Dino Hunter

Hi all! Just wanted to share a non-card, non-quilled project that my husband and I did for our grandson Ephram.  He is a DINO FREAK and can tell you EVERYTHING you ever wanted to know (or not) about dinosaurs!  He literally eats, sleeps and lives everything DINO!  So my DH got the idea to re-do his bike in a dino theme after seeing my Dinosaur Tracks Cricut cartridge. 

After taking the heat gun and scraping off all of the decals on his bike, we used yellow Cricut vinyl to make new ones.  One of his favorites (and he does have them ranked), is the Spinosaurus, so I cut out a spino silhouette for the "shield" on the front.  It is made from a piece of plastic 'cardboard' or is it call foamcore?, cutout in a fossil rock shape and spray pained brown.  Then I cut out "DINO HUNTER" with the font on the cartridge and used only the negative letter shapes. 

Next came his name and a spino charm with dino tracks.  The vinyl cut great and with the help of the transfer paper it was easy to put them on them bike.  He says his bike rides faster now.  He can't wait to show it off to the park ranger at Dinosaur Valley State Park (his favorite place) when we go back there this spring.  I see more requests for bike customization coming soon.  

DINO HUNTER

Just a reminder that there will be 2 blog hops on Friday,the 17th.  The first will be for the Lime Light Charitable Design Team at 8:00 p.m. CST and then at 11:30 p.m. the Embellish Me With Quilling blog hop!  Two projects posts in one day, an action card and another quilled jewelry set!  Until then,

Shalom,

Sonya

Wondering what's up?

Hi all, thanks for all the love you posted while I have been taking care of my husband.  He is back on the mend now and we are hoping that it will last!  I have had to help him with his part time job, being his chauffeur and runner while he is recovering, it is wearing me out!!.  Since he is getting where he doesn't need that as much I will be back creating this week.  All that time from creating has zapped my creativity!!!  It is like I can't get a project together and it takes me so long to do, well, nothing!!! But today I have started a watercolor card that is about half finished and I also have the Custom Quilling DT projects to post also, tomorrow.  I just wanted to pop in and let you know I'll be back posting!

Thanks so much again!!!
Shalom,
Sonya

Update

Hi everyone, just wanted to let you know I am taking a bit of a break in posting until my husband gets better.  He is having some medical issues and is hospitalized.  I will be back, hopefully soon, your prayers for his recovery will be greatly cherished. 

Shalom,
Sonya

What has been keeping me busy!

Hi all!  Last Friday we were on our way out of town to do a little camping for spring break and about 2 1/2 hours into our trip we received a phone call from my oldest daughter saying she was on her way to the hospital and that our grandaughter was going to be here a bit early. So we turn around and drive back home, unload the fridge in the RV and drive to the hospital in time to celebrate Chaiya Violet's  (pronounced Hi ya, it means life) birthday! You forget how little they are, she is 6 lbs and 5 ozs, and perfect. She and her mother are doing fine and we have been occupying her brothers and sister while they get some time alone. Just wanted to introduce our newest little angel.

Shalom,

Sonya

THANK YOU!

Hi all! I want to thank all of you who have sent such sweet get wells and have been praying for my recovery! I am overwhelmed with the love and support of so many who have been such a help and encouragement through this very difficult time.
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I hope the worst is over and every day it is a little better and with a bit of physical therapy I will be back at full speed soon. Every time I get up my walker is with me and I feel like "Edna" off of the movie Vacation! lol! Tomorrow I will try to sit at my craft table and create to take my mind off what is left to heal, I have some DT projects that need to be completed and wasn't expecting to take more than a week off!
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Thanks to all my family and friends that have been taking care of me with visits, prayers, and food! My sister cooked up a lot of great meals, brought the most beautiful heirloom eggplants, fresh milk and other goodies to tempt me to get my appetite back, not only do I but Mason really appreciates it also! I have been up a lot today trying to get my strength back but am exhausted so I will say thank you and bye for now!
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Shalom,
Sonya

Hero Card

Hi all. Yesterday was my husband Mason's 50th birthday!! We celebrated by taking him to a Rockets game and they obliged by winning! The card, while not made for him but for a sailor mom away from her new baby, is appropriate because he is my "Hero"! The pictures below are Mason and my youngest daughter at the game, they are holding the big five-o for 50! I don't know where the time went. It seems as thought I was walking down the school hall hand in hand with him just yesterday!

The card details easy and the Hero sentiment is stamped and embossed in gold. It is then layered onto Nesties over a red star DP that has die cut holographic red and blue stars layered onto it. I wanted it to look like a service award so I die cut a circle for a "medal" and dry embossed an eagle and Thank You on it. I attached it to the blue ribbon with a jump ring. The inside is also decorated with the DP and holographic red and blue smaller stars. I hope this card brightens this sailor mom's day a bit and let's her know that her sacrifice is greatly appreciated that she is a true Hero!

