Santa's Coming to Town

It's been such a long time since I posted but I just had to share my latest creation......my Santa Claus Treat Boxes! I put these together using my Silhouette and they are just too cute! They will be filled with Hershey Kisses and will be at each person's place setting on Christmas Day.

With Christmas being only a mere 5 days away, I hope each of you have a wonderful day spent with love and laughter with family and friends.

Merry Christmas!

Spooktacular Goody Bags

I spent the weekend getting the house and treats ready for the big night tomorrow! I couldn't wait to make these treat bags with my new Papertrey Ink die - Front and Center #1. It was cut out of black cardstock and adhered to a plain and simple brown lunch sack. The tag was made using the new tag die #5 and some older Halloween PTI stamps. The bags, after the candy was added, were finished off with a torn strip of fabric tied into a bow, Halloween colored baker's twine and an orange spider ring (ring snipped off). My niece and nephews got their bags this evening and were happy.....and that's all that matters! Happy Halloween!

Fall Harvest Crop

It's been a while since I updated so let's get right to it!


The weekend before last, I spent 3 days scrapbooking and celebrating FALL by attending The Stamping Place's crop in Columbia, SC. It was also World Card Making Day (Oct 1st) so I just had to work on my Halloween cards too.

It was a great weekend and of course the rolling "Coffin Cart" made its rounds. Complete with orange punch, eerie vegetables with mini cauldrons of dip and of course spooky iced sugared cookies. Lisa was dressed for the occasion and would have made any witch proud!

The shop was decorated for fall and Halloween with little cauldrons of scrappin' goodies everywhere.

Some os us even got a little crazy as the witching hour approached Friday night!

Everyone had a great time, especially me, because I got to sit with these two - Peggy and Renee!

Mine and Renee's new traditional pose!

Happy Fall Y'all!

A "Wicked" Good Time

Guess where Chris and I were Saturday..........



That's right! We traveled to Atlanta to the fabulous Fox Theatre to see the Broadway musical, Wicked. We have tried for 3 years to get decent seats for this event and boy, did we - Left Orchestra, Row G!! What can I say? This show was wonderful! The costumes, stage settings, makeup, music - superb! I love the whole story line and left appreciating why the Wicked Witch of the West was "wicked". It had lots of comical parts as well.

Now, seeing Wicked was great but visiting the Fox Theatre is a treat in itself. It has been a few years since I have visited and I'm always in awe when I come back. This historical Islamic/Egyptian style theater is beautiful. The tapestries, the ornate wall sculptures and decor sets the mood for any featured venue.

And once you are seated, you have to look up and see the "sky.... There are 96 crystal "stars" and 1/3 of them flicker. There is also a projection of rolling clouds. (FYI - one of the stars is actually a piece of a Coca Cola bottle!)

It was a wonderful day and a day to celebrate because...........it was mine and Chris' 22nd wedding anniversary!

We did celebrate a little late since our actual anniversary is on September 9th. But, it was well worth the wait! After leaving the theater, we headed to the Cheesecake Factory for a yummy dinner and of course, cheesecake. They have at least 20 different cheesecake flavors to decide from and it is always a hard choice. I go in with an idea of what I want but usually have to let the large window case speak to me - LOL! I went with the White Chocolate Caramel Macadamia Nut and Chris had the Dulce de Leche Caramel. Yummy-O!!

So, now it's Monday and back to reality. Have a great week!

Fun Friday

Here's a little fun Friday Q&A. Things you may or may not have known about me:

