Antique or Not

Starting A New Quilting Blog

2012-01-25T10:07:00.000-08:00

Last week I decided that it might make more sense to start another blog to chronicle my quilting journey. That way I could tailor it to be more specific to quilting: the blogs that I follow, the giveaways that I share, that sort of thing.

Plus, I wouldn't be boring my non-sewing friends with all of my quilting angst.

I spent two days deciding on a new blog name, finding a template that I liked, installing it, customizing it, cussing over the code, setting up pages, and designing buttons for it. Then another day flew by while I uploaded blogs to follow, and copied over old posts from this blog about quilting (so that there would be a history).

Work still needs to be done but it's close enough, so today A Little Off Quilter goes live. From now on you won't be seeing any sewing or quilting posts on this blog, except for project finishes. So if you're a quilter or into sewing and would like to keep up with my misadventures in those areas, you're welcome to follow my new blog. Old friends are always welcome!

Hugs,
Pam

A Little Bit of Thankfulness

2012-01-23T15:47:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I feel like the luckiest person in the world. Starting this blog four years ago introduced me to so many wonderful, talented ladies who are becoming such wonderful friends.

Last month I won the December giveaway hosted by Brenda at The Rusty Thimble; the prize was one of her adorable Santa bobbins. When I opened the package, here's what I found:

Notice the little Christmas bag? Sweet Brenda tucked a little something extra in there for me. I wasn't sure what it was going to be, but it sure smelled good. When I opened the package, I found this:

A yummy-smelling Snowman head tart, and it's huge! I can't wait to break off a chunk and throw it in my tart warmer. Brenda, you're the best!

Edited to add: Brenda has kindly informed me that the snowman head is a soap, not a tart. *snicker* It's a good thing I hadn't tried to melt it yet, right? LOL

On another note, I've noticed other people's blog posts where they talked about receiving an RAK from someone. I guess I've been living under a rock, but I had absolutely no idea what an RAK was. A swap of some sort? I was clueless.

Then I received a surprise package in the mail from Linda at Parker's Paradise. I wasn't expecting anything from Linda, so I was a little confused. Hmmm, it wasn't my birthday, so that couldn't be it.

Then I noticed a blog post from someone on my blog list who had received a similar package from Linda, who likes to surprise bloggie friends from time to time. And then it hit me what RAK stands for...Random Act of Kindness. Duh! I'm so slow sometimes!

Anyway, here's the cute pillow that Linda made with her own little hands and sent to me:

I've been keeping it in my sewing room to give me a little inspiration. Thanks, Linda!

See why I feel so lucky? It's due to great friends like you.

Hugs,
Pam

It's Chili Time!

2012-01-23T15:33:00.000-08:00

We've had snow for the last week and Hubby's been spending his days pushing it around, keeping our deck and private road clear. He's chilled to the bone when he comes inside at the end of the day, hungry as a bear, and I've been doing my part to keep him full and warm.

As you might expect, my crock pot has been getting a workout. Several days ago I made Chicken and Barley Soup, followed a couple of days later with Hearty Beef Stew. I'll post those recipes another time, when I have a chance to make them again and take some pics.

Today, however, I'm making White Bean Chili. Hubby is sensitive to kidney beans, which is what I'd normally use in my chili, so we're adjusting to chili made with Great Northern beans and we really haven't noticed a difference.

I chopped the onion and bell pepper for the recipe using a Christmas present from my sister: a Progressive Onion Chopper. She swore that it would make my cooking life easier, and she wasn't kidding! I was able to dice the onion and bell pepper in just a couple of minutes, and the cleanup was so easy. Thanks, Sis!

Here's what I'm making today:

White Bean Chili

Ingredients:

2 lbs. lean ground beef
1 tbsp. Nature's Seasons*
1 medium onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 14.5-oz. cans of tomato sauce
1 6-oz. can tomato paste
1 14.5-oz. can diced tomatoes
2 15.5-oz. cans Great Northern beans, drained
1 tbsp. chili pepper
1 tbsp. cumin
Salt and pepper to taste

*Note: Nature's Seasons is a blend of salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, sugar, celery seeds and parsley. It's a staple in my kitchen; I never brown ground beef without it, no matter what the recipe calls for. It can be found at your local grocery store with the other spices.

Brown your ground beef in a frying pan over medium heat, using your spatula to break up the meat into small pieces. While the meat is still pink, add the Nature's Seasons, onion, and bell pepper; continue stirring until brown. I like to drain mine in a colander at this point to remove any excess grease.

While your meat is browning, add remaining ingredients to crock pot. Stir and turn your crock pot on high.

When your ground beef mixture is drained, add to the crock pot and mix well. Cover and leave in crock pot for 4-6 hours on Low or 2-3 hours on high.

I like to serve the chili sprinkled with shredded cheddar cheese, with either crackers or cornbread on the side.

By the way, Hubby wanted me to ask you if you've ever seen a Ukrainian snowblower. You haven't? Here ya go:

*Sigh* The man has no shame! LOL

Hugs,
Pam

New Blogger Comment Feature

2012-01-20T13:39:00.000-08:00

Have you noticed anything different in the last week or so with the comment format on your blogs, or on blogs you've been reading? It's a new feature that Blogger has implemented called "threaded comments".

