Just a little project tonight - I Feel the Love

By the time we got home from camping and finished unpacking, I didn't feel like doing much but I also needed to finish up my card for the I Feel the Love Project for August. I had an idea that I was working on but I couldn't quite bring it together, so I went a completely different direction. Madison had mentioned that Kate liked pink and rainbows, so I pulled out my Simply Charmed cartridge and glitter paper (what little girl doesn't love glitter?) along with some scraps and a piece of my new Cotton Candy Pop Tone paper I got in Paper Zone's great sale this past week. Add a couple of clear embossed butterflies using the Thinking of You set from Inkadinkado plus some Stickles and this is what I get:

I'm ready to go...

Yes, I'm all ready for our second try at a girls' camping weekend. The RV is packed and my craft stuff is ready to go in the truck tomorrow. This time I'm taking two days off work and boy can I use the break. I have worked extremely hard the last few days and have managed to actually clear a bunch of stuff off my desk. Whoo hoo! Between the hard work at work and the hard work at home, I'm sooooooo ready for a long weekend of crafting, TV, girl time and wine. I was just cleaning up the mess I had made of craft room when packing when Matt called that I had to come see this. Yes, that's our dear Chewie making it clear that the crafting stuff is not going anywhere unless she comes with! Really, I can't believe what an amazing job dear hubby did to get it all organized. Whoo hoo! This is going to be fun.

P.S. Just wanted to say a little prayer for all my blog and real world friends on the East Coast who were affected by today's earthquake. I hope you are all safe and sound. It was shocking because I didn't know anything about it (okay so I confess that when I'm at work, I'm pretty isolated and don't usually hear any world type events until the evening - in other words, I'm completely out of the grapevine and I like it that way). But I had an 11 a.m. conference call that's a nationwide call. The first thing everyone was asking was if everyone was okay, what the damage had been and how far away people had felt the aftershocks. (It's funny how close you can get to people when you have two or three conference calls together each week.) Most of the states were on the call and we were able to reassure ourselves that our motley crew was okay. But I know that it was pretty scary for a few of them because they aren't used to these. But then, I'm not either and I don't want to be... Anyhow, take care all you out there.

Mojo Monday #205

We got some sad news today that one of Matt's cooks isn't doing well. He's been battling cancer for a while and had another surgery earlier this month. He had been home recovering but it turns out he took a turn for the worse at the end of the week. He's back in the hospital in an induced coma for a couple of days. So dear hubby asked me to make a card that people at the office could sign to let him and his family know we are thinking of him. But, I have a ton of things I need to do to get ready for our second try at a girls' camping trip this weekend. I saw this great heart card on Creations With Christina and designed a version on my Sure Cuts A Lot, but then it seemed way to girly. So I took my inspiration from Mojo Monday's sketch thinking I could whip out a card in no time flat and get on with my packing. Wrong! I couldn't find the right items, but finally settled on paper from Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Boy from My Mind's Eye and resorted to dying my own crochet thread with a combination of Perfect Pearls in Green Patina and some Stampin' Up Wild Wasabi ink to get just the right color. Then I had to play with my EK Success punches until I had the right combination. Anyhow, I ended up spending the whole evening playing in my craft room. I am so going to have to double time packing and shopping tomorrow to make it all work. But it will all be worth it when I'm sipping my wine, watching my TV and crafting to my heart's content.

Another Halloween card

So after a few more hours canning today (and one minor cut on my thumb from the mandolin making typing this a little difficult - work tomorrow should be interesting...), we finished the beets and made a huge batch of corn salsa (yummy!). Then I got to sneak away to my craft room to catch up on some blogs and make another Halloween card. I used Mojo Monday, sketch 204, to inspire this super simple card from DCWV Ghost and Goblins mat stack.

The background paper is just plain cardstock stamped with the "cracked background" stamp from Rubber Stampede that I've had for a really long time. I used a little clear embossing powder. It really added something special to a card that otherwise looked like it was needing something. The little stars are the leftovers from an EK Success border punch. Funny how the "trash" can become something useful.

It all started with green beans and peaches...

Canning just wasn't something we did in my family when I was growing up. But my husband's family did. His mom and her best friend, Leila, would get together. The kids would play and they would can. It sounds like it was a wonderful tradition. So when Matt and I married, I was introduced to the wonders of home canned foods. It all started with green beans and peaches. They tasted so much better than the ones we could buy at the store. So every year we can a few beans and maybe a little of something else too. A few beets here, a few tomatoes there, a couple of pears... So it wasn't surprising to get an e-mail from my mother-in-law earlier this week asking "Did we need beans?".

Well, yeah, we do. You see my sister also discovered how good the beans taste so I send a jar or two home with her from time to time. So we didn't have nearly enough in the pantry to last us through the next year. So, as I talked about in a previous post, we did a little canning earlier this week. Well, the problem with that was in looking for the recipe to can those, we found a couple other recipes that looked intriguing.

