Microfiction Monday

Susan at Stony River challenges bloggers every Monday with a linky party called,  Microfiction Monday.
She posts a picture and in 140 characters or less, you are to write a story or short poem based on the picture.   I have two stories and a poem to share, I hope you like them.

~My sweet Fifi, do you not like Italy?
It's not that, Antonio, it's this ocean...it's making me sick.
(100 characters)

~Heeeey! what's your name? I'll bet you're a Virgo.  How about we take a dip later tonight? whata-ya say?
you, me, the moonlight...
(130 characters)


~Echoing waves awaken the spirits
as the moonlight so gently appears
troubled souls gather with hope
to wash away their faults and their fears 

(139 characters)

My New Found Relatives

I hope everyone had a great Christmas.  I had the most unexpected Christmas gift of all time.  I found some new relatives! Is that not the greatest gift?  I have never met them or even heard of them.  I happen to find them by chance.

My mother had eleven children in all with two passing away at a very early age.  She does not like talking about this, so I don't know much about two who passed on.  My mother has always been a busy body, with nine children to raise, I can see why she would not have time for relatives outside her own large family.  My mother focused all her energy and attention to her nine children and her husband.  It is because of these reasons that I had not heard of my new found relatives.

It turns out that the relatives I have found, are my mother's cousin and her family.  And as I talked to my mother's cousin on the phone, on Christmas day, I realized that she was my aunt.  I think she was as excited as I was as we spoke on the phone.  We both could not stop talking and at the same time, wanted to hear everything the other person had to say.   It was exciting to hear that she and my mother spent a lot of time together in their teenage years and young adult lives.  I'm sure I'm going to learn a lot about my mother through her.  There are a million questions I have that I'm sure she will answer with time.

It is almost unbelievable that we only live a short distance away from each other.  After speaking with my new aunt on the phone,  I called my mom and it was no surprise to hear her excitement that I had made contact with her long lost cousin.   

~Did you have an unexpected gift this Christmas?

Easy Candle Holder Gift

It's pouring rain in Los Angeles and we are not used to driving in the rain.  I'll have to admit we had a party to go to tonight about 45 miles away but decided to skip it because of the rain.  We didn't want to chance it with other drivers who may also not feel comfortable driving in so much rain.  It is a nice break though and we all love it when it rains here.  I've mentioned before that people are instantly in a better mood here in Los Angeles when it rains.  The rain slows everyone down and that's a good thing for this busy fast paced City. 

Today I made a beautiful gift for our baby sitter.  She loves candles and has them all over her home.  Given that she can't have them lit around the kids, I decided to make her one that is battery operated so that she can have it on when ever she likes.

Here's what it looks like finished:

You'll need a glass candle stick holder from the Dollar Tree Store and some Gorilla Glue:

A tall glass vase from the Dollar Tree Store:
sorry my craft room is a bit messy from all the crafting

some paper punches, this one is Martha Stewart butterfly punch, love this punch!

you'll need Mod Podge and glitter,

you will also need a battery operated candle, I purchased mine also at the Dollar Tree Store

I also used a Sizzix die cut Flourish:
This is used to cut out the shape out of paper using a Sizzix die cutting machine.  If you don't have a Sizzix, you can simply use your paper punches

This is a very easy project and it only takes a minute or two.
Glue the candle stick holder to the bottom of the vase with Gorilla Glue:
set aside and allow to dry over night.

Next, add glue to a piece of paper and sprinkle glitter on top and let dry:

Next, cut out the shapes using your Sizzix die cut or paper punches.  Add Mod Podge to the back of your designs and attache to the battery operated candle:

That's it! insert your candle into the glass vase and it's ready to be gifted to someone special:

Thanks for stopping by,
Happy Holidays Everyone!

Microfiction Monday

Susan at Stony River challenges bloggers every Monday with a linky party called,  Microfiction Monday.
She posts a picture and in 140 characters or less, you are to write a story or short poem based on the picture.   I have two stories and a poem to share, I hope you like them.

~Little Red, for the fifteenth time, are you sure we are not just walking in circles? I can see our foot prints from five hours ago.    (129 characters)

~Mark, either you buy me a sled or I'll leave you for El Loco who has two.  Sure he's a psycho but at least I won't have to walk in the snow!(140 characters)


~Seasons change  
rain snow wind and heat
don't dream about tomorrow
just enjoy the season today

(96 characters)

Cookies!

