Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day Mom... my first one without you.

I miss you and love you,

Always!

Our Forever Home

Welcome to our new home...

I want to apologize for my absence and for not visiting my friends as much as I normally do, as some of you may know we have been looking for a new house for quite a few months.  We are empty nester's and sold our big family house about 5 years ago and have been renting to be near our Grandchildren.  Our youngest Grandson is starting 2nd grade, our oldest Grandaughter is graduating High School this year and starting College next fall and our youngest Grandaughter is starting High School... teenagers have lives of their own and not as much time for Grandparents so we decided that it is time for a backyard for our furbaby and a garden for my husband... not to forget a bigger room for my crafts!!  So it was time to start looking for a new home and it took quite a few months and it has been very nerve racking, sometimes disheartening and full of anxiety but it was worth it... our offer was accepted and now the packing begins!  Meet our new home...

The yard is like a blank slate waiting for flowers and gardens, the inside is almost as much of a blank slate too, so we have lots of ideas and are ready to roll up our sleeves and make this our own.  I am ready to stalk the local home improvement stores for paint chips and flooring.  I will keep you posted on our progress and let you know how we are doing in 

OUR FOREVER HOME!

p.s.  We want to thank our Guardian Angels, Mom & Dad for their intervention and my Sister Annie for all her support!  Thanks, Love you!

Crafty Hugs,

                      Pendra

RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS

I started blogging not quite a year ago, when my Mother was ill and I went and stayed with her and my Sister to help care for her.  We brought in Hospice so she could be at home with her family, pets and all that she loved at the end of her life.  Being away from my supplies and some long days and nights I started checking out some scrappers blogs and decided to jump right in and I started Pendra's Place... and doors opened all over the world for me, friendships blossomed and inspiration and creativity was never far from my fingertips.  Some 10 months later, the loss of my dear Mother and my health, have left me a little emotionally drained and at a low ebb in my life.  Today I decided it's long overdue and time to check in on some of my blogger friends and through RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS I was given a gift of smiles...

I go to visit my creative friend Susan and she shares on her blog of how she had been having a bit of a difficult time and sometime later finds in her mail a package, sent unannounced from a blogger friend Cely.  What a wonderful gift and what a huge impact a RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS can do for another person!

This made me smile as I head over to my talented friend Lisa and find that Susan has won her Blog Candy Giveaway (which was huge-normous and chosen quite RANDOMLY) and that really made me smile, because I see through another RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS fate reaching out to our good and deserving friend Susan again!

With a gi-normous smile on my face I head over to my sweet friend Pam (who I shamefully haven't visited in too long) to find that she is getting ready to celebrate her one year Blogaversary (way to go girl) and is having a goodie-generous giveaway (you have to go check it out) for her blog friends and there it is... Pam telling how her blogging friends Susan, Lisa and me, Pendra (just to name a few) have brought her such joy and comfort this year through her beautiful blog!  Well my gi-normous smile widened from ear to ear and a few tears ran down my cheeks as her words brought a RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS... to me! 

RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS bring such joy to the recipient and you may never know what a gift you give be it with a package, a card or even just a word!  But I do believe that when you share a RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS it is equally a gift to you and it eventually comes back full circle!   Go on... go share a RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS today!
          
                                        Crafty Hugs and  BIG SMILES,
                                                                         Pendra

p.s.  Go visit these lovely ladies... just click their names and it will take you to them!  Tell them Pendra sent you!  And don't forget to check out Pam's Blogaversary Giveaway!!


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Easter Wishes!

 

What better time to think of those
who mean the most to us, than
at this beautiful season of love.
May your Easter be filled with
happiness and bright with blessings. 

                                                            Crafty Hugs,

                                                                      Pendra

Mother's Day Giveaway

Check out the GREAT Mother's Day Giveaway from Luanne at The Crafter's Reference!  It runs through May 13th (Mother's Day in the Philippines) and announced on May 14th.  Tell her Pendra sent you!

                                                     

                                                        Crafty Hugs,

                                                                     Pendra

Pin It To Win It

PIN IT TO WIN IT with Scrapbook.com

Follow Scrapbook.com on Pinterest, Pin Your Favorite Items, and WIN

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1. Create a Pinterest account (if you don't already have one) and follow Scrapbook.com on Pinterest
 
2. Create a board at Pinterest titled: "Scrapbook.com Pin It to Win It" and pin at least $100 worth of your favorite items from the Superstore. To do this, click the "Pin It" button on product pages at the Scrapbook.com Store.

3. Complete and submit your entry by filling out the contest form.

It's that easy... check out my Board at Pinterest:  http://pinterest.com/pendra/scrapbook-com-pin-it-to-win-it/

Good Luck and Happy Crafting!!

                                                 Crafty Hugs,

                                                                 Pendra

                                                 

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS...

 HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS,  is a new kit by a wonderful artist, Shanna Vineyard at Art Made With Heart, and she is debuting this kit on her site and I just had to share it with you today.

