I love Saturdays

Well it has been a few days since I last posted, trying to clean up some stuff here and I think I am on my way to clearing up the to do list.

Peanut who just had surgery had to have another one on Thursday night, this dog is turning into the million dollar dog. Oh well she is worth it.

I have finished 12 Christmas cards that I have listed on Etsy, here are a couple of my favorites

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=16334524

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=16333619

I have started working on my custom scrapbooks, which is good. I love creating for others!

Trevor had bowling today, he scored his highest score to date, 99, crazy thing is that his Aunt Tracy also bowled a 99 last Tuesday.

On the way home from bowling he (Trevor) said the funniest things.

"I hope you don't die soon because you are so beautiful", wasn't sure how to take that one!

"Is Egypt in Canada?", I answered no the world and then went on to explain some things about Egypt. He asked if we would go there one day, I told him maybe he can go there when he is an adult to which he replied, when I am a grown up I will take you to Egypt, I asked for that in writing, he said yes we should put it in writing because you may forget.

Still waiting on more entries for the October contest, lets seem em!

Planning on spending a quiet night in but hopefully if the weather is great tomorrow there will be plenty of family pics to share!

Cheers

Doing the happy dance

Well I had quite a good day yesterday. Started off getting my license, ugh I can't believe the cost of a new license, anyway then I was off to vote. Well I guess I did this backwards because I wasn't thinking and I needed my license to vote, since I had to hand back my expired license..well no license no voting. That's ok though they guy I was voting for won hands down so my missed vote didn't change a thing. I would have been pretty upset though if he lost by one vote, lol.

After this I went home and put together a homemade turkey soup for my Mom and the boys. Rory was off doing his hockey pool, not sure how many he's in now, and I was off to bowling. Well not sure what was in the air but I haven't bowled that well in at least a decade, it was a lot of fun.

I also managed to put together most of the Christmas cards I am working on, there won't be any pics yet though because I ran out of glue and they aren't totally completed yet.
Had some sales on both ebay and etsy so all in all life is good.

Finally something I have been worrying about for 6 months finally happened, with the result I wanted so life is really looking up right now, I haven't been this relaxed since April!!!

Anyway off to buy Trev some winter pj's and more supplies to create.

Still looking for submissions to the contest, come on folks!

Cheers

The morning after a long weekend

Well the morning after a long weekend can be hard. The kids were up early this morning which means Mom was too!

We had a fantastic weekend. Started Saturday with a day inside cooking. The kids really enjoyed themselves too because they were allowed to spend quite a bit of the day playing Wii.

I baked a pumpkin cheesecake for the first time (recipe below) and I do believe it was a success. I also made two batches of brownies because the Walker boys (Rorys brothers) don't believe it's dessert unless chocolate is involved. We had Thanksgiving dinner at Rors Moms on Sunday. It is so funny to go from the family where I am the oldest to the family where I am married to the youngest of 7, kids table here we come! Oh well kids conversations can be a lot more fun anyway! I cooked turkey dinner here on Monday. My Mom, sister, and Craig came over and it was a great meal. It was an early night because everyone had school and work today.

It is voting day today. I am still one of the many undecided. The economy issues today have made the decision a little harder.

I did get some scrapping done this weekend as well. Actually it was a cardmaking weekend. Five Christmas cards that I hope to get listed on Etsy today. A layout for Trevor and more Christmas cards are on the to do list for today, we'll see just how productive I can be!

Well we are about halfway through the layout contest/draw, hoping to see a lot of layouts soon.

Here is the halloween idea for today:

Black Magic Cat

CRAFT MATERIALS:
Black knit cap
1 pair of kids' or women's black socks
Child-size black tights (size 4-6 or 6-8)
1 black tube sock or kneesock
Polyester fiber stuffing
2 18-inch lengths of floral wire
Scissors
1 sheet of black felt
1 sheet of gray felt
Glue gun or double-sided tape
1 sheet of orange felt
Two 1-inch googly eyes
Mouse toy
Needle and thread
Duct tape

1. To make the body, fill the cap, socks and tights with stuffing, leaving at least 2 1/2 inches of unstuffed fabric at the opening of each article. Twist the wires together and insert them into the tail (tube or kneesock). Fold under any extra.

2. Cut out 2 notched ears from the black felt. Then cut 2 small gray felt triangles and glue or tape them to the middle of each ear.

3. Cut whiskers and 12 claws from the gray felt and a triangular nose from the orange felt. Using the glue gun or double-sided tape, affix the ears, googly eyes, whiskers and nose to the top of the cap.

4. Sew the mouse toy to the cat's mouth. Attach the claws to the tips of the two shorter socks and the tights.

5. To assemble the cat, cut a strip of duct tape 6 inches longer than the width of the cap. Center the tape over the opening of the cap and, standing outside your double-hung window, secure the cap along the bottom edge of the top window (see illustration).

6. Next, tape the front paws along each side of the head. Tape the open end of the tail to the opening of the tights, between the legs. From inside the house, tape the body to the top of the lower window (see illustration). Let the legs and tail flop down over the tape. If you like, wedge a rolled-up sock between the legs and the tape to give more arch to the cat's back.

Cheers

On this day before the long weekend!

Well I find myself playing a bit of catch up today. I went to bed on Wednesday night with a headache (rarely have them) and woke up on Thursday barely able to get out of bed. After quite a bit of conflict with Trevor and his gameboy I was done for the day. Thank goodness Rory was here so that he could do all the school transporting and watch Brendan. It has been years since I spent a day in bed but definitely needed it for sure. Paying for it today though! Oh well what do you do, health before scrapping and the computer.

I did manage on Wednesday to finish a card and I am really happy with it. Currently have it listed on ebay but thinking of moving everything over to etsy, not sure what would be the smartest move at this point.

Here is the card:

Also have to get ready for Thanksgiving this weekend. Having dinner at Rors Moms on Sunday (I am doing dessert, I will be posting the recipe here today), and then cooking dinner on Monday for my Mom and sister. So lots to do

I have so many ideas for my business right now but unfortunately with the economy these days I am not sure if any of it is the right timing.

Here is my halloween craft for the day (okay okay it's not a craft per se but it is something for the holiday and you make it with your hands!)

Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake

INGREDIENTS
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground cloves
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1/2 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

2. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Blend in eggs one at a time. Remove 1 cup of batter and spread into bottom of crust; set aside.

3. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg to the remaining batter and stir gently until well blended. Carefully spread over the batter in the crust.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until center is almost set. Allow to cool, then refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Cover with whipped topping before serving.

I have not made this myself yet, crossing my fingers that it's great!

Cheers