Last Thanksgiving as an Active Duty Army Family??

Today is another full day of cleaning and cooking/baking in an attempt to get ready for tomorrow.

This is the first year that we are cooking a Turkey (my Russ will be taking on this task!). We haven't had Thanksgiving by ourselves since we were stationed at Fort Bragg. Which has been three or four years ago.

We didn't do anything special for this holiday last year because we had literally just moved to Colorado, where we are stationed now.

Last year, my Husband was sent home early from deployment. Last year he was going back and forth to doctors for his back.

After 4 deployments, that back of his just wasn't going to cut it anymore.

He is now on Med. Board status and in the final stages of that. We are just patiently waiting for those "you're outa here" orders.

So for this years Thanksgiving, I am thankful to be spending another Turkey Day as an Active Duty Army Wife, my Husband and our amazing kiddos, my Family & Friends, the brave Hero's that are deployed and missing their families, the brave Families that are missing their Hero's. But most of all, I am thankful for those Hero's who made the ultimate sacrifice and the Families that have loved and missed them every day.

May you and your's have a very wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving and many things to be Thankful for!

Happy Thanksgiving,
Amber ~Crafty At Heart~

Stepping Away from Crafty...

Hello everyone! I have something exciting to share with you that I hope you will enjoy reading about.

You see, though I have a huge space in my heart for crafting, there is another love that holds just as much of my heart.

I have always, since a very young age, loved making up stories. Even when I didn't know how to write the words, my Mom and I would make up bed time stories of our own.

Since then, if I wasn't thinking up stories and turning them into books of my own, I wrote poetry. And when I wasn't writing at all, I was definitely reading.

I have not written in a few years and I really missed it. My Husband, being my biggest fan, challenged me last night.

He told me that he wanted me to write a Children's Book, to be completed by Friday.

After thinking about for only a few minutes, the wheels were already turning as he spoke, I decided to take him up on his challenge.

I got started on it immediately and finished it this afternoon. The book I wrote is meant to become a series. I have already started on book #2.

I don't have any plans or a set amount for this series but I am really excited.

I don't even know that it will ever become a published book. And if not, that's ok too. I will have them and so will my Children.

It would be extremely awesome if I was able to get them published. What a dream come true that would be!

Well, this is the adventure I am embarking on and I can't wait to see where the road traveled takes me!

Until next time...
Happy crafting and using those imaginations!

Take care,
Amber H. ~Crafty At Heart~

Bloggy Fail

Hello all! I hope this Bloggy finds you well. I apologize for my lack of posting on here. My goal was to keep up with my posting as I completed each new project but have obviously failed to do so. I joined a few new sites such as Pinterest and the newest one this evening, Tumblr. You can follow me on both if you would like.

I have also been dabbling with plushies and think I have found the best way to complete them. I drew up a basic teddy bear pattern and made two out of my Husband's ACU's that he no longer wears. Using embroidery floss, I created the face and added little saying on the tummy's of the bears. I hand stitched around the edges, leaving a small amount of the bear open in order to stuff it with fibber fill and then continued stitching until I got it closed completely.

The finished products came out looking pretty cute. I was not completely satisfied with my first attempt at hand stitching my Daughters bear so I tried a different type of stitch for my Sons.

Here are the ACU Daddy Bears.

My first attempt at making a
Teddy Bear plushy. I am not
thrilled with this one as there
were some gaps in it, which
allows some of the stuffing
to poke out. 

Though the picture shows it unfinished, I am much more
pleased with the way this one turned out. I plan on making
more for sale. I have already had a few requests from Mom's
at my kiddo's School!!

I also turned an old purse that I like, into a "new" purse that I love! If you have read my blog before, maybe you remember the hand embroidered Hello Kitty motif that I did a few months back?! Well, not sure what I was going to do with it, really, I decided it would look great on this...

I love Hello Kitty and I really liked this purse. So what better
thing to do with both of them than to put them together!!

I also decided to add my "Love Is..." to a shopping bag for a very sweet woman that I recently met. She loved it and I was glad to give it to her :)

I used one of my cloth shopping
bags, attached the "Love Is.."
with Stitch Witchery and decorated
with fabric paints. Turned out really
adorable, I think!

Close Up :)

Well, that just about catches us up on all of my crafting over the last few weeks! I hope you have enjoyed them and please share anything that you have made and are proud of :) Don't forget to follow so we can keep in touch!

Thank you for reading my Bloggy!

Take care and happy crafting,
Amber H. ~Crafty At Heart~