So Excited!!!

The Grand Reopening at The Art Studio is happening any minute!  To tide you over until I can post more details, please stop by the The Art Studio blog and take a peek of Halloween inspiration. I have some vintagey Halloween cards posted and quick basic directions on how to make them.  I hope you will stop by and say hello!  As a little teaser, I am sharing some pics of the wee little mini books I make.  More details later so stay tuned!!!

Christmas in October :) and More!

Hello everybody!  I hope you are enjoying a beautiful fall weekend.  It was lovely here in lower Michigan, the fall colors are really peaking right now.  We celebrated Cara's birthday with a family dinner, and since she is such a Christmas fan, I decided to make her some snowman cupcakes, and wrapped her present in a Christmas style box.  Here are a few photos from our dinner tonight, focusing on the snowmen cupcakes and the cutie grandkiddies of course.

First, a photo of Cara and her snowman cupcakes (doesn't Hollyn look enthralled with the cupcakes?  he he).  Of course Jay's hair is poofing like crazy.  I wonder if he will ever decide to cut it, oh my   ~ 

Cooper gets right to work on his cupcake ~

 Kaya has to check out all sides of the cupcakes while she nibbles away ~ 

Hollyn is definitely enjoying her cupcake!

A close up shot of one of the snowmen cupcakes (thank you Cara!) ~

I have been working on gifts, as I mentioned before.  I have lots of little zippered bags done or almost done. Here is one of the fun little snowmen zippered bags, using some fabric I have been hoarding for years because it is one of my favs.  I promised to start making things out of favorite fabrics instead of just saving them forever.  I am happy to say, I didn't even wince when I cut up part of my stash for this project!  This is a Deb Strain by Moda fabric from the It's Snowing line, doncha love it???  ~

I also made Holly a trick or treat bag.  I made one for Cooper and Kaya several years ago, so it was definitely time to make one for sweet Hollyn too.  I used some more fabric from my stash, a fun Halloween print, and some of my beloved Bali or Batik fabric.  I have to say I did wince a weeeeee little bit when cutting up the Batik fabric, but since it was for Hollyn, it was just a teensy wince and then I got to work.  ~ 

I have also made a few Halloween cards recently, here are a few ~

You will see a lot more at TAS very soon. We have exciting stuff happening over at The Art Studio  beginning verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry soon!  Stay tuned for details, there will be contests, a blog hop, chances for prizes and all sorts of fun stuff.  I will have a wee contest on my blog to celebrate too, so check back for details.  

I wish you all a joyful and creative day ~ Pam 

Sewing Time! YAY!

Hello everyone!
My word, I spent some time this weekend sewing several projects.  I really should have been working on the buffet I hope to refinish into a kitchen island, but I couldn't help myself.  It seems like all I ever do is work, work, work, and I had a project that I promised to donate, so I went to town.  I still have several other things to finish, first a wee little trick or treat bag for Miss Hollyn, and some cute little zippered pouches.  I am donating a few, and trying to do some for stocking stuffers and gifts too (shhhhhh, don't tell!).  I need to have my donations done by Friday, so hopefully I will get a bit more sewing time one evening this week.  Not sure how I am going to squeeze it in, but I am going to try.  Anyway, here are the 4 bags I made this w/e ~

a closer peek, I totally LOVE this printed duck fabric and how these darling totes turned out ~

 Some of my favorite canvas/duck fabric that I have made several other totes out of.  This is a messenger style bag, with an internal pocket, and a zippered pocket in the flap  ~

bit more of a close up, these bags were a giant patootie pain to make, the pattern was super duper vague, I completely winged it on most of the design.  I also broke 3 sewing machine needles due to the thickness of the fabrics, and fusibles, yikes  ~

But they are finished so YAY!  I am going to donate one of the paisley totes and one of the save the planet messenger bags to a raffle that will be held at Notre Dame after the Biology Club there hosts a 5K walk on campus to benefit the Foundation Fighting Blindness in 2 weeks.  One of the organizers is an ambassador at Memorial, and she is just a great, kind, and caring person who helps out with a variety of other projects in addition to juggling her full class load and other responsibilities.  Her birthday is the day of the walk, so this is my way of helping out and saying happy birthday at the same time!  If you would like to participate (and maybe win one of these lovely bags or some other great item) mark October 28th on your calendar, and show up at Notre Dame and follow the signs.  Registration is from 12 - 1 pm, and the walk begins at 1:30.  There are guest speakers from 1 - 1:30 too.  Registration is $15.00, t shirts are $11.00, and you can purchase fun neon sunglasses for $2.00.  Each of these items earns you a ticket for the raffle.  I know there are other raffle items too, but I don't know what they are right now.  Stay tuned, I will try to find out for you.  :)  I plan to walk with those in my family who can attend, hopefully some of you are able to attend too.  Let's enjoy a beautiful day outside and help a worthwhile cause too!   

The Art Studio has some exciting stuff coming up very soon!  I can't wait to share it.  Hopefully I can in just a few days. 

