What's new on the hill...

2009-06-17T16:34:00.002-05:00

It's summertime!
Springtime seemed so short and sweet- all too fleeting. Kids are out of school now. I was walking around watering my flowers and seeing the evidence of summertime in my yard. I reached for my camera to grab some shots as I walked around.

Toys in the grass...

hummingbird feeders dangling from the tree branches...

Neighbor horses over the fence...

Happy dawg layin around in the sunshiny day...

The discarded socks on the driveway made me smile. Little Coltie is always peeling off his socks and tearing around. Ahh, the feel of grass under bare toes.

There's nothing like it- all tickly, soft and pokey at the same time. Makes even us old ones feel young and happy to be barefoot in the greens under the shining ball of fire in the sky.

Last year, I made some cute garden decorations. I went down to a warehouse specializing in restoration and picked up a few old stair spindles. Painted em up, bent some window screening (ouch) and wires, glue, rods etc and voilà! Bugz on a stick.

This little bumblebee is my favorite one. This was the stubbiest, broken piece and I thought it was charming. The folks at the warehouse thought I was crazed when I brought it up for purchase. (I bought several larger spindles, I think they threw that lil one in for free.)

Hub helped me with the powertool aspect after I put a screw into my hand trying to attach wings. After much cajoling, he also fashioned the stinger out of an old nail.

This friendly little buzzer hangs out right by the back door. I'll take a few pics of the dragonflies for next time :)

Welcome Summer!

2009-05-27T20:50:00.003-05:00

My lilacs were so pretty this year. I picked a few lovely bouquets to scent the house before they were gone.
We had some hard rains and they didn't last as long as other years, it seems. But for that glorious week the house was heady with intoxicating fragrance.

I placed around lots of little vases and pitchers to enjoy. I even had a little creamer full of blooms in the bathroom by the sink. Mmmmmm lilacs. One of my top 5 faves of all time! I wish they had a longer season. I also wish you could smell this picture!

A week or two before Mother's Day I got a new car! Well, new for me. It's a 2005 Nissan Murano.
It's pretty snazzy. Sunroof, leather, nice stereo. I'm finally stylin' and rid of my minivan. I've been driving a minivan nearly continuously since I was 20 yrs old and I didn't even have KIDS for 6 or 7 of those years. Somehow I let Mark convince me that it was just a good idea ~ for camping trips, groceries, dogs, etc. So even before I was in the Mom Brigade, I had the minivan. They're great when you have all the paraphenalia to haul around. Sleeping bags & rollpads or strollers & diaper bags definitely fit well in the ol' minivan. But I must admit I am happy to relegate all that to fond memories and drive something a bit more FUN!

** Mark, Colten and me on Mother's Day in front of the new car (Wyatt playing photographer) **
They gave it a nice wash for me on Mother's Day, so it was all sparkly and shiny.

The conversation had been brewing for some time... living in the Midwest with Midwest winters, a steep hilly road and driveway as well as a country cabin on the weekend was really necessitating 4WD. The nights I work, I sometimes don't get home until the wee hours and I was having a hard time getting up the driveway some nights if it was icy. No fun trudging up the hill at 2 am after work when your van won't make it! Plus, the lane to the cabin really needs 4WD most of the time unless it's been very dry.
YAY for my spiffy new car.
I just love it :)

Lately I have been stuck in a crispy treat rut. I get stuck on a certain kind of snack. For awhile, it was chocolate chip cookie bars. But I've moved onto crispy treats. They're so yum! I always make a huge batch when I make them. Approx. 2.5 of the normal 9x13" pan sizes is the batch I make, LOL.
Ridiculous, I know. Honestly, that's a really HUGE and hard batch to stir up!
I think it's maybe 16 or 17 cups just of Rice Crispies. BUT - I make mine a little differently. I like to also add in 4 or 5 cups of Cap'n Crunch cereal to that proportion and 4 or 5 squares of almond bark.

You can see the sprinkling of Cap'n Crunch in there and the almond bark gives more depth of flavor. Give it a try. In a regular sized batch, add a square or 2 of roughly chopped almond bark while you're melting, and 2 cups of your next favorite cereal. Let me know what you think!

2009-03-25T22:04:00.008-05:00

We've been doing parent-teacher conferences here. Both boys had great reviews... I knew they would, so they got treated to goodies at the book fair.

Wyatt is having a hard time coming up with things he wants for his birthday in April. We pre-shopped at Borders the other day to get some ideas and he has on his list 4 or 5 different Mathematics workbooks. As birthday gifts! How many kids turning 11 are asking for math homework this year? I reckon just mine... Gotta love that!

I also have to go buy him a new copy of Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince. He is nearly finished with the fifth book Order of the Phoenix... and about to want to start the next one. I was going to re-read it quickly before he did so I was refreshed and we could discuss things as he goes along. BUT... last night I was not feeling well in the middle of the night. I had a late night hot bath and fell asleep for a split second and dropped his book right in the tub. I awoke with a start and it was floating! BAD MOMMY! Needless to say, tomorrow I will be picking him up a new copy.

Well folks, before I could even get a new blog post up with pics of the three birds I kept here and listed online, I sold all three of those!

I know, I know... Sorry! I'll still show everyone the three that flew away. The first one I had listed was the tiniest little bird and I think was near the top of my favorites.

I thought this little guy was so cute- particularly in size and scale. The color combination was sweet too!

Some sweet girl also emailed me and said that she was a Maven on This Next and posted my Spring Bling box on there!! I had never even heard of this site but when I checked it out, I thought my little box looked GREAT on there! Have a look see RIGHT HERE!

Next in line to show is the sweet aqua blue and white one I had.

I end up having a really hard time deciding which of these is truly my favorite ones. I get attached to each one as I work!

This was the last one that sold. The soft pink one

This one was the second largest box, and I thought looked very cottage-y with the roses and tiny flowered print paper.

So, those three flew far, far away.... out to California. Meanwhile, I brought 3 home from the shop in town and listed them online to give more people a chance at them. The silver bird with blue feathers on the viney brown box is still available right now down at Willows in Dubuque. The other three shown in the previous post are listed in My Etsy or at My Lollishop or give me a shout here on the contact email.

2009-03-11T00:26:00.003-05:00

Ahh... Spring has been in the air. Unfortunately it is only on the radar in short blips. We've had some beautiful days, but alas, they do not last. It goes right back to cold and dreary. Perfect weather for the germs. You guessed it, we've been sick here. In the last month we've been through the flu, strep throat and sinus infections/headcolds. I think we're in the clear now, finally!

BUT, it's been raining like crazy. I think we've had more than a few inches at least. Our basement is feeling it... I think we may be getting rid of some carpeting soon.

While we were having all the illness, I worked on some Springtime projects. I took some of them down to the shop today, and also kept a few at home to list online. I will show some here that I have in the shop downtown.

I thought it would be fun to do up some little boxes for trinkets. I grabbed some fancy papers in lovely color selections and made the base of my project just as pretty as the vignette on top.

Covered the boxes inside and out, and aged them perfectly. Then I set about making the Wow! Gathered some crepe paper and ruffled it around the tops of the boxes.

I stained up some paper Easter grass and put a bit on to cuddle the little nest. Next some moss and grass.

Found a few little birdies worthy of such surroundings. Gussied em up a bit and placed them in their new homes, with a few fancy little eggs to look after.

Then I got around to sprucing up their digs. Some flowers here, rhinestones there.

All in all, I am in love with these Spring Bling bird boxes. Although I think I was sneezing glitter and hiccuping feathers for a week and a half.
Here is the crowd favorite. The girls at the shop wanted to make certain of all 7 I brought down, that THIS one stayed in the shop!

I think it is the crown...

What do you think?

Let me know what y'all think of these. I was pretty excited to finish them off. You can see the ones I have online in MY ETSY and in MY LOLLISHOP . I have one listed right now, as well as a caged bird ornament. I'm in the process of listing the others - please be patient! Also some St. Patrick and Easter things. If anyone is REALLY interested in one of the ones shown here on the blog which I have in the shop, shoot me an email right away and I'll see if it is still available. These are one of a kinds, folks- so if it is already gone in the shop, we're out of luck. Otherwise there will be 3 available online.

Have a great week and don't let the germs (or the rain, or snow...) get you down! Just think glitter!

2009-02-13T20:14:00.002-06:00

Ahhhh, Valentine's Day! Red and pink and hearts all over.
I'll set you up with a few more shots of the decor around here.
It's VERY lovey. We're just oozing hearts.

Wyatt, Colten and Copper are all getting little goody bags.
(Copper gets a whole bag of rawhides! Shhh, don't tell him.
He's already trying to sniff them out!) The boys get lots and lots of candy, movies, books and GUM! I sure hope I don't regret THAT purchase! LOL

I baked some goodies for my Valentines.
I love baking for my boys. Nothing like the smell of real vanilla and
a warm oven to make a house seem full of love.

We did up fancy cupcakes & cookies with all the heart shaped sprinkles you can stand. There is a little shop downtown that has sprinkles in every shape, for every season. (The Calico Bean Market on Bluff Street, Dubuque IA) It's a fun little shop and they have SOOO many neat ingredients to peruse. Spices, baking goods, snacks, candy and their famous dip mixes. If you're in the area, check them out!

I bought 4 kinds of sprinkles for our Valentine yum yums. They look so pretty!
We took up a little tray of sweets to Great-Grandma and sent some over to Gram and Gramps as well.

Here is the cutest little picture. I stuck some pink and white crinkled shred inside an antique silverplate baby cup and then tucked in a fabric heart. This cup was a find by my Stepdad one day while he was out and about. He knew I would like it so he picked it up to look it over. By some stroke of luck it was engraved with MY NAME!!!
It says Jenny Lynn on the front. It is hard to see with all the tarnish, but I really can't decide whether to clean it or not. It looks so great the way it is!

