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!