Bread and Jam for Nancy

I love the story "Bread and Jam for Frances" by Lillian and Russell Hoban. I love the images of that little badger girl eating her slice of white bread with a spread of purpley-pinkish-red homemade jam. I actually found a stamp some years ago (over 10 dare I say), with my favorite image.
I made my first batch of homemade jam this year today, and there is just something about homemade jam that brings out the nostalgia in me. To me berry jams just capture the pure essence of summer. You can taste the sun and the soil that nourished the berries, you can taste a warm afternoon, you can even catch a mild summer breeze. It always amazes me when I bite into a pb&j topped with homemade berry jam -the sunny places it takes me.

I love jam!!!

*Yawn & Stretch*

Good morning,
I thought today, I would blog just to blog...no cards or other projects to share today. Just hanging out, taking a breather from a busier than anticipated, and slightly sleep-deprived week. Hubby is off today, perhaps we will take the baby down to the chocolate shop for a drink (they've got great coffee, tea, etc.), or maybe I'll take a nap (not likely). DD is in her first year of Girl Scouts, and we have been having fun with cookie sales. She has been achieving the goals she has set for herself, and we've been having "geeky" fun figuring out the most popular cookie flavors by tallying and making graphs (I'm pretty sure I said "geeky" -we like math). Baby is busy cutting teeth, scootching across the floor, and finding her loud voice. DS is crazy Lego building constantly -he'd go 24/7 if we let him. DH has a great project started out in his "man cave" can't say anything here as it's a gift, and well, spoiling surprises just isn't cool, but I suspect his weekend will consist of quality time out there makin' noise and sawdust. :) I am attempting to re-organize my crafting/stamping stuff, cleaning shelves parting with supplies I haven't used lately, etc. Once I'm finished, I'll post a list so any of you out there looking for retired SU! supplies can take a peek.
Well, it's time to get the kids off to school, and I've been up for 5 hours, so I think I'll let Daddy walk them to school, and I may go catch a few winks before the baby gets up.
Have a great day, and I'll be back soon!

Stamping Cruise 2009

Ahoy! Land Ho...the Stamping cruise has sailed and made it's last docking in Seattle on a beautiful fall day.
This is also where we started our journey!
The next stop was in beautiful Victoria, B.C. where friends shopped, sipped tea, and enjoyed the beautiful inner harbour on a sunny day

Then onto Nanaimo, B.C. aka: "The Sunporch of Canada" and/or "The Bathtub Capital of the World".
What a beautiful city! The weather was amazing and it was so fun to see lots of families and folks walking their dogs out and about. My sister-in-law and I had a nice time wandering around and doing some shopping for our families.

Isn't it gorgeous??? It was a great trip with amazing weather, good food, great conversations, and of course tons of stamping projects and fun times!!

This is post 1 of at least 2 for this year's cruise...the next one, I'll feature many of the projects we did.

Thanks to all of those who joined us and HUMONGOUS THANKS to my amazing demonstrators who helped with so much and designed many projects -you are wonderful!!!

Looking forward to sailing with you all again soon!

Imagination Central

Today my kids planted a garden. To be more specific, they built an outdoor world for their toy friends. Last week, while perusing the garden center at one of my favorite places, McLendon Hardware, my lightbulb went off. My husband had just finished building a series of planters along the edge of our patio and I was trying to find plants to fill them. Then I saw several adorable "mini" plants, and thought that would be really cool to make an outside world for little dolls and action figures to play...sure beats getting buried in the sandbox! :) Anyways, the kids loved the idea, and put it into action today. I've been listening to the sounds of Polly Pocket socializing with Lego Rock Monsters and Storm Troopers. So much fun!

We look forward to watching the "garden" develop into a Jungle or Forest, and seeing the changes through the seasons.

Stamping and Cruising the Northwest

Hello Sailors and Landlubbers alike!

I am getting so excited for the annual Stamping and Cruising the Northwest cruise coming up here pretty quick!! I've been working on projects, organizing demonstrations, and more.

