What should we make today?

tiptoeing through the past...

Another new year has come, before I was truly finished with the last. So many things I wanted to accomplish that still sit in my brain or in my journals or on my studio tables and floor. Just waiting to be picked up and finished. Ah well, I guess that's what the new year is for, fresh starts, or at least fresh starts to old stops, Ha!

I have decided to finally do something with the boxes of old photos that I have been given by my mother, Ithink I told her 3 years ago I would scan them and put them on CDs for the other members in the family. And then I went back to work full time.

And a lot of the creativity seemed to stop. It's hard to find the time to pull a project together, from the planning stage to the sourcing of supplies to implementing techniques and finally producing a finished product. Can you tell this really frustrates me right now? 

Anyway, back to the photos, I saw a simple photo album that doesn't take up much space on Ali Edwards blog that I again saw in an Archiver's email from the Pioneer people. I really like it's slim design and the pockets in front for CD storage. Brilliant!!

I've started scanning the photos and emailing them to my mom for identification of the folks in the. She is having fun looking at them again and I am getting some pretty silly stories from her. Like this photo...

Mom emailed back saying it was "brother Walt, sister Alice (the oldest of the 13 kids) holding sister Margaret (the youngest) and sister Emma sitting on dad's old buggy. Emma sure is wearing a fancy dress, with I think a matching hat. The trim is lace and the dress fabric was a navy blue. It was her best dress. She wore it several times on dates with a fella who finally asked her if that was the only dress she had. She said yes, and he never called her again. Her brothers and sisters teased her a lot about that!"

Then in another email she said, "send more pictures!" so today I sent about 30, hopefully her computer doesn't explode! I eventually think I want to either post them in a Flcker account for other family members to see and add their own comments and maybe then into a photo book. We'll see how it goes!

Hope your new year has started off well! What are your projects that you started? I'll bug you if you bug me!

Soccer season is here again...

and we found ourselves at the Creighton men's game last night, with a large presentation of the Blair Soccer Club. Tailgating before the game, eating yummy grilled hotdogs and watching the boys play football while we waited for the game to start was a great intro to enjoying the beautiful evening. Thanks again Creighton for inviting us, we'll be back!

I've also been freezing the 3 lugs of Colorado Peaches that I got over the last few weeks from good friend Jody and the Lions Club (a great fundraiser for a great organization). Last year I got one lug from Jody and froze them in quart bags. It would be blizzarding outside and I would be nestled in bed with a bowl of vanilla ice cream and a bunch of peaches. If I closed my eyes it was summer all over again. I was very sad in February when my stash ran out. August was so far away, but a decided I would order more, more, more! Now my freezer is full, full, full! And there is a pan of Peach Crisp in the oven right now...and some Maple Cream Sauce, cooling, to be poured over the top, a recipe found on the Pioneer Woman's blog and in her cookbook. You have that cookbook, right? No, what is wrong with you? Go here, right now!!! Best cookbook ever!

 

Bunny Lumps!!!!!

It's time to think of Bunny Lumps! Spring is around the corner or right in front of you if you live where I lie, 60 degree weather in the middle of February!?! The children are going to loose their minds when we make them put their winter coats hats and gloves back on in the coming weeks, this I can guarantee. But for now were are all dreaming of Spring and pastel colors and chocolates. And if you are having trouble dreaming on your own, Amy Powers and her new lookbook are here to guide you along...BUNNY LUMPS!!!!!

What project are you going to make first?

Happy Day Before Valentine's Day

Hello!! I t has been soooo long since I have stopped to chat with you! Hopefully you haven't forgotten about me! I haven't forgotten about you, I just couldn't settle down long enough in the flurry of activities that seem to have overtaken our lives with two kids on traveling basketball teams. Crazy but fun!!!!

I made this sewing pattern heart last year for Valentine's day, I believe I saw someone make round pom poms from  sewing pattern tissue and that got me think about a heart. Before I could pull the rest of the project together, it was Easter! WAH!?!?!  Does that ever happen to you? 

It has been floating around the studio along with this frame since then. I have been ever fearful of it getting smashed or crushed before I could get back to it. I didn't want to put it in a protective box because I was afraid I would forget about it. In between projects over the past months I have gathered bits and pieces of red, cream and pink, just in case something clicked when they were piled together.

Finally last week, I was moving it once more and the pile on the frame had grown to include the faded red felt piece, and the red velvet ribbon scraps. I had been using the Mother of Pearl buttons for another project so than container was still out. Maddy had been working on a Valentine project and her found items, including the red trim, rick rack and seam binding were out on her table.

Things finally  fell in place and I think I am really happy with the end piece. I have decided that I definitely need more Valentine decorations for next year. It seems to creep up so fast after the holiday season, I always feel ill-prepared. So maybe if I start now, I will have the a nice collection of decorations a year from now! What is your favorite Valentine decoration you have made?

living on the edge of the world...

