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I can't remember where I saw this idea (maybe on SCS) but it looked fun. Cranberry Hill will be hosting a cupcake theme month of classes and these easy to make boxes/holder will work out great. I had to use a fake candle cupcake in the photo since I didn't have any real ones around the house. It looks a little mousey but it gives you an idea.
This box idea came from the "Card Creations" magazine. They made it a candle holder which I thought was a little dangerous. Of course I've seen cards that could would never make it through the mail, so I wasn't too surprised. Still a very cute idea for a cupcake.
One of our oldest friends (moved out here the same time Hubby did 30+ years ago) William Bailey took this photo near his cabin up in the mountains. Knowing Bill I'm sure this photo was set up some how. Bill has a wick sense of humor that he has pass along to his two young boys. Still it's a fun photo.
A lot of thought went into this year's Christmas gifts. We are not crazy "go green" people but we do try our best. My son's girlfriend gave me a personnel tea pot from TEAVANA. I'm a big green tea drinker and have been using tea bags for a long time. I do throw them my the compost pile but now I can use loose leaf tea which reduces the extra packaging and I can buy better green tea.
Now that my children are grown and on their own, they ask me for a Christmas gift list. I put things on the list I would like but would not buy for myself right now. I also include things that don't cost anything but time. Example: washing all the windows inside and out (that's been on my list for the last five years), help paint the family room, help rebuild the raised vegetable beds, sit in the same room long enough to get at good photo with no one sticking out their tongue or making funny faces. But they never seems to want to go in that direction.
This year my son got me my favorite hiking boots. The current pair I have (broke them in while I was in Nepal) are still good but I would like a back up pair. These are Keen boots and you don't really have to break them in. They work out great from the get go. Sadly no major treks planned for 2011. Would really love to go mushroom hunting in Tibet or hiking in the Swiss Alps but the travel budget is pretty low this year.
It's just been one of those weeks. Lots to do but no energy or motivation to get things done. I have tons of design work to get finished but I just can't seem to settle down in my studio. Working on the restructuring of my home and business accounts. Number crunching is just mind numbing.
There are tons of exciting things are being planned for 2011 if I can get my act together. Maybe some retail therapy will help.
Annie is all set for Santa. She really doesn't care if I dress her up as long as there is a cookie involved. She has dirt on her nose because she decided to "season" (bury) her Christmas beef bone. The butcher told me dogs lie to roll their food in dirt, so not to freak out when she tries to bring in a dirty muddy mess into the house.
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!
The marathon Christmas cooking has started! Hubby is making his family's famous squash rolls even though he's on a liquid diet. I just drop off a 12 pound standing rib roast for Christmas eve dinner tonight. I didn't put it in a plastic bag so as I was walking up to the front door it leaked blood all down my pants. I looked like road kill. I was barely able to make it to the washing machine when I got home. Annie thought I smelled great and she was sure I had a Christmas treat hidden in one of my pockets for her. I will be making an apple cake with fresh whip cream along with bringing the ham to the annual Itatani Food Fest.
I did a little research on the famous abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock. I really don't understand his paintings but to understand how the art world works, the movie "Who the *$&% is Jackson Pollock" is very interesting. A woman found what is to believe a Jackson Pollock painting at a garage sale for $5.00. If it's real, it's worth 10 million. All the DNA of the painting proves that it was painted in his studio (paint chips match) and his finger print is found on the back of canvas (means he at least touch it) but no art gallery or critic will say it the real deal because it was found at a garage sale. Jackson Pollack was known to give away his paintings and didn't always sign them. In honor of the Jackson, I did my 2010 word " FOCUS" in his style.
I'm not a coffee drinker but when the weather is cold, I do like a nice hot drink. I went to Starbucks to try their Pumpkin Spice latte. It was good but again, I'm not a coffee drinker so it tasted too much like coffee and not enough like pumpkin spice. I went again a week later and it tasted like they forgot the spice completely. The little gray cells started talking to me to try and make it myself at home.
Now that I handle all my family's accounting and investments, I'm very aware of amortization. When I buy something I figure out how much in the long run the item will cost or save my pocket book. With my crafting supplies, I figure out how many classes I have to teach to pay for it and if it's something my students would use.
Having a latte at Starbucks is close to $5.00 so if you had one every day that would be $35.00 a week or $140.00 per month = $1,680.00 per year. I decided I could make my own at home for a whole lot less and use lactose free milk. Cost Plus is having a sale on Torani (the flavoring used in most lattes) so I picked up a few (each bottle cost $5.00) and now trying to make a good cup of not so coffee tasting latte. I know latte means coffee so I guess I should call it a "latte hold the coffee".
It's a never ending battle to try and keep my studio work table clean. With all the prototypes of stamped images that may turn into a class or cards (or may not) and rubber stamps, I have the stacks everywhere. When I'm cleaning up, I make some quick cards with those images laying around that I just can throw out.
You can't see the silver Star Dreams paper I used for the base card but it does add a nice little sparkle.
I don't know where her creative ideas come from but Bakerella is awesome and I'm always inspired.
I have her cookbook and I've made some sad attempts at making cake pops. I'm just try to keep them on the stick let alone making them look like anything. :)
Here the links to her fabulous blog Bakerella
And yes you can eat those little toy soldiers.
Last week my old washing machine started to leak on the inside and my dryer has been sounding like a giant hamster running on a wheel for a long time. It's been 20+ years since I've had a new washer and dryer. The ones we just got rid of, were ones we found on Craig's list for free. They lasted about four years which wasn't too bad for free. I really wanted to get ones that were more energy efficient and use less water. Hubby built the base (didn't see the need to buy the drawers) which put the washer and dryer at a nice height. I really like the sweater rack feature. Now I can dry my hiking boots after walking Annie in the rain.
