Altering Again

I've been having so much fun, going around the house, finding things to alter. This window is a project I've been wanting to do ever since it was given to me about a year & a half ago, but just never knew what I wanted to do with it.....that is, until now. I found a very old vinyl quote that I had purchased years ago & it worked perfectly.....using one word in each window pane.

I decided to make mini scrapbook layouts using family pictures. The first one is of my Mom, her parents & her house. I did it in black & cream colors papers using lots of Primas, bling, quotes & ribbons, all things that have been in my stash for months.....heck, years!


The top middle pane is of Shawn & his daughter then the one next to that is of Karen & Jimmy. You can see the glitter Welcome sign I have hanging on the edge of the window frame.

Then I used some old family photos, the first one was the 5 of us girls with our Dad on a bridge in Niagara Falls. I think I was 2 or 3 years old in that picture. Then a more grown-up picture, again of the 5 of us with our Dad. The pane in this part of the window is cracked, but I think it just makes it look even more loved.

The bottom middle one is of Jim & I & the last one is of my Mom & I.....I LOVE this picture of her & I together. It was taken Thanksgiving of 2004, 3 months after Karen & Jimmy were killed. I actually had to tickle my Mom to get her to smile for the picture.

The very bottom of the window is unpainted & I'm not sure what I want to do to it yet.....just let it go, paint it, add some embellishments to it.....hmmm. I have the window hanging in my scrapbook room in between the 2 windows & above one of my Expedit bookcases so I can look at it everyday. I'm so pleased with the way it turned out. Thanks so much for all the compliments on my flower jars & drawers....I've been really using my Primas a whole lot more since separating them that way.

I've also altered a lot of my B's that I have in my scraproom......I'll post pictures of them in my next blog post. Until then, thanks for stopping by.

Benita

I Did It!

A few months ago, after months & months of debating, I finally did it.....I sorted all my Primas by color & got rid of all those milk bottles! Yes, it was extremely hard to do, but I'm so glad I did it! (You can click on any of the pictures to enlarge them.)

I love the look of all the different types of glass jars. I purchased a lot of them at thrift stores, but also got some at Hobby Lobby, JoAnns & Michaels either on sale or using coupons.

I just love how much less cluttered my shelves look now, which means less to dust now, too :) I used a damask rubber stamp & black paint on my canvas boxes to dress them up a little as well (one of them is on the very top shelf & a little hard to see).

Over on the other wall are my ribbon & button jars. I picked up those penny jars, as they call them, at Target about 2-3 years ago, but I believe they still carry them.

Up on the very top shelf, I put some antiques, some of which belonged to my Mom. The wooden box has all of her school memorabilia in it & see those baby shoes.....they were my Moms! You may not be able to tell, but one of the shoes has a hole in it.....she said that he mom made her wear them until they literally fell apart! Now I just need to find the perfect baby picture of my Mom to put in the frame.

On the other side is an old milk bottle (also my Moms....we used to have a dairy not too far from our house that we always got our milk from.....boy, do I miss that milk!), an old scrapbook album along with an old camera & a Melissa Francis Bingo Card album. In the wicker basket I store my Making Memories rub-ons.

Another project that I just did this week was to 'alter' my Iris cart drawers so now you can no longer see all the 'stuff' in the drawers. All of the drawers are labeled (with the exception of a few that I need to relabel), so I know what's in them. I've been wanting to do this for a very long time, but just never got the time to do it.

The pattern papers are from The Paper Studio line sold at Hobby Lobby.....I've had them in my stash for a long time, but never wanted to use them, until now. I didn't want to use all the same papers on all the drawers, so I alternated between 2 different patterns. Since my room is mostly done in a black & white/cream damask design, I thought these papers were perfect!

I used my Xyron 900 to adhere the paper in the drawers.....I just ran it through upside down to put the adhesive on the front side of the paper. They're attached inside the drawers so they don't get messed up. I love the way they turned out & now I only wonder why it took me so long to do it!

Now.....what can I alter next? :) Hmmm (looking around my room, lol).

Have a great weekend,
Benita

My Word For 2010 - TIME!

TIME! Yep, that's my word for 2010! TIME!

Too often, I tend to waste a lot of TIME, sitting on the computer when I should be doing something else.....anything else. Too often, TIME passes by me too quickly! Too often, I tend to take TIME for granted & think I still have plenty of TIME to finish something I started. Truth is, TIME is very valuable! And if we're not careful, TIME will go by in a flash before we have the chance to grasp it!

This year, I will use my TIME more wisely! I will cherish my TIME more with my loved ones, something I wish I would have done more of these past 47 years! I will make more TIME for me! I will make more TIME for family! I will make more TIME for friends! I will make more of an effort to be on TIME this year!

We cannot turn back TIME, but we can make sure to treasure the memories of the TIME we've had! And I will be doing just that.....treasuring the memories I shared with my Mom! Treasuring the memories I shared with my sister Karen! And making new memories to treasure with Jim & the rest of my family!

TIME! One little word that means so much to me! What's your word for 2010?

Have a wonderful, happy & safe New Year!

