Good Quote

I saw this and wanted to share...

"Eventually I discovered for myself the utterly simple prescription for creativity: be intensely yourself. Don't try to be outstanding; don't try to be a success; don't try to do pictures for others to look at - just please yourself."- Ralph Steiner

Today is full of chores- I have the day off from work, and that means lots of cleaning, and chores and getting ready for the holidays. Have a good one!

Long Over-due Project

Well I finally got around to posting a project that I was working on for awhile. I still do it time to time, but I have not been as dedicated to it as I have been.

I call it "30 Days, My LG, & Me"... I decided to use my Camera Phone to capture a month in my life with a "photo of the day" type of feel. I ended up going longer than a month, but I kept the name. Here are a few shots taken with my LG Camera phone.

You can see the whole collection here ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/8707192@N02/sets/72157608813343680/ )

but if you check out my Photostream, they are all there as well- but for some reason Flickr didn't upload them in the order that I had them on my PC..... odd.. but I didn't want to go back and re-load them all again :)

New News:

Not much- after 3 years of the same ole same ole John and I rearranged the Front room. We have this long and skinny room and big furniture, and we finally found another arrangement that we liked- but it will take getting used to (and not walking into when it is dark in there)

On tonight's schedule is Dinner, Tea and Gingersnaps, and playing Canasta with John- very un-exciting I know, but we have fun :)

Good times :)

Long Time no Post!

Ok- After another ribbing from my mother (!!) I will post again.

I didn't realise that it had been so long since my last post- but life has been busy. And I do not have a desk job that I sit for 9 hours a day at computer- and so the blog takes a hit. Sometimes I don't even turn the thing on for days at a time :)

Well- not much to catch up on here.....
I have been working in the coffee shop (and loving it) and playing around with things here at home. John is out of town for a few days for work (as he is every year at this time) and I am excited to have him come home on Thursday night.

I promise to post soon, and add some pictures of what I have been up to!

Remember to vote today!

Quick Note

(Taken with my LG Phone)

Well Just a quick note since I have not posted recently-
Here is what I am working on:
~ Getting my garden from the indoor "greenhouse" potted and put outdoors
~ Creating some Stationary (as pictured above) which while fun, is not going as quickly or as easily as I would have hoped- but I have not spent a lot of time working on it yet.
~ Embroidering some fabric for some cute cafe curtains that will hang in one of the kitchen windows
~ I'm Still Plugging away at sewing Yo's for a Quilt, and working on a Patchwork quilt as well
~ Still having fun working at the Coffee House that I am at
~ Got OBSESSED over the "Twilight" series, and read the entire 4 book cannon in 3 days (there were a few midnight oil burning nights in there!)
~ Made some 3 Berry Jam and Preserves (that went nicely with the homemade scones I also Baked)

And in general I had a really packed weekend- but it was nice and relaxing as well.

I hope to have more to share soon! (or at least some better pics!)

Another PDF Pattern is here!

As Promised, here is the "AHOY!" Alphabet Font. I also included a larger version of my Ahoy Pirate, and Bubble Border at the bottom. I like the smaller version for embroidery, but I went to scrapbook something, and realised that I really like the Larger one shown here for a Scrapbook border. So- short post today, but I just wanted to let you know what was new! Visit the store at www.superchickenstudios.etsy.com

Happy Crafting!

New PDF Pattern in the Shop

Ahoy there! This is one of my new patterns that I have listed in the shop (http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5962511) and it is called... you guessed it! "Ahoy!"

This has been one of my favorite ones to make... the "Long Live Mario" was probably the other fave, but this one was a lot of fun. I also have a "Ahoy" Alphabet that I am finishing up, and it will put to port in the shop in the next few days as well. I am only offering this one as a PDF right now because I am trying to figure out what kind of printing that I want to use, but I am not patient enough to wait to list it :)

I have now had 2 sales in my shop, and it is a slow start, but I am happy that other people think that my stuff is cute and want to buy it. My Friends that just moved- well one of them worked in a local Fabric shop (owned by her Aunt) and she told me that I need to make a Appt and speak with her aunt about selling my patterns in the fabric store. I am really excited about that prospect, but I feel like I need to really work on the look of the packaging, and my logo and all the stuff before I approach her about it.... I am not sure- it makes me nervous, but excited all at the same time. What if other people hate them? And they sit there and get dusty? How sad- but on the other hand- people may love them and snap them up.... we will see- it is something to think about.

In other news- I have started a Garden! Well- I have started the starting of a garden. I have planted seeds in a indoor green house, and I have been working in the yard getting it ready for some baby plants. We are growing Salad, Broccoli, Spinach, cilantro, green onions, and chives. (they do not mind the cold weather of winter so much) And when spring rolls around, we will be adding Tomatoes, Onions, peppers, and maybe some strawberries (who all love the heat of spring and summer). We already have the lemon tree in full production mode- the avocados are getting bigger, and the poor Lime tree is still not producing, but the leaves look nice and strong. So we hope that in a few months we will be enjoying some tasty fresh homegrown food.

Anyway- that is about it for now... I have to get back to housework (groan). Laundry is calling, and the birds need some new paper, and the carpet really needs some attention! Have a great day!

Today...

