Yes - I've turned into one of THOSE people ---

You know - the ones who dress their dogs and carry them around in a bag...

it started innocently enough - the occasional outing with EmmaLou in the bag over my shoulder [she's so quiet -- surprisingly-- that no one even notices her.] And then I saw this:

And since we had a planned outing with her I suddenly knew she needed to be dressed CUTE.
So [yes] I bought the sock monkey just to get the hoodie - and she tolerated it:

But we thought it might be a bit small so I added some side panels
and a little skirt around the bottom [too cute!]

I'll be honest - SHE HATES the process of putting it on -
but manages well once it's there.
So I'm re-thinking it again and will probably add a
velcro opening to make it easier for her
because she's going to need a little hoodie on these cool nights...

Ten on Tuesday

1. Well – you know you’ve got way tooooo much on your mind when you go through the drive-through for breakfast, pay for your food, and then drive away without it… About four blocks away I reached down to get my coffee – and it wasn’t there! LOL. [And yes, I went back to get it.]
2. Traveled to Montgomery for work this week [and that’s a whole other story!] – Here I am standing in one building looking out at my office building – those big windows on the 2^nd floor are our break room – it looks out to the State Capitol and really is a pretty view. And no, I'm not one of the precious few who gets to park in THAT parking lot [actually our building has parking underneath - but I don't a spot THERE either -] On a good day I get to park a couple of blocks away - on a bad day I find a spot a few blocks DOWN A HILL further away... so there's no doubt that when I'm down south I need to have my walking shoes on!
   
3. Craig has taught EmmaLou to twirl ‘round on her hind feet when she gets her treat – so funny. I think she might need a tutu now --
4. We did the Fourth Thursday sidewalk sale over in Tuscumbia this week – and had mostly lookers – only a FEW people even walked closer to show interest. But! I sold my booth fee [$10] haHAha.
5. And I LOVE the way our little vendor area looked! These are the same shutters [from the Re-Store] we used when we had booths at scrapbook conventions – we re-vamped them to showcase the art a bit better. LOVE the lights Craig configured for it.
6. I have a sinus cold [yuck] – and was hoping it was just the changes in the weather – which have been so refreshing, btw, but alas, I think it’s the normal-got-to run-its-[7 day]-course thing… So I’ve basically spent two days in bed…[could be that all the going-going-going has caught up with me - ]
7. I did gather enough energy to put away the summer fun fiskateer party stuff, clean up the craft area, clean out the garden a bit, [Is this the last harvest? –I sure hope not!] and make some pumpkin bread Time to get ready for the busy fall season.
8. We also had the opportunity to be a part of the live audience web-cast recording for Dr. John Townsend’s newest book, Beyond Boundaries up at the Opryland Hotel. I listen to him as often as I can on this radio show. They’re just great Christian Counselors who give good Bible-based encouragement and advice. [I’ve been listening to them for over 20 years now! Wow. Thanks Lisa B. for introducing them to me!] I’ll share more about this experience in a few days.
9. This is the third time I’ve been to the Opryland Hotel since the great flood of May 2010 – and, oh my goodness, they’ve done such a terrific job getting everything restored, you’d never even know it was all under water before! [And isn't THAT unbelievable?!?] It is just as beautiful as ever!
10. I also took some time to be creative this week and used some chipboard butterflies on smaller canvases – love the way they turned out! I also worked a bit more on the large [HUGE – it’s bigger than our dining room table] piece I’m doing for the oldest. – It’s taken me a bit to work it all out in my head before getting to the actual paper and paint … and it’s coming along nicely now.

Once a Month [Old Stuff] GiveAway

Thanks so much for all of your comments throughout the month!
I love reading them and think it's so fun to share together!
I appreciate each of you taking the time to stop by and visit!

Soooooo – I know I’ve been a little lax about the ‘ole Once a Month [old stuff] Giveaway lately– truth is I haven’t been scrapping as much as I have in years past so it takes me a bit longer to fill up the box [and the stash leftover from our kit club days has dwindled down as well.] Maybe it should be re-named the Once [ever few] Month[s] Giveaway – lol - NOT YET!!

