Hi Friends! In this post I'm sharing with you all about some super easy holiday themed trivets that will dress up your holiday table this year.
This was a really easy project to make so its perfect for those of you crafters out there who don't have a lot of time to work on your holiday projects due to the craziness of life, which seems to be amplified this time of year...lol.
For this project I used two of the glass Cutting Boards, as Dollar Tree has them labeled but to me their trivets as that's what I heard growing up. I also used one of the adorable gift bags Dollar Tree has to offer this year. So with those two items along with some Mod Podge and some copper paint (which is totally optional as I mention in the video below). You're looking at a really nice gift for either your home or for the hostess when you attend some holiday parties this season for less than $5. What a deal right?
Below is my video tutorial where I walk you the steps on how to create one of these beautiful trivets that you can use to dress up your holiday table this year. A part of me can't wait until Thanksgiving is over so I can display these on my dining room table ; )
I hope you ladies enjoy this project and that you make some of these for your own holiday table. Please make sure you check back here on my blog as I'm busy making more fun and decorative craft items for this holiday season. Also make sure you're subscribed to my YouTube channel so you don't miss any new crafty videos I upload several times a week.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful day : )
Hi friends! Yes you read that correctly. I made some shabby chic style purple feather trees for my craft room holiday decor : ) Since I am such a purple lovin crafter, it only made sense that my first project for the "launch" of my 2016 Craft-MAS holiday crafts is a purple one.
I didn't take any step-out photos for this project as I did a full tutorial video (link below) but here are some photos of the beautiful purple feather trees...
I did film a video tutorial for this project as I do for all of my crafts. This way you can see how what items I used and how I created my version of feather trees. I will link the video below so you can check it out. If you aren't already subscribed to my YouTube Channel please consider doing so as this way you will be notified every time I upload a new video, which is at least 4 times a week, depending on what I'm working on.
I hope that you enjoyed seeing some photos of these gorgeous feather trees that I love so much (my addiction to purple is growing more by the day lol).
Please check out the video linked above so you can see what I used to create these items, using things I found at the Dollar Tree and Michaels, along with how I put them together.
Thanks for stopping by my blog and for following along on my crafty journey.
Hi Friends! Wow. I cannot believe it has been over a year since my last post. I ended up taking pretty much a year off of crafting as I was recovering from my brain surgery on March 2, 2015. I've been updating everyone regarding my Trigeminal Neuralgia and Anesthesia Dolorosa on my YouTube channel. I'll include the link to that playlist at the end of this post for anyone who'd like to watch those videos. Don't get me wrong, I will for sure be discussing how I'm doing with my TN and AD pain but I will title those posts as Trigeminal Neuralgia Update so I can keep those posts separate from my crafty posts and it makes it easier for my fellow TN'ers to find my posts. I want to keep this post all about the crafty and what's been going on with me since my last post.
So much has happened but in a nutshell...we moved from Oregon to Florida this past June for my husband's company. I was put on medical leave by my doctors in Oregon prior to our move as my pain from TN and AD makes it difficult to work outside the house so I've been focusing on my crafting even more than before. My son Tre' stayed in Oregon as he has a job there, he's 21 now...yikes! My daughter Kaley moved with us and she's a Junior this year and she's doing great. She's in all AP/Honors classes and wants to become an attorney. Our little dachshund Bella is doing great, she certainly loves the Florida sun. Its been quite the whirlwind for sure but it's been a fun adventure. I lived in Oregon my entire life until this move so I was a bit nervous making such a big move but it's been really good so far : ) Here are a few photos from our move and some fun times we've had so far here in Florida...
This is a photo of Steve and I before he left for Florida. His mom and step-dad drove the moving truck, which was towing Steve's car, and the Tahoe to Florida. I flew out a few days later. My doctors were concerned about me making the week long trek in the Tahoe due to my facial pain.
Filling up the moving truck. I sure miss that house. It was SO beautiful, but on to better and bigger things right : )
Kaley was trying to convince us to let her drive the truck...lol.
Bittersweet moment. Watching Steve and my in-laws driving off to Florida while I was heading back to Lebanon for a few days before I flew out to Florida.
Bit of an Oregon tradition to take a photo of your feet with the carpet at PDX. So here I am, in my purple kicks ready to fly South. It was so hard leaving my friends and family.
This was the night Kaley finally arrived. She stayed in Oregon for the summer with her dad. I was SO happy to have her back with me.
Me with my two most precious gifts in life, my son and daughter. This was a rough day as I knew I was saying goodbye to Tre' for quite some time as he stayed in Oregon.