Today I-
~ Made my First "Hot Caramel Apple Cider" this morning. Tasty!
~ Danced around the front room while dusting and listening to a Frank Sinatra CD
~ Ate seedless grapes the size of small plums **no joke- they were huge!**
~ Did some work on a Pattern in Photoshop
~ Did some sewing on the new quilt that I am working on (not the Yo-Yo one- but a new one for now)
~ Vacuum and Dusted and cleaned the Front room, Bedroom, and one of the Bathrooms.
~~~ And the hardest of them all-- I had to say goodbye to a old friend.
We have been friends for more than 10 years, and he and his wife are moving to Texas on Monday morning. It may be a few years before I see him again, and it was hard to say goodbye. I was lucky that I was one of the lucky few that got the "Goodbye Visit" in the days before they leave town. He came over and we got to chat for about 30 minutes before he headed off to another task that has to be done before Sunday night.

We Used to be co-workers for 5 years, and in the last 5 years we have tried to stay in touch as much as possible (seeing as how we live in towns that are 30 minutes away from each other) but in the last month or so we have attended multiple "farewell" events, and so while it was nice to see them a lot lately, it makes it harder to know that they will not be around anymore.
They will be living in Texas, and right along the route that we take to go visit John's Mom. So the next time that we head to Texas, we will stop and visit with them, but that may not be for another year or so at the earliest. (sigh) I just hate when friends and family move away!

And that takes me up to now- and it is only about 1:30. I think that I will do some more sewing, and then some laundry. Tonight John and I have a Wine Tasting event to go to (which is always fun) and so it is the beginning of a good weekend. Today: Wine tasting, Saturday: Volunteering for a NPR station fundraiser on Saturday morning, a Avocado and Margarita Festival in the afternoon, followed by a trip to the best fabric store that I have ever been to and also a peek in the nearby antique store. Then Sunday is the Bird Mart in Paso Robles- where we got Sprout, and also Pickles (our Parrotlets) but we will NOT be getting any birds this year.... maybe just some toys. Our newest Bird (Mo) is a toy FIEND and he loves anything we give him, and so I want to make sure he has some new ones..... he loves them so much that some of the old ones are getting broken\worn out in the few weeks that we have had him :) it is so nice to see him play with so much enthusiasm that I do not mind getting him some new ones :)

anyway- another post without pics, but hopefully soon!

New Happenings

Hey everyone! Sorry I have been MIA for SO long! I have been working thru a lot of changes and updates in my life, and my blog has suffered for it. sorry!

One of the changes I have been getting used to is not having a desk job where I spend 8 hours a day in front of a computer, and with the way things are now, sometimes it will be 2 or 3 days before I even turn the computer on. GASP! I know- I hate that I am falling behind in my blog writing, and keeping up to date on all the other blogs that i Love to read, but sometimes it cannot be helped- and to tell the truth- it can be really refreshing to not be a slave to the computer all the time. It seems to add many hours to the day when I avoid the office and Internet-land.

Well here is some of what has happened in the last month or so, and what I am working on.

In Crafty News:
I DO have a new Embroidery Pattern in the works, but not using the PC means that it has been gathering dust for the last few weeks- but I plan on dusting off the PDF and getting back to work on it pretty soon (maybe even some this weekend!)- it is really cute and I am loving this new one!

I have taken on a HUGE hand-sewing project. First off- I do not have a sewing machine, and I really like having the fabric and thread in my hand and doing it all myself, and so that is the direction that a lot of my projects go.... but I was reading around on a blog and discovered "yo-yo's" and I decided that hey! they are easy to make, and are cute.... so I wanted to make a quilt out of them. Yo-Yo quits were big in the depression era, as they were easy to make, and were made out of left-over scraps of fabric from old dresses and the like... and so I have started to make a ton of "Yo's" (as my boyfriend likes to call them) in order to make a quilt for our bed.

If you research them on the web, you might find some funky bright and (in my opinion) some ugly looking quilts.. but I am going with the 1920's theme, and I want to use very soft colors. lots of creams and light yellows and pinks and blues- to give it that really antique soft look... no browns and reds and dark blues here. I wanted to post a pic of what I wanted to make- but so far I have not found a picture worthy of what I am trying to convey, but here is a link that look ok.... http://pics.rubylane.com/graphics/shops/joysdolls/TX-JG560.1N.jpg but I will not be using patterns like she did- and not using those colors- but at least it shows something that is softer looking then some of the ones that I have seen online.

But here is the catch- I was not sure how many I would need to make a quilt, but I was not too daunted by the task... but after working on them for what seems like a good chunk of the last month of free time, I counted them all out, and I have about 200 of them made. I was happy with the progress, and then I decided to go lay them out over my current comforter and see if I could do a calculation of how many more I would need.... the answer- well for a CA King bed, I will need around 3700 more. 3700!!!! HOLY COW! and thanks to my boyfriend, he pointed out that I will need to make around 10 a day or more, and I would be done in about a year..... um yeah... thanks for that visual... but I am enjoying it, and I am spending about a hour or so a night working on them.... so I will let you know when I hit good milestones along the way :)

I am also working on a 365 type of project, but I have no real plans for it to be a full 365, and it is a bit more random. I am using my Camera Phone, and trying to remember to take a picture a day that will sum up the day in 1 photo, and not have me in it at all... only other objects. So fare I have around 40 something photos, and each time I look at them, I can remember that exact day, and not just think " I am not really sure what Happened in august- it just passed by" I can now remember every day of that month and what we did that day and what was going on. I have not posted any of them yet- but I will soon add them to my flickr account (I hope- it has been neglected as well!)

Other craft news is kinda slim at the moment- (yes- the craft room is a pit of despair at the moment- there is not even room to work at the table in there)... so on to Life Updates.

Well- I am loving my new job- and I am there about 20 or so hours a week... this week is closer to 30, but some weeks it is more like 18. It is also about a mile or so from my house, so I have been riding my scooter to work instead of driving... which is 2 good things, 1 of them is that I am not buying gas since it is a electrical scooter. and the 2nd is that my car broke down and it sure beats walking to work. John says that he thinks that it is the ignition switch or something, and so he will fix it as soon as the parts come in.
In the mean time I can drive my car at my own risk, since it has now 3 time died on me, (once in traffic) and takes like 5 minutes to get started... so Scooter it is, and it keeps me home more not having a car and when it is foggy and ugly outside (like today) and I do not want to scooter around.

Last Weekend my little sister got married up in the Bay Area, and we drove up to the wedding, and also stayed the weekend with John's Brother and Sister-in-Law. His Brother (Matt) was competing in a 1/2 Ironman that weekend, and so we went to Santa Cruz to Cheer him on (and get sunburned!) and we are excited to see him compete in the FULL IRONMAN this November in Arizona. I was also able to meet my new Niece at the wedding. My Older sister just had Baby #6 (and the last one!) and she was 2 months old, and since they live up in Oregon, I had not had a chance to meet her yet, and got to hang out with her after the Wedding.
