Just Checking In

I can't believe how fast our 3 nights and 4 days at the cabin flew by.

I gotta tell ya, the cabin was way, way, way UP in the mountains. Picture a skinny one lane rock road that goes almost straight up. Make several hairpin turns and continue going straight up to an even higher elevation. I was scared stiff. I was glad that we were in the 4WD Jeep!

Not quite ready to go home, we decided to leave the mountain, come back into the heart of the city of Pigeon Forge, and grab a motel room for one more night.

We took a drive over to Townsend so Chris could visit his favorite woodcarving store. We also stopped and ate breakfast there. It cost $60 for five of us to eat BREAKFAST! Crazy! (I forgot to mention that we let my 12 yo. neice come with us, so that's where the fifth person comes in.)

After we check out of the motel in the morning I'm going to go waste a couple hours at the HUGE scrapbook store and scrapbook clearance store over at Governer's Crossing. Can't wait. I'm hoping I will find some things that will get me excited about scrapping again. I've got so many pictures I need to scrap.

Funny, as I type this Chris is sitting at the foot of the bed carving a spoon. Alex, Caleb and Vivian are relaxing after a dip in the pool, and here I sit blogging on the laptop. I think we will be ready to be home after tonight. LOL

I'll post some pictures when I get home.
See ya soon. ~Kristie

Headed to the Cabin

We are taking a vacation and heading to a cabin in the mountains for a few days.
Any things ordered from my shop while I am gone will be shipped the day after I return.

Since I can't sleep much at night I am bringing a project with me to work on. I'm going to make a scarf with this super pretty ribbon yarn. I've already started on it. Couldn't resist!

I'll take lotsa pictures! See ya in a few days. ((Hugs))

For Chris :)

Kiss Me - Sixpence None the Richer

Tea From Pine Needles

As with anything please take what you read about this with a " grain of salt" because I am NOT claiming this all to be true. It's just what I've read and learned, so take it for what it's worth.

Have you ever heard of pine needle tea? I hadn't, but was very intrigued so I set out to learn more.

It is reportedly VERY, very good for the body when you drink tea made from pine needles. Yes, everyday ordinary pine needles. Your Christmas tree! LOL

Supposedly, one cup of pine needle tea has more vitamin C than 6 lemons! and is good for treating mild depression, strengthening the nerves in your eyes, muscle fatigue, heart ailments, kidney ailments, to treat coughs, allergies, and many other things.

I wanted to give it a try so I pulled up this recipe:
Chop up the needles..
Meantime, boil a pot of water.
Place pine in boiling water, cover, and remove from heat. Let steep from 20 minutes to all night.
What you don't drink hot, refrigerate for a cold, refreshing drink.Experiment with proportions of pine needles to water.
The best tea will be a nice reddish color, and a small amount of oil will rise to the top.

This recipe makes a beautiful red tea, with a mild, pleasant taste. You can sweeten with honey if desired.

The boys and I went out to the front yard - I live in the forest ya know! :) And we gathered some needles and made a cup. It was actually very yummy. I think we should have gotten needles that were a bit younger as ours didn't turn out exactly orange but more of a pale peach shade.
It was as good as any processed teas I've ever bought though and next time I want to chill some because I just prefer my tea cold. LOL It was positively good enough to have again and if even one of those health benefits is true then all the better. It's just too bad that it doesn't treat insomnia. If it did I would not be here posting in the middle of the night so often. LOL

I love learning about this kind of stuff!

Around My House

Here are a few of the things around my home at this time. Mostly my kitchen and living room anyway. I like things that are simple, no fuss. My walls are beige and garnet. Not red as they appear in the pics.
Ignore the cobwebs and dust- I do. LOL
Click on the picture and it will come up full size. Have a great day!

Camouflaged Blessings

When Chris and I first started out we were very young and very poor. We had our son Alex and not much else.
We bought a piece of land that we could make payments on ($97 a month to be exact) and as we were able we started building a house. We didn't get any loans because we decided early on that we wanted to live as debt free as possible.

So, little by little we scrimped and saved and added on the the house as often as we could. We did all the work ourselves. Yes, ALL of it. We didn't have money for contracted labor.
In the meantime we had to live with my parents which wasn't always easy.
It took three long years to get the house finished and ready to be lived in.
It isn't a large house and I complain almost daily about the lack of storage space I have. lol

Living debt free means never having a brand new car.
Sometimes I'd see someone I went to school with driving a shiny new car and wonder why they were so lucky and I wasn't. All the while not taking into consideration that I had something they didn't. A car that I bought outright with no payments. Sure it might have been a few years older but it always got me where I needed to go and when it broke down I just go buy another car.

