Hi ya!

It's been a long while, but I'm still here, lol! I started getting my headaches again and suffering through my seasonal insomnia....ugh, feeling sick AND tired is no fun!! And it kills any kind of creative mojo, to include blogging. I'm still not sleeping all that well, but "tired" seems to be the new normal around here. At least the headaches have stopped (for now, but I'll take it!!), and I'm feeling better in general. Sometimes you just need to step back and reevaluate your life. Whether it's relationships, your life, ...whatever...to see what's working and what isn't, and make some changes.

So that's why I've been away. And I've made some changes. Some were very hard, some were easy, and change is never easy for a Capricorn!!! But I'm much, much happier and at peace now, so I know the things that I've changed were smart choices for me. Cryptic? Sorry. I'm pretty much an open book, but I do keep some things close to the vest!

So....LOTS to catch up on!!

I've discovered a lovely shop (not really sure if they have a brick & mortar shop, but I shop online!), The Ribbon Girl! So far I've placed three orders with them (first was small, and third was small), but this is the second one. Their products are amazing, the customer service is stellar, every order is lovingly wrapped, AND I can have it shipped directly through my German mailing address!!

 Products in plastic baggies, then wrapped in pretty tissue!

Chocolate and Evergreen velvet ribbons, Burgundy ribbon with lace, ivory rosette lace, and gorgeous white lace! (My third order was JUST their laces in white and cream - TO DIE FOR!!!)

 Crystal beading, baker's twine in air mail colors and Christmas colors, and fancy pastel brads.

 Closer look at the baker's twine and glimmer ribbon.

 Very real looking berries, and crystal snowflake hat pins!

 Crystal and pearl swirls

 Gorgeous charms!!

 My sad desk! Not much crafting done until very recently!!!

I got in these window dies! Plan to make the most GLORIOUS "stained glass" cards!

I was finally able to order these shutters and window box dies to match the window die I already had. It's been back ordered everywhere for months!!! Cute, cute, cute spring cards to come!!!

Some new Magnolia stamps and paper!! These are for Christmas, but sadly will probably not be used in time for this year's cards. Really wish I had kept up with making them like I started to the beginning of the year! (Stupid move, lol!!!) Last night I also got the complete Magnolia nativity set, and they are still in the wrappings too. Where they will sadly stay until the craft fair is over. I miss my Maggie color sessions!!!

On October 27th we got snow for the first time this year! I woke up to just a dusting, but we got about 3 inches or so over the day.

 It looked really pretty too!

Bella was soooo excited! This is her getting ready to go out and play in it! She had never owned snow pants or boots before!! Luckily I placed an order with Land's End right after we moved...and on sale too!

 The ground still hasn't frozen yet, so it only "stuck" on the grass.

 Making a snow cake!

 And eating it, lol!

 Afterwards, she warmed up with some hot cocoa! 

With marshmallows of course!

On Halloween, Thomas picked us up and brought us to the company. They were having a Fun Run, and some soldiers dressed up too!

 Batman is holding the guidon!!

 Thomas briefing his company!

 Waiting for the Fun Run to start. We walked, lol!

Afterwards, we had dinner on post and killed a bit of time before starting trick or treating on post. It gets dark here realllly early!

We saw "Chewie" while out. Now Bella has never seen Star Wars before, so wasn't familiar with the character. This guy was super tall, and in the dark, looked pretty scary. I saw him coming and got in position to be able to see Bella's face when she first noticed him, to see her reaction. She was freaked!!! And she just said, "Don't talk to me! DON'T talk to me!!!!" LOL! I think she was afraid he was going to make scary noises or something!!! He played along and said, "I'm going to talk to you! I'm going to talk to you!!!" Thomas and I laughed about that encounter the rest of the night!!! Kids!

I saw this photo online. I think if Iggy had a child, this would be the costume they'd pick!!

Found this on Pinterest! How brilliant is this??? Definitely trying it out!

 Just funny!!!