Me and my baby girl. She flew out to Florida in late August.
Just look at this handsome young man. I can't believe he's 21 now. I've yet to have a photo with him where he has a "normal" smile...lol.
Okay here's the last one. This is me pumping gas after Steve taught me how...lol. I grew up in Oregon and you don't pump your gas there. I never had to do it before so it was a funny photo : ) I have about half of my craft room setup here in our rental house. It's a bit smaller than what I had before but I'm happy to have a place at all. I have everything organized in totes out in the garage so I can easily get to whatever I don't have in my actual room. We wanted to live here for a bit and check out the neighborhoods before we purchased a home. So while it's not super convenient to have half of my stuff in totes and half in the house, I know its temporary.
I've really been focusing on my YouTube channel this past year. My channel has really grown and continues to grow daily. I have quite a few tutorials, project shares along with hauls and crafty tips on my channel so be sure to check it out if you haven't already. I'm coming up on my 5 year anniversary for being on YouTube. Crazy! I've also been updating my website behind the scenes and I expect to have it live by next week. Oh, I've also created a crafty page on Facebook called Purple Cottage Crafts. You should stop by and check it out.
Well, I think that's it for now. I want to start posting some projects I've made recently along with the videos that show you the item up close so please make sure you check back for those as well.
I want to thank all of you that check in and see/read this update. I know it's been a really long time since I've updated this blog but life has been crazy and I was still recovering from my surgery and trying to learn how to live with chronic pain. Crafting has become so much more than just a hobby as it started out all those years ago, it has become my therapy and what keeps me from falling into the deep dark hole of depression that can goes along with living with chronic pain.
It feels good to be back and I cannot wait to start sharing what I've been up to these past few months.
Have a great day and I'll see you in my next post : )
Links to my YouTube Channel and to my Trigeminal Neuralgia Playlist:
Hi Friends! I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post. I have been meaning to do this post for quite some time but just haven't been able to formulate what I wanted to say and have it make sense. This will be quite a lengthy post so grab a cup of whatever is your pleasure and read about my journey as I battle a nerve disorder/disease that I was diagnosed with last year. **I do have some YT videos posted at the end of this post if you'd rather listen to me explain my story vs reading this long post**
As you've noticed I haven't been posting here or much on my YouTube channel. I haven't been feeling well since August, Tuesday August 26th to be exact. I woke up with deep, burning stabbing pain in my left ear coupled with facial pain, all on my left side. I tried to "ignore" it as best as I could for about a week then I ended up going to Urgent Care on my lunch break exactly a week after the pain started. They checked me for an ear infection etc, found nothing but gave me a RX for Sudafed and was told to follow up in a few days if it didn't get better. It didn't, so over the course of the next 5 weeks I was seen by 4 different doctors and was prescribed over 5 different antibiotics and steroids for an "ear infection" that didn't exist. My primary doctor finally sent me to an ENT doctor to figure out what was causing my deep ear pain.
I saw him in November (2014) and he did a thorough examination and confirmed that I did not have any type of inner ear infection and he felt my pain was a type of neuralgia. He scheduled me for an MRI to rule out a benign brain tumor, which could be the cause of my pain, pressing on my cranial nerves. Luckily that came back with no tumor but the question remained as to what was causing my pain. He started me on Gabapentin (which is a seizure medication) as it is known to help relieve some types of nerve pain, along with a muscle relaxer I had to take 3x a day with the Gaba. He also referred me to a Neurologist for further workup. Since I had to wait about a month to get in, he ordered additional MRI images the Neurologist would order anyway, just to get them done.
I didn't have the best experience with this Neurologist regretfully. I won't go into detail as my intention for this post isn't to talk negatively about anyone, but I was not really listened to and was told to double my dose of Gaba and he put me on another muscle relaxer. He did confirm the diagnosis of Trigeminal Neuralgia, which is what the ENT was suggesting. Let's just say that to state I was a medicated zombie for a few months would be an understatement. I couldn't remember things, had a hard time speaking, trouble driving most days, focusing was pretty much out the window and I don't even remember my birthday at all.
Long story short, I have an amazing friend who is a patient of Dr. Kim Burchiel's at OHSU in Portland, OR (about 2 hours South of where I live). Unbeknownst to me, she called his office and dropped my name so I could be seen right away. By her doing this she gave me a gift that I can never repay as I found THE best Neurosurgeon on the West Coast who has years of experience in Trigeminal Neuralgia and performs the MVD surgery (Microvascular Decompression) basically brain surgery, which is what I'm having on Monday March 2nd 2015. Dr. Burchiel is also mentioned and has some content in the book, Striking Back which is known in the TN/Neuralgia community as the TN Bible. This book has been a wonderful tool for me during my journey with this awful disease.
