Birthday Weekend!

WOWSER did we have fun! Took off Friday after work and had a blast all weekend. Here are some pics and yes, I actually got that close to the deer to take the pics - no zooming, how kewl is that! Had to capture the last flowers of fall at a friends. This was probably our last warm weekend in MI and yesterday told it all. Saturday was 76 and absolutely gorgeous. Woke up Sunday to a serious bite in the air and cloud cover, smells like winter is a coming!



Lake House on Pickerall Lake and ducks going after minnows yesterday morning, they were too funny!


Last blooms of summer!


This is Scott. His parents are who we stayed with this weekend. He's a 28 year old in a 19 year old body! The sweetest, kindest, gentlest young man I've ever met. Then there is 50 cent and dollar, our nicknames for them from Richie Rich. These are the two richest dogs in the world. You should see their digs, they have a sectional couch in a great room that belongs to them! Too funny, never thought I'd meet anyone who is as crazy about their animules as I am!



Viewing area at a friends to watch the creatures come in. This is a Mama and this years fawn.

Yet More of Kristen's Work!

More of Kristen's Work!

Snuck up and took more pics of Kristen's work from the last few days! She's also putting in some of her black and white photography!

Brag Bag and Doc Socks!

Sometimes a girl has just got to say no to work and get her creative mojo on, so yesterday was my day to do that! WOO HOO! First I finished up the Doc Socks. My friend asked me to make a pair of socks for her doctor and he only wears red socks so here they are! First time I ever made socks for a guy, wowser they are big. LOL Then another friend asked if I could figure out how to make a brag bag (photo pocket bag) and that took up the majority of my creative day yesterday. I eventually found a pattern for a brag bag (thank you Connie) but it left a lot to be desired in the direction arena. The next one will go much faster and I'm pretty sure much smaller as this bag turned out to be a tote big time, it's HUGE! So here they are:

The pics in the tote are just images I cut out of a magazine to see how pics will look. Pretty good for the first one! I even got the second of the flip flop (pedicure) socks on the needles this morning so I have something to do while watching jobs in the mornings! WOO HOO! I think my creative mojo might actually be back! Yippie Skippie!

The Sweet Boutique! Art by Kristen and Angel!

My daughter Kristen and niece Angel are having their first art exhibit as young adults. Their work will be on display for the entire month of October at a local chocolate and coffee shop. Ocotober 2 is their opening night and they'll have a meet and greet from 5 - 8 p.m. serving wine and chocolate! WOO HOO! What a comibination. I am so excited for them. This is the flyer they designed for the show! Some of Kristen's work below.

Flip Flop Sock, Birthday, and Funny!

Here are my flip flop socks! I love how stretchy the tubular or k1/p1 cast off is and it is a great finishing touch as well. I took a combination of patterns that I liked to create this pair of socks and am so pleased at how they turned out. I think my niece, who wears flip flops in the dead of a MI winter with 10 inches snow, will have dibs on this pair!

The birthday fun is beginning! My 43rd birthday is the 27th (ahhhhhhh how I got there is beyond me LOL) and my girlfriends took me to dinner the other night for a after summer get together. Man I miss those two during the summer! Probably another reason I love Fall and Winter, everything slows down and I get to see my buddies more! WOO HOO! My friend Nancy got me this glass candle tier for my birthday. Isn't it the most awesome. I have to figure out how to get a better pic tho as this one does it no justice at all. Thank you Nancy, it is now my dining room table centerpiece.

OH, and my bag lady buddy (Connie) strikes again. Check out this gorgeous goldenrod color purse she passed onto me yesterday! Man, I love the Fall colors that are out this year. Thanks Connie, I love this little beauty.

Evolution of Wedding Dance
My girlfriend sent this video clip and it was perfect timing as it made me laugh and smile, which I needed bad last night. But it sent me on a YouTube mission of looking for off the wall wedding dances and oh what a fun time I had. Didn't get any work done but had a blast instead! Thanks Connie, I needed that bad!

Altered Art and Knitting Too!

I've posted many times that I'm not much of a scrapbooker type but do so love to look at all the yummy things available to scrapbookers. Another crafty art form I love is altered art. Check out these sites and a couple of giveaways as well!

Retro Cafe Art
Digital Collage Sheet Giveaway

Magpie's Nest (isn't that just the kewlest name)
400th Blog Post Celebration Giveaway

I actually got a little bit of knitting done over the last couple of days and oh what an experience! I started off trying a toe sock pattern, OK I don't have the patience for that business right now so I switched the sock to flip flop socks. Little did I know I had to learn a new bind off/cast off technique, which is actually pretty kewl! It's called cast off in ribbing, tubular cast off, k1/p1 cast off - and really all it is is a form of the kitchener stitch crafting/weaving. It is pretty kewl.

Here is the flip flop sock pattern I'm following for the casting off and below that is a link to the tutorial I found to actually do it. This one actually needs pictures as the written directions make my head spin big time! LOL

I will post a pic of my results as soon as I get it done!

One of the many reasons I love Fall in MI!

Enjoy! There is nothing better in the world than Fall in the great state of Michigan!

Gone Fishing!

Learn Something New!

I'm not much of a scrapbook/journaling person as I seem to keep everything in my head, one of the reasons I like blogging so much,,,can journal with the medium I love - computers,,,,and it lets me keep an eye on my systems in between figuring out what I'm going to put on my blog! Bonus! LOL
One of the online scrapbookers/journalers I do follow is Shimelle! I love her creativity and prompts.
September 1st starts of the "Learn Something New" class that Shimelle offers and is always so fun!

Check out Shimelle's freebies as well! Too fun!

Looooooooonnnng Weekend!

OK, I didn't really get one but we did have a wedding go off without too much of a hitch! My Kristen's bestfriend Kristin (K2 - is what I nicknamed her) tied the knot with long time boyfriend/fiance Rich and their wedding was awesome! Here are lots of pics.