Ready for the Count Down

Everybody's making these, so I thought I would give it a try too. I was inspired by Pam's Halloween calendar here and Teresa's Christmas calendar here. It was fun finding and making all the number magnets for it. I used papers from Cosmo Crickets Wonderland Collection because I love the muted greens, reds, golds and browns....goes better with my home decor than the traditional bright Christmas reds and greens. So does this mean I am back in the creative saddle again? I sure hope so! It's been raining here for three days and it is soooo depressing. Tomorrow snow is predicted, so I may be forced to stay inside and that means I can play in my studio....yipee!

Moody Blues

Can't figure out why I am feeling so unmotivated to do anything these days. Hormones?... Possibly. All my friends blame their mood swings on hormones, so why shouldn't I do the same? I did force myself to work on a morning collage page this morning, just so I would have something creative to show for the day. Of course the page focuses on these same feelings. The weather here is dreary...cloudy and rainy...so that doesn't help much. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to find some wonderful inspiration and break-out of the blahs.

We have a kitchen!

Yesterday I wrote that we went to check on the progress of the cottage we are building so here is a peek at what it looks like so far. I hope my DH doesn't expect me to start cooking more now. I can't tell you how excited I am to have a window above my kitchen sink. Seems like a rather mundane thing to be happy about, but in all the places we have lived not one home had a kitchen sink that faced the outside of the house. Weird, huh? Unfortunately, this new kitchen makes my kitchen here at home look rather tired and sad now. Uh-oh!

Mass Production

I have been busy working on an assembly-line the past few days, putting the finishing touches on my holiday cards. I usually get together with a group of friends and we all bring our card-making supplies and work on our individual creations. But somehow this year, I came home from the gathering without starting one single card! I guess there was too much visiting and eating (yes, we bring treats to share) and not enough creating going on. But I did manage to get them all finished at home on my own time. Here is what they look like close-up.
I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. We ate for two days straight and I can honestly say I am sick of looking at food for a while...well, maybe for a day or two! The pumpkin dessert squares from this post turned out great, except I think next time I would bake them for a tiny bit longer than the recipe called for. I served them with a dollop of whipped cream and they were dee-lish!

Did anyone get any good loot during the "Black Friday" sales? I ventured out at 4:30 am to stand in line at Best Buy for this:

I refrained from upgrading to version 4.0 when it came out, but for $49.95 I just couldn't resist buying this one. My DH thought I was crazy to go shopping before the sun came up, but I actually found the adventure kind of fun. The ladies in front of me in line were so funny, that the all the waiting went by pretty quickly.

Yesterday we drove up to check out the progress on our vacation home. Things are coming together nicely and we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The kitchen has been installed and looks great. I was a little worried that perhaps my choices weren't going to look as great in my own kitchen as they did in all my magazine clippings of designer kitchens I have been saving for years. But fortunately for us, those designers knew what they were doing! The interior doors are all installed, as well as the bathroom fixtures. We are hoping that we will be able to take possession of the house by my DH's birthday next month. That would be quite appropriate since the whole idea of doing this has been a life-long dream of his.

Back in Circulation

Well, I made it through the events of the past week and I am hoping to get through the last month of the year without hearing any more sad news. I did manage to get some Thanksgiving decorations out around the house...ooops! I see that I forgot to replace my Bethany Lowe pumpkin girl from Halloween (in the top picture) with the turkey boy. I am not cooking the bird this year....Yipee! We are bringing the feast to my mother-in-laws house on Thursday. I am in charge of desserts. I think I am going to try making the recipe below along with the traditional pies.

William-Sonoma Pumpkin Dessert Squares

1. Mix 1 box yellow cake mix (reserving 1 cup for topping) with 1/2 cup melted butter and 1 large

egg.

2. Press lightly into the bottom of a 9" x 13" pan.

3. Mix 1 jar of Muirhead Pumpkin Pecan Butter with 2 large eggs and 1/8 cup milk.

4. Pour over cake mixture.

5. Mix 1 cup reserved cake mix with 1 TBLS flour, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup softened butter and 1 tsp cinnamon.

6. Mix together until crumbly.

7. Spread over the top of the pumpkin layer.

8. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until golden.

Where Am I?

No, I haven't forgotten that I have a blog. And I haven't fallen off the face of the earth either. There has been a lot happening here lately. A co-worker of mine passed away quite suddenly and we are all still reeling from the news. It is interesting how someone's premature death always makes us take inventory of our own lives and realize how short life really is. I would say that is one of the positive things that a death has to offer. {I am one of those people who always try to find reasons for everything that happens....it drives me DH nuts!} Anyway, I am trying to process all of this and take some time to reflect on my own life and how I can live more in the moment. The memorial service is this Sunday, so hopefully I can get back to creating and blogging next week.

1 Week of Artworks

This is fascinating to watch...it's "doodling" to the nth degree!

Veteran's Day

Election Day

Artwork adapted from the book "Vote" by Eileen Christelow.

And The Winner Is.....

Good afternoon to everyone on this fabulous Monday! Guess what? I am one of those people who NEVER win ANYTHING, but last week I was fortunate to be the winner of a prize drawing on Lisa Beamer's Creative Spirit blog. Isn't that exciting? She had a really cute way to draw the names, which you can check out here. Anyway, this morning I received a huge package with tons of paper, supplies and embellishments in it. Wow...did I ever luck out!!! Can't wait to go through it all. Thank you Lisa, for your kindness and generosity....not to mention your cute little contest "name puller." She must be my lucky charm!