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I am still working on the quilling projects and will hopefully get them posted this week. Don't forget my 5000th view BLOG CANDY! the details can be found here. Leave a comment and you have a chance to win! Until the next post,

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Shalom,

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Sonya

Comment to have a chance at the BLOG CANDY!

It's Snowing in Houston!

I'm back after a 3 day hospital stay for my once removed gallbladder. I have been having flareups of pain just like I did just before I had it removed. This time it started on the day after our anniversary and after going to the dr. and her telling me to go to the ER if it didn't get better or if it got worse, I did, under much duress! My arms look like I have been in a fight with a drug dealer from all the IV attempts and blood draws, ugh! After many tests and torture they let me out today no wiser about the cause of the pain than when I went in. I should have stayed home!!!! I'll have to be unconscious or bleeding profusely before they will ever get me anywhere close to a hospital again!

But the bright side is that it was snowing when I left the hospital. Beautiful little white flakes floating down from the sky. We here in south Texas get excited even if it doesn't stick because we don't see it that often. I just went outside and it is snowing again and I looked on the radar and more is coming! Probably won't get to make a snowman but I feel like making snowflakes with my die cuter and get out the glitter to decorate them and hang them up!

I am going to start all my gift making tomorrow even if I don't feel well, hopefully it will improve my mood and make me forget the pain that is still there. I have to my sister's tag also, so until then,

Shalom,
Sonya

30 Years!

December 2, 1978

Today

I haven't updated the blog for a few days with all the cooking for Thanksgiving and kids in and out. Also because December 2nd was our 30th wedding anniversary. We took the travel trailer and went to a nearby state park to have a quiet celebration as we took our big celebration trip this summer to Israel. I can't believe how quickly these years have went by! We have had some great times and some rough ones and have a wonderful, loving (not perfect, which is a good thing, because he wouldn't have chosen me) husband, three great girls, one son-in-law, and three grandchildren. The pictures above are from our wedding 30 years ago and the black and white one is from this year. We have changed just a bit, he lost the mustache, sideburns and some hair, I gained more than a few pounds, but we still love each other very much.

Do I have any advice on marriage after 30 years? I'm still learning and here are a few of the things I have to pass on so far: Get your priorities straight - Your relationship with the L-rd first, your relationship with your spouse next, then your kids and then all else/everyone next. That includes your career, hobbies, extended family etc. Your marriage is a binding, life-long, non-breakable covenant, no divorce (barring true abuse)!

Marriage takes work, time and understanding. Becoming one does not mean that you no longer have individual personalities. Your own growing personal relationship with the L-rd will guide you in your relationship with your spouse and children making the joyous times more precious and the troubling times a time of growth and faith. Your spouse cannot read your mind! Communication is vitally important and know the difference between feelings and fact. Sometimes we women can "feel" something that doesn't have any bearing upon reality! Men don't relate well with emotions. They like to "know the facts" and to "fix a problem". Women relate "how they are feeling" in relation to a problem. These two differing ways of looking at a problem can cause a lot more problems than the original if you do not understand how men and women see the world. Pray, pray and pray some more, with your spouse and children. Build up your spouse, honestly and your children, do not tear down! Your home is your "safe haven" especially given to you by the L-rd, keep it that way. That safe haven will be a refuge when trying times come upon you, we all need one, with no criticizing, judgements and the like.

Leave your baggage at the door! Do not expect your spouse or your children to "fix" your childhood problems (real or imagined), past abuse, lack of self esteem, losses, past relationships or any other things you may bring to the relationship. Take them to G-d and let Him heal them. and to use them to His Glory. Last but not the least is that your growing 100% relationship with the L-rd will ensure that you will put in 100% into your relationship with your spouse. These lessons were learned the hard way and we are still learning! Love insn't just an emotion it is also a choice, a committment.

Below are two pictures from our trip to Israel. The first is a look towards the old city from the garden overlook and the other is us after we were blessed to get to pray at the wall! We put prayers for all of our friends and family in the cracks of the Western Wall. The trip was too wonderful to describe! There are over 900 pictures and 6 hours of video that we will show to anyone who wants to see! We were blessed to have walked where my L-rd has walked. To expierence the Land and it's people! On land that is ancient, modern, eternal and alive with His Presence. G-d has an eternal plan for His Land and people, and man's will and plan for it, will not prevail. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving with your friends and family, until the next post,

Shalom,

Sonya

What Ike left

We were blessed by the way of not having very much damage from hurricane Ike. We lost our very large, and only tree in the backyard which split and took out the back fence and then split again! We were only without electricity for 4 days so I count our blessings. The picture above is what Ike left us. This rambunctious boy was running around at a friends house who we were fixing the fence. We didn't want him to run out on the main highway so we took him home with us after looking and asking around if he was someones lost pet.