Benita

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today you would have been 77, but God wanted you to come home 3 weeks before your birthday. He wanted you to spend Christmas & your birthday in Heaven. How can I disagree with that??? I can't! It was God's plan for you & even though I'm missing you like crazy, I know you're where you need to be right now.....in Heaven.....out of pain.....and happy!

I miss you SO much, Mom! I don't even think that it's really hit me yet. Since I've been battling the swine flu these past few weeks, my mind hasn't even been functioning properly with all the drugs I'm on! Yes, I know that 3 weeks ago today, you went to be with the Lord. But everything just seems like one big dream.....going to PA for the funeral, the funeral itself & even Christmas.....it just wasn't the same this year, not being able to call you & talk to you. I should also be calling you today, on your birthday. But reality is, I can't :( And it's that reality that is hitting me really hard right now!

Happy Birthday Mom! I love you......always!

Benita

Rest In Peace, Mom

Is anyone ever prepared for this day? The day you get that dreaded phone call from your sister at 4:00 am, telling you that your Mom passed away. How can you possibly prepare for that?

I not only lost my Mom this morning, but I lost my best friend as well! My rock! And a piece of my heart & soul!

She was the absolute BEST Mom in the world! I love you & miss you so much, Mom!

Rest In Peace, Mom.....you deserve it!
Mae Louise Seese
December 28, 1932 - December 7, 2009

Busy, Busy, Busy

The only excuse I have for not blogging for so long is that I've been extremely busy. After losing my job at The Salvation Army store, I went back to work at the gym. I actually only work one 6 hour shift, Saturday mornings from 6:00 am til noon, but I'm also picking up shifts for other people as much as I can. Yep, I get up at 4:30 am every Saturday morning, drag my tired body into the shower, eat breakfast, blowdry my hair, attempt to put some make-up on to at least make it look like I'm awake enough since I took the time to put make-up on, lol, get dressed & go to work hours before the sun even thinks about rising. Yep, I'm officially nuts! But, believe it or not, we have some truly devoted (or nuts) members that come in every-single-Saturday-morning-at-6:00-AM!
In my spare time, hehe, I've been creating new classes for The Scrapbook Zone. The one shown here is called Gratitude Wall Decor & I'll be teaching this class on Thursday, November 5th.
Last night, I taught my Pink For A Purpose class & had an absolute blast! Although only 4 people signed up for the class (plus one of the ladies bought an extra kit for her friend), we had so much fun! And today, I got the sweetest email from one of the girls, telling me how much fun she had & that she will definitely be taking more of my classes :) Just the ego booster I needed ;)
I'll be super busy this weekend as well. As of right now, we'll be picking up our granddaughter on Friday & she'll be spending the weekend with us, going trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. I can't wait! She's going to be a Ballerina :) I'll be sure to take lots & lots of pics.


Have a great & safe Halloween,
Benita

Frustrating

Last week has been beyond frustrating! On Monday, the 28th, I was really excited to be starting a new job at a Salvation Army Thrift Store.....I figured I like shopping there, so I might as well work there, right? I thought everything was going fine.....I worked 8 hours on Monday, but when I woke up on Tuesday, my feet were all swelled up from my Osteoarthritis. So when I went into work on Wednesday, I talked to my boss & asked him if I could just work 5-6 hour shifts as anything beyond that would make my feet swell up too much. He seemed fine with it & even rearranged my schedule for Friday & Saturday for me. Well, about 15 minutes before I was due to get off Saturday night, he called me up to the office & told me that he was going to 'let me go' since I can't work 8 hour shifts. He proceeded to tell me that everyone has to work 8 hour shifts, which is a lie! They have one girl that only works 5 hour shifts, Monday through Friday from 9am to 2pm! I was so ticked! I loved that job! He wouldn't even give me a chance to try it or to let me work in the back pricing merchandise. He said that no one sits down back there either, which is another lie because on Thursday, I worked in the back pricing books, cds & videos & there were several workers sitting down while they were working! I am in the process of filing a complaint with the Department of Civil Rights for discrimination, but I'm not sure what good that's going to do.....we shall see.

On Friday, Shawn picked up my granddaughter & I was able to spend Saturday & Sunday night with her along with most of the day Monday (Toni let her 'skip school' so I could see her :). As you can see, she is still such a ham for the camera, lol.
Before I left the store on Saturday, I picked up this Barbie house for her for $8.00! It folds up & she absolutely loves it. See her peeking through the doorway :) She decided to keep it here so she has something to play with when she comes to visit me, plus Toni said she doesn't have room for it.

I do have another job interview tomorrow for a Potrait Studio, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is the one if it's meant to be. I tell ya.....it's frustrating looking for a job! And even more frustrating getting fired for no reason :(

Hope you have a great weekend. I've got a busy one planned....interview tomorrow & then lots of errands to run, working at the gym on Saturday morning, playing cards Saturday night with some friends, church on Sunday & possibly going to see the Lions/Steelers game if I can get tickets.

Stay warm!
Benita

What The Heck Happened???

