A Country Pond

We were out for a drive and look at the beautiful pond we came upon.

God truly gives everyone beauty,
No matter where you live, God put beauty there.....just look around.

Thank you God for my beautiful country,

Jana

I found my pickup

 I want this ol' pickup.  It has personality....and weeds.....and rust....

and possibly a few animals living in it.

I think it would make a great yard ornament for me.  

I know lots of people want a beautiful waterfall or a statue......

not me, I want a rusted pickup.

I suddenly feel like I'm on the Waltons 

(some may not know what that is...a TV show that took place during the depression)

Thanks for visiting my part of the rusty country,

Jana

Glass Etching Part 2

Here is my etched cookie jar after I took off the vinyl.
 I think it is big enough to hold a few cookies.

This view shows the edge of the "wanted" sign look I wanted on my jar.
Etched glass is a little hard for me to photograph...too much glare

I etched my daughters name onto the sides of some baking dishes for her.  This one is a 9 x 13, perfect for when you take it to a function and need to get your dish back.  

She will have an extremely long last name once she gets married,
and I was lucky to get it all on one line.

Unfortunately that was not the case on this 8x8 dish.  

                                  For this one I put her first and last name on opposite sides. 

I have also made myself a set of glasses.  

I put our last name on all of them and a different western design on the opposite side.  

I made myself a set of 10 of these with all of the western symbols being different.  

Don't look at the fingerprints on them, I can't imagine how that got there. LOL 

I also etched this plate for myself with all children around the edge and in the middle.

This is a close up of the little cowboy and his stick horse.

Another close up of a cowboy on his rocking horse.  Of course all of them had to be western.

And last of all a stage coach being pulled by a couple of horses.

The ideas are endless of what you can do with this stuff and they make great personalized gifts.

Thanks for visiting my etched part of the country,

Jana

Glass Etching Part 1

First I bought a plain glass cookie jar from a discount store, but you can use any glass that you might already have.  I have done glass etching before and this is what I wanted to etch onto my cookie jar this time.   I first made the design that I wanted on my "Cricut".  In case your not familiar with a cricut, it is not a pesky bug, but a cutting machine.  On the matt I laid down my vinyl to be cut out.  This time  I wanted the letters left clear and around them etched or frosted.   

The black is the vinyl cut into my stencil.  I also cut another stencil for the outside boarder to look like a "wanted" sign. 

To get my letters onto the glass I used "transfer tape" and rubbed it over the letters to pick them up and then put them onto the jar where I wanted them, making sure it was level and centered top to bottom.  Make sure that all the edges of the vinyl are down really, really good because anywhere the etching cream gets on will get etched....trust me I know this from experience.  To help I make the vinyl a little larger around the edge so that I have extra room in case the cream goes over.

This is what I used for etching.  I bought it at our local Hobby Lobby Store...

AKA my home away from home (Love that store, I should have stock in it.)  It is not cheap, for the larger bottle it is around $18-$20, (use a coupon).

 Next take a disposable brush and apply the cream all over the glass that is to be etched, being careful not to get it where you don't want it.  I put mine on thick and leave it on longer than the instructions say to.  It says 5 minutes, but I leave mine on 15-20 minutes.

 Next I clean off the excess and because I'm a tight, I put it back in the bottle and re-use it.  

Then just rinse off the excess.  Be very careful with this stuff, remember it "eats" off glass.  Now the fun part, taking off the vinyl and seeing what it looks like.  

Sorry, your going to have to wait until my next post and I will show you this project and several other ideas on how to use this.

Thanks for visiting my frosted part of the world,

Jana

Photography Homework

 I got a new toy for my anniversary, a Sony camera.

 It has 18 megapixels, 30 digital zoom and lots and lots of fun features.

I thought this picture looked like he was balancing on a wire.

 It will take 10 shots per second, that's like a movie mode to me.

 To help me learn more on photography, which I love I took another photo class and one of our assignments was to take pictures in motion and "freeze" them.

