Fall Is Here

Fall seamed to have come quickly this year. The leaves turned color and began to fall in just a matter of days. With fall comes the usually hustle and bustle of the upcoming holiday season. Our first order of business was the local pumpkin patch. We had a great day. The weather was clear but slightly crisp. My girlfriend came with her hubby and kids. So, together the kids frolicked through the pumpkin fields in a search for that perfect pumpkin. Some of the other activities that we did there was a hay maze and petting farm. My oldest had a blast taking pictures of the animals with my camera.

Tonight we'll be carving our pumpkins and preparing for our annual Halloween party. I'll post pictures of that this weekend.

Finished Bathroom

Two weekends ago my hubby and I decided to finally finish the downstairs bathroom. Last spring when we painted the rest of the downstairs, we started the bathroom but never finished.

The before shots were taken in progress of painting the ceiling. But, it gives a good idea of what it looked liked before. My mother called this bathroom "the cave". The ceiling and walls were all painted the same deep red / burgundy color as the rest of the front room and hallway. But, with the ceiling painted too, it was very dark. The room also had one of those standard "bathroom" light fixtures that so many houses have. You know... the metal rectangle with the all the vanity bulbs in a row. Yuck!!! I very much dislike those things. And, when we removed it to install the new fixture there was a painted box around the space where the fixture was removed. The previous owners must have painted this bathroom at least 3 times before. So, my hubby had to sand down that area and re-texture. What a mess! And, I won't even get started on my massive disdain for that mirror. We have replaced that hideous mirror with a beautiful new one.

We painted the room with the same khaki color as the rest of the hallway and front room and painted the ceiling white. Then, we repainted the trim and cabinet our creamy white trim color. There were parts of the trim that the previous owners never even painted.

There are now just three more things to finish in here. #1 is to fix the light fixture. With the mirror centered over the faucet and cabinet, the light is waaaay off center. #2 is to buy and install a new towel rack for above the toilet. And, I'm putting a single hanging space right next to the sink so my girls have easy access to a towel. #3 is to accessorize. I'll hang black towels in here and maybe an accessory or two. Luckily one of my favorite pictures that I have in here pulls in the pastel pink that is our counter top.

I'm sooo glad now that it's finished. The bathroom looks so clean, bright, and updated. It's actually really inspiring me to go upstairs and finish painting the trim. I'm done babbling now... But, I'll leave with just one thought... Why would any housing building put a pastel pink counter top into a brand new home?

Inherited Craftiness

I often get asked "Where do you get your "craftiness" and creativity from?" Well... the answer to that one simple. My parents. Both of them are very talented people who have a broad range of things that they are good at. My father is a woodworker / boat repairer and maker / home remodeler / engineer. And, my mother is a seamstress / painter / drawer / decorator / metal worker / home remodeler.

Growing up my father was always building one thing or another. The fist that I can remember is a doll house that he and built for me. I don't have pictures of it. It's in the attic right now. But, it's beautiful. My mother helped with the interior decorating and it lights up. Christmas of 94' I received a beautiful "treasure" box to hold all my treasures. It's currently being used as my sewing box. Another one of his works is a large art trunk that holds my yarn and artwork. Both pieces are solid wood and have great details. My eldest already has eyes for my "treasure" box. But, she'll have to wait quite a while before it gets handed down to her.


My mother's artistic-ness is mostly geared tword sewing and painting. Now. I'll admit that I missed the painting gene. I can't hold a candle to her talent in that department. Shown are just two of her more recent works of art. One shows my family walking the beach a few summers ago. It's hanging above my bed. The colors in real life are much more vibrant and there is a lot of details that the camera just didn't pick up. Also currently on display next to the front door is a painting of my daughters walking side by side on a trail. This one catches my breath every time I look at it. It looks exactly like the photo that I had taken that day.



This Norman Rockwell embroidery work was done just before I was born for my nursery. So much detail and work went into this piece.

So, now that the question has been answered all that's left to do is say "Thanks mom and dad".

"Rapunzel" Scarf Swap

I love doing swaps. This one was called the " Rapunzel" Scarf Swap. I sent 6 (we were only required to send 5, but I wanted to send an extra) 10 foot strands of different fibers, ie: yarns, ribbons, or fabric strips to 5 different people. In return, they also sent me 5 10 foot strands or fibers. I received a few packages with more than 5 fibers, so I ended up with 38 fibers for my scarf.

To make the scarf you divide up the fibers evenly into 3 strands so you can braid them all together. I added on piece from my own stash to make 3 even strands of 13 fibers each. I divided up the fibers by color and texture so that each "strand" had some of each. I then had my daughter hold the end so I could braid the verrrry long strands together into this awesome scarf. I opted ot leave the ends long so I could see and play with all those yummy fibers. Isn't it pretty!! For my color scheme I asked for blues, greens, and plums. Those seem to be my colors lately. I LOVE this scarf.. have I mentioned that yet? I have my youngest modeling it for me. I was covered in paint (yep.. we painted that ugly downstairs bathroom yesterday) so I didn't look quite right for pictures.


I'm sure by now your starting to see how much of a fiber freak I am. I will be making more of these. I really want to use some of my handspun yarns that I have lying around... not to mention all the ribbon and acrylic yarn that I have.

Craft Room Update!

After the whole “Painting Fiasco” back in May, we finally settled on a color called “Newport Blue”. It's really pretty. The color goes from our office / art room through to the kitchen. I'm using apple green and bits of plum as my accent colors. Curtains still need to be made and I'll post pics of the rest of my art space after I finish that.

