A huge change in our lives is taking place TODAY!

    

The day my ChiefHubby has worked for is here. It feels kind of surreal to this homemaker wife; I am no longer going to be the only one home all day after 36 of our married years. But then, there were a lot of things that happened during that era; I also worked as much as I could in the first 5 years. After Brian was born, it was another 3 years until Brett came along, and I was home permanently. And I still had Brett with me until he went into Kindergarten. During all of his 31years with Subaru Automotive of Indiana, David managed to not only work 40 plus mandatory overtime hours along with a one hour drive each way; he finished school (Seminary), spent 26 of those years as a Volunteer Firefighter- half of which was as Chief or Assistant Chief- and for the past 20 years (at least) served in church as an Elder or Deacon, and raised a family. He's not only provided for our own Sons to get them a good start in life by supporting them at school and being an example of CHRIST, he always managed to find the time to help anyone who asked. And he worked and planned to make sure our family saw and did as much together as we could.

      There is no marriage or family on this Earth that is perfect- that's just a fact- and we have had our share of rough patches, and slick patches; times of fun and times when we had to find the fun in something in order to get through it. We started with nothing. Only 2 HS diplomas, him with 1 year at Purdue, and a 1975 Chrysler Cordoba. We flipped burgers and filled tacos until better jobs came along. We went through layoffs, ripoffs, and all other things that happen to young couples just starting out who think they know everything they need to know to make it on their own. We made our first home in an old house partitioned off into two apartments where we rented the downstairs for a total of $200 a month- everything included- from a wonderful old couple who told us to remember to help someone else when we were older, as they had us, by including the utilities. That $200 was half of what we made together in one month. We got by, and were able to purchase our home in 1987, and Brian was born in May 1989.

   During those years was the time when Subaru joined together with Isuzu to build a joint-venture auto plant in Lafayette, Indiana. Both David and I put applications in- along with half of Indiana's workforce. I was called in to run through the first group testing, but my hearing got me knocked out as unemployable. Then David got his call, and the factory had already begun production by then. Over the summer of 1989, he was called in for more testing and interviews, finally getting hired in October of that fall. Changes have been ongoing from the start- Subaru Isuzu Automotive became Subaru of Indiana when Isuzu pulled out of the factory and Toyota put in a line to produce the Camry. Those years were huge booms in employment, and blessedly, our own boys were able to be part of that growth for their own futures and families. SIA continues to grow even after Subaru fulfilled the Toyota contract. Indiana should be thankful- and proud- to have had this huge opportunity all these years! We have had our share of ribbing and

comments over the years; "David is working for a JAPANESE company" or "We don't care for FOREIGN companies in the USA", or any other number of comments made long before 'global' became an accepted way of thinking. The fact is: there is NO CAR that is totally "American Made"; I've worked in those parts and they switch, trade, barter, buy and sell 'foreign' parts and stick a sticker on it that says "Made in America". But, SIA has taken care of our family with healthcare- totally
paying entire family premiums, paid wages that a worker could MORE than keep his/her head above the water with, gave real rest in shut down time and earned paid vacations, and lastly- what brings our family to this very day today: paid early matching contributions to 401K in which my ChiefHubby is now able to retire almost as early as my Dad (at age 52) did- and just after his 58th birthday. 

It may sound like all of this was just based on our "own hard earned life", but it's very far from that. What we have has come straight down from The LORD! His blessings have been bridges for us throughout our entire marriage;  even before we made the choice to follow Him. I am grateful beyond words. And my ChiefHubby has dreamed of devoting his retirement to working for JESUS- in being able to pay his own way while serving in GOD's Family- no matter where we are! Our plans are The LORD's plans- we'll be working just as we always have. And we are certainly going to enjoy it!!!

We have shared dreams of this time since we first met at age 19 and 16: being 

                                         RETIRED GRANDPARENTS....

Looking forward to the next part of the adventure:

HAPPY RETIREMENT

TO MY CHIEFHUBBY;

DAVID LARIMORE!

The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge #1... AGAIN... This "Granny Thing"; It's A Wonderful Life!

    I wish I could slow the clock down some, when I think of how fast our Grandbabies are growing. If it all goes as fast for my kids as it did for me, another 35 years will be passed before we can blink our eyes. But as much as I'd love to have time slow down when I'm with my Grands, the opposite of them NOT growing up is simply unthinkable to me. So go ahead, babies, and keep growing, and this old lady will just do the best she can to make the most of the minutes we get.
  While there's no doubt in my mind that our family has been fantastically blessed, the past few weeks since getting back home to Indiana has left me a bit depressed. The reason is easy to guess; whenever I see the older 2 of the 3 babies, my heart is saying I need ALL THREE of them with me. We have the first 2 babies 2x a week- most weeks- from Sunday morning until the afternoon, and on Thursday evenings. For awhile, we were keeping them overnight on Saturdays, but the plain truth is: we're just not that young anymore. GOD gives you what you need when you need it, and we're GRANDparents now, not raising ours any longer. Although we have a firm belief that parenting NEVER ends; your kids will always need their parents and parents will always need to make sure their kids are doing ok. At least,  that's how it's supposed to be, and we say it is so in our family. It absolutely fills me with total joy to see how our Sons have turned out! And it's nothing short of truth to say that their Wives have each had a HUGE part in that. Just like making their own homes become 'theirs' in the way they decorate it, so they will also make parenting their own way as well. And they too, will learn from the ups and downs in the journey.