In the past, one of the most common complaints from Blogger users is the way that comments were handled on your blog...they were formatted as a simple list. There was no way to differentiate comments from you, the blog author, and from the comments from your readers.

And if you wanted to reply to a particular comment, you had to either leave a general comment on your blog post, or have "moderated comments" turned on so that you could receive an email to approve the comment, which you could then use to reply to the comment directly to the reader.

The team at Blogger went to work on the problem and came up with a new "threaded comments" feature. Now when you want to reply to a particular comment on your blog, there will be a "Reply" link below each comment that you can use to leave your reply.

The cool thing is that your readers can also reply to each other's comments, giving them a chance to have an actual conversation within your post's comments, much like you would on an online forum.

Here are the comments from my last blog post. Notice how my reply is indented underneath Susan's comment? That's because I clicked on "Reply" beneath her comment and used that link to post my response to her comment. And the little circle with a pen icon next to my username indicated that I'm the blog's author.

If you'd like to read a little more about this new feature, you can check out this post on the Blogger Buzz.

And if you'd like to take advantage of this new feature, here are instructions from Google Support for enabling threaded commenting on your Blogger blog:

If you have commenting enabled on your blog, then threaded commenting will work provided you have your blog feed set to "Full," and have chosen the “Embedded" option as opposed to “Full page” or “Popup window.” To change your commenting settings, just go to the Comments section under Settings | Posts and comments. The setting to change your blog feed can be found under Settings | Other.

You can read more from Google about this new feature here.

Lucky for me, my blog feed was already set to "Full" with the "Embedded" option, so the change appeared automatically for me.

One problem I have with this new system is that unless your commenter selects "Subscribe to this thread" when they leave their comment, they won't know about your response. On the flip side, commenters coming in later will be able to read your response, which is nice.

So, what do you think about the change? Do you think it's better?

Hugs,
Pam

New Digital Design Freebies

2012-01-18T09:45:00.000-08:00

My friends over at My Memories have come up with a new freebie for you guys! Click here for the two pretty quick pages pictured here, plus all of the elements that were used to make them.

The quick pages will be in .JPG format and the elements in .PNG format, so they can be used in any photo editing or scrapbooking software, including My Memories Suite. If you want to use them in My Memories Suite, you'll simply need to visit the link above to download them to your computer, then import them into your layout just like you would a photo. Easy!

This download will include:

2 digital papers
5 page elements
2 quick pages

Here's an album page that I made using one of the quick page layouts...it took me just a couple of minutes to create:

This is Stripe...he thinks he's quite handsome.

These quick pages can be used to start a digital photo album that you can print or share online.

Question for you:

Would you like to see more scrapbooking/digital freebies like these?
If so, please leave a comment!

If you missed out on the scrapbooking software giveaway that I did recently, no need to be bummed. Just click on the My Memories button in my sidebar and use my special promo code STMMMS52472 for great savings on purchasing your own copy of My Memories Suite.

Don't delay...these free quick pages will only be available for a limited time. Start preserving those memories!

Hugs,
Pam

Decorating Above Your Cabinets

2012-01-17T13:24:00.000-08:00

Back in North Carolina, I was lucky enough to have about eighteen inches of space above my kitchen cabinets to play with. My sweet hubby installed some over-cabinet lighting and I went with a colored glass theme: lining up large pieces of brilliantly colored art glass for the light to shine through...tall vases and pitchers and bottles in cobalt and amethyst and emerald.

Unfortunately I never took pictures of those cabinets, but they are in the background in this old pic from when some of Hubby's family visited us back in 2009. The cabinets are very light in color, so the glassware added color without being too "heavy". And I loved the way the light from below would reflect the colors on the ceiling.

Our new house in Idaho is much more rustic in feel than the traditional home we had in North Carolina, so I wanted to reflect that difference in the blank palette above the kitchen cabinets. Unfortunately our furniture is all still the same—what I think of as "elegant country"—so going with a strictly "primitive" theme with its grungy tea-stained look was out. And a "lodge" theme with bears and moose wouldn't work, either.

The experts would say that I should display a "collection" up there, like baskets or large plates or different large pieces of creamware. I don't collect any of those things and my frugal self refuses to let me buy anything for this purpose. You know me, I collect books, but I don't think my books would look very interesting; and my little Wade figurines are too small. So what's a girl to do?

Lucky for me, I have boxes and boxes full of antique smalls, including truly vintage primitives, which DO fit in with the style that we're comfortable with. These things are leftover inventory from my antiques shop, some of which had never been unpacked from the day that I bought them. And I was dying to pull them out to play!

Here's what I started with...totally bare except for one lonely stoneware bowl that I'd come across while unpacking my kitchen things.

And here's where we stand now, although it's still a work in progress. I have one "problem" area that needs a lot of help, plus I'm not thrilled with the "cohesiveness" of the displays.

