Happy Halloween

   

Birds and the Beads

I mentioned in my previous post, Birds and the Beads is the name of our new ‘crafty’ venture together. Cheryl as you know already makes beautiful beaded jewelry AND she’s even created a little blog so she can journal about it (finally) ;-)  I am more than thrilled as I love reading my friends blogs, it really is like getting a little letter from them each morning. You can see her link over on the left under ‘blogs I like to read’ or you can CLICK HERE.

So, we’ve been putting our heads together this weekend trying to think about how we want to show off our ‘wares’ and create our ‘booth’ for the craft fairs. I’ve also been busy with my sewing machine. I still haven’t shown you what I’ll be selling, because I’m still working on that project and haven’t taken pictures yet, but so you don’t keep wondering what it is I will tell you that I’m making bird feeders (not with the sewing machine)! . With my sewing machine I thought I would make a ‘gardeners apron’ – it kind of goes along with the ‘outdoorsy’ them with the birds.

I bought some material on Friday and this is what I came up with. . .  no pattern, just some measurements, a fold here and there, and a pretty flower.

Voila!

I love it!  And despite the fact it took me forever to pick out coordinating material at Hobby Lobby I am SO pleased with the end result. The flower clips on so it can be removed when the apron needs washing.  These aprons can also be used as a vendor apron so this one I made was for Cheryl, and I will have one just the same so we can wear them at the craft fairs.

 

I can’t wait to go shopping for more material to make some other styles. These are also great for crafters, and I tried it on Kristen, and it looks cute on her too. I would need to size it down a little to make a younger child’s version, but wouldn’t that be cute to have a matching little apron like Mommy :-) I’m also thinking of selling my hand knitted wash/dish cloths in terracotta pots as little gift items. I’ll be sure to share with you when I get them made.

Happy Halloween

 2001

2002

2003

2004

(yes, she wanted to be another dog!)

2005

(yes, she is a dog yet again – I just didn’t get good pics this year, it was freezing outside that night)

2006

(yay, not a dog! This is my favorite to date)

  

2007

(what can I say?!)

 2008

(she’s the one on the left… and she’s NOT a dog!)

2009

(she’s NOT a dog – really, she’s not . . . . .  she’s a WOLF!!)

2010

So, any guesses as to what Kristen will be this year? I’ll give you a clue . . . .  she’s NOT a dog! But, she does have a tail!!!

Can we slow it down!

Hi everyone, how’s your week going? FAST?! I bet I’m not the only one who thinks it is. It’s the end of another week just about and not only that but the end of another month! Seriously, October what happened to you? One minute you were here and now you’re just about to leave. It seems so strange thinking next Monday is November already – we’re still having 80+ degree weather here! I’m sure it was a bit cooler this time last year? In saying that though we are supposed to get a cold front today, it will only be 77, brrrrr (yes I’m being sarcastic) and tomorrow only 74.

I finally remembered to take my camera to Kristen’s horse riding lesson last night. She is still enjoying it for the most part… but last night she got a little worried when the teacher told them they were going on a trail ride! She’s just like her Momma and gets pretty nervous at the thought of doing something new.

'raising her hand to ask a question

It was just starting to get a little ‘dusky’ by this time, but it wasn’t as dark as the actual photo shows. And despite how nervous Kristen was about this, she really liked it once she got back. It was only for about 10 minutes. This is all great experience for her, not just the horse riding itself, but actually ‘conquering fear’. If she had been given the chance I know she would have gotten off that horse and said she didn’t want to go, and she would have missed out on a fun time.

I’m staying home today – really I am ;-) I think I’ve been out every morning this week doing one thing or another, like taking Boo to the groomers, getting groceries in, checking out thrift stores looking for things for my ‘new venture’!! Ah yes, my new venture with Cheryl, I know a lot of you are wondering what it is. I still have a few things to work on before I can ‘show’ you anything but I will say that BIRDS are involved, and BEADS are involved and we will be calling ourselves . . . .

Birds and the Beads

and that’s all I’m saying for now :-)

(the above font is called fiolex girls, it has hearts on it but if you don’t have that font you may be just seeing some very big plain letters! Ha, I'm brilliant, had the idea to create a graphic with the font so you all can see it the way it is supposed to look)

I have another fun giveaway coming soon – this one from me personally, so stay tuned. Right now I must go catch up with laundry and housework, for some reason it doesn’t get done when I’m out every day running around – I don’t know why that is!!

The Lucky Winner :-)

Hi everyone, sorry I didn’t get to post last night. I wanted Kristen to pull a name out of the hat for the giveaway but we got a little busy! And now she’s gone off to school. . .

