7.8.09

Happy Summer :)

Things I'm loving right now....

1. The smell of chlorine after the pool. Noah is taking swim lessons right now, learning all of the strokes and is becoming quite a beautiful swimmer. Love seeing him go! Chlorine just smells like summer and fun.

2. Huge assortment of fresh fruit and berries in season. There's nothing better in the morning than a huge handful of fresh blueberries over a bowl of cereal.

3. A relaxed schedule. With Noah out of school right now and me not having a big line up of classes, it's been so nice to actually wonder "what will we do today?"

4. Michael Jackson music. I've always loved it and have lots of it on my Ipod already. ("Remember the Time" played several times at Inspired) :D I think my favorite MJ songs are Human Nature, Black or White, Remember the Time, and You Are Not Alone. But really....I love them all.

5. Bigelow Lemon Cream Body Wash. Goodness, I got this on clearance at Bath and Body Works and it is wonderful. Lemon anything is a favorite of mine - candles, desserts, lotions.


6. Arrested Development, Seasons 1-3. David and I watch several episodes every night and think it's one of the funniest shows ever. We didn't watch it when it was on TV, so it's fun to get to watch as many episodes as we like in a row. Jason Bateman and Will Arnett are hysterical. Highly recommended viewing!

7. Making Memories' new Vintage Findings line. Seriously gorgeous. Can't wait to use some of it! It's available at Michael's.

What are you enjoying lately?

I hope to see some of you Saturday in Waco!

7.6.09

Good morning!

I'm spending part of today printing the instruction sheets for my class on Saturday. So excited! Last thing I need to do is gather supplies for the Art Table I always set up. I'll have big trays of estate sale buttons, a big bowl of German glass glitter, rolls and rolls of seam binding, and other fun things. I'll also be bringing my pink quilted box full of little door prizes as well. I'm hoping to get to town early so I can stop by Bloom and Bee Swanky and do a little shopping. Eek, I looooove that store!

Just put a few chocolate chip cookies in the oven to bake. Two weeks ago I made a big batch of dough, used a big cookie scoop and made dough balls, flash froze them on a cookie sheet, then put them all in a big freezer bag. So nice to have warm cookies anytime we want them! Here's my favorite recipe to use: Ghirardelli Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

In case you missed these back in February, I scanned in a few vintage things for you to print and use for your own personal projects. Just a little "thank you" from me to you for reading my blog. Here are the links -

Vintage Postcard (front and back)

Old Score Sheet

Vintage Black/White Bingo Card

I hope you all have a blessed week!

"Being considerate of others will take your children further in life than any college degree." ~Marian Wright Edelman

7.4.09

Good morning and Happy Independence Day! :) I'm busy in the kitchen getting things ready to take over for our 4th of July gathering. We always go to my sister's in-laws' home because they have a pool and live in an area where we can have fireworks. Lots of fun, especially for all of the kids. I'm hoping to take lots of good photos this year. I love outdoor photos, especially since you don't have to mess with the lighting!

While I was cooking this morning, I took some photos of our breakfast room hutch. This table/hutch was an oak color and I painted it black. It holds some Homer Laughlin china that my mom gave to me along with some other miscellaneous pieces. Also have some other antique-white pieces, an old scale, and a cake pedestal with little salt/pepper shakers and a toothpick holder. At Christmas I take all of this down and fill it with vintage Christmas things. I love being able to have things in one place like this. When you decorate, you are *supposed* to place items in gatherings rather than scattered all over the house. Just gives your eyes a place to rest. So having this hutch is nice. (it came with the house when we bought it)

For our 4th party, I'm making Corn Pudding (recipe below), Banana Split Brownie Pizza, and rice krispie treats. Also taking a big cooler of beer, Dr. Pepper, and Orange Crush. The boys will go buy fireworks later from the little stand. :)

Have a blessed 4th!