Then I played around with the picture and the little heart just glows! I wanted to show you both versions :-)

Here are a few nifty treasures I found in a little antique shop on a day I didn't know I was even going. It's fun to have found such cool stuff at a surprise stop!
I can never pass up a firkin, especially for $8.00

This old aluminum cupcake pan is the cutest size. Not as small as the mini cupcakes, but much smaller than normal sized ones. I love the pattern of the pan and the way it shines behind the little light.

You all know how much I love tin molds. This one had the neatest shape. I had not seen one of these in person before, a 2 piece bread mold. I can see me laying it out flat with goodies inside- but for now is tied shut and shown off on top of the hoosier.

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! :) Mushy gooey chocolatey hugs to everyone!

(*Little note, I thought I posted this last night. I typed it all up while I was still baking- just going back and forth but somehow I forgot to actually HIT the post button. SO I had to do some editing! I think I was tired!!!)

2009-01-23T16:32:00.007-06:00

So, I promised to show you the Valentine cookies... here they are!
♥♥♥♥♥♥

I think they turned out SO cute. I have some on the kitchen counter in a display

and also some on a darling little two-tier tray over in the dining area on the Hoosier.

They look so real to me and just make me smile! ♥♥♥♥♥♥
Cookies are available on my brand spankin new LOLLISHOP store
and also in my ETSY shop.

We have the place all decorated up for Valentine's Day around here.

I got a new lil tree on holiday clearance, so there's a new look for that. I love how old fashioned this gold tree looks while still being current!

Although when I was setting it up, I did tell Wyatt that each branch looks like a sparkly chicken foot. LOL

2009-01-10T13:25:00.002-06:00

Another snowy day!

The boys got sleds for Christmas but we had so much rain around that time. They were unable to do any sledding- No snow! They went out this morning and played around, tried out their new sleds.

Colten toyed around with trying to shovel, but the shovel was as big as he is!

He just tossed a few scoops at Copper and they all had a great time out there. Came in and had some hot cocoa with snacks.

I was busy in the kitchen working on some faux Valentine cookies.

I had made up some of the faux candies last year, and a few tarts. I thought I would whip out one small batch of heart shaped cookies before I start on the Spring stuff. I had wanted to make a few new things for Valentine's Day but I always seem to get so far behind... and the upcoming holidays ends up being too close for comfort!I want to get a BIT ahead of the game and just do some Easter instead.
SO, just ONE batch of sparkly heart cookies and I am onto the next thing. I'll show you how the cookies turn out!

Mark has been off all week for deer hunting. He got a nice deer and had a lot of fun with his buddy staying out at the cabin. he did have a little situation when he was cleaning and ended up with 10 stitches in his wrist... He is ok and will always remember THAT deer. He is excited to make up sausage and jerky and I know we will have some very nice dinners!
Since he was off and gone all week, he decided to treat me to a lunch date yesterday. We went out for burgers at a nice place and had a really good time together chatting. It's not very often that we get date time, so it was really special.

2008-12-26T12:55:00.007-06:00

Oh what a wonderful holiday! We finally got everything pulled together and finished. That is such a great feeling. I even got some help frosting the cutouts...(we ended up with about 14 dozen of those! EGADS!)

We were able to go over to my Mom's about 7:30 pm on Christmas Eve and just have a nice, relaxing family dinner. Just Mark and myself, the boys and their Grandma and Grandpa. No other relatives, no other parties. Just dinner, wine, one present a piece and some quiet time before the craziness. It was a great way to wind down after all the baking, wrapping, preparations... and to gear up for the big events to come! Thanks Mom, for the fabulous dinner and great company! It was so nice to chill for a bit.

Then came Christmas morning... WOW! My boys were SO excited about everything. It was just the BEST to sit back and watch them tear into their stacks of stuff. What a haul those two got! LOL. There were sleds and Webkinz and books and video games galore! Little Colten was SO adorable because he was really into ANY present he opened. "Look! I got NEW MARKERS!!!" -or- "WOW! I got NEW STAR WARS JAMMIES!!! WHOOOHOOO!!!" It was the greatest. I laughed more than I have in weeks. Copper got new doggy toys as well and was squeaking all over the place. It was a noisy, busy, messy, happy, fantastic time.

UNTIL - Daddy stuck an ugly, old plastic dolly of mine into a bag and slipped it in with the load of Colten's presents.

Colten opened it up and thought it was really his present! We were all laughing and he was laughing as he smacked his Dad on the arm and said it was a girl's toy and not for him. Daddy said that it must be for him, since it had his name on it! Then Coltie thought he really had to keep the ugly old dolly and we had a bit of a cry for a moment. Grandma and I got Colten aside and helped him play a trick on Daddy then. Daddy got an empty box of a Kid's toy for his next gift and Colten was tickled pink that he pulled one over on his Dad. Later on in the evening when we went to Mark's parents, we took that ugly dolly in a gift bag for Uncle Luke- another of our practical jokers. Colten was tickled again when we pulled that one over on Uncle Lukey. There were LOTS of laughs all around and even Luke declared that we must have the doll make a return appearance next year as a recurring gift for an unsuspecting recipient.

I got some great gifts from everyone this year, including a new vacuum cleaner and a cell phone! I must be the LAST Mom on Earth to get one, but I am finally cool. LOL. I also got a stack of new period dramas to watch, mostly BBC. I love the costume dramas. Can't get enough!

I still get to exchange gifts with Kayla soon. Probably this weekend. So the holiday stretches for a bit, which is nice.

I'm really excited to give her the presents I've made and chosen for her. I know she'll love them. It's especially nice to have such a wonderful friend to share life with, like her. I love ya, Chickie.

I mentioned another cookie recipe, so I'll share it with y'all. This is the old fashioned Coconut Jam Thumbprint cookie. They are also absolutely FABULOUS! You just have to try them :)

COCONUT JAM THUMPRINTS
3 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
1 C sugar
1 tsp pure Vanilla ext.
3 1/2 C flour
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 egg -beaten w/ 1 Tbsp. water, as an egg wash
2 bags sweetened flaked coconut
Jar of your favorite jam

Preheat oven to 350*
In electric mixer with paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until just combined. Add vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together flour and salt. With mixer on low, add dry ingredients to creamed mixture. Mix until the dough begins to come together. Dump on a floured surface and form into a flat disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
Pinch bits of dough off and roll into 1 1/4 inch balls. Dip each ball into egg wash, then roll in coconut. Place balls on ungreased cookie sheet and press a light indentation into top of ball with your thumb. Fill with about 1/4 tsp of jam. Bake about 20 minutes until cocnut is golden brown.

* - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - *
SO DELICIOUS! And here's a little tip- Really load that coconut on the cookie. Once it toasts and you move the cookies, much of it will fall off. Also, if you have any left over coconut after you roll all your cookies, just toss it on the sheets anyway and let it toast up in the oven. When you remove cookies to a rack to cool, place waxed paper underneath to catch all your coconut. Save it all to a plastic bag or jar and sprinkle on ice cream or desserts for the next week or two. It's SO yummy!

Merry Christmas to all!

2008-12-23T17:36:00.005-06:00

Merry Christmastime!
It's been a hectic time of year for all of us! I am just as guilty as everyone of rushing around since Thanksgiving doing the shopping, crafting, cleaning, decorating, wrapping things. Unfortunately, we've also had a few sad events sandwiched in there like family funerals, illnesses and mishaps. I'm glad we're all making it to the holidays intact.

I am marathon baking right now. These are some of my Hubby's favorites. The Bohemian Crescent cookies. I just got done with 5 dozen of those little buggers.
Quite a bit of work with all the hand shaping and powdering them twice with confectioner's sugar... But, they're FABULOUS. So, here's the recipe. ENJOY!

BOHEMIAN CRESCENT COOKIES
2 C softened butter
1 C confectioner's sugar
2 tsp real vanilla extract
4 C flour
(More confectioner's sugar to taste- to pat on the cookies. But of course, the more the merrier!)

Cream butter. Add sugar, vanilla and flour. Cover bowl and chill dough for 30 minutes. Pinch off small rounds of dough (about 1 inch balls.) Dip fingers into flour and shape dough into small crescents. Flatten out slightly. Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes until bottom edge is just beginning to golden. Remove to cooling racks. Pat entire cookie with confectioner's sugar once while warm, and again when cooled.

* - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - *
Meanwhile, I also made some faux cutout cookies and had them in the shop in town. They were so cute! I did them up on little plates with a doily.

They were made from clay, frosted, decorated and will last forever! No calories at all!!! LOL

They have fooled more than one unsuspecting friend. We gave some to the boys' teachers, and Mom and Kayla are getting some too. Shhhh, don't tell!

They look really cute on my antique breadboard with a fly screen over top. Also on my little stand over by the hoosier. Those faux cupcakes are ones I made last year. The whole thing looks super cute!

I am trying to get the rest of the baking done today, then frosting tomorrow. Going over to Mom's to wrap all the boys' gifts later on tonight. Best to do it out of the house entirely for NO PEEKING!

So a few more packages to wrap, a few cookies to frost, then I'm ready. Bring on the Christmas CHEER!

Of course, my presents for Mom and Kayla are the ones I most want to look extra special. I wrap those first, before I run out of steam and just start slapping sticky bows on everything! LOL

Here are a few of their gifts... I went with a fuschia and green thing this year for the gals. Found some awesome paper. I always tie a little frippery or ornament on the packages, too. And real ribbon on most of them.

Here is one gift that I made for Kayla. She is always searching for a notecard frantically. "I never have any cute notecards." she'll say. I wanted to solve that for her! I searched around for lots of adorable note cards, tied each variety up with fancy yarns and ribbons, stuck them all in an adorable lined basket and then frou-frou'd it up a bit with her initial. I sure hope she likes it :)

It was really fun finding her some funky, fresh cards and putting the whole thing together. She'll never be at a loss again when it's time to dash off a quick Thank-You or How-Do-You-Do! Cute pens tucked in alongside, and she's all set.

