Halloween Fun

it's that goblin time of the year.  when all the cute kids around our neighborhood dress up in all kinds of imaginative costumes.  this year was no different.  except for one thing.... my good friend, Ellen, decided she was going to dress up at work as the breast cancer awareness ribbon.  not a bad idea, right?  she bought 3 yards of pink felt to make something.  trouble is, she then decided she didn't know how to make the idea she had in her head. so she called me on wednesday.  she needed the ribbon costume for work friday morning... so she needed it ready thursday night (last night).  :-)  i love ellen.  she's the best.  so here is what i did...

i cut out a sort of dress form.

used pinking shears to trim all the edges... to make it look a little fancier.  ok, ok, i know it is felt.  for a costume.  but i just couldn't help myself.

then i sewed the edges together using a zigzag stitch.  it matched the cutting from the pinking shears.  and i cut a v-shaped opening at the neck.

then i added a large pink ribbon in the front middle.  ellen added one to the back after she picked it up.

while i was working on the costume... my dog laid around staring at me.  i think he was wishing he could go for a walk.  no such luck.  it was almost time for the trick-or-treaters!

our neighbors have a nice little fire to roast hotdogs & marshmallows before and after the kids go collecting their loot.  it is fun.  however, last night was freezing.  brrrrrr. so my husband dressed me up in his uniform for the evening so i wouldn't be so cold.  it worked!  it was nice and toasting.  and i looked like i had planned a costume.

my daughter come home to help hand out the candy and check out the parade of goblins.  it was a good day.  hope your halloween is full of treats and not so much trickery!

Workspace Love

having a space to create things is so wonderful.  my family has all had the need to use 'my' space at one time or another.  for fun, for school projects, for wedding preparations, and more.  I use it for painting, card making, sewing, scrapbooking, and, oh, we have even used it for thanksgiving dinner one year when we had a crowd!  here are some things I love about this space:

lots of paintbrushes in the sunshine

plenty of acrylic paints from which to choose

cubbies for odds & ends... and an extra plug which has come in sooooo handy!

A place to store canvas and roles of fabric, etc

primitive 'dolls' which I love!  made by erika crawford. 

the craft table my husband made me years ago went through a makeover last Christmas when he and my children added the cubby holes and a storage area for my floorcloths under the tabletop so I can lay them flat when I am not working on them.  it is fabulouso.  it is great for cutting out fabric pieces for, oh, quilts and sewing projects.  and... I am almost finished with the floorcloth I started last week.  once i have the 5+ coats of polyurethane on, it will be time to move to its new home at TH's house!  here is a peek at what it looks like now:

I should receive the new fabric today which I need to start a quilt for a friend having a baby soon.  I will share that tomorrow.  I can't wait!  yay!  oooooooo, the mailman just dropped it off at the door.... gotta go....

My Canning Man

first, let me just say, this is what you want to read when you arrive in your kitchen after your daughter has been home to visit:

it as delicious!  scrumptious!  we ate it all and wanted more.  anna, come back and make us more!

now, what I was going to discuss to begin with... canned vegetables.  it just sounds good.  fresh.  organic.  green.

I always have high hopes for having a garden full of bright and delicious vegetables, which my husband & I would then can... then eat throughout   the cold winter months.  a girl can dream.  but this year, with our daughter's wedding, I informed my husband that I just couldn't keep up with the garden.  soooo, he took it on.  planted tomatoes (grape, roma, some other large variety), peppers (bell & hot), cucumbers, squash, green beans, beets, lettuce, and even a couple watermelon plants.  not everything wanted to grace us with yummy goodness though.  some beetles ate up the green beans.  a mean fungus attacked our squash & cucumber plants... and if that wasn't bad enough - a nasty little bug decided to have a feast on the vine of both of those plants and killed them dead.  our lettuce was bitter, and the peppers didn't really impress us much.  BUT, our beets were great!  we had beets galore.  and our tomatoes did well... we even had volunteers (those we didn't plant, but they grew from last year's plants) join the garden.  yellow pear tomatoes.  in july, I helped my sweet husband can some of our beets.

then in August, my husband gathered all the fresh tomatoes and canned them while I was out of town.  and just last week, he took all the tomatoes left and canned those as well.

I really will have some canned veggies to use during those cold, snowy winter nights!

all because i have a canning man.  i love that guy! 

Darn Camera

I contemplated what to share today... I baked a new recipe today: pepperoni pizza mini puffs.  cute little pizza bites that you can whip up in just a few minutes.  or maybe the progress I have made on my floorcloth.  or maybe I will show everyone how wonderfully versatile my husband is by sharing some photos of him canning the last of our tomatoes this evening.  but to no avail... my camera is messing with me.  challenging me.  I have learned (a lot of the time just plain guessed) about how to take the best pictures, the settings on my camera, etc.  but last night it started doing something weird.  not wanting to focus on the subject at hand.  not wanting to capture the picture by letting me hear that wonderful little "click" sound.  nope, it wouldn't have any of that.  so, now, tomorrow I will have to sit down and find some tutorials to help me figure out what I did... because, I am sure the camera didn't do anything to make it not function properly.  it's frustrating, but none the less, time to actually learn a little more about my camera (Nikon D40) and stop guessing!  pictures tomorrow. no matter what.  promise.

and the week has begun

with my quilt complete, it is time to start a new project!  something with some color.  something fun.  so, I decided it was time for a new floorcloth.  they could also be called 'art for your floor.' they really do brighten up a room.  I have made quite a few in my past, contemplated selling them, but time has always been an issue... however, for now, I promised a friend I would make one for her a year ago (maybe longer).  I started it in the spring... then my daughter's wedding took precedence (I will definitely write about that another day).  now, I am getting excited about this new floorcloth!