It's raining here in Los Angeles, time for some hot chocolate and cookies to enjoy the little rain we do have.  I'm going to share my favorite cookie recipe today and if you love pecans, you are going to love these cookies.  A few weeks ago I made them for my cookie swap and in return I got a variety of three dozen delicious cookies. 

from these lovely ladies: (I'm in the gray sweater blouse in the front.....they all said I had to be in the front because I'm short, ahm, petite) I said......WhAt?!!!! I'm ShoRt??? how come no one ever told me??.  During highschool and.... let's be honest... college too, when people would ask me how tall I was I'd add the inches from the heels I was wearing,  so that instead of answering, "I'm five feet tall", I was "5 foot 3" or "5 foot 4", lol.  I figured it was okay to lie, they shouldn't be asking in the first place, haha.

now, on to my favorite cookie recipe:

Pecan Cookie Balls
makes 3 dozen

Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks of butter), softened, room temperature (not melted)
2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar, devided
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, ground
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups of flour
2 cups finely chopped pecans

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350* F.  Beat butter in large bowl with electric mixter on medium speed until light and fluffy.  Add 1/2 cup of the confectioners sugar you devided, vanilla, nutmeg and salt. Beat until well blended.  Stir in flour and pecans.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls.  Place about an inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.

Bake 15 minutes.  Remove from baking sheets.  While still warm (not hot) roll cookies in remaining 2 cups of confectioners sugar.  Place cookies on wire racks to cool, when cooled, roll again a couple more times on the sugar.


enjoy with a nice cup of hot chocolate

Thank You Mr. Mailman

busy, busy, busy, seems to be the theme this month.  I wanted to share some things I got in the mail this week that almost had me doing cartwheels......I would have..... if I could have....if I was in shape, that is.

One BIG news I have to share is that I found some long lost relatives who live a few minutes from me! yay! I have not met them yet but can't wait 'till I do.  I found them by a chance in a million as I was comparing addresses with my sweet sister in law to send Christmas cards.  She found their last name and an address and we both wondered if they we were related.  Turns out, we  are related and I cannot wait to meet them.  Imagine that! I have relatives within a skip hop and a jump away! there is no greater gift than finding new relatives.

Now, I mentioned a while back that I started a new hobby that I fell in love with and that is Artist Trading Cards.  I have done three of them and have swapped with other Artists....I like to call myself an Artist when I'm referring to my Artist Trading Cards, it just makes me feel so professional and creative.

This month I swaped ATC's with my new awesome friend, Patti from Treasure Barn .  She sent me the most amazing cards and gifts and I just have to share it with you.
Here's the card she sent me, the theme is "Angels":
it's so beautiful, love this pretty little Angel, the lighting in my house is bad but the card is so sparkly and shiny, I just couldn't get my camera to capture that.

she sent me an extra card that is so pretty too:
I love the vintage look to it, It looks so romantic, they kind of look like my parents when they were young:

She also sent me a gift along with these two beautiful cards:
Isn't this pendant beautiful!!!I'll be wearing this necklace on Christmas, I love the glitter on her hair, it's so pretty.  Thank you Patti, you Rock!

They all came with this cute Christmas card:
It brought such a big smile to my face when I read it:

Now, for the card I made and sent to Patti:
I thought the chubby little Angel looked so cute.  I used white embossing powder for the background and blue glitter at the bottom.  I glued some pearl halves and wah-lah!
I'll show you the embossing technique on a future post.

I also got two more things in the mail.  These were gift cards donated to Bubblegum and Duct Tape by two very cool companies who sponsored a post on this blog.  One is CSN stores and look what I got with the gift card they sent me, a flatware set for four, a total of 16 pieces :

 Look at the beautiful detail:

the second gift card I received was from Shutterfly, and look what I selected, my Christmas cards!  They did an awesome job and delivery was quick.  I sent my Christmas cards out last week, I'm sure they will all make it to their destination in time.

Happy Holidays everyone and thank you all for being so supportive of my blogging.  It's just little 'ol me trying to reach out to people everywhere.  All I have to share are my stories, my crafts and my friendship and have received so much more in return.   There are so many kind people in Blogland, I just can't imagine not being part of it.   And, although you live so far away from me, in Blogland, we are all neighbors.  Thank you all for being so awesome!

The Winners!