I did finish one wall of my art room. Yep. A completely finished wall!!! Yesterday my parents brought over a drafting table for me. I love this table. It has a bit of family history and to make a long story short... It's now mine! It'll make the best cutting table. Originally this wall had the doll cabinet and a storage unit that had some of my fabric in it. I broke the unit into two pieces and put it down under the table on either side. I'm hoping to find a better place for my fabrics sometime because I really like the look of “nothing” under the table. But, for now it works great.

I fussed for hours over the placement of the photos and fabric swatch thingies. I'm happy with it now. I'm really proud of the cd storage shelf that I painted. I painted it the same white as everything else in the room and then painted on a floral design that I kinda stole from a fabric that I absolutely love. The best part is that my hubby likes it!! He's usually not a floral fan. Next to the table is a window where I have Mason Jars with buttons divided by color. Under that is a two drawer dresser unit. It to has fabric and some patterns in it.

I've been so motivated the past few weeks to really clear out and finish my house. It's definitely a one step forward and one step back process. My goal for this week is to finish the curtains in the art room and kitchen and go through two more boxes that we found in the garage with “stuff” in them.

My Summer In Review

The summer officially came to a close today with the start of school. My oldest started 3rd grade today and my youngest will be starting Kindergarten on Friday. I have to admit though that I've been anxious for the start of school this year. But, today I found myself to be a bit aimless and random in my tasks. The summer has been such a blur of constant motion, events, friends, birthdays, and vacations, that I haven't really had time to look and see what has and hasn't been accomplished this summer. I have to say that overall it was a wonderful summer. The girls had a blast and we did a lot of things together as a family. But.... what happened to all that sewing that I was supposed to get done... and all the “organizing” of the house and garage that desperately needs to get done... and lets not even mention all that yard work. Sitting here as the kids go off to school all I see is backed up commissions, a messy house and yard, and an endless winter of housework.

So... what DID we do this summer?

Birthday parties for both my kids and husband.... check
Family BBQ at in-laws for summer b-days...check
4th of July dinner and fireworks... check
2 Trips to the family cabin at the beach... check
Lots of play dates with friends... check
Multiple days of playing in the slip and slide... check
Swim lessons every morning for a month... check
½ Of garage cleaned out... check
Garage sale... check
2 Camping trips with lots of sightseeing... check
Family check-ups, vision, and dental... check
Organizing the laundry room and closet... check
Trip to the Science Museum with friends... check
Lots of visits to Grandparents house... check
School clothes shopping... check
Oldest daughter gets her ears pierced... check
Trip to the local water park... check
Install new hallway and bathroom light fixtures... check
Nasty cold that went around to whole family... check
Getting the news that my parents are moving 4 hours away... not willing to check this one yet... it's still to... hard to imagine.
A successful summer filled with lots of laughter, fun, and family... priceless... hehe... just had to.



It's funny the things that stand out in your mind... usually things that are of small consequence.. but important non-the-less. Things like: I remember my youngest daughter in the “Gino Petrified Forest” museum that we visited. She knows not to touch anything... but sometimes she just can't seem to help herself. But, at the museum she put her hands in her shorts pockets and just kept them there. Neither my husband or myself told her to do this. It was just something that she did all on her own. I smiled the whole time as she walked around that museum and peered into the display cases with her hands in her pockets.

I remember last month when my oldest had a good friend over. I went upstairs to put away some laundry and I hear the two of them up in her bed just talking. Talking about how excited they were for school to start and which friends the wanted to see the most. Talking about girly things like what type of clothes they wanted for the new school year, etc. It wasn't what they were talking about that made me stop in the hallway and listen for a moment. It was the realization that my little girl was truly growing up. They weren't playing dolls, or dress up... they were just talking. Sigh....

For the closing of this rather long winded summer review I just wanted to send a “Love You!!” off to my mother. I never understood until this summer why she always looked forward to the start of a new school year. Now, I understand. Don't get me wrong... it's really nice to have the kids home all day after a long school year. But after a while you realize that it's really hard to get anything “done” when they are in the house. And, that the summer activities that revolve completely around the kids leaves you with a ton of work to do come fall. Thanks mom for all those fun summer months of my childhood. And, thanks for not going crazy come fall.

Brynn's "Almost" Organic Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've been developing this recipe for almost a year now. Slightly changing something from one batch to another. I wanted a cookie that was healthier and more "organic" for my family to be eating. These cookies have helped my kids slowely adjust to that "wheat" flavor in things. We are now eating whole wheat pasta, bread, muffins, pancakes, etc. (Pancake recipe to come) My kids LOVE these cookies, and I hope your family will love them too.


Brynn's “ Almost” Organic Chocolate Chip Cookies (photo will be added tonight)
Very Budget & Child Friendly

1 cup (two sticks) Cheap Margarine
1 cup Dark Brown Sugar
¾ cup White Organic Sugar
1 Egg
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Salt
1 ½ tsp. Vanilla
1 cup Ground Flax Seed
2 ¼ cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 bag Dk. Chocolate Chips

Soften butter. Mix in ingredients in the order given. Use a cookie cutter to for cookies OR drop large spoon fulls on your baking sheet. Bake at 350% for 7-10 minutes. This time depends on the size of cookies. Cool & Eat.

Notes about the recipe:

I make these with and without the flax seed. You may replace the flax seed with wheat flour if you wish. And, you may also use semi-sweet chocolate chips in place of the dark chocolate.

Also, I use a 1.5” and 3” round cookie cutters to make my cookies. I place the cookie cutter on my baking sheet and fill it with dough. I then lift the cookie cutter and repeat until the sheet is full. This makes for a cookie like the ones you get at the stores. No thin edges.. just a perfect plump cookie that is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.