Bella's school picture. I did NOT know about this ahead of time (flyer was given on Friday, photos taken on Monday). Normally I always check Bella's backpack, even on Fridays when she doesn't have homework. Of course the one time I don't, there's something important in there. Ugh! So while we're in Florida next month, we'll have some taken and Alex can pick them up when they're ready and send them to us. It's not a bad photo, but her hair is a hot mess and she's just wearing everyday clothes.

Ever thought about trying stamping??? It's really fun and easy, and NOW is a great time to give it a shot! When you sign up, you not only get $125 in products that YOU GET TO PICK OUT, but you'll also get a $50 set of ink pads of your choice too!!!! So for $99, you get $175 in products, with free shipping!! Best deal they've had since I've been with Stampin Up! Whether you want to just play with it as a hobby, and never have to order again!, or try it out as a home business, this is a fantastic deal!! Email me for more details!!! I'd love to tell you more about it!

We went to the craft fair in Vilseck, and Bella loved all the Hello Kitty items they had. There were some nice things there, but the prices were crazy high!!! I really didn't find anything I had to have, so didn't buy a thing! No one had any paper crafting items, and I would have done really well had I done this craft fair. This was the deciding factor in deciding to go ahead and participate in the Grafenwohr one next month!!!

Soooo.....

 I have been a BUSY BEE crafting for it!

 And it shows in my super messy room!

 Cute little tea pocket packs!

 I've been making magnets too. It's a long, multi-step process.

 But I love how they turned out!

 Almost made it in the trash can, lol!

I've had to change bags every single day from scraps!

 Working on the lip balm "purses".
I finished all 24 of them yesterday!

 The mess keeps spreading!!!

Yesterday it was so foggy and frosty out!

 But so pretty too!!!

 Our Italian name plate...now in Germany!

I finally finished (late!) my Pen Pal Swaps. Better late than never, right???

 October's card: Use a Hostess set

 November's card: Make a Christmas card

 Inside sentiment

I hate making multiples of cards, so made four red and four green, and changed up the papers for the weaving bits. Great way to use up scraps too!

 December's card: Anything with "snow"

 I made snowman cards!

Inside sentiment

Now, what I've made so far for the craft fair!!!.....

 Santa purses!

Only 2 so far, but have cut out 2 dozen more to make up!

 M&M candy rolls! I've made 40 of these!!!

 Tea pocket packs. Each holds two bags.

I will probably make more of these.

 Lip balm purses. I made 24!!

A work in progress! I've cut and scored the card stock for these mini hand sanitizers, but need to assemble them and decorate them! I think I'll put little mittens on them from my new stamp set and matching punch!!

I made up 48 pencil & eraser packs! This is from that Oriental Trading order I placed in AUGUST that showed up a week ago. Crazy!!! The simple tags actually took a long time to create and assemble. Worth it though because I think they look so cute!

 Completed magnets!

I will put paper on the tray, to make it prettier!

List of stuff STILL to make...

and I've added more since this photo - yikes!!!

Supplies out to be used soon!

 Oriental Trading box of goodies, MORE pencils, finger puppets, koosh characters, card cards, crayons, etc etc etc!!!

 What 48 pencil packs look like!

Because I've been so busy (and will STAY BUSY!), I've rediscovered my crock pot!!! All kinds of yummy recipes on Pinterest and allrecipes.com!!!! So we've been literally eating something new, and from the crock pot, every day! I spend less than 5 minutes "cooking" and yet have something fresh, healthy and delicious to serve every day!!!! LOVE IT!!!

Last night I made Cilantro Lime Chicken and it was seriously one of the best Mexican dishes I've had in years!!!

  Right after putting it together to cook.

Plated with penne pasta! Having leftovers for lunch - can't wait!!

So....all caught up now!!! Hopefully I'll be able to blog on a regular basis again, but if not, don't worry! I'm just upstairs, stamping it down for the craft fair on the 1st!!! So much to do, and as usual, I've procrastinated!!! I hope you all are well and having a fabulous day!