Margaret's Garden

Just one

2008-10-11T13:38:00.000-07:00

I have no idea how I got into more than one blog! I can't keep up with my daily list of things to do! So I'm going to try to keep up with just one. This blog will end here and I'm going to try to journal on my previous blog My Threads of Life. http://mythreadsoflife.blogspot.com/

I will keep my Creative Corner blog for possible windows of time to post my creations. I will be selling creations in my Etsy store.

So if this isn't complicated enough to confuse you maybe you'll read my Threads of Life blog once in awhile and see how confusing my life can get! lol!

I've Gone Etsy

2008-09-16T22:50:00.000-07:00

Well I've opened an Etsy Shop!! I will be displaying my handmade items there and hope you will visit.
I only have six items listed so far but plan to squeeze in some time for more creations.........in between the million other things I need to do! But I love creating so I'll do it!

There is a preview on the sidebar with the link! Hope you check it out!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

2008-05-28T22:01:00.000-07:00

Time just goes by too fast!! My daughter in law had a week off from work and that meant that I had a week without my busy little boys to take care of. So I got my sewing stuff out and left it out the entire time. I sewed quite a few sets of Cuddle Buddies. I also sewed a scrubs top for my daughter in law to wear to work. She is a nurses assistant. I had her try it on this morning and it fit perfectly so I'll be making more of those also!

So far I've sold three sets of Cuddle Buddies!!! yeah!! The last one I sold I also added a matching receiving blanket to the set and she is giving the set as a baby shower gift!
I have to say that I love this! I love to sew now that I have my new machine!

I also love to scrapbook and my daughter is coming over this weekend and spending the night since her wonderful hubby is on vacation and has offered to care for the kids. We are going to scrapbook all through the night and will probably get into one of our non-stop laughing sprees! Something about getting overly tired gives us the giggles!

So soon as I can find the time I'll be posting more photos of scrapbooking and sewing creations!

Peggy's Creative Corner

2008-05-04T23:58:00.000-07:00

I'm getting a new sewing machine. I've made some new creations. I've made some changes in prices and items selling.
I've started a new blog just to show my creations.
Check it out! http:/peggyscreativecorner.blogspot.com/

Some of my recent creations

2008-04-28T21:39:00.000-07:00

I've been making these little blankies. I made one for my grandson and he absolutely loves it.

I'm a little frustrated because my old sewing machine doesn't want to work as it should and I hope to be able to save up for a better one. But in the meantime I will try to sew with the one I have and use the material that I've accumulated!

Each is original made with my own hands and old machine and much loving care. Colors and materials are all just a little different and may never be exactly reproduced the same way. I create as I go so am never sure how it will turn out until it's done.

Should anyone be interesting in purchasing a blankie set with the little blankie and little matching pillow please visit my Etsy Shop. All items currently available for sale will be listed there.

Blankies measure approximately 12 x 12 inches.
Each is an original. Each cut and sewn by me so there may never be two exactly alike.

So here are a few that I've made so far.........

I'm back and ready for ideas!!

2008-04-08T21:10:00.000-07:00

Wow, I didn't realize how long it's been since I've written on here! Guess taking care of my youngest grandson has taken more of my time!
I hope to get back on here more and post some more scrapbooking pages and would like to begin some exchanging of ideas with all of you. Craft idea, scrapbooking ideas, house keeping ideas, hobby ideas, recipes...!!
So please visit and leave some ideas and comments!

Any ideas for me?

2006-03-21T23:11:00.000-08:00

I'm just going to throw this out there and see if I get any responses.

I am 54 years old and stay at home taking care of my home, hubby, dog and grandkids. I'd really like to figure out a way to make a few dollars while I'm at home. I don't have a real "career" experience except for childcare , some typing and data entry.
I tried the home party sales business and it just doesn't work for me.
I know there must be something out there that I could do a few hours a week from home to bring in some financial help. Perhaps some kind of orders that need to be entered into the computer.

Anyway, does anyone out there have any ideas?

2006-03-20T12:54:00.000-08:00

Part of our 7000 mile vacation a couple years ago!

We had fun in Vegas and even won a little more vacation money!

2006-03-20T12:51:00.000-08:00

Sometimes a simple page says it all.

These are photos of the petrified wood.

The photos don't do justice to the beautiful colors.

2006-03-20T12:49:00.000-08:00

We also stayed in a cabin at Grand Canyon.

2006-03-20T12:47:00.000-08:00

Here's some more of my vacation scrapbook. This is Hoover Dam.

2006-03-19T22:14:00.000-08:00

My son's 31st birthday today. He's laughing after the kids all sang him a birthday song.