And here's how it looks at night:

Here I stood an antique wooden crate on its side, hung a scale from the slat, and tucked a sewing accessories box with an old flour sifter on top inside the crate. That brown stoneware bowl was stuffed with creamy pip berries and a checked towel draped over its side. An old buttocks basket is filled with children's blocks, some of which are pulled out to spell "antiques" and a couple of wooden pins stand sentinel in the back.

This one I'm having trouble with the center section; it sits the closest to the ceiling and doesn't allow much room. On the left is a blue and white reproduction tobacco jar, which fits nicely in that space. In the middle is a small cast iron coffee grinder in bright red and a small salt-glazed bowl. To the right and in the corner is a cobbler's stand with shoe last, an old wooden protractor, and an antique kitchen clock.

Turning the corner, you'll find a neat pewter-looking stirrup and a new prim redware plate. The next section has an old wooden bucket with a towel, a wooden washboard, an aqua canning jar filled with clothes pins, and a folk art face jug.

The last section has a small handmade broom, a large copper tub, a cast iron trivet, old bottles, and a large cattle brand.

You'll have to forgive my daytime "after" pictures; I had a dickens of a time taking them in the middle of a today's snowstorm. Plus I'm having problems with my camera due to a mishap involving leaving it unattended on top of my washing machine...while the machine was running. But that's a story for another day.

Notice the over-cabinet lighting? That's my honey again...doing what he does best! But this time, rather than paying for expensive halogen cabinet lights, we took the advice of our local lighting professional: use Christmas lights.

That's right, we simply dug around in the Christmas storage boxes for some strings of mini twinkle lights that we weren't using any more, arranged them in a sort of racetrack on top of the cabinets, and tied them into the under-cabinet lighting wiring. And voilà...ambiance lighting that doesn't use nearly as much electricity or burn as hot as halogen lighting. It doesn't give the more dramatic up-light effect of the halogen strips that we installed in the old kitchen, but it does provide enough light to draw your eye upwards and set off the displays.

I'll probably end up digging around in my old inventory and trying to find some more interesting things to display, but for now this is how it's going to be. Suggestions are always welcome!

So what do you display above your kitchen cabinets?

Hugs,
Pam

"One Thing, One Week" Challenge

2012-01-16T08:32:00.000-08:00

Finally...I accomplished a goal! I joined in with Amy's Creative Side for last week's "One Thing, One Week Challenge" to force myself to set a project goal and actually finish it within one week.

My goal was to finish my quilt top for my first quilting project, Atkinson Design's Yellow Brick Road quilt in the lap size. And here it is!

Here's where I stood at this point last week:

And this is what the quilt is supposed to look like:

I have ordered three different fabrics to choose from for the border, binding, and backing; so I'm at a standstill until those arrive in a week or so. I haven't decided yet which way to go for the border: black, cinnamon, or creamy with little cinnamon flowers.

After my cutting mishap, it was pretty dicey as to whether or not I was going to be able to finish the quilt with what I had on hand, but luckily I was able to come up with an alternative that would work with what I had left.

Before I pieced all the final blocks together, I changed my mind about one of the fabrics I had used, and became good friends with my handy seam ripper as I pulled off every offending piece and found something else in my stash that would work a little better.

Of course, Smokey had to check it over for for me, just to be sure all the stitching was even. His opinion was that it wasn't perfect, but it would do for a first try.

Hubby, on the other hand, took one look at it and offered, "Well, it's certainly... busy...isn't it?" LOL

Note to self: Next time do a better job picking out your fabrics!

Hugs,
Pam

You might live in Idaho if...

2012-01-15T12:34:00.000-08:00

We've all heard Jeff Foxworthy's standup routine about "You might be a redneck if..." and a lot of us Southerners can relate. Now that we're living in Idaho, there's a whole new set of "Foxworthy-isms" that were printed in a local newspaper recently which made me chuckle.

I'm pretty sure these are a parody of the "redneck" routine and have been circulated about a lot of different states; but they're funny nonetheless. Just for kicks, I'm repeating them here with my own take on the situation as a newcomer to Idaho:

1. If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you live in Idaho.

So true...this is one of the friendliest places I've ever seen. We rarely have to ask for help before someone's offering. And I can't tell you the number of times I've come home from shopping with names and phone numbers of complete strangers that I met in the checkout line who want to socialize with us.

2. If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you live in Idaho.

Honest to goodness, I've seen it here.

3. If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed the wrong number, you live in Idaho.

Before we moved here, I'd be snippy with someone who accidentally dialed our number and insisted they had the right number. (I know, not very nice, right?) Now I'll sit and chat with them for a minute. Go figure.

4. If you measure distance in hours, you live in Idaho.

Considering that it takes us half an hour to get to the nearest post office or grocery store, this is a fair statement.

5. If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you live in Idaho.

You can't shake a stick without seeing a deer here, but Idahoans are pretty careful drivers, in general.

6. If you have switched from "heat" to "A/C" and back again in the same day, you live in Idaho.

It might be more accurate to say, "If your idea of A/C is opening a window, you live in Idaho." And on the highway in the summer, we're usually the only ones with our windows closed...using real A/C. Can you say, "tourist"?

