All Hearts Come Home

Happy Halloween! I am looking forward to my sweet granddaughter Clara visiting tonight. She's only two so we'll just trick or treat a few of the close by neighbors. She loves "chock-it" so she will be in candy heaven!

Oddly enough I have a Christmas card today as all my Halloween cards have already been posted.  I made this card for next month's My Favorite Things November Guest Designer Challenge which is to include school or office supplies. I had this "Sending You a Little Christmas" image already colored and paper pieced with paper selected including the ledger pattern when the challenge was posted. So it just called my name to try again even though I'm on a major losing streak on this guest designer thang! I had to change up some of my original design idea to include more office supplies, such as cutting the image as a label, adding the date stamp and the paper clip as well as the notebook edge on the graph paper. I'm liking the year date stamp idea. I think I'm going to stamp the inside of all my Christmas cards with it this year. I again used some older paper from the Christmas stash. The image was stamped onto Bazzill Simply Smooth cardstock and then colored with Copic Markers. I added some Stickles to the star tree topper for a little more shine. I also used a mixture of white Stickles and Flower Soft for the fluffy edging on the hat and boots. I have lots more ideas for this stamp so you will definitely see more of it in the coming weeks.

Products: My Favorite Things stamp and Die-namics, Ki Memories dp and paper clip, Creative Imaginations dp, Papertrey Ink die and felt, Heidi Swapp date stamp, Kaisercraft pearls, Rangers Stickles, Flower Soft, Stampin' Up notebook punch, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Copic Markers

Copics: Skin-E0000, E00, E02, R20; Scarf/Glove/Tights-E50, E51; Boots/Hat-B91, B93; Sled-R35, R37, R39; Tree-G20, G82, Y11, Y15

I hope you and the kiddoes have a great time tonight.

Merry Hugs

TGIF! Today's project follows this week's Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge. I like the My Favorite Things Merry Kissmas stamp but I always have trouble stamping with it. Typically it took three tries before I got a decent image. I colored with Copic Markers and then added a combo of Flower Soft and Rangers Stickles for the edging on the little girls hat as well as the snow at their feet.

Products: My Favorite Things stamp and Die-namics, Papertrey Ink cs and sentiment stamp, October Afternoon dp, May Arts ribbon, Kaisercraft pearls, Flower Soft, Rangers Stickles, Cuttlebug Embossing folder, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Copic Markers


Copics: Skin-E0000, E00, E02, R20; Snowman-N5, N7, B0000, E55, E57; Clothing/Scarves/Hats-G40, G21, G24, RV00, RV10, RV11, R22, R27, R29


I'm happy to report that the attic cleanup is finished! I worked really hard on it both Wednesday and Thursday. That's it for the October projects list! Which is good because I am exhausted.  Have a great weekend!

Congratulations

I made today's card for my stepdaughter who has opened her own business.  The Grand Opening is today. So very proud of her for following her dreams.  If you happen to live in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina, please consider Triangle Hearing Services in Cary for all your hearing needs.

Now on to the card details. I stamped the Stamper's Anonymous image onto the Pink Paislee dp which I then cut with a Spellbinder's Label Nestabilities.  All other dp is from the Cosmo Cricket Togetherness 6x6 pad.  I hestitated with the black ribbon but I actually wanted the contrast as opposed to matchy matchy.  What do you think?  I followed this week's Sketch for You to Try for the basic layout.

Products: Stamper's Anonymous stamp, Cosmo Cricket dp, Pink Paislee dp and large brad, Kaisercraft pearls, May Arts ribbon

Have a great day.  Thanks for stopping by.

Just Two More Halloween Cards

When I was preparing to mail my Halloween cards I realized that two were missing. I love this cutie patootie My Favorite Things Honey Bee stamp so it was nice to get to use it again.  I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink into Bazzill Simply Smooth cardstock and then cut it out. I used older paper again from Ki Memories and Doodlebug. This fits the Halloween challenge over at Crazy 4 Challenges.

I also needed one for a sweet baby boy.  I used papers and chipboard from My Mind's Eye Boo to You collection from last year.