 

or at least that can be what it feels like with crazy high levels of humidity and heat indexes over 110 degrees. This was the view at the end of my street one morning when I rolled out the garbage can, I had to run in and take a picture because it was eery. Usually we have a really cool view of the farmland along the Missouri River but not that day. Everything stopped at the edge of the park. A long time ago I read a Stephen King novel about a heavy fog that appears and the main character is driving down a road and swear he sees a ginormous insect leg in the fog as tall as a house. I don't remember the name of the book, or it may have been a short story, whatever it was, it kinda messed me up a bit when it comes to fog like that. You know, how only Stephen King can mess a person up? Yeah, like that. Last summer/early fall, we had a few days where the fog was so heavy you couldn't see the houses across the street and it didn't go away until well after the lunch hour. In town here that is pretty rare. One of the gals at work said she had read in the Farmers Almanac that 90 days after a heavy, lingering fog like that you'll get a snowstorm. We marked it on our calendars and sure enough 92 days later we had to close the office for the first time in it's history, the schools were closed for a couple of days, the county roads were a mess, it was crazy! So now I'm keeping track of any foggy days to see if we get the slightest bit of snow three months down the road. I'll keep you posted!

Stop by Maija's blog and wish her a Happy Birthday and check out the amazing gift that was the idea of Jessi! It turned out so cool!!!!

What a pleasant surprise...

 

to open up this always awesome magazine while sitting in the van at a rainy soccer game this Spring, flip through the pages of gorgeous photos, seriously, there are some really talented girls out there, such eye candy, and get to the much anticipated article about Silver Bella. An amazing apron, the fabulous Miss T, Anna Corba and OHMYGOSH!!!!!! It's the crown I made for the Queen of Arts Crown Swap!!!! Are you kidding me? How exciting is that?!?! Thanks Shea and Debby for hosting the swap, I was totally overwhelmed that night with all the glittery goodness and creativity, but had a blast! And to Barbara who is the inspiration and owner of the crown, she was really easy to create for! Thanks Somerset for encouraging all of us to play in the glitter and glue!

 Now, off to the ballfields! Go Blair All-Stars B-Team!!!!! Have a great Saturday!

Where has the time gone...

since the last we talked? We are back in summer, after a pretty wet Spring here in the Midwest. Can you believe it is already the Fourth of July?! Yikes! Seems we were just shoveling snow a while back and here we are swatting mosquitos! Oh well, it sure hasn't been boring around here. 

 

Spending lots of time at ball games, Maddy is on a Fast Pitch softball team that travels during the week and thank goodness our coach only signed us up for two weekend tournaments this season. I have heard tales of a neighboring town team playing 55 games this summer with tournaments every weekend. Really?!?! That is INSANE!!!! We love you Coach Kurt!!! Luckily we have been able to divide and conquer when Jacob's baseball games have fallen on the same nights as Maddy's away games. Jacob's age group still plays at home every game so no traveling for him, yet. When they both have home games it is awesome because our softball/baseball complex is divided by a shared parking lot, which makes it easy to hop from game to game. Sometimes if Mike is really lucky he can hear the softball girls chanting in the dugout while he is watching Jacob's game (its a B...B...B, it's an A...A...A, double L...L...L, it's a BALL...BALL...BALL!!!) Not surprisingly it more often than not seems to be Maddy leading the cheers, that girl is loaded with team spirit! Her batting is coming along and she has been pretty good at second base only getting cleated in the ankle once as she tagged the girl out who was sliding into the base. The game ending out never comes easy!

Jacob has been doing well also, his batting is always improving, hitting to the outfield, his 1st base skills are solid and his pitching is coming along. We tease him that he has a mean "Cheeseball" that he throws over the plate that no one can hit and always ring through as a strike. He just smiles.

He gets to play on the All-Stars B team which is a huge honor so he is pretty pumped, which means a NEW HAT!!!!! SCORE!!! A tournament in Omaha is in our future as well as a trip to the State Softball tournament, so we can't put the coolers and the bleacher seats away just yet!

  

This was an alarming situation one weekend morning! Who knew washing machines came apart? Who knew they had transmissions that could wear out? Not us! A quick trip to the Furniture Mart (as we had uniforms to wash for the next night) and we were the proud owners of a new washer & dryer. I hug the washer everyday, the dryer just finally moved in this weekend and is fast becoming my second favorite appliance. After 11 years in this house I suppose we may be making more trips to the Mart. :(  Although I really like all my original appliances who have never let me down for a moment, I hope they are members of our family for a long time to come.

Needless to say with all the games at night and working full time my creative side seems to be seriously deprived, trying to work on that, but has been really tough. Gone are the free moments to dream up new ideas and projects. Fleeting are the moments to make more of past products for the etsy store. Always a challenge it seems to work more efficiently while still maintaing the level of handmade craftsmanship I so love to do. 