Well, I need to gather my stuff together for the week.  I have a crazy chaotic week coming up, so I need to get ready for it. I wish you a joyful and creative week ~ Pam

Playing With Fabric Again!

 Hellllllo there!  How the heck are you all doing today?  Fab?  Super fab?  I hope so!  I have been playing with fabric again, and loving every second!  :)   First I have a super quick little business card holder I zipped together for a convention I am attending this week.  I used some fun Bali or Batik fabric (I am such a hoarder, it is time to USE this lovely fabric!!!)  ~

Next I have been adding smidges of stuff to some fabric mini books I made ( hope to offer classes in the Spring of 2013).  Here are a few sneak peeks ~

I have also been making boatloads of fabric art journals, but don't have any sneaks to share.  I will soon!  My Beginner's Guide to Fabric Class should hopefully happen soon at the Art Studio.  We are having a Grand Opening Bash before long, details to follow as they become available.  

I am also working on some projects for the house.  

Remember how I have mentioned my high tech plastic $50.00 tables we are using for an island?  After almost a year, I decided it was time to get my rear into gear and upcycle something cool into an island.  We purchased an old pretty sturdy antique buffet several years ago at an antique store.  We never got around to using it, partially because it needed refinishing, and partly because we found something else to use instead (at our old house).  It has sat in dust in the barn for a few years so we finally hauled it out to our house and I am going to strip it and then paint it.  Then we hope to put either a butcher block top or some other sort of solid top on the piece and use it as an island/workstation.  I am over the top excited about this project!  Here are some pictures of the piece now ~

can't WAIT to show you what it looks like when it is finished!  I also picked up some wood cupboard doors at the Restore store (all proceeds from the store go to Habitat for Humanity) and I am going to turn them into some cool signs using paint and vintage images.  You can see the various cupboard doors on top of the antique buffet above. Stay tuned for updates!  

Well friends, that is it for me today, I need to get things ready for a conference I am attending for work.  I get to present at the conference, I am pretty excited about it. :) 

I hope you all enjoy a joyful and creative day!  ~ Pam

Holy Smokes, It Is SEPTEMBER! Better Eat Some Watermelon Sherbet!

 

How did this happen?  I am so not ready for September, but here it is.  This year has zipped by so quickly I can't believe it.  I hope you all enjoyed a lovely Labor Day yesterday!  We had a great day, the kiddos and grandkiddos came over and we swam and swam and swam, then ate and ate and ate.  My daughter went skiing for the first time in several years and was happy to see she can still get up on skis.  I had no doubts, but she thought she was getting old  as she is almost thirty, but she is a baby yet, right?  ;)  My son jumped on every raft we owned, soaking everybody in the process.  He is definitely still a baby.  :) I made some delich ribs, and a fun dessert.  I used to make this every summer, for at least one holiday, and sometimes just because.  My daughter has asked me to make it several times this year, but I haven't had the ingredients or the time to pick them up.  Working really long days, with a stinko commute has left me unmotivated to head to the store during any free time.  I love where we live as it is very peaceful and beautiful, but trust me it is not really close to many stores.  The photo above is a result of a 9 pm Monday shopping expedition to Meijers, a grocerystore chain that is about 20 minutes from work, and 35 - 40 minutes from my home.  I needed to pick up something for a treat for some coworkers, but after working all day (we had orientation for our new volunteers), everything was closed.  I decided I could whip together some white, milk, and dark chocolate covered strawberries so I did.  It was definitely a looooooong day, but hopefully worth it to the coworkers the next morning at 7 am. 

Anyway, here is the fun and yummy watermelon sherbet dessert, and how I made it.  It is pretty easy peasy, as long as you can get to a store to pick everything up.  :)

First, soften a quart or two of lime sherbet, then spread it in a large bowl.  Be sure to put some plastic wrap inside the bowl first, so you can get it out of the bowl later.  :)  Freeze til firm.  Whatever yo do, don't swing the bowl around while you are on the way to the freezer, and shlump sherbet all over your floor.  That is a mess, trust me!  If for some strange reason you do shlump sherbet all over your floor and the remainder is a sad and not enough bit of sherbet to look like a watermelon rind, in a pinch you can tint pineapple sherbet green.  Still tastes yummy.    OK, on to the next step.

Next mix several quarts of softened raspberry sherbert together till smooth.

Time to pour in a generous amount of semisweet chocolate chips!  

Stir till mixed, then spoon mixture into frozen lime sherbet in your bowl.  Do this gently, you don't want to mix the colors, you just want to add the raspberry sherbet with chips to the bowl.

Freeze several hours til firm, or overnight is best.

Slice that frozen sherbet just like watermelon slices!  You can flip it onto a platter if that is easier for you to slice and remove from the bowl.

 Would you take a look at that fun and refreshing dessert?  Yummy!

It helps to have an appreciative audience gobbling up the watermelon dessert!

Mimi, this is gooood!