7. If you install security lights on your house and garage but leave both unlocked, you live in Idaho.

True. People routinely leave their houses and cars unlocked here. But not us.

8. If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in Idaho.

Our first winter has been so mild that I can't personally verify this. But I wouldn't doubt it one little bit. In fact, my crazy Canadian husband is anxious to give it a shot.

9. If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, you live in Idaho.

Idaho can get its first snow of the year in October, so I wouldn't doubt this one at all.

10. If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph, you're going 80, and everyone is still passing you, you live in Idaho.

Not true. Idahoans generally are very cautious drivers. If the speed limit is 55 and you're going 60, you're probably passing everyone on the highway, especially up here in the Panhandle. Honest.

11. If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow, you live in Idaho.

Sad, but true.

12. If you know all four seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction, you live in Idaho.

The locals would say "true" because I've had this one repeated to me before when we first moved here. I'd say "false" because this is the first year of my life that I've actually enjoyed all four seasons...each was exactly what you'd expect. Spring was cool and wet, summer was hot and and dry and gorgeous, fall was cool and beautiful, and winter has been cold (but not much snow yet). And the road construction has not been too bad...if they want to see horrible road construction delays, they should try driving in North Carolina.

13. If you find 10 degrees "a little chilly", you live in Idaho.

True. See #2 above. I'm usually wearing way more than the locals; it's that "delicate Southern flower" thing.

I'll have to add one more to the list:

14. If you see scenery like this all the time and don't think much of it, you live in Idaho:

We started moving to Idaho last spring and were finally official residents in June. It's the best thing we've ever done...we just wish we'd done it sooner!

Hugs,
Pam

We Have A Winner!

2012-01-14T09:14:00.000-08:00

Thanks so much for everyone who participated in the My Memories Suite giveaway! I really appreciate your comments and am excited to be able to share a copy of this wonderful software with the lucky winner.

And the winner is...

Gina of Cat Nap Inn Primitives!

Gina, I'll be emailing you with instructions for downloading your copy of My Memories Suite. Congratulations!

By the way, I got a package in the mail yesterday with a brand new copy of "Sisters of the Quilt" by Cindy Woodsmall which I'll be reviewing here soon. It's a trilogy compilation, so it might take me a little while to get through it, but once I do you can be on the lookout for another giveaway. *wink*

Hugs,
Pam

Disclosure: My Memories provided me with a download copy of My Memories Suite V3 software hoping that I might write about it. I was also offered a second download copy of the software for this giveaway. All opinions expressed are completely my own; I only recommend products that I use personally and believe that my readers would also enjoy. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. We hereby release Facebook of any liability.

Making the Perfect Omelet

2012-01-13T14:34:00.000-08:00

They say that you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. Some people believe that if you also didn't break out an omelet pan, then it can't possibly be an omelet. Au contraire!

I've tried making omelets the traditional way—in a pan—and I've never had much luck. Either I don't fold them over correctly or I overcook them and the outside is all brown and yucky. And to be completely honest...I never liked the taste of an omelet cooked in a pan.

But there's another way! Believe it or not, the best way to make a perfect omelet is to boil it. Yes, you heard me right.

One night last week I had a hankering for an omelet, so my sweet Hubby commandeered the kitchen and graciously agreed to let me photograph him working his magic.

First, he put a large pot of water on to boil. You need to have several inches of water depth, so we use our Dutch oven.

Each omelet will need its own Ziploc freezer bag; the quart size works best for us. Don't try to use a regular sandwich bag; they are much too thin and will burst while they're cooking. Believe me, I know this firsthand.

Have one person hold open the baggie, while the other cracks into it the desired number of eggs. We used two for my omelet (okay, it really was three; I was hungry) and four for Hubby's. If your omelets are different, it might be a good idea to mark the bags with your names before filling them so there's no fighting over them later.

Then you add whatever omelet fixings your little heart desires, but be sure that veggies are chopped small so that they'll heat through properly. We added cheddar cheese, green bell pepper, and ham to ours, plus I added a little onion to mine plus some cream. Don't forget to add some salt and pepper at this point too...we've forgotten this before and our omelets turned out a bit bland.

Seal up your baggie, but leave a small opening in the zipper so that you can blow some air in the bag. Once the bag is inflated, seal it up tight, then gently shake the bag so that all of your ingredients are mixed thoroughly with the eggs and the yolks are broken.

Reopen the seal and gently press the air out of your bag, then seal it up again. Your bag should be flat.

Plop your baggies in the boiling water, turn the heat down a little to keep the water at a low boil, and wait for the magic to happen. About 13 minutes is fine for two-egg omelets, but we like to give ours a good 20 minutes since we're doing three and four-egg omelets.

When the time's up, carefully remove the baggies from the boiling water; they will be super hot! Unzip the baggie and gently slide the omelet onto your plate.

Perfect! The omelet is thoroughly cooked but no brown icky outside. And the flavor...trust me when I tell you it's the best!