Then last night we got a voicemail, "do you need more beans? They need to be picked because they are starting to get big." Hmmm... more beans = pickled beans, which is one of the recipes that had caught our attention. So another trip down, another bucket of beans, another good dinner with the in-laws, during which they shared that they had gotten a great deal on corn and cucumbers at their farmer's market. So this morning we got up early and headed to the store to get a few more jars and a new pressure canner so my in-laws could have theirs back, then it was off to the blueberry patch to get a few more blueberries to last us the winter and to the farmer's market my in-laws go to because they had better deals and then to the store to pick up a few spices and such we needed.

Then we set to work canning, oh, and making 3 more trips to the store for things we forgot or ran out of... But in the end we had more "regular" green beans, more "regular" corn, kosher dill pickle spears, two different recipes of bread and butter pickles (also with the pickles cut two different ways), pickled green beans, and corn relish. We still have 20 pounds of beets to pickle tomorrow and I'm hoping to talk him into getting some more corn because I really want to try the corn salsa recipe (and we have all the ingredients for it except corn - really we do). Then we get a break from canning until the tomatoes ripen and pears and peaches come into season. But I have my eye on a brandied pear recipe I can't wait to try and there's one for carrot cake jam that I think sounds divine, but that can wait for much later. For now, I'll just savor the sight of rows of jars that we packed and processed today:

Oh and it can wait because I'M TIRED. But I also had a lot of fun. I'm sure it has to do with the fact that it was Matt and I working together side by side. We really do work together very well. I'm a very lucky girl to have such a great hubby. So now, I'm sitting here trying to get together the energy to climb upstairs and go to bed because I'm sure falling asleep at my craft room table will not be comfortable. But there's something very soothing about sitting here listening to jars "pop."

Fun card and crafting haul

I needed a thank you card for a co-worker who took care of straightening out my registration problems at my conference last week. Well, I was sitting in my conference doodling when I found inspiration in the panels on wall behind the speaker. They were very symmetrical and interesting to look at. That doodling inspired this card. I found a couple of images of lilies on the web. I replicated the one several times and then cut them out. I left a little of the white photo paper as a border and then mounted them all on a piece of black card stock, leaving just a little space for a ribbon. The sentiment on the inside says "Thank you to someone who is one of a kind." A very simple card to make, but it was lots of fun. I also want to share with you some pictures of my haul from shopping with my Mom and sister on Sunday. I picked up all these stacks of paper at TJ Maxx where were looking for clear acrylic cups (found two purple ones!)

The next two pictures have a mixture of Jo-Ann's and Michaels items. But I really have to point out that everything on this next picture is sitting on top of my new trimmer. Yes, I had to buy a new trimmer because my beloved Making Memories trimmer finally gave up the ghost after nearly five years. It probably would still be humming along but I managed to bend the blade trying to cut something I never should have been trying to cut in the first place. Needless to say, the replacement blades aren't available (sold out), so I bought a new one. I got a great deal because Michaels hadn't taken down the sale tag from last week so they honored the sale price and let me use my 25% off my purchase coupon too. Whoo-hoo and a big thanks to my mom for asking them if they would honor the tag. By the way, they also honored the tag that showed that the Cricut cartridges were on sale too so I bought my Campin' Critters cartridge too.

Beans, corn, beets and pickles, oh my!

I'm oh so tired. I have pictures to upload of my crafting haul from last weekend, pictures of a couple of cards I've made and pictures I need to send to my cousin, but I'm just too tired to do it. It's canning season you see. So Monday after work we drove to my in-laws and picked beans. After enjoying a nice dinner with them, we didn't get home until late so it was straight to bed. Last night we came home and picked our own bean bushes then snapped and canned pints of beans, which should get us through to next year. Tonight we picked up some corn and pickling cucumbers (because I'm not sure mine are going to produce much of anything) after work and then came home to harvest about half of our beets. I also picked the blueberries (again - only one more picking I think). I finished cleaning the blueberries and bagged up the blueberries and raspberries I had frozen earlier on trays. Then it was skin the beets, cook the corn and prepare the jars. After a quick trip to two grocery stores for the dill I didn't have, we cooked up the pickling brine and filled the jars. Now I have a little bit of break while the pressure canner works on the corn and the water bath processes a batch of beets. I'm thinking we'll need to do some more corn and there will be a few more beets when the others finish growing. Sure I'm tired now, but it's all worth it when in January I'll be able to pull out good tasting veggies.