Perhaps I'll share another cookie recipe if I have time inbetween frosting :)
Happy Holidays to all!

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-25T08:34:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all. Yes, I still have all my Jack O'Lanterns out yet, but I did dig out my turkey cookie cutters a day or two ago and set those in the kitchen. I actually have a few cute Turkey Day decorations, but alas, they sit in their basement bin - still and quiet.

But I do love to collect cookie cutters. (Also tin molds, graters, etc and so forth...anything old and kitchen-y) so I just stuck my 3 cutters in with the rest of the Autumn leaves on the counter and I can pretend I am all Turkey'd up in here.

I am not having company, so it's ok. We are going over to my Mother's house. It's a small Thanksgiving this year. My grandma has been in the hospital and was just transferred to a care facility. She is too frail to make the trip, as she was just released 2 days ago. Colten and I are both sick, so we cannot even go visit her later on. And the two of us won't be able to go to the other family gatherings either. COlten had a fever and I am sneezing and achy and everything. We'll just go to Mom's and relax and go home. Maybe Daddy and Wyatt can go see more relatives. They're tough. They rarely get sick!

Ok, maybe this cutter is a chicken... But I have always thought it was a turkey with the huge back feathers. Either way, he's still cute!

I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving!

GOBBLE GOBBLE

First Snow

2008-11-24T07:55:00.004-06:00

It's the first snow of the Winter and I have to say that everyone in the house is much more excited about it than I am. The dog was overJOYED this morning when he went out. Copper was running around like a crazed lunatic- stopping short and changing direction over and over. He totally hit the yard jackpot as if someone accidentally left steaks out in the grass.

The boys are quite thrilled as well. We have really only a dusting. Maybe up to an inch in the heavy spots, yet Colten was fairly convinced that he needed snowpants this morning. I am somewhat less enthusiastic. Maybe more coffee will help. Although, it sure does look serene and lovely out there... aside from the silly happy doggie tracks - running circles and skids.

There was such a flurry of excitement and pandemonium as we rifled through the closet for boots and such that the boys missed the bus. We loaded up in the car quickly and headed down the 2 mile hill toward town to school. We ended up coming up behind the bus at a stop! I had forgotten that it was raining late last night before it turned to snow so as I pulled up behind I was really sliding. I though "Oh NOooo my first Winter slide- YUCK!" and we held on. Then we bustled out of the car. Of COURSE I slipped and fell. Hit my knee on the car door and landed on my derriere. So, the first snow inevitably brought with it also the first freak out in the car on ice and my first bruise on the keister.

I had a slice of cheesecake for late breakfast with my delicious and much needed coffee. Why isn't cheesecake more acceptable as a breakfast item? We can have pancakes, and coffeecake. In all actuality, muffins are just glorified cupcakes without the frost. Mark's birthday was Thursday last week and I made a beautiful, large homemade cheesecake for him. Unfortunately, It's Monday and there is still a good portion left! I feel obligated to keep at it. Thank goodness I think it is a perfectly acceptable breakfast offering. Daddy and the boys, with the birthday desserts:

Yes, You can see by the cheesecake pics that we still have all the Autumn decorations up. I need to get those down and try to get Christmas up. My Jack O'Lanterns are some of my favorite decorations...I am so sad to see them go. I didn't decorate the house for holidays or seasons this year as I always do, until the Fall. As much as I've tried to pull myself out of this slumpish and depressive behavior, I can see in myself that I am still not back fully. I am DREADING the dragging out of the Christmas decor.

I am also trying to jumpstart my creativity again. I have been on a self-induced hiatus for so long... I apologize- but mostly to myself. I have felt so listless and uncreative. We know sometimes that we do too much. I have a problem in that I never say No. Things continue to go along swimmingly for quite awhile before I can notice myself drowning. When I notice it, it's too late. I had to step out and try to find me again. Any muse had long left me and I have been just floating in non-creative outer space.

This is not a "Oh, Woe is me." blog post. This is a "Boy, where I've been is crummy and I'm looking forward to leaving it behind! YeeHaw!" blog post.

We've had some big family health issues this past year. Some are still ongoing and it zaps a lot of our strength. I end up just retreating into my own head and not peeking out for a really long time. It's unfortunate. I tend to bottle up all emotion and battle it on the inside, which eats away at my emotional strength and physical health. I REALLY need to work on that. Not retreating and hiding. When that's how you've always dealt with things, it's hard to change it. (Especially as old as I am now, lol.) One bit of up news- I did have a small surgery for a lump in my chest. I'm healing and it was benign, so that was good news.

Over this hiatus (or rather, when I was sucked into the creative black hole) I've just been trying to do some little things. I made some cool garden decorations. Of course, I have no pictures of those! LOL and I also concentrated on making some jewelry for myself. The girls at work seem to like it and always check me for new earrings when I come in the door.

I'm treading water here, and trying to enter back into the pool slowly. It's kind of scary and I feel a bit lost. So much has happened to so many of you, good and bad. The art goes on and changes and I don't quite know where to stick my foot in right now! I am away from all the latest and greatest. It's just good to see some light shining again.

I think it's bouncing off the snow in the yard and hitting me in the eye :)

New hardware!

2008-05-14T12:01:00.000-05:00

I got me a new computer! After spending a goodly amount to get the other one "fixed" - we brought it home and set it back up. Only to have it not really work. It was really frustrating, and I am trying to screw up the courage to call the place and have a little discussion with them. Meanwhile, I decided to gather all my tips and forego my thoughts of exotic vacations and frivolous expenditures and with a little help from the Family, my Mother's Day present was a new computer!

I know I have a LOT to catch up on. My studio is a disaster and I haven't created in eons... so I really need to buckle down and get my creative life and inspiration back! Computer and technical difficulties seem to suck the juices right outta me.

I am glad to be back 'home'. I've missed everyone dearly!

2008-03-03T11:42:00.000-06:00

Once again, my computer issues have endured and escalated. **IF**  I can even get online at all, I cannot have more than one window open and open another application like wordpad or my camera, etc before I crash. Sometimes, just signing on crashes me and I cannot get back for 2 days- only to have it happen again. I keep trying to fix but I cannot stick on long enough to even get a diagnostic window open... That IT buddy of mine is has been out of town but he'll have a date with me when he gets home. I was also very sick in the middle there somewhere with Influenza/ Pneumonia/ and a throat infection (like always...)

I had just started my new job, and of course- being with the public gave me germs! I was out of commission for nearly 2 weeks, and Colten was sick also- so Grandma had to take a couple days off work and come over to the sick house to look after us. Mark got ill also shortly after Colten and I had it. Wyatt is the last one with it, and is still battling. This was a horrible bug with such staying power. It hangs on forever.

My new job is as a Server in a new restaurant chain that opened here. We had really intense weeks of training and testing before we opened. testing! As a waitress! *LAUGH* I wasn't quite prepared for that... but I am adjusting well enough. I haven't worked outside the home (aside from the teaching gig at Michael's) for 10 years and have NEVER been in the Food industry-
so it's all been overwhelming and strange for me.  If I cannot figure out these computer issues with Mikey,
it looks like all my tips will be heading toward either a hefty fix up bill or a new computer! *whine*
All in all not much fun for me around here!

Although- I was in a little Valentiney Chinese Take-out box swap in the SSODS group, and I *JUST* could pull the pics off my camera today so I can show you. Thanks SO much to Out on a Whim Kathi for my adorable Take-out surprise. She has a great Etsy shop as well. It was a really fun swap and I had a great time finding whatever I could to tie in with the theme. These SSODS girls are all so talented that I feel intimidated and inadequate to send, so I might go a bit overboard trying to make sure mine is good enough! Happy late Valentine's Day everyone!
She made me a sweet little card-

A peek at the cute polka dotted box and precious altered ornie, with a   J   for me :)

And all the other goodies she tucked inside the box. How much fun is this?

Thanks again SO much Kathi! I was spoiled :) I loved everything!

***Tomorrow I'll TRY to show some pics of the Hearty decor we had around the house here at Twinkle Hill.

Meanwhile, 3 of my St. Patrick tags and 3 of my Easter tags made it into CardMaker Magazine. Here are the pages as shown in the magazine.

These tags and the seasonal chenilles are available in my Etsy shop right now, while they last. And every box is sprayed with Lysol before leaving so I'm not sending our germies along!!!
The images used in the tags are available for download on the Free Images page- just scroll down on the left!

I just want to thank everyone so much for bearing with me through these computer issues! Know that I *will* get back to you when I can. I always answer my emails- they just might bounce back to me and I have to do it again! I know I wrote to one of you 4 times before you actually got it, *laugh*
I appreciate your continuing support and friendship. Thanks y'all

2008-02-03T23:29:00.001-06:00

We had a little impromptu Superbowl Party tonight. My husband has been gone for a week to Vegas on a business meeting, and he got home 12:30 -1 ish Saturday night. We were all glad to be a family again and in a weak moment of Sunday morningness we decided to send a little invite the way of Grandmas and Grandpas. Well one Grandma was very sick on the couch with 102* so that set of grands couldn't come. but the other ones came over. I made some homemade sloppy joe's and all the party fixins. I said, "This is not a gourmet party, it's a football party... so no fancy food." LOL

Food was hot and good and we all had a nice time. Wyatt and Dad were cheering on opposite sides and there was a lot of silly betting being tossed about. At one point I think switching chorse was an option until Dad said if he had to clean Wy's room, it would all just go in the garbage can, so Wy chickened out on the betting in case he actually won!

On the artistic front, some of my Valentine designs made it into the Feb issue of Create & Decorate. Here is a scan of the vignette.

You can see a pic of each of the nine designs on my Published Projects page.
And some of them are even still for sale in My ETSY store if you want to check them out!

