April Photo Challenge - Evening

Well, it's Friday. We've made it to Friday! Woohoo!!!!

It's been a busy, busy week (as usual). You'd think that retirement would mean I wouldn't be so rushed. On the other hand my sister, Billie, has a theory about space which is also applicable to money and time. She says you should never wear elastic-waist pants because your body will expand to fill the space. And whenever someone gets a raise in salary, their spending usually expands to consume the addition. I think the same thing has happened to my time. My projects have expanded to fill the space I had. Having said that, I'm excited because I have some new miniature designs for my shop. I'll wait and show them next week.

Because NOW it's time to think about the word of the day ... EVENING.

That word brings several thoughts to my mind. Since DH and I no longer do the opera or symphony at night (Sunday afternoons are so perfect for us), our evenings are ..... aaaahhhhhh ... relaxing.

And Friday evening is especially welcome because it brings the weekend. Whether the weekend will be packed with construction projects, running errands or just kicking back in our PJ's, weekends are the reward for making it through the week. And we get to spend the time together, which is our very favorite thing to do.

Evenings in my little corner of the country start with a glorious, technicolor sunset.

Since we're foodies, our Friday-evening-celebrate-the-end-of-the-week is always special. This evening we'll dine on cheese, bread, fruit and wine. 

Jason Waskey painting

Recently we discovered a cheese called Cambazola, which has become a favorite. It's a mix of buttery, creamy brie and sharp gorgonzola. I can't imagine who thought of this combination, but it's wonderful! Aforementioned sister, Billie, introduced us to Humboldt Fog, which has a similar mix of creamy and sharp. The third cheese tonight will be a soft cheese studded with walnuts. We'll have crusty french bread and wine. I'll add a small dish of currant jelly to the tray tonight so we can experiment with creamy, sharp and sweet combinations. Yum!

And if it's cool tonight, we'll have a fire and kick back in our silk jammies.

Cheese and wine and jammies, oh my! Hope your Friday evening is as lovely as mine is gonna be.

April Photo Challenge - Texas Spring

Usually spring comes real early in Texas, but this year it feels like winter hasn't completely let go yet (currently 42 degrees, feels like 37 ... by Saturday, the high will be 77). That's Texas, pleasant one day and colder than a well digger's backside the next!

Most Texans agree that spring has arrived when the bluebonnets bloom. However, since I don't have bluebonnets yet, I'll share a couple of pictures from TexNan/SumpnSassy's back yard. The hill country is alive with bluebonnets, but it will take a few more weeks before they bloom here in North Texas.

Love me some bluebonnets!

But early spring in my little corner, is when I get the lawn tractor out and am surrounded by the smell of freshly mown grass. Spring is when Little Princess Good Girl starts shedding all over the house. And spring is when my Seven Sisters roses bloom.

I love the Seven Sisters because they are so very tenacious. No matter how hot and dry the summer, no matter how many grasshoppers chew on her leaves, my Seven Sisters thrive. They don't just survive, they THRIVE.

Hmmm. Is that what they mean by bloom where you're planted?

April Photo Challenge - In My Car

First, an update on Mod Podged fabric projects from yesterday.

The cosmetic bag. I lined it in pale green cotton and used a pink zipper. Cheeful!

The iphone cover. This was easier than I thought. I used a piece of wax paper and a sharpie to make the pattern. I'm really pleased with the result.

Last for today is the "wastebasket" closed & opened. It has the kind of closure you squeeze on either side and it snaps back into place. Easy-peasy. 

Don't you just hate all that flotsam & jetsam that winds up in the bottom of your purse? I'm really hoping this will help me keep a clean purse. Great idea, huh? Keep a little wastebasket in your purse. HA!

And now on to the April Photo Challenge.

I love my car. Let me say it again. I L-O-V-E my wonderful lime green VW!

When I drive it I feel like I'm in a giant bubble of happiness. And it has seat heaters ... although the winters in Texas are short, I am ever so thankful for a warm butt. Love it.

One of the many, many things I love about my car is the vase on the dashboard with yellow gerber daisies. I used PhotoShop on this photo, but I like the stylized daisies.

 Doesn't this view make you happy? Yeah, baby. That's what I'm talking about!

The joke is on me!

Apologia - April 1st flew right by without me noticing! I had resolved to do a photo each day ... and I missed the first day! I was so busy yesterday (cleaning, errands, yada yada) that I completely missed the DATE!