These omelets are so much fun to do when you have a crowd. You can set up a "fixings" station with bowls full of pre-chopped veggies, cheeses, salsa, spices, and so on, give each person a baggie with their name on the bag and a couple of eggs inside, and let them doctor them up to their heart's content. It's also fun to let your guests do the shaking and mixing...just be sure the seal's tight!

Then collect the bags, seal and flatten, and put several in each large pot of boiling water. Roughly 15 minutes later they are ready to serve!

And the cleanup...so easy. Just toss the baggies in the garbage. That's it! No messy pans to clean up.

My kids are coming to Idaho to visit next month; we'll definitely be doing these omelets one morning. They'll love them!

Hugs,
Pam

My Habit...

2012-01-12T10:33:00.000-08:00

Normally I don't do two blog posts in a day, but today I couldn't resist!

I don't know about you, but I'm always looking for a good deal on neat bakeware or cool kitchen gadgets. Some women collect shoes, I buy things to stuff in my kitchen cabinets. I recently signed up with My Habit, a new website sponsored by Amazon, that starts a new 72-hour clearance sale each day. And get this: shipping and returns are free!

Clearance prices and free shipping? That's my kind of online store!

Products are divided into four categories: Women, Men, Children, and Home. I'm interested in the "Home" category, because that's where my kitchen goodies will show up.

My Habit sends out an email each week to let you know about the week's upcoming sales and today's email caught my eye: Kaiser bakeware. You know that I love baking, and I've used and loved Kaiser products for some time now. Here's one of the special deals for today, a gorgeous 9.5" bundt pan (much prettier than my plain one) for only $12 (normally it's $22)... and free shipping.

Quantities on these items are very limited, which is why the sales last only 72 hours; popular items can be sold out in a matter of three or four hours, as I saw today with this bakeware. So if you see something you like, you need to grab it quick; these goodies don't last long.

A lot of the items offered are very high-end designer goods, but you'll also see interesting products for us "real" people, so keep checking back with them.

By the way, I noticed in today's email that an upcoming sale category that starts tomorrow, January 13th, will be French laundry, and I know a few of you who would love that!

If you're interested in checking out My Habit, just click on the first pic at the top of the page; you'll be taken right to their website. Now go grab some deals!

Hugs,
Pam

Gorgeous Digital Scrapping Resources

2012-01-12T08:50:00.000-08:00

So you have your new scrapbooking software, have put together some pretty albums from the bundled digital papers and embellishments, and are thinking...now what? If you'd like to know where you can go for more gorgeous digital products—or to learn new digital design skills—I have a few of my personal favorites to share with you. Whether you're a photographer, a scrapbooker, or would like to design your own blog graphics, you can find something of use at these great websites.

January Desktop from SMJ

My first experience with digital scrapping was with Shabby Miss Jenn Designs, from whom I bought my first website and blog graphics. She has the most gorgeous kits and layouts, and frequently offers cool freebies on her blog and Facebook page. One of her current freebies is a digital desktop for January, which can be found here. Check back with her each month for her current desktop, and follow her blog to keep up with her new offerings.

Shabby Blogs offers an innovative concept to digital designs: all of their offerings are free (with proper credit). They offer beautiful blog headers, buttons, backgrounds, tag sets, post dividers, and more...whatever you need to put together your own webset for your blog. This adorable header is one of the many terrific designs offered for free at Shabby Blogs.

Free Shabby Header from Shabby Blogs

Digitally Smitten by DDE

Digital Design Essentials is powered by designer Gina Cabrera, whose fun and whimsical designs are simply adorable. Her current free kit Digitally Smitten is a symphony of grays and yellows; companion alpha, word art, and template kits are also free at this writing and can be found here.

Studio Girls Scrapbookgraphics offers elements, actions, brushes, and overlays...it's as much a photographer's resource as for scrapbookers. This page kit, Loves Not Lost by Veronica, is a huge kit that includes backgrounds, word art, embellishments...a total of 93 elements (by my count) for only $7.00. Perfect for Valentine's Day!

Strawberry Lemonade from Jessica Sprague

Jessica Sprague is another resource for both scrappers and photographers. Her website provides not only products but also online classes to improve your digital design, photo editing, and software skills. One of her current freebies is the Strawberry Lemonade kit, which can be downloaded here.

Like Jessica Sprague, most of these websites also offer fantastic tutorials, so I urge you to check them out. Each of these websites also offer blogs and Facebook pages, and provide a wealth of knowledge and products to help you learn and grow in your digital design journey.

As with all creative works, please be sure to read the Terms of Use that come with each package and be sure to give proper credit to the fantastic designers. The digital art provided by these websites are intended for personal use; most cannot be used for commercial purposes without the purchase of special licenses and under certain conditions.

All of these digital goodies are provided in either .jpg or .png format and can be used with PhotoShop, Adobe Illustrator, and other graphics packages...including My Memories Suite scrapbooking software. If you haven't yet entered my giveaway for a free copy of My Memories Suite, click here to enter. Giveaway ends Saturday, January 14th.

If you've found other digital scrapping and photography resources that you love, please let me know and I'll share them here.

Hugs,
Pam

I Had the Best of Intentions...