I was first seen by Dr.Burchiel on December 11th (most people have to wait months to get in to see him so I was truly blessed by only having to wait a little over a month). He went over my complete history and had me do an online pre-screening symptom quiz he developed which is a tool he uses to help determine what type of Neuralgia you may have. By the time I saw him, I was off all medications (I forgot to mention this above) as I was switched to Tegratol after the Gaba made me a medicated zombie, and I developed a severe allergic reaction, so I was told to stop all meds cold turkey. They weren't helping with the pain at all so I was happy to stop taking them. He ordered a 4-D MRI and an MRA to get the views of the nerves, blood vessels and arteries in my skull. I had this done on December 23rd and saw him the same day to discuss. He found a compression against my Trigeminal Nerve and another blood vessel running over the top of the TN Nerve. This is what has been causing my pain (I'll describe that below). So the plan at that point was to schedule me for the MVD. This has a 90% success rate and since I'm only 42, I'm a candidate for this and it's the best option to give me the best relief of pain for the longest amount of time. The MVD is the most invasive procedure as it's brain surgery, but it's the least destructive. There are other procedures that are less invasive but they are destructive, meaning you have permanent facial numbness and they only work for a year or so at best. So, with the whole process of insurance, referrals, OR scheduling time etc, I found out in early January that my surgery would be on March 2nd. As you can imagine I was bummed it was so far out and I had to endure this pain that much longer BUT I told myself that there are others who have had to wait much longer than I for the surgery so I stopped feeling sorry for myself and just went on with my life the best I could. And here it is tomorrow, surgery day. I can't even believe it.
What my pain is like: Imagine an ice pick being rammed into your ear that is burning piercing hot and it NEVER.STOPS.HURTING, along with deep pressure and pain in the ear and head. Along with that I get these sharp, electric-stabbing type sensations all over on the left side of my face that NEVER.STOPS.HURTING when this part flares up, which is around a 100x a day...not even joking. My lips go tingly numb, my face tingles while being zapped and sometimes the pain drops me to the floor...literally to the floor. This is what I have been suffering with since August 26th, 2014. I did have a bout of this in November of 2010 that lasted for about 2 months (no ear pain at this time...just the facial zaps) and it didn't come back until August of last year. I was told that TN does go into remission at times and when it comes back, it comes back with vengeance and boy oh boy can I say that isn't a joke.
What triggers the facial zaps: Anything and everything. There is no rhyme or reason to this nightmare pain at all. Various things that trigger it for me: wind hitting my face (the left side), my hair brushing against my cheek, brushing my teeth, chewing (eating in general), drinking certain beverages (mostly cold for me), cold air, the water hitting my face from the shower...it goes on and on. No matter what you do to protect your face or to prevent the next flare up, it happens.
What TN has stole from me/affected my life: Having TN and this horrible pain 24/7 has seriously debilitated my normal day to day life. I have missed SO much work since this started (I am beyond blessed to work for a great employer who is very supportive and I have great benefits:leave/FMLA/disability etc). My daughter is a Freshman in high school this year, I missed all but two of her volleyball games (the noise is just horrendous when you have constant head/facial pain and I wasn't able to tolerate the all day tournaments etc). I stayed home for Thanksgiving, missed several family get togethers and as I mentioned above, don't even remember my birthday for the most part due to the medicated zombie-like state I was in. As you guys know I am a crafter and it is MY PASSION. I have had to take a "leave of absence" from all of my DT's I'm on and I haven't created anything new for months. I'm just not able to sit there and craft like I used to while I'm in so much pain. This is probably the worst part for me as crafting is my therapy, my outlet and I LOVE it.
