Yet another creative project completed this week ...

Am I the only person who gets in a creative mood for several days straight and then can't seem to do anything for another month? I've learned to take advantage of the mood. Otherwise, I end up with a lot of unfinished projects!

I've been working on this card set off and on during the week. It's finally finished, so I thought I'd share it.

I try to make all of our greeting cards. My husband has 10 siblings, I have 2, and that makes for a lot of card-sending occasions (especially when they have big families, too). Since I scrapbook and love all things paper, I have plenty of supplies on hand and it makes this even more economical than buying cards at the dollar store (which I still do in a pinch).

Speaking of the dollar store, the inspiration for this card set were these gorgeous sunflower stickers from Dollar Tree (everything $1). I picked them up once, knowing I could make some beautiful cards with them. There were over 30 stickers on the sheet (it's double-sided), so I knew I was getting a great deal.

... But that was several months ago, and inspiration had not struck since then. Fast forward to February when I'm needing quite a few cards. Suddenly I remembered those sunflower stickers and pulled them out, as well as cardstock and patterned paper that I had on hand and coordinated quite well.

I stared at it for awhile and then had a brilliant idea. Why not pull out those free card sketches from Page Maps? And then I had an even more brilliant idea. Why not number my stickers (see below) so I could plan out all the cards at once and then sit down and make them all, making the best use of the stickers as possible?
So that's what I did! I started with the big stickers and looked for card designs that would highlight them. Then I planned the smaller stickers for the more "design-intensive" cards. I wrote down which sketch I planned to use and which sticker(s) I planned to use with it. (Yes, I'm a planner!!)
When I was done, I had 12 cards and just a few stickers left. Not bad for about $2.00 worth of materials!

I'm thinking about using the leftover stickers on a gift journal.
A note about card sizes:

• The smaller rectangular cards fit into invitation-sized envelopes.
• The larger rectangular cards fit into standard business-sized envelopes.
• The square cards are 6" and are part of a blank set I bought secondhand (with the envelopes) for this purpose. Since they cost extra to mail, I like to use these mainly for hand-delivered cards.

Obviously these are female-oriented birthday cards. I had the most pressing need for them at the moment, but I'm going to be needing some youth- and male-oriented cards soon, too, so I'm hoping to get a minute to stop in at the Dollar Tree again next week to look for some stickers ... And I'm hoping that my creativity holds out for a few more days!

Recipe: Peanut Butter Meltaway Cake

I didn't get to share a recipe last week since we were out of town. I figured I'd share my husband's favorite cake this week, in honor of his birthday.

I have a much more complicated recipe for this, but you can get the same results with my simplified recipe below:

Peanut Butter Meltaway Cake

1 box chocolate cake mix
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 tsp oil
1 tub chocolate frosting

1. Bake cake as directed and cool.
2. Mix peanut butter and oil. Spread over cooled cake. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
3. Microwave chocolate frosting for about 30 seconds and pour about 2/3 of it onto the cake. Spread it evenly. Refrigerate for another 20 minutes.

You can serve this at room temperature or cold. My husband prefers it straight from the refrigerator. It reminds him of his favorite candy, Gardner's Candies Peanut Butter Meltaways.

One part of the doily project is completed!

This is the shelf that started this whole "doily project." Unfortunately, it really started something! In addition to the five I've already made, I now have three larger doilies to make, as well as four more of this same size, all for different parts of my husband's study.

The good news? He said it can count as my Valentine's Day gift to him. (I'm beginning to think a storebought gift would have been a lot less "costly" when you count time, but this is a labor of love, after all.)

And here's a closeup of one of the shelves with a decorative plate (from Goodwill, along with two other matching decorative eagle plates at $4 each). The doilies really do add a finished look!

Doily Count: 4 Done!

Yep, you read that right. I managed to finish four doilies over the last two days. I'm pretty pleased, although I'd be the first to admit that being sick has kept me from some of my regular duties the last few days - and thus able to spend more time on this project. I guess I might as well make the best of the situation, right?

Here's a little tidbit for you ... My husband was watching me crochet today and asked where I ever learned to crochet. I mentioned that my mom taught me the chain stitch and I learned the rest from a teacher in sixth grade.