I found a cute card which is my inspiration for this floorcloth.  now I just have to take that inspiration and turn it into something that will look great on her kitchen floor.  a variety of greens, red, buttercream, and yellow will by my colors of choice.

my kitchen bowl is the perfect size circle... and a mug makes another ring in the middle.  nothing like multi-tasking dishes!  I have a floorcloth that I made last year, which I thought I might try selling... but I loved it too much, sooooo it is now at my front door.

they are made from heavy canvas, painted with gesso, then painted with several coats of acrylic paints which include the designs. then i put about 5 coats of polyurethane to seal the deal.  they are extremely durable as long as they are on a hard even surface.

well, my bowl and colored pencils have been waiting for me since this morning to draw some more circles.  (oh, i have picked out a new quilt to make... more about that later!)

a day at the market

I had a wonderful morning with my husband at the North Market!  it is a great market in downtown Columbus with lots of delicious food and fresh grown vegetables and more.

outside, we took our time seeing what the local farmers had available this week.  there was so much lovely vegetables & lots of apples, too.  flowers.  families.  sunshine.  i loved it!

inside are wonderful businesses that include food 'vendors', shops, a florist, organic meat, fresh fish, and more.  we decided to dine on food from the Taste of Belgium...

oh, my, were those waffles amazing!  they are made with beet root sugar.  see those small white 'chips'?  they are the bits of sugar.

when the waffle is cooking it melts the sugar and creates a carmelized crispiness on the outside of the waffle.

mmmmm... see the carmelized sugar?  it is sooooo yummy!

you can buy them by the the 4-pack and take them home and eat them.  i am asking myself now, "why didn't we buy extra?"  we did buy one that was piled high with fresh strawberries, bananas, and whipped cream.  I plan to have another the next time I go.  but for today, we did stop at the bakery to pick up some fresh-baked bread... and some of those lovely sunflowers!

a great start to my (bonus) Saturday.  i should do this every weekend!  probably wishful thinking.

what day is it?

the days of the week easily through me off when there is a holiday...  today our schools are out, so my son is off playing golf with his teammates.  it is quiet, cool, a little overcast.  a beautiful autumn day.

I have gone to the grocery store, straightened up around the house, run some errands, and come home to make some delicious oatmeal cookies (mmmmmm....).  I've already eaten three...

so, it sure seems like a saturday to me.  but it is only friday!  woo-hoo!  that means that tomorrow, i get to have another saturday!  it's like a bonus day!  I think I will head to a farmer's market to see what goodies I can find.  but, for today, guess I will continue to clean and do laundry.  then tomorrow will only be filled with fun, relaxing stuff to do... maybe I will even head to the bookstore.  I need another good book to read.  don't you think a good book is soooo much better than tv?  well, except for watching all the miners come up to the surface of the earth!

mission accomplished

i did it!  i finished my first quilt last night.  it is in the dryer now... fluffing up and smelling good.  last night before we went to bed, my husband told me that it is important that we sleep with it the first night.  i can give it away or keep it, but we must be the ones to sleep warm and comfy with it first.  interesting.  i hadn't ever heard of such a 'tradition.'  he reminded me that this is something he learned when he was at west point.  they have blankets (or at least they used to in the 'old corps') called 'green girls.'  they received this green blanket as one of their first possessions upon entering the academy... i think it was the only blanket they had on their neat and tidy beds.  so, we put the quilt on our bed and enjoyed the warmth on a crisp autumn night in ohio.  now, the decision must be made... keep or gift?  it's a hard one.  maybe we will have to sleep with it one more night before i decide.

a day of binding (well, two, really)

i worked late last night on the binding for the quilt.  i got half way done before i needed to give my fingers a much needed break.

today i am at it again.  with only about 1/4 left, i am getting close.  woo-hoo!  when i picked the fabrics, i used a cute love bird print for the center of each of the wheels... that was to represent my daughter and her husband since they were getting married, and we were busy planning the wedding... i also made the dresses for the five flower girls and that fabric i am also using for the binding.  ah, the memories.

today it was hard to concentrate though because i wanted to see every miner come out of the mine in Chile!!  how amazing is that?  i think it is like they are returning from the dead, or i think that is how the families probably feel.  i am sitting thousands of miles away crying every time a new man comes out of that capsule.  there is one arriving in about 5 minutes... i better hurry... time for another cry.

miner #22 has made it to the surface.  i love seeing the family members as they anticipate the capsule appearing.  it is lovely.  i love to see everyone so full of national pride.  i love seeing the men give thanks to God who brought them home again and kept them hopeful throughout the ordeal.  there is nothing more attractive than a man who loves the Lord.

you gotta start somewhere

never thought I would blog...  but I love to read them, see what others are doing, being inspired by new ideas... so I decided to connect with others by putting my life online.

so today is the day to complete a beautiful quilt I have been working on since last spring.  I was hoping to have it done before my daughter's wedding... back in July.  guess that wasn't meant to happen.

but no need to give up, today is the day to begin the binding!  the fabric is so cute!  I just love it!

I am always starting some kind of creative project, and I just can't begin another until this one is done... so, I best get my behind in gear and finish the quilt before the weather gets cold and I don't have it to snuggle in...