Where is the world did September go??? Seriously! Is it just me? Or did September seem non-existant? I don't know if it's the fact that I've been overly busy (which is why I've been a blog slacker) or the fact that when you get older, time just moves by so much faster! And don't even remind me that we have less than 3 months until Christmas is here. I haven't even begun to think about shopping yet! YIKES!

One thing I have been doing is creating :) I'm going to be teaching some more classes at The Scrapbook Zone this next quarter & I couldn't be more excited! For October, I'm teaching a class called Pink For A Purpose since October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month. Here are the details:

When: Thursday, October 15 & Monday, October 26, 6pm – 8pm
Where: The Scrapbook Zone
Description: October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month & to show our support, we will be making a Pink For A Purpose album. If you or someone you love has ever been touched by Breast Cancer, then this class is the answer. Besides making a wonderful album to document Breast Cancer Awareness, I will also be donating $5.00 from each class fee collected to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure website. This class is truly close to my heart as my own sister was just diagnosed with Breast Cancer this year & is currently receiving chemo treatments. Please join us for the cure. Cost:$30.00

If I have any kits left over, I plan to sell them at the store, but I'm sure that if you're interested & don't live near the Zone, you could probably order them & have them shipped. Email me if you'd be interested in purchasing one & I can get more details.

Well, gonna make this a short update.....gotta get back to creating :)

Have a great one,

Benita

Happy Birthday Sis!

Today you would have been turning 57, but you were taken away from us way too soon! These 2 weeks, in between the day of the accident (August 29th, 2004), my birthday (September 5th) & your birthday (September 12th) are the hardest weeks of my life! I remember how you always used to kid around with me about my birthday being a week before yours, but I always got you back because I was still the youngest. You were 10 years minus 1 week older than me & I know we shared a really special bond because of our birthdays being so close together. Hey, do you think Mom & Dad planned it that way? ;)

Mom told me how you used to spoil me all the time. Since I was the baby in the family & you were 10 years old when I was born (ok, 10 years minus a week, lol), she said that you used to treat me like I was your own baby. You would always want to feed me & dress me. As I got older, I remember being so sad when you moved off to Montana....you were starting a life with your own kids, but I was selfish & didn't want you to go! We always kept in touch....through phone calls & then the wonderful WWW with emails, but it was still so hard to be so far away from you!

I remember the last time I got to see you....it was when this picture, above, was taken. I came home for a visit in July of 2003 & you drove down to see me as you lived 2 hours away from Mom. I love this picture of the 2 of us together (even though I look like crap in it!). We both knew that the bond we shared was special....something only sisters share!

And today, as you celebrate your birthday, I realize just how lucky I am to have you in my life....even though you aren't here in presence anymore, I know you're here in spirit! And that's what gets me through all of this.....knowing that you're my angel & you're watching over me every minute of every day!

I love you & miss you, Karen!

Until we meet again,

Benita

09-09-09

Shawn called me on my birthday to see if I was gonna be home....he said he had something for me. When he arrived, he had these gorgeous roses in his hands, along with a very, thought-provoking card. I couldn't believe it! My son not only remembered my birthday, but he got me roses! Yep, I truly believe that those 4 days in PA together has brought us closer than we've been in YEARS!

On Labor Day, Jim & I heading to 3 different Salvation Army stores to do some bargain shopping since they always have sales on holidays. I could hardly believe my eyes when I stumbled upon the item above! Long story: when I was a teenager (some 30+ years ago), my grandparents had given me one of these exactly like this one & I cherished it as it plays the song "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head", one of my all-time favorite songs. Fast forward to 1987.....I had lost almost everything I owned in an apartment fire, including the above musical figurine. I was devastated! It was on the top of our waterbed headboard & when I was able to go into the apartment to salvage what I could, this figurine was all charred & broken :( So when I saw this exact same figurine at the store, tears swelled into my eyes & I clutched onto it with dear life. The best part is....it works & plays the song I love so much :) Yes, it does have a chip in the umbrella, but I don't care! It's mine! I guess the saying one person's trash is another person's treasure definitely proves true here :)

I also found this really cool box that I think I'll be using to display my shot glass collection.....or maybe for something in my scraproom? Hmmm.

I then stumbled upon these.....corn cob dishes. I got 6 of them for 99 cents each :) I've been wanting some of these for years & was so happy when I found them. Best part is.....they're made by Pfaltzgraff & they're all in excellent condition.

I also got myself 2 shirts, both brand new with tags, a Tigger polo shirt for Jim, which was also new with tags, a brand new still in box charging valet by Brookstone & these:

2 Willow Tree Angels for a buck each! And they're in perfect condition. I definitely couldn't pass them up!

Tonight was the first night back to bowling for our league & I'm pretty pleased with the way I bowled, especially since I haven't touched my bowling balls in 5 months! My games were 160, 190 & 173 for a 523 series. The first game, it was hard for me to concentrate since I'm the league Treasurer this year & had to count the money & take care of all the pay envelopes. And the first week is always hectic getting everyone started. But hopefully things will calm down a little next week & I'll be able to concentrate more.....although, that may or may not be a good thing :)

Have a great week/weekend,
Benita