There are over 50 hand-drawn and hand-painted images in this kit. Because these images were not originally created digitally, this makes them so fun and different than most kits out there. She also created several circle sentiments that are easy to use on your layouts and especially cards! She hasn't been scrapbooking digitally very long but because her heart and hands long to "play" with paper and scissors She created this kit with BOTH the digital and traditional scrapbooker in mind.

"HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS"

 http://artmadewithheart.blogspot.com/

KIT $8.50

These are a few of the cards that Shanna did with the kit, 

and I think they are so cute, colorful and fun.  Shanna says:

"Just copy and paste the images intoWord, resize, then print onto cardstock, cut out and 

CREATE!! EASY PEASY! 

The creative possibilities are endless!!"

 

 Don't Worry Be Happy

 Window Planter Box

 

You Are My Sunshine

Now here are two layouts... the first one is digital 

and this one she printed and scrapped traditionally... aren't they adorable!!

Well I just had to share with you today this cute kit by Shanna, head on over to her site and check it out!  She has a wonderful group of designers sharing their creative projects inspired by her kit, and if you haven't tried to scrap digitally yet this is a fun and inexpensive way to try it... 

and tell her Pendra sent you!

http://artmadewithheart.blogspot.com/

"HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS" 

$8.50

p.s.  Check out her fabulous New Release Party Giveaway, while you are there!!!

Crafty Hugs,

                    Pendra

Best of Intentions

 Somehow when I started my Blog I had all the time in the world.  It took me months to figure out how to set it up.  I didn't even know what a Blog was and really hadn't ever even seen one, I'm not exactly Internet savvy!  But after visiting a few of these brilliant Blogs and meeting some of the nicest and most talented people, I wanted to start and share my own site, so with nothing but determination I started "Pendra's Place".  I joined in a couple of Challenge sites and was really getting into it!  I am disabled and no longer work outside of the home, crafting, scrapping, knitting, crocheting, sewing and painting are my passions and this Blog opened up a whole new world to me.  I literally was talking to people around the World!  I was learning new things every day, being challenged in a way I haven't been since I worked... it was great for me, even my husband noticed a change!

  When my Mother became ill, I went and stayed at her and my Sister's home to help care for her, until her death (Breast cancer) in July of 2011.  My husband, at the same time had been laid off due to the economy, and after two years of unemployment he got a job! All his hard work finally paid off, and one year later he is now permanent and full time!  Now all of a sudden we are looking to buy a home. We are empty nester's and sold our BIG family home and have been renting the last 5 years to be near our Grandchildren... but now they are teenagers and have lives of their own so we decided it was time for us to buy another home, in the same area.  We have been married for 35 years and want a home just for the 2 of us and to start the next part of our journey together. 

I have to admit I have been dreaming of what my new craft room space will look like!  If you could start over, what advice would you give me?  What should I look for in a space?  Here's a few rooms I found on Pinterest that really got my attention!  I love the light and airy look of these rooms!  

I have to say I am a Shabby Chic kind of gal!

 Unfortunately house hunting leaves very little time for scrapping... although I love to visit everyone's Blogs, and I still will, I do believe it helps to keep me sane!  So look for my visit's and continue to visit me... I love the company!   I'll craft when I can, share when I can and visit often!  But with all the "BEST OF INTENTIONS" my Blog since the beginning, has taken a back seat to the rest of my life and it seems will do so for a little while longer... so I hope that you are patient and don't count me out just yet! 

Life will find me settled in a new house (and hopefully with a new scraproom) and ready to really start crafting and blogging again!

Crafty Hugs,

                                          Pendra

Grandma's lesson learned from her Grandaughter

My Grandaughter Hailey (13 years old, a teenager... sigh) came to craft with me over Holiday break.  I won a Cricut Expression from "My Craft Channel this last fall and she has never seen it before and yet she had NO fear of it... in fact, I have only used it a couple of times working with a DVD, a wonderfully kind blogger friend sent me, to help me learn how to use it!  It seemed quite complicated... I guess all I needed was Hailey!  She had out all my Cartridges and within minutes said okay this is the one I want to do... and she didn't stop for a couple of hours and many, many projects later!

 Hailey working on the Cricut Expression

The very first thing she did was an Owl card and envelope 

from the Wild Card Cartridge

Next she did a Chinese Carton from the Sweet Tooth Boxes Cartridge

using the Forever Young and Slumber Party Cartridges for some of the images

Her next box was also from the Sweet Tooth Boxes Cartridge

which she decorated with some Prima Flowers

She had so much fun just making some images to use on future layouts

and her boards using various Cartridges

Her last card is an adorable "Bandaid" card for her Sister's Boyfriend, having surgery

also using the Wild Card Cartridge... I love this one!