Soooo, today will be a two-fer.

FUN - What do I do for fun? I CRAFT, I READ and I WATCH TV to relax.

CRAFT - My latest project is Mod Podged fabric. It started months ago when I decided to brighten up my checkbook. I used a fabric that looks good all on it's own, but I glued it with Mod Podge to the existing checkbook cover, added several layers of Mod Podge to the fabric and the colors positively POPPED. And it makes it water proof-ish and dirt proof-ish!

Fabric before Mod Podge:

Glammed-up checkbook (sorry about the shine ... can't help it if I'm so bright! HA!):

I'm currently working on (1) replacing my in-the-purse cosmetic bag with the same Mod Podged fabric (I'm Mod Podging before I sew it together), (2) as an accent on my iphone cover, and (3) I'm creating an in-the-purse "wastebasket" bag for gum wrappers etc. to keep my purse neater. And next I'll (4) add a sunglasses case to my list-o-things-to-do. When I'm finished with these projects (and have a perfectly coordinated purse interior), I'll show the results here. Maybe tomorrow? Maybe Thursday? Got stuff to do today and I have to wait for the Mod Podge to dry before I continue.

READ - On my iPod I've just started listening to WWW:Wake by Robert J. Sawyer ... very intriguing story line. This is great for traveling to and from town or while washing dishes or whatever. I listen to the book, the time flies by and the tasks get done. It's like ... magic!

On my kindle I'm reading Against the Wind ... a light romance novel by Kat Martin that I checked out of the local online library.

When I get to the sexy parts of any story I sort of flip, flip, flip till I'm past it. Let me just step on my soapbox and say this right here about current "literature" (not saying this about Kat specifically, just the genre in general ... genre in general ... say that three times!). I like good plots, sassy, funny characters and clever dialog, but I could do without the leaning toward soft porn. As Amelia Peabody used to say when she came to a love scene "et cetera, et cetera, et cetera."   See - no need to go into details. 'Nuff said.

WATCH TV - lately I've been going through the Agatha Christie's Poirot series via Amazon Prime instant video. It intrigues my "little grey cells" while I'm doing hand work ... like hemming DH's new dress pants or gathering teensy lace for teensy pillows.

Sometimes at night DH and I watch Blue Murder. Here's what I love about Amazon Prime instant video ... NO commercials! And I'm really enjoying quick "free" access to British mysteries.

Now on to today's topic ... JUMP.

The first thing that came to my mind when I thought about the word jump is my cat, Holly aka Little Princess Good Girl. We keep a wooden bowl of mixed nuts (in the shell) in the den. Then if we want a snack, we crack a few ... it slows down consumption to have to crack them before you eat them.

Holly loves walnuts. No, she doesn't eat them, she plays with them. She uses her little kitty paw to grab one from the bowl and then she starts wrestling with it, holding it between her paws and JUMPING around the den. It's so funny to see. And when she whacks it around on the floor, it rolls, but not the way a ball does. I think that makes it more interesting for her. As a result, we find walnuts hidden all over the house. HA!

I don't have a picture of Holly jumping, but here's a picture of her in all her tortoiseshell calico loveliness, resting in the cat nest I made for her recently from an old wool sweater.

I'll start thinking NOW about tomorrow's theme - IN MY CAR. Perhaps I should clean my car before I show it, huh?

April Challenge

I ran across an "April Photo Challenge" at The Idea Room and thought I would modify that idea. Rather than participating in the group challenge, I'll challenge myself to take a photo a day and share it here on my blog using her photo suggestions as the starting point for my own photo quest.

My only concern about maintaining the stream of photos and related thoughts is that SISTER'S WEEKEND (woohoo, cheers, anticipation and shouting!!!!) occurs during the middle of the month and that will require a major interruption filled with margaritas and lots of laughter. Look out Galveston, the GIRLS are on their way! Anyhow, I'll try real hard to keep the pictures coming. This will be the most ya'll have heard from me in .... well, ever!

What have I been working on since I wrote last? Where have I been? Well, I've been sick, sick, sick since about mid-January and just started feeling better a few days ago after my recent doctor's visit. (BLAH, BLAH, BLAH.)

Nevertheless, being the truly twisted person I am, I've still been busy working on tons of projects. We have a wedding coming in late September (in Albany, NY) and the bride has asked me to make a fascinator for her to wear to the rehearsal. She wants one like this:

I have all the materials except the feathers, but I'm sort of circling around this project, trying to get it firmly deconstructed and reconstructed in my mind, so nothing to show you yet on this pending project.