A. Age: 43
B. Bed size: Queen
C. Chore that you hate: Cleaning the bathrooms
D. Dogs: None but use to have toy poodles
E. Essential start to your day: Diet Coke
F. Favorite color: Right now it's blue.
G. Gold or Silver: I like both.
H. Height: 5’5"
I. Instruments you play: I played the flute in middle school but couldn't hit a note now if I tried!
J. Job title: Office Manager, Mom, Wife, Crafter, etc....
K. Kids: One teenage son
L. Live: Augusta, Georgia
M. Mother’s name: Katie
N. Nicknames: MiMi
O. Overnight hospital stays: Yes, in fact had one in January for a bad case of stomach flu.
P. Pet peeves: Liars, Bad Customer Service and people who do not put their shopping carts up in the parking lots.
Q. Quote from a movie: "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" - Rhett Butler
R. Right or left handed: Right handed.
S. Siblings: One younger brother
U. Underwear: Everyday!
V. Vegetable you hate: Artichokes and a couple more - not really a veggie eater.
W. What makes you run late: Signing school papers that I didn't know about the night before.......
X. X-Rays you’ve had: Many
Y. Yummy food that you make: I only have a couple that I think are the best - red velvet cake, coconut cake, cube steak and gravy, squash casserole....
Z. Zoo animal: I love them all but I do enjoy the Meerkats and Giraffes.

Have a great weekend folks.

p.s. Berit - I would love to share my squash casserole recipe. I will edit this post with it in the next day or two. You will love it!

RIP Barbie (Elizabeth)

Warning: This post contains information that may be sensitive to some. It describes the details of a murder investigation. It contains information regarding the crime scene but has been toned-down and is written as it would appear in a newspaper or other article. If you are overly sensitive to this type of information, please stop here......

As a young girl, I would spend some of my play time with my Barbie. I would dress her up, take her on bike rides and she would visit my BFF, Kim, who had a lovely pink townhome and swimming pool for all of our dolls to enjoy.

This past weekend, while out shopping, Corbin and I picked up a new Barbie to bring home. Only this time, Barbie is not Barbie. She is Elizabeth Short and even though she is dressed for a fun day at the beach, her beautiful life will soon change. She will come victim to a horrendous crime.

Corbin is taking a course in Forensic Science at high school this year. This is the first year the school is offering this course and it is the perfect starting point for his college career in Forensic Chemistry. The first assignment was to reconstruct a famous crime scene and include elements of evidence. He chose the murder of Elizabeth Short or The Black Dahlia, as she is worldwide known. Elizabeth was murdered in California in 1947. Her body was cut in half, completely drained of blood and organs, she was washed and dumped in a vacant lot behind a subdivision only a few feet from a street and sidewalk. The most bizarre fact from her murder was that the killer cut her cheeks in such a way that she appeared to be smiling. Over 200 people were interviewed for the crime and 50 actually confessed to doing it! Because of the lack of evidence, no one was ever charged for this crime.

There are a lot of details, crime scene photos and interviews that can be found on the internet. Elizabeth was a beautiful young lady who, by all accounts, was a "good-girl" and wanted a career as an actress. There are so many unanswered questions that maybe could have been answered if our modern day technology was available back then. This is what my son wants to do with his life. He wants to gather evidence, analyze it and be a voice for the victim. I am very proud of his decision to pursue this passion he has as a career.

Elizabeth, may you forever Rest In Peace!

Happy Dance!

Have you ever had one of "those weeks" where you wanted to crawl into a cave and disappear? Well, I've had two of them and enough is enough!! I am so ready for the Labor Day holiday on Monday. I don't plan on doing any laboring, what so ever!

Since these weeks have caused me a bit of suffering, the only way to keep from wrapping my hands around necks was to take a needle and stab some fabric - LOL. As a result, I finished my M Design's "S". This really did finish quick and now I just have to be on the look out for a Joann's coupon so I can get it framed.

I also had the chance to finish an ornament I started earlier this year. It is a portion from the Country Cottage Needleworks pattern Snowflake Serenade. I thought it would make a really cute ornament and I liked stitching it on the sparkly linen.

Of course, when you finish a project (or two!!) you have to start something new. Normally, this time of year, I would grab a Halloween or fall project but I went straight to Christmas. That is VERY odd for me! But, I got the Lizzie Kate Santa Claus Is Coming To Town pattern in the mail last week and I've been itching to get it started. I plan to only stitch the Santa part and again, finish him into an ornament. I found a piece of "mystery" linen in my stash that is a lovely gold color and I think it's perfect! Hoping to get him started this afternoon.

