Chicken Queen Studio

New Artwork!!!

2011-09-08T04:05:00.000-07:00

Just stopping by to post something real quick, like is crazy right now, but I'm going to try to spend more time in this space. We will see how it goes.

Artwork, artwork, I finally put up some artwork in the dining room. Whew, that just plain took forever. I have been contemplating this picture for the longest time. I saw it on someone's blog (Lord knows I can't remember who's), they had copied it off of somewhere else, done with paint chips. Then I saw it on the movie "Skyline". That's a really dumb movie, just in case you were curious. THEN as I was painting it, the kids pointed out that it's also hanging in the bedroom on "Good Luck Charlie".

Anyhow, I didn't take any pictures of how I did it, but it involved a cup, a sharpie and lots of paint and glaze, and I LOVE it. I also made the groceries sign after seeing an inspiration piece on Pinterest, it wasn't hard at all. I wish I could figure out how to link, I would link you to the instructions. The two small frames, just have a fork and spoon in them on some scrpabook paper with little tags that say, well, fork and spoon. I'm big with words like that. Well, anyhow, I hope you like it.

Embroidery is my life.....

2009-10-15T04:28:00.000-07:00

Or maybe it's knitting, yah, knitting it's my life! But now that I think about it, it might be sewing or scrapbooking... or maybe cooking! I feel like I have crafting schizophrenia!!!

The other day I tried to convince my husband that I was a renaissance woman! He laughed! Maybe I'm a jack of all trades, definitely I'm a master of none! I'm thinking it doesn't really matter what label I give myself, as a matter of fact I have just decided NOT to label myself!!! I'm just crafty that way!

You know the windshield wipers on my van refuse to go down and I make excuses for them. They tell the world, "I refuse to conform to what the world thinks a windshield wiper should be. I am an individual and as an individual I choose to march to the beat of my own drum!" Yeah, that's me! A non conformist!!!! A non stop crafter who doesn't care if it's not done exactly right... it's the process that counts!!

WOW, that was a rant! Now, on to the craft of the day!

BABY SHOES!!!!

Awwww! These shoes are everywhere on the internet and I really didn't deviate too far from the pattern, except that I made a little bit of bias tape to cover the raw edges inside. The embroidery patterns are free from Wild Olive and are supposed to have buttons in the middle, but I thought for a baby that wouldn't be a good idea.

They are for Payton's teacher and her twin sister. They teach Kindergarten and 1st grade at our school, got married the same year and are now having little boys 1 month apart! I love them! Payton's teacher's husband is also deployed with the Navy patrolling for pirates. That sounds weird in our day and age doesn't it! I was so excited to be able to bless them with something for the little blessings in their lives.

Hedgehog (Does it look like a hedgehog? Nate thinks it looks like a turtle!)
Teddy Bear
Made with 100% Linen and a little 100% cotton remnant I found at Joann's. I wanted them to be a neutral color so they would match pretty much anything. Well, off to do some more crafting :)

Love,
Jonelly

Well......

2009-10-14T07:36:00.000-07:00

I sometimes wonder what's wrong with me! You see I started this little blog, I LOVE blogs! I read them daily. I am so inspired, I create lots of stuff..... I NEVER post on my own blog!
I am terrified of my own blog!!!!!

I don't know why.... maybe it's the actual process of learning how to use it that's scary, computers are not my friends! It could be the fact that I forget to take pictures.... ALOT, or maybe I'm just scared everyone will think everything I have to say is just well..... boring!
So, in an effort to bolster my confidence and force myself to do something I joined the Lazy Days Skirt Sew Along over at One Crafty Mumma. I don't know how to link to it (anybody care to share how to do that on here?). It's forcing me to actually post something!!!! My name is on the sidebar!!!! So here it is!