Here are some of the very latest goodies to come out of the studio... Yummy treats!
I made some faux chocolates and faux tarts.

Some bonbons

little tarty cakes

And this is how they come to you, all packaged for giving to that special someone who just needs to decorate with some yummy looking treats, but wouldn't dare eat them! They're so cute :)

I did snap some pics of the Valentine decorations, and also the might cupcake trays the boys brought home from the party last night. Will try to get them up soon as well.
Happy Superbowl night!

2008-02-02T23:51:00.000-06:00

Hi all~ I'm alive!
I finally got signed in without my computer shutting down. Well, ok, it did it once, but I got back on in about half an hour and at least it *looks* like this will actually publish! WooooHooooie!
Basically this post is a Happy New Year / does my computer work / testing testing / update the free image page, etc.

So, I did get the free image page updated with a few cool St. Patrick day and Easter images, as well as the free Valentine ones that were already there. Supposedly have some St. Pat / Easter tags published in an upcoming issue...will let you know when that is confirmed. And I did have nine Valentine designs in the Feb 2008 issue of Create & Decorate. That issue was confirmed and I even
ot it to scan in tonight so I could add it to the published projects page! I am having a banner night on
the computer! (I better not jinx myself or I won't be able to post for another month!)

I hope everyone is having a WONDERFUL 2008 so far. Valentine's Day is just around the corner... if I can keep my computer from actually just off and croaking, I will post some house pics of our Valentine frenzy around here. It's hearts, hearts everywhere!

The boys did go to a little Valentine party today at their Granny and Grampy's house. All 6 grandchildren were there for a game playing, craft making, cupcake decorating good time. It was very festive and they each came home with a large platter of cupcakes for us all to enjoy. (*wiping the crumbs off my desk... Yummm)

K, hope this posts- keep your fingers crossed.
If so, I will be back! (At least until the last megabyte poofs into the unknown!)

2007-12-04T23:58:00.000-06:00

Some updates! The colonoscopy went well. I survived the IV and the procedure. Don't know specific results yet, but things seemed to be ok.WHEW.....so glad THAT'S over with! I also finally got the ornaments done for the swap, and have them mailed out. Another monkey off my back. As I sit here tonight, I am finishing up the very last 2, one for me and one for my Mom, who said she would be very disappointed if she didn't get one of them too, LOL. I'll post a pic after everyone receives theirs. I don't want to spoil any surprises for participants.

Here are another couple Christmas fairy jars!
This one is the littlest Elf Girl.

She looks so cute surrounded by all the gifts! And the top of the jar has trees and pressies too! YAY!

This next one is a Snow Princess.

Sort of a medieval princess hat, all glittered up with streamers coming from the tip. She stands in an icy wonderland.

All sparkly, snowy branches and flakes in with her. The side of the jar says Believe.

And I promised a few more pics of the Christmas line- Here is my favorite little girl ornament. The Holly girl.

And here is another tag. The Woodland Santa tag.

And here is one of the WINTER banners. I made these in Winter White and Gold, and also in stark White and Silver. They both look really cool and vintage.

And here is a blurb about a class next week. Here are the soldered collage necklaces.

Of COURSE, the glass product I used to make these with is not available at this time, pretty much anywhere! I have looked and looked. and of COURSE I had already done maybe 10 different collages in this size to be used in these pieces, and now I have to make all NEW collages in a 1x3 size to go with the only pieces of glass I could find for the project, which are microscope slides. So there will be new artwork and a different size if you come to class, but still the same general project! A really FUN one!

I think I may be getting a cold. My godson's birthday was this week, and he had a runny nose... and I think with holding him, etc I may have snagged some germies. Hopefully not! I need to get the Christmas bomb under control over here. I believe the Christmas bins have exploded all over the house! Maybe will have decoration pics soon :)

2007-11-29T00:13:00.001-06:00

Probably a quick little entry tonight. I've been working still on Christmas things. Ornaments for a swap. They seem like they will NEVER be done. Certain aspects of them are taking FOREVER and they have turned out to be way more work than I had intended. Sewing by hand, for one thing. Another aspect that is left to nature is just not working out. Can't spill the beans either yet, sorry! LOL But I will show pics after I *FINALLY* mail them out and everyone has received them... I am just getting frustrated with them... taking so long. I'm sorry girls! I suppose if I send chocolate - all will be forgiven, right?!

Another thing on my mind is that I have to prep for a big test on Friday. A Colonoscopy... *sigh*...I've had Ulcerative Colitis for going on 15 years now. Was diagnosed in 1994, when I finally went to the Dr. but actually had it for several years previous to that. So this is screening for a heightened risk of Colon Cancer due to having the Colitis for so long. I am SO not looking forward to this. Today was a low residue diet, tomorrow is only clear liquids all day. I wonder if egg drop soup counts as a clear liquid? (wink)
I am actually a little scared. Plus, I also have a little thing about needles, and knowing I will be having an IV is weighing on my mind. Will let you all know how fun it is after! YAY!

Time for a couple more pics. I sold this little Winter fairy in the shop this week. She is so cute!

Little aqua blue fancy coat and white muff. I just love it. I had a hard time picking out my favorite of the jars I made this go round.

Here is one of the classes offered before Christmas at Michael's. I did some rusty bell ornaments, inspired by my friend Stephanie Butler of Sunshine-n-Ravioli. The bells offered in class are a smaller, faster version of the WONDERFUL bells Steph does. If you come to class and like these, perhaps you would like to make a larger, more spectacular version! PLEASE visit HER WEBSITE and also HER EBAY.... you can also keep up with her on HER BLOG
She has absolutely awesome patterns and the larger size rusty bells available, as well as auctions for her finished work, seen in Create & Decorate magazine almost every issue! You just might get lucky enough to win one of her bell auctions!

So here are the smaller quick versions we'll do in class~

First an aqua blue, silver and white WIntery version...

Close up of the tag:

Here's the Christmasy red and green one...

And the tag on this one:

I had listed all my chenille ornaments over at My Etsy but someone has purchased them all! I will have to re-list soon. Meanwhile here is one to whet your whistle!

Aaaaaaaand one more of the tags! This one is already sold as well.

Also here is one of the color combos I did for banners this season. Mailing this one out tomorrow!

Ok, enough pics for tonight, LOL. I'm getting sleepy and I have such a wonderful day of clear liquids and laxative soda to look forward to tomorrow... just so excited for it to start...

Nice ta see ya!

2007-11-24T19:58:00.000-06:00

Greetings from the studio. It's been a busy, busy time here at Twinkle Hill. Let me say "GRRrrrr" on computer problems, sick children, and even a sick me! We're doing ok now, and the computer has made it through another batch of serious problems. WHEW!!!

I will just have to skip over all the Fall and Halloween decoration photos I had planned way back when for everyone, because who wants to see those NOW? *Laugh*
Meanwhile, as I have been away from the uncooperative computer ~ I have been working like a busy little bee on Christmas items. Many are listed on my Etsy right now, and I have a couple auctions up at this moment on eBay.
I have to update the class schedule as well with more project pics. Right now I only have pics of one class up. But stay tuned, I will get that done ASAP! Feel confident to sign up for any class though, we are making some fantastic items, suitable for gift giving or keeping for yourself as a special treat!

Speaking of which, here is one of the classes~ The Frost Fairy box.

We will make this in class again on Thursday, DEC. 6th. We had a lot of fun making them in class on Nov. 19th, so we offered it again. I also have one of these ON EBAY right now, if anyone wants to bid... :)

Here is a sneak at some of the things I've been working on for Christmas.
One of my Christmas fairies. This lil gal has her pup in on the fun, waiting for Santa~

The lil present in the jar has a tag that says "To Fido". How cute is that?
This jar is down in the Willows shop in Dubuque. But one of these this next items can be found on My ETSY.

Pretty little Victorian fancy lady tag. I made 6 styles of tags for the season. WIll show them all over the next little while :)

And here is one of the styles of chenille folks I made.

Little golden snowflake girl. She has a twin sister too, I'll show her later! ;)

Hope everyone had a marvelous Thanksgiving. It's great to be back!

2007-09-27T00:10:00.000-05:00

First things first, we finally got up a new page on the site here that lists the upcoming workshops, with pics of classes, etc. I really like the way it turned out. We are still working on pages, please be patient! But now the Workshop link actually works! YAY! I have listed all my October classes with dates, times and fees. PLEASE ~ Check them out!

However, I will give a nod about one of the classes... the Hoot Owl. Last year, I participated in a Halloween Ornie swap with some online friends. The talented gingham girl Mary Burke sent me the most ADORABLE lil owl, made of a houndstooth checked wool. I tried to honor the sweetness of her ornament to do a workshop. I made up a pattern, changing him from hanging to being able to easily sit, so my students could place him anywhere, if they do not have a Halloween tree.
My Hoot Owl

He could still nestle in the branches though! I also designed this hoot owl to be done entirely by hand with blanket stitching. I truly loved Mary's lil owl design. He is just the cutest thing!

Check out Mary's blog too! Thanks for the inspiration, Mary! I only hope you're flattered enough by my version! :)

Will show off the other fairy jar that is on eBay right now.

Closer face shot of our sweet little Witchy!

The top of the jar

Frou-Frou on the side

Extreme Lumina close up!

I just loved the subtle color scheme on this piece. Not your typical Halloween fare. I thought it was soft and fresh and somewhat trendy yet classic. I think this jar and the fuschia baby Wicked Witch were my two favorite jars.

Cabin is looking like a cabin!

2007-09-25T22:11:00.000-05:00

The birthday festivities are over! :(
We had a little grill out at the cabin with my Mom and Stepdad on Saturday night. Colten and Wyatt declared that I must have a cake, so Grandma and the boys picked me one out. The boys gave me some new socks, a magazine that I wanted, a couple new music CDs (The Gourds, from Austin... I LOVE them!) and a new grey zip up hooded sweatshirt. Any camper worth her salt knows she needs a grey hooded sweatshirt for weekends!