Products: My Favorite Things stamp, Ki Memories dp and stickers, Doodlebug dp, My Mind's Eye dp, chipboard and brad, American Crafts ribbon, Making Memories buttons, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Copic Markers

Copics: Skin-E0000, E00, E02, R20; Bee Costume-Y21, Y23, Y35, N5, N7, N9; Pumpkin/Candy holder-YR12, YR14, YR16

We are still working on the October projects list. I'm happy to report that the great magazine purge of 2010 is complete. The last of them are sitting on the curb for the recycle truck to pick up today. We have also started on the attic clean up which is compounded by the fact that it contains a lot of my son's stuff, not ours. Of course I will save the Legos for little Clara as my son deserves to get up in the middle of the night and step on them like I had to for years! Seriously though, they were his favorite childhood toys so they will stay. I also spotted a couple of Care Bears - not sure I can get rid of those either. Instead, I will give them a bath and let Clara snuggle with them. We had to stop working up there yesterday since it appears summer has reappeared here in the South. It's been much too hot.  Fall returns later this week so I'll be starting back on it again then. 

Thanks for stopping by. See you back here tomorrow.

Ho Ho Ho

I am off to a late start this Monday morning but I do have another Christmas card to show you today. All the paper used on this project is older Carolee's Adornit and Heidi Grace but the stamps are new. When I started making my Christmas cards back in July I discovered that I really didn't have that many holiday stamps - at least not the ones I could use with my Copics. So what stamp budget I have has been spent on rectifying that. The stamps used today are from the Taylored Expressions Hangin' Out at the North Pole set. I generally followed this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch for the basic layout. I think I need to practice working with reds more beccause Santa's suit looks like the day after Christmas deliveries. I used a combo of Flower Soft and Stickles for the fluffly trim.

Products: Tarylored Expressions stamps, Carolee's Adornit and Heidi Grace dp, Doodlebug stickers, May Arts ribbon, Flower Soft, Rangers Stickles, Copic Markers

Copics: N1, N5,N7, N9, R27, R29, R46, YR23, 0

That's it for today.  I hope your Monday has started out more productive than mine.

Felt Mitten Gift Holder/Ornament

Three of my favorite weekly challenge blogs had the same challenge to decorate a treat or gift type bag or container this week. It must be a trend! Since I wasn't planning on doing anything special for Halloween nor are there any upcoming birthdays I initially thought I was going to sit out this week. But then it occured to me that I could get a headstart on my Christmas gift giving. Every year we have at least 3 or 4 on our list who get a gift card or money. I always try to make them a little more personal by presenting them in a creative way. Today's project doubles as a money/giftcard holder as well as a Christmas ornament and meets the My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club challenge. I was inspired by Betsy Veldman's project here. I started out using a piece from a Maya Road mitten shaped chipboard as my pattern. I traced it onto two pieces of felt and then cut them out. I cut the border and snowflake also from felt using the Open Scallop Border and Let it Snowflake My Favorite Things Die-namics. I used my crop-a-dile to punch a small hole and attached the felt snowflake with a decorative brad. I glued the border to the top and then  machine stitched the two pieces together inserting a loop of twill at the top for a hanger. I tied a silk bow onto the glittered leaf and then glued both to the mitten. The bottom of the mitten is stuffed with tissue to puff it up a bit. I stamped the sentiment from the My Favorite Things Sending You a Little Christmas set onto a canvas tag and tied it around the rolled up money with some silk ribbon.

Products: PTI felt, button and twill, My Favorite Things Die-namics and sentiment stamp, American Crafts brads, Making Memories glitterd leaf, May Arts silk ribbon

I hope your Sunday is everything you want it to be.  Thanks for stopping by.

Skater Girl

Happy Saturday Morning!  It was great to get back to paper, ink and stamps yesterday. As a result I have a Christmas card to share with you today featuring a new-to-me stamp company Your Next Stamp. I followed this week's Mojo Monday Sketch for a quick and easy project. Lots and lots of white with splashes of pink and aqua and a dash of flying pigtails.

Products: Your Next Stamp, Heidi Grace dp, PTI cs and twill, My Favorite Things Die-namics, Heather Bailey felt, American Crafts decorative brad, We R Memory Keepers star border, Kaisercraft pearls, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Copic Markers

Copics: Skin-E0000, E00, E02, R20; Hair-E31, E35, E37; Clothes/Skates-B0000, B000, B01, RV00, RV10

I hope your weekend is off to a great start.

You Warm My Heart

I thought I had better post something today before you guys think I've stopped blogging. We've been busy, busy, busy this week. More about that later.

I made today's card for the TCP Tuesday Sketch challenge over at the Dancing with Pajamas blog. It features The Cat's Pajamas A Cuppa stamp set that I combined with some older paper I found while organizing my patterned paper (DaisyD's and MAMBI). I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto Bazzill Simply Smooth cardstock, then I cut it out, cutting away the heat swirls. I stamped just the swirls onto the background panel and then positioned the cut image underneath it. The main background paper features a vintage quilt pattern which I thought really illustrated the warmth theme. In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month I'll be sending this card along with several others to the UT MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX for use by patients or their families.