Aaaaahhhh, a long holiday weekend.....use it wisely, grasshopper!

my newest obsessions...

 

are these yummy cupcakes! A while back, I am not sure how it started, but they seemed to be everywhere I looked, Red Velvet Cake or cupcakes. The Cheesecake Factory even has a their take on it which the smaller version was the Official Cake of Mike's Birthday a couple of weeks ago. Thanks to Kim C. for planting that seed in my head at bowling one night! 

The powers that be even did an article in the paper about the different thoughts on the traditional frosting versus cream cheese frosting. Families weighed on both sides, each declaring theirs to be the best. I read the recipe for the old school frosting and thought, BOILED! That's crazy! But cream cheese frosting has always been associated with carrot cake in our families (and that was the Official Birthday Cake for Mike of 2008). So I got out my official cake baking cookbook and found the recipe and then put it in cupcake form. I made the traditional frosting and I am hooked! The rest of the family were indifferent, FOOLS! This was an amazingly light, ever so sweet treat that really finished off my cupcake need. Maddy requested her cupcakes be left naked! BLASPHEMOUS!!! I really need to work on that girl. Do you know how hard it was to stop the frosting momentum after it had been started? That is therapy for me in a way, repetitive tasks like that. 

I took this picture of one of the dreamy little treats, uploaded it on the computer, decided I wanted a shot with better lighting (YES, IT'S GREY AND FOGGY HERE AGAIN!!!) and went back to do a reshoot. But my little model was gone! Snatched from it's big chance at stardom and being licked clean of it's frosting somewhere in the house. So I guess that's two votes for Traditional frosting! HA! Anyway, the birthday cake is gone, the cupcakes have been LONG gone and there is a need for a baked treat in the house. So either cupcakes or we'll break in one of our Valentine's presents...decisions, decisions. 

I may have a problem, yesterday I timed my work out on the elliptical machine in our basement to finish one minute before the cinnamon rolls baking in the oven were going to be done. Is that bad? But I did work out, I DID feel the burn! That's a HUGE step for me! tee hee!

Yesterday I was mucking about online and stumbled across this gorgeous website somehow, I think it started here and I progressed from there, clicking links down the Rabbit Hole and discovered this interesting resin product. Then today, I click my way over to the Curious Sofa blog to see what Spring will bring to the Midwest and see the Creative Connection list of amazing ladies. I see Shea and her mom, so I head over to their blog and see this amazing bracelet that Shea made. Uh, mission accomplished Objects and Elements I put in my order for the ICE Resin! Two days in a row a product and its amazing uses pop onto my radar...that's meant to be people! 

I also am loving what Amy is doing here, and I really want to do this, too. I have all the supplies having dabbled in stitchery all my life, my mom was an avid crafter, too, the roots go deep with this one! Maddy is also interested so I think I will draw out the grid this afternoon for two stitcheries and get her hooked. Our 39 days may not coincide with Amy's but we'll give it a go!

the newest pixie...

is ready to go! These little buggers are just a handful, I tell ya! They were a hoot to catch and since my husband is a Guinness drinker they were quite easy to lure into the cages. They have quite a thirst! Go and check them out! There are only 17 available, because frankly I just couldn't catch anymore! I like Guinness, too and I'll only share so much!

 Plus, I really think you need to hop over here to read a related story...I totally loved it!!! I would send them a pixie in a heartbeat but this little pixie face could be traumatizing, don't you think? The cute little cartoon variety is much safer for those of the smaller age group!

I finally finished the windows...

for the two local fundraisers going on this weekend, the Cosmos and the Hospital. Each has a silent auction of donated items and I am always excited to be asked to make a donation, although I know they happen every year and I always wait until the last minute to get them started. I can never make up my mind on what I want to do or what size window to use. The hospital ones this year I used a very large storm window and turned the bottom pane into a dry erase board so it would work perfect on a big empty wall in a kitchen. Then I used one of the square windows and did a four seasons design so it can stay up all year round. 

 

 

For the Cosmos I used one of the tall skinny double paned windows turned on its side so one pane could be a dry erase board. This one is double-sided so it can be turned around for one half of the year. Although here in Nebraska it seems winter will be here forever!!!! 

 

More flurries again today! But my, it is pretty just floating down in those big fluffy chunks. Not so pretty when you are shoveling! Hopefully Spring is around the corner, at least that is what Mr Groundhog says and he NEVER tells a fib, so I have made a mini version of the Spring flash cards and revamped the the regular sized ones. You'll be able to spell out all kinds of fun Springy sentences now! Stick those around the house and you'll be turning the pages of seed catalogs dreaming of warm weather in no time. Believe in Spring!