A Kewlio Gift Wrap!

Now how much better would it be to get your Christmas gifts in these adorable, reuseable gift bags!  Aren't they awesome.  Firefly Hill Style has a free tutorial on to make them as well.

My Kind of Wall Art!

So, I'm cruising around Google Reader getting caught up on all the blogs I missed out on Thursday due to all the cooking, movies, football, eating, etc.  And what do I find but a free Amy Butler pattern for amazing wall art at the SEWN site.  Click the image to go to the site to download.  Isn't this just the BEST!

Altered Books! and Drum Roll,,,,,Tree is up!

Check it out!  I so love altered books and have never had the gumption to try it myself.   Well I get to see one up close and personal and KEEP it!  I won this Nancy Drew Altered Book/Journal from the Creative Blessing blog!  I so can't wait to see it in person!  Thanks again Vee!
And drum roll please!  My tree is up!  WOOOOOO HOOOOOOO!  This is the first year in 2 years that I've put a tree up let alone gotten in the mood for the holidays but I've pulled myself out of my funk and I'm there.  I actually got it up the day after Thanksgiving.  I can't believe it and Krissy and I drove around looking at Christmas lights last night.  I do a different topper to my tree each time I put it up.  I can never get the "store toppers" to work right so I go and get things that I love or catch my eye and make my own at the top of the tree.  I so love cardinals in the snow so that's what I have this year!

Fun with Cats and Dogs!

During Shimelle's Blogging for Scrapbookers class a classmate posted their "laugh of the day" blogs to see and I've become an addict.  I absolutely love when new posts come in from LOL Cats and LOL Dogs.  No matter what is going on they make me giggle!

and

Happy Thanksgiving!

flickr creative common license Jelene

Fast Christmas Gift Quilt!

Do you need a quilt for a gift that needs to work up fast fast and looks way kewl!  Check out Crazy Mom Quilts tutorial on how to make a ragged squares quilt.  I can see this in so many different colors, looks like it would take longer to cut out than sew together!

Calling all Barbie Fans!

These are just toooooooo adorable not to share and anyone with a Barbie HAS to have them!

Visit Clare at Clare's Craftroom to check out the pattern for these adorable little outfits!  If I still had a Barbie I'd be all over them!

WOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO I'm a winner!

I followed the Creative Adventure blog party this weekend and not only got some great project ideas from all the participants but also won this mixed media piece in one of the Give Aways.  This one is from Gallo Organico blog.  Isn't it just the kewlest!

 UPDATE:  Just found out I'm a winner again from the Creative Circle Blog Party!  How kewl is that.  I won this awesome Circle Mini-Book from Lizzie Made.  And there is a great tutorial to show you how to make one of your own (click the image to go to the post)!  WOO HOO!

Fat Sunday goes Polish!

It is a cold November day in Mid Michigan and what better way to take the edge off the cold and froggy day!  Oh yeah, food and Fat Sunday food.  Today, and thanks to the neighbor giving me her last head of cabbage from the garden, I pulled out the old Polish recipes.  I'm sure the Golumpki Soup recipe is probably published somewhere but this one I got from a friends Babcia (Polish Grandmother - pronounced like Boo Sha) when I was just a kid.  We loved eating at her house as we ate and ate and ate and she never stopped cooking; Babcia was always cooking and we were always eating!  So, on the menu today:  Golumpki Soup, Mashed Potato and Cheese Pierogies, and jumbo buttermilk biscuits.  I'm thinking Krissy will be waking early with the smell of all this business going on!  I no longer make my own Pierogies,,,,not when I can get them in a bag! LOL

So here is the recipe I use for Golumpki Soup:

1. In large soup pan, saute and drain one pound of ground hamburger. In a frying pan, saute 1 large onion diced, 2 large stalks of celery diced, and 2 crushed cloves of garlic in 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
   
2. 
   
   Drain all fat off the hamburger.  Add the sauteed vegetables to the hamburger.  Add to pot: large can diced tomatoes, two boxes of chicken broth, shredded carrots, cubed cabbage.
   
3. 
   