I've been making some shabby, cottage chic pillows for my shop, which is a departure from the machine embroidered pillows I normally carry. Sounds easier than it is. The tiny ruffles are a pain in the patoot! And I had to fake the fabric covered buttons. On the other hand, pretty much everything in the mini world is "faked". HA!

I recovered a mini chair with a print on top and some teensy chenille on the seat. Actually the chenille is cut from an old dishtowel that I hand-colored, but I think it looks pretty realistic.

I've been working on designs for mini birdhouses,  wastebaskets, and gerber daisies. I'm liking this particular birdhouse with the handwritten letter and roses. I think it's lovely.

I made a headboard from multiple pieces of cardboard (including a couple of granola bar boxes) last week, I'm still working on the rest of the bed. I made some more wastebaskets in different designs and I've tried a few shabby chic bushel baskets. Still working on finessing these items. BTW - TexNan ... the waxed paper transfer idea worked great, as you can see. Thanks for the tip. It's another great tool in my toolbox.

These things are definitely not ready to go into the shop, but I think I'm moving in the right direction. More experimenting to come.

Speaking of experimenting, this is a design I set aside because I couldn't figure out the perfect way to create the lid for the enamel breadbox, but I think I'm onto a new technique which will help me with this one. I really love this breadbox design -- I've seen it in so many British films -- but my lid doesn't fit perfectly. I was stumped, so I set it aside temporarily, but I think I'll pick it up again ... in my spare time!?! HA!

  Most of my mini projects were perfect when I was sick because they could be worked on when I wanted to be busy and put away when I needed to rest. Now I'm feeling so much better, it's like WonderWoman has taken residence inside my body and I'm rarin' to go. WOOHOO!

We'll see how long that lasts, huh?

Christmas Candy

When we were kids, we hung our stockings on Christmas Eve and waited ... oh, so impatiently ... for Santa to fill them overnight.  Truly, totally just like the Christmas Story movie.

What wonder when we woke up early ... very early ... on Christmas morning. We would hurry in to check the treasures left for us. Oh, the candies in bright colors and interesting shapes. Christmas candy!

And fruit! Oranges and apples would bulge out here and there. And nuts filling out the extra spaces.

Candy and fruit and nuts, OH, MY!

These days, when I fill the stockings of our adult children (we still do that at our house), they're more likely to get Ghirardelli chocolates, nail polish, leopard patterned tissues, hand cream, tiny flashlights and other small goodies that I can fit into the stockings.

No nuts. No hard candy in pretty colors and interesting shapes. No apples or oranges.

So this year, to share that memory with the kids and start a new/old tradition, we had nuts and fruit ... and Ghirardelli chocolates ... and leopard patterned tissues. I like to think its a blend of old and new.

Maybe next year we can include some ribbon candy. Just for old times sake.

Gotta love Christmas candy.

DIY Shoe Freshener

I've been making "boot stuffers" for years for the many, many, many boots of my boot-collecting husband. Essentially, they're a denim tube filled with cedar shavings (hamster cage stuff). They're pretty basic in spite of the embroidery or painted enhancements I've used at one time or another. But DH loves them and they keep his boots erect which saves wear and tear on the leather. And, they keep them dry and fresh. Win, win, win.

I had the (ahem) BRILLIANT idea of making something similar for myself to keep my sneakers, etc dry and fresh. And, of course, at this time of year, that translates into gifts for the girls in our family. If I want it, they probably do, too.

So I thought about it ... a LOT. Should I make them footshaped with embroidered "painted" toenails or tube shaped? ... should I make them of denim or of something more feminine? So many options!

And here's a pretty example with a tutorial here. Nice. Feminine. Easy-peasy simple.

But DH made the suggestion of using socks. Okay. Socks are a really good idea. On the other hand, I was worried about cedar thingies trying to poke through the knit of the socks. Sooooo .... I made a muslin tube, filled it with cedar shavings, sewed it closed and put it inside the sock. I tied a ribbon around the top of the sock and I think these will make nice stocking stuffers ... ha ha. Pardon the pun.

I chose the Hello Kitty socks for my girls (see the unstuffed plain yellow socks next to the new and improved Shoe Freshener Kitty pink and green socks).

I'm liking it.

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