Since I was in a making food treats kind of mood last week I thought I would try out a recipe for rolo cookies.  Holy smokes they were DELICH!  Super simple to make too.  I can't remember where I found the recipe, I think it may have been on pinterest.  Basically you take a boxed chocolate cake ( I used triple chocolate, it had chocolate chips in the mix), add some canola oil and a few eggs, mix till sticky, drop on a cookie sheet, plop an unwrapped rolo in the center, plop more batter on top, squish together a bit with your spoon, then bake.  When cool, sprinkle with a bit of powdered sugar.  YUM!  

Well, that is enough about sweets and desserts, I am getting way too hungry thinking about it.  As a side note, I should have an update on my Beginner's Guide to Fabric Class soon, I will keep you posted.  Can't WAIT to host that class, there is a ton of info included that you can have as a reference for years to come. 

I wish you all a joyful and creative week!  Happy crafting (& cooking!) ~ Pam

Our Vintage Photo Shoot, US 12 HWy Yard Sale Finds, and Salsa

Hello there!  I have a variety of things to talk about today.  Kind of an odd combo, but that is OK.  First, I made some totally delich salsa last week, using tomatoes and pepers from our garden.  I promised to hsare the recipe, and have some pics too.  Next, my hubs and I spent a little time this weekend to go to some yard sales along US HWY 12, something held every August.  I scored some great vintagey goodness, among other things.  Photos to follow.  Most importantly though, we had our family photo shoot on Saturday, one I have looked forward to for sooooo long.  We did a vintage hollywood glam theme, and thankfully my family was pretty darn cooperative, even if it wasn't their favorite way to spend a Saturday.  I have some pics to share.  I would like to say thank you to Lindsey Marie Photography, she did a MARVELOUS job of being patient with our requests.  Thank you Lindsey!!!  I have a few pics to share, and can't wait to share more as they become available. This is gonna be a FUN album when I get a chance to scrap these pics!  Without further ado, here are a few pics from our photo shoot ~ 

On our boat, love love love these peeps.  xxoxox 

The girls and I on the boat.  Aren't they darling?  Love them all to pieces.

My beautiful family, I am so blessed.  The guys were cooperative, even though the shirts weren't their favs!  Thanks guys! 

Being silly

This little girl is a total fish.  She loves the water, and jumps in every chance she gets!

My handsome hubs and I outside the pool house.  

Walking down to our boat dock.  It is pretty quiet where we live, so we took the opportunity to hog the whole road.  heh heh heh

Next are a few pictures of my US 12 HWY yard sale treasures, these will be upcycled into fun snowman accessories, and on my fabric flowers, and the antique glass will be used to store some beads and things like that.  I picked up lots more glass, but that isn't as exciting as this stuff :) ~

close up shot of some of the fun vintagey earrings that I will cut up and use on other projects, plus some old silver that I will turn into pendants

These patterns are from the 50's, aren't they funny?  I will use the pics and the tissue for altered art projects.

love love love my new skinny Fiskars mat!  It was only $2.00 and is a size I don't already have.  I LOVE Fiskars self healing mats.  Of course I couldn't pass this deal up.  :)

OK, now to the salsa recipe I promised.  Here it is, feel free to modify it to your liking ~

14 cups peeled, cored, chopped tomatoes 1 cups seeded, chopped green, red, or orange peppers
3 cups chopped onion 1 cup  1/2seeded, finely chopped jalapeño peppers
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped, 6 - 8 cloves roasted garlic, smashed, 1/4 cup bottled lemon or lime juice
1 tablespoons salt 1 tablespoon black pepper
2 tablespoon kosher salt  ground cumin to taste (optional, I used 1/2 teaspoon)
3 tablespoons oregano leaves 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro
Combine all ingredients except cumin, oregano and
cilantro in a large pot and bring to a boil, stirring
frequently, then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Add
spices and simmer for another 20 minutes, stirring
occasionally.
This recipe works best with paste tomatoes. Slicing
tomatoes require a much longer cooking time to achieve a
desirable consistency.

Want to know the most important ingredient besides tomatoes and peppers?  Roasted garlic!  It sounds like a lot, but it is delich, and so mild.  I also ground about half of my jalapenos in a mini food processor before adding them to the salsa.  You can leave as many or few of the seeds as you want.  The more seeds you leave in the processing, the hotter your salsa.  This stuff was delich, hope you enjoy.  Feel free to make a smaller batch.  :)  Here is  a photo of some cutie grandkids enjoying some salsa and other dips ~ 

Coop loved the salsa!  Isn't his hair cute?  This was after working up an appetite during the photo shoot. 

Here is a pic of the salsa simmering away on the stove.

Here is one last photo.  This is of my son's crazy hair, thank goodness it didn't look like this during the photo shoot!  He is growing it out for Halloween, my word he is a goof! 

Thanks for reading my long post today!  I will be doing a wee fabric flower giveaway next week, be sure to stop back and say hello. I wish you all a joyful and creative week ~ Pam