Wordless Wednesday - Hello Mr. Blue Eyes

(Jesse's mom's kitty, Frankie)

A Wonderful Weekend

I took a little bloggy break over the weekend and enjoyed time with family and friends. I hope you all had a great weekend too :) Though we didn't get to go visit my parents in Michigan like we had planned, we still had a great time here in Iowa. And what a busy weekend it was!

Friday we worked around the house in the morning then visited Jesse's mom at her new house and had dinner with her and his brother's family that night to celebrate his mom's birthday.

Saturday we headed to Des Moines for a car show and to spend time with Jesse's cousin and his wife. The highlight of the day was seeing a 1964 Rambler Wagon! I have a '63 that I inherited from my great grandma and I've never seen another wagon at any car show I've ever been to! Here is my car (old picture alert!):

Here is the one we saw at the show: And here is the color I wanted mine painted next :)(Hot pink, of course) Sunday started out rainy, but cleared off in time for us to go air boating. We have such a great time on the river! We brought golf balls, clubs, and a baseball bat and had fun making up games :) After the river we celebrated the 4th (early) with a bon fire and some fireworks at Jesse's aunt and uncle's house. Yesterday Jesse went boating again and I stayed home to relax. I had to work last night (Jesse had vacation-lucky duck!). I needed a day to recover from our busy weekend! I hope your weekend was as wonderful as ours :)

Friday Features - Ruby Red

Happy July!!! Since July's birthstone is the ruby, I went searching for some ruby-colored finds and decided to do a twist on the ruby feature and give you Ruby Red Slippers today. As we all know...There's No Place Like Home :)

Ruby Slippers - Wine Glass Charm Set

by SnarkyandSweet

The Original Ruby Slippers

by YesterdaysTrashArt

Ruby Slippers - large A4 print

by FlowerPress

Ruby Slippers of Dorothy of Oz is Proof SHOES Can Change Your LIfe Art Glass Pendant

by ArchipelagoArts

Hope your July starts out great today!!!

Wordless Wednesday - Ready to Celebrate

Beautiful as a Butterfly

I had a fun custom order this week for an Engraved Baby Photo Album. The customer wanted a scrapbook style album instead of a photo album and I happened to have this cute album on hand!

There is a magnetic flap holding the album shut with the word Baby stitched on. It's a cute album by itself, but the engraving adds so much! And you can't go wrong with a personalized gift :)

I've had really great luck with all kinds of photo albums. I love how they laser a pretty brown. These butterflies came out so great!

You know how much I love custom work and this album was so fun to make!

Stand up for What is Right

I have always been one of those people who stood up for what is right. I've always been the spokesperson for my class, my team, my dept. at work...basically any group I've ever been a part of. I'm not afraid to speak my mind and I don't like to see people being treated unfairly. I can't sit by and watch injustice.

Last week I received a call from my mortgage company that my payment had not been received. It has apparently gotten lost in the mail because I had mailed it on June 6th (and I double checked to make sure). During the call, they informed me that I would need to pay a late fee of $24.75 and that I could make the payment over the phone for a fee of $20.00. I don't think so! I repeatedly told them that I would happily pay my bill, but I would by no means be paying any fees. I mailed this bill over 10 days in advance of when it was due. Had I forgotten to make the payment, I would gladly pay their fees. I realize this wasn't their fault, but it wasn't mine either and I wasn't going to pay for a mistake that was not mine. After about 30 min. on the phone, I was finally making my payment without any other fees. I got all the fees waived :) Being persistent and standing up for what is right paid off! I refuse to be taken advantage of!

My point of this post...Stand Up For Yourself, Stand Up For What Is Right! Do not let others walk all over you! So many times I see people too scared to stand up for themselves. Remember...You Are Worth It! And you deserve what is right :)

Happy Birthday to my Brother

I want to wish my brother a Happy 33rd Birthday today!

We went to lunch together on Friday and it was so nice to spend time together just the two of us :) My brother and I work different shifts and always seem to be busy on the weekends, so we don't get to see each other as much as I'd like. Our time together is always special :)

Here is the birthday card I made him:

I've made several of these lasered wood cards lately and I have SO many ideas for premade and custom cards to add to my shop! I have even thought a lot about trying to get them in local shops if I can find a pen or marker that will work well so people can sign their names. When ordered from my Etsy Shop, they will be able to have me engrave their special message or have the option of adding a photo like this one I made for my brother.

I really think I'm on to something here...what do you think? Would you send one of these or enjoy receiving one in the mail? I would really love to hear your thoughts :)