She didn't seem to happy to meet me though- she was more interested in getting some dinner, but then to my surprise, (well maybe not too much) she was handed off to my boyfriend so I could take some pictures, and she quieted right down and started to fall asleep. I am not sure what it is about my boyfriend (who really has almost NO experience with kids at all) but all my nieces are IN LOVE with him. It is all "john this, john that" and apparently even my 2 month old niece has the "John Vibe" and was happy to lay in his arms for 30 minutes and just watch him. (humph! oh well- one day she will like me too!)

So on the agenda for today: I do not have to work today (WHOO HOO!) so today is a "at-home" day for me. Got up, Drank a Pot of tea (I LOVE that Hot-Tea weather is back!), caught up on some Emails and Blogs that I was behind in, and now it is time to move on to the tasks of today.
Such fun winners as : Clean my messy bedroom (which will involve laundry- ugh!) Clean out the bird cages and refill with fresh-goodness, Vacuum the Front room (and bedroom once I clear all the floor space) and then on to the fun stuff! I will be making batches of Shortbread today. It is SO easy and tasty, and I will be taking them to a BBQ that we have tomorrow. I will them take my shower, sit down with another pot of tea, some fresh Shortbread, and work on some more "Yo's" (gotta make my quota for the day!) and maybe watch a movie.

We are having dinner with friends tonight that we have not seen for many months (they are more booked up than the 4 Seasons during wedding season!! they are SO hard to get a "dinner date" with!), and then I have to work tomorrow morning (unless my co-worker can do it for me- she has to check!) and then we are headed off (with shortbread in hand) to a BBQ for some friends that are moving to Texas next week..... So in a LONG post- that is up with me :)

I am sorry that I do have a photo to share just yet---- I am still Photoshopping Pics of the wedding and more- but next time I will have some for ya :)

I hope everyone is doing well, and I hope to be better about staying on top of this blog better!
XOXO

Etsy Update

I have added 3 more Embroidery Pattern Sets to my Etsy Shop.
They are as follows:

"Sugar & Spice"


"Leaf &\or Feathers"


"Border Set #1"

I am also working on about 2 or 3 more sets on paper at the moment, and about 5 in my head--- so I hope that I can keep working away at them. The most "time consuming" part is that I want to create the patterns onto tea-towels to show to others how cute they are... but when that means making a few shapes from each pattern, it starts to back up the creative system- so I will keep working on that, and hopefully I will have the new patterns out soon.

In Other news- I had a great weekend. John and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary :) And as tradition goes, we spent Sunday the 3rd at the Fair. (Our First date was at the fair 4 years ago) and it was fun. It was HOT, but fun. We usually go in the evenings (because the 3rd has been during the week), and this time we went during the day since it was the weekend, and the heat was a bit much for us. We are used to 75 degree days, and it was probably 95 and not much of a breeze for the first few hours.

We also saw the new Batman movie. It was really good- and we liked it :)

I am also working on a new mini-creative. It is not a huge deal, but a fun way for me to journal this month. I will share that in a day or so ( I want to do the first week first- and that is a still a day away!) Did I mention that I love the month of August? I think that it is one of my favorite months in the year. You get Warm days (maybe hot), nice nights, great sunsets, and fall is on the way. Fruit is everywhere, and you can see the pumpkins and corn just around the corner. Plus it is the month that I fell in love with John 4 years ago- how can I not love august? [Well to be honest- I loved John from almost day one- which was July 4th, but we didn't start dating until August- so it is august that gets the prize :) ]

Anyway- Go check out the shop and see the new goodies ( http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5962511 ) ( I know, I know- still with the ugly links!) and I hope that you love the new patterns! :)

Cheers! SuperChicken :)

My Etsy Shop is now Open!

Whoo hoo! I have been trying to get this up and running for over a month now, and life has just been in my way so much lately. But today, during some down time (instead of a nap) I started to list things in my shop! :)

It can be found here http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5962511
(I know- my links are ugly! I need to learn how to make them pretty!)
But my user name is SuperChickenStudios and it is all one word (they cannot make them 3 words for some reason) but I will be adding more and more items in the next few weeks :)

Go and check it out and let me know what you think! :)

De Chickie!

Changes and a cool new book!

Look what I bought today! I LOVE it, and I am only a few pages in.... this is the most awesome book ever! I have really wanted to be able to work on my "doodles" and after reading like 10 pages, I have already found some cool new ways to doodle on things, and I think that in time and with some practice, I will finally be able to draw stuff that people will think is cute :) My skills are pretty lacking at the moment :)

Well there have been some cool changes around here lately.... but I will not go into all of them right now.... but I am happy to say that I am now working only part time at a new job, and the rest of my time is dedicated to staying home, getting the house super clean and pretty, and after I tackle most of the main messes in the house, I will have TONS of time to create.... I am thinking that I will going heavy duty with the scrapbooking, cooking, jam making, sewing, making tea towels, and painting....... but I will have to get there when I get there- right now my days are full of regular house work- but I can feel the creative juice flowing and building up :) I will probably end up with a creative explosion soon :)

Stay tuned for more stuff soon- but in the mean time- see if you can find the book above and check it out- it is great! (and Candy, yes, you can totally borrow it soon!) lol

Cheers!

Hello Mo!

This is Mo- Our new Baby Parakeet. He is still learning about getting on fingers when presented with them, but he is doing really well. He is at about 80% success rate when given a finger to stand on- he still will fly away (towards the other bird cages) but since he has no wings, it is really more of a pretty flutter (with various landing skills).

I have not been in the craft room for a few weeks :(
When having the windows done in the house, we had to move a ton of junk from room to room, and while the craft room was not super messy- it was covered in a concrete dust (that I still need to finish cleaning) but then a few days after getting the new windows, we had house guests- and so all the junk that was now in the guest room, had to be moved back into the craft room- and there it still sits- waiting to be put away. But this last weekend was more of a goof-off weekend than usual. On Saturday, while John was in bed (or the bathroom) suffering from a migraine all day, I made Strawberry Jam. I had never made it before and it turned out great. I will post info on it soon :) But in late afternoon\early evening, John was well enough to leave the house, and so we went in search of food and a different view than the inside of the house.

Sunday we went for a long long drive in John's Porche. He had some older gas in there, and he didn't want it to sit for too much longer, so we attempted to burn off as much as we could. We spent about 5 hours in the car that day- just cruising around the county and driving thru wine country around here. We then had dinner and a Blue-ray movie night with friends. Oh! Candy made the BEST dinner, and I will have to make it for the cooking blog soon. It was a "beef and broccoli egg noodle pasta dish" thing. SUPER tasty!

Anyway- I have to get going, but here is a last photo of Mo for ya :) I think that I spooked him, and so he did his "tall alert bird" pose for me :)

New Website Find:

Quick Update:

