Back to School, A New Friend, and a Giveway

What a summer!!  We finally got the outside of the house done!!

Celebrate!!

 

 

The kid's rooms are repaired after the window installation!

Celebrate!!

Now need the deep clean.

We (husband) are now painting the front room. 

Kind of miss my rustic red wall but I think the new colors my husband picked will be good and a nice change. 

Kids went back to school!!

 I am trying not to be too excited but some peace and quite will be nice.

I will try to catch up with everyone over the next few weeks! 

Celebrate!!

The kids left me a little note, bon-bons and a six pack of Diet Pepsi to Celebrate their first day back to school.  They even thanked me for a great summer!  Poor things...they really worked hard this year. 

This cutie was painted by my new Etsy friend Amie of Willow Tree Designz. 

She bought a couple of patterns from me not to long ago and was quick to paint this up.  I love to see how others take a pattern and make it there own.  She has a cute shop that you will want to check out.

Thanks Amie for sending me this photo and for allowing me to share it. 

Well what better way to Celebrate then to have a quickie giveaway!!

Click on him to read his description. 

Just leave a comment on this post and I will draw a name on Saturday.

I need the rest of the week to play!

Enjoy your day,

Barb

Winner of the Quickie Giveaway

Well my rain dance giveaways must be working. 

We got a little bit more rain last night and the forecast is for more in the afternoon today.  It is monsoon season and the humidity is sky high.

For me anything over 10% is horrible.  OK, no laughing on the east coast!

So before my son left for Scout Camp I had him pull a name out of a sour cream container-yes it was washed and cleaned-the winner is Jennifer Gail!

Jennifer contact me and I will get this in the mail to you.

Thank you all for your sweet comments and for following along on my ramblings.

I will be posting photos of our weekend progress on the house hopefully soon.

As you recall Monday is the day to recover.

All the siding is up.  Now it needs some touch up paint and the RAIN gutter back on!

PROGRESS!

Enjoy your day,

Barb



Fall and Christmas Celebrations--in July!!

We have been getting more rain but 1-2 inches in 20 minutes has it's draw backs in the desert!

Flash Flooding! 

When we lived in Las Vegas it was really something to see.  The freeway exchange where we lived would be completely under water.  They have since redesigned that section of the freeway.

On a fun note I will be giving away this ornament (still in celebration of the rain dance, Christmas in July and Fall's Splendor Shop Hop)!

Leave a comment here and I will pick a name on Monday morning July 23. 

Any new followers welcome too.

 I am finding that my weekends are spend outside working on the house and I have been caught hiding downstairs at the computer too many times in the last couple of weeks.

Christmas in July Sale is still going on through the month of July with a clearance section you can visit here:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/barbsheartstrokes?section_id=11413828

and free shipping on magnets, ornaments, and pins found here:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/barbsheartstrokes?section_id=7112403

Fall's Splendor Shop Hop is going on until July 22 at the Old Farmhouse Gathering.

Click the photo below to take you to the rules!

Just a little added fun...if you can find my giveaway for the Shop Hop and leave a comment with the link back I will give your name an extra chance at the ornament giveaway.

Enjoy,

Barb

Rain Dance Giveaway!!

This was our view while watching fireworks on the 4th of July. These are images I borrowed from the Internet because I forgot my camera. 

I was more intrigued by watching the fire move up or down the mountain then the actual fire works.  Our little town does it up but this was something to see. 

Luckily Mother Nature took pity on us and yesterday we had a huge rain fall.

For us it was a mixed blessing.  I am glad to have the rain but my husband and I were out at 6am to put the last of the tar paper up on our house before the rain came  down. Hopefully our house will survive all of this.  

In the happy spirit of RAIN I will be having a quickie giveaway of these watermelon magnets.

I love watermelon!!  So refreshing!

The only rule is to leave a comment on this post and I will pick a winner Saturday the 7th of July in the evening. (After a long day of working on the house.) 

Just a quick reminder of the Christmas in July sale I am having at my Etsy shop.