   So this little depressed feeling has nothing to do with worry or concern for any of the babies. Nor is it a 'holiday let-down'. It stems purely from the fact that 2 Grandbabies are 45 minutes away and 1 Grandbaby is a whole 9 hours away... and it's killing this Granny not to see that youngest one. He's especially thought of the past week while Princess begins to take some first tentative steps while hanging onto things. When I was thinking "Holy cow, she's only 9 months old!", it hit me that these very things are what I was so blessed to have seen with Peanut when he came along first....that I am likely going to miss out on seeing face to face with this youngest baby so far away. I think what makes it harder is the fact that I'm deaf. Others think nothing of it to call on the phone or Scype together. But for me, it still doesn't help since reading lips on almost all digital is still lagging 2 or 3 seconds behind the sound. So this kind of sucks for me. It's still hard just to have had the younger kids so far away- now add their baby to that. Not that I would have them NOT be where they are, though: their success at doing such a difficult thing (moving that far from all friends and family) and THRIVING at it as well, is amazing to me. In fact, we're so proud, but humbly grateful that all FOUR of our kids (both couples) have established themselves in this world at a time when it's not such an easy thing to do at all. And they're all darned good parents, too boot! But as retirement looms in my ChiefHubby's nearer future... pushing it on ME *sigh*... life will get more complicated , and probably send me further away in the process.

     And all those thoughts, and bummed feelings led me to this Tic Tac Toe Challenge entry...
As explained in my last post; we're instructed to choose one row (strike through it just as if you won the game- across, up/down, or diagonal) choosing the 3 elements your project will have in it. I assumed that you could have more than just those 3, of course, but we were to mention/show what our strike-through choices were and point them out on our makes.

      And like my last post; I chose to go with the up/down middle row: Winter, Sentiment, and Silver. But this time around, I went larger...MUCH larger!

Disappointed that I couldn't get my hands on the Tim Holtz Etcetera Arches, I came up with

an idea to make my own type of 'thick board' in the meantime.

I started out with some Matboard, and Cardstock- both in all white.

I used Modpodge glue to put two sheets of Cardstock together, making it into one thicker layer.

I cut my "tag" from the Matboard to the size I felt would be enough to fit the image I had in mind.

In this case- nearly an 8x10 sheet of Matboard made the tag base itself with another 8x10

 leftover piece, from scrap, cut into 1/2 inch wide pieces the full length of the Matboard.

The TH Alterations Tag and Bookplates Die came in handy for the hole circle edges for later. 

Tools that I used to make the "wood" edges for the tag...

Tim's 3D Implresslits Folder Lumber.

Stacking up 3 of the lengths for each "board of wood";

FIRST: SCORING 

the 2x layered Cardstock into the same lengths that would fit all the way

each stack- cocooning each stack into the Cardstock folded up...

...I ran each scored length of Cardstock through my Big Shot using

the 3D Impresslits Lumber, and then;

RESCORED each line so the length would fit each stack of Matboard snugly.

I used my Glider Tape Runner to stick each layer in the stack,

and then each side of the stacks to stick inside the Cardstock lengths.

Cutting the corners was a lesson from adding new wood trim during the

installation of new windows in our home back in 2005.

That... and several years of working with Carpenters For Christ

in almost all of the lower Eastern US States.

Repeating the process on each corner until I ended up with all four sides done...

...and fitting leftovers into the two top smaller spaces after the rest were cut to fit...

gave me a pretty cool edged base tag!

*None of the edges were secured to the base yet.

I wanted to distress the white after the rest of the embellies were on it.

I was FINALLY able to score some Etcetera Thickboards- the "shelves".

Along with the sentiments of TH Christmas Quote Chips, Distress Mica Flakes,

and ESPECIALLY the 2019 Christmas Paper Dolls!!

Thanks to Paula Cheny (again, lol!) for making me absolutely NEED

that one little boy in there with the big cheeks that represents my newest Grandbaby!

I fell in love with her make using this Paper Doll!

You can see it here: Paula Cheny's One Lucky Day Blog

I chose some background from the TH French Industrial,

and cut it the same size as the tag base.

