Heart in Hand
February 5, 2010 in Crafts, Creativity, Friendship, HolidaysShow a loved one that you care by creating a custom gift basket for this Valentine’s Day. A handmade miniature wool heart pillow will be a lasting memento of your affection.
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Happy 2010!
January 1, 2010 in Calendar, Holidays, Well-BeingIt’s really hard to fathom just how quickly this past decade has gone. I created this piece of art to commemorate the year 2000 and here it is 2010 already.
In this coming year, I hope we can all remember to take a deep breath and notice and appreciate the special moments that you share with others and the ones when you feel ease and peace in your heart. Maybe we can all slow down just a little bit too! Life is good and we don’t want it to pass us by too quickly
I wish you blessings and joy in the coming year.
Love, Debbie
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Happy Holidays!
December 25, 2009 in Christmas, HolidaysPermalink | Email this | Comments (0)
To & From
December 19, 2009 in Christmas, Crafts, Creativity, Holidays, ScrapbookingYou can craft your own Gift Tags with these free downloadable designs. Print out the designs and mount on cardstock. Add a little glitter or some stick-on gems, fill in the “To and From” and they’re good to go. Spread your Christmas spirit!
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ALL-SEW DAY
November 26, 2009 in Christmas, Crafts, Creativity, Holidays, Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores, Quilting, Scrapbooking We have some darling soft books that your favorite little ones will enjoy. Coordinating Christmas tree skirts in your favorite family themes of Penguins and snowmen are available for your quick-sew pleasure.
New this year, we developed a couple panel prints to make gift bags and tags for the ultimate custom gift. (plus, you’ll love knowing that for years to come people will really enjoy re-gifting these special fabric bags.)
Set your goals and make it a SEW DAY, all day long. Happy Fabric Friday!
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Grace your Table
November 24, 2009 in Crafts, Creativity, Decorating, Family, Holidays, Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores, Quotes, ScrapbookingHappy Thanksgiving.
Love, Debbie
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Get Scrap Happy!
November 21, 2009 in Crafts, Creativity, Decorating, Holidays, Home, Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores, Scrapbooking We’re having so much fun at the studio working with our great new Harvest and Holiday scrapbook papers and embellishments available at Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts Stores. This month we made place cards and menus for the Thanksgiving table and wait till you see our cute projects for December! (No peeking until December 1!)
One pack is over 180 sheets with three
12” x 12” papers in each of 60 designs. Just about every kind of harvest and holiday theme is represented in this huge paper pack. I love to use the matching glitter paper pack to add a little sparkle to my projects. I especially love the candy stripes and penguin family coordinates. Plus, you can use the snowflake patterns all winter long.
Use scraps from other projects to make your own gift tags. You'll love how easy it is to make a cute gift tag with just a pretty paper and a sticker or jewels from the matching embellishment kit. These sets are also fantastic gifts for your scrapbooking friends. This is one scrapbook pack that keeps on giving!
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Easy Fall Décor
November 15, 2009 in Crafts, Creativity, Decorating, Holidays, Home, Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft StoresPermalink | Email this | Comments (1)
Veteran’s Day
November 11, 2009 in Books, Crafts, Creativity, Holidays, Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores, Quilting Today we honor our Veteran’s and we have the perfect quilt to make for a special Veteran in your life. It is actually called “Veteran’s Lap Quilt” and can be found in our newest book called “I Care with Quilts.”
This book was created because the most giving and caring people on the planet are quilt makers. Quilters are always looking for opportunities through their craft to support people who are in need or lend a hand to support a cause that is near and dear to their heart.
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Harvest Table Decor
November 4, 2009 in Crafts, Creativity, Decorating, Holidays, Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores, Quilting
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Happy Halloween!
October 31, 2009 in HolidaysHope you have a Super Spooky Halloween full of Tricks and Treats!
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BOO!
October 24, 2009 in Crafts, Creativity, Holidays, Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores, Scrapbooking Don’t be scared – all you need are paper-mache letters, shadow boxes, and fabric or scrapbook papers to create this whimsical Halloween décor. Display on a shelf or table for a unique Halloween accent.
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HALLOWEEN FUN CHECKLIST
October 21, 2009 in Creativity, Family, Holidays Big sale on Candy – better get some more
Go to the local Harvest festival to select a potpourri of pumpkins
For Quick Halloween Night Window décor – paint a couple wooden candlesticks black, cover with black glitter and top with a couple of small carved and lit pumpkins
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Quick Halloween Tricks
October 16, 2009 in Holidays
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Countdown to Halloween!