Products: The Cat's Pajamas stamp and Cutups, My Favorite Things sentiment stamp, PTI cs and button, Making Memories trim, Heather Bailey felt, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Copic Markers

Copics: Bear-G40, G21, Y21,Y23; Cup-B91, B93, E55, E57

Now for the October house projects update. We finished up the majority of the basement clean and organization. Since there are some things we can't do anything about at this moment we're calling it done. It looks so much better. Yesterday, we spent most of the day outside, trimming trees and bushes around the house. We literally wore ourselves out. With every ache and pain we kept saying things like "gosh, we aren't as young as we use to be." 

The pattern paper purge and organize project is also complete. And I have started purging magazines and catalogs.  The magazine basket had long ago overflowed and I had a stack of them sitting next to the basket which included 17 Pottery Barn catalogs! I am now going through the craft magazines that were in my craftroom closet.  I had long ago purged most of my scrap magazines but for some reason was hanging on to several years worth of Paper Crafts. I'm going through them at night while watching television, tearing out what I want and then placing what is left in the recycle bin. Definitely a busy and productive week! Today and this weekend are going to be rest and relax days as I think we've earned it.

I hope you all have a great weekend. I'll see you back here soon. 

A Great Catch

Today's card meets the "It's All About the Boys" My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club challenge at Split Coast Stampers. That was a mouth full, wasn't it? I knew the minute I saw this adorable Fred Bear Goes Fishing stamp that I wanted to pair it up with the Bella Blvd Camped Out paper from last year. I created the lake scene within the Nestabilities circle, placing a pop dot behind the bear head as well as behind the top of Die-namics tree to add more dimension. I love this soft MFT twill too. It's just organic enough to make a bow on a masculine card look likes it fits there. I initially had some clouds cut out to use for the sentiment but I actually thought it detracted from the tranquil look so I just stamped it on the inside instead.

Products: My Favorite Things stamp, Die-namics and twill, Bella Blvd and Basic Grey dp, PTI button and cs (card base), Spellbinders Nestabilities, Copic Markers

Copics: Bear-W1, W2, W5; Log-E35, E37, R29; Fishing Pole-E55, E57; Fish-YG91, YG93, YG95; Water-BG72, BG75

Now for the personal stuff. We took Friday and this weekend off from the basement project but we've really made some major headway just working a few hours here and there. We have discovered that we have a bigger moisture problem than we would like as we found mildew on a bunch of things. I threw away some of my childhood memories because of it. It's the nature of basements to be somewhat damp since concrete block is porous so I think I just chose the wrong place to store certain items. I thew away "Bill Parker" (a stuffed tiger) because of it - only my sister will know what that name actually means  - as well as a doll that my great Aunt Sue gave to me when I was a little girl. Neither of these items were something I could just throw in the washer and that was really the only way to salvage them. I guess most people would have looked at these items as old and useless but they meant something to me and I am sad to lose them. At any rate, we will be back to work either today or tomorrow. 

I hope your week is off to a great start.  As always, thank you for stopping by.

Think Pink

Due to all the projects we've been doing on the house, I really haven't had much time for crafting.  So Saturday was the first chance in several days to made cards which I did during the football game marathon. It was one of those rare Saturdays when all the teams we wanted to win did. Auburn, LSU, Wisconsin, Texas and of course the most important one, Alabama.

As you know October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and The Cat's Pajamas is sponsoring a Think Pink blog hop in honor of this important cause.  This is my third card featuring this cute Skating Bunny stamp and I still have more ideas for it. All paper is older Ki Memories and Doodlebug from my stash and is one of my favorite color combos of pink and black. In fact that Ki Memories black and white alpha pattern is one of my all time favorite sheets of paper ever! Rather than my usual bow, I knotted the two ribbons together and topped off with a button with some burlap thread. Some Ranger Stickles for the nose and white pom pom for the tail completed my little bunny girl. I'll be sending this card to the UT MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX for use by patients or their families.  

 
Products:  The Cat's Pajamas stamp, Doodlebug and Ki Memories dp, Ranger Stickles, Kaisercraft pearls, Heidi Swapp jewels, PTI button, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Copic Markers


Copics: Bunny-C1, C3, C5; Skate Boots/Scarf-RV00, RV10, RV11; Skate Blades-N1, N5; Shadows-C00

Enjoy the rest of the weekend. It is beautiful here today.