Sorry the picture is a little crappy, Zoe is at school right now so I can't really have her put it on an pose for me. I made it fuller than the pattern calls for, because my girl is a super tall sz. 10-12 8 year old and needs a little more fullness. Plus, she likes lots of twirl! I also added pockets to carry around Littlest Pet Shop figures in and put the same ribbon detail on the edges. It's made out of the cutest cat material bought at Joann's with my coupon and the ribbon was from my stash.
This one was a special request for kitty fabric because this girl LOVES cats.

So, I did it! I posted to my blog! Maybe I'll do it again tomorrow, it's a goal, we all need goals right?

Love,
Jonelly

My computer is working again!!!

2009-05-20T08:31:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm finally getting around to posting my blog from yesterday! My computer still isn't working right, but Nate (wonderful man that he is) found a way around it for me. So, here goes.....

May 19, 2009

It's raining today..... again! I know we need it, and I'm not the biggest fan of sunshine, but it's been like 7 days in a row. I'm just sick of grey! :( Thank God for my little patch of green in the front flower bed.... You can't really see them, but there are little lavender flowers on those bushes..... they make me smile! :)

So, since it's raining I'm inside (like I'd really be outside if it wasn't raining!), anyways, like I said, I'm inside, drinking my coffee....

Babysitting Payton's Webkinz..... they need lots of attention, this is gonna be the focus of most of my day.....

Folding some laundry.... the job that never ends. (as I type this I have 3 more loads to fold! UGH!).....

And thinking about making Zoe's teacher an end of the year gift. She loves dolphins and keeps commenting that if Vera Bradley made a dolphin tote bag she'd be all over it. What is it with teachers and Vera Bradley? I swear every teacher at our school has at least 2 Bradley bags. It's crazy!

So, I'm thinking.... I'm crafty... maybe as crafty as Vera Bradley (I just don't have the outstanding marketing team that she has), and I can make a tote bag, with dolphins on it. HA! Easier said than done, NOBODY had dolphin fabric... I had to order this online. I was scared.... I've never ordered fabric online... would it be what I wanted? Would I be able to find matching fabric? Would it really look like dolphins or maybe some kind of demented whales? Well, relax.... It was great. I bought this brown dotted swiss cotton from Joann's to go with it. It's BEAUTIAS!!!

May 20, 2009

So, forgive the lighting, but here it is, and I have to say, "It's darn cute!"

I even made my own shrink plastic dolphin buttons....

Oh, and a matching keyphob (isn't that what they're called?), with a matching button on it!

Okay, I don't like to brag, but to steal fro Elsie Flannegan... "HOLY CUTE!"

I love it!

Hope you're having a great day, I am!

Love ya,

AAARRRGHH!!!!!

2009-05-19T06:37:00.000-07:00

I have been thwarted by my computer today! I have such a cute post planned and it would be two days in a row.... but alas, nothing! :( My computer won't pop up the cute little program that lets me download my pictures. This normally pops up as soon as I put my memory card in.... but, NOTHING HAPPENS today!!!!

You know, I know just enough about computers to get me into a BUNCH of TROUBLE! I've looked all over for a magic button that will bring up this handy little import program.. it appears to have disappeared. If I call Nathan and ask him what I should do he's just gonna say "seriously Johnnal... again? How many times do I have to tell you that I can't tell what's wrong with the computer when I'm at work looking at electrical stuff and you're at home looking at the computer!!!!". And then he will get frustrated and tell me I'm just gonna have to wait for him to get home. About this time I feel like one of the kids when I just don't want to take the time to put the password in the computer so they can play games. I know that program is just right outside of my reach..... if only I knew where to look. FRUSTRATING!

So no cute post for now.. unless someone knows how to open this program and wants to help me out. Maybe later. Hope you have a good day though, enjoy the rain, do something creative!