I found a cool DIY craft site today and It has a lot of fun and easy projects for you to check out, and has nice step by step photos. Today's Item was lanterns. I tried and tried to get a picture to post of them, but Blogger is having some photo-uploading issues this morning, and refuses to post ANY photos. I will have to add a photo of my own when they are finished.

I was thinking of making some really small ones (with small glass votive's) and using them as place markers next time we have someone to dinner, or to line the walkway to the house. I think that instead of plain colored paper, you could also use some cool handmade paper that has texture and color in it as well.

Anyway- here is the link to the site http://www.designspongeonline.com/

Have a Great Wednesday!

Good Times, Sad Times & New Times

Well the weekend was not your typical weekend around here. There was some fun, lots of sad, and some new joy all rolled up in 3 days.

Friday (the 4th) was started with some house cleaning for our guests that were coming into town. One of John's Best friends, her son and her fiance were going to come stay for a night and hang out with us. But, about 45 minutes before they were due to arrive, tragedy struck our house. Our sweet, kind, quiet and mellow parakeet Toby (one of the 5 birds we have) was the victim of bad circumstances and passed away Friday morning.

It is still really hard to go into detail, but one thing led to another, and he ended up crashing into one of our new windows (without blinds on it yet) and he broke his breastbone, and a few moments later, while laying in my hand, he was gone. He is the first of our babies that we have ever lost, and the only pet that I have ever lost that was not due to old age.

He was only about 2 years old. John and I are still in shock, and we still shed tears for him every night before we go to bed. He was the most mellow bird we had, and we are heartbroken that he is gone. We will be "laying him to rest" this evening, in our rose garden. We wanted to do it earlier, but with company, we wanted to wait for a private time. He is now in a carved wood box and I made him a custom marker for us to remember him when we are out in the garden.

But on the "new" joy front, we are bitter sweetly announcing that we have purchased a new baby parakeet. I would hate for it to seem like we ran out and got a new baby before saying goodbye to our friend Toby, but a few reasons seemed to support the idea.....

But mostly it was the behavior of our 2 remaining parakeets. Gus and Ollie were standing at the entrance of the cage for 2 days waiting for Toby to return. they were not singing, didn't seem to be eating much, and mostly acting forlorn. The 3 of them had quite a thing going. Gus was the happy "time to sing & Play" bird, and caused the other to participate. Ollie was the "time to eat and take a bath and preen" bird, who made sure they all started to eat and clean when they needed it, and Toby was the "mellow" bird. He took lots of naps, and kept them on the calm side. And without him around, it was like they were confused and didn't know what to do, and just sat there waiting for him to come back.

And Ollie and Toby were not super close buddies, and they would bicker from time to time, and steal each others swings, and so on, but it was Ollie who kept the best look out for Toby in the days after his passing. I was surprised to see this, but it was Ollie who wanted to keep the closest to the door and would look around the room and "call" for Toby. It was heartbreaking to see. And so John and I discussed it, and we went to our "local" pet store, and looked over the new baby Keets. (Our local store has SUCH nice birds over pet-smart and pet-co. they are always super quality in there.) And so John and I spent about a hour or so just watching the babies play around in the cage and decided on this little guy.


(Taken with camera phone that he was kinda scared to see)

We were not sure what to name him- and I mentioned calling him "Mozart", and John replied that in that case he would have to call him "Mo" and it stuck. So this is Mo.

And he is joining the ranks of Gus, Ollie, Sprout and Pickles.
He is a sweet little guy. And Unlike some of our other Keets that we have purchased (cough cough Ollie!) he doesn't Bite, and is already learning that hands are not scary things, and how to stand on fingers. We got him Sunday Afternoon, and so tonight will be his first 24 hours, and we hope that he is happy with us.

And the Change in the Parakeets was immediate! As soon as they saw the new guy (who is living in a separate cage for the first 2 weeks or so), they both perked up, started singing, playing with toys, and acting like they used to. And Mo is living on a bookshelf a few feet away, and the birds (all of them) are making a effort to see the new guy on his shelf, and chirp at him and talk back and forth.... and so we are happy that the birds have something new to focus on, and that they are acting much more normal. We will never forget Toby, but we are happy that we have Mo to help us heal and smile again.

(Toby all wet after a Bath in the birdie tub)

We will miss you Toby! You were our "Pudgy Budgie" with the grey feet, black toes, grey tongue and gorgeous long black wings. You were sweet and kind and we loved you so much, and you will be greatly missed!

This Weekend---

... Was Crazy busy! To sum things up quickly, I drove all our birds to my parents house on Thursday night, and then John and I prepped the house for what was to come the next morning. At 7:50 the next morning, we had "Bud" and "Dan" show up at our house and start tearing the windows out... well not all of them at once- but we are having all of our old, nasty, thin, aluminum, rattling, non-insulating windows replaced with fresh new white double-paned windows that glide quietly, and lock with a gentle click (instead of the heavy hard clunk of the old windows).

So for 2 days from 7:50 am to 5 or 6 pm we were surrounded with sawing, pounding, chiseling, stucco dust, and the antics of the 2 installers filling our ears. The guys were a lot of fun- but the nasty rock-stucco dust all over the house we had to clean was not! They did their best to keep it down to a minimum, but there is just no way to stop it all- and it looked as though I had not dusted in 2 years on every surface in the house.

But on Saturday night the guys left, John and I spent a few hours cleaning, and then we fell asleep to the sound of silence- no neighbors, no cars, no dogs- nothing. In the morning we had to open the window just so we could hear the birds chirp- and before it was as though they were in the room with us. We are very, very pleased with the new windows. We still have a large 8 foot sliding door that we are having replaced (into a 6 foot door) and so the guys will be back in a week or so (after another job) to finish the slider, and wash and polish the windows, (and clean off all the hand prints they left on the walls!).

Sunday John and I went with Friends to go see Wall-E. It was SOOOOO cute! I was not super excited when I saw the previews- but the movie far surpassed what I was expecting, and was super cute. It also made me fall in love with the name Eva... or eeeeevvvvaaaaaa like wall-e says :)

We then picked up our cutie birds and brought them home (they were happy to be back) and by then the weekend was over and it was time to start another week. I didn't get a chance to create this weekend- my craft room was (and still is) covered in stucco dust and as soon as I get the room dusted and put back into better shape I will have more to share :)

Hopefully your weekend was great!

And the Winner is....

Candy!
Yep, you were the first to guess correctly- I will be opening a Etsy Shop to sell some fun handmade stuff. It is called "SuperChicken Studios" and can be found at http://www.superchickenstudios.etsy.com/ but it is not fully up and running yet, but I will let you all know when it is :)
I have to say that I loved Sandy's Guess- I would LOVE to get a pet chicken one day- but we will need to live in a house that has a more "Chicken Friendly" yard :)

The prize is a "Embroidery Kit" that comes complete with a 100% Cotton Tea Towel, a large Embroidery hoop, A disappearing Ink Pen, a Embroidery needle, and a full Pattern Set of your choice. Each Pattern Set comes with a full size (8.5x11) pattern, a smaller version (for smaller projects), a full-size full-color pattern, as well instructions, tips, hints, and more.