2012-01-11T11:22:00.000-08:00

Click button to join the challenge

This week Amy at Amy's Creative Side challenged us to finish just one thing this week, then share it in a linky party to be eligible for a drawing for a great prize...fabric! Four pretty charm packs, just calling my name.

Since I tend to be a little of a procrastinator, I decided that this was just the kick in the pants I needed to get something...anything...finished. So here is my goal for the week:

This week I will finish my very first quilt top:

Yellow Brick Road

You notice that I didn't say I'd finish the whole quilt, just the quilt top. Hey, I may be a procrastinator, but I'm also a realist. I already have the fabric cut out; notice the pretty prim colors?

Now I just need to stitch, and cut, and stitch some more, and I should have a quilt top ready for quilting and binding.

Edited to add:

I had this post all ready to go and then went downstairs to work on my quilt. Due to a completely boneheaded move on my part (I misread the pattern directions) I'm back to square one on my quilt since I stitched together my pieces, ironed them all pretty, then cut everything wrong. *sigh*

I'm still determined to finish this quilt top by next week; my first thought was that I would simply buy 12 new fat quarters and start over, setting aside what I already have done to puzzle out later when I have more experience.

We were going on a day trip to Cranbrook, BC anyway to do some banking (and pick up some Cheezies to restock Hubby's stash), so I had him drop me off at Fabricland to look for some fat quarters. And got a great big shock...first of all, they didn't stock fat quarters. Really??? You sell fabric, have a whole quilting section, but you don't sell fat quarters? I was stunned.

Then I took a look at the prices of the fabrics on the bolt and got another big shock...at my local quilt shop here in Idaho, prices tend to start about $10.99 a yard for quality fabrics like Moda and go up from there. Prices at this Canadian big box fabric store started at about $11.00 a meter for gingham and low-quality prints and went up into the $20.00+ range. And they weren't even high quality fabrics! Needless to say, I didn't buy any fabric there.

Sure, they had a "club" membership you could buy for $20 a year and you would get half-price on selected fabrics, but still! I can't imagine how anyone can afford to quilt in an area where prices are so high. How do you Canadian girls do it? I would seriously love to know...

I had three hours in the car on the way back home, and spent some time noodling what to do with the mis-cut fabric that I already had. By the time we got home, I had a plan. Lucky for me, the lap size quilt that I'm making from the Yellow Brick Road pattern has several quilt blocks left over, which means that I can re-cut some of what I'd done wrong and still be able to finish the quilt...I just won't have any leftover blocks. Eureka!

I'll let you know how it turns out.

Lessons of the Day:

1. Read the directions three times, measure twice, cut once. Duh.
2. Buy your fabric in the U.S.

Hugs,
Pam

The Joy of Books

2012-01-10T09:12:00.000-08:00

As much as I love my Kindle, I still have a love affair going with real books. There's just something about the feel—the smell—of a real book in your hands, so I won't be liquidating my library anytime soon.

If I had a lot of time on my hands, and was feeling creative, here's something I could do with all my books, like these amazing Toronto bookshop owners did:

Thanks so much to eBookFling for sharing this video on their Facebook page this morning...I loved it!

And here's another video by the same booklovers, sharing how reorganizing their bookshelves at home got out of hand, which inspired the video above.

These guys are obviously as obsessive about organizing as I am...I alphabetize and they arrange by color! LOL

Hugs,
Pam

Our Kitchen Cabinet Rehab

2012-01-09T09:47:00.000-08:00

When we moved into our house last June, we knew that there would be a lot of things that we would have to replace: appliances, light fixtures, bathroom accessories, etc. Our kitchen cabinets, however, had spaces for two wine cooler/beverage refrigerators that we had no need for and no intention of replacing. So we were left with gaping holes at each end of our island cabinetry:

Plus there was an extra pullout drawer with two garbage bins in the island that we didn't use (it duplicated another right behind it next to the kitchen sink), so we decided to replace that pullout with a spice pullout instead, since cabinet space was more important than having four garbage cans (our area doesn't recycle...can you believe it?).

So we found the cabinetmakers who had installed the original custom knotty alder cabinets and called them to come out and work a little magic in our kitchen. When they were done, here was the result:

No more holes! And the garbage pullout went from this:

To a much more useful this:

Now I have a LOT more room for storage in my kitchen, which I desperately needed. I'll show you soon how I've organized all of the new storage space; it's still a work-in-progress.

And while they were at it, we had the cabinetmakers replace the kick plates beneath our dishwasher and range that were damaged as the old appliances were removed before we moved in, and when my sweet hubby installed the new appliances.

I didn't get a "before" picture of the ragged kick plate that was replaced; just trust me when I tell you that this is a huge improvement.

The kitties are not at all pleased with the changes...they used to like to hide in the holes in the cabinet when they were playing tag, and then jump out and surprise their siblings. But Mom's happy—and when Mom's happy, then everyone's happy, right?

See all that blank space above my upper cabinets? Hubby and I have been working on doing something about that...I'll share those "before" and "after" pics with you soon.

Hugs,
Pam

Bittersweet Surrender by Diann Hunt

2012-01-08T10:35:00.000-08:00

Click pic for info

You all know how much I love reading...this is the first in a series of book reviews that will appear occasionally on my blog.

