Friday, September 23, 2011

Who wants a Quilt?

I started this quilt two summers ago and finally finished it this summer.
I typically don't like really girly colors and patterns so I'm not sure what inspired me to buy these fabrics but I have to say, I love this quilt.I used a vintage sheet that I found at Goodwill for the backing and all the quilting is hand-stitched (Can I use that as the reason it took so long to finish?) When I was pregnant with Matthew (19 years ago) I handmade a smaller "Heart" quilt. It was a little girly but somehow ended up as Matt's quilt. He loved that quilt to the point of it being tattered and threadbare but he used it daily right up until he left for college (I had to tell him that it wouldn't be such a good idea to bring it with him.) And since I hadn't made one for Sebastian, he naturally wanted this one...despite it's girly-ness. (I, however, wanted it for myself.)So I picked up all these "boy-ish" fabrics over the summer and bribed Sebastian into letting me keep the girly quilt as long as I made him one with these. I don't have a pattern so I'm just going to wing-it. I'll let you know how it turns out...a few summers from now! =)

It's just me and Sebastian tonight...we're going to eat Pizza then I'm going to watch a scary movie...by myself. (you know, cuz it's almost Halloween...in 38 days or so). Hope you all have a great weekend!

Monday, September 19, 2011

Online Treasure Hunting

I did a little Etsy treasure hunting recently...in addition to the lovely red phone from my last post I also bought these cute tags and labels from Elles Studio.


And I bought some fun gold paper stars from Julie Collings. Julie's packaging is just as cute as the treasure tucked inside!I also purchased a few other goodies but didn't have time to take photos. I sure do love my Etsy!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Treasure Hunting...

Junk Bonanza starts today and runs through Saturday at Canterbury Park in Shokopee, MN. I can't wait to start hunting! I got this little red toy telephone on Etsy...isn't it cute?

If you're in the area make sure you get to JB...it's spectacular!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Shabby Journals

Despite my busy summer I did manage to fill up this shabby journal. My sister and nieces live in Virginia most of the year but spend their summers (and winter breaks) in Minnesota just a few blocks from me. My sis got me hooked on these fun, messy, cluttered journals.
I made two...the second of which I'm now starting to fill with my September photos and hopefully it'll last me until December...when I start my December Daily journal.










Not sure what I'm going to do this year for my December Daily journal but I suppose it's never to early to start planning that huh?

Monday, September 12, 2011

Shop Update...

I've added two Tiny Books to my etsy shop:
The first is the "Happy Birthday" book that I made for the tiny book swap hosted by Michelle Geller.And the second one is a new Halloween themed book:




I've had these tiny little stickers (that I think are oh-so-cute) for years but never knew what to do with them...they're the perfect size for a tiny book!




I've been in the Halloween mood for weeks...more halloween craftiness to come!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Made in the USA

1. I am very frugal...I rarely buy anything that's not on sale or clearance and I NEVER make expensive, unneccessary purchases...never.
2. I love late 1960's, early 1970's muscle cars...I know, it's strange but it's true.

This is my absolute favorite of the muscle cars...this is a Dodge Challenger circa 1973. It's absolutley gorgeous, don't ya think?
I think I get that from my dad...I was born in 1968 and all the cars I knew growing up were the American made muscle cars...we had (almost this exact) Dodge Super Bee, it's the first car I remember growing up...and the second car I remember was a Mustang...then there were a slew of other Dodges and Chevy's.Tom and I were in the market this summer for a vehicle to replace his old, barely breathing, Chevrolet Silverado (plus the gas costs for that beast were outrageous). I, being the frugal one in the marriage, knew we should buy something reasonable, safe and practical. Why on earth we ended up at the Dodge dealer looking at this beauty is beyond me.


This is a 2011 Dodge Challenger R/T in Blackberry Pearl (it looks black until it hits the sun then it has a blue/purple shimmer.) See the matte black stripes down the side?
We ended up test driving one very similar to this (since this one was on the showroom floor we couldn't drive it)...next thing you know we're knee-deep in negotiations with the salesman and Sales Manager...WTF? They lowered their price but we couldn't get them to lower it to what we wanted to spend so we walked away. As the days passed, all we could think about was that car...but we knew someone else probably scooped it up days after we walked away...about a week and a half later this is what our driveway looked like:

Yep...I (we) made the most ridiculous, unneccessary, frivolous purchase of my life. Tom was ready to buy it the first day we were negotiating but I just couldn't wrap my head around spending that much money on a vehicle we were only going to be able to drive maybe 7 months out of the year...but I fell in love, I literally became obsessed. We've had the "black pearl" for 3 months now and I don't regret a thing. Our neighbors thought we had lost our minds (and they were probably right)...afterall, we still NEEDED to get Tom a vehicle but what can I say, lust is a very wicked thing. Perhaps we could get Tom this car?

1968 Chevelle Malibu SS



Ok...I'm just kidding (sort of). We did end up getting Tom a very practical, reasonable and safe vehicle...at least now we're not fighting over who gets to drive the black pearl, she's been all mine for the last week, and I have a feeling I'll be the one driving her until we have to cover her up and put her away for the winter! So far no speeding tickets! =)

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Well, Hello there!

Oops! looks like I haven't posted since April (eeeks!) I got so busy with my dad and preparing (myself) for my middle baby to head to college that I just had to re-prioritize and, unfortunately, crafting/blogging/etsy-ing took a back seat (a WAAAYYY back seat).

But now summer is over...My sister and nieces headed back to VA, Shelby started her Jr. year at UW, Matt headed to UND in August...too early for my liking...my littlest turkey started 5th grade and my papa is FINALLY back home after being in one hospital after another for 9 months...nine friggin' months. Jeez, I can't even believe it!


Things are "getting back to normal" and we're getting used to only having one child in the house, if you can ever get used to that. We're enjoying the last few days of "summer" here in Minnesota before the weather turns ugly on us.


We did manage to get to the Minnesota State Fair...and we ate everything in sight...
Fried pickles...oh, so good!

A few Pronto Pups...not corn dogs, those are terrible...they have to be Pronto Pups...we also had Scotch Eggs, Bacon on a stick (mmmm mmmm good), Catfish and Walleye on sticks, fresh squeezed lemonade, Tiny Tim donuts, Kiwanas malts, Sweet Marthas cookies and Alligator on a stick (yep, alligator.) Oh, and Shelby and Chris had deep fried Oreos.


And I love the goats. It's a long-time dream of mine to have a little hobby farm with chickens, geese, two horses and a goat!






This is the gang posing in front of the Spamville booth...cuz you know Spam is a Minnesota product.
And you know how much I hate having my photo taken but I guess I have to suck it up sometimes otherwise my great great grandchildren will never know what I looked like! Hope you all had a wonderful summer!