October 5, 2009 in Crafts, Creativity, Decorating, Holidays We’re counting down to Halloween with weekly project ideas and this fun project is one that older kids will enjoy making. Light up your steps or walkway with grinning ghosts, cats, and jacks’. Tin buckets (or clean tin cans!) are pierced with hammer and nails, then painted for daytime fun.
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Fright Night is Near!
October 1, 2009 in Crafts, Creativity, Holidays, Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores, Quilting
Only 31 days until Halloween! Fright Night has always been one of my favorite holidays. I love the cast of characters that includes jack-o’-lanterns, playful ghosts, haunted houses, cats and bats. The spooky frights and fun-loving delights of the holiday make decorating for Halloween especially fun and with my new Spooky Town Fabric Collection for Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores, you’ll be able to scare up some great decorations and costumes in just a few hours.
The collection includes pillow, apron, placemat, and treat bag panels as well as a great collection of glittery and ghostly coordinates. The panels make for fast sewing and we turned one of the pillow panels into a great door banner. So, sew up some fun before the bewitching time is here!
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Vacation Getaway Recap
July 23, 2009 in Excercise, Family, Food and Drink, Friendship, Holidays, Well-Being
I grew up in Seattle and making a road trip to vacation at the Ocean was a favorite tradition in my family. We revisited this tradition with a recent trip to a coastal fishing town in Washington called Westport. We spent time doing all the touristy attractions. We climbed 135 steps to the top of the tallest lighthouse in the Northwest and learned about what an enormous job it was to keep a lighthouse operating. (Now replaced by simpler, modern technology)
I didn’t realize that every single lighthouse has a different light signal so
sailors know where they are. We dined at the oldest resort in Washington. (we did our best to ignore the ants that were crawling around on the table – but couldn’t help but laugh about it after) We browsed the gift shops, the Oyster Farm, bought cans of best Tuna you’ll ever taste, toured the Museum, and even spent a few hours tasting and lunching at the Westport Winery.
When we weren’t being tourists, we enjoyed walking the beach looking for whole sand dollars while taking in the wonderful sea air. It’s actually a pretty decent work-out to walk against the wind and trudge through the soft sand. (an excuse to eat more!) When you grow up with certain smells and sounds it is so very nostalgic to experience them again. We happened upon a great driftwood structure that we surmised locals had spent many hours constructing. But mostly we ate – and every meal was seafood. And it was all great seafood – crab, oysters, clams, tuna and prawns and then we’d do it all over again. Don’t worry though – we ate our veggies too – my sister introduced us to the best Bloody Mary ever!
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Last Minute Summer Entertaining Décor
July 2, 2009 in Crafts, Creativity, Decorating, Holidays
Sand, Sunshine, and Summertime celebrations just seem to go together! This Quickie décor idea makes a great Centerpiece for the Patio Table or the Powder Room.
All you need are Glass Hurricanes, Candles and colored Craft Sand. Once you’ve got your supplies, it only takes about 10 minutes to create - Go for it!
- Make sure hurricanes are clean and dry.
- Carefully pour a small amount of blue sand in bottom of hurricane, covering the bottom. Alternate pouring white and blue sand into the hurricane, making sure that sands don’t mix and that stripes are visible through the glass.
- Fill to point desired, then add red candle to complete the decoration.
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Happy Father’s Day and First Day of Summer!
June 21, 2009 in Family, Friendship, Holidays Hope it’s a wonderful day of Sunshine and Backyard BBQ’s.
For your upcoming summer Parties, use our easy to send e-card invitations. Just fill in your details and you’re done!
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Scrapbooking for Dad
June 11, 2009 in Crafts, Creativity, Holidays, Scrapbooking
What Dad wouldn’t appreciate some special attention to his favorite hobby? Ask everyone to start capturing photos of him in action (along with a few good fish tales) and use those photos to create this accordion album. For the finishing touch cleverly package it all up a decorated Tin CD case. In appreciation, I bet he’ll even share his “catch of the day!”
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Happy Mother's Day!
May 10, 2009 in HolidaysPermalink | Email this | Comments (1)
Live a Little Bit Greener
April 19, 2009 in Current Affairs, Holidays, Well-BeingPermalink | Email this | Comments (0)
Happy Easter!
April 12, 2009 in HolidaysI wish you many Blessings this Easter and I hope you have a chance
to gather with family and friends. Love, Debbie
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Easter is Coming!
March 22, 2009 in Crafts, Creativity, Holidays
Are you ready? These eggs are a variation of the Decoupage Tissue Paper Eggs we did previously by using origami papers on top of colored tissue.