Hailey had to go back to school and the time went way to fast!  I guess she'll have to come back and show me how to use my new BigKick, and my new set of Sew Easy Stitch piercers and any one of my new Martha Stewart punches, not to mention my new set of Copic Markers... let's see her next time off of school isn't until Spring Break, I better call now and get on her schedule before it fills up!!

Tomorrow I am heading to my Sister's house for the weekend and our Cousin is coming on Saturday for a long awaited craft day.  We are cooking ahead of time and crock potting it all, can't waste any time cooking!  I have been packing for 2 days now and have about 5 boxes to go... I probably only left about 2 boxes worth in my craftroom, so that tells you how much is going!  My Cousin has never worked on a Cricut either, 

I hope I can reach Hailey on the phone...

Crafty Hugs,

                                        Pendra 

 

My Wishes For You!

Happy Holidays!

I wish you a wondrous and magical season with family and friends,

good food, good drink, lots of rest and fun,

 that you find the end of 2011 all that you hoped for

and that 2012 brings you all that you wish for!

Crafty Holiday Hugs,
                                      Pendra

Bags, tags and Wraps for the Holiday Season

It's that time of the year again when I start thinking of gifts for the people in my life.  I love to make handmade gifts, and in the past I have handmade quilts, knit hat, scarf and mitten sets, scrapped mini albums, baked cookies, breads and bars, designed and handmade all my Holiday cards,  just to name a few, but this year life has gotten in the way of all my aspirations... what it doesn't happen to you?   Okay, so maybe I am not the only one this happens to... so let's think handmade but on a more manageable level.  So this year I thought if I can't make all the gifts handmade, maybe I can at least present them in a handmade fashion, so I went to my favorite site Pinterest  and found all sorts of beautiful ways to bag, tag, wrap and present my gifts in an inexpensive,quick and beautiful way and...shhh, no one but us needs to know we didn't slave over these for months!  So gather your materials... a lot of these are done with manilla or kraft paper or even brown grocery bags, bakers twine, paper doilies, punches, stamps, left over scrapbooking papers and even old cards.  I think I have all that, maybe I can pull this off! 

Let's start with some really easy gift tags from brown kraft paper or grocery bags, punch some holes and tie off with bakers twine... I kind of like the addition of the eyelets to add another layer, then stamp or hand write the recipients name.  Or you can even skip the tag and wrap the gift in kraft paper and just stamp the name right on the package... is that easy or what?

Love the addition of some buttons or even some doilies and embellishments... cute!

Or how about some fancy ribbon?

 

How about using some of your punches... 

kind of elegant, even on kraft paper (or grocery bags), love that!

 

Manilla tags with the addition of some red and white paper straws and

some distress inks and now they take on a more vintage look!

 

How about these stamped tags made to look like vintage postcards...

rather romantic!

Talk about romantic, add some old lace, distressing ink, buttons and old

photos now were talking my kind of style!

Add some doilies to the mix... oh my!

You can even make an envelope and this can become a gift card holder.

How about old book pages (no need to worry about being photo safe)

Love using the initial in place of the recipeints name.

 

And these initial tags were cut from old cards... now that's green!

 

 Love this idea, make your own wrapping paper and tags by

using buttons as the stamps and then actually using the button!

I just love the look of primitive and these just really pulled at my heart string...

or how about these, embossed with the snowflakes... snow cute!!

Another rather primitive tag with a felt red heart and pinked and sewn

edges with some buttons and a little twine... tags after my own heart!

 These are very simple but being in Education for 20 years I have a thing for notebook paper... these have even been sewn with red thread and tied with red and white bakers twine.

 This elegant and fancy tag and package were made using old Yuletide paper,fancy for leftover wrapping paper! Even the sentiment was punched from an old card.

 

These are so cute, made on kraft or manilla paper and paper pieced with your left over scrapbook papers... this would even be cute to let the kids do the artwork!

 

These gorgeous tags are made from leftover scrapbook papers

and the addition of a few buttons, some lace and metal charms.

The Mother Lode of leftover scrapbook papers, some handmade flowers

paper doilies, button, lace, ribbons... any and all little leftover bits!

Of course I had to show some tags using some of your favorite scrapbook paper collections!

This was so creative... how about reusable gift tags, made with

chalkboard paint or paper... these are adorable and talk about green!

I thought this was so creative, instead of putting their names on the gift tags how about putting their picture on the tag... I just loved this one, and think this will be the one I'll do this year!

So we have looked at many ways to bag, tag and wrap your holiday gifts with a handmade touch this season.  Most of these were made with either kraft paper (grocery bags) or manilla paper and some of your everyday scrapbooking supplies, but also recycling or reusing wrapping papers, tags and cards from past seasons. These are all very inexpensive to make... but look like you spent hours and upper end boutique dollars!  

Use your imagination, the possibilities are endless!

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving Holiday, enjoy your families and friends... and don't forget your camera!

                                                                          Crafty Hugs,

                                                                                    Pendra