So, of COURSE, this was my camping breakfast the next morning... leftover birthday cake!

Hardly nothin' beats fresh coffee and birthday cake outdoors in the morning. This was sort of an early present from Mark to me- A new camping insta-start stove and coffee maker that runs on propane.

He doesn't drink coffee at all, so it was truly frivolous just for me. I guess he sorta still likes me some! Which is nice.

Here is how the cabin is shaping up outside. The logs are on, and stained, sealed, etc. BOY did he work hard on that! This cabin is SO cool. If we ever win the lottery, there will be a little room added on called a BATHROOM..... Electricity and running water would be nifty someday. For now, we have little propane tanks, so I gots coffee, and a 12 volt battery hooked up so the kids can watch a movie from time to time and give us 90 minutes of semi-non-refereeing time.

And here is proud Mark, the Cabin Builder Man!

He also just put in the woodburning stove. It was a used one, and needs some fixing up, but it's ready to fire up and get us nice and toasty.

When we get the inside a bit more pulled together, I will show pics of that as well! We sure are loving it out there.

Next, I will show one more fairy jar.
This one is on eBay right this very minute... 3 days to go.

Little tag on the side, and cool button!

Can you see the little spider here? nestled in the feather is a black spider shape.

2007-09-20T22:55:00.001-05:00

Ok, so it was my birthday yesterday!
Colten and I went out for breakfast with my sister-in-law Kayla and my niece Jillian. I just LOVE The Athenian Grill in town. My favorite guilty pleasure on a day with no kiddos is to stop there and get myself a gyros. If you are ever in the area... the Athenian Grill in Dubuque You won't be sorry!
So, here was the first stop. The Athenian Grill for Birthday Breakfast!

Jillian had a little package for me to open right away. She did up a little bag for me, with stickers all over it and put the tissue in all by herself. Inside was a pair of funky Halloween Jack-o-lantern socks with light up eyes. If you press his nose, they blink and he makes noise. She thought I really needed those. Which, of course, I do!

Hee Hee! Thanks Jillian :)
We ordered. Oh boy, I got the Gyros Supreme Omelette with double meat and feta cheese, and I also added spinach. I almost forgot to take the picture, and I had already spread the Tzaziki sauce. When the plate came out, it was a lovely dollop on the eggs. It was FABULOUS. I was a VERY happy birthday girl.

The chef came out to talk, and I stopped short of stalkerish picture taking with him. But I cannot rave about this breakfast enough, or the restaurant in general. I do give the Athenian Grill some big fat Greek love.
Here are Colten and Jillian ~ all done eating and ready for the next stop.

Then it was off to the park for an hour to let the kids play. Kayla and I watched and caught and intervened, etc while they were on the jungle gyms. I also got to open my presents from Kayla! YAY!

They were so pretty! And yes - it was windy and yes - I did have to chase down some of that tissue paper across the park once. LOL My first present was more socks. Still funky but no flashing lights or noise.

Then I got me some new earbobs! Kayla said she had a hard time deciding, she said they all "looked like me...." so I said, "What? ANTIQUE?" She just smiled knowingly....
Hardy har har. You just wait, whippersnapper! But they are very pretty, and yes- antiquey looking.

Next was a nifty noodle hostessish cheese/patisserie tray with a glass dome. Uber moderne chicness! (Those little bakery cupcakes are what I let Colten pick out to satisfy his need for me having a cake... I wasn't about to come home and bake for myself. I'll just let the boys eat all the little cupcakes!)

Lastly, I got a really cute Fossil purse. Very Autumnal and stripey.

I really like it with the dark brown straps and the colors in the stripes. And it looks awesome with my new olive green denim jacket! I'll be stylin.

Thank you Kayla dear! I love all my goodies and you too. Even if you did agree that I was an antique...

No, we didn't plan to wear almost the exact same shade. That's just how we operate. Accidentally ESPing. We do that a lot.
But then we look like idiots. Especially if I have made her jewelry for the shirt she is wearing, because I usually make hers very similar to what I make for myself, and we had nearly the exact earrings and bracelet on as well. Same beads, different pecking order. So we just look stupid.

We left the park and shopped awhile. Somehow Colten got a new toy, then we went home. Late afternoon, after Wyatt got home from school, my Aunt Bonnie stopped by when she got off work. She brought me a couple little gifts too. Bonnie grew all these gourds and pumpkins. What a lovely gift! You might not be able to tell but that orange one is HUGE. There is no way I can lift it. Maybe another day I will take a pic of something in reference to how large it is. Meanwhile, Just relate that it is sitting next to a 5 gallon milk can.

There are actually about 5 more little ones not pictured, but the boys snagged those for their rooms and for one by Hallie's bed. So, ALL those gourds & pumpkins!YAY! Also, this little butter crock, which I collect. She filled it with peppers from her garden as well. So pretty!

We had a nice little visit and cup of coffee. Then Mark got home, and we all went to Olive Garden for dinner. Here are Wyatt and Mark patiently waiting for yummies.

Next, there were about 6 pictures that looked like this of Colten and I... while we tried for a NORMAL one and provided entertainment to all the nearby tables.

Finally a nicer shot!

Here is my yummy Chicken con Broccoli, which I *always* get there.

Very nice birthday spent with very nice people. My family.
Happy birthday to ME!

And now to make Kimmy happy, I will post another witch!

Here is one of the little orange witches.

the ribbony side

Top of her jar, with lil owly.

As I said, I put this series of 7 different jars down at the shop. I MAY pull one, or make a similar one for eBaying. Have to see how much time I have. Sadly, I did not keep any witch jars for ME! There should be at LEAST one witch in my collection, I think. Don't you?

All in all, a Happy Birthday, and an orange witch. Happy Thursday night!

The ZEN adventure

2007-09-18T23:36:00.000-05:00

I'm gonna get right to some pics tonight...LOL

A woman that works with my husband hosts a Ladies' luncheon every year. She has a lovely yard with small Koi pond, and beautiful plantings, so she has the party out in the garden. Each year she does up a different, very involved theme. She also usually has a few crafts for everyone to do. This takes her weeks of planning and working, but this year she decided to have a ZEN theme, and make the party ZEN for herself as well... She hired ME to teach the crafts instead!

We had several conversations, and decided on an altered coffee filter book in a Zen / Asian theme. I gathered up lots of images to work with and anything that looked Eastern in spirit. I played with all the goodies: nifty papers, rubber stamps, fibers, beads and so forth. I came up with what I considered to be a pretty nice little art piece, and I helped oversee the attendees in working on their projects.

I pulled the Chinese Zodiac charts for everyone to figure out their own birth year. It was a nice way to personalize, if they wanted to. I am the Dog! So here was my cover:

I used the filters on the side, so they resembled a fan. When they opened you saw the two pages at one glance.

This would be the first inner page.

And page 2:

Where the coffee filters open up, we did tags / bookmarks. Here are the ones for the front pocket.

Page 3 and 4

Even though these background papers were not specifically Asian in theme, they worked together.

I thought that overall they gave an Eastern flavor in just the colors and textures.

Another tag. This one was a fresh egg roll bag from my favorite Chinese restaurant downtown. I bought 25 bags for $2.00. We just cut them apart and glued them on a tag. I thought the picture was lovely and the translucent quality of the bag itself lent a really neat look to the tag. It's really too bad that we *HAD* to go eat Chinese to get the bags for a project. I mean, suffering for my ART.... (What ELSE can I use for art that I would HAVE to go eat Chinese again for??? LOL)

Next two page layout

I did some embossing with stamps and played around with 3 dimensional items on some pages as well.

Harder to capture in this photo, but the Geisha was on pop dots away from the golden wings.

I had searched for some Chinese proverbs, and also downloaded an Asian look font. Printed off the proverbs in said font, and voila! "Deep Thoughts" of Zen like thinking for every page, LOL.
The last two tags.

Here is the back cover.

Here are the other sides of the tags

I thought the project as a whole turned out really neat. Once I got into it, there was no stopping me.
Then I found myself so inspired by the Geisha pics I had found, and that Geisha with the golden wings that I just KNEW that I had to make the hostess a Geisha Fairy jar.

Of COURSE I made MEEEE one, too! LOL
Here is the Geisha Fairy:

VERY colorful

Gaudy pretty

I just LOVED her though. I was so happy I made one to keep in my own growing fairy jar collection!

So there you have it.... The ZEN adventure!
I thank Megan for inviting me to come teach at her lovely Garden Party. I appreciate the opportunity.

Tomorrow I spend the day with my little Colten. He is off preschool on Wednesdays. It is my birthday, so he said "I will be looking after you all day on your birthday, Momma!" It is looking like we're meeting a friend for a nice breakfast out at the Greek place for feta/gyro omelettes and then to the park to play! Maybe a little window shopping. Sounds like an awesome day with my little man. I am sure he will be telling EVERYONE exactly how old I am!

He is pretty devastated that there will be no actual party for me though! He said "Momma, tomorrow we can go get your CAKE!" I told him that we might do a little celebration Saturday night out at the cabin, and have Grandma and Grandpa come. But he thought it was sad that I would have no cake on my birthday. That's just the sweetest thing. I had to hug him for that one!

Whew, Sunday night!

2007-09-16T21:42:00.001-05:00

Just got home from camping. What beautiful weather! Well, ok- a little chilly last night, but much preferable to HOT, for me! The day today couldn't have been nicer. Cool and sunny, breezy. Yay! What a nice time we had. Hallie brown dog went with us, and this time she didn't roll in anything stinky. When she goes out camping is when I think she remembers that she is a DOG. Last weekend, she had to have a quick hose bath before I would let her in- she was a stanky thang.