Carly Westlake has her hands full with running her day spa while keeping an eye on her eccentric stepmother who has recently moved in. Toss in a handsome childhood friend who's doing her company books, a hunky high school crush who's just moved back into town, plus a brother who's hiding a big secret, and the sparks start to fly.

Chocolate is the unique theme of Carly's day spa; it's also her vice. After struggling through breast cancer followed by a painful divorce, Carly drowns her sorrows in chocolate and has the extra twenty-five pounds to prove it. All combine to threaten her faith—and her self-confidence—making it difficult for her to move forward with her life.

I truly enjoyed a heroine who was flawed and unsure of herself, yet resilient. Carly was so likeable; it was impossible not to silently cheer her on as she struggled with the knowledge that the people closest to her might not be what they seemed.

Although the story began as a light romance, suspense built with the secrets that were revealed as the story developed and I found myself trying to puzzle out what was going to happen next. The messages of faith throughout were subtle but inspiring.

I would definitely recommend this book for the romance-lovers, especially for those who also happen to be chocolate-lovers. The constant references to chocolate in the book stoked my cravings and I found myself pinning lots of chocolate-inspired recipes on Pinterest, like these:

Mounds Brownies from In Katrina's Kitchen

Chocolate Cheesecake Cake from RecipeGirl Lori

Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake from Leite's Culinaria

So while it is probably responsible for the extra couple of pounds I gained while reading it, I won't hold that against the book. *wink*

Hugs,
Pam

If you'd like to follow me on Pinterest, click here.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze® book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

A Scrapbooking Giveaway!

2012-01-07T04:39:00.000-08:00

(THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED)

When the folks at My Memories contacted me recently about reviewing their scrapbooking software, I was tickled pink! I've been a fan of digital scrapbooking for a while now (mainly because I love all of the gorgeous templates that talented folks put together) but I hadn't had the chance to give it a try myself. And now I have a good excuse!

My Memories Suite is great for people who have scrapbooked the old-fashioned way...with paper and scissors and glue...but want to scrapbook in the digital age. It's easy enough for anyone to learn, but it still gives you a lot of creative possibilities...and a helping hand when you need one. The software, developed by Polaroid Corporation and StoryRock Inc., is available in both PC and Mac versions.

When I was downloading the software, I noticed lots of fabulous freebies on their website to help you enhance your projects, as well as other reasonably-priced "kits" and "quick pages". So I downloaded several of those while I was at it, and soon I was ready to get started.

I decided to begin with scrapbooking the photos from Christmas of 2009 with my family, since I remembered that there were some really cute ones that I wanted to be able to share. So I clicked on "New Album", selected "Create Album From Designer Template", chose the "Holiday Snows" Christmas template (one of the standard templates that comes with the software), and had six pre-designed pages ready to simply drop my photos into!

Here's how my album turned out:

Pretty easy! Whenever I had a question, I clicked on "Help" and was taken directly to their website where I was able to quickly find an answer either in their help index, by searching for my problem, or by reading through their user's forum.

Now that I have an album, I can print it out, have a service make a book out of it, burn it to a DVD and add music and video, convert it to .jpg format to share (by email, on Facebook, or on your blog), and lots of other options.

Once you're more comfortable, you'll be designing your own page layouts. You can use the backgrounds and embellishments that come with the software, download freebies from the My Memories website, purchase kits from the My Memories website, or import digital scrapbooking object files that you find elsewhere.

The first album was so easy, that I decided to try something a little different. You're not limited to scrapbooking...you can even design elements for your blog (ahhh...you perked up at that, didn't you?).

I decided to try my hand at designing a new header for my blog. I checked on the dimensions of my existing header, then started a new document with those same dimensions. I inserted background papers as photo objects, and stacked them up real pretty. Then I added a binder clip, a flower, a pretty flourish, and put together a frame with text for my blog title and subtitle. And here's what I ended up with:

Just to cover the bases, I put together a page using "outside" graphics from Studio Girls Scrapbookgraphics' "Two Little Birds" kit by Qonita Lokutara and had no problems; they are just added a little differently:

If you'd like to see the software in action, I found a YouTube video review by CraftCritique that shows you exactly how it works:

Overall, I'm really pleased with the software. I think it would be even better if it were pre-loaded with more graphics, but understand that designing it to be "slim" at a bargain price and letting you add the graphics of your choosing is probably the most efficient way to go. Plus they offer so many free graphics on their site, you can quickly bulk up your graphics "stash" and then start a wishlist for what you'd like to add later.

And now for the giveaway...if you'd like to have your very own copy of My Memories Suite, you're in luck! The company not only provided me with a copy to review, but also with another copy for one of my lucky readers to download.

TO ENTER:

Just follow the directions in the widget below...it's that easy! You can either log in via Facebook or use your name and email address to enter.

(If you don't see the widget, click on the link that says "Read more" and the widget will open.)
a Rafflecopter giveaway.
(I'm trying out this neat widget by Rafflecopter which should help streamline the giveaway entry process. If you have any problems at all with entering, please let me know right away.)