   Add Salt, pepper, and any other seasonings you prefer. Bring the soup to a boil, turn down heat and let slow simmer.  While soup is simmering cook 1 cup of rice and stir into pot when done.
   
4. 
   
   Simmer for 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
   

Welcome to my Boxcar on the "Blog Around the World" Train!

Welcome to my depot on a trip around the world - Blogger style! There are 40 of us from Shimelle's Blogging for Scrapbookers class on this train. Each of us is posting an image of what we see outside our window at this time of year, first thing in the morning.

My day starts at 3 a.m., 24/7.  Mornings are my best time - quiet, peace, can craft if I want, sit and watch news if I want - it's the all about me time! LOL  Right now it is getting to be late Fall in Mid Michigan and although I love all the seasons Fall is my absolute favorite time of the year especially when we are getting to the end of it, Indian Summer, I call it our 5th season.
In Mid Michigan we consider "Indian Summer" our 5th season, OK so maybe it is 3.5, because it is so different from any other. You have all the glorious colors of Fall, the brightness of Spring colors, the warmth of an early Summer day, and the crispness and lack of daylight of Winter. How can you go wrong bundling the splendor of everything that Mother Nature is into a 4 - 7 day pocket of glory! I love our 5th season!

Because I get up so early I can't take a pic right off the git go so I waited until just before I was ready to leave for work and this is the splendiforous view Mother Nature presented to me.  Isn't it awesome!

The train next pulls into the depot at  Stop. Drop. Roll. to see "Where in the World Rachel is?" (sang to the theme of "Where's Waldo" LOL)

And here is a list of participating blogs in case you get lost along the way!
http://helenascreativemaven.blogspot.com/
http://www.overatourplace.blogspot.com/
http://mgstebbins.blogspot.com/
http://www.sheree412.blogspot.com
http://purplecrazymum.blogspot.com/
http://designrecollections.co.uk/blog/
http://karen-somewhereovertherainbow.blogspot.com/
http://tracyscraftycorner.blogspot.com
www.scrappyjackylive.blogspot.com
http://www.joolsg.com/blog
http://www.debs14.blogspot.com
http://fromhighinthesky.blogspot.com
http://www.calendulafitzpatrick.blogspot.com
http://suburbansahm.blogspot.com/
http://paperturtle.blogspot.com
http://scrappin24-7.blogspot.com/
http://elinjanne.wordpress.com/
http://1-goodthing.blogspot.com
http://www.thelinarstudio.typepad.com/
http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com
http://sm3wkl.blogspot.comI
http://maverickcrafter.blogspot.com
http://www.stop-drop-roll-rachel.blogspot.com
http://this-is-cyndis-world.blogspot.com
http://twistsonlemon.blogspot.com
http://moore-fun-in-the-sun.blogspot.com/
http://juliejohnson2007.typepad.com/
http://capturethememories.blogspot.com/
www.dragonsladyonline.com/wordpress
http://sassysasha.typepad.com/
http://curlyscrapbooker.blogspot.com/
http://www.BEglorious.blogspot.com
http://mypixelatedoasis.blogspot.com/
http://amberls365.blogspot.com/
http://mayadahan.blogspot.com
http://sharyncarlson.typepad.com/
http://lens-and-pens.blogspot.com/
http://gallorganico.blogspot.com/
http://scrapbookaddict.typepad.com/life_musings//
http://helenascreativemaven.blogspot.com/

Did I see "New Moon"!?!?!

Well the short answer to that is NO!  Why, when I had tickets for the second showing of opening day for oh what, a month!  Because my drain between upstairs and downstairs decided to rear its ugly head, and when I say ugly I mean ugly, and make its leaking problem apparent!  So what I've been doing since Tuesday, now thankfully under control, is having teams of people in to destroy my house, fix my house, and Monday start repairing my house.  What a nightmare from hell!  The up side of it, there was nothing but water damage and the mold had just started to form so no worries of illnesses for Krissy, me, or the animules.

 

What we started with, Kristen stepped in a wet spot by the wall where my rocker sits.  The indentation is from the rocker. Then the little hole the plumber started as when he cut it away he found the water damage and had to stop until the restoration company could come in and tear it all out and get it dried out some.