Love,

J

MONDAY = RANDOM THOUGHTS

2009-05-18T07:46:00.000-07:00

So I found this picture the other day..... It makes me laugh for sooo many reasons, not the least of which is that this is my baby sister Casey. I'm guessing this is approx. 1983 sometime... yeah, she looks about 2 years old to me. I'm also gonna go with spring, because Cyrina got a new camera for her birthday that year and my parents rarely took pictures, so it had to be her. Ooooh, that camera was so cool, I was very jealous! I wish I could remember the name of it, it had this really weird disk of film instead of the little canister and it was fairly flat..... does anybody know what camera I'm talking about.... anybody? I know it was really popular.... oh well, I'm totally off the subject. What were we talking about? Oh yeah, Casey.

So anyways, you gotta love the sporty look she's got going. I am particular fan of the knee socks... 5 bucks says there's sandals on them feet! Oh to have a couple more inches of photo.... Casey was going through her "I'm the baby of the family and everyone must bow to me" phase which is probably why Becca and I aren't in the picture as well. Although, now that I think about it that phase has never really ended.... pondering.... nope it hasn't ended. :)

Funny thing is that the picture of Casey is not what struck me the most about this.... It's all the memories......

Do you see that cane rocker on the right - boy, that was good! I remember that my mom wanted one so bad (they were all the rage in 1982-82) and she talked about it all the time. We were not what I would classify as wealthy being missionary tent builders and all, and a rocking char just wasn't in the budget. Shirley Wine had one and as much as my mom drooled over it she would never have spent $35 on it. So, imagine her shock when that's what Pop got her for her birthday. He put it together in the middle of the living room and mom was soooo excited. Then we decided to play clown car with it... How many people can fit on Mom's lap while she's sitting in the rocker? Well, I know me, Becca and Casey managed it until Casey kicked the rest of us off of "her mom's" lap. Boy that rocker had to be glued and pieced back together alot!

The other thing this picture reminds me of is the fridge. That fridge was the source of constant laughter and not just because of the scary stuff mom managed to make us eat out of it!

One day Pop had this car magnet made, it said "On Assignment From God". We went everywhere with that thing on the car (makes sense, we were missionaries). Then one day something happened to the car I guess... my memories a little fuzzy on the "why" this happened.... and the magnet had to come off. Well where else would you store your giant car magnet in the meantime but on the front of the fridge... I mean, DUH! People would laugh and laugh at that I can't tell you how many times we had the obvious pointed out to us... "haha did you know that your fridge is on assignment from God?" You know that thought never occurred to us.

The magnet never made it back on any vehicle that we ever owned and I have no clue what happened to it after we left for Africa. Anyways, you know that fridge might just have been on Assignment From God. It feed alot of hungry people who were not even related to us, some of them we didn't even know there names. It brought alot of laughter when it was probably really needed and it had very willing participants in my Mom and Pop. I crack up thinking about it even now and I wish that I would wear my Christianity, my "assignment" as openly and out loud as my Dad and Mom did. There's a lesson to be learned here. Don't wear knee socks!!!! and never miss the opportunity to be "On Assignment For God"

Love ya,

I'm sooooo off my budget!!

2009-05-13T11:49:00.000-07:00

MUST - GET - BACK - ON - THE - PLAN!!!!

If you know me, you know that I'm OBSESSED with a menu and grocery list. I don't know what we would do without it. Probably starve, deffinately eat really wierd and very experimental stuff for dinner, always be out of eggs and butter..... and toilet paper. Oh yeah, it would get very ugly, very fast. I've always been good about the grocery budget, managing to feed and toilet paper a family of 5 (sometimes 6) on about $150/ week. I don't think that's too shabby.

Then I discovered this!

Oh my, the money saving, time saving, hair saving ('cause I'm not pulling it out) beauty of this plan. I was a little doubtful of the ability to cook 7 dinner meals for $80ish dollars a week, but I took the plunge. I mean heck, it's only $1.25 per week, I can swing that. But I was shocked..... no really, SHOCKED! It worked!