Truth is – I live a very [cRaZy] busy and blessed life. As I’ve already shared – I’ve traveled more days this month than I’ve been home and already every weekend in October is full of fun plans!

And as result, I’ve neglected parts of the blog – but I’m trying to get back on track!

Don’t worry Kristen – I have your box ready and on its way!!

I must admit that I miss interacting with each of you so I’m changing things up once again! Starting this month – I will again randomly choose the OMGiveaway winner from the comments on THIS post.

And I’ll take the time to comment on comments, if you will – something I’ve so enjoyed in the past, but have [also] neglected these last few months – So bare with me as I ramble on – First off – THANK YOU to all of you had such sweet comments on my Summer of Color Projects [and a GREAT BIG THANK YOU to Kristen for hosting this summer fun event!!] It was a blast and kept me crafting throughout the summer months! Michelle Rayburn, thanks for the comment and the how-to’s of the plastic peony – you know I love your blog [so much!] And Gloria, my friend, I sooo agree with you! TWO seasons would be perfect! Spring and Fall – lol. And a friend here in town said my hair looked more ‘golden wheat’ than red – lol – you might be able to see it in the Fiskateer photos.

LindainNCToo – yep, Craig and I really do enjoy doing things together. But as we've become empty-nesters we have branched out into some separate activities as well. I love how we work together on a common goal [like the new and improved vendor display I’ll show you guys soon – so fun to see both of our ideas meld into one.] You know you're in my prayers!!

Marianne [fiskateer #6701] – I had no idea when I did the fiskateer survey that I’d actually get the punch if they chose my name – SO FUN! I think they go with the name that they hear the most because someone else also got the double-bubble punch… and as of right now I think we’re in the glider ‘admire’ not ‘acquire’ stage of life – lol. We’re so very happy to have the wedding ring pattern – it just completes our ‘collection.’

Ahh, Bernice – I almost went to panera again this week. That mozzarella - basil - tomato paninni [sp?] is calling my name!Maybe you’ll try one when you’re back in the states!

LinhC [it was so nice meeting you!!!] – thanks for the comment on the printer’s tray – I just measured and cut up photos of flowers in our yard and pushed them into the little sections. I’m thinking of changing it up a bit to make it a little more full family memories – I’ll post photos if I do.

And NOW: The winner of this month's OMGiveaway is Gloria!!

[I know I should have it – but send me your snail-mail address: Judy@faithabsedpages.com and I’ll get a box in the mail to you!]

And remember that the NEXT winner will be chosen from COMMENTS ON THIS POST.

So comment away on any of the posts from the last month!

Deadline to leave a comment: September 30th

Check back with me at the end of October to see if you won!

[I’m pretty sure there’ll be some extra-special things in THAT box.]

And I look forward to getting together and ‘talking’ with each of you then!

Happy Fall Y'all!

My {{absolute}} favorite time of year!!
And for once the weather actually FEELS like fall on this first day of the season!
But, alas, I'm too sick to enjoy it - maybe tomorrow...
Today I was in bed 16 hours dealing with the sinus pressure
that comes along with changing weather...
Looking forward to sitting outside and drinking my morning coffee --
tomorrow!
[Photo is of a tree on my drive to work - taken last year - later in the season.
Y'all know our trees won't turn until October down here in the South.]
Enjoy!

Fiskateer Fun!

A fiska-what?!? Go HERE to find out more about this crafting group sponsored by the wonderful folks at Fiskars [you know - the orange scissor people!!] I've been a fiskateer for a few years now [#5798] and enjoy the blog - forum - challenges - etc. Go on over and check it out! This fall Fiskars hopes to gather fiskateers together in every state of the USA! And Alabama was thrilled to be a part of the kick-off weekend! Lesa [#5200] was a wonderful hostess!! We had a 'Goodbye to Summer' theme and I was happy to assist with the palm tree and flamingos and crafting challenges. Attendees enjoyed make 'n takes , sketch challenges, and games. [Thanks to Julia and Lesa for assisting with prizes!] We had fun fiska-themed goodies -- [Lesa made these adorable cupcake toppers and table decor!] It was so fun to meet my fellow fiskateers! I love getting to know other crafters from all walks of life! And I look forward to getting together again soon! If you're on FB - you can find all of my fiska-fun photos here. [Feel free to download if you want them -]