Mini-book and Halloween cards

I didn't feel all that great today. In fact, I was almost sick this morning. So weird. So 9 episodes of Scrapbook Memories later (and I think I must have napped a bit because at one point I was shocked to see Cha-Ching on three feet away from me trying to see what was there - have I mentioned that he's horribly cross-eyed and I don't think he can see much?) I felt much better. So I tried out this little album I saw on the show. It's not completely done because I need to decorate it and add the photos. But I got the entire book built using some scrap cardboard from an old cereal box, some paper from the Travel Stack from DCWV, and a scrap of paper for the closure with a brad. From the outside, it doesn't look like much yet: But the inside is what's really fabulous. It too still need decorating and pictures, but the book is built. All the little pages fan out to hold lots of photos when the book is open.So then I pulled out the DCWV Ghost and Goblins Matstack that I found at JoAnn's the other day. They only had one left! I really wanted two so we drove almost an hour away to another large JoAnn's and they didn't have any other. I've been back to our Jo-Ann's and they are still sold out. Argh... But I started playing with it today. I had so much fun making card kits to send to my aunt and cousin in sunny San Diego, that I decided to do another set using this mat stack because it's so freakin' cute! I only got two sets finished today since I also had to finish all the laundry and make a loaf of zucchini bread too.

Well, that's probably it for this week. I have to take a little trip for work and since I'll only take a carry-on, I can't take my crafty stuff with me (well I'll have a cross stitch project along because it doesn't take much space) and I'll probably be so busy the entire time that I wouldn't have time anyway. Poor hubby has to stay home and take care of the furballs. But if he's good, I'll bring him back some great bread and maybe some chocolate (well, if that makes it through the whole plane ride back...).

Amazing day...

I had been thinking for days about things that absolutely needed to be done today: pick the peas, pick the last of the raspberries, pick the blueberries, pick the zucchini (well, you get the picture). So this morning when I couldn't go back to sleep, I just got up. I went outside and it was glorious. The neighborhood was so still and the morning was cool, but not cold. It was really nice just being out there. It wasn't long before dear hubby came to join me and we made pretty quick work of the picking and a little weeding. Well, two hours worth. But we also watched the furballs having a ball running all over their yard. Smoke and Tigger did a little tree climbing, but we only got pictures of Tigger in the tree (don't worry, they are small trees, no kitty was harmed in the making of this blog post). Eventually they all tired and found their own places to rest for a bit. Chewie picked the top the rail on the deck.Smoke found his favorite hiding, ready to pounce "resting" place in the flowers under the deck:Cha-Ching was in his "no hoomans can get me here" and don't you dare get too close or I'll run resting place. I swear that cat is the most beautiful apple faced seal point but he is the least photogenic cat I've ever seen with Tigger running a close second. Eventually even ADHD kitty, err Tigger, decided it was time to rest too and found a comfy(?) place in the barkdust.While watching the furballs cavort, I finished picking the blueberries and said for about the 100th time that I was going to pull out the one blueberry bush that I don't think has grown an inch in five years and looks half-dead. Of course, I say this every year so I mentioned to dear hubby that I wanted to go get a new bush. He said we'd have to wait until next year when the stores will have them again, but I protested that Al's would have one and since we were planning a drive a little while later over to Silver Creek Falls, why not head that way afterward? He didn't seem to keen on the idea. Maybe it's that I also mentioned wanting to pull out "the beast" in the front yard and the peach tree that didn't have so much as a single peach this year...

Any how... a quick shower later, we piled into the truck and took off to tour the campground at Silver Creek Falls. It seems that we always camp at the same places every year so we've decided to look at some other options. This one is not too far away but is always booked solid. Now I know why. It's a really nice park. There's great walking and hiking trails. Many of the campsites are very private. I love it, oh and the falls are stunning too. Here's the north fall from a viewpoint during our drive: So we were driving on the backroads when I just could not believe my eyes. There were these entire fields of flowers. No, this is not photoshopped, this is an actual picture (well minus the big old sign that says private property and not to stop and no trespassing)... Honestly, I didn't pick a one and I really only stood on the edge of the road to get the picture of these bachelor buttons, African daisies and California poppies. So then we drove through Silverton and hubby pointed out where he went to grade school and floated milk carton boats down a drainage ditch in the summertime. Doesn't that sound like something every grade school boy would do? Now for my favorite part... We stopped to get Oktoberfest sausages. I love Oktoberfest. So sad that I won't get to go this year, but this is the next best thing...Then it was off to Woodburn! I didn't turn him off with all my talk of pulling out trees and vines and such. On the way, we saw another field of flowers. It wasn't quite as stunning as the first, but still quite remarkable. I often forget just how much we grow here in the valley until we go for a drive on the backroads. It really is stunning. So now we are back home and I'm going to try my hand at making a Kusudama flower, well right after I go eat the garlic chicken that hubby was cooking. Here's a shot of it browning in the skillet before he pops it in the oven. Yes, those are whole cloves of garlic and I have the most amazing just baked french bread to spread those on. Yummo!