Groceries in our house were a luxury too, at first. We never had a fully stocked pantry. We never starved but lived on one meal a day to make the food last longer most times.

Fast forward to now and so many things have changed. Chris has a great job. I am able to be a stay at home mom and homeschool my kids. I still don't have a brand new car but the cars I have now are great running and much better looking, newer models. LOL

We have more than enough to eat and the cupboards are never bare.
All of our bills (internet, cell phones, water, electric, cable, car insurance, etc.) combined come to less than what most families pay on one months mortgage payment.
We can travel where ever and when ever the mood strikes us. We live by our own schedule.

The point of all this is that in the beginning when we were starting out and struggling, doing without a lot of wants and needs, life didn't seem to be very fair sometimes. But now in hindsight we can appreciate those struggles and times that were lean.

Those struggles and decisions laid the path for the life we have today. No it's not a glamorous life, but that's not our style anyway.
Because of those decisions we won't be paying off our home when we are in our 50's or 60's. We won't have credit card debt up to our eyeballs. We will always have a larger income to debt ratio. And now, I can see that the struggle was really a small part of the bigger picture. It now reveals the blessings that once were so camouflaged.

Thrift store shopping.

The scene:
A woman in her early 30's- ok 34! Roams the aisles wild eyed as if somewhere around the next corner she was going to discover a treasure unlike any other.
When the treasure is spotted it is scooped up swiftly and she looks around to her left and right suspiciously as she fears someone is on her heels waiting to pounce on her and take her new possession from her clutches.
The coast is clear. Now she looks over the treasure for the price and laughs merrily at the wee price. SUCKERS! She thinks to herself. Fifty cents! I would have paid at least twice that much! BWAHAHAHA

That's me! I LOVE thrift stores! I always look for rustic and primitive things. Show me a basket of buttons and a quilt and I'm tickled pink! A dried flower bouquet, a rag doll, old timey clothespins, baskets... that's what I'm after. :) And the best part is when I find something I didn't even know I loved until I saw it. swoooooon!

One of my very favorite thrift stores is operated by New Hope Church down in Sevierville, TN. All proceeds from the thrift store go to help people with drug and alcohol addictions.
Sadly it was burned to the ground by an arsonist this past June.
I will never forget it. I was sitting in a motel room and it was about 2am. I was up because I couldn't sleep- as usual. Chris was asleep next to me in the bed and I turn the tv on and started channel surfing. One channel was news and I saw a building in blazes but didn't think much about it. I almost changed the channel before I realized that the building in flames looked mighty familiar.

My heart sank as I sat on the bed watching the building being engulfed and listening to the news reporter say that it was officially determined to be arson. What makes someone want to burn down a thrift store for goodness sakes? What could be the motive? It just made no sense at all.
I was so sad.
Just a couple days prior I was there merrily shopping and making small talk with the pastor of the church and their helpers. Suddenly my last purchases really did seem more like real treasures. What if I had not bought them when I was there just two days ago? My pretties would have burned up in that fire...

The good news is that they now have a new location that was donated to the church. YAY!!
I can't wait to get back to Sevierville and stop in. The bonus of it all is that the new location is right across the street from the best scrapbook superstore in the world! One door was closed (or burned) but God opened another. :)

GREAT mail day today!

I am happier than a kid in a candy store!! I got 6 packages in the mail today. YAYAY.
Even better...4 of the 6 packages were from Etsy. Oh yeah!

I got 6 WONDERFUL goat milk soaps from www.hiddenhaven.etsy.com
Peggy is my favorite soap supplier ever! I now have 20 of her soaps.

A 5LB. bag of cinnamon scented rose hips from www.magoomus.com
These smell fabulous!
Two awesome lotions from www.rightasraincreations.etsy.com
I got chocolate orange and my favorite scent of hers, Beyond Melon. YUM-O!

A batch of hand made cinnamon "grubby star mixins" to go with my cinna rose hips from
www.rosielopey.etsy.com
These too smell wonderful. Cinnamon is very favorite scent ever.

The Essential Glue Pad from www.lifetimemoments.com
For when I actually do get back to scrapbooking, LOL.

and finally, some much needed spacer beads from www.miabellacollection.etsy.com
Gotta have'em. Can't make much of anything without them.

Here are the cinna star mixins and the rose hips in their new home. Yep, I'm ready for Christmas a wee bit early but my room smells DIVINE. :)

Isn't it just delightful? Feels like home!

And there you have it. My super-duper-wonderful- excellent- great- mail day.