His wife is next to him on his left. They are expecting their second son in July.

That's his grandmother on his right.

2006-03-19T22:05:00.000-08:00

This was my group grandma hug!

All three tried to hug me at the same time and we ended up on the floor!

WET!

2006-03-12T23:35:00.000-08:00

It has been raining here in "sunny" California for four days now. We had hard rain, thunder, wind, and hail. Even snow in mountians 10 miles from us.
It didn't do our leaky roof any good but I spent two of those days with my daughter scrapbooking!
It's still raining as of this moment......

I will be taking photos of the scrapbook pages I completed this weekend to show you.
But for now, here are a couple of layouts from the vacation my husband and I took two years ago. We traveled 7000 miles in 30 days and had a blast.

I used this calendar page to show where we traveled to each day with stickers of the states.

This is the Grand Canyon. My husband's word for the day was "WOW"!

We even made it up into Canada to stay at Niagra Falls......my word for the day was also"WOW"!

It was so amazingly beautiful at the Falls!

We had an amazing trip! I have a whole album of photos but thought I'd share these for now! Hope you enjoy!

What's Your Hobby?

2006-03-08T23:03:00.000-08:00

I know there are a lot of creative people out there. What are your hobbies? What are your crafts? Please share some of your ideas with me.

I love to scrapbook. I have tons of photos and try to get together with my daughter once a month to scrapbook. She's the smart one and has begun her albums now while her children are young. I have 34 years of catching up to do since she's 34 , my son is going to be 31 next week and my fifth grandchild is on the way. So I'd say that scrapbooking will be my busy craft for years to come! I enjoy the thought of leaving photos for my great-great grandchildren to enjoy in years to come. Not only are the pages more fun to look at and are fun to make but the journaling on the pages that tell the story of the photos is the most important to those in future years.

The photos below in yesterdays post are from my heritage album. My parents passed away four years ago and this album means the world to me. This album is full of information of my ancestors and family that my children and grandchildren will be able to look back on and learn some of their history.

If you also enjoy scrapbooking and would like me to share more photos please comment and let me know!

Scrapbook pages

2006-03-07T21:28:00.000-08:00

Well this day has been better than yesterday! It did start out shaky when I tried to get onto my internet and it said my server wasn't working. So I had to sit here for about two hours and follow the instructions of an automated service on the phone to get it all fixed!
I'm not so crazy about those automated services. It has you answering yes or no to the questions and if you need to clear your throat or take a drink of coffee the sound of it can mess up your answers!

Anyway, I did get a few things done today. My grandson stayed home with my daughter in law today and he is doing better now.

So now I'm playing around with my scrapbook pages and thought I'd show you a few........

This was my mom's graduation picture in 1929. I used paper lace to make the frame. Then I used a blade to cut the inside of the paper out around the designs and laid a sheet of lined paper underneath to journal on.
The butterfly on the corner of her framed photo is from part of the design I cut out of the inside.

My dad went to his family reunion when he was 90 years old. I like to lay the photos on the paper and see where the patterns lie. Then I cut a design to fit over the corner of the photo as I did on the large photo with the orange flowers. It holds the photo in place and makes a nice layered accent.
The three photos on the right I just cut paper slightly larger than the photo as a mat behind them.

Well this is only two pages out of my heritage album. I'll share some of my vacation photos next time.

Not a fun day

2006-03-06T19:32:00.000-08:00

This week hasn't started off so good! I went to a doctors visit this morning. I had changed doctors because I didn't like my old one and was too far to drive in urgent times.
This doctor seems very nice and since I'm now on the side of life where I'm climbing up a hill........ she is having me return for a complete check-up and get a paper full of those fun tests.
The one thing that I did find out this morning is that I'm leaning towards the high blood pressure that runs in my family. It's not toooo high yet, but has been on the low side of high now for a couple of months. So I'm not too thrilled about that news.

Then came home to take care of my grandson. I pick him up from preschool and he spends the afternoon with me. He built his usual play-doh masterpiece that he uses to drive his hotwheels over, he watched his usual shows, and he ate his afternoon requested snack of oatmeal and an apple............................then he threw up all over himself and the living room floor!
I just talked to my son and three hours later the poor baby is still throwing up. Apparently there is a flu going around because some of his playmates also have had this over the last few days.

I've been wanting to post scrapbook photos and get so many things done but life just keeps getting in the way.
Tonight I'm just too tired to try to post anything!

So I'm hoping that tomorrow will be on the brighter side.