The boys found plenty of toads and caterpillars. Next time I will have to bring the camera and take pics of the cabin. It has come so FAR since those original pics, you won't believe it! Mark got done staining the log siding just this weekend. Will fill you in on details when I have pics to post, otherwise you'll just be reading and wanting to look, LOL.

I had mentioned that I had one more fairy swap to show you... it wasn't an actual swap, but it turned out that way! My friend Jeanie had a birthday that fell during the time when the original fairy madness struck. SO... I made her a fairy jar for her birthday as a surprise.

I did hers up in orangish hues.

I know it's hard to see in this pic (I had such a hard time getting a clear shot of this fairy. She was so WIGGLY!) but she had striped tights as well. I love to think of them as very whimsical dressers, lol.

Funny little jar of pixie dust on this one as well. Some of us girls just think alike! :)

Well, then SURPRISE SURPRISE on me, but Jeanie turned around and made me a fairy to try to cheer my spirits when I fell so in the dumps with all that happened with the dogs and life, etc. I was so excited to receive her lovely gift in the mail.

Very inspired. As she is a painter by declaration, she painted the body with watercolors! Acorn head and real bug wings. REAL wings, people!

She made a darling set of tags and used her paints on these as well.

Very inspired and oh so very sweet, Jeanie! I appreciate your friendship and this was just the thing to snap me awake and get me to SMELL the FALL coming! .... Thank you ~ Thank you ~ Thank YOU!

Such a dear friend! I swear, you and Kimmy are the VERY BEST!

So, I have another workshop at Michael's tomorrow night. Last week we did that blue fairy jar, and I have the same students coming this week for the next fairy jar :) I am glad they had so much fun! We will be doing the above little fairy in orange hues, like I sent to Jeanie. Turns out they also went down to the shop in town and bought one of the witch jars I did up for Halloween. I thank them so much for their kind words and support!

I will show you JUST the little witch jar from the shop- the one that they bought. The rest you will have to wait for! Muahahahaha.

YES, that is hot pink... or fuschia, lol. I had a little bit of this neato fabric. Sheer black with fuschia spiderweb design. I thought "Ooooo. Tres Chic!" and just absolutely HAD to do one in this color, even if no one might buy it.

Since the fuschia seemed so CHIC to me, I had to use a little rhinestone bling and did a little belt around the jar with a tiny buckle.

I JUST SO happened to have this exact shade of glitter in the studio ~ how fortuitous... So, baby bat wings with fuschia glittered polka dots it was!

Putting the Wicked Witch moniker on the baby image gave me fits of giggles. :D

Some funky fuschia fibers (say that 5 times fast!) and we were set.
I truly didn't know if this one would be a fit for anyone, using the hot pink for Halloween. I am SO glad she spoke to the girls who took my class, and that she will have a home with someone who appreciates her in her Halloween CHIC!

I am still trying to get my Fall items listed on MY ETSY... take a peek. It'll all be there soon. PLUS ~ More Halloween witch jars and also some pics of the Zen coffee filter book I taught at a recent Garden Party soon to come!

The Birthday Bash!

2007-09-13T22:01:00.001-05:00

Two weeks ago, we had a birthday party for Colten who turned the big 5!

He had a black Spiderman birthday, and was wanting Ben-10 presents and costumes.

He loves to dress up, and at this age I totally want to indulge that creativity and the childlike fantasy of playing dressup before he grows out of it. So he got costume things!

I was really wishing that all the Halloween things were out, but they weren't out yet. He would have really liked a wildcat costume, like a cheetah or tiger. So I might look for that as a special post- birthday treat now that the costumes are showing up in stores.
His party was the Sunday before his actual birthday. We were SUPPOSED to have it at the cabin, to christen it, and because I had been on deadline for a couple weeks so my studio (ok, ok and the whole house) was a disaster. Then it RAINED RAINED RAINED and I had to do a marathon housecleaning so we could have the birthday party at home. And it was to be a cookout thing, and people were coming for dinner, so I had to cook too! Silly me!

Wyatt trying out the hula skirt. This will be a nice picture for future intimidation usage. :)

Here is the requested pizza dinner on his REAL birthday.

It's kind of nice having the party with all the craziness on the weekend and saving the special actual birthday for just us to be together in peace and relaxation. Plus it's like two parties and stretching out the celebration! LOL
Happy birthday to my little man! I love you Coltie :)

As promised, I will tantalize you with pics of the sweet little pink fairy I got from my darling friend Kim Lance.

She used a picture of her mother for this little gal, and said to watch out, she might bite! LOL

Cute tag!

Sweet sweet fairy. Thanks so much, Kimmy! Love ya!

And here is the blue and brown fairy I made for Kimmy.

Closer view of the lil sprite :)

Hmm- top of jar

Fancy schmancy beady frippery on the side...

And the back o'the wings :)

This aqua-tealish blue and brown fairy is also a workshop I taught at Michael's this past Monday night! We had a blast making them. What a fun night!

I will post another fairy set tomorrow! And I really have to show y'all some of the Halloween goodies I did for the shop. I will start listing on my ETSY as well, little by little!

The beginning of the fairy jar madness in my studio...

2007-09-13T00:07:00.000-05:00

Ahh, what lovely days we've been having here in Eastern Iowa. Jeans weather. Beautiful, crisp, clear, sunny days. I love it!
Both my boys are back to school, which is giving me some breathing room. I love that too! LOL
Here are my two boys waiting for Colten's bus.

Colten's first day of his last year of Preschool at the best preschool EVER! We love his school and his teacher!

And here is my growing up SO fast bigger boy, Wyatt on his first day of 4th grade!

Meanwhile, I will need to start backtracking time in my posts so I can show everyone all the pics I *NEED* to show ya!
My friend started a fairy jar swap a month or two ago. I swapped with two girls, and then made one for another friend who was having a birthday.

I got this sweet little jar from Tina Wright, the host of the swap.

She had 2 of her jars shown in Somerset, so she really knows what she is doing.

Thanks so much for the little Monarch girl. I love her :)

It really daunted me to make one for her! LOL
But then I buckled down, and got to work. This is what I sent to Tina...

I made her a little yellow fairy with swallowtail wings.

I wanted to show you the back. I printed 2 sets of wings for all my fairies because I want them to be
pretty and glittery on the backside as well.

Here is maybe a shot just a tinch closer...

I also sent along a little bag of chocolates from my local candy store. Yumm!

Then I really got on a fairy jar kick. I made the one for Tina first, and the one for Kim I will show you tomorrow. (I have to make you keep checking back! hee hee) I also made one of each of these for myself, because I couldn't stand to let them completely go. I was gonna have a jar fairy collection, dagnabbit. They are just SO intriguing!

So sorry....

2007-09-11T09:08:00.000-05:00

I am so sorry that I have been lax in my blogging. Between the summertime with kids and deadlines looming, school and life issues I was just unable to get to my blog. I am hoping to turn over a new leaf and get back in the saddle, etc. Ok enough old sayings.

Mainly my problem was the deadlines and this: We have had some heartbreak in the last weeks. First we had to give Zip away.

He * reeeeally * needed to have a job and a farm. It was a heartbreaking decision, but we knew it would be the best road for everyone involved to find Zip a farm to live and work on.

We did that also so that we could concentrate on the two dogs we already had. There were a lot of issues with Zip trying to herd our OLD dog Hooch, nipping at his hindquarters etc. Now Hooch was absolutely deaf and completely blind in one eye already, and going in the second one... He couldn't deal with this active young adult dog.
So- a really old farmer came to take Zip. I think the guy may have been about 150. He just really thought Zip was great. He'd had Blue Heelers in his life, and was absolutely willing to take him on. I am sure he and Zip will be great friends. I think this man will spend SO much time with him and be constant companions. I wish Zip the very best, and he will always have a special chewed up place in our hearts. Goodbye, Buddy Zip.

We only had about 2 more weeks with our dearest Hoochie. He was a liver colored Cocker.

15 and a half! Nearly unheard of for a Cocker. Poor thing started falling. He fell down the steps to the basement. He fell off the deck ... several times. Thankfully and miraculously, he wasn't hurt in any of these falls, but I knew it would come to that very soon. So far only his pride was hurt. I did NOT want him to hurt himself in an accident and be in pain at the end.

It was SUCH a tough decision, especially on the cusp of giving Zip a new home. But we had to say goodbye to our dear, sweet old friend Hooch.

So we are down to one doggie in our house now. Little brown Hallie the Cocker.
She's 9 now and has never been a healthy dog since the day we got her. If she lives to even 11 I would be surprised. I already see the cataracts coming in both eyes. And she ALWAYS had ear issues, so I think she can hardly hear a thing. So much for the reputable breeder we bought her from. She was our third Cocker, and after her I would never have another. No how, No way. The poor thing.

But we are all talking breeds of hunting dogs at our house. Hooch was a first class Pheasant dog, and Dad wants another hunting dog. So come this Spring we will be on the 'hunt' for a new family member. It has been hard already to not run out and try to find a new wet nose to ease our pain. But Hooch was our best friend for so long, it feels proper to really grieve him and take our time. Hallie came on the heels of losing our Honey in an accident, and although we love Hallie, it never was right. No one could replace Honey, and no one can replace our Hooch. Once we work through our sadness and come to think of happier memories, we can move on and open our hearts to new fuzzy puppy love. I think Yellow Labradors, English Setters and German Shorthairs are at the top of the list so far.

Pets are SUCH a part of your heart. People without them can never understand. I have cried every day these last few weeks. Even before Hooch went because I knew it was imminent. The loss of these two dogs has put me into a great emotional turmoil and I am not myself.
It's so very hard. People understand the grief when a person in your life has gone, but they never get it that your pet is the same thing.

Rest in Peace~ my Dearest, Sweetest Friend Hooch.

We love you and will see you again.

