November 2009

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Drafting Companion

November 24, 2009 in creating | No comments

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My slight sudden obsession with Twilight, that sadly is waning quite quickly, helped me happen upon a new sewing and pattern drafting companion. Eric received a Kindle book reader this summer. I was surprised at how much I enjoy it. The screen doesn’t strain my eyes at all and the screen savers that pop up are always so fascinating. Actually it is quite striking how much Emily Dickinson looks like Prince, the singer.

The Kindle has a feature that will read you the stories/articles/etc you’ve downloaded onto the Kindle.  Since an unpublished excerpt of book in the Twilight series is available on Stephenie Meyer’s website, I loaded it on the Kindle and selected the text to speech option. Fabulous. The reader is a bit choppy, and doesn’t pronounce all of the words correctly. I still thoroughly enjoyed the spoken story and found it a fabulous companion to my frenzied sewing project. I’d never actually finished a project so quickly in my life (and it was finished well not rushed).

Here’s my take of a dress out of the Pattern Magic collection. Sorry the black photographs horribly when there is insufficient light. It is my version of the bow dress. Here’s a lighter colored version.

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Peace,

^_^

Keeping Warm

November 23, 2009 in family | No comments

I was heading out the door the other day on my way to work and couldn’t resist taking a picture of this.

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And yes, the space heater was on-warming his toes. Silliness.

Peace,

^_^

Journals

November 22, 2009 in creating | No comments

I filled up a journal recently and looked high and low to replace it with an exact replica. Unfortunately that wasn’t meant to be. So I found a suitable replacement. The more I used the new journal the more I desperately missed the ribboned bookmark that  was a prominent feature in my last version. So I improvised. It is funny how many solutions I engineered in my head. Simplicity won over. Here’s how to add a marker to your journal, if you’re so inclined.

100_1172Start with a journal.

100_1177Find a ribbon–I collect them off of packaging.
Trim ribbon ends and tape one end to inside cover.

100_1179Enjoy keeping your place as your journal fills up.

Pretty easy peasy.

Peace,

^_^

Happenings

November 21, 2009 in family | No comments

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Such a harmless treat, double ginger candy. And yet, this is the only photo I captured to remember our 4 hour whale watching tour. Instead of snapping photos of dolphins, I was leaning over the rail green with seasickness. My body didn’t stop rocking for at least 3 days after the event–whoops! Guess who thought whale watching sounded like an amazing idea–yep, me. Eric had a blast with some new friends he met on the boat and since we didn’t actually see any whales–we got passes to return. Thankfully mine is transferrable!

Peace,

^_^

Decorating

November 10, 2009 in cats | 1 comment

After checking out blogs like Chez Larsson and  Three Men and a Lady, I get inspired. Like Chez Larsson, I hope to graduate from my hodge podge mis-match of random sized and shaped plastic containers for uniform ones. At the same time I have a rather limited budget. And I’m constantly amazed by the used furniture deals Michelle is able to find and what she is able to do with them over at Three Men and a Lady.

Needless to say, it isn’t often that I’m inspired and have the necessary tools on hand for instant gratification of my often ridiculous schemes. So while flipping through the most recent Vogue magazine, I was struck with an amazing decorating project. I giggled with giddiness as my idea hatched into a full-blown plan. Eric knew that he was expected to groan with worry over what I might do. So he obliged, making the process so much more fun.

I decided the kitties needed some motivation so I decorated their food area. Ta da!

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I must admit I still giggle every time I walk by. The cats haven’t seemed to notice the picture–typical. Here’s another view.

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That is amazing isn’t it?

Peace,

^_^

Halloween Was Over a Week Ago? And Other Adventures

November 9, 2009 in cats, cooking | No comments

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I love glow-in-the dark eyes that are peeping out on us as we surveyed our carved pumpkins lit with candles for the first time. This little munchkin and her brother were just the excuse we needed to offer to reenact last years’ Halloween chili party and in effect invite ourselves over for the evening.

Here are the pumpkins!

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I carved the second one (below). I don’t remember the last time I carved a pumpkin–clearly it had been too long. All I know is now that I’ve graduated to real knives, as opposed to the rounded jagged “safety knife” with an orange plastic pumpkin handle, I could probably carve anything on a pumpkin. Easy peasy!

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I can’t take credit for the design–our friends’ 3rd grader was the designer which was just fine with me–I’m definitely in the middle of a huge case of creative block.

Here’s the famous Halloween chili. The picture is a bit gross–but it tasted amazing. The second year in a row for this–I think I see a tradition being born!

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We can’t forget the cornbread cake. Yes, there are equal portions cake mix and cornbread mix in this concoction! Delicious!

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And they were giving out the best halloween candy ever. Real sized bars of the trick or treaters’ choosing.

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Here’s the brother kitty showing it off. Such a cutie. Unfortunately we must be bad luck, because there were very few trick or treaters. :( Maybe a total of 15 or so.

So for the other adventures, we managed to snag a few steals at the REI gear sale this weekend. Here’s a dog tent our friends were setting up to check out. Eric couldn’t resist trying it out.

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Peace,

^_^