**Only one more week until my class in Waco. If you'd like to attend, please call the store to sign up!**


Jennifer's Corn Pudding

1/2 c. onion, chopped (I like sweet yellow ones for this)
2 cans whole kernel corn, drained (or frozen, or better yet...fresh, scraped off the cob!)
3 cans creamed corn
3 Tbsp. butter or margarine
1 small can chopped green chiles (optional, but good!)
2 pkgs. cornbread mix (I like the Martha White yellow cornbread mix)
4 large eggs
1 c. oil
1/2 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
salt and pepper

Heat a large skillet to medium heat and melt butter. Add onion and cook until onion is very soft. Add (drained) kernel corn and cook over med/hi heat until corn and onion start to brown a little. Add green chiles and continue to cook. Salt and pepper to taste. The higher the heat you can do here, the better, because the "char" on the corn, onions, and chiles will give the pudding wonderful flavor. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk eggs. Add cornbread mix, oil, creamed corn, and mix well with a whisk, making sure to get all of the lumps out of the cornbread mix. Add corn/onion/chiles mixture and mix well. Mix in 1/2 of the cheddar cheese. Pour mixture into a greased 13x9x2 pan, sprinkle remaining cheese on top, and bake at 375 for 45 minutes or until top is well-browned and knife inserted in the center comes out clean.


"My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy!" ~Thomas Jefferson

6.28.09

Happy Sunday, everyone :)

Just thought I'd pop in and share some of the pretty things I got yesterday. I went to New Braunfels with my friend Jana and we hit a few of the antique stores in old downtown. One of my favorite things in the WORLD to do. Sigh.

I got a red divided Pyrex ovenware bowl. If I could, I'd love to bake and serve everything in these bowls. I love how sturdy they are and how they feel so old-fashioned. Brings back a lot of memories. Also found two pairs of cute little salt/pepper shakers and a French lace doily. The button card was a steal at $1.00 for genuine pearl buttons on a decorative card that is in great shape. Love finding those! The floral painting is round and in a wonderful aging black frame. Can't wait to hang that up somewhere! And the silver spoon will be used in my upcoming class for spooning German glass glitter onto our project pieces. Gotta have it pretty, right?

Still so hot here. Everyone is excited that it's only going to be 98 on Wednesday. That's sad! I'm going to bake some cookies but am waiting until the sun starts going down. Here's the recipe I'll be using later - Award-Winning Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Don't forget I'm teaching a lovely class on Saturday, July 11th in Waco at Crop, Paper, Scissors! Call the store to sign up. I'm going to have a fun table set up with all kinds of vintage goodies to use. :) AUSTIN, ROUND ROCK, GEORGETOWN, TEMPLE gals: If any of you signed up for my class and would like to ride to Waco with me, I've got a Honda mini van with 5 extra seats. Would love to have you come along! :)



"Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there someday." ~A.A. Milne

6.24.09

Sorry it's so late! The evening got away from me while I got Noah to bed and did other things. :)

Thanks so much for all of the sweet comments on my classes. I really hope a lot of you are able to come to Waco to take the class on July 11th. It's going to be fun!

Alrighty....Noah chose the random number for the winner. He chose comment #16.

That belongs to....

I wish I lived closer to Texas so I could take the class. Any chance you are coming back to Massachusetts?! Would love to win the frame kit. Have a great day!

Dianne P.

Dianne, congratulations! Please email me your address so I can get your frame kit to you.
Thanks again, everyone!

Watch in the next couple of days for a sneak peek of the layouts and projects I did for The Girl's Loft. So fun working with green and pink. :)

New Class and a Giveaway!

Hi, everyone :)

I'll be teaching a brand new class in Waco, TX at Crop, Paper, Scissors on Saturday, July 11th from 1-4 p.m. The class is pictured to the left and is called "Ah, Sweet Summer!" The cost is $30 and space is limited. I would love to see some of you there! If you click on Classes on the store link above, you can get the class description and student supply list of things to bring. Very fun project with lots of vintage touches and products like Distress Stickles, Tim Holtz hinge clips, German glass glitter, October Afternoon paper and embellishments. (Click on the photo to see a much larger view)

I'd also like to give away one of my Vintage Tree and Verse Frame kits. (pictured below) Just leave a comment here and I'll choose a winner on Wednesday afternoon. And don't worry...if you've already purchased one of these kits from my Etsy shop and you win the drawing, then I'll just refund your money. Thanks for stopping by my blog. :)

6.20.09

Hi, everyone!

Ugh, when is fall? I am not a summer/hot weather person except that is when we have a more relaxed schedule. So, I guess as long as we have some a/c and a pool to swim in, then I'll survive. :D Summer DOES mean that fall and football season are right around the corner, right? So that's a good thing.