Can't believe I forgot to tell you...

that I am getting published AGAIN! lol
Yep, got contacted by Bead Trends again the other day. This time they want two more of my pieces. This means that I am going to be in the Nov./Dec. issue AND the Jan./Feb issue too!
I'll have 2 full pages in the Jan./Feb. issue!! I can not believe it. Too cool! :O)

I guess that's all for now. Happy Thursday everyone!

That's what happens when you stop. You forget!

Ever since I took a break from scrapbooking - SEVERAL months ago,- I can no longer find the time for it now that I want to do it.
How did I used to find the time? I remember the house was still getting cleaned and everyone was fed, LOL but WHERE did the time come from? I forget! I have NO idea how I fit it into my days.

I don't like change but it is inevitable and so like everything else in life, my life changed as well. It happened when I wasn't looking.
Lately I've been so busy planning home improvement lists- there is SO much that needs to be fixed around here), schooling Caleb, occasionally working on new pieces for my Etsy shop, chasing coupons for CVS deals and spending MUCH more time away from home than usual that nothing seems the same. It's kinda sad.
I know that probably doesn't make sense exactly. I guess you'll just have to take my word for it.

I guess I should try to start off by planning and setting aside one specific day for it and do nothing else! Still have no idea what day I can spare, but I'm going to try. I've got a lot of pictures that need to be a part of the story. :)

New Listings.

Dark Olivine Jade Bracelet and earrings. Sold separately.

HUGE markdowns at the shop.

****EARRING CLEARANCE in my Etsy shop****
All earring prices have been SLASHED as much as 75%!
Buy 3 pairs and SHIPPING IS FREE! (US only)

**ALL Pearlfection items marked from $25 to $15 and lower.**

www.KristieGK.etsy.com

To list or not to list...

I can't decide.
Ten primitive, grungy tags. Stained, machine and pen stitched. Wrinkled, ironed, stamped, buttons, twine, fabric strips, hand written sentiments of all things that family is.

Just thinking about my dad today...

...remembering, thinking...
I should go put some fresh flowers on your grave...
...I haven't done that in a while.

What's Up With Me...

Just a few updates and things to share...

SICK: First thing- I have a miserable sinus thing going on that just started today. ICK!

SHOPPING: I made myself feel a little better with some online shopping. :) You already know I am totally an old soul and love all things rustic, primitive, grungy and grubby. That in mind you'll understand what I mean when I tell you that I HAD to buy some Pumpkin Putka Pods and Rose Hips!


Maybe it's because we are already experiencing the onset of fall here on the east side of the US due to the drought and extremely high temps. Or maybe I just feel that these are going to look and smell fabulous in a wooden bowl on table! LOL If you don't know Putka are these pods that grow in India. As you can see, they look like miniature pumpkins. How cute is that! I can't wait to get them. I ordered them from www.gainerscreekcrafts.com Her shop is chock full of all sorts of handmade goodies and things.

Thinking ahead to Christmas...Okay so I wasn't really thinking that far ahead, but when I saw these I had to have them as well. I collect grungy gingerbread men. Here's a pic. of them.
http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=5896792
They are going to be cute along with my other ones in my - small but growing collection.

CLEANING and STORMING: About 3 times a year I load up every bedding item in the house and head off to the laundromat. I don't think I can explain why I have this need to do this. I just do! All blankets, comforters, throws, quilts, sheets, pillow cases, and yes, even ALL pillows get loaded up for a thorough washing.
Anyway, while we were there a storm popped up out of nowhere. One minute it was a sweltering 103* and then all of a sudden it came the roughest storm I have ever witnessed in my life!
The rains came down fast and hard, then harder and harder still. The wind was blowing things over and bending street signs like the were made of string. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse it started hailing like nobodies business. As if that wasn't enough the wind, rain, and hail all started to blow round and round in a synchronized whirlwind of fury. Then, total white out!! The next thing I saw was the glass and glass doors at the front part of the laundromat began to suction in and out, in and then out again. I remember yelling something about- Everybody get AWAY from the windows!! NOW!!
I knew for sure that they were going to implode. I thought for sure that we were witnessing a tornado.

Oddly enough I did not panic. My main concern was making sure that the kids were safe. This laundromat was newly built. It is a brick building nestled up against a high hillside. The only windows were the ones up front. I figured we would be fairly safe there.
The only time I got worried was when I tried to call Caleb and didn't get an answer. He was home alone and he was asleep. I thought to myself- my house will not withstand this if this is happening out home. Then I called Karen and luckily she answered, said it wasn't raining their at all but said she would go get Caleb for me and take him over to Mom's. (She has a basement.)