Well, that's about it.....Until we chat again - Be Safe and Have Fun!

Prayers and Best Wishes for Linda

Just a little post to ask for prayers and best wishes for my friend, Linda. She is one of the cross stitch pals and just a sweet (and VERY funny) lady. She fell and broke her hip, had surgery and is currently doing physical therapy. I haven't seen her in quite a while and she's been on my mind lately. I wanted to share a picture that we took last October while attending the Pals Convention in Myrtle Beach (there's Karen and Faye in the background!!).

So Linda, if you are reading this, keep up the good work and get well soon! I'm ready to play that "pass the box" game again real soon - whoo hoo!!

The Help

Saturday, Chris and I treated ourselves to the movies and saw "The Help". I had heard rave reviews on the book, even though I never read it. I don't know about the book but the movie was great! I laughed (and cried) and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Chris enjoyed the movie too but did comment that there was not nearly enough testosterone in the room! LOL! If you get a chance, go see it! I promise, you will never look at chocolate pie the same way again - LOL!

To my cross stitch friends, I have some sad news.....I won't be attending the Pals Convention this year. Our son is a senior in high school this year and has announced his desire to attend the University of Alabama/Birmingham instead of our home town university. After reviewing the course study (Forensic Chemistry), it is the right choice. So, that means I'll be writing a lot more checks than originally anticipated. It was a hard decision to make but one that I had to do. I know you, that are attending, will have a great time! I can't wait to hear all about it when you get back so make sure you update your blogs quickly!

Until next time......

Life's a Beach....

....and I'm playing in the sand!

I am back from 3 fun-filled days in Myrtle Beach playing in the sand, catching waves in the ocean and relaxing in the pool. Ahhhh....such joy and bliss! The weather was absolutely perfect. Warm but not hot. Overcast at times. Water cool but not freezing. I wouldn't change a thing!

One of the highlights of the trip was the ocean, itself. The water was perfect. Very clear and not a lot of shells which makes walking in the water much easier. We had a blast playing in the water and riding the waves on our boogie boards. The currents were a little strong so of course, I got wiped-out a couple of times. One time in particular, had me laughing so hard, I couldn't get up which means I got slammed a couple more times by the crashing waves. All I could hear was Corbin saying, "Oh My God! Mommy get up!" as he was laughing but trying to "save" me too.

We enjoyed fried shrimp baskets from the Tiki Hut on the beach. We tossed around a football. Corbin chilled with his Ipod. Like I said, just a perfect getaway.

This was a vacation that was centered around the beach. So, no plans to be anywhere at any time. We did get interrupted one day with a little pop up storm. But, it came late in the day so we didn't get to miss any "action". Storms at the beach are so fascinating to me. I love to watch the clouds roll in and see how the surf becomes more forceful.

Of course, like any vacation, it ends all too quickly. I'm ready to go back! This was a great way to wrap-up summer......

Good Bye Beach - See You Soon!!!

Aloha!

Aloha from the Crazy Croppers at The Stamping Place Scramp-a-Thon!

I am back from a whirl-wind weekend away scrapbooking with some of my great friends. This was titled our "Aloha" crop and the ladies at The Stamping Place went all out! From the decorations to the delicious food and even a coconut bra - everything was perfect!

I arrived and got set up at around 2:00 Friday afternoon. It was BLAZING HOT so it was so nice to finally have the car unloaded and to sit down and get started on my projects but not before refreshments from the Traveling Tiki Bar came by! We had a fruity punch with fruit/cheese skewers and strawberry dip served up by Lisa. Yummy!

We scrapbooked up until midnight and was up, bright and early, the next morning ready for another fun day. Of course, we had the Traveling Tiki Bar again. This time with homemade tortilla chips with cinnamon and sugar served with mango salsa and pina coladas.
Here are just a few photos from the day:

Lisa and Nancy:

Barbara:

Cindi:

Peggy and Renee are "PRODUCING":

Judy and our scrapbooking dog, Beau Joe (I hope I haven't spelled his name wrong!):

Now, you probably think you have seen it all but we still had another day. So, after a couple hours of sleep Saturday night we came back ready to PRODUCE and.............celebrate Judy's Birthday!!