I just spent the morning updating my Etsy shop with two project kits and relisting some pendants and this handmade canvas. Link to the shop is over on the right. ~~>

What do you have planned for Father's Day? My husband and I both lost our dads in the past several years, so Father's Day is all about David for us. This morning I cooked a yummy breakfast of breakfast tacos and David roasted fresh coffee beans for the BEST coffee. So good! For the tacos, I had picked up some homemade corn tortillas, our new favorite, locally made. I scrambled some eggs and then made little potato pancakes from leftover mashed potatoes last night and lightly griddled those. We put them on the tacos and wow, they were good. Great way to use the leftovers, too. The boys are off doing a scout service project right now and I'm going to clean 6 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts I got on sale and freeze those individually. Glamorous!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend. :)

My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, "You're tearing up the grass." "We're not raising grass," Dad would reply. "We're raising boys." ~Harmon Killebrew

6.16.09

Good afternoon :)

I had a really wonderful time teaching in Houston this weekend. Met some great ladies with lots of talent! I also got to meet Beth from Scrapbook Junkie as they were the vendors for the event. Loved her! She invited me to teach at her store in the fall, so I look forward to planning that. (Will most likely be a vintage Thanksgiving or Christmas class.)

Today is the big unveiling of THE GIRL'S LOFT kit club website! It is the baby of Margie Romney-Aslett and her two daughters. So excited for them! I got to hang out with Margie at Inspired in May and I haven't laughed that much in a long time. I miss her! They are taking names now for the debut kit. Get on the waiting list and you've got yourself a kit for July. I am so honored to be their very first Guest Designer. :) This kit is absolutely gorgeous. Lots of pink and vintage...two things I love!

I'm putting the finishing touches on my class for July at Crop, Paper, Scissors in Waco.
Here's a peek.

Summer decor with October Afternoon Cherry Hill line, German glass glitter, buttons, vintage papers....it's gonna be fun!

I'll have the leftover kits from my Houston classes up on Etsy this week. Trying to play catch up since getting home on Sunday evening. :)

Here's a recipe I've been wanting to share that I made last week. Really yummy!
Tyler Florence's Ultimate Fish Tacos. We used corn tortillas instead of flour and topped with salsa and avocado along with the cabbage and diced tomatoes.

Have a good Tuesday. :)

5.29.09

Good morning!

I'm sitting over here at my sister's house, watching her little ones while she has a kid-free grocery shopping experience. Makes it so much easier. I was telling David that the other day I had Noah with me in the store and since he's 9, and impatient, and can read everything of course, he kept looking at the list going "we JUST walked by this! we already have this at home. Why do we need this? I'm not eating that. How many more things are you really going to get from this list? How much longer will this take?" ARGH! It's either they cry to get out of the basket, or they groan and grump as they walk alongside you, right? :)

Reading thru my favorite blogs this morning, I saw this little quiz on Rebecca's blog. Since I'm having a little down time, I thought I'd do it for myself. Here goes...

What is your current obsession?
Searching for new summer recipes to try, picking up clutter, Etsy, and glass glitter.

What is your weirdest obsession?
Hmm.... probably making lists and having to have hard copies of things. I was trying to do something last night only using the computer and was about to scream, wanting a pen and paper in my hand. Oh...and I can't go to bed with the kitchen dirty. And I can't get into the bed unless it's made up first.

What are you wearing today?
Ha....Old Navy dark wash jeans, Bjorn sandals, and my Office t-shirt - "Michael Scott's Dunder Mifflin Scranton Meredith Palmer Memorial Celebrity Rabies Awareness Pro-Am Fun Run Race For the Cure."

What’s for dinner?
Thinking of making a vegetarian lasagna with fresh spinach and mushrooms.

What would you eat for your last meal?
Probably just have chocolate desserts.

What's the last thing you bought?
A bunch of pearlized berry stems from Hobby Lobby for an upcoming class. And I got them in the CHRISTMAS section. Yes, HL had one aisle of Christmas stuff up. (ribbon and stems)

What are you listening to now?
My nephew is watching Noggin, so it's Ni Hao Kai Lan.

What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
Anything homemade or chocolate.

If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?
I love Austin, so here. But I would also love to have a summer home in New England, maybe New Hampshire or Vermont. Maybe next door to the bed and breakfast we stayed in during our honeymoon. Sugar Hill, New Hampshire. Sigh.

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
Italy or France

Which language would you want to learn?
French

What's your favorite quote (for now)?
Lately I've loved silly quotes by Jack Handey. :) But for something more meaningful, I love this one - "Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier." ~Mother Teresa
­
What is your favorite color?
I especially love red, antique white, yellow, orange, robin's egg blue, and brown

What is your favorite time of day?
I love early mornings when it's quiet and peaceful and the coffee has just brewed.

