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!