The first week, I went to Publix and bought everything from the list, plus my cleaning supplies and milk/ cereal and still only spent $115! WHAT?!?!?! How did that happen!!!! I don't know how these ladies do it, but the food is good, the prices are always correct and I am saving money like a champ! I still budget for $150 so that I can stock up on good deals and use coupons when I want, but I'm mostly socking away money for vacation this year!

I did have a recent bout with going off the plan because I found a really great deal on beef at Sam's. Did I mention that I'm really sick of Beef these days? Well, I am!!!

"Oh please God, some chicken..... it's all I ask of you!"

I am not opposed to eating beef, and I'm certainly not opposed to a great deal, but there is only so much beef that this girl can handle. So here I am, finally getting to the end of the supply and I realized something. Having been off of the ez mealz program for about 4 weeks now, I realized that I really miss it! The no thinking, no planning, no searching the sales flyer aspect of it has become nice.... I miss it. So, I'm back on! When I go to the store this Friday, I'm gonna be on the program.

"I've missed you e-mealz... I'm coming home!"

You Just Never Know......

2009-05-11T20:10:00.001-07:00

Have you ever had one of those days? You know, the ones that seem like nothing goes right or everything is moving too fast and you're left playing catch up all day! I hate those!!! They seem to be my life lately... just always playing catch up.

Nate (my long suffering husband) has been working second shift for the past 6 days, and has to keep this up until Friday. I HATE 2nd SHIFT!!!! I never get enough sleep, I hate fixing dinner, eating dinner and putting the kids to bed by myself. Oh, and did I mention that my birthday and mother's day fell during this horrid time!!!!!

Let me just say that there has been whining, there has been complaining, there has been weeping and gnashing of teeth (ooohh, that was very Biblical of me). But, to no avail, still the 2nd shift continues.... Ugh! during this time Nate has also taken on a few small side projects that have him out and about all morning.... now this, I can live with. Having him home all morning and gone all evening has thrown off my mojo.... That's my new favorite word by the way "mojo", don't know why, just love it this week. I get that from time to time. Okay enough complaining.

Just when my complaining was starting to get loud on Mother's Day, my baby girls walked in. Her hair was standing on end, it was crazy and she was sweating up a storm. I looked at her and asked her if she would like to cut it off so that it would be cooler during the summer. I was pleasantly surprised by her quick response of "Sure Mom, sounds good to me."

What??? My girl who won't pierce her ears and wants to grow her hair as long as Rapunzel's just said "YES!". Well, you know what I did, I grabbed the scissors and started cutting. I didn't let any grass grow under my feet. And this is what we got.....

oooohhhh, she looks so grown up. I had to straighten it so that I could get the angles straight, but it looks so much better curly. Note to self: burn pictures of Zoe with straight hair so Nate won't freak out!

So grown up......

So very happy, she spent the rest of the day primping in front of the mirror. I think I may have created a monster here! After months of asking, begging, promising the world just to let me cut her hair, who knew that it would be today that she chose to say yes! What a great Mother's Day gift... on Monday it took all of 2 minutes to do her hair..... ahhhhh, bliss!

Next, we work on the ear piercing.... 'cause hey, you just never know! :)

well this is frustrating

2008-12-18T19:04:00.000-08:00

My poor baby is so sick, he makes me sad to even look at him. Did you notice he is covered in spots? Not just a few spots, a WHOLE, HEAPING, BUCKET LOAD OF SPOTS! He's so miserable. He can barely eat anything because his tongue is swollen and covered in tiny swollen taste buds. Ouch! Oh yeah, did I mention that they are everywhere. His eyelids, palms of hands and bottoms of feet, in his ears and mouth..... everywhere!

"take him to the doctor!" you might be saying.

