Tuesday, July 22, 2008

teaser....revealed

I had these wonderful intentions of posting a teaser to my blog when I mailed a package out to a Fiskafriend last week...but uh, time got the better of me...

Here is my teaser...

{{{dandy photo will appear here tomorrow - uh today - when I locate my camera ;) }}}

Curious?
Satisfy it here ;)

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Punch Me...I'm Dreaming!

So, yeah, it's late...but before I could "get to work" I had to visiting my most regular stopping/stalkin ground...the Fiskateers...and what fun to read that I helped name on of their new Squeeze Punches!!!!

Check it out!

Uh Yeah...Scaredy Cat! (and how appropriate...a cat in this kitty house! :))

As if I didn't love Fiskars enough as it was...now I have some braggin rights ;)

{insert title here}

It's Tuesday...which means Irish dance. I so love Irish dance! It is an inspiration...and a creative kick. My mind is racing (probably because I had a mocha - uh yeah, first coffee in who knows how long!!! eek!) and I just want to create...so that is what I am going to do :)

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Sew Crazy!

Ok, I don't have any completed sewing projects to share with this post as I have spent most of my "sewing time" today washing, ironing and cutting...but I did delve into my "stash" and I have a few fabrics I would like to share. It is no wonder why my crafts of choice are fabric and paper related...I am attracted (and attached) to texture, color, design, space...Even though I gave away a portion of my paper stash, I still have too much (is there really a thing as TOO MUCH tho?!) and fabric, well, after working in a fabric store for 10 years on and off...especially since the first 3 of those years were without any "responsibilities" I have collected much over the years. Now, I just don't have the heart to get rid of it because one day I just might need that piece of orange velour! ;) (no, I'm not that bad...I think I actually already used that piece ;))
But, for your viewing pleasure...I hope these fabrics make you smile as they do me :)

PROJECTS PROJECTS PROJECTS...

One Day...this will be a chenille'd cherry quilt...the idea is floating in my head, I just need to get it into the fabric! :)

Some kind of baby quilt...
Another quilt...The pattern I am currently thinking about for these fabrics is called "This and That" and it is a square within a square...and I just love them horses! :) More baby quilt stuff...I think I need to know more babies!!!

Back to the ironing board!

Sorry Grandma...

...but your 3 year old granddaughter loves tattoos!

My mom hates tattoos...so she was not too happy when her teenage girl (uh that would be me :))came home with one, ok, not 1, but uh, 2 or 3.

Today, Aoife found a book of Celtic animal tattoos and she HAD to have one.

A few hours later, she tells me that her "doggie" needs a friend....tattoo #2.

As soon as I put the second one on, I hear "rock on dude!"

5 minutes later...."I want more!"

5 minutes after that..."I want these to go away...I don't want these on me"

Well...good thing they are washable cause the tattoo stops here! :)

Greeen Thumb n' Stuff

Been a while, but at least I am back in less than a week!


So much is happening around here...too much to cover in one blog post...too much to cover in general!


BUT...check out my tomatoes and peppers!!! I grew veggies when I moved here 4 years ago...the only success I had was with tomatoes and peppers. The soil here is clay...so instead of killing my back tilling again this year, I opted to try container gardening...and as you can see, so far, so good! Each plant is covered in blossoms...so now it is just a matter of waiting for the fruit!


A Couple Months Ago...

TODAY!!!!

Since I finished reading Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, I finally decided to watch the movie. The book was better. Movie was OK, but book was much better. BUT, my favorite "teen" books are still hands down the Twilight series...and that movie comes out in 5 months!!! :D (and the last book is less than 1 month away!!!)Ahh, something to look forward to!

Ok, now back to my sewing machine...and I'll share some sewn goodness with you later!

Friday, July 4, 2008

I'm in like flinn!!!!

Yeppers....that's right!!!! I AM IN!!! I can access the fiskateers msg board!!!!

2 of the fab 5 visited me...telling me not to give up...this morning...I went back and tried again...denied :( but thought...whatever, I am just going to keep putting in my password cause I KNOW it is right...and POOF!!! It worked! It had the msg at the top of the page telling me something was invalid but when I hit enter, it worked! So, if you are still having problems, you just need to login to the same page over!

I am so happy! I feel like me again! :) Hehe

Thursday, July 3, 2008

DENIED!!!!

Do you miss me?! I sure miss you!

I cannot login to the Fiskateers website. It is so sad. I can read the messages, but not post. I reset my password, but it just doesn't work for me. It is really depressing to read everything and not be able to participate! I feel like I am on a gag order!!! lol I have no choice but to hold my tongue...and post here, but it is just not the same (sorry readers...but if you are part of the Fiskateers I am sure you could understand my pain of not being able to join in!!!!)