Ten on Tuesday

1. Travelis my life – it’s the truth. So far in September I’ve traveled more than two hours away for work or play ten days out of twenty. 10/20 does that sound fun? And the month’s not over...
2. So I have to say – I AM TIRED OF EATING OUT OF A BAG. I’m committing today to taking a break from fried food – had sushi and salad for dinner [out / town] last night.
3. We went to the Demolition Derby Thursday evening –Is this becoming an annual event? I love how we always find a favorite car to root for during each ‘heat.’ The highlights for this year? One car almost went over the barricade, and a couple of the others got on top of each other until a ‘friend’ came over and rammed the one underneath out from under…
4. We met friends at the Lincoln County Fair where there was FRIED FOOD – and this year I took my meds and we showed no restraints – had hot dogs with chili, cotton candy, corn dogs, fried oreos, and, are you ready? Fried Butter. Who Knew? I didn’t taste that one – but was told that it tasted similar to a cinnamon roll. And I’ll be honest – I had my white stuff as a night –cap. Lol.
5. MySweetie found a great deal [he is SUCH A GREAT SHOPPER!] on a new toy– yay for him! So now - instead of growing grass, will I be growing ... -men? [Family lore ---]
6. Had a GREAT time at Alabama’s United States of Fiskateers’ Party on Saturday![I’ll post more on this fun event in a couple of days!] Didn't Lesa do a wonderful job with the cupcake toppers?!?
7. And had a wonderful family dinner on Sunday. It’s always nice to be together with family.
8. We’re really [[really!]] enjoying the cooler weather these days –
9. And the robins are back! I bet I counted thirty in the yard yesterday morning -they come through each spring and fall. And a funny story about that -
10. We always learned in school that birds fly south for the winterand I guess we thought that some must be heading to South America or something – truth is, we have birds around our house all winter long and thought nothing of it until we visited St. Paul in November a few years back – and while we were walking around downtown and in the parks [y’all know they have snoopy statues, don’t you?] we noticed how eerily quiet it was – and you guessed – NOT A BIRD IN SIGHT. That was the moment Craig and I realized that we just might live in the south that the birds migrate too - lol

favorite photo friday -

Just a few favorite photos taken a couple of years ago when Craig found this field of giant sunflowers! We managed to get there toward the end of the season and still found a few in full bloom. Shopped them up into a template and printed as one sheet then added it to the background, [I put the light blue paper through the computer to get the quote on] and it was ready to go. A favorite quote as well - "Keep your eyes on the sun - it's what the flowers do." - Helen Keller

AU Art

When Drew moved into his first apartment at AU there was BIG electrical / fuse box right in the middle of the wall in the living room [?!?] that drove me crazy!
So one week when I stayed there by myself [school was out, I was working in Montgomery 45 minutes away] I made this little piece of art - layed it out on that tiny little dining table and let the layers dry each night as I finished it up. And then I hung IT RIGHT OVER THE FUSE BOX!
I was thrilled, even when I wasn’t sure anyone else loved it –

And then when he graduated there was lots of discussion about the Auburn Art and who got to keep it – alas, it stayed in the apartment with Matt and

later moved on into the house he shared with friends.

And now it’s at Stephanie’s apartment while Matt lives in the BCM.

And all this time I’ve been reminded that I need to make another one – but never got around to getting the supplies together.

Meanwhile I have a HUGE mixed media piece pending – but felt the Auburn Art needed to be out of the way before I started on it [and you’ll see the background o f the huge piece in the photos below – it’s a great big {office} white board that we bought at the Re-Store – can’t wait to get started on it!]

First – I started with some foam board that oldest bought for some airplane projects, tissue paper, computer generated letters, and paint.

I covered the board in tissue paper and mod podge [a crafty-girl’s best friend – lol]

and paint. [Canyon Orange and Bright Blue.]