I will not be launching the Shop for another week or so, but when it goes live you will be able to pick from the various patterns available... here is a sneak peek of a few of them--- (all designs were hand drawn by me, and colored in Photoshop)

"Snacktime"


"Hip to be Square"


"Snips and Snails"


"Long Live Mario"


There will more patterns available in the shop when it goes live- there will be a few Font sets, some more Shape sets, and some beginners kits that comes with patterns. After I get things rolling I will be adding original paintings on canvas, as well as prints of various paintings.

I am hoping to have the shop up and running by July 1st, but we will have to see how fast I can get things going. EDIT: I remembered that we may be having some company staying with us over the holiday weekend, and I would hate to open the shop and then be too busy to monitor it and any orders- so It may go active after the 4th of July weekend :)

So Candy- I will let you know when you can select your pattern (you are free to pick one of these- but I figure you will want to have the full selection to choose from!). Everyone else, keep a eye on here for the announcement of the shop opening.... I will be offering discounts and maybe another give away....

Stay tuned!

give away on another blog too!

Hey! "Today's Creative Blog" is hosting a giveaway as well! Check it out! You might win! :)

MY Giveaway Contest is still going on- see the post just below this one for Details!!

Something SUPER this way comes...

Hey All! Long time no update- I know... sorry!

My birthday was GREAT! I had lots of food and fun! I also went wine tasting with John on Saturday, and had a blast. Maybe being 25 will not be so bad :)

Also- A shout out to N from "Down Under", thanks for the happy wishes! Come back soon! :)

So- back to whats new- In the next few days (maybe sooner?) I will be announcing something SUPER.
Does this give you a hint?

Anyone care to venture a guess?? If you post a comment, and are the first one who is correct, you will win a prize :) I cannot tell you what it is, but it will be cool :)

(Mom- you are not allowed to guess- you already know! lol- sorry!)

And no- It is not a update of SuperChicken Cooks (that would be newsworthy indeed!) but this is something just a bit different- but stay tuned- I hope to have the surprise up and running soon. Too many things to do before the reveal- but my patience may run out before I am ready to let the news fly- so I better get cracking!

Anyway- if you want to give it a guess, post your comment, and if anyone gets it right, I will announce the winner when all is revealed :)

Happy Birthday To Me :)

(taken with my camera phone)

mmmmm.... nothing like a "Circus Donut" to start your birthday (well a donut and a Sugar Free energy drink!)
I am not a huge donut fun, but for my birthday I just HAVE to have my sprinkle donut!

Well- I'm 25 today..... I am starting to feel old- but maybe that is just the lack of sleep last night (a almost full moon, on a much to warm night, with no AC, means lots of tossing and turning and not sleeping).

Today I am spending the day at work (as usual), but my little brother took me out to lunch today, and shopping at Urban Outfitters. It was a lot of fun (and a lot of calories!), and tonight is fun with the fam with the Famous Zech Tacos and cake! (mmmmmmmmm tacos!).

I think that this weekend John and I are doing something "fun" to celebrate, but I have not been informed of his plans yet :)

Also- big stuff going on in the craft room- photos to follow soon- but it is taking much more time than I thought since one of the major elements require that I receive a UPS package that has STILL not shown up (please Mr UPS, please bring it today!), and then there will be some good photos to post about 10 hours (of working) after I get the package :)

Anyway- Happy B day to me :)

WIP :)

Here is a photo of some of the projects that I have been working on lately. I have been working on making Tea-Towels- both by buying them pre-sewen, and also getting yards of linen and hand sewing them into a towel, and then putting cute patterns on them. I have been inspired by all the old Tea Towels that my mom has that my Grandma made by hand, so I decided to make some for myself, but with a modern twist. Instead of lambs and paisley, I have cupcakes, Vespas, and other random things. I have also been working on getting a transfer pattern of the old tea-towels that my mom has that has a fun and funky pattern. One of them is a grouping of toadstools with a frog, and other ones have some delicate and pretty butterflies.... but I am still working on all of them. I will post pics when I have more of them done :)

But it will be nice to have some new towles around the kitchen- the old ones are past due for replacement :)

Have a great Monday!

Hanging with the Fam

Eden and I

My older sister and her "crew" are in town this week :) Her Crew is her husband, 5 kids, and one on the way. They are in the area for a wedding this upcoming weekend, and so they made the trek from central Oregon and will be around for a few more days.

Niece #1 had her birthday a few days ago, and so we had a birthday party for her yesterday. I will post some more pics of the party later (maybe on my flickr account) but for now all I have is the one from above.

Eden is SO adorable- he is always happy, and when ever you say "cheese" he bursts into the biggest grin I have ever seen on a kid. I took the above photo and we were all laughing about how you can totally tell that we are related. He could almost be my kid he looks so much like me (and he is almost a mirror image of what my little brother used to look like). But I am sure that my kids will look almost like this- but with dark hair and probably with dimples of some sort (both john and I have DARK brown hair, and we both have dimples- his are faint, but since mine are crater-sized it will probably even out.)

Anyway- I have not been in the craft room as much lately. I DID do some cleaning in there, but not enough to want to work in there- but I have discovered a new craft that I am working on--- I will have a few pics of them soon, but in the mean time I will have to keep you guessing. BUT, It is a nice change- I can work on this craft while sitting on the couch watching a movie- no craft table needed- so that is for sure a nice change :) And my birds enjoy having me closer to them in the afternoons. I usually hear them cheeping at me from the front room when I am back in the craft room- and now I am a few feet away, which makes the house a quieter place all around :)

Anyway- new craft photos soon :)

Just Sayin'

Howdy!
I just wanted to let anyone who stops by to know what I am loving right now. Have you been looking at Etsy lately? You Should! I adore it! I was web surfing the other day, and I stopped by Shelli's Blog- and it has a AWESOME Idea. How many times do you see a idea in a catalog and wish that you could have that room? (well I do it all the time) and she came up with this mosaic of items that she found on Etsy that would duplicate the room display that she liked. It is a great idea if you are looking to re-do a room, or are just bored and need something fun to do on the PC.
Anyway- I love reading her blog- there is always something fun going on over there. Check it out!
(follow this link- or use the one over there my right side bar) www.studiomelablog.com

She also draws the most adorable pictures and makes prints from them. I am in love with the kitchen line (love your forks, spoons, egg beaters and more!), and the Bird with a french Fry..... One of these days I will decide which one I love best and get a print, but in the mean time I love to look :) AND she is having a huge release today in her Etsy shop with a lot of new prints. You need to check it out and see how cute she is. It will go live at 1PM (EST) so i only have a hour to go before I get to see the new goodies. Here is a link to her shop http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5058797

Anyway- just wanted to throw that out there. She is so cute, and all her drawings are adorable. Check them out!

I Miss You!

This Photo is for someone special- you know who you are!!! :)

I Miss you, and your Mr. (and the yet un-met little one)