We finally decorated the outside of our house with Christmas lights and other Christmas decor.....in nearly 90 degrees weather!  We thought it pointless to add our fake snow to our windows.  I didn't know whether to bring out our large traditional Christmas tree or replace it with a palm tree instead.  My boys would have never let me do that but with this hot weather, I almost did.  My sister called me from Big Bear mountains yesterday.  She was  enjoying a day in the snow.  That's what I love about southern California, you can enjoy a day in the snow and on the same day, enjoy a dip in the pool with some cold lemonade and ice cream to cool down.   

Well, enough about this crazy weather, let's give away some things, shall we?

As promised, I used Random.org to generate random numbers that will be matched to the comments that were left on my giveaway post.  Without further delay, here are the winners:

Prize #4 Boyfriend Album

Congratulations Cerena Leigh, I will email you to request your address, you're going to love the album!

Prize #3 Wire Jewelry Tutorial E-Book

Congratulations Niki from Maison Mutt, I will be contacting you soon, you're gonna love the E-Book tutorial.

Prize #2 Pink Bracelet

Congratulations Incipient Wings, I will contact you for your address, you're gonna love the pink bracelet!

 Prize #1...drum roll

Congratulations Gail, I will be contacting you for your address, you are going to love the charm bracelet.

Thanks for joining in on the fun everyone, I hope to have another giveaway soon! 

Christmas Traditions

I can tell people in blogland are just busy during this Holiday season. Specially crafters....cutting, assembling, gluing, sewing, pasting....OMGoodness! I'm already overwhelmed.

I am one of those crafters...my hands and hair are multi-colored, my fingers have been burned time and again from the hot glue gun, there is white glue on my eyelashes (don't ask how), and Christmas glitter all over me and my craft room. I don't know how I'm going to explain new "wearable" glitter, paint and glue when I see my friends in a couple of hours. Actually, I probably won't have to explain anything, they'll just give me that "you've been crafting" look. If I had a penny for each time I get that look, I'd be a rich young lady by now.

My blog friend Elizabeth from Twelve Crafts 'Till Christmas is having a fun linky where we share our family traditions. Also, Beverly at How Sweet The Sound is hosting a linky where we share our favorite Christmas movie for Pink Saturday linky party.

A movie we love to see around this time is a movie with Tom Hanks called The Polar Express.

This movie is about a young boy who experiences the Holiday Spirit and in the process you feel fully engaged in his adventures.
Every year during December, we read a lot of Christmas stories but our most favorite story is a story called The Gift of the Magi.  This story is about love and kindness and giving all that you have to make someone else happy.

We also keep our Mexican traditions so that my boys can experience them and grow up with them.  One of these traditions is attending a "Posada" Posada meaning "shelter".  A Posada is a reenacment of  the night when Mary and Joseph were looking for a place to stay during their travels from Nazareth to Bethlehem.  It was very difficult for them to find shelter.  There is a lot of singing during the Posada, it's kind of like a "theatrical" party like a Broadway show where the story is told through music and singing.  You get to "act" and participate in the show.  The Posada ends in a huge party with everyone celebrating the birth of Jesus.  The Posada is always celebrated late in the night and there is always Mexican food, hot drinks, candy and a lot of happy people.  This brings me to another tradition, Mexican food!!! although we live in Los Angeles, where there's plenty of Mexican restaurants, we don't eat Mexican food often.  That is, authentic Mexcan food.  During December, we eat things like; tamales, menudo, posole, capirotada....etc.  These are all authentic Mexican dishes.  Below are some examples of what happens in a Posada:

Another tradition we enjoy as a family is Christmas caroling....karaoke style.  My family loves to sing and we take every opportunity to do so.  Christmas music is so fun and festive and once the microphones are out, you can be sure everyone will have a great time.




now it's your turn, join in on the fun with Beverly and Elizabeth at the links below:

How Sweet The Sound 

Twelve Crafts 'Till Christmas

Have a Great weekend everyone, keep on crafting!

A JEWELRY GIVEAWAY!

Hello and Welcome! if this is your first time here, I'm glad you stopped by and get ready for a Holiday treat.
I'd like give a special welcome to all the Pink Ladies from Beverly's How Sweet The Sound. 

This week Bubblegum And Duct Tape is giving away some beautiful prizes that will kick start the Holiday cheer.  By joining in on the fun, you may win some of the awesome prizes below for yourself or to give as a gift to someone special. 