Forgive me while I got techie for a moment:
I read a thread there about "complaints" on the new board...I was sad to read complaints...I am no programmer, but I have set up message boards before...using Open Source software (all hail to open source!!!!)...but I did not pass my second level PHP programming class...bad bad me (I did pass the ASP portion tho!!!). I tried, but it was not something I should have attempted online (and in my defense, I did not have a very good teacher for when I asked a question, I got a reply of "read ch X" no matter what the question, the answer was pathetic....and never helpful! I want to do that class again, but won't do it at that school, or until they get a better teacher.) I don't care for the set up of the new message board, but their were/are great intentions behind it. Change can be difficult when people have become accustomed to something. I don't know that there is the "perfect" message board out there already...all of them would need a little tweaking to suit the Fiskateers...but I believe things will get straightened out with V 2.0 and all will be happy once more...I just uh, hope its soon! I am jonesin'! ;)

Well, I am off to attempt something productive since I cant be a fiskafreak...maybe someone is trying to tell me something :(

Passion


I've always had a passion for all things Celtic. I have also always had a passion for dance...put the two together and what do you get? A busy person! :)

I started Ceili dancing (Irish Social dancing) a couple weeks ago and I am soooo hooked!!! I LOOOOVE IT!!!! I cannot get enough! It is so much fun! I have done Scottish Country dance, Scottish Highland Dance, and Cape Breton Step Dance in the past, and I loved all those too, but there is just something about Ceili dancing! I am also doing Sean-nos (Old style) Irish dance which is similar to tap/clogging/Cape Breton Step. :)

So, now, instead of just being active with the local Scottish Society, I find myself helping with the Ceili Society, too (in addition to what I do with the World Beat Festival) I think I am the walking definition of "Career Volunteer"!

So, if you are in the Salem area, Tuesday evening at the VFW Hall on Hood Street...Ceili Dancing! No partner necessary! I can't remember the price for just one class (as I take two on that night for $10 - a deal or what?!) but classes will be running through July...and then start back up again in September. :)

I have a spammer

...Her name is Kimberlee

Seriously tho, my sweet fiskafriend Kimberlee has gone comment crazy (and I love it!!!! :D) Thank you Kimberlee!!! She doesn't have a blog for me to post, but you can visit her here and see all her great creations!

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

for your viewing ...reading... pleasure

Drillbit Taylor is a failure! Sorry Owen...but well, this movie was uh, lame. I am usually not so hard on films...I can even deal with the worst of them, but well, this one was just not my cup of tea. BUT, just think, it can only go up from here!

On other films...I recently watched, or rather, finally watched....The Notebook...and OMG! I see what I was missing. What an awesome film...it will be a classic. It will be one that film classes dissect in future times. It IS worthy!

I also saw "The End of the Affair"...it was good too. I enjoyed the way it was put together and the concept and narration were interesting. Worth watching (but uh, it's probably considered a chic flick so be warned)...still it was good :)

And, just so you don't think that all I have been doing lately is watching movies...I read a book the other night. Started it as soon as I got Aoife in bed (that was midnight since she took a way late nap - sigh) and finished it by 3 AM :) Ok, so what was it you ask? The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Yes, a teen book. I met the author, Ann Brashares, when I was in NYC in February and I wish I had read it before I met her...but at least I can say I have read it now! I WILL be reading the next 3...and plan to check out the movie too. Shall be interesting to see the changes from book to film.

Teasers

I started this post a week ago (at least) and it got filed in drafts while I took photos (to tease you with) and so uh, here we go....

My "FATHER" album (see below) got me uberinspired and I have since started making two more...and have plans more another 3 since I have the chipboard for another three!

Can't have father, without mother...
I called my dad asking him if he knew where childhood photos of my mum could be found...he said, "good luck!" There is a tote at their house I will be taking with me next time I visit (next month - woo hooo!) so photos for this creation I am working on will have to wait, but the base, she's a done! I opted to use the Heidi Grace A Little Bird's Tale line and am theme'n my mum's album "A Little Bird's Tale" (I like the play on words). My hope is that I can get a collection of photos from my mum's childhood into the album...and hopefully a recent pic too!

Next, I decided that our sweet chicken kitty (I call her this because she is a chicken, with fur...a scaredy cat) did not have enough representation in the family scrap pile, so using the Cloud 9 kitty collection (I picked up a page pack at Target) I started on the base for her book.

I have HG Baby line...it's just asking to be scrapped!!! But, three kids, 1 set of paper...can I do it? yes I can! :D Since I am on such a board book/mini book kick, and discovered some awesome old family photos, I thought it would be fun to create a family baby book with pics of all the relatives (ok, some...all would be a novel!). I am going to mix the album up alternating chipboard bases from the HG chipboard stickers and clear plastic. This will add a fun new dimension...and creating clear is sooo much fun!