I have free shipping on all magnets, ornaments, and pins during CIJ!

 Plus a clearance section with 50% off during the whole month of July.

Click on the link above to go to my shop.

Good luck to all and enjoy your day!

Barb

Quickie Winner and Piano Recital

Thanks to all who commented on my "sewing of the bunnies"....good times!

I did the Random.org and the two numbers were #1 and #7.

Karen of Buttons in the Attic

and

Kim of Valley Primitive Stitches

are the "lucky" winners of a "Painter who thought she could Sew" bunny magnets.

I will contact you and get those in the mail to you.

Thank you all who were so sweet with your comments.  I guess it is never to late to learn a new hobby but for me right now I will stick to painting.  Probably for a little while and then I will have a dream of fancy and pull out the sewing machine again thinking I bet I could do "this"!?!

We are off to a Piano Recital for my kids today.

My daughter is playing the "Piano Man" by Billy Joel

and my son is playing "Mission Impossible".

Enjoy your day!

Barb

I Really Need to Stick to Painting...

Through my church I was asked to teach 11 year old girls about preparing to became a young woman which includes crafts, learning about life, religion, and homemaking!?!  It was my turn to teach them this last week and I did not have a clue about what to do.  Easter seemed to come so early this year and I had planned on teaching them how to sew on buttons to a little magnet bunny craft project.

Out came the sewing machine, the iron and board, the swear jar…you are getting the picture thus far, right?

I have a cute little bunny pattern that I bought years ago and have used it before.

So how bad could it be to sew up a few little bunnies. NO WHITE THREAD!

 It would either be military (husband) green or scout (son) brown. So they got the brown because it was already loaded-is that the word?

Sewed a few up-much less language then usual! SHOCK!

But still I had to go to the fabric store. The helpful clerk asked if I was looking for “flats” when I said I needed a yard of material. “Flats”?  So I told her I did not speak "fabric". She showed me around and at this point I am trying not to have a panic attack. I don’t do well in places I am not familiar with or know what I am looking for and it was a sea of material….

“Deep breath, be one with the air” as my husband says, ringing in my head.

Poor clerk! She took me by the hand and helped me find some material, white thread and a few buttons.

OK, all is well.

Ended up teaching the girls how to thread a needle and sew on three buttons, put a face on the bunny and color the inside of the ears! YEA! Done!

Homemaking???   My only two talents are painting and eating!

Poor girls. Talk about being out of your comfort zone!

So now I am offering you a “quickie” giveaway to whom ever leaves a comment (good or bad). Hoping to give a good home to these poor little magnet bunnies.

I will try that Random.org drawing thingy again and pick two “lucky” winners on Saturday morning!

I have to go clean the house which will take me until Saturday due to all the dust from pulling up the tiles in the entrance and hallway. At least I do know how to dust!

Remember to sign up for my “real” giveaway!

Enjoy your day and hopefully this post has not tramatized everyone!

Barb

Shake Out and a Winner!

Today at 10:15 Utah will be having an Emergency Preparedness Drill for an Earthquake.  It will be interesting to see how prepared we are here.  I will have to call my block captain to let him know if I am alive or dead...I haven't decided yet what that will be.  Getting up at 4:30 am I am usually ready for a nap between the hours of 10-12.  The time I need to call.

 I am hoping they will be doing the drill at both the Elementary and Middle school since my kids are there and not at home.  I guess Hubby is on is own at work. 

Having been in a couple of big ones-Alaska and Nevada-I think this is a great idea!!

Thanks for all the wonderful comments on the "quickie" giveaway-again thanks Carol for the name-I will be using from here on out when I do this!

I used that Random.Org Generator and got #9 but was not sure how to post the photo to my blog.  I think I did it backwards.  So we will have to try that again.

Betty of Primitive Cook Hugs is the winner.  Drop me a line at barbsheartstrokes@gmail.com with your address and I will get that in the mail to you.

Thank you all for the support and we will play again soon!

Enjoy your day,

Barb