Oh, we did that, do you think it helped? That would be a big fat NO! No help at all, just more confusion. He has a "unidentified virus". What's that? Is it the sneaky terrorist virus that refuses to take responsibility for it's attack against a poor defenseless boy? Is it a new strain? All I can say is the Dr. Moore's eyes were as big as saucers when he saw him this morning and it has gotten worse as the day has worn on. So now here we are, stuck in the house. He's not allowed to be around anyone! Very frustrating...... goodbye Christmas shopping, everyone that was wanting a card, forget it. I have lost all of my time to the doctor's office and the pharmacy and rubbing Zach down with anti itch cream.... what missery for us both.

Want to here the best part? I know, you're thinking "how can this get any better?". Well actually I guess it really could get alot better couldn't it..... hmmm something to ponder, but I digress. Back to the worst part of it all. Friday is the school Christmas party, he's gonna miss it, Sunday is the Church Christmas program and family Christmas party.... yep, gonna miss that too. And did I mention that he's only gone to school 7 and a 1/2 days since thanksgiving? Oh yeah, Zach's my constant companion these days.

Well, enough of my complaining, I'm gonna go stamp a couple of cards for the kid's teachers, so I can explain why they are not getting a gift, 'cause I didn't have time to finish it. (is that a run on sentence or what?) I'll give them their gifts when they come back after the break. It will give them something to look forward to. Maybe I'll post a picture of them in the morning. So I better get going, also, Zoe is complaining that her throat hurts. This is how Zach started. Pray for me.

Hey, if you have read this blog, leave me a comment so I know you were here. Thanks

It's the most wonderful time of the year......

2008-12-17T18:35:00.001-08:00

It's the most overwhelming time of the year, the most exhausting time of the year, the most joyful time of the year. It's the time of the year when all of the little things that you overlook the rest of the year come into focus. It's the time when I drag out way to many recipes, with such good intentions, yet still only get the basic ones done. Although this year I am on a roll, I actually got coconut balls and peanut butter balls done.... did I say done, oh yeah baby, they are actually covered in chocolate and ready to give to all of my friends... did I mention that they probably won't make it out the door because that is way to far down my list to actually get done. I really think that the frantic candy making has been a resul tof not wanting to mail my Christmas cards. OOOHHH, why oh why do I dread it so much? I just don't know. They are all painted, they just need addresses and stamps, and oh yeah, maybe a note..... I think I'll just take a picture of them and send them to everyone via my space. Yeah, that's a great idea. Do you think that's cheating?

NOTE TO ANYONE READING THIS - I REFUSE TO SPELL OR GRAMMER CHECK THIS BLOG! THIS IS JUST ME.... DOING MY THING, ERRORS AND ALL.

Where was I, oh yeah, Christmas prep. Well, that's never ending isn't it. It's so sad that it will all be over in just one day. ALL THAT WORK, then, just over. Note to self - don't forget to take lots of pictures this year and lots of notes on what we ate and did. Hey speaking of eating, did I mention that I am so cheating this year Christmas day dinner is coming from Boston Market. All I have to do is warm it up. Bliss! Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm gonna be cooking my butt off (I wish it would actually disapear from all of the work) for the family party on the 21st. and of course I feel this huge NEED to give my kitchen aide stand mixer a real work out this year. On Christmas day though, I will be sitting around being lazy and letting my oven do all of the work. I am even going to buy paper plates and the 3rd book in the twilight series so that I can just sit on my butt and read and watch the kids play and then just throw everything away. I won't feel any guilt about wearing pajamas all day or causing even more global warming by using paper plates or about the fact that if my kid's want to eat nothing but candy all day long, they can. Nope not one bit of guilt here. Woohooo for Christmas! I love this day, I'm counting down the days till it gets here. I probably won't sleep at all on Christmas Eve.

I know I am rambling here, I seem to have ADD today. Lots is getting done and nothing is getting finished, but all I want to do is sit here and stare at the Christmas lights. So here is a short list of things that are making me happy today.

1) dipping things in chocolate... yum!

2) Squinting at the Christmas lights - it's as close as I'll get to a drug trip

3) sleeping children

4) the fact that Zoe wants to be a ballerina

5) my new camer and photo printer - thank you Nate for the early Christmas present!