Oscar evening

2006-03-05T19:39:00.000-08:00

As I watch some of the Oscars I don't really care who wins or loses. I haven't seen but a few of the movies. I do like to see what they wear and wonder what it would be like to walk in one of those beautiful dresses.
I now sit here in my $5 red sweatpants and a black sweatshirt and pink warm slippers and realize I will never be one of those in the beautiful gowns.
But that's o.k. because I'd rather be here in my comfy outfit eating my weight watchers ice cream bar sitting on the couch next to my dog than to be one of those who have to be stressed out all the time wondering if they are the most beautiful or the most talented.
I'm quite content with the life God has given me. With the family I have. That I have learned over the years how to slow down and listen to the birds sing and do my best at what is on my plate for that day and to allow God to take care of the rest.
The commercial is probably over by now so I'm off to curl up with my fuzzy blanket and watch some more beautiful people. Even though I'd rather be watching Extreme Home Makeover and Desperate Housewives if it were on!

Scrapbooking?

2006-03-03T12:25:00.000-08:00

How many of you out there love to scrapbook as much as I do?

I'd love to share ideas and creations. PLEASE leave a comment to let me know if you love to scrapbook!

Rainy Day

2006-02-28T09:32:00.000-08:00

The rain finally found it's way to California. We really need the rain because it's been so terribly dry. But our roof has decided to fall apart and as I sit here at this computer and look up to the edge of the ceiling there is a water stain about two feet long and six inches wide.........then in the corner is another one about eight inches long and two inches wide!
There goes all my scrapbook spending money!

So today is a good day for me to go clean my house and sort through all my scrapbook supplies and hope the ceiling doesn't fall down on top of this computer!

Scrapbook Paper Storage Idea

2006-02-27T08:04:00.000-08:00

After trying several different types of storage ideas I am really happy with this idea I came up with.

I am a scrapbook paper junkie and it became a problem to store all the paper and be able to see all of them in a way that allowed me to choose the right paper to go with my scrapbook page layout.

So I bought this cart at an office supply store. It's the perfect size for 12x12 paper. It comes folded up and when opened it locks into place and has a handle that you can raise high enough to stand and pull......since it also has wheels! Wheels are a great plus to me because I live in a very small house and don't have a specific room for my crafts. With this cart I can move it where ever I need to work comfortably. It's a good sturdy cart capable of holding 70lbs.

I sorted all my papers by colors and patterns and then took large folders and cut them to fit and labeled each one by the color and pattern. Then placed the papers in-between each folder. THEN, there was still some room in the cart, so I took an accordion folder and labeled each space the same as I had the folders before. In this smaller accordion folder I put all the scraps of papers. Then put it in the front of the cart.
Now I can easily see all my papers and easily get them out to use and have the scrap pieces to match for my layouts!

Now, does anyone have ideas on a good way store all my stickers!

A New Week Begins

2006-02-26T20:14:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy three weeks while my husband was on vacation. Not that we went anywhere or did anything really exciting and adventurous. We just stayed home or close to home most of the time. We did take our dog out to dog beach a couple of times and enjoyed the outdoors and let Pepper run around. For my husband it was a vacation because he didn't have to get up for work and that's a vacation in itself. He usually gets up at 1:00am to go drive a delivery truck. Crazy I know, but he's done this for 30 years. So he just slept in later and spent his time relaxing.
I on the other hand tried my best to do my usual of cleaning house, making meals etc. while being as flexible as possible and drop my plans when he would come up with the idea to go somewhere or watch a show etc.
I also take care of my 4 year old grandson four days a week. Three of those days he's in preschool mornings so I pick him up at noon. It didn't take long before "papa" was in a daily routine of flying through the rooms with a toy truck or airplane in his hand making rruumm noises! We also enjoyed going to watch my 7 year old grandson play basketball on Saturdays.

So now that he's going back to work tomorrow and I need to get myself back into some sort of routine. I have a list a mile long of "to-do's", one being getting my scrapbooking ready to work on again and get some photos taken and uploaded!

A Learning Journey

2006-02-22T23:02:00.000-08:00

Wow! For someone who knew absolutely nothing about templates, graphic codes, img src, etc, I'm learning a lot! I'm working on my other scrapbooking blog and trying to get that one and this one set up so it will be easy to read and also nice to look at.
I have to admit that I'm enjoying this learning journey and becoming an addict when it comes to spending the extra minutes I can sqeeze out of a busy day to sit in front of this computer trying to figure these things out.
I have to give most of the credit to my daughter. Since my brain has become mush over the years and she on the other hand is a wonderful homeschool teacher to three of my beautiful grandchildren, she has been overloaded with emails asking her "how do I do this!".

So hope you enjoy the occasional changes of scenery from time to time as I change things around.
Remember to check out my other blog!