I will REALLY try to get good at this blogging thing! I will have lots of eye candy in the upcoming days, I promise!!! :)

2007-07-23T00:16:00.000-05:00

I went to a farm auction today. Was a beautiful day, nice breeze, not too hot. I got a bit sunburned, but I'm fine. Just a touch of pink color.

Folks turned out in droves and there was plenty of competition. Not too many good deals to be had though. People were in a buying mood, and most items went steep. Anything primitive went high. Actually, nearly anything at all went high. Was a titch frustrating.

I managed to walk away with three things. My first purchase was an old butter paddle. I collect some kitcheny things- molds, graters, etc. I have always looked at the paddles, and pick them up and fondle them at shops, but haven't purchased one yet.

This one was very nice and such a nice shape. I am very pleased and will display it in my kitchen.

This was a first time auction at the old estate and there were so many nifty things. Lots of furniture, collectibles and primitives. Probably 25 crocks of different varieties. I must have bid on 6 of the 25, to no avail. There is one local guy who goes to EVERY auction and buys EVERY crock, and of COURSE he was there. I was disheartened with my bidding and the outrageous turn each item took for the high end of the scale. This was the last crock.

A 3 gallon Red Wing jug with cork. It looks a bit defective to most buyers, with it's missed glaze. But I loved the character about it. And now it lives at my house!

Lastly I won my choice of 1 out of 4 boxes of antique lacework/doilies. It's such a lost art now. I love all the old doilies and like to think about the women who sat by lamplight and tatted or crocheted these pieces I hold.

The other boxes had tablecloths and linens. I chose the one with most doilies. This is only about 1/4 to 1/3 of what is in the box. Purdy!

I got a little sunburned, a little peeved at nearly always being the losing bidder, and I am tired. But it was a very nice day out in the sunshine and breeze of the beautiful countryside ~ rummaging through all the "stuff" from the farmstead.

2007-07-21T14:27:00.000-05:00

Oh Dear. It's been a week again since I posted... I *really* need to get a better handle on this blogging thing, and keep a schedule. So very sorry... I will try harder! And I need to keep my camera handy more often, too.

Was a dear friend's birthday this week, so I've been running a lot of little birthday errands and secret missions to get her a load of goodies suitable for spoiling her on the special day. It was a very girly theme of sparkly deco jewelry boxes and picture frames and bling. I made her some jewelry to go INSIDE the flashy new box, and we went out for cocktails as well. Was a very fun night of chick time. I think she liked her fancy-schmancy prezzies, and the jewelry I made, and her spiffy wrap jobs and all that. (Next time I promise to take pics of the gifts before she has at 'em! But I'm telling you, she was chomping at the bit!) Happy Birthday Darling Kayla!

Next we have The Harry Potter Release! Wyatt and I arranged to have a Mom/Son date night to go to the release parties, just the two of us. He took a nap in the late afternoon so he would be primed to stay up late. (Such a special occassion to get to stay up for... yet he would have even taken the nap gladly if I said "Would you like to stay up until Midnight with Mom and eat Broccoli?" it is just THAT fun to stay up late when you're 9, you know!) So we went to dinner together and had some Chinese food, which he LOVES. Then we went to our local library for some Harry Potter and Hogwart's themed festivities.

Wyatt dressed as Harry, and Mom was an average Muggle.

We did run uptown to the new Borders to check out their release party, but the place was just PACKED, so we didn't stay. We quickly came back down to the library, and then the whole lot of us partygoers walked through the downtown together to our locally owned bookstore and counted down until midnight. We were #99 to get our book.

It was very exciting as the numbers were called and there was a load of good energy from all participants. The public library party was completely geared for the kiddos which was so nice. That was the whole reason Wyatt was my date! We also felt really good buying our book from the locally owned business. YAY for hometown!

Camping tonight, and an auction tomorrow!

My concert evening

2007-07-14T10:17:00.000-05:00

I went with my Aunt and her husband out of town for a concert last night. I was wanting to go to this one so badly.... been excited and counting the days. Alison Krauss and Union Station! We drove down to Cedar Rapids, just the three of us. Got to go to the big city- woohoo. They even have a Red Lobster there! *Laugh* We ordered Margaritas and appetizers, and I got a shrimp feast, including shrimp linguini alfredo, some scampi and...you guessed it! Yes - SCALLOPS!

Oh oh oh - they were so good. Really enjoyed my nice dinner out on the town and my Uncle picked up the tab, which was so unexpected and sweet. I really had a lot of fun at the restaurant savoring my delicious scallops. I took a little of everything home to enjoy later as well. Man, I love seafood, and will take any opportunity to get it. Hubby doesn't dig it at all, So I have to go for it with other folks.

Then we headed to the concert. We had the most amazing seats and the show was just spectacular! This band is fantastic and Alison Krauss has the most beautiful voice. They played for 2 hours, which was not nearly enough. What a show! I truly enjoyed every moment of my evening. The company, the dinner and the concert. Such a lovely memory. I would definitely recommend seeing them perform and would go again in a moment. What talents!

Here is Alison Krauss & Union Station's tour schedule, so you can find a show to go to. If you're not familiar with the band- Let Me Touch You for Awhile and Every Time You say Goodbye should give you a great idea of the sheer talent of this group of musicians.

2007-07-07T11:18:00.000-05:00

Last night I went to see a semi-local duo perform in a cozy little basement club in town. I saw them play at some outdoor festival 5 or 6 or 7 years ago and just fell in love with them. (Well, ok maybe a little crush. But who can resist a songsmith in a rolled up cowboy hat?) Husband and wife Mike & Amy Finders are just the most splendiferous team. Acoustic guitar and mandolin bringing folk, country and bluegrass to a boil, and seasoned with sprinkles of harmonica. I will always want a second helping.

Some pairings are made in Heaven, and these two were surely destined for one another. Amy's voice is pure gold and Mike's songwriting is nothing short of superb. He weaves a tale, and they pick and play- harmonizing like nobody's business. I have 3 of their CDs and am hoping to come across the 4th here sometime soon. (My birthday is coming.... hint)
I have a video link over here on the right, so watch and enjoy! If you really dig their stuff, check out their WEBSITE
to buy music, get a little more info or see where they'll be next! You won't regret it!

I got that new job a week or two ago, teaching classes at Michael's which doesn't seem like a job yet, as I haven't had any classes! But I have been diligently working on some projects for the workshops I will hold. When I was hired, they really wanted to try to capitalize on my magazine exposure with this current issue featuring my patriotic designs, so they asked me to at least make up 2 or 3 patriotic ideas to teach right away. I know the workshops will be held after the official holiday of the 4th, but I am hoping that I still have students sign up. The whole month of July should be patriotic! Those feelings and symbols should last all summertime anyway, as I see it. I hope others do too, because I think the projects are cute!

I saw a felt pincushion here and thought it would look sweet done up in patriotic. So I fiddled around making minor modifications to do it all with hand stitching. I think they turned out cute and will be a good workshop. I love the primitive look, so I stained it up and loved it even more. This will be a fun and even USEFUL project. We will even make a fancy hatpin to poke in it!

I always like to do a vintage style hanging cone. I think they are so fun, and you can put great little objects in them. I did one up for a workshop project and I hope I get some sign ups for this one too! This is a happy little project which should make for an exciting class.

Lastly I did up a hanging star, I have yet to schedule this one.... If you are in the Dubuque area, please join me! Click on my Calendar to see class times.

I am really looking forward to these workshops, because I will just love sharing my ideas and designs with folks. I think they'll give me an opportunity to meet some like minded crafters in my area and have a good girly time stitching, gluing, giggling and glittering. I am working on more project ideas for upcoming workshops ~ jar fairies, altered art necklaces, Halloween thingies... In one way, it's great that Michael's gave me complete free reign to go from scrapbooking to jewelry to whatever mediums I want to do. On the other hand, it is also hard, because now I jump around and can't focus on just one area. My projects will be all over the place like I am, LOL! "Jack of all trades, Master of none!" Oh well. Even if I can't Master all of them, at least I can dabble. Dabbling makes me happy. Dabbling and babbling. Dabbling and babbling..... *dances away doing a soft shoe*. (OK, not a softshoe. I'm doing a barefoot, actually~ but I will slap my feet down to make noise, how's that?)

Have a great weekend!

Happy Birthday Bob!

2007-07-06T14:55:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a lovely Independence Day! Ours was very nice. The weather turned out beautiful, although they had predicted high heat and humidity. Family picnic outdoors, some sparklers, watermelon...couldn't get any better.

This week, we also did a belated birthday party for my Stepdad Bob, who's 69th birthday was postponed as we had family health concerns with my Grandmother. With her Osteoporosis~ just turning over in bed she somehow broke 2 vertebrae. She was in the rehab center after her back surgery, then FELL OUT OF BED .... Seriously! How can a place let a person who just had back surgery fall out of bed in the middle of the night? She ended up breaking her lower sacrum? Anyway, the spot right above her tailbone. The poor thing! They can't do anything for that break other than anti-inflammatories and pain meds. Then she had a huge drug interaction which caused all sorts of problems. I just feel so bad for her. We have all been going up to visit her often. Keeping flowers in her room, trying to make her rehab center time more enjoyable.

For Bob's belated birthday shindig- in addition to his other presents, I also made him a card and frou-frou'ed up a little frog for him. Here is the card, starring the new family member, ZIP. My husband didn't laugh so much... but *I* thought it was funny and fitting. I laughed myself silly while I made it. Sometimes I think I am funnier than I really may be. Could that be the case? Nah...

Here is the inside.

Bob has a frog pond out back in their yard and loves little frog statuary and the like. We got him a yard frog, but I have a feeling that this one is going to be sitting in the house awhile instead. *smile* Happy Birthday to our very own Prince ~ Bob! We love you, Grandpa!

