black friday?

somehow it seems it should be called freaky friday? if you're one of those crazy enough to venture out and fight the masses to grab some holiday bargains...i wish you the best of luck!

as for us, we're still recovering from the bountiful thanksgiving meal we had yesterday at my brother's house. having a brother with cheffin' experience is a good thing if you're as domestically challenged as i.

here's a little collage of the afternoon. turkey breast, green bean casserole, garlic mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, warm bread, stuffing, and LOTS of red wine. perfection. then we just zoned out on the couch and watched The Godfather marathon on cable until our bellies gave us permission to add coffee, pumpkin & apple pies to the collection. *sigh* happy, grateful times.

waiting for the ups man today - he's supposed to be bringing my blank but beautifully printed cd's so i can get started burning 100+ copies of "heidi's jingle bell jam!" we've got the cover art ready to print as well, might get started on that this evening, too. it's quite a process putting together a holiday cd each year, but it always makes a neat gift, and i really enjoy the process of doing most of it by hand. the playlist won't be graced by the ethereal voices of kirk and i this year, we just didn't have time to record a holiday song...but being the 10th anniversary edition, i'm pretty pleased with the songlist this year.

i'll be starting on some other holiday projects this weekend, too - trying for another year of primarily DIY or thrifted gifts...

no decorations this weekend, but will probably break those boxes out next week sometime. the holidays are upon us, once again, and i LOVE it.

tryptophan, and other things on my thankful list this year

in no particular order, this is the short list of gratitude this year:

kirk's sense of humor
memories of a safe and playful childhood
flannel sheets
art supplies
vacations
the rolling stones
parents that love me & raised me with care
brother that's a chef and willing to make t-day dinner for us
patterned paper
books
being married to my best friend
friends to share hobbies and laughs with
peppermint mocha creamer
people dedicated to finding the truth
candles
comfy knitted socks
foster youth
generous donors to help foster youth
jeans
caffe americanos
ipod
freshly baked bread
rock and roll
hulu
health
sleeping in late

...NOT cooking Thanksgiving turkey, and a husband who loves me despite the fact that i'm domestically challenged and embrace that disability with warm and open arms.

I hope your list is even longer this thanksgiving day.

it's 90 degrees on nov 1

...i suppose southern california never really wants to let go of summer. but - with the fall, the warm santa ana winds have blown all of the smoggy gook out of the skies and the inland empire is just beautiful this time of year! sometimes i forget there are hills and mountains around riverside, and it's this season that reminds me they're out there!

i'll admit, i'm a little jealous of the blizzard conditions my family are lamenting in CO and i long for a little bit of snow - but to be honest, we've still got blooming flowers and blue skies, and i'm okay with that! plus, no yucky piles of dirty snow will be left over in a few days.

not much going on the creative front - still finishing up my mysteries of me album, i'll share photos when it's complete. getting ready to start on my december daily project a'la ali edwards, and will be digging into the holiday music stash this afternoon to get started on heidi's jingle bell jam - the tenth, and possibly final, edition.

anyway - here are some of my photos from the last 30 days...i've been learning more and more about my camera and how to use editing software all the time! loving it!here's to a lovely november for you, too. :)

diane, I hold in my hand a small box of chocolate bunnies

we don't do much for halloween these days...but i have the fondest of memories of going trick-or-treating as a kid in some great home-put-together costumes (many of those covered by winter coats) in freezing october halloween nights common to colorado. i remember going to a school dance on halloween in junior high dressed, along with my best friend, as a pair of dice. try dancing with a cute boy while wearing a box the size of a washer/dryer. yeah. bad idea.

tonight will find kirk and i welcoming mom (marti) for a visit with a cool jack-o-lantern, lots of candles, caramel apples, warm chex mix & pumpkin seeds (i'm going to try not to burn them) and some classic creepy movies the likes of young frankenstein and the 3rd man. should be fun!

hope you have something fun planned to help you get your spook on.
(did i just say, "get your spook on?" *sighs and shakes head*)

i leave you now with some scenes from my all-time favorite, and in my opinion the best in television history, creepy show...
(to turn off the spooky tunage...click the || button to the right --->)







David Lynch was just too cool for TV.

happy halloween everyone!

progress...

is a good thing.

the photos to the left are my progress on the mysteries of me mini-album class mentioned in earlier posts. i really like how things are coming together. and guess what folks? i SEWED! yep - me, the girl who would have failed (not kidding) home economics if her mother had not baked her a pie for extra credit.

not only did i sew, by hand (me and sewing machines don't see eye to eye,) but i sewed 4 different stitches - and didn't have to start over once! i am normally not this thrilled with myself, really, it's just that i was going to take the easy way out and glue/staple these pockets together, but i just decided to try it. needle & thread, and guessing at various stitches. they aren't perfect, they don't look like they were done on a machine, some of the stitches are loose, but by golly, i'm proud of the darn things!

the cover (middle photo) for the mini-book turned out pretty too - i used some pattern paper to match the inside of the bigger book, a tag dyed with tea and blue liquid ink, and i SEWED on a scallop trim, and added the other embellishments as directed.

this is going to be a really cute project...that ms. kartchner has such a flair for cute!

inside the mini album are going to be stories, tickets, photos, thoughts, little journal entries about a variety of topics. having a great time, even if i do have to fit in the creative fun after 12 hour workdays and stay up until 3 a.m. dyeing tags and poking my poor fingertips with needles! :)

thanks for stopping by, and have a good one, everybody...

artsy craftsy goodness

as promised, some of the creative stuff i've been working on lately:

first up, some birthday cards for the october babies in my life.

















next, those coffee sleeve notebooks i was talking about...









aren't they cute? and...EASY! wouldn't that christmas-y one make an adorable little place to keep all of those holiday shopping lists this coming winter? tutorial on how to make these on the way, so stay tuned!

lastly, i mentioned in a previous post that i signed up to take a class taught by Liz Kartchner, called "mysteries of me." this weekend the first two lessons were posted on the class site, and i got started this afternoon. we are making little mini-books that will be kept in re-purposed vintage books. pretty sweet idea, huh?

so far, we've gutted the book and made it into a little box, decorated the front cover, and started to prepare some of the other items to begin the mini-album soon. i found a really neat old book of poetry by robert frost amongst some old books...the cover is super-distressed and a beautiful teal color.

while i hated taking a knife to a book of such classic proportions, the pages were in pretty bad shape and falling out of the binding, so...i chose to look at it as restorative surgery and re-cycling instead of torturing classic literature. :)

here's my progress so far:

i had to put some new paper on the inside cover as an end-paper as the original was tearing from the cover. i also added some gaffer tape to help strengthen the binding since it was tearing away from the pages.

i left some of the pages in the bottom, and cut using an exacto knife about 1 inch deep to make the "pocket" where the mini-album will fit.

used rub-ons, stamping, and some other goodies on the front cover.

i love it so far!

p.s. my sunday dreams noted below came true except i traded coffee for iced tea because for some reason southern california has decided to send autumn away for awhile longer and invited summer temps to come back...much to my dismay, i am so over this hot weather!

hope you all had a great weekend, too, and are gearing up for a productive and happy week.

ahhhhh, sunday....

i'm going to do everything in my power to make sure my sunday is all about coffee, staying in my pj's, creative projects, hanging out with my love, and being as lazy as can be. how about you?

luckily i didn't party too hard last night so my sunday morning is a little brighter than johnny's...

fall favorites

oak glen, ca.
pumpkins. apples. cider. squash. scarecrows. weather-beaten red buildings. cornfields. old wheelbarrows near autumn flowers.
life is good.