The interesting thing is that my teacher was left-handed, so I crochet just slightly different than most right-handers I know. (She would stand facing me and say, "Do it just like this," so I wrap my thread around the hook the opposite of most right-handers.)

But it doesn't stop there. You see, my little girl is left-handed, and I hope to teach her to crochet someday. Now I'll be able to sit facing her and say, "Do it just like this."

Pretty neat, isn't it? I think it's another one of those ways that God provides for our future before we even know about it.

Doilies for my husband!

My husband just got a large corner shelf for his study - to display his collection of eagle "memorabilia." He wanted doilies to go on each shelf, under the collections. He didn't like anything from the dollar store, so I was commissioned to make seven (!) of these doilies.

I just finished this one, so now I have only six more to go. I'm not planning to try more than one each day since my hands are curled up like I have rheumatoid arthritis after finishing just one!

The doily is roughly 10" diameter.

My morning routine and design difficulties

Crystal encouraged us to write up a morning routine with five things we want to do in the same order each day. So here is my morning routine, which I've roughly been following for awhile now:

1. Make breakfast.


2. Wash breakfast dishes.


3. Get dressed.


4. Get kids dressed.


5. Make beds.

And I'll also share my version of her "newbie project" for the day - to go to your front door and enter, pretending to be a first-time visitor.

That's a problem area in my house. You see, everyone comes to the back door here. Everyone. We live in the parsonage, so I wasn't surprised that the church people come to the back door. But even the UPS guy, the postal carrier, and Jehovah's Witnesses (which we are not, by the way) all come to the back door! Most of the evangelists we entertained so far have come to the front door when they arrived, but we quickly clued them in to our use of the back door.

Not that I'd rather people use the back door. You see, we have a very nice entrance at the front. It's so much easier to keep it clean. Now, if you happen to know me and come to my house on occasion, I'm really not complaining about you coming to the back door. I'm just trying to figure out a reasonable solution for our family, and blogging seems to help me sort things out.

My problem with the back door, in case your family is different than ours, is that the back door is where my freezer, laundry room and garbage can are located. This is where things get piled to be taken to the various places we go - things to be exchanged at the stores, to donate to missions at our church, to donate to the local thrift stores, to go into the larger trash container outside ... You get the idea.

I recently visited my sister-in-law's house for the first time (we've been married 5 years and just got around to visiting at their house!), and I was super-impressed with her front entry. I'd love for mine to look like hers, but I struggle because my entrance way is also the utilitarian part of our house.

I'd love to hear any suggestions you might have for me. If I get brave enough, I just might post a picture ... but don't count on it!

Okay, I got brave! This is what you see when you walk in the back door. The canner and slicer (in the box on top the washing machine) are to be stored ... somewhere. I was hoping the shed, but my husband informed me there's no place for them.

The items on top the dryer (besides the detergent) are to giveaway, mostly to missions.

My son's John Deere tricycle is usually parked right where it's at in the picture, although I would prefer it be somewhere else. The truck on top the freezer is a temporary thing - just until the glue dries on the headlight.

This is the back door, looking in from my kitchen.

And this is what you see to the left when you walk in the door. The tool cases are supposed to be on their way out to the shed.

My other big challenges include:

• a future addition (hopefully this summer) of a garage entrance to the right as you would walk in the door. This creates a problem because I can't design anything permanent to stay in that spot.
• the heat run just to the left of the door (when you walk in). This creates a problem since I can't put anything over it.

Those two "problems" limit what I'm able to do with the floor space I have.

However, once the attached garage is built, the chest freezer will go there, and that will free up tons of space in here!

So, now that I have some visuals for you - any more suggestions?

Another photo from Williamsburg, VA

This was also taken at the recreated Governor's Mansion gardens. I like the restfulness of the picture, and I've debated enlarging it for my home.

Notice how the trees form a natural arch? I'm pretty certain they didn't just "do" that - they were most likely trained that way. But it's too good to pass up, so I took the picture. And no, that bench in the picture was not an accident. I thought it created a peaceful, "sit down and enjoy the view" feeling, so I purposely included it.

My tips for this photo:

• Use natural framing when possible. (The trees form a natural frame for this picture.)
• Show depth when possible. (The long row of trees allowed me to capture the depth of this walkway.)

Have you used natural framing, consciously or otherwise? I'd love to see your photos!