Not to get to mushy or sentimental, but every time I smell a Illume Candle, buy a picture frame, use my Burt's Bees lip gloss, make REAL garlic bread (or Guacamole for that matter- since you taught me how!), Watch A&E's Pride and Prejudice, Clueless, or Hunt for Red October, and see or do a million other small things- I think of you guys, and miss you terribly. I wish that you lived closer- or that I was better at keeping in touch. Maybe this summer I can make a road trip and visit for a few days and catch up and meet the E-bear :)

You two made so many wonderful impressions and memories for me and I hope that we can meet again soon :) You Guys are the best! Drop me a Email or give me a call (my number is still the same), I would love to catch up :)

Look who's comming to dinner!

(Update Below)
Well- maybe not TO dinner, but at dinner time.
The IRS decided very nicely today to deposit my Economic stimulus $$$ today in my checking account, and this is what I have been waiting for. After talking about it on and off lately, John and I agreed that the best way to get me to exercise was to follow the following 5 rules:

1. Make it indoors. My bad allergies aside- I am just NOT a outdoor person. And when you mix outdoors with the idea of working out- well... it is really not my thing!

2. Make it easy on the knee joints. I have a bad knee and so I cannot jog, run bike or hike without major pain (and see Rule #1), and the Elliptical is the ONLY equipment that I have used that doesn't cause me any knee pain.

3. Make it easy to get to. And the Gym at 5:15 pm is NOT easy to get to, get in to or get out of. Plus, I only use the elliptical when I am at the gym, so why not get one for the house?

4. Make it where I can read or watch a movie while I work out- because lets be honest- if I am bored I am only going to give up sooner.

5. Make it where I do not have to get "ready" to workout. And let me tell you, it only takes 1 workout session next to a Size 2 Miss America look-alike to not want to leave the house without a full makeover every time to want to go to the gym. At home, PJ's and a ponytail will suffice :)

Anyway- I think that I will be picking it up tonight at Costco after work. John said that he can be bribed to put it together as long as I bribe him with hot and fresh chocolate chip cookies (with extra chips!), and I think that can be arranged. And as a further bonus, I will make him one of his favorite meals (which I don't like all that much) but whole wheat pasta with red sauce.

Anyway- The deal is this- I can have it in the Front Room (with the TV and DVD's and Stereo and so on) as long as I use it 3 or 4 times a week. If I don't, then it will get sent into our bedroom (the only other room it will fit in, since the office, guest room and craft room are already set up with furniture), and it will sit in the bedroom and I will have to work out in there (where there is no TV or anything but a bed and a window) until I have earned my way back into the front room.
These are not really John's rules, but it will help keep me motivated, and he liked the idea, so that is how it will be.

Anyway- hopefully I will have good things to say about it soon :)

Update:
HOLY MOLY! This sucker is HEAVY. it took 2 burly manly men to load it into my borrowed surburban, and then when we got it home we were not sure what to do to get it out. A Dolly was not even a option. I mean, this thing is as heavy as a fridge, and longer to boot. But we came up with a good idea, and John got it 1\2 way set up last night. More goodness to come after it is set up- but in the mean time- my front room looks like a cardboard tornado hit. No Joke- there was probably 100 pounds in cardboard alone!

wishing for a clean craft room

Short post today, I have lots swimming in my mind and need to focus on getting them down on paper before I forget about them.
I have been looking around at cute childlike prints lately, and I have been excited about "ocean" looks lately. Sea Snails, octopus (octopi?), Lobsters, fish and more. I am not sure why, I am NOT a fan of the ocean itself. I am scared to death of sharks and avoid even going to the beach for any number of reasons (seagulls, sand, sea water in my hair) but I am in love with "Finding Nemo" and all the cute creatures. I have been inspired to paint a "set" of ocean prints in a cute childlike look, and while I have canvas, paints, and time, I do not have a clean craft room (sigh).

Time to dig out the shovel and clear a path back to the craft table......

Here are a few cute things I saw on flickr....


http://www.flickr.com/photos/whatwhat/11174518/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/beneaththerowantree/2324213017/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12103954@N06/1249155757/

Have a great Tuesday!

Chillin' Out

(Photo sent from camera phone)

I have found myself living a quiet and restful life the last week and a half since we got back from our road trip. Taking time to breathe, relax, and re-acquaint myself with being home and back at work.

As relaxing as it was to be on vacation, it was not relaxing to be back home. I had to go back to the whirlwind of activity that includes work, tons of housework, laundry, grocery shopping, cooking, and the other random activities that have occurred this week (Shopping and getting things ready for mothers day, having friends over for dinner, attending a Birthday party for a friend, working on my finances, reading the piles of books and magazines that are new and waiting, and spending time with family).

All of them good things, but I have found myself tired from it all, both emotinally and physically, and so I have been taking a break from anything that doesn't "demand" my attention.

I have not really set a toe in the craft room since we got back, other than to drop off things, (stash things) and grabbing random items that are kept in there. It is also a ROYAL mess in there again, and I have not had the time or energy to try and tackle it, so there the room sits, a wreck and all alone.

I have however, cleaned and started the "remodel" of the guest room which included changing the curtains, buying and setting up a (super heavy) bookshelf, and I will be working on changing around the whole look of the room. I am not positive what I want it to look like, but hopefully less like it did before (which was a random hodge-podge of left over furniture and extra bedroom stuff) and more like a real "guest room".

I also tackled most of the mess that is my half of the bedroom. Everything looks clean and tidy, and my closet is not a mountain of mess ready to knock over the first unsuspecting person that dares open the door, but a mostly respectable looking area, that looks even more so when I keep the closet doors close. Still- I would still not want my mother to see inside- but that is one of the benefits of being a adult- I can tell my mom to not look in my closet anymore to see if it is tidy or not.

Also- have you seen the new cover of Martha Stewart Living? I scanned it, but the colors are a bit off. But I am in LOVE with the colors on the cover. Bright Blue, Orange and White have been my addiction now for about 3 months, and when I saw this at Borders I had to buy it :) The Blue walls are much more "robins egg blue" when you see it in person, but the scanner doesn't like it I guess.

And as a update, What I am working on:

~ Gathering items and ideas for a Art Journal

~ Trying out some new recipes for the cooking blog- I have had 2 mishaps (tasty but not quite right), and so I need to tweak the recipes until I get it right.

~ Cleaning and purging junk around the house (how DID i get all this stuff!?!)

~ collecting visual ideas for some more paintings

~ Brainstorming some guest room and guest bathroom ideas (they both need some help)

~ Eyeballing a Elliptical for the house (no more drives to the gym and having to wait while "chatty cathy" and her 4 workout buddies get off all the machines!!)

~ Exploring the massive depths of Photoshop- it is SOOOOOO slow, but fun to learn!

Anyway- that is what is new in that area, and I will hopefully have something to post in the next few days--- at the least, maybe a successful version of one of the recipes I am working on.

Have a great day!

Back Home Safe & Sound

Well we are back from our road trip.