Cookies for Santa

I won this Baby Cookie and Milk Girl stamp along with a kit of paper and embellishments from the designer Amy's sneak peeks on her A Thousand Sheets of Paper blog. Not only is Amy an awesome stamp designer but she has some mad Copic skills. I knew immediately I wanted to pair up this cutie pie with the soft colors of Webster's Pages paper. I first stamped the image onto Bazzill Simply Smooth Cardstock, colored with Copic Markers and then cut it out. I "decorated" the tree with Prima pearls and added the twill bow and flowers. I stamped the sentiment directly onto the background paper then attached the stamped image with pop dots. Easy peasy and I have yet another Christmas card completed.  

Products: C.C. Designs Sweet November stamp, Webster's pages dp, PTI sentiment stamp, cs and twill, Prima Pearls and Flowers, Ranger Stickles Copic Markers


Copics: Skin-E0000, E00, E02, R01; Hair-E50, E51, E53, E55; Gown-R00, R00, R11; Gown Trim/Milk/Plate/Shadows-W00, W1, W2; Slippers/Reindeer Pocket-BG0000, BG11, R22; Cookies-G21, G40, E44

For those of you interested, here is an update on our October house projects.  After a few days hiatus  we started on the basement Tuesday. We're breaking up this task, only working a few hours a day for two reasons. First of all, we were wearing ourselves out trying to work all day on the other tasks we've completed. Secondly, this is a big project because we have a full basement which means it's the entire footprint of our house. No worries if we skip a day here or there. Frankly, doing it this way I hear a lot less griping and grousing about it from the other half! Even though we've just really got started I already have a ton of stuff for the trash. We also have three other piles of stuff, one for donations to The Salvation Army , another for such things that need to go but the regular garbage won't pick up and another for a possible garage sale. I'm undecided on the garage sale as they are so much work plus so far the stack really isn't that much.  But I have to this coming May to decide as I will probably wait for our annual neighborhood garage sale rather than doing one by myself. I might try listing some of the larger items on Craigslist and see how that goes first. I know I am rambling a bit but I'm using my blog to hold myself accountable for things we need to do this month. Whenever I feel like stopping I just watch an episode of Hoarders!

Have a great day.

Fluttering By

This is my second post for the day. I forgot that this week's My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club challenge is due today. I think this is the first time I've done a card for the challenge that didn't include a Pure Innocence stamp. Instead I chose Fred Bear and the Butterfly. The challenge this week is to use the sketch provided. I stayed fairly true to the sketch except I flipped it around.

Products: My Favorite Things stamp, My Mind's Eye and Cosmo Cricket dp, Pink Paislee trim, May Arts ribbon, Kaisercraft pearls, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Copic Markers

Copics: Bear-E50, E51, E53, E55; Flower/Butterfly-Y11, Y15, YG23, YG25

Thanks for stopping by. Later...

Merry and Bright

Today's card features a new C.C. Designs Sweet November digital stamp "Baby Present Boy". I printed the image onto Bazzill Simply Smooth cardstock, colored with Copic Markers and then cut out. I created the Christmas tree with a Papertrey Ink die and felt and then "trimmed" it with a felt star garland made with the My Favorite Things Star Border die-namics. This meets the All That Scraps Wednesday Challenge to create a card with a manly image. Obviously I used a man of the younger variety.

Products: C.C. Designs Sweet November digital stamp, Papertrey Ink sentiment stamp, cs, die and felt, American Crafts dp, Heather Bailey felt, My Favorite Things star die, Kaisercraft pearls, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Copic Markers

Copics: Skin-E0000, E00, E02; Hair-E50, E51, E53, E55; P.J.'s/Gift Box-R22, R27, R29, W00, W1; Gift Bow-G40, G82 

Have a great Tuesday!

Snowmen ATC's

Hi there! I realize I haven't posted in several days but we had another October house project to complete last week, plus we had some great friends visiting from Michigan over the weekend.