 

 Dining room wall torn out and industrial strength dehumidifier and air purifier on duty, all night and still are.

   

 Downstairs bathroom torn out, can now see through dining room wall into downstairs bathroom. Ceiling of downstairs bathroom that had to be taken out as well in image below.

 

   

The plumber piecing together the drain pieces to show me where the issues were.  See that big, huge, ginormous crack down the pipe.  That was up in the walls from the upstairs bathroom to down to the basement.  Couldn't see it until they pulled the entire thing out.

New drain pipe in.  All the equipment will be running all weekend to dehumidify and purify for the reconstruction to begin on Monday.

If you are in the Mid Michigan area and need totally and completely professional teams to help with a water/plumbing disaster then you need to call Remer and HELP Restoration.  I can't say enough about these guys.  I am amazed that they have kept the house so clean while they are working and before they leave for the day.  And their work is great!

Then and Now!

Prompt 13, past to present, encourages us to look where we were a year ago as compared to today.  So I went back to posts on my then infant blog (about 6 months old) to see what was going on a year ago.  First here is what my blog looked like then and what it looks like now.  WOO HOO!  I've come a long way with the blog me thinks.  I love the free background designs from Aqua Poppy Designs and *Cute n Cool* Blog Stuff.

A year ago I was only contemplating scrapbooking whether it be traditional paper style or digital.  It was a craft that was just twinkling in my eye.  I went from no scrapbooking to embracing digital scrapbooking and now create stuff like this.  Love it.

I definitely still have a long way to go with my digi scrapping but thanks to classes like Shimelle has, I'll keep going with it!

Then there is my desire to have the holiday season again.  Since my Dad passed in Feb of 2007 I haven't been a very "holiday" type, this was his favorite time of year and having it without him just wasn't the same.  But that is changing this year.  Last November we celebrated my best friends 50th birthday and then the little silver tree was all I put up.  This year, my bud will be home for Christmas and I want to get back to my pretty purple tree again!

Blog Around the World Blog Train!

Join us Saturday, November 21, starting at 4 p.m. EST for a trip around the world - Blogger style!  There are 40 of us from Shimelle's Blogging for Scrapbookers class on this train.  Each of us will post an image of what we see outside our window at this time of year, first thing in the morning.  Some will also share what their studio/workrooms are like as well!

Be sure to check back on Saturday to see where our travels will take you and see what other areas of the world look like at the same point and time!  Mark your calendars, don't forget.

A Great Tutorial!

Prompt 12, as time allows!  This is a great lesson on categorizing your blog for potential scrapbook material whether digital or paper!  So I've started a Tutorials category.  And my first one to add to it is this one by Shimelle on Digital Photo Masking.

Fat Sunday for 3 Girlies!

My main questions is,,,,,how do 3 girls who weigh in at a buck 298 each eat an entire Sunday dinner all by themselves! LOL  What the other two said "when it is so good you just eat and before you know it it is gone, gone, gone!"  Of course, it ended up like Turkey Day dinner,,,,the three of us passed out on the chair and a halves within 30 minutes of dishes being done! LOL
So the menu included:

Italian Mini Meatloafs

Roasted Potatoes

and green beans and corn!  YUMMO!

Blog Hopping Weekend!

Prompt 10, making connections!  I spent a good portion of my wide awake during the night hours blog hopping and thanks to Google Reader, it is so much easier to keep track of everyone and find all the kewl stuff I love.  Here are a few that I totally covet!

 

and that is just the tip of the iceberg.  I highly encourage you to use a reader whether it is Google Reader (my preference) or Bloglines, they are worth their weight in gold!

Thankful

There really are Five Seasons!

image from Wikipedia

Prompt 7, paths to improved writing. I know, I know, I said I skipped it but only because I couldn't think of what I wanted to "Journal" about until I looked outside today at what is sure to be the last of our "Indian Summer" days. My heart filled with love for the beauty of Michigan and the awe inspiring spirit of Mother Nature!

Wikipedia describes it best! An informal expression given to a period of sunny, warm weather in autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, typically in late October or early November, after the leaves have turned following an onset of frost but before the first snowfall.