We had a blast- it was a LOT of driving, but it was mostly a good drive (on the way back there was a 600 or 700 mile driving day and the whole time it was into a strong headwind) but having a hybrid this time was nice. We got about 46 MPG the whole trip, which beats out the 13 MPG that we got with the Porche last time, and when you are driving 4000 Miles, it make a HUGE difference.

Between the destinations of Georgetown, Texas and back home, we were able to see some dear friends. We met up with our friend Jamie in Tempe AZ for lunch one day. And on the way back we were able to spend the night with our awesome friend John-John. We LOVE to visit him, and as usual we had a great, but short visit. And also as usual, we have lots of tasty food, a "few" margaritas, and some great coffee- all in 24 hours :)

I do not have all of my pictures at my disposal yet to post, (they are at home on a CD) but the one of the train above was taken in New Mexico on the way home.

I will update this again soon, but for now I am still getting back into the swing of being home. It is Weird, for 2 weeks I didn't have to drive, cook a meal, wake up anytime earlier than I wanted to, could stay up as late as I wanted, and my only really chore was to do laundry once..... and getting back to "real life" seems kinda harsh on my relaxed attitude.

But on Sunday I did get up early and went to the local swap-meet and I found some cool things. I also FINALLY ordered the bookshelf for the guest room and in the next few days I will be setting it up and re-doing the look of the guest room- so stay tuned :)

Lauren

Getting Ready to Hit the Road

Well John and I are getting ready to hit the road soon. We are taking a 2 week road trip to go see his Mom (and step-dad) in TEXAS! We will heading to a cute little town called "Georgetown" and it is about 30 or so minutes from Austin.

We drove out there a few years ago, and I am SO excited to go again. There is a whole lotta NOTHING between here and there, but at the same time, so much to see. There is a lot of desert, dirt, trains, cactus and more dirt, but they all hold a certain beauty. John is the best travel buddy you could hope for, and I am excited to start a new trip with him.

I have had the travel bug for a few months now, and it is way past due for a visit to see John's Mom. We last saw them....mmmmm.... at a wedding, and that was 2 years ago this May. So long over-due. I am not quite sure what we will do along the way this time. Last time we stopped at the Grand Canyon, hiked thru the underground Carlsbad Caverns, took a tour of Hoover Dam, and stayed and played at the Luxor Hotel in Vegas. That about covers all there is to do on the way, and the way back. So this time around we are going to try to see some people on the way and way back.

A good friend of mine has moved to Phoenix and we will try to see her on the way out. And then on the way home we will try to visit our one of our favorite people in the world, John-John. He lives in Vegas, and we will try to see if we can see him on the way back. If you are a regular reader, you will remember our trip to see him last year. But he is hard to get ahold of, and travels around alot, and so we will keep our fingers crossed that we will be able to see him.

As far as craft room progress goes- I have finished the 2x3 foot canvas, and 2 of the 8x8 inch ones. I will have to let you know what I do with them- that should be a week or 2 after we get back :)

In the Studio Again

Photo from
http://www.flickr.com/photos/blockpartypress/2210303986/

Well I am finally back in the Craft Room after a bit of a break. Sometimes I just get.... well... bored is not the right word, but sometimes I need to get out of the craft room for awhile. So instead of spending the evenings and weekends in the craft room, I have been curled up in one of the armchairs in the front room, reading books and drinking tea. Lots of tea! I drink a custom blended "Rose Petal" tea. Loose Leaf black tea, with rose petals & rose oils. It is a dainty, yet refreshing blend. Over the last 3 weeks or so, I think I have gone thru almost 2 pots a day, every day. (Along with a dozen or 2 books, and a few plates of scones).

But I was not feeling the "urge" to go into the Craft Room, and even trying to "make" myself create was not working. I would spend a hour or so reading thru craft mags, or browsing blogs and Flickr, but nothing was inspiring me. I think that I just needed a break, and reading is a good relaxing escape from having to really think about anything in particular.

But on Friday afternoon, I found myself wandering in there, (book abandoned mid- chapter, which when you consider that I read a book about every 1.3 days it is saying something that I could walk away so easily!). I spent some time picking up in there, moving around some stuff to make my desk look cleaner ( I am not sure if it IS cleaner, but it LOOKS cleaner) , and by Saturday afternoon, I was back in the mood to create.

It was nice, it was easy, and I didn't have to force myself to think about what I needed to do- it just flowed. And flowed quickly- I think that I finished a painting in about 2 hours from start to finish- I usually hem and haw over it for hours or DAYS at a time trying to be happy with it. I just put in "Casino Royale" and by the time that James had his heart broken, my painting was drying, and I called it good.

I have not taken any pictures of it yet, but I will post it when I do. I am now officially out of Canvas, so I have all this creative juice ready to flow, and I am empty handed. ARG! And let me tell you, after the cheap, ugly, hard to paint, flimsy, flat canvas that I got from Aaron brothers last time, I am not touching those. At $8 (on sale) each, for a lousy little thing, I think that I can wait 2 days for Dick Blick to deliver my high quality, nice and thick canvas (at $3 each!). So for the next day or so I will have to cap on the creativity and wait for my Delivery.

Also- I ordered a 3x2 foot canvas! I think that I will be a bit scared of it (the biggest that I have ever painted is a 8x8 inch). I am going to try to make a painting to hang over John and I's bed. Our house is SO lacking in any kind of art. (At least outside of the front room and guest room anyway.) Our Bedroom consists of a bed, a nightstand (which is really a pine-wood tv tray) with a clock radio, a lamp, and a silver tray with my perfumes on it. That is it. No Photos, no dressers (we keep those in the closet), no art or anything.

We have painted the room so many times in the last 2.5 years (white, to a soft mocha, now to a cream- with many coats of each) that we have never really put anything up.
I would love to have a mirror on the wall behind the bed (to reflect the light from the window on the wall across from it- our room is kinda dark before the sun shines in there in the late afteroons) but John has a "thing" about hanging a mirror over our heads. I think he has images of a huge "crash, glass everywhere, sliced heads or necks, and trips to the ER" in mind, so hopefully a canvas will not scare him.

Oh well- my canvases will be here in a few days, I already know what I want to do with the big one for the bedroom, and I will go from there.

I am also starting to plan for our road trip. We are driving to TEXAS in a few weeks. It should be tons of fun- but we leave in 2 weeks. Time to get the outfits, luggage, pets, maps, plans all worked out. That should fill the time until I write again :)

Have a great day!

Back in Action

Hello!

I have been MIA for awhile. I had this issues with my back\shoulder area last week. It was itchy and stinging and just really hurt. I was going nuts because nothing was working- Aveeno Lotion, Neosporin, lots of other kinds of lotion- and nothing was fixing it, adn to top it off- there was nothing showing on my skin. It looked perfectly normal. Then some bumps appeared (like spider bites) and after a few days of it getting more painful, I finally gave in and went to the Dr to see what he had to say.

Well turns out that I had Shingles! Which I think is kinda weird. I mean I had them when I was really young (which is REALLY odd- kids normally never get them) and then to have them again before I even hit 25 is weird (IMHO).

For those who don't know what Shingles are: When you get Chicken Pox the virus lives in the base of your spine for the rest of your life, and can resurface at any time it pleases in the form of Shingles.