It’s fun to experiment with different materials. If you have time for a little craft session or your Craft Group is looking for an easy project - you can whip out a whole basket full of eggs in no time! See how sweet these eggs are when you combine them with artificial flowers and greenery in a wall pocket. Decorate your front door with this Flourished-Up wall pocket to greet your Easter guests. Happy Spring! (it’s finally here)
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Happy Holidays!
December 24, 2008 in Christmas, Holidays, Quotes
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Christmas Cards — The Easy Way!
December 18, 2008 in Christmas, Holidays, Technology, Weblogs
Even if you are one of the organized ones who mailed Christmas Cards this year you can still send an extra little Holiday Greeting using easy to send e-cards. The beauty of e-cards is that it takes just a few minutes, they’re FREE and you can say Happy Holidays to anyone (even work associates or Facebook friends) as long as you have their email address. The cool thing is you can send multiples at one time too. Remember, the greatest gift is spreading kindness.
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Happy Thanksgiving!
November 26, 2008 in HolidaysI hope you have a warm & cozy Thanksgiving and get to spend your day with family and friends. And don’t forget to count your Blessings. Love, Debbie
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SPOOKTACULAR!
October 10, 2008 in Decorating, Holidays, Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores
My son may be grown, but I still enjoy decorating for Halloween. Fanciful and fun and downright magical, Halloween is a holiday that kids of all ages enjoy. This year I’m decorating with some of my cute new products at Jo-Ann Stores. A whimsical sign like this one will hang on my door and I’ll mix some of these spooktacular holiday tins with the real pumpkins on my kitchen window sill. Some special friends will get tins filled with candy and this scarecrow and other ceramics will greet trick-or-treaters in my entryway. There are lots of boo-tiful products to choose from this year so have some fun decorating your Halloween home!
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An Explosive Fourth!
July 9, 2008 in Family, Friendship, Holidays, Well-BeingWell, my holiday weekend plans took a big change of course........
So much for the Rooftop party downtown to watch the Fireworks, so much for going up to Green Bluff to pick Strawberries and have a picnic, so much for going to see Steve Carrel's "GET SMART"........
I conducted my own (internal) symphony of Fireworks with an ambulance ride to the hospital with a ruptured Appendix!
I'm still home recovering after the surgery - but thought I shouldn't wait any longer to explain my absense. By the way, there will be no photos in this blog! Although, I wish I had my camera when they had to pull over the ambulance so the Newbie Paramedic in training (her 3rd call!) could insert my IV. There was much fumbling - I just looked away. I wouldn't have minded having a photo of my son sitting by my side in the ER and the next couple days attending and comforting me. The McDreamy ER Doc would have been a good shot too. (and we thought that only existed on TV) I would have been pretty glamorous in a shot of me trying to get a spoonful of broth to my lips while every appendage was hooked up to some monitoring device. My whole body was bloated and swollen and I looked 20 pounds heavier too. Yes, that would have been a good one - but I forgot my camera.
A shot of Murphy and Anna accompanying me in my hospital gown with my two day old bedhead while I shuffled around the 4th floor with my IV tree would have been a cute one. I would have loved to have had a photo of my friend Lynn making up batches of soup for me to eat while I recovered and Dan hooking up my DVD player so I could watch movies from the sofa. My friend Jennifer brought me a new (cute!) set of pajamas from Victoria's Secret which was a big lift for me because now I have daytime PJ's that are different from my night time PJ's. Even though I've been home for days now and I know where my camera is, I'm still not going to take any photos. I'm sure you understand. Hope you all had a Happy Fourth!
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Last minute! Valentine's Decorating & Gifts
February 13, 2008 in HolidaysQuick Decorating
- Gather your red, white, pink or glass vases together on the sideboard or entry table - put in a few tulip stems and sprinkle foil confetti around them
- Surround an ivory candle with red glass gems in a glass bowl
- Tie red ribbons around the throw pillows on the sofa
- Hang a wall basket on the front door filled with red silk flowers
- Cut out paper hearts with the kids to hang on a wire tree for the kitchen table centerpiece
- Use pinking shears to trim the edge of a red colored 36" square of fabric (no-sew!) for a Valentine spot of color on the table. Tie a ribbon around your rolled up napkins with a heart tag. Write "I love you" on the tags.
FUN Idea for a Family Valentine's Dinner
- Heart shaped pancakes with Strawberry syrup topped with a chocolate kiss
LAST Minute Valentine Gifts for Anyone
-Heart-Healthy Cookbook embellished with a Red spatula
-Book of Quotes - Book about building a stronger relationship or a Classic Romantic Novel with a custom made Bookmark. Write a special note on the bookmark like "Our Love Story is the greatest ever told," or "You always know how to read me."