In Mid Michigan we consider "Indian Summer" our 5th season, OK so maybe it is 3.5, because it is so different from any other. You have all the glorious colors of Fall, the brightness of Spring colors, the warmth of an early Summer day, and the crispness and lack of daylight of Winter. How can you go wrong bundling the splendor of everything that Mother Nature is into a 4 - 7 day pocket of glory! I love our 5th season!

Some of my favorite quotes for Indian Summer:

The Indian Summer of life should be a little sunny and a little sad, like the season, and infinite in wealth and depth of tone, but never hustled. - Henry Adams

Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all. - Stanley Horowitz

The leaves fall, the wind blows, and the farm country slowly changes from the summer cottons into its winter wools. - Henry Beston, Northern Farm

Got a little time for fun?

image from Flickr Creative Common License herzogbr

Prompt 8, find some time for fun, made me think of this game and how much time I was able to waste (errrr, I mean be creatively challenged) in order to win it. Click the image to play Chat Noir! Be very, very, very careful,,,,it can be addicting until you trap that little kitty! LOL It can be done, I've trapped in twice now in about 50 (errrrrrrrr) tries!

P.S. If you're wondering what happened to prompt 7, I skipped it! Cuz I can if I want to! LOL

Goals, Goals, Goals!

images from Flickr Creative - Common Licensed

Prompt 6, setting goals and taking journeys! This prompt brought a lost art of mine home and something I've been meaning to do for quite some time and that is setting a few short term and medium range goals. My life has been so consumed by work for the last year and a half that I haven't sent any real goals in that time, more like putting fires out instead - both personally and professionally.

So here are my goals:

- Decorate for Christmas. I have not decorated for Christmas in 2 years. The fun went out of it for me when my Dad passed two years ago and it was his favorite time of the year. This year I am going to decorate and make him proud.

- Design Backyard Garden. This past summer we had a new wood fence installed, a new porch, and a bunch of "left over junk" from previous owners hauled away as well as grass put in where the old cement slab rested. I want to plant flowers and hostas all along the fence. So I'll look up some kewl flower gardens to see what I can come up with for spring.

- Design a Vegetable Garden. Nuff said, with the economy the way it is and the way we like fresh veggies, I'm there.

- Finish Knitting and Quilting UFOs. I need to use up fabbie and yarn so I can buy more and I have a gazillion projects of each started. I'm either going to finish them or give them away!

SO there are some of my goals.

Sunday was a day of work!

It was a most glorious day, just like Saturday but without the wind, which meant not only is it most likely our last above 60 degree weekend in Mid Michigan but it means "get the final yard work of the year done". So that is what we did and it took forever! 16 bags and 2 barrels of leaves later, lawn mowed, pine cones gathered and we're ready for snow! Thank goodness Krissy and Jon helped out, for a city lot we had a ton of clean up!

Flickr Creative Commons Photo

Then it was onto the Fat Sunday feast, Jambasta from Rachael Ray 30 Minute Meals. Man I love her recipes. This turned out excellent, made Bisquick biscuits to go with it. YUMMO as Rachael would say.

I was able to get a little crafty business in, I finished the right glove of a set of Drinking Gloves from Knitters Brewing Company. I think I'm going to do a digital scrapbook page on the process of making a glove. It's the part I love the most!

A Glorious November Saturday!

It was the most awesome Saturday in Mid Michigan that we've had in months and they are projecting Sunday to be just as awesome but with less wind. Leaves here I come!
I spent Saturday afternoon as "bag lady" to my photographer daughter. I figured since I was hauling her and her subject around and carrying all of her camera supplies too I'd take my handy dandy little Canon and take pics of her taking pics! WOOOOOO HOOOOOO! All three of us had a blast and 2 hours flew by before we even knew it.
Krissy's subject, Jay, is as crazy and creative as she is. We had to skoot out of a few places around town pretty quickly as they were "off limits" and posted with "dangerous" signs. I'm kind of glad I decided to be the "bag lady", I may have had to pay bail money to get them out of a hot spot otherwise! LOL
Of course I had to use my new "digi scrapbooking" tools to create my page. I love, love, love digital scrapbooking! So, here it is!