I had saved my letter patterns from the previous project [varsity font at about 120 points,]

so I cut those out of newsprint,

trying to include Auburn sports news when I could.

Once the orange was dry I podged the letters down and painting around the outline – I actually did this twice to get it a little neater.

Then I podged all over it one last time to seal it all in completely.

And it’s just a fun little piece of art.

Oldest plans to hang it in his ‘game’ room, I think. We’ll see.

Ten on Tuesday

1. My mind has been in full creative mode this week as I’m getting ready for some upcoming crafty events – things I’m ‘in charge’ of, things I’m going to attend just for fun, and crafty things I’m planning for Christmas as well.
2. And I’m also getting ready for another sidewalk sale – we’ve pulled out the shutters we used for our vendor booth back in the ‘monthly kit days’ and are re-vamping them a bit. I love to hear Craig’s ideas as we work out a project together – the lighting is going to be a wonderful touch.
3. Only in the south – would you see this on top of a water tower.
4. We took a quick trip to Memphis this weekend, and while it was a long & tiring day – we’re so glad that we’re able to help out when we can. [And we’re blessed to have our Mamas here with us.] MUCH THANKS goes to the oldest who gave up a day to help us out – loading a 27 foot truck full and then moving it back out again. It’s wonderful to have strong men in my life!
5. Bad News: my sister broke her glasses and didn't know if the docs were ready to give her a new prescription due to recent eye surgeries; Good News: turns out her eyesight is better than ever and she doesn't need her glasses AT ALL. Weird? Yes. But we're still praising and dancing a jig!
   
6. This week I finished up an art project that’s been a long time in the making. – I’ll share more about it on Thursday. It’s nothing spectacular, but it is a fun little mixed media piece that’s a little different than the previous one done back in ‘07.
7. Missing the youngest, but enjoying seeing photos of him on facebook – and it looks like Stephanie has influenced him to attend the games afterall. [He’s a junior and this is the first year he’s bought his student tickets -]
8. A bit of personal news – it was time to color my hair and I went with a ‘golden’ hue – which always gives my hair a bit of a red tint – and I think I like it…
9. Oldest celebrated 25 years on Sunday. We enjoyed a meal at The Mellow Mushroom with him and his sweetie. And since we’ve only eaten there a few times, we still haven’t found something we LOVE. – All you MM fans, don’t be hatin’ us… it IS a fun atmosphere… This photo is from the 15th birthday - since his birthday was overshadowed [and rightly so] by the disaster of 9-11, we decided to do something extra fun and let him share a night with Gallagher and few close friends - a night to remember for sure.
   
10. We also took Sunday afternoon for yard work – working together it takes us a couple of hours to get it all done – but the weather was cool and y’all know I LOVE the mindless task of lawn –mowing – seriously.

Remembering With the World

So ten years ago today - have I ever shared with y'all what my day was like? [And I know for sure that most everyone over ten years old has some memory of it - ] Our oldest was born on September 11th, and ten years ago he was celebrating his 15th birthday - and the rite of passage that goes along with it - The Driver's Permit.

First a little note - as hard as it may be to believe for some, we've never micro-managed our kids [if they didn't study for a test and flunked - it was their flunk; if they needed a visual for a presentation - they were welcome to use stuff from the craft room, but had to put it all together themselves - even when the lines weren't straight and drove me batty - lol.] So - that said, it was HIS responsibility to read the book and know what was required to take this test.

It was MY responsibility to get up at 5:00 and get him there in line by 5:30 or 6:00 [IN THE MORNING] to assure he could take it and be out of there in time for an orthodontist appointment later in the morning... Basically, here in our little town, if you weren't one of the first ten people in line you risked having to wait ALL DAY or even come back in the morrow - not something either of us wanted to do - So we took our spot in line [because, yes there were other crazies there with us -] and waited the two hours until the doors opened to get our number. And as we waited I started noticing others had extra little papers in their hands...

