through them, I've determined EVERYTHING Sonya makes is so sweet and wonderfully from the heart.  I love it all!  I also met author of Chained, Rebeca Mojica, at CHA.  She was sitting just next to me at lunch and I had to ask her about her chain mail jewelry she was wearing.  She gave me her book on the spot!  All of these books ending up in my lap.  It was so generous and nice.  The close-ups in Chained are fantastic.  I'm fascinated with chain mail and the puzzle of it all.  More on all of these books later.

Greek leather wrapped with wire flowers!?!  You had me at hello, Brenda!  This is Brenda Schweder's new book, Steel Wire Jewelry.  It's hot, hot, hot.  I love it!  The layout of the book is great, the projects are very clear, interesting and playful.  If you like Calder's jewelry, then you're really going to love this book because it is especially whimsical and festive with all the loopy lines and such.  I believe you can make these projects out of almost any wire.  Colored, sterling, gold filled….let's play already!  Now, just to knock this sinus infection out of the way.

**Great interview and free project with Brenda here!

I loved getting this picture in my inbox yesterday.  It was from dear Yasuko (on far left).  I met Yasuko years ago at the Craft and Hobby show and quickly learned how everything she does is from the heart. I hadn't seen or talked to Yasuko in about two years and as I was setting up the jewelry area, I looked up and there she was!  I was so surprised and happy she found me—I remember my eyes got teary.  Yasuko works for Clover Needlecrafts in Osaka, Japan.  Someday I have this big dream to visit her in her home country.

Have you needle felted before?  I'll show you some images from December's Crafty Book Club project where I taught the folks how to make a little needle felted ornament.  I gave everyone a base of white acrylic felt and then they laid their wool on that and started punching away with the multi-needle felting tool.

Once you finish your piece you can lay it on top of an acrylic felt back ground (in this case blue) and punch some more to join the layers. Then you can stitch or glue your embellishments on top of your "scene."  I'm just going ot say it….Needlefelting is FUN!

And this is just one of my bags of wool scraps!  Fiber Festival season is coming up y'all!  This is a great way to get small quantities of special colors.  We had an assortment of needle felting books—shamelessly, including the one I co-authored with Terry Taylor,  Designer Needle Felting.  There are some great needle felting project books out now!  If you have a fav, drop it in the comments please.

I love this little stitched snowflake with flat back crystals!  On the other hand, we got hammered with real snow flakes yesterday.  Ugh.  I'm in denial about going out to shovel my steps.  I can think of a kagillion things I'd rather do right down from shoveling out the ash in the fire place to tweezing my eyebrows (and that's saying something because I absolutely hate tweezing my eyebrows).

My friends brought their 9 year old so I gave her a choice between a felt peace sign or a deer.    She did a great job making a background for it, didn't she?!?  She has come to a few CBCs and has a great, creative, energetic mind.

Blanket stitch!  Need I say more?

And some novelty yarn worked into this one.  Oooo.  Yes.  Anything for texture and layers!

Yasuko's phone.  Who wants one?  Yeah. Me too!

Gather your scrap papers, lace and such!  Get the biggest frame you can find at the second hand store.  Why?  To make a dry erase board for lists, thoughts, favorite quotes and dreams!

My friend, Anna, came over for a little crafting last night.  She didn't know what we were going to make and all I asked is that she stop and pick up a couple black dry erase markers.  That she did and away we went slashing and Mod Podging.  Put your finished collage in the frame. 3 hours later…

They're pretty nifty.  Both of us had recently moved and this was a great addition to our new spaces.

I asked Anna to write anything for this photo.  She looked at me straight faced, turned, and wrote: milk.  I laughed out loud.  Anywho, you can write right on the glass and erases like magic.  Snap.  I want to make one for everyone I know!

Now here comes the hard part.  I think it's kind of hard to see the marker on my crazy collaged background.  Soooooo.  I'm going to leave it for a few days and then (maybe) water down some ivory paint and do a wash over everything.  This way you can still see a faint version of the colors and texture along with your writing on top.

Someday I'm going to tell you all about how to start your own Crafty Book Club at your local library.  It's not hard, but I do have some tips and strategies.  In the mean time, let's cut straight to one of the projects I did for a CBC meet up.  Ok?   The project:  Sweet! Memory Boxes!

I run around snapping pics on my iPhone during the class and I apologize for the slight blurriness.  Ok, here's what you need:  Mod Podge, paint brushes in all sizes, Folk Art paints, scrapbook embellishments, flat back gems, memory boxes with glass lids (found at Michael's for $1).

Base coat the box however you like, then doodle around the lid, sponge, dry-brush to create layers.  There's no wrong way to do this!  You know me.

Then Mod Podge your paper embellishments on.  These are by K and Co.  I love all of their long strips because they wrap perfectly around the box's base.

This is what you end up with.  Pretty sweet, huh?  Or what about this one?

The frame boxes are cool because you can put special trinkets and such in side and they move around.  I love interactive elements!

Two hours later, there you have it!  This is a great craft to make with your children.  Have a super duper weekend!