This week's Tiddly Inks Challenge was to make an ATC (Artist Trading Card). I made two of them using paper from the Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather 6x6 pad. The Tiddly Inks Frosty and Snowman's Friends images were printed onto Bazzill Simply Smooth cardstock, colored with Copics and then cut out. I added a bit of diecut paper, felt and bling to each card and a touch of Ranger Stickles. The Heidi Swapp circle bling on the corner of the first ATC was clear jewels until I colored with a Copic marker (BV11) to make them a soft lavender. On the second ATC, I did cut off the bird in one of the branch hands so I could thread through the felt star garland. For those of you who are not familiar with the concept of an ATC.  They are small, just 2.5x3.5 so digital stamps are perfect for them since you can easily resize. Normally, also included is your contact info, name of the card and a number such as 1 of 2,  1 of 3, etc on the back. They are usually created to trade with other artists; however, I don't really have anyone to trade with right now so I might include one in my artistic friend's Christmas card this year. Of course, if anyone reading this would like to trade please let me know. 

Products: Tiddly Inks digital stamps, Cosmo Cricket dp, Heidi Swapp jewels, Basic Grey and Kaisercraft pearls, My Favorite Things Die-namics, Creative Imaginations felt trim, PTI felt and die, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Copic Markers

Copics: Snowmen-W00, W1, W2; Scarves/Hat-BV0000, BV00, BV01, BV11, BG0000, BG10, BG11; Cap-W2, W5, W7; Carrot Noses-E97, E99

As I said above, we are continuing with our October projects. Last week we cleaned our deck.  It's made of some type of composite material that was suppose to be maintenance free. As it has turned out, we've had to do more with this deck than we ever did with our treated wood one. In fact, we are included in a class action suit but you know how those things go.  We worked two days on it because we wound up doing a lot of it by hand since our pressure washer wouldn't start. We are really suffering from a rash of equipment failure around here including our vacuum cleaner. But at least that is a task I can check off the list for this month.  I am now also about 95% percent complete with my patterned paper reorganization. This week we are going to start on the basement. Fun times!

Have a great week!  I'll have another project for tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends!

Killer Beez Cuteness

Good morning. How cute is the My Favorite Things (Pure Innocence) Honey Bee stamp? It reminds me of my own little honey bee granddaughter Clara. I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto Bazzill Simply Smooth cardstock and then colored with Copic Markers.  I also stamped the pumpkin shaped holder portion of the image again and after cutting out, placed it over the original for a more dimensional effect. This meets the MFT Wednesday Stamp Club challenge which is "Let's Play Dress Up." The Ki Memories paper is older but still remains a favorite. The embellishments (My Mind's Eye brad and Making Memories felt ghost) were leftover from last year.  The little spooky eyeballs were created by threaded two white brads in a button and then I made the eyes with a Sharpie.

Products: My Favorite Things stamp, Ki Memories dp, May Arts and American Crafts ribbon, Making Memories felt ghost, PTI tag die and button, My Mind's Eye decorative brad, Kaisercraft jewels, Copic Markers

Copics: Skin-E0000, E00, R20; Hair-C7; Bee Costume-Y21, Y23, C5, C7, C9; Pumpkin Candy Container-YR12, YR14, YR16

Have a great day!

A Blooming Good Day

I recently found this awesome Autumn Leaves flower shaped diecut paper in my stash while organizing all my patterned paper. I can't even tell you how old it is. Just suffice to say, it's been around for a while. When I saw this month's My Favorite Things Guest Designer Challenge to include the colors of Raspberry, Lime Green and Aqua I knew I wanted to use it. I immediately paired up the paper with this super cute MFT Pure Innocence Blooming Good Day stamp. That was the easy part. The hard part was deciding just exactly how to use the paper on a card while retaining it's pretty petal shape. I finally decided a tri-fold shape was the way to go. Everything else just evolved from that. I kept the bulk to a minimum on the inside so it would fold up. I went diecut crazy with cardstock and patterned paper for thin embellishments, saving the fat felt and twill bow for the front of the card. I left room on both sides in the "horizon" to write a short note and a signature. This actually meets the MFT "Hope You Can Cling To" card drive challenge to use a die-namic or any other die, especially since I used so many! Not sure if I want to submit it for both yet though. I really do not like to combine challenges. Whatever I decide, I will donate since it is for such a good cause. Note to self, get a mammogram!

Here is how it started out (extra points that my fingernails match!):

Here is the completed (open and closed) project:



Products: My Favorite Things stamp and Die-namics, Autumn Leaves and Cosmo Cricket dp, The Cat's Pajamas's Cutups, Prima trim and pearl, PTI felt, Kaisercraft pearls, Spellbinder's Nestabilities, Copic Markers


Copics: Skin-E0000, E00, R20; Hair-E50, E51, E53; Dress-BG10, BG11, BG13; Shoes/Flower/Hair Accessories-RV11, RV13, RV14; Watering Can/Greenery-YG11, YG13, YG23

Have a great week!  As always, thank you for stopping by!