And if you just can't wait for the contest to end and want to purchase a copy of the software, click here to go to the My Memories website; My Memories Suite V3 is available for only $39.97. My blog readers can also get an extra savings of $10 by entering the promo code STMMMS52472 at checkout (cut and paste this code at checkout to be sure you receive your discount), lowering the cost to $29.97. Plus, this promo code also entitles purchasers to receive a $10 coupon to be used at the My Memories store to build up that graphics stash I mentioned.

I'll definitely be using My Memories Suite to design our Christmas card later this year. And I'm already getting ideas for several other projects...

Getting Organized in the New Year

2012-01-06T13:31:00.000-08:00

It's almost the end of the first week in January and I'm already behind...way behind. I haven't been popping in to chat with you guys—either here or on your blogs—nearly as much as I wanted. But I promise to do better!

Hubby and I have been getting things accomplished around the house. We're still trying to settle in, even though we officially moved in last spring. We hung a 4x6 framed antique tapestry in our stairwell the other day...now that was interesting! Have you ever tried to hang something bulky and heavy really high on a wall in a stairwell? It's dangerous, I tell you! And I still have the back pain to prove it.

I also finally organized all of my winter gear; it had been in a plastic tub sitting in our bedroom. I stripped all of the lingerie that I never wear out of my dresser drawers and sorted out the winter gear in the drawers like so:

I told you I was a little obsessive/compulsive about organizing! But doesn't it make sense to put the things you put on your head in the top drawer, the things you put on your feet in the bottom drawer, and your gloves in the middle? Just sayin'...

And here's what my daughter calls our CVS closet; whatever you need that you can find in a drugstore, you'll find here...sorted out in their own little containers according to category like first aid, hair care, dental, etc.:

Now I'm dying to sit down and refold all of my fabric so that they are they same width and the fold faces the outside. My stash still looks pretty messy:

And wait...the plastic bins in the CVS closet should all be the same color and size...

Hmmm...is this normal? Maybe I need to seek professional help. ;o)

Hugs,

Pam

A New Year and A Fresh Start

2012-01-01T13:42:00.000-08:00

The start of a new year is a wonderful time to pause and reflect on the year that just closed, and the one that's to come. We make resolutions, and a few days later we forget them—unless, of course, we have a group of "moms" to watch over us and gently nudge us back on the proper path.

You, my friend, are one of my "moms." Age is irrelevant; it doesn't matter if you're twenty years younger than me, you can still take the position. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to point out when I'm straying from my resolutions. And I know you're up to the task!

If you haven't noticed already, I tend to be one of those people who make big plans with the best of intentions, but my follow-through tends to peter out. It's not my fault, really; it's because of my condition—Short Little Attention Span syndrome—better known as SLAS. There's no medication and no treatment plan for this syndrome; it simply requires oversight and lots of nagging.

And that's where you come in.

I'm going to post my New Year's resolutions and beg you to help me follow them. There are only five, which should help with the enforcement. Here goes:

In case you can't read them, here they are again:

New Years Resolutions

Lose 30 pounds.
Keep my house presentable.
Complete six large quilt projects.
Complete six small quilt projects.
Finish listing all of my primitives inventory in my online store.

I think I've covered the bases: my diet, household chores, keeping up the new hobby, and concentrating on my website. I tried to be reasonable in my expectations of myself, but also want to do better than I did last year (do you have any idea how tough it is to keep a large house clean when you have seven cats?).

Your part should be pretty easy: I post my diet's progress on the sidebar, you'll be seeing my quilt projects throughout the year, and you'll be seeing me blog about my inventory as I list it, or you can follow me on Pinterest. You'll just have to trust me on whether or not my house is neat.

So...are you up to it? Can you help me stay on track?

And how about you...what are your resolutions for the year? Do you need a "mom" too?

Do tell!

Hugs,
Pam

My Great Passion

2011-12-31T12:20:00.000-08:00

When asked what about our favorite things, most of us can quickly rattle off a long list of things that bring us joy. Mine includes things like:

Spending time with my family
Antiquing
Chocolate
Kitties
Travel
Photography
Quilting

But what about your true passion? What's the one thing that has been an enduring part of your life, something that you wouldn't want to live without? (Aside from our loved ones...those are a given!)

For me, that passion is books. I love books—collecting them, reading them, organizing them. (Okay, the last one is a little weird; I tend to be a little anal-retentive so I like to alphabetize. Books, CDs, DVDs, spices...but that's another blog post.)

Anyway, I have loved books and reading since I was a baby and my mother read my first book to me. I was hooked and couldn't wait until I could read all by myself. In nursery school, I remember my three-year-old self looking over at the kindergarteners learning to read and thinking: I want to do that.

Lucky for me I attended a progressive nursery school and they actually let me join the five-year-olds (they were probably tired of my begging and crying and just wanted some peace and quiet). For whatever reason, I was allowed to sit in the circle with the big kids and learned to read along with them, and a passion was born.

Fast forward forty-some years and I'm a middle-aged woman with a huge book collection. Paperbacks