And check out the links I've put on the sidebars! Click on them and see if they work!

Scrapbook Garden

2006-02-21T10:14:00.000-08:00

I have to confess; I love to scrapbook my photos. So please check out my new blog and I hope you will follow me along in my journey of scrapbooking my life.

http://www.myscrapblog.com/scrapbookgarden/

14 years

2006-02-16T21:28:00.000-08:00

I've been married to my loving husband for fourteen years as of today. I have been blessed with someone who is a man that is not afraid to show his emotions, kindness and compassion. He is a Christian man who reads his bible daily and lives the Word of God. He always tells me he loves me and never criticizes me.

I sometimes forget these things and get busy with my daily life of chores and worries and allow myself to think of the things he doesn't do. This is something I wish to change about myself.
My parents were married 69 years before they departed this earth. I believe their love and their marriage is the example I wish to have and should strive for every day.
For their marriage followed the words of --- 1 Corinthians 13:4-7;
"Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance."
1 Corth 13:13--"there are three things that will endure--faith,hope, and love--and the greatest of these is love."

We Made It To The Beach!

2006-02-15T21:34:00.000-08:00

We decided to go for it and drove to the beach today! One dog and two four year olds in the car with us and off we go......
We had a great time while we were there even though it was cold and windy and the tide was high and the only place to walk was on the rocks. The kids didn't care, they were bundled up warm and they loved climbing on the rocks and throwing some in the water and finding shells.

As you can see by my hair it was very windy.

My husband, Jim, discovered that even though he's lived here

all his life he had never before collected rocks on the beach and he loved it!

And it was time to leave when the kids got a little too close to the wave and Kyle was knocked over and soaked by 50* water.

So home we drove with one happy dog, two tired kids and a bag full of rocks!

windy wednesday

2006-02-15T10:25:00.000-08:00

I know it's February and most of the country is cold and snowy but here in sunny California it's been very dry and 70's. Except for today which we had planned to take our dog and two grandchildren to the beach today. Today the wind is blowing , it's grey, and it drizzled rain this morning.
I love going out to Carlsbad beach where it is clean and not crowded and just walk the dog and collect shells and watch the waves and little birds running in the sand. My two youngest grandchildren are waiting impatiently to see if we will go or not so they can also run and dig and collect.

Happy Valentine Day

2006-02-14T22:19:00.000-08:00

Hope you had a happy romantic day today. My loving husband surprised me with earrings and card. He's doesn't seem to know how to be romantic, candlelight dinner etc., but he does his best and I love him for that.

I've been playing around with this template and trying to figure out how to add graphics and links of my own choice. I'm not very good at it so far!

I managed to add the new link to the Christian Book Club..................take a look! They have hundreds of books you can order and at good prices.

I've also ordered books and CD's from Amazon many times.

I'll be adding more fun graphics and goodies as I learn how!

another day

2006-02-13T14:02:00.000-08:00

Hey! I've been a blogger for two days now! Isn't this exciting!
I am so grateful that my ankle is severly sprained. This is the second time in six months that it has done this while walking my dog. So I'm sure this time was a result of the lingering weakness in tendons and muscle. It's the pits getting older........
But it happened on Saturday as my husband and I were walking our very hyper, curly grey haired poodle mix named Pepper. That's him sitting by our Christmas tree.

I kept my foot up with ice on it all of Sat and all of Sun. My wonderful husband waited on me as I sat there feeling like a complete blob........that's bloB not blog :)
So today it feels so much better that I had to get out of this house. I put on my tennis shoes and drove to the post office (big adventure). Then I took the dog to the park and walked slowly , well I walked slowly the dog had other ideas. Just took a very short walk. Then came home like a good girl to rest it and not to make it worse.

I'm sure your all excited to hear about my ankle adventures. But that has been the most exciting adventure lately.
I do live in sunny California and yes it is sunny in February. Sunny enough that last week we took the dog to the beach. He was like a happy kid running around kicking up sand.
Other things I do in my life is spend time with my grandchildren.

I have four beautiful grandchildren ages 9, 7, 4, 4 and another one on the way.............. no the two four year olds are not twins. My daughter has three and my son is expecting their second.
I'm very blessed to have them all living within five minutes of me.

Well, that's enough rambling for now................................................but I am wondering if there are other women in their 50's who are enjoying being a grandparent and love animals ?????...

It all began with the sprain

2006-02-12T23:27:00.000-08:00

This is my first blog. I really have no idea what I'm doing yet. I sprained my ankle and got bored sitting around and decided to see what all the buzz is about.
Hopefully I'll learn enough to make this interesting.