They are really really painful. It is one of those things that you cannot SEE, but your nerve endings are basically going nuts and it feels like you have a sunburn and someone is scratching it with needles. And it also itches (like a sunburn) but the goal is to not itch it- because even having your clothes touch it means that you are in pretty bad pain. Even a breeze that touches your skin can cause pain (because of the over sensitive nerve endings under the skin).

They are not "catchable", you cannot get them from anyone, but since it is the same virus as ChickenPox, you can give CP to someone who has not had them (like little kids). As a matter of fact- that is how my little sister got CP when she was young- she got them when I got shingles.

Shingles are normally brought on by lots of stress- and the last month has been one of the least stressful that I have had in a long time. I was missing quite a bit of sleep lately- but I have not been stressed out about it- just tired.

So the worst part is the pain, but coming in close second was the cost of the pills (which doesn't cure them- shingles just go away after a week or so- or when ever they feel like it, the pain can last for months if it feels like sticking around that long- but the Meds try to rush the process and pain to finish a bit more quickly) but the cost of meds for a 7 day rounds was $216! YIKES! and that was WITH Healthcare and going to Wal Mart to get the best price. OUCH! (sigh) It seems to be my lot in life to get odd illnesses and then have to pay a bundle to fix it.

But I will be back in the Craft room this weekend, and we will have to see what pops up. I may do some painting, but I may just clean up. No matter how much I clean in there, all it takes is about 2 hours of creating, and the whole thing is a mess again. But last weekend I did manage to go thru some of my stuff and I took a stack of things over to a friend who also loves to get crafty. She got "new" free stuff, and I was able to pass along things that I didn't think that I was going to be able to use, and I freed up some space in my paper bins :) Everyone wins that way!

I am also REALLY wanting to buy a sewing machine. Not a nice one- just the bottom of the price range from wal mart sewer (like$75). I want to use it to be able to sew on my projects, and to be able to make some things for around the house. do you know how long it takes to HAND SEW a pillowcase, or a curtain panel? I do- and it takes forever and still looks funny. Hey, I can hand sew, but I never said it was pretty. So I may get one, but we will have to see. I spend almost $300 in heathcare last weekend(not including the cost of insurance, which just went up almost 45% this month! ouch!), and I was not expecting that expense, and so my money fund for the next month is smaller than I would have expected.

Oh well- enough chit chat! I have to get some lunch and then back to work for me!

Have a great (and Shingle-less!) Day!

New Painting

I was really inspired by the cover of the March 2008 Better Homes and Gardens Magazine. I was not sure what I wanted to do about it- (paint, scrapbook, cardmaking?)- but I decided to do another painting using the shapes and colors of the cover photo.

My last one went over pretty well- but I wanted to change up the shapes of the flowers to give them a more soft and flow-y feel (like Peonies have) and so that is what I made. The colors for some reason are not as true as they are in person- the soft green is kinda muted in this photo- it almost has a yellow look to it- but in person it is much more soft mint green. In real life it stands out a bit better, I think my camera doesn't like that color (I have had issues in the past with it).

So that is one thing that I worked on this weekend. I ended up having a pretty full weekend- there were fun things to be done that I had forgotten about- but I will post about that soon :)

News From the Craft Room

Ok- my mother of all people chided me about not updating my blog often enough, and so I thought I better do it before another weekend creeps up and passes me by without posting. (and Due to bad weather I plan on spending the weekend in the craft room creating, and not on the PC)

Above is one of the painting that I had been working on that I finally finished last week. I thought it was pretty cute, and I posted it on Flickr, and it has been getting pretty rave reviews- I feel so flattered. Someone (who knows what they are talking about since they are in respected scrapbook\art kit as a designer) said that they loved it and that I should be Designing Scrapbook paper. (!!!!) I nearly died! To have someone mention (even loosely) that I had any kind of skill and say that I should do something that I have as a dream, well- that was life affirming! It was a good day :)

I like the photo that is posted above- but it is this one that is getting the better views and comments- so I will post it too. It is the same pic, but from a different angle and you can see around the other side.

I am not quite sure what I am doing in the craft room this weekend. I am out of canvas- and I order mine from Dick Blick. They are SOOOO nice and SOOOO cheep compared to what is to be found around here. I went to Michaels the other day, and a 4x4 canvas was 7.99 and it was totally cheaply made. At Dick Blick a 4x4 nice canvas is about ohhhhhhh $2 or less. How can you beat that! (except I have to actually ORDER them and wait for UPS to show up.)
I may check out Aaron Brother's and see what they have. They will have good stuff if they have anything, but I only need 1 or 2 to tide me over until my UPS man shows up during the week.

I also want to start sewing- but I still have no machine. And I should probably not spend any more money this week, so maybe not this week. Oh! I bought the most amazing "quilt stack" at a fabric store last weekend. The prints are all amazing- they remind me a bit of Amy Butler, but it is a touch more cute, and a touch less formal looking, but it is adorable. I will post picks of the fabric when I figure out what to do with them. I wanted to scrapbook with them, but they are so cute that I will probably kill myself trying to make my first sewing project a quilt. :)

Oh well- I am still rambling about nothing. I have not slept very well lately. I was really tired all of yesterday, and it was a LONG work day. Got to work at 7:50, didn't take a lunch, left work at 4:15, went to my parents house and got dressed up, and then went to the place where my work gives a Monthly presentation, and I was there from 5:00 to 10:00 last night. Went home and got in bed by 10:30, but I could not fall asleep. I was TOO tired to sleep, and I tossed and turned forever it seemed. And we had a 10am appt this morning, and so I had to be perky and happy and not tired looking when I got to work at 7:50 again this morning. Ugh- I think that I may need a nap today :)

Anyway- I Hope you have a great weekend!

Well Hello My Pretty!

This is my New Phone- The LG Voyager.
Cute huh? It is the "other" iPhone. The front has a full touch screen, and it also flips open for keyboard use ( I still use the touch outside for all of my Texting). It is a Full MP3 player, has US navigation abilities, voice recondition (which works really well) and it Also have a pretty decent camera.

I am now a "Verizo-ian" and this was my fave. I have big thumbs, and honestly- I needed a phone that I could Dial and Text with that was not going to get messed up by my thumbs (hitting 2 or more keys at a time). And the Buttons and touch screen buttons are really easy to use.
John (who had the same phone since 2003) also needed a new phone (both our phones had charging issues and also had a hard time keeping a charge)- and he also decided to get one. We have spent the last 2 day messing with them, and they are awesome :)

I did finish one of my painting this weekend. It was 7:15am on Monday morning, and I was awake, showered, dressed and about to finish getting ready when I got a call from my boss and he informed me that it was a holiday and we were going to be closed today- so to take the day off and enjoy:) So I decided to make some tea and go into the craft room and finish my painting. It turned out ok- I was pretty happy with it.

It was a "copy" of something that I had seen at Borders, and I will post the Painting and the inspiration sometime later today.
I hope your weekend was awesome!