It is hard for me to believe these were moving in full motion.

 As luck would have it there was a bike show this day right outside of our class.

 I have never been very good at moving photos and I was thrilled when I saw how clear these were.
His back tire looks like it is on the building.

We also had the greatest teacher, she knows here cameras and was extremely patient with our class.  

I had a great time and learned a lot about my new toy, now I just need to remember it all and get out there and play with it.
Why couldn't homework in school have been this fun, I might have done it all if it was.

Thanks for visiting my moving part of the country,

Jana

Good Morning

Blue, Pink and Green.  I took this photo back in the spring when it was still green around here,
and in the morning just to prove that I can get out of bed before noon.

Cooking in Bulk

 Maybe I'm the only one, but I don't like to clean up dishes and I like to be able to cook a meal fast and for a lot of people if I need to.

 I have done this for years.  I will cook a lot of hamburger (about 20 lbs today) at one time.

 I try and do this when I have a little extra time so that when I am short on time (which is often it seems) I have part of my meal already cooked.  I let it drain completely so that it will not have any extra grease in it.  

 Sometimes I cook it with the onion and garlic so it will already have it in for the recipe.  I also like the fact that I clean the dishes only once for all this hambuger and not 20 times. (deep down I'm lazy)

 I then put them in freezer bags and label them, those of you who follow me know I love to label.

 Put them in a container.

 That way they store great in my freezer for later.

I do this with sausage and bacon as well.  For sausage I just do it the same as for the beef, but for bacon I cook it and then just layer it between paper towels and then freeze.  When I need the bacon I just take out what I want and crisp it up a minute in the microwave...easy and fast.

Let me know if you do this, or am I the only one? 

 I have had friends say they have never heard of this before...who knew?

Thanks for visiting my bulky part of the country,
Jana

Wedding Shower....

 This is my soon to be son-in-law Macy and my daughter Kayla at their wedding shower.

 Here are all the ladies who gave them the shower.  This is another reason I love a small town.  All of these women have known both of my children since they were born.  Among them are Sunday School teachers, Aunts, Cousins, Mentors, Prayer Warriors and yes Great Friends.  

This kind of love for your children you can not buy.  

They said it takes a village to raise a child and this is part of our village.

 This is Cheri my BFF.  She has known both of my kids all of their lives and was even a boss to Kayla for several summers when they worked together.  She has volunteered to help with both of my kids wedding showers......Thanks Cheri.
 I have to be nice to her she knows all my secrets and has some
"colorful" pictures of me I have been warned about. 

 The cutie in the middle is a friend of the family. 

 Macy has already said she is his "backup" bride if Kayla backs out.

 Kayla with her Great Grandma Frances and Grandma Carolyn.   Frances is a young 92 years and is the pride of our family.  I truly don't know if they make them any sweeter than her. 

 MY KIDS!!! 

 I have got to be one lucky Mom, I love them all.

 Yep the same Cutie, can you tell my family just adores her.  My husband wants to adopt her and her parents say that he would bring her back...his reply....TRY ME.   

Randy loves kids and can not wait for his own Grandkids.  

 Me and my Hubby.  Yes he came to the shower......only Kayla could get him to do that.

 Me and my girl. 

Only yesterday she was a Tomboy and had pigtails.  She has became a beautiful woman.
 I have gained weight, wrinkles and some grey hair.
Being a Mom....isn't it great. LOL 

Thanks for visiting our part of the country,

Jana

Wedding Cards

 Did I mention my daughters getting married?
This is one the cards I made for her (well it's really the envelope).

Yes, I lined the envelope to match her card....what we won't do for our kids.

This is one of 3 cards I made her....yes 3....can we spell S-P-O-I-L-E-D???

This one was for their couple shower....

Is my husband and my son and my son-in-law the only men who act abused to go to a shower? 

 It is like pulling teeth.

This is the last one and it was for her "personal" shower....a little teddie.

Thanks for visiting my daughters card party in our part of the country,

Jana