It was such a fun weekend and I can't wait for the next one. We have such a great time. Lots of laughs and lots of stories to hear and tell. Now, I'm sure you would love to see what I worked on however, I can't reveal it at this time. Soon, I promise.

Me and My Happy Self:

Happy Scrappin', Stitching or whatever makes you happy! Find happiness in making something!

Edited to add: All of the drinks mentioned and pictured in this post were non-alcoholic. A bunch of ladies with glue, tape and scissors do NOT need to be a little "tipsy"

Ready to Get My Crop On!

Scissors, paper, glue, buttons and so many embellishments await my arrival for a girl's scrapbook weekend away. Ready to have fun and belly-laugh all weekend long. Of course that means, if I'm away with the girls, the boys are having their own "retreat" at home without me! Tee Hee!

Have a great weekend and STAY COOL!!

Monday Check In

Hello Friends! I hope everyone had a great weekend. I did! I got to spend the weekend with Chris and Corbin and it was laid back and great. Corbin and I ended the weekend by going to the lake to do a little swimming and grilling. The water temperature and weather was perfect - so much so, I got a little "pink" on the shoulders and back. I used the SPF 50 but I guess I didn't put it on thick enough or just needed to reapply a little more than I did. I just love visiting the lake and being outside under the pines. And why does a simple sandwich or a grilled burger taste better when you're wet?! LOL!

Not much to share on the stitching front. I have been working on the letter "S" some. Not a lot to show but it's a couple of stitches closer to being finished and that's always a good thing.

Have you seen the new Brenda Keyes/Sampler Company patterns? She is releasing two new ones and this one is calling my name........ It's called Sampler Story and I love it! I've already put in a request for this one when it comes in to my online LNS. Can't wait to get this one kitted up and ready to stitch.

This week I will be busy getting ready for a weekend crop at my not-so-local scrapbook store. I haven't been to a crop in forever, it seems. I've got so many pictures I need to get in an album. I'll never be caught up but I do try - LOL. This weekend, I'll be working on some vacation mini albums. It's so much easier to pack when you decide to work on just one theme. I'll be busy pulling paper and cardstock and printing photos. It's always a fun time and I can't wait!

Until we chat again.....

Mad Scientist at Work!

That's would it would look like at my house...or a crazed cook!! I have been in the kitchen coffee dying fabric and coming up with all kinds of concoctions to add to the recipe. My good friends Karen and Joan gave me their "recipes" and I've been at it. I decided, like any recipe I get, to tweak it. To put my own flavor to it and I have to say, I'm pretty happy with the results.

This all started when I purchased a large piece of linen that should have been a neutral, autumn feeling color and instead, I got something that looked like baby lotion. It was pink! I didn't like it when I opened the mail and I have no idea why I didn't send it back. I cut a chunk out of it for a project and tea-dyed it but it still had a strong pink tone to it. That's when I decided to put on the apron and start cooking up some strong coffee.

I dipped the fabric, baked it and decided I really didn't like the way it turned out. Was a little too streaky with coffee lines and more primitive than I was use to. Back in the coffee cauldron it went and this time, I rolled it in a towel to get most of the water out and then ironed it dry. Perfect! I got a nice mottled look with the coffee and a very uniformed shading of brown. I dipped and ironed dry about 3 times to get the shade that I wanted. Time consuming but not too bad when you set the ironing board up in front of the television - tee hee!

Here's a picture of the linen that has not been dyed yet (on the left in all it's pink glory) and the new improved coffee-dyed, yummy smelling linen (on the right). (Colors are much lighter in person - not a good day for picture taking)
One thing to note about ironing your coffee dyed fabric dry - the backside of the linen will be much lighter than the front. I have no idea why! I am assuming the direct heat from the iron does something to the color on the threads that the backside doesn't get. Just an assumption here! There was no "bleeding" of the coffee onto my ironing board cover so it's a mystery. Just a fun fact to know and tell!