What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?
Jeans, pajama pants, summery cotton shirts

What is your dream job?
Exactly what I'm doing. Mom at home, taking care of my family, and creating on the side.

What's your favorite magazine?
Country Living, Somerset Studio, Victoria, and Scrapbooks, Etc.

If you had $100 now, what would you spend it on?
Fresh produce at the Farmer's Market.

Do you admire anyone's style?
I love anyone who can pull off a comfortable, classic, vintage, feminine style. :)

Describe your personal style?
Striving for the above style....not there yet.

What are you going to do after this?
Going on the hunt for 75 photo frames for an upcoming class. Also taking Noah to TaeKwonDo this afternoon.

What are your favourite movies?
Moonstruck, That Thing You Do, Chocolat, and anything and everything with Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, and/or Grace Kelly

What's your favourite fruit?
Peaches, blueberries, oranges. Heck, I love ALL fruits except coconut.

This is the best time of year for fresh fruit!

What inspires you?
"Old stuff" stores, fabrics, my favorite bloggers

Do you collect something?
Silver taper candlestick holders, and small vintage items to use on projects. (teacups, postcards, button cards, broken jewelry)

If you decide to do this quiz, please let me know. Would love to read your answers.

Have a beautiful weekend!

5.22.09

Happy Friday!

Today was our official first day of summer vacation. Noah and I went out for sandwiches then went swimming. I love this time of year except for the intense heat. (which is why we'll be swimming mostly in the mornings) What are you doing this long holiday weekend?

I browsed Flickr this afternoon and found some photos I love. Just a random mix, none taken by me...just admired. :)

I think I'll try to make some Strawberry Soda Ice Cream before Monday. So good.
Have a wonderful weekend!

Photo Credits:
1. Spring Road (Phillipsburg Church Road), 2. 259/365 - Latte Love, 3. hankies on the laundry line, 4. Tarnished Silver Spoons, 5. Sushi!, 6. Cool Manni, 7. happy cakes, 8. Freshly Picked, 9. HU030977

5.18.09

Hi!

ETA: Debi/Mima....I don't have your email address, so if you'll use the link on the right to email me, I can email you back. Thanks! :)

I know most people won't agree, but I love Mondays. They feel like a clean slate....fresh start.....so much time ahead of me. Today began Noah's last week of 3rd grade as well. I'm happy that we'll have no routine for a while, but also a little sad that he's finishing 3rd grade. Sigh. It goes by so quickly.

Aren't these measuring spoons cute? They are very heavy pewter. I got them for my best friend for her birthday. I like little, unique gifts like this.

I've had several people email me, asking about purchasing a class kit from my Inspired Artist Workshop class. Well, guess what? They are now available for purchase on Donna's shop website. When they are gone...they are gone!

I'm very honored to be involved in a charity auction for Breast Cancer Awareness, led by Stephanie Ackerman. I met her at Inspired and she is the sweetest person ever. I wish I had more time to spend with her! She is going to have several different people create covers for fabric albums and will auction those off, donating the money for her 3-day Avon Walk. So proud to be creating in the same group with Teresa Collins, Tim Holtz, Janna Wilson, Suzy Plantamura, Ali Edwards, Melody Ross, Celine Navarro, Jenni Bowlin, Margie Romney-Aslett, Tia Bennett, Melissa Phillips, CD Muckosky, The crew at Pink Paislee, Teresa McFayden, Donna Downey, and Candice Carpenter. Wow! I'll post more info on the album auction as it progresses.

Tonight for dinner I'm doing a pasta dish. I love to do these mish-mash pasta one-bowl dinners, especially on busy days. I don't use a recipe, but I'll do my best to post it :) (Hope this makes sense!)

Chicken and Veggie Penne Pasta
1 lb. chicken breast meat, cut into small pieces
1 small yellow onion
1-2 cloves chopped garlic
olive oil
8 oz. sliced mushrooms
2 lg. handfuls fresh spinach leaves
1/2 cup pine nuts
2 Tbsp. butter or margarine
3 slices bacon (optional)
grated parmesan cheese
1/4 c. half and half or whole milk
8-12 oz. penne pasta, cooked and drained

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and set aside. In a very large skillet, heat a little olive oil. Add chopped onion and bacon, cooking until onion is soft and bacon is crispy. Add garlic to pan when onion/bacon are almost done. Remove bacon and some of the onion/garlic and set aside. Add sliced chicken to pan and cook on both sides until browned; remove from pan and set aside. Add 1/2 Tbsp. butter or margarine to pan, add pine nuts to pan and stir until lightly toasted. Remove pine nuts from pan and set aside. Add 1/2 Tbsp. butter/margarine to pan, add mushrooms and spinach to pan, cooking until spinach is wilted and mushrooms are browned. (can wait to add spinach until mushrooms are almost done) Add pasta, chicken, onion/garlic, and pine nuts back into the skillet, stirring all together. (can add last 1 Tbsp. butter/margarine, too) Add cream/milk to the pan and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese. Stir all together until all heated. (it's really good when the pasta starts to brown a little from the pan) Sprinkle a few bacon pieces on top, if desired, along with more parmesan cheese.