After a few days of looking for signs of "lost dogs" and checking with the shelters to no avail we decided to keep him. By then Christine, my daughter back from the Navy, was attached to him and he was named Jake. Off to the vet he went and we found out he had heartworms and an infection and thin. Jake is currently being treated for the heartworms and is rotten pug! He will sit by the door when Christine goes to class and howls. He has to be by one of us snuggling when he isn't being a nosy boy getting into everyones business and trying to get the Chloe and Jazzy to play - all the time! He has made himself at home and we have come to love his crazy antics.

Until later, Shalom,

Sonya

I've been a bad blogger!

It has been a lot more than a little while since I have blogged. The reasons? One I look at others blogs and see great ones then look at mine, ugh. Then I think what do I have to write about that others would find interesting? I love reading others blogs, the little things about their lives, art, collections etc. So I decided to start once again and be faithful to blog. I do have new quilling to post, and still have devotionals already done, just need to post. So look forward to new posts!

First, please keep my oldest daughter in your prayers. My soon-to-be granddaughter is due Aug. 28 but is not doing well and may decide to changer her birthday to next week. Please pray that she is healthy and no complications.

Well that is all for now,
Shalom,

Sonya

Finally back to blogging!

Well I am resting up after the hectic week of preparing for Pesach (Passover). My back decides to go awol on me when I stand for to long. A short post for today and then tomorrow, I promise, a post on Unleavened Bread and First Fruits.

The two pictures below are so that my blog isn't "Blahg" ala Paula Bauer. lol. I am new to this blogging thing and I am learning so much by visiting others blogs that are so interesting and well done.

What happens when you get tired of your grandchildren and can't send them back to their parents!

Your feed them to the T-REX!

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What you do to teenagers! (For any reason!)

Ok, so they aren't technically teenagers anymore, but could you tell me when they outgrow it? This was taken on our trip to Corpus Christi and the day after we were touring the USS Lexington, we returned to finish our tour. It is a museum aircraft carrier and we were touring it the day before when tornado force winds came up when we were on the flight deck. My husband was at the aft end of the deck taking pics and almost didn't make it back into the super structure. He was losing ground fast and if he had fallen it would have been "MAN OVERBOARD!"
Until tomorrow.
Shalom,
Sonya
If you have the time please comment, they are always welcome!

Back from our mini vacation

We are back from our mini vacation to the Texas hill county and can update my blog. The weather was beautiful and the RV park we stayed in was the nicest one yet. The Wimberly Market Days was one of our stops and it was a "shop till you drop" morning. What we didn't know was that in Round Top there was a huge, miles long, along the road Antiques Fair that same weekend and we missed it! But we stopped by anyway and looked around for a place to have lunch, which there wasn't, and decided to take some pictures of the bluebonnets in a field. Below is a picture of a rare white one. I guess it would be called a "whitebonnet"? The flowers were not as much as they have been in past years, maybe we went too early to see them. But it was a nice getaway. Below also is pictures of my papillon, Chloe, who went with us on our trip. She loves to have her picture taken. And since this trip was to see bluebonnets I posted a pictures of my quilled Bluebonnet and Indian Paintbrush. I haven't used them in a picture yet and when I do I will post it.

Some good news from my youngest daughter who called us when she recieved a letter from Stephen F. Austin U. informing her of her acceptance into nursing school this fall. A good thing she is becoming a nurse then we won't have to worry about our care when we get old!

Personalizing the blog!

Hi y'all,

Since I am so new to blogging I am trying out all the neat stuff you can put on the side etc. I still have to figure out how to put a slide show on so I can put the quilling projects I have done on it. In case you are wondering who Christine is on the "Christine's cat" below, she is my daughter who is in the Navy. She is stationed in Seattle after her ship, the USS Emory S. Land, was deployed back to the US after being in LaMadelenna Italy for many years. The navy didn't have room on the base for all the returning sailors so they put her up in an apartment off base. Her roomate adopted a kitten and this little black ball of fur "adopted" Christine. Except that this cute little kitten is described by Christine as "evil". He loves Christine and attacks her when she comes in, when she is on the phone, when she is asleep, whenever! So I put the cat on my blog so she could play with a nice cat! lol.

Later today I am going to post the first of my devotionals that the Lord has given me. The will be called "Salt Shaker" and will be under that label. I will post one each Monday and I hope that you will be encouraged in the Lord by what He has to say. Other posts will be about the Sabbath, what it is, why we celebrate it, and how you can celebrate it in your home. There will be quilling blogs with tips that I have learned, projects, reviews of quilling web sites and blogs for inspiration and supplies. Other blog posts will be about our family and what is up with us. Hope you enjoy what you see here!

Shalom,
Sonya