- Start a scrapb
ook or photo album titled, "Ten things I love about you."
- Handpaint a flowerpot purple, embellish with heart stickers and coat with decoupage. Plant with a color coordinating purple primrose.
- (OR, a twenty dollar bill in a card works too - and most preferred by your poor college-aged son)
Happy Valentine's Day to You!
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Elfing Around!
December 17, 2007 in Holidays
You have to check this link out – it’s quite hysterical. A friend of mine did this with our photos. You too can try this and “crack up” your friends and family. If you’ve forgotten to have fun this holiday season – this will instantly remind you.
www.elfyourself.com
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Thanksgiving Shenanigans
December 4, 2007 in HolidaysI just received this photo of some of our Thanksgiving Day shenanigans. I'm imagining some possible captions that go with this photo:
"Outta my way Debbie - this turkey is all mine!"
"If I whack her in the chin - surely she can't eat my drumstick."
"I'm gonna read this thermometer, even if it kills her!"
Thanks for your sense of humor, Dallas.
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Loving the Lake!
July 10, 2007 in Holidays
I just got home from a lovely, lovely week at the Lake. And it was nothing but hot sun and fun all week long. I stayed at a Condo Resort on Lake Pend Orielle not too far from Sandpoint, Idaho. But I call that camping. My position is that anytime you pack up the car and bring your own food, that's camping in my book. Plus, if you also bring sunscreen and bug-spray, that's it, you're definitely camping!
Some occasional cooking was about as strenuous as my week got. Activities primarily included reading on the lawn chair, floating on the lake, soaking in the hot tub, strolling through the Marina, escaping the hot sun by cooling off and watching a movie in the room, meandering a few yards over to the Floating restaurant for the occasional meal out, oh and I did some staring at the lake over a few cups of coffee too. (that takes a lot of focus and concentration! LOL)
Just so you don't think I was a complete good for nothing, I managed to get out for a one hour walk every morning. I brought my ipod and listened to a book called, "The Queen of Babble." Come to find out, there is a reason why they call it that - the story just seems to babble on, without a lot of plot advancement. But it was keeping me company during my walks and it started to grow on me. I haven't finished the book yet (will probably take one more walk in town to complete) - but now I am curious how it all turns out.
I also got to enjoy our Independence Day up at the Lake. There was an incredible fireworks display (a full half hour), complete with an impressive finale. And we got to enjoy it all from right outside our room. No crowds, no traffic - it was perfect. Most of the week, my son, his girlfriend and I hung out. But we did have a few visitors come by during the week. They were smart enough to bring they're own camping supplies -food!)
One week of relaxing at the lake didn't seem quite enough - I was just starting to get into the "groove." Besides, I needed more time so I could get to all that work I brought up with me. (somehow, I was just too busy lying around "camping" to have time to get to much work) Hope my "boss" is understanding.
Debbie
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My Idaho Thanksgiving Adventure
November 26, 2006 in Family, Food and Drink, Friendship, Holidays
I just have to tell you about my fun Thanksgiving. I have a very special group of friends that I consider "family." In fact we call ourselves "Ohana" which means extended family in Hawaiian. So, as tradition has it, we spent the holiday together. This year we went to Lynn and Neil's who live on Hoodoo Mountain in Idaho. Packed with pies and all the ingredients to make a new Cranberry Yam recipe, my son and I drove up right after work on Wednesday. All 14 of us decided to spend the night (just because it's so much more fun). Big, huge, silver dollar size snowflakes started to fall just as I was starting to drive up the mountain. And they never stopped. It was fun to watch them coat the ground, the trees and the power lines. You get where I'm going now, don't you? (Power lines was the clue) Early (like 4 am) on Thanksgiving we lost power. The 26 lb turkey was suppose to go in the oven at 6:30 am for dinner at 2:00.
We never feared that we'd starve, but our Turkey dinner was in jeopardy. (Oh, and the pump that keeps the plumbing working is electric - so, no water or facilities either!) Of course, being on a mountain in Idaho, they have a wood stove. So we huddled around that in our jammies for a few hours. On the stove we heated a ration of water for coffee. Mary even managed to cook some chicken apple sausage and scrambled eggs on the stove for us. Much to our relief (and a touch of disappointment) the power was back on by late morning. And the turkey went in the oven. I managed to stay in my jammies until about 3:00pm when it was my turn to use the shower. What a great day. Dinner was about 4 1/2 hours later than planned - and what a feast it was. Much to all our surprise, my 17 year old son asked if he could cook up the cranberry sauce. My pies were gone long before dinner and the new recipe for Cranberry Yams got rave reviews and we decided it was a keeper. Debbie