SO, I used the Random Generator to pick a winner.

 

THE WINNER IS LYN – CONGRATULATIONS!

Lynn, email me your current address, you get the two boxed dinners AND a $25 Visa Gift Card. I’m so happy for you.

I’ve been walking each morning this week, so I’m headed out again, I’ll be back later to post.

Flying by . . .

that’s how the days are going right now (when do they not). The weekend passed in a blur, I was busy on Friday night and all day Saturday helping Cheryl do a craft fair at the local high school.

Cheryl’s mom also brought up some seasonal wreaths and baskets to sell. She took a few more pictures on her camera (the above one was taken on Cheryl’s phone) so I will try to post more later.

Doing craft fairs is a lot of fun, but tiring too. Cheryl and I are putting our heads together and thinking of something I can do/make to sell along with her beads. Some craft fairs/markets I could sell my own stuff, other fairs are pretty pricey to get a booth so we would have to split the cost so that’s why we are trying to create a combination of crafts and beads. 

Of course I’m sure you’re all wondering why I don’t sell my knitting at the fairs but to be honest it is pretty time consuming and would take a lot of hours work for not much profit back. I want a simple quick craft that would be fun to sell and not overly expensive for people to buy. I have some pretty good ideas forming. . . . but I won’t share them just yet!

So, how was your weekend? Did it go as fast as mine? Today is flying by too, I’ve been out running errands today and taking Boo to the groomers. Yesterday I had to take him to the vet at Petsmart for a checkup after his liver levels were way too high a few months ago (they found out when they were doing a teeth cleaning). I’m happy to say the levels are back to normal and it was more than likely the plaque from his teeth that was causing a slight infection. 

This is just a quick post to say hi and hope your Monday is off to a good start. If you haven’t already left a comment on my GIVEAWAY POST you still have time. I’ll be drawing a winner tomorrow night. AND I have another lovely giveaway coming later this week, you won’t want to miss it.

Hugs

Denise

Don’t forget to scroll down and enter the  Giveaway, or

 CLICK HERE!

You could win 2 boxed dinners AND a $25 Visa Gift Card!

Giveaway Goodies

The Fall goodies I won at Judy’s blog the other week arrived last week but I haven’t had a chance to share them. Don’t you just love receiving parcels in the mail :-) It’s so exciting opening them. I waited til Kristen got home from school so she could help me open the box and she was thrilled with everything in side  . . . as was I.

Here’s a few pictures of the wonderful things Judy sent. . . .

 

I love the little scarecrow boy and girl and put them on top of the fridge – I think I will actually put them on my Thanksgiving table this year, they will make a great centerpiece :-)

The Kitchen towels look wonderful on the stove, they match my walls perfectly.

and I love the beautiful fall candles and accessories. I’ve added them to my candle holders on the hearth.

Thank you again Judy, you are so generous and such a blessing, a truly wonderful friend too.

Today I’m off out shopping to see what I can get for my own ‘giveaway’ :-)  Hmmmm, shall I make it a ‘Fall giveaway? A Christmas one? A wine one? There are so many things I love that I want to share. . . . you’ll have to stay tune to find out :-)

Have a great day, hugs

Denise

It’s a Giveaway!

If you’ve read my blog for long you will know how much I love making fun dinners for my ‘little family of 3’ and setting the table all pretty, or planning ‘date night’ for hubby and me and making a special meal so we don’t have to go out and battle the crowds in the Friday night restaurants.

I was contacted recently by MyBlogSpark with a new ‘spark’ to take part in, and it was perfect for me. 

Try out the Romano’s Macaroni Grill boxed dinners and the Wanchai Ferry restaurant inspired dishes, AND receive a $25 Visa Gift Card to help plan your ‘date evening’!

So, I did just that last night for a very ‘special birthday celebration’ – we had ‘dinner and a movie night.

First, I made more Bruschetta, like I did last Friday for a quick and easy appetizer.

Then I prepared the Macaroni Grill ‘Creamy Basil Parmesan Chicken and Pasta.

This was really easy to prepare, I used some left over cooked chicken for this which made the cooking time even shorter. Simply add butter to the pan, saute your chicken, add milk and the packet mix, then the sundried tomatoes and the creamy sauce . .  everything comes in the box and all you have to add is the chicken and milk.

    

I left the table set with an Italian theme like I had for last Friday. Lit some candles, and added my birthday flowers to finish it off. It was a lovely setting.

Dinners like this don’t take much effort to prepare, but they can make family time together a whole lotta fun.