How I "manage" maintain my life with TN: First let me say again that I am beyond blessed with an amazing husband, kids (teenagers), family, friends, co-workers etc. that help me get through this nightmare that I am in right now. I have also found great support through several online TN/Facial Pain support groups and I know people in real life who I'm friends with that are also suffering with this. So we've become like this TN family of sorts. I do my best to get through my work day each day (I work full time M-F). Some days I can make it all day and most days I half to go home early or I just end up staying home, depending how bad my pain is. Some days I just can't cope and need to be home in my quiet space. I turn to my online support groups when things get really bad (having others who suffer with this is sometimes the best medicine as they get what I'm saying and there's no judgement when you "gripe/vent" about the relentless pain). I have a heat wrap that a friend made for me. It's one of those rice/husk type wraps. This one has some lavender in it so it's very soothing to me. It doesn't take away the pain but having some warmth on my zapping face is comforting. I have to say my hubby is THE best thing for me. He is beyond supportive, attentive and caring (I promise you I am not exaggerating...his mom did an amazing job raising her 5 sons). Steve always knows what to do, say or not say when I'm having my flare ups. He takes care of my every need and does so much around the house with the kids and normal day to day life stuff. My two kids, Kaley 15 and Tre' 19 are also amazing support to me..always taking care of their momma :)
So, here I sit on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Oregon getting ready to leave in a few short hours for the drive to Portland. We have to check in super early so we're driving up today and will get a hotel room so we don't have to worry about the traffic and being late for my check in time. Plus it will be nice to get a mini getaway from the house and get my mind off the surgery tomorrow (hopefully..lol). I have no idea why I waited till the last minute to post this but the timing just seemed right today.
I will post the videos below that I've done on my YT channel that are specific to my TN Journey. If you stuck with and read this blog post that turned into a short story, I thank you. I also hope that you will check back and see how I'm doing as I plan on doing updates as I'm able to do so. My recovery time off work is 6 weeks so I'm not certain how I'll be feeling since I've never had brain surgery before but I will do my best to update as I can.
Sad to say it will be awhile before I get to do anymore crafting due to my surgery/recovery but also because my craft room is all packed up and put in our storage unit (sniff sniff) as we're in the process of moving in the next few months and buying a home. Nothing like piling on a major life event during another major life event right??? I packed up my room over the past month (if you've watched my craft room tour video from last summer or have seen the pics I've posted of my room you'll know why it took me so long...lol) so I wouldn't have to try and do this after surgery since I can't be moving around very much for quite a few weeks and I wanted to be the one packing up my precious crafting goodies : )
Thanks again...I hope you will return to check in on me and I promise I will get back to scrappy posts and to ScrappinAbby as soon as I possibly can.
Keep me in your prayers and craft for me my friends : )
Hi Friends! Today I have a super cute Valentine's project to share with all of you using some of the FAB Crinkle Ribbon and Lace from 3GJ.
I made some fun treat sacks using some glassine bags and pulled from a few different crinkle ribbon bundles and some distress lace.
I also have a short video that shows you the project up close along with the 3GJ goodies I used....
Now for some additional pics....
These are such a quick and easy project to make that would be perfect to tuck a gift card or some sweet treats in for your sweetheart or just some close friends. Plus they're adorable (I think so anyway..lol).
Be sure to stop by the 3 Girl JAM Store and pick up some of the fabulous Crinkle Ribbons and laces for your Valentine's projects. Also, use Discount Code: AH10 to get 10% off of your total order.
Thanks for stopping by my blog today and for checking out another ScrappinAbby project.
Hi Friends! Today I have a fun 3 Girl JAM DT project to share with all of you using some of the fabulous Crinkle Ribbon & Trims from 3GJ. I've had these grey felt covered stationary items for quite some time and I thought I would alter the journal that came in this set to something I like.
Normally I have a short video to share with all of you but I sorta forgot to charge it...oops. I will however have it up on my YouTube Channel later this week so be sure to look for it.
Here are the fun 3GJ goodies I used on my altered journal....
I created a fun flower using two different bundles and then added a few strands of the silver cording just to give it that pop.
I also made a simple bookmark with the same coordinating Crinkle Ribbon...
Creating a quick and easy project like this would make the perfect gift for anyone who loves to journal or just sketch. This is a great idea to dress up those plain Jane journals you can find at craft stores or even book stores and put your own special twist or touch on it.
I know I love how mine turned out and I can't wait to use it : )
Thanks for stopping by my blog today and for checking out another ScrappinAbby project. Like always I encourage you to pull from several of the bundles and create your own special project.
You crafters know how much I love using more than one bundle or ribbon selection on my projects. It's fun to see how well they all blend & work together....
This tag has such a cool mix of textures from the washi tape to the 3GJ Gold Cording. I encourage you to mix it up a bit and pull from several of the 3GJ ribbon and trim bundles if you don't do that already. Even though the diagonal striped ribbon is a dark navy/blue color, it still goes so well with the gold and black, at least I think so : ) I am excited for the New Year and can't wait to see what 2015 brings. I hope you all have a Happy and safe New Year and I'll see you in 2015!!! Happy Crafting & Happy New Year!!!