Thanks for reading....have a wonderful evening!

Consider the postage stamp: its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there. ~Josh Billings

5.15.09

Inspired Memories.
(photo by Paolo Liloc)

It would be very difficult for me to sum up the Inspired weekend in just a few words or even a short paragraph. It is so much more than just an art retreat or a girls' weekend away. Most days at home my mind is full of little ideas - things I'd like to make, classes I'd like to teach, or just thoughts I want to jot down, hoping to turn into something creative later. Inspired is full of women who get this. Women who don't think it's weird that I'd rather make something than sleep. Women who understand the thrill of paint on your hands and glitter on your apron. Women who are there to encourage one another and who don't look twice if you don't follow directions. I always come home both exhilarated and exhausted. But I wouldn't change it for anything! Here are just some of my favorite memories from Inspired this year:

* Thursday night's dinner. The core workshop teachers ate dinner with Donna and Bill and it was so nice to have time to chat and get to know one another for a couple of hours. Paulette, Cheryl, Carol, Tejae, and Susan were all so nice. We are all separated most of the weekend, so it was good to spend time together.

* Heather Bailey. She is one of those people you just want to be around. I met her last year and was thrilled that she was going to be there again this year. She is beautiful, gracious, and good grief...so, so talented. She joined us for the Thursday dinner and I got to sit next to her and look thru her sketch book where she develops her ideas and stories for her new fabric and paper lines. Amazing. And she emailed me earlier this week just to see how my class went, since I used her fabric lines on my project. Love her. :)

* Charm Swappers. Inspired has a Yahoo group, where all of the women attending can chat and email each other all year, getting to know one another. 50+ of the women participated in a charm swap and made each of the teachers a charm necklace as well. Wow - the time and talent that went into these charms is so evident. THANK YOU to each of you for including the teachers in this gift. Carol has a photo of our necklaces here. I love mine and have it displayed in my crafting room over a jar of vintage lace.

* Donna and Bill. I'll never forget receiving that first email back in May 2007 asking me if I'd be interested in teaching if she put together an art event. :) She had a vision and has carried it thru for two years running now. She and Bill are a perfect team! Every time I'd walk by I'd hear her say, "you ok? You need anything? All good?" :)

* Heather. For years I've corresponded back and forth with Heather, yet we'd never met in person. (Living across the country from each other makes that difficult.) So knowing that I'd be in her neck of the woods for the weekend, Heather drove two hours each way to meet me for dinner and hang out at the hotel. What a precious friend she is. Heather, eating at Five Guys (yum!) and sitting and laughing with you was just wonderful. Thank you for coming to see me!

* My Classes and students. I had sooooo much fun during my classes each day. The core workshop teachers each did six 3-hour classes (18 hours) and the students were all SUCH troopers. I know that must be a lot to take in in two days! My favorite part was walking around and seeing how people were changing up the project. Love to see the creativity! Beautiful women who taught me way more than I taught them. And everyone seemed to enjoy the set up I had created. I had three tables at the front of the room covered in Heather Bailey fabrics. On the tables I had vintage wire baskets of old lace, seam binding, hymnals and books, a tray of old buttons, 5 silver trays of Martha glitter, and a table for beeswaxing with a melting pot. (messy but fun!)

* C.D. C.D. attended Inspired last year and I was so happy to see her come around the corner into my classroom as I was setting up on Thursday morning. She is precious....loves her children (and made things for them while there), is always smiling, and is just CUTE! And did you hear? She's going to be a teacher at Inspired 2010!

* Marketplace. What a feast for the eyes! An entire huge room full of shopping, browsing, and artistic eye candy. It was in here that I was able to meet Jenni Bowlin. Seriously, had to catch my breath at her booth set up. Vintage heaven! One of the supplies for my class project was a piece of vintage jewelry. Had to laugh when she said, "I was wondering why everyone was buying all of my brooches!" ha :) Way to go, girls!