I used the Modpodge again to adhere foil (I always use heavy duty foil)

 to a single sheet of Cardstock,

and while it dried; gave the Etcetera shelf pieces some sanding off the ends- to fit.

Then gave the shelving a wash over of TH Distress Picket Fence Paint.

Since this was all a new kind of experiment,

I chose to use a layer of Ranger Multi Medium Matte

to adhere the TH paper onto the Tag base.

In case my work on the paper got it somewhat soggy. Just in case.

First, was a very light layer of Gesso. Then some Ranger TH Texture Paste

put on the area that would be above the shelf.

After the foil sheet was dry, I cut it to fit the shelf top.

That 'mound' of paste is what the bottom of my tree was tucked into- added stability, added depth layering, and hiding the bottom of the tree wire all at the same time.

Then layered that foiled shelf top with a thick layer of Distress Crackle Paste- Clear Rock Candy.

(After the Crackle Paste dried to a nice thick crackle...I used a Blender Tool to

scrub in some Distress Regular Ink in Picket Fence into the cracks.)

This is the point where I went ahead and distressed the wood edges-

using TH Distress Crayons in Antique Linen and Frayed Burlap.

I used colors in Distress Oxide Antique Linen and Distress Regular Picket Fence Ink

all over the Tag's now-covered & altered paper to match in with the "wood" edging.

An oxymoron if there ever was one:

I chose to use a TH Flash Card word for part of my sentiment...

… and BEACH was on the BACKSIDE!

After everything was finished to my satisfaction on the base of the tag,

I finished it off with some TH Distress Marker in Black Soot by using the Spritzer.

Adding some "snow" to the ice shelf with some Flower Soft.

Also; if you're a bit heavy-handed with your Glossy Accents the way I usually am,

it can come in handy when doing any winter scene because it only adds to the 'ice' everywhere!

And this was the finished result...

WINTER: Even though it's my least favorite season,

hopefully, after the ChiefHubby retires, we'll still have a bit of Winter

fun with our Grandbabies...and that there'll be more of them to have fun with, as well! ;)

I'm a little late in getting the TH Mica Flakes, having gotten them the week of New Year's Day,

but the timing worked out perfectly for me and this project!

The build up work was worth all the effort to get this result!

SENTIMENT: It doesn't have to be Christmas for you to realize you have a wonderful life!

Papaw and Memaw with our (so far) 2 Grandsons...

...and the pretty-in-pink Princess (so far) lone Granddaughter!

SILVER:  That yummy IdeaOlogy: TH Adornments Pinecone and Snowflake!

Oh, and there's also the TH Crinkle Ribbon in a blue shade 

(a freebie from my latest order from The Funkie Junkie Boutique -

who sponsors The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog

THANKS, LINDA!!),

some candy cane twine, and another after-Christmas find;

some silver and baby blue wired ribbon.

These things tied together with a TH IdeaOlogy Wire Pin- AWESOME!

Silver is also used in the next photo below: the TH IdeaOlogy Hex Fasteners.

Looking back, this would have gone over nicely in one of 

2019's TFJB Challenges, "Is it real?"

You'll notice that my distress technique is 'on top' instead of ground into the cracks.

I was trying for the look of a white-painted wood that was kept carefully tucked away in between many other frames with photos. The white would have stayed inside the cracks and it

would have been the upper texture that rubbed against the frames stacked above and below.

Now, if the frame had set out in the open, then you might have had dirt gathering into the cracks

and it would have made sense to use the Distress Ink coated onto the Lumber 3D Impresslit, before running it through your machine. So while distressing anything, you need to think of HOW the item would have gotten the way you want it to look.

Then, of course, the dirt always gets into those cracks where the pieces of wood

meet together at the corners. And the frames can get loose- even in storage.

So you want that slightly-unperfect look.

Crafting is the best hobby- EVER. And making this helped me feel just a little bit better.

Not much, but a LITTLE. And it's like Princess- baby steps- taking one day at a time

and enjoying what I have each day. It also helps me to remember that these babies are not

MY babies. These new young babies belong to the ones I already raised. It's my kids' chance

now to have all that fun...

and ENJOY THE JOURNEY!

So I have to remember that I am here to spoil 'em, fill 'em up with sugar,,,

and SEND 'EM BACK HOME.

MmmWhaHahahahaha! (evil laughter)

Seriously, I miss them each ALL the time, but, just like the job I had of "Mom", 

 I wouldn't trade this new "Memaw" job for anything in the world!

THANKS!

for dropping by once again to see what's going on in my Craft Studio, and my life! lol

And...another SURPISE:

I am branching out for a once-a-month BOOK/ALBUM making challenge!

I'll explain more about that after I get my idea finished up.

Meanwhile...

BE SAFE &

HAPPY BLOGGING!!