As for the dish itself – did we like it? I’m happy to say it got SIX thumbs up here :-)  Even Kristen liked it and I thought perhaps she wouldn’t enjoy the ‘pesto’ taste – I was so wrong there. Serve this with a fresh green salad and garlic bread and you have a delicious ‘Italian meal at home. I can’t wait to try the other varieties.

And I’m so excited that one of you can win a pack just like this. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post. Perhaps you can share what you like to do for ‘Date Night’ at home, or where you and your significant other had your first date?

The winner will receive a Date Night Prize Pack that includes one Wanchai Ferry dry dinner kit, one Macaroni Grill dry dinner kit, and a $25 Visa gift card that you can use to create a magical date night at home.  I’ll leave this open for one week and announce a winner next Tuesday Oct 26th.

The products, prize pack and information and the additional prize pack for me to give away have all been given to me from Wanchair Ferry and Macaroni Grill through MyBlogSpark.

Use this coupon http://www.myblogspark.com/uc/main/198d/ for $1.50 off two packages of Wanchai Ferry and/or Macaroni Grill Dinner Kits.

This giveaway is open to US residents only – but if you can’t enter, watch out for my ‘personal giveaway’ coming soon too – open to all.

Happy Birthday to me. . . and him ;-)

and ‘him’ would be my wonderful twin brother Ken :-) I think most of you know that I’m a twin, but if you didn’t well. . . I’m a twin! My brother is 20 minutes older than me. I don’t know the year that picture was taken above, I’m guessing somewhere between 1968-70, when we were perhaps 5, 6 or 7 years old?

This picture was taken in 1995 when I went home for my Mam’s 80th birthday.

and this one taken in 1998 when I went home again with Jason and Kristen for two weeks.  Happy birthday ‘twinny’ hope you have an awesome day, wish I could be with you xxxxx

So yesterday we went to my inlaws to celebrate my day, mil made a delicious meal of breaded chicken with cheese and mushrooms, salad and yummy roast potatoes and onions. Both her and ‘Papa spoiled me rotten and opened a bottle of Moet et Chandon for me too ;-)

gave me flowers

and pretty jewelry from my friend Cheryl’s beautiful Etsy shop

great books from my Amazon wish list

and yummy chocolate birthday cake :-) I feel so very blessed and loved.

More pictures were taken on my mil’s camera which I will hopefully get from her soon and will post them later.

 

This morning I had to go straight to the DMV (or DPS, whatever you want to call it) to renew my drivers license. I thought I might be stuck there for hours but most of the people were there for permits or driving tests, a lot of young kids… there was only 2 guys in front of me for renewal so I was outta there in 30 minutes. Now I’m home, gonna clean up the kitchen and just enjoy a quiet day til Kiki and Jason come home. Then we’ll have dinner together and I’ll open my cards and pressies. 

Thank you all for the wonderful birthday wishes on Facebook. I am overwhelmed by your sweet words and well wishes.

hugs

Denise

Who Dunnit?!!

We had such a fun time at our Murder Mystery party last night, BUT I cannot reveal who the murderer was ;-)  After all, someone might actually want to buy the game and play it one day. I also have plans to perhaps swap this game with Mikki, who told me about these mystery parties in the first place, and I wouldn’t want to spoil it for her.

So, I will simply say everything went really well, the meal turned out great, the cocktails were a big hit and we had lots of fun and laughter.  Here’s some pictures from the night. .  .

To greet my guests I made a sign for the front of the ‘restaurant’

 

As they came in I offered them cocktails. . . I showed you the green one yesterday, and the other one I made was a cosmopolitan 

So, the dead guy played by ‘no one’ was Pepi Roni!  Here is his grieving widow Mama Rosa and her son Marco (Marco Roni – get it!) ;-)

(aka Cheryl and Steve)

Pepi’s twin brother Rocco and his fiancé Tara Misu!

(aka Mark and Patty (Cheryl's sister)

Then there was Bo Jalais and his wife Angel

(aka AJ and John, our other friends in the cul-de-sac)

and lastly of course ‘the hosts’

Claire Voyant and Father Alfredo!

View Full Album

 

I also set the kitchen table to look like a ‘reserved’ table in the restaurant (but I took the pictures before I made the reserved sign!)

  

I must admit it looked rather cute – notice the ‘fake’ spaghetti and meatballs (my yarn and Ferrera Roche chocolates) ;-)

It was after midnight when we went to bed, so guess what I’m doing today? Nothing!!

Enjoy your weekend :-)

hugs

Denise