Froggy Tales

I made this card during the Alabama-Florida game. I'm a nervous game watcher so it's this or chew on my fingernails! By the way, not only did we win but we won big! RTR!

I created this for the current Tiddly Inks Challenge to use a crackle finish or Diamond Glaze.  I printed the Tiddly Inks "Donna" image onto Bazzill Simply Smooth cardstock. I then positioned a piece of the patterned paper onto a sheet of plain paper and printed again so I could paper piece the umbrella portion. After cutting out the umbrella I squeezed a layer of Diamond Glaze onto it. I was happy to see that my Epson ink held up well against the water based glaze. I have never had a smearing problem with printing digital images either. I cut two layers of "grass" with a Martha Stewart punch temporarily adhering to the bottom of the image and then cut all with a Spellbinders Nestabilties. After cutting I removed the grass and added some Diamond Glaze to it as well giving it a wet appearance. I sponged the edges of the image piece while it was still in the die and then colored with Copic Markers. I assembled the card while the Diamond Glaze was drying. The umbrella was attached with a pop dot and glue under the bottom corners so it would curve.

Products: Tiddly Inks digital stamp, Jillibean Soup dp, American Crafts dp and ribbon, Making Memories epoxy heart, PTI cs and buttons, Kaisercraft pearls, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Martha Stewart punch, Diamond Glaze, Copic Markers

Copics: Skin-E0000, E00, R20; Hair-E51, E53, E55, E57; Slicker/Rain boots-Y11, Y15; Shirt/boot soles/Umbrella handle-N5, N7; Skirt-R22, R27, R29; Frogs-YG21, YG23, YG25

That's it for today.  I hope you have a blessed Sunday.

Happy World Card Making Day

I really couldn't let World Card Making day go by without posting something. The clean and simple (CAS) challenge at Caardvarks couldn't come at a better time for me as I did not have a lot of time to devote to stamping this week. Although I pretty much think most of my cards are rather simple I took it to the extreme with these two cards. If I needed to mass produce a set, this would definitely be the way to go. I used two different Cuttlebug embossing folders and then included some simple embellishments.  I almost added another color but I thought the red and white was actually quite striking.

Products: PTI and Bazzill cs, American Crafts dp, Making Memories foam sticker, Kaisercraft pearls, Cuttlebug embossing folders, May Arts ribbon

Now if you are only here for the projects, feel free to go now.  Stick around if you want to know what I've been up to lately.


I am devoting the fall to getting some things done around the house. Frankly, since the summer was long and so very hot, we neglected a lot of things. October is devoted to getting the house ready for winter and freshening up where time and money allows. The conundrum that is this crappy economy is that in past years we would pay to have some of these things done. By doing that, we are saving money yet we're hurting merchants and the self-employed by not paying them. We want to do our part in keeping the economy going but the reality is that we just do not have the money we use to have. My husband is retired and apparently so I am considering I can't find a job. This past week, we washed our windows both inside and out. I realize that a lot of people do that themselves but when you consider that some of our windows are 25 feet off the ground it's a bit more difficult for us. Don rigged up a high pressure hose and went to work. They aren't perfect but are definitely better. I cleaned inside, washing not only the windows but the wood blinds and the plantation shutters as well. I love our hardwoods - they are beautiful - but they can be a bit cold in the winter so we steamed cleaned a rug that we had taken up last summer when our little dog's kidneys were failing. We have one of those water based vacuum cleaners that also converts to a steam cleaner so a few more dollars saved there. I did have to buy a new rug pad but after pricing them here in town I went to overstock.com and found one for a lot cheaper, plus I had a free shipping coupon.

I am also finally organizing and purging my patterned paper. I've needed to do this forever. Other than a few pattern types I am organizing by manufacturer. By color was just too frustrating for me and I have a knack for remembering patterns associated with a manufacturer anyway. I'm totally embarrassed by the amount of it I own. And it's in four different places, in vertical Cropper Hoppers, pizza (shipping) boxes, in my storage closet and in an old folder type file. I have started with the paper in the vertical Cropper Hoppers, just doing one a time, then combining and moving around as I go. I am purging but I can already see that I need to take another look. I'm only doing this at night while watching television with Don. The downside to that is that he now knows just how much I have! I am about 75 percent done and hope to get it completed next week. 


So anyway, that is my very long story for why I haven't been posting as often as normal.  Do you have any special projects for the fall?  I'd love to hear about it!