The birthday festivities were just a small gathering out at our land, while Mark worked on the cabin. He did actually stop to eat though ~ What a surprise! *grin*. My Mom packed up some fantastic foods and I manned the grill. This was the grilled fare: green and yellow zucchini, red potatoes, sirloin steaks, skewered shrimp with garlic, large sea scallops (LARGE! HUGE!) and hot dogs for the kids. We also had fresh fruit, salads, etc. and pie for dessert. It was just fabulous, and I promise we will be grilling those steaks, shrimp and scallops again soon! I didn't get enough! ( *laugh* ) Next time I will take pics of it all on the picnic table before we eat, as it all looked so pretty and fresh out there in the fading sunlight of the evening.

I am definitely being haunted by scallops. I see recipes and photos of them everywhere I turn. They taunt me. I didn't know I was such a fan until every magazine I open and flip through, I land on a mouth watering picture of scallops and it just absolutely calls to me. They are like a sea siren wailing, tempting me....eat....Eat.....EAT! I wish they weren't so darned expensive, or I WOULD just eat, Eat, EAT!

2007-07-03T08:33:00.000-05:00

We went camping again this Saturday night. Mark's Dad has a small popup camper that he lets us borrow. We purchased some land last year and have the camper set up out there. We'll be staying in the camper until the cabin is finished. It's always been Mark's dream to have a weekend cabin to go stay at. So we purchased 73 acres about 25 minutes away. Not too far to go! Mark has been squirreling away odd windows and bits of log cabin siding for awhile now, until he had a nice pile of goodies to build with. He is the sort of guy who at 1 am will start a project. At 11pm- "Honey, I was thinking maybe we should remodel this bathroom..." then discuss things for a bit, talk about how it might look, etc. I am thinking, "Ok- new project on the horizon. Cool." and flip through a magazine for a bit of inspiration. I misguidedly believe I will have time for daydreaming about it a bit in wakeful hours: colors, fabrics, wallpaper and so forth... when suddenly I hear "CRASH!" and know I better get my butt to the store and choose a paint tomorrow!

Such was the case with the cabin. He said, "You know, I am going to just start the thing." And that was that. I hadn't been out to the land for a week, and it was a structure. Another week, and here we are. It's sort of creepy-cool just how much he can do. It's going to be such a nifty little cabin.

It's just one room, 16x20 with a loft upstairs. That's where the boys will sleep. Very "Little House on the Prairie"! A small porch on the front. I will have to junk shop for some furnishings.

Maybe do some favors for family members with superfluous dressers and the like. ( How to furnish a cabin on a shoestring! *grin* ) Perhaps every family member can bring one chair they don't like anymore, and we can at least have somewhere to sit. BYOC (chair).... sounds like a hit to me.

So, we camped and cooked out and had a wonderful time in between the generator running so Daddy could run some power tools! Yes, there will be no electricity or water at our rustic little cabin. We have an outhouse already. Mom is not leaning against a tree and scavenging leaves, she'll stay home first. We made some awesome burgers and sweet corn on the grill, sat around the fire and enjoyed being a family.

In the a.m. Mark and I heard Zip banging around in the back of his truck, and we lazily laid in our respective sleeping bags for a few minutes until I decided I didn't want Zip in trouble with Dad for eating a box of screws or some other odd thing. So I flipped back my sleeping bag and popped out of my end of the camper. Mark got up too, and I said "Gonna check on Zip." He agreed, so we went out to see. He was being good, just chasing his tail and other crazy amusements in there. I used the good ol' outhouse and then found it was only 6:45 am. GOOD GRIEF! Here I was, up and dressed and awake on a Sunday morning with sleeping kids and it was only 6:45! WOW-Weeee. That's when I decided to partake in the beauty of the surrounding countryside and get my big, fat butt moving. This translated to taking buddy Zip for a long walk.

I am trying to teach him to walk nicely on a leash. So far, I haven't taken him for a walk in town - I don't yet know how that would go with him meeting new dogs or pulling me along through the city. So I think out here in the boondocks is a great place to practice that skill. I put on a belt, and hook his leash to it around my waist. Then if he gets to the end and tugs a bit, I stop dead in my tracks. He gets the idea that he cannot pull me along and we do ok. It's nice, even.

I felt like NatureGirl as we walked on our dirt tire tracks and continued along out of our property and down the gravel county road. Past the stone farmhouse of the guy who lives on the homestead of the farm property. Past the cows. Past his horses and dogs. We did stop to visit the neighbor horses, because they always come running to the fence when I walk by. First I kind of stomp around in the gravel to warn any creatures that I am coming into the tall grass cover of the ditch, and I pick a spot that is closest to the fance and gate so there is not so much to go through. We venture in by the 3 mares and their new babies. I always pet the girls and tell them how pretty their babies are. The babies frolic around and come THISCLOSE, then back away and run off again. I have yet to pet one of the babies! Zip always sits like a very good boy and smiles at them all and stays so well. The horses have so many flies, and they buzz around like crazy on this morning. I am shooing them away and petting horse noses, while Zip is chomping big bites at the flies as they come at him. NatureGirl is happy and content petting the horses and watching the babies and shooing the flies on this glorious morning. We turn to go, to continue our amble along the gravel. I make my way back through the tall grass - YIPES! I found a hidden hole. Tripped, flew through the air like some circus act and landed on my one knee in the gravel. Of course I first look around to see if anyone noticed, and the horses don't seem to be laughing. But I bet those flies are. Rotten sniggering flies. I dusted myself off, and we meandered along.

What a lovely morning, a lovely little slice of time. The sunlight was dappling through groves of trees. Small morning breezes. Wafts of heady aroma would blow by and make me stop a moment and sniff. We walked past the old stone schoolhouse, the sheep in the field, the puppy in the front yard of the little farmhouse who barked and barked at us and probably woke up his family. There were rabbits that ran out across the gravel road in front of us and I had to stop dead while Zip yanked against me for a moment. There were interesting things to sniff along the way. (BTW, NatureGirl didn't so much love the mouse that ran out across the road. NatureGirl had a hopping, jumping freak out for more flies to snigger at.) We were chided by all the redwinged blackbirds who poise on a seemingly unfit weed which bends from their slight weight. "This is my territory!" they peep at us loudly from this side, and that side. It is definitely a redwinged blackbird morning hoopla all around us. NatureGirl with her hands on her hips like some sort of superhero in ratty tennis shoes, glasses and clipped up hair. Yeah right.

We had a great walk. By the time we got back, I thought "That HAD to be 5 miles AT LEAST." The last time we walked, I was certain I went 5 miles- only to drive it later and find out it was 3. How disappointing. So I pushed this time, gauging, hoping. I am trying to get more fit and all that, plus trying to get Zip into a pattern of...well I don't know. Being a good dog, I think! (Laugh) So later when I took the boys to head for home, we drove my course and I was smack-dab, spot on for 5 miles. Give or take a tenth of a mile. Whoooo-Hoooo!

The Dreaded "First Post"

2007-06-29T09:14:00.000-05:00

I have been putting this off... the starting of THE Blog~ thinking that more time passed would put better ideas (or more entertaining ones) in my head. Today I am biting the bullet and getting down to business. So there.

The kids are still sleeping after a late night marathon of Scooby-Doo dvds in Wyatt's room, and 2 of the dogs are lazily stretching by my feet. Hooch and Hallie are both happy I am awake so they can accompany me around the house, checking on laundry and making beds. I have fresh coffee and the windows are open. I can detect the barest hint of cinnamon in the flavor of my cuppa joe. The chatter of the birds sounds fantastic to me as I sit here poised to begin this blog. The day and the blog are full of promise. Of course, I have grand ideas and schemes and plots and plans for this blog. Let's just get it started first and see how we do.

Zip, Dog #3, is rolling around in the grass outside the window. I hear him grunting and growling as he bites himself in a rousing rendition of "Who's Got My Foot?" This last dog is a 'Johnny come-lately' into our lives. Showed up out in the yard the day before my older son's birthday and made himself at home. We've done the vet thing, and it seems Zip still wants us (even after some not so fun procedures for him with Dr. Jerry...) so now the next task is getting him some training. We've had dogs, and we've trained dogs. But we've never had Zip... He has come to us with no backstory but plenty of bad habits. Very sweet dog. VERY sweet. It only took 3 days for me to fall completely in love with him. He is blowing his coat right now so he is spending a lot of time OUT.

He is roughly a year old, a young adult dog. Australian Cattle Dog- blue heeler variety. Absolutely gorgeous. GOT ENERGY? He shows some signs of prior abuse. He cowers at new people, especially men. He has a bit of separation anxiety. He chews anything in his path...toys, umbrellas, lawn furniture, deer targets....I could go on but it would be painful. So far we have at least gotten down the boundary of our yard, not to potty in the garage, 'SIT!' and to not jump in the van the second anyone opens the door. It was extremely hairy trying to go anywhere the first month. Zip would immediately jump in the van. Sometimes still, if he feels affronted, he will stick his nose in the way so it's difficult to shut the door. We're working on that yet. There are still a lot of bugs to get worked out with this new member of the family. Right now I think any of my profits or paychecks are headed toward "Zip's Training" Fund. Darn pretty pain in my keister though, he is.

I have been working on projects for my upcoming Workshops at Michael's. Some hand stitched items in Patriotic themes. Here is a sneak peek of some in progress.

There will be trials and errors with these new ventures of mine.
I invite you to come along with me and learn. I laugh at myself all the time so don't feel bad when you do. Just don't point at the same time. And if I have something in my teeth, for crying out loud...TELL ME!!!

The kiddos are up and the washing machine stopped, so I guess I have some chores to get on with. *Raises three fingers and pledges*
"In this blog, I not so solemly swear to talk about, in no particular order: crafts & holidays, inspiration & home, projects & classes, dogs & kids, coffee & music or whatever else might be on my mind."
Welcome to Twinkle Hill.