* Margie, Melody, and Christy. These three made me laugh a LOT. I had never met any of them, but spent as much time as I could with them. Margie made me laugh so hard I cried a few times. My friend Teresa had told me I'd love her and she was right. She's hilarious and sarcastic and so creative. And I love that she Twitters and Facebooks everything, ha. Love you, Margie! Melody and Christy are kind, generous, and both beautiful. Two peas in a pod!

* Kelly Rae Roberts. Inspiring, funny, so darn cute. Loved sitting on the floor the last night with her, Donna, and other girls and laughing until 1:30 a.m. Her keynote speech on Saturday night was so very motivating for me.

* The Beach Scrapbooks Girls. Oh my.....what a hilarious bunch of women! Lucky me, two of them were my T.A.s most of the weekend and we had to best time. (love you Melissa and Courtney!) The group worked the registration desk with Kandi, Zanne and Rebecca and were hilarious. They have some great photos of the event on their site. (Melissa, love the waxing!)

* Paolo. Last but certainly not least....this guy is a joy to be around. I wanted to follow him around as he took photos (as our official photographer) because he has the best perspective on what to photograph. Not many guys would put up with 250 women for 4 days, but he did and captured the event in a beautiful way. He also had this brilliant idea to set up a "photo booth" in the hallway next to registration. He had props, a backdrop, and all day you could just walk up and take your own photos. HILARIOUS...and you'll see some of those photos below. :)

And finally......Paolo's Inspired Artist Workshop Slideshow!
(if it's slow to load, just pause it while it loads....then start it up; or just download it to your computer)

5.13.09

Good morning!! :D

Yes, I'm still here...thank you for the emails! I got home on Sunday morning from Inspired and was completely drained for a couple of days. Had an AMAZING time with so many creative, wonderful women. I didn't even take my camera because Paolo was there as our official photographer (love him!) and is selling CDs of the event photos, so as soon as he posts his slideshow, then I'll link it here.

I'll have a better Inspired post either Thursday or Friday. Think I'll do it as a bullet "favorites" list from the weekend. :) Still catching up on things around here!

Stay tuned!

4.24.09

Good morning, friends!

I'm so sorry it's been so long since I've blogged. With all that has been going on, I just haven't had the desire, you know? Things are better and I thank you so much for your prayers. My sister and her kids are hanging in there.

I've been busy getting ready for Inspired! I can't believe in two weeks I'll be teaching my first class of the day. It seems like it takes forever for the event to get here, then when it gets close I feel like I still have so much to do! :) The last three ribbons arrived via UPS yesterday...yay! So this weekend I'll be sitting and cutting ribbon, bagging 300 kits with their final items, and hopefully shipping everything to Donna on Monday or Tuesday! It's always such a relief to get those boxes out of here and know they are on their way to NC. I'm almost finished with my door sign/canvas as well. Last year I made a bunch of door prizes to give out in my classes. I just don't know if I'll have time this year. :( That makes me sad but I know everyone will understand if I don't get them done.

The photo above is of one of the projects I'll be teaching at Scrapadoodle in June. I hope you can come join me for this fun weekend retreat!

On Sunday my baby boy turns 9 years old. I can't believe it! Tonight he is having 5 boys over for a Super Mario Bros. themed sleepover. Pizza and ice cream cake, popcorn and m&m's for late night snacks, and lots of video games, light saber fights, and body sound jokes. I plan on taking lots of photos and video. :)

Thank you for reading my blog. I'm glad you are still here!

4.13.09

Hi, friends and family...
On Friday morning my sister Kendra, her husband Greg, and their two kids Jane and Drew were all at home together. Greg wasn't feeling well, went into the bathroom, collapsed and died from a massive heart attack. He was only 39 years old. It has been devastating for Kendra as she makes decisions, has to make things as normal as possible for the kids, and goes on without her husband. Our family and friends are surrounding them with love and prayers as we ask the Lord for guidance and strength.

Many of our friends and close family read my blog so I'll share this here. Kendra has set up an account just for the children to help with their expenses as she prepares to become the sole provider for them. In lieu of flowers, she is asking for support for Jane and Drew. Thank you so much for all of the phone calls, emails, prayers, and words of encouragement for them. It's going to be a long road, but God is faithful. Tell those around you that you love them. Kendra and her children had their lives changed in one single minute....you just never know when your last day is here.

Jane and Drew Sterling fund


(if the link doesn't work, you can send to kendrasterlinghr@yahoo.com, the address for the fund)