And just as the doors opened I asked the oldest about that and he decided he'd READ THE BOOK to find out the requirements - and learned we needed some things - like his birth certificate, and school confirmation, etc. I won't lie - I was so, so very upset. [Furious? May be too strong a word - but MAD? Yes.] Here, we'd waited two hours and didn't even have what we needed to test... and we lived a good 40 minutes away... so we got our number, called Dad to meet us half-way with the birth certificate and headed to Krispy Kreme for a doughnut [because afterall, doesn't warm sugary goodness always make things better?]

And we turned on the radio - and heard news of the first plane. Suddenly missing papers weren't so important afterall - and as we met Dad to get the birth certificate we heard about the other plane; and we went to the school for the needed papers and there was much discussion of the safety of our little town [which has a military base and lots of techie missile command companies supporting it.] Then, as we drove down the long hill of Airport Road to the orthodontist appointment we heard the first tower fall - and in the office watched in horror with the rest of our country as things changed forever.

And we learned that life goes on - and, that we really shouldn't sweat the small stuff; papers, and grades, and even driver's permits can wait. There are SO MANY things that are so much more important. Immediately, I was very thankful to gather my little chickadees close and JUST BE together.

And now, ten years later, [our baby's 25!! - Where does the time go?!] we've faced changes in our lives - heightened security here in town and airport changes are the ones that affect us directly - but again, that's small stuff compared to the families who were immediately impacted and lost their moms, and dads, and sons, and daughters, and grandparents.... I pray comfort for them as they go through the motions of the day - may they feel the peace that only God can give -

Ten on Tuesday

1. Last week I traveled through parts of the state that was hardest hit by The Storms in April – and wow, there are no words – even now, four months later. It’s terrible devastation; not only are entire neighborhoods GONE – but the businesses too – so that means no income for so many as well… and yet the people continue on –
2. I also had the opportunity to visit my skin doctor – my twice a year, burn the pre-skin-cancerous spots off the body, hurt like heck, visits that I never quite look forward to – but a girl-who-grew-up-in-the-south-without-sunscreen’s- gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. All will be healed and well in a couple of weeks.
3. But I look a little leprosy-poky-dotted right now. [Just keepin' it real, folks.] And a little known tidbit – did you know that a mixture of vinegar and water put on twice daily heals better than triple antibiotic ointment? [Doctor’s Orders.] Of course, I smell like a pickle…
4. Had dinner with friends at pizza hut and enjoyed seeing one of ‘our’ newest college students [home for the weekend] basking in his newfound freshman freedom.
5. My sweetheart and the oldest went dove hunting all day Saturday and I took the time to drag out the sewing machine [I’m such a seamstress] and do some mending. I also sorted through some scrapbook stuff in the attic in preparation for the upcoming Alabama United States of Fiskateers event – it’ll be fun!
6. And I made muscadine jelly. Yum. So happy it turned out clear and pretty. Do any of y’all add the little bit of butter to prevent foaming? I just can’t seem to be able to bring myself to do that – so I skim, and I skim, and I skim… and I skim some more. LOL.
7. And I cleaned house a bit…
8. And I finally broke down and bought The Help Saturday evening. [Here’s a great review that says most everything I have to say too-] LOVE that I can buy it on my kindle and start reading immediately without ever having to leave the house. And once I get my nose in a book I can’t seem to put it down – so I finished it up about 6:00 Monday morning…
9. ... taking breaks only to go up to the Dog Days flea market where I bought more transformers for my bottle tree and to eat rice noodles at Craig’s favorite Chinese Buffet. Yum. [Note: the clear transformer is from my mother-in-law {thank you!} and I love the way it looks like a giant screw. Fun!]
10. Loving this rain that Lee is bringing to us – no storms at all – just a steady drizzle [and, at times, heavy down pour] and much [[much]] cooler temps. Of course Emma Lou doesn’t quite understand the reason she has to run out and get all wet just do her business. But I refuse to walk her out under an umbrella like Mama used to do for Jot [the family Yorkie.]

An idea can turn to dust
or magic,
depending on
the talent that
rubs against it.
- William Bernbach

How fun! I'm a featured 'artist'!
Ascribing Artists!
I'm honored to be a part
of this group -
Check them out!