This Giveaway ends December 11th, 2010

Here are the Prize Giveaways:

Prize #1 Charm Bracelet hand made by Wanda Epps
Size Medium
Made of sterling silver, except the charms, which are made of lead-free pewter and enamel.

Prize #2 Pink Bracelet hand made by Me! (with Wanda's help of course)
Made with silver wire, the beads are made of glass
Size Small

Prize #3 Making Wire Jewelry Tutorial E-Book

Prize #4 Hand Made "Boyfriend Album"

This is a paper bag album that is so popular these days.  It has hidden pockets where you can store boyfriend photos I used very high quality paper that is acid free so it's safe for your photos.  You can see the full album here Boyfriend Album .  This would be a fun gift this Holiday Season


Wouldn't  you love to receive these in your mail? The charm bracelet was hand-made by my very special friend, Wanda Epps.  Wanda is a jewelry artist who will never miss the opportunity to teach someone how to make jewelry.  She knows all the tricks of the trade and the latest in new techniques.  Lucky for us, she loves passing along her knowledge.  She has the most awesome website full of information with tutorials, videos and e-books.  She has offered to answer any jewelry questions you may have by visiting this link: Ask Wanda

Hi, I'm Wanda Epps jewelry designer and jewelry making instructor.   Making beaded jewelry is my passion.  I'm originally from the South in the USA, the state of Virginia. Living in a rural area, I enjoyed a childhood romping and roaming open fields and woods, playing with many relatives and neighborhood kids.  Years later, after college, I moved to California where I now live.

I guess you could say that the hobby found me.  While looking through the newspaper one day, I noticed a coupon to attend a bead show in Santa Monica, California.  I decided to attend and was hooked! I've since become addicted to buying beads, going to bead shows and making jewelry.

Now for the RULES.......
I know, rules are for nerds but if we don't have rules, things will get out of hand so I guess we'll all be nerds for a few days.  Now where are my yellow suspenders (snort).


Rule #1  You will be given a point when you leave a comment for each Action you follow below.  Actions A through E are worth one point each, so you would leave a separate comment for each Action A-E .  Action F is worth five points, so you would leave five separate comments for Action F.

Rule #2 Please leave one comment for each Action (except for action F, where you'll need to leave 5 comments).  Only comments submitted to this post will be accepted. Blogger will automatically assign a number for each of your comments.  I will use the numbers assigned to your comments to make my Random selections for the winners by using Random.Org a random number generator service. 

Rule #3 The giveaway runs through December 11th 2010 and a day after, December 12, 2010, I will use Random.org to generate four numbers and I will post them on the 12th to reveal the winners. The first number it generates will be for the 4th prize, the second number it generates will be for the 3rd price and on down to the 1st Prize.

Rule #4 I will add all four winner's blog buttons or links on my side bar for the remainder of December (ps, that means free advertising for your blog). 

Rule #5 Since I'm using Random.org, it is possible for one person to win more than one prize.

Now, on to the Actions


Please leave all comments on this post for each action below

ACTIONS:

Leave me a general comment and you'll instantly get a point (1 per person).

To accumulate more points, you can do the following Actions:

A through E are worth one point, please leave a separate comment for each Action you do.  You do not have to do all, just the ones you feel comfortable with.

A) Subscribe to Making Beaded Jewelry   (that's http://www.making-beaded-jewelry.com) in RSS feed, then come back and leave me a comment on this post.

B) Post link to Making Beaded Jewelry (that's http://www.making-beaded-jewelry.com) in Facebook then come back and leave me a comment that you posted in Facebook.

C) "Like" Bubblegum and Duct Tape Fan Page and come back and leave me a comment (if you are already a fan, leave a comment below and tell me that you are following on Bubblegum and Ducttape Facebook Fan Page.  You must leave a comment on this post in order for your point to count.

D) Tweet about this giveaway on Twitter, then come back and leave me a comment with a link to your Tweet.

E) Take my button (from my side bar) and post it on your blog for the duration of the giveaway, then come back and post a comment with a link, letting me know you have the Bubblegum and Duct Tape button.

The last action is worth 5 points.  Please be sure to leave five separate comments for Action F below:
F) Post about this giveaway on your blog, then come back and leave me the link in the comment section. Remember to leave me five comments on this post for this Action.


GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!