While I can't show you this year's projects yet, you can see a sampling of last year's projects in one of my older posts: http://craftingmyworld.blogspot.com/2009/04/lets-see-some-pictures.html

For those of you unfamiliar with this: This year is the second year I've helped coordinate a stamping cruise for friends, family, customers, and anyone else who wants to join. Heidi at R&D Cruises and Tours coordinates the cabin booking and works with the cruise line. Check out her website at: http://www.rdcruises.com/ Then I get the fun part of organizing the stamping classes and projects! :)

Like last year, we will be aboard the Celebrity Mercury on October 2-5th, and will have a weekend filled with stamping, the beautiful scenery of the Northwest (Nanaimo, Victoria, Seattle), and the pampering of Celebrity's friendly staff.

Above: Me (center), enjoying a meal with my mom and sister; Nanaimo, B.C; Left: Flags flying in Port of Victoria, B.C; Right: Me and the kids with our favorite, Activities Director Alejandro.

October 2008

I am looking forward to spending a weekend creating with our "alumni" and "rookies" alike in a place perfect for inspiration and creativity!

What Happened to Summer?

As many of you Northwesterners know mid to late July usually indicates the arrival of summer with some 80+ degree temps after a drizzly June. Well, it looks like we're having a "real" summer, a scorcher if you will, and it makes me want spring back! Give me a holler if you too, would like some rain and cooler (by at least 10 degree) temps! Maybe we can start a little petition to the guy upstairs... :)
All that aside, my corn and tomatoes to seem to be enjoying the extra heat and sun, as long as they get a drink daily. I'm not used to having to water the garden so much and I dread seeing the water bill.
Could we just get back in the 80's? Here's a little cool down tip (from a Discovery Channel junkie), when you are feeling the heat, turn on "Deadliest Catch" -that nasty, frigid Bering Sea weather helps bring it down a degree or two.
Well, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I cannot wait to get to SLC next week for their summer weather! Who knew the lower 90's could be cool -maybe because it's a "dry heat"? It also helps when everything has A/C as well.
Of course, we all know the big highlight in SLC next week is the big Stampin' Up! Convention for demonstrators. I cannot wait to learn some new things, get some new goodies, and get a ton of new ideas! I'll share when I get back -I've made most of my swaps, and I'll post those after I return. My daughter is hoping I'll get over to East High where they filmed all the High School Musical movies to take some pictures, and I will definitely try.
Well, I hope to post one more blog before I head out of town...I did a really fun donation I want to share.
Have a great day, and stay cool!!

A Quilt for a Cause

So, a few months back (late November maybe?) I was asked to be my daughter's class auction project parent. Of course, I said Yes, but then I had to figure out what this class of 5-7yr olds would be up for. I thumbed through albums of projects past and saw all kinds of neat things, but it was the quilt idea that got me. I do enjoy quilting, but it is definitely one of those things I don't take much time to do...except stocking up on beautiful fabrics of course! I've got a few completed quilts (and a few more in progress) under my belt, and am surrounded by talented sewers/quilters in my family for support, so I sketched out a design/plan, and set to work. I cut out 6.5" squares of muslin and had the kids draw an assortment of sea creatures on them with fabric markers -the auction theme was "Under the Sea". The kids did great! As you can see they had freedom to create an individual environment for their creature...I didn't want them to have to work from a template, kids need to use their imaginations and creativity and it totally worked on this, every block has a story. :) Once those were done, I assembled the quilt with help from my friend KC, who also helped me find the fabulous background fabric (I just love this!). Then (this was the new and exciting part for me), I learned to use a long-arm quilting machine, and freehanded the quilting. It was awesome!! Thanks Liz!


Here is a close-up of my daughter's square. Her creature was a dolphin (the school mascot). I thought she did an amazing job, and look forward to seeing her illustrations progress in the future. The girl is an artist and crafter for sure, and has just about finished her first quilt!

So, when all was said and done, I did my very best to win the quilt back at the auction, none of us wanted to see it leave the house. However, I did not, but three wonderful things happened: the quilt went to a great home, raised a nice sum of money for the school, and made me realize how much I really enjoy quilting -a true treasure! I'm now working on a quilt for my son...Train themed. He's super excited and so am I. I'll attach pics of that as it progresses...