Give it a try! I know you have a piece of linen in your stash that just won't do so brew up a pot of STRONG coffee and get to dippin'! What do you have to lose?!

Until we chat again.......

Gifties

I have to show off a couple of gifties that I got while on my trip to Indiana. I "found" these last night after a serious hunt. I had packed them securly for the trip home - so securly, I couldn't remember where they were - LOL!
Diane made the sweet black and polka dotted thread catcher with attached pin cushion. I have always wanted one of these and now I have one that is just perfect. It is weighted so that it hangs off the side on a table. The pocket holds all of your thread snippets and the pin cushion lets you park your needle in a jiffy. She also made various scissor fobs for all the retreat ladies to choose from. Each scissor fob was attached to the lovely silver scissors. I got the nice green fob with the butterfly charm attached. Sweet!!

Karen out-did herself by stitching me a sweet scissor fob with my initial. On the back she stitched OOE 2011 (Only One Ewe) and she attached the fob to a pair of hot pink butterfly scissors! I don't consider myself a scissor collector but looks like I have the start to a great looking collection! May have to look for one of those glass scissor frogs that I see so many have.

I'm still busy stitching on the letter "S" so hopefully I'll have a new picture to show you soon.

Have a great weekend everyone!

A Finish and a Start

Hello Everyone! I hope you had a great July 4th holiday. The family and I stayed home, ate some good food and I was busy scrapbooking and stitching away.

I started a Prairie Schooler snowman ornament when I was flying out to Indiana a couple of weeks ago. I finished him up on Saturday and I LOVE HIM! This was such a fun and quick stitch and I can't wait to get him truly finished and on the tree this year. The pattern is one of several from the Snowy Nights leaflet.

Next up is a start. It is the letter "S" from the M Designs Alphabet Series. This alphabet series is "loosely based on an incomplete set of illuminated letters from the early 1500's." I am stitching this on a piece of Dirty Belfast - which looks very brown - with DMC 310. It is stitching up really quick. Just have to make sure you know where you are on the pattern when you pick up that needle!

That's about it. This time of the year gets me thinking about Christmas (sounds a little weird when the temperatures outside say otherwise) and gift giving. Need to start my list and get started on the gifts that need to be made. I ALWAYS underestimate the amount of time that it takes for finishing so I would really like to get started earlier this year!

Thanks for stopping by......

Only One Ewe - Retreat Wrap Up!

Thanks to everyone for the sweet comments. I hope you have enjoyed sharing this wonderful get away with me. Today I want to "wrap up" the retreat post with just a few little tidbits and such. In no particular order:

I have never visited a White Castle until my weekend trip to Indiana. It reminds me of Krystals that we have here in the south. A little hamburger joint with small, roll type hamburgers. The best part - they are open 24 hours and you never know when a late night or early morning munchie attack will hit ya!

I mentioned that our retreat project came kitted in a fabric portfolio. These portfolios were really nice. Perfect size, weight, etc. Loved the fabric choice I got.

Lots of projects were shared during show and tell. Here is just a sampling of what we saw - all beautiful.

And, it doesn't take long before me and my buddies start getting silly with the camera!

We had several games going on during the day. Guessing how many buttons and fibers were in jars. By the end of the day though, those numbers started running together and we had to speak slowly so Jan could crown the correct winner!

It was a fun weekend but of course, all good things must come to an end. Sunday morning came very early and the 3 of us (Karen, Diane and myself) were up and out of the hotel by 8:00 a.m. so I could catch my flight home, Unfortunately, bad weather caused the airplane to be late which causes a rippling effect the rest of the day. After missing my connecting flight by 5 minutes - I happily got the LAST standby seat for the next flight home. I do like to stitch but sitting in an airport for 5 1/2 hours for the next available flight would not have been fun for me!

Thanks again for everyone who has left comments and I do hope you have enjoyed my story. I leave you with one tidbit of advice......."What you got ain't no knick knack!!!!"

Hugs and if I don't check in before Monday, Happy July 4th to all my US friends. Even if you're not from the US, celebrate. Enjoy what you have!