About as fast as the storm blew in it also blew right back out. There was no major property damage. Only a few restaurant signs got blow down, shattered. A few red lights got twisted round and round. Other than that and some limb debris every thing else was ok. The storm headed further north and missed my house- thank goodness. I'm happy to say that we made it back home with nice clean blankets and pillows. lol

EBAY: Yesterday I got an unexpected email via ebay. A lady said that she had received some of my scrapbook items as a gift from a friend a while back and wanted to know if I planned to list more things soon? She was complimentary about my items. So sweet.
I told her that I only sell on Etsy now as ebay was cost prohibitive. I invited her to come see me there and I would be happy to work with her on an order. --Haven't heard back from her just yet. I think it's pretty cool that someone contacted me after all this time. I haven't sold on ebay in a very long time!

BEING PUBLISHED: Can you believe that? Nikki gave me the heads up about a new line of idea books coming out by Bead Trends. They are the same folks that do Scrapbook Trends. Anyway, I submitted a couple of pieces for their consideration and to my surprise they wanted a set from my Pearlfection Collection for the Nov./Dec. idea book.
I guess it's an OK thing, but I am not giddy about it or anything. I never really tried very hard to get my scrapbook items published, and in turn I never was published, LOL.
I only entered my jewelry pieces half heartedly, but, you know the rest...

I'm sure there's more to tell but I'm even more sure that you are probably glad that I finished here. ;)

The End.

TWO for $10

**AUGUST SPECIAL REVISED**
Get TWO pairs of earrings for $10 till the end of August. (Earring section only)
Convo me with your choices before adding to the cart so that I can adjust the listings first. Thank you.
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5055265&section_id=5077481

Update on my back.

Thanks to everyone for the prayers and well wishes. I am super happy to tell you that all is better and I have no more backaches now. That was a pretty scary week! What else can I say... I'm ALL better and I know you helped make the difference. (((hugs)))

Lets Trade.

If anyone wants to trade the Smart Source, Valassis, and/or P&G coupon inserts from their Sunday newspapers for items in my Etsy shop PLEASE let me know. Thanks!
www.kristiegk.etsy.com

Stranger Than Fiction!

Do you have your favorite beverage handy? No? Well go get it. I'll wait. This is too strange to miss!

We live in a very rural area where life is quite and most people still don't lock their doors at night.
Being the insomniac family that we are it's not unusual for our front door to be standing wide open till around 4AM. We don't have central air so we have this HUGE fan that sits at the doorway to bring in the cooler night air. It's our life saver on these hot nights.

Anyway...last night at 3AM our dogs went into a barking frenzy. Turns out there was a man standing on our porch yelling for us. Never seen this guy before in my life. So, Alex went out to see what the heck was up. Turns out it was two men, a woman and a little girl about the age of 6. They said they "were up the road a piece and were 'coon huntin' when their dogs took off on'em." He went on to say that the dogs were somewhere in our woods and wanted to know if it was ok for them to go on back and retrieve them.
Well, I was indisposed in the bathroom during all of this ruckus. (blushes) So Alex told the guy, "Um...OK, whatever!"

So for the next half hour Alex sat on the porch watching out to make sure they weren't just there to steal stuff or something. I think* the woman and the little girl waited in the car. Looking out my window I could see flashlights bobbing and weaving through the woods. Every dog in the neighborhood was barking non stop.

Luckily they were only back there for half an hour. Then the man came back on the porch to tell us that they got their dogs and "Caught a 'coon too!"

Isn't that just ODD?!?!
They never apologized for the intrusion or for the the hour in which they came out of nowhere. It was like nothing odd at all to them. So strange! THE strangest thing that has ever happened in the 10 years that we've lived here.

I don't know what to think! I just stand with my mouth open with questions, but the words won't come out. I keep thinking What the heck? 3am? And WHO exactly are you? lol

All's well that ends well I guess. Still just thinking ....HUH? Scratching head and trying to make sense of what happened.

The End. :)

On a personal note...

If you came to see new shop stuff I'm sorry to disappoint with my personal drivel. However, I just want to say that I've been having some pretty major back pain the past few days. I think I've slept MAYBE 3 hours in the last 72. I can't bend, I can barely walk, and forget dressing myself!
If you feel so inclined to send up a prayer it would be very, very much appreciated. I absolutely believe in the power of prayer. I've witnessed too many miracles not to. :)

In the meantime I am taking it as easy as I can. Though no pain in the world can stop a woman from needing to do laundry, cook, sweep, deal with the dishes- I can't bend to load or unload the dishwasher. I can't vacuum my bedroom. It rots! But thankfully Caleb has been a real blessing to me. He has been taken the initiative of doing all he can to help out. Meantime I am trying to keep moving a bit so as not to get too stiff. I guess that's all for now. Blessings!