6) My kitchen aide stand mixer - last year's early Christmas present.... that man just knows me, and he can't keep a secret long enough to make it to Christmas morning.

7) my friend Lisa - I just had so much fun creating Christmas presents with you. Thank you for trusting my creativity and letting me play, and no, I haven't started on mine yet.

8) hot chocolate with pepermint sticks!

9) getting excited about seeing everyone's faces on Christmas morning.... those kid's have got the shock of their lives coming this year! I can't wait.

10) listening to the kid's practice their songs for the Christmas play. It's gonna be fun!

and one thing that is making me sad today -

My baby boy suffering and not knowing how to help him. He is covered with red spots, has a fever, sore throat, no appetite, he's tired all the time, has swollen tonsils and the list just goes on. Plus, his foot is still not completely healed from the bike accident. He makes me sad and makes me feel incompitent as a parent. I just want him to be better. HELP US DR. MOORE

Oh well, that's all for today, happy December 17th!

just not as busy in reality as I am in my head

2008-11-12T09:10:00.000-08:00

Cool thing happened last week though, Nathan surprised me with flowers. No, not a plant, but real honest to goodness cut flowers. Ugh, such a waste of money, I LOVED THEM! I always tell him to buy a plant or something because the expense for something that will die so soon goes against my cheapskate ways. This time, he ignored me, it was so exciting. He just blew all that money on me, such extravagance, I am getting spoiled! He can do it some more if he wants, I won't even complain and tell him that he could get 3 or 4 beautiful (and lasting) plants for the price of that one bouquet. Oh, and when he includes that 12 pack of diet coke with lime, well the world just about stops spinning. It's amazing how those little things just stick with you. It wasn't diamonds, or anything expensive, it was less than $20, but it's those things that I remember. Those little "just thought of you" kinda things. Ahhh, I love that about him. He pays such good attention to me. I love this man.

Today is another one of those days, you know, the ones where you can think of a million things that need to be done and yet, not one actually gets accomplished. Oh, it's not because I am so busy doing something pressing, or that work has got me really busy, it's just that NOTHING is getting accomplished. I am having a crash day in a big way..... although my rhyming skills are proving strong today. Maybe I should write some poetry, no, that would mean I would have to open a new program on the computer and that would require way to much brain power. So, here I sit, doing nothing, watching Dora with Toby and Ava and blogging. It really stinks to be so mentally busy and yet unable to get your body to cooperate. Do you ever feel this way?

my friend the sewing machine

2008-10-31T12:10:00.000-07:00

I am brand new to this blogging thing and am excited to give it a try. I have been so inspired by blogs that I read and all of the crafty ladies that inspire me. I love the thought of being able to share a little of my world with everyone, so wish me luck. We'll see how it goes.

My faithful sewing machine has been getting a workout lately, she is just so good to me. I have been on such a crafty kick lately. Christmas is in the air for me and it's only Halloween. I can't help it, this year I have vowed to be ahead of the game. I am already done cutting and sewing my Chrinstmas cards, and only have the painting left. Yay, that's the fun part. Christmas lists are laying all over the house and Christmas gifts are in the planning and working out stages... soon to be started. I think everyone is gonna love what they're getting. I hope. I'll post pics of the progress soon. I hope everyone elses Christmas crafting is going well or is getting planned/ started. Hopefully I'll actually follow through and get everything on my list done. Keep your fingers crossed.

I have decided to make my Christmas a recycled/ homemade Christmas this year. This simply means I'm gonna make as much as I can with my own two or my kid's 8 hands or I'm gonna recycle (by selling) some of the excess that we have laying around to buy the things I can't make. (I think that was a run on sentence, but it's my blog and I can do what I want) So, this is something I am really committed to, I am even having a yard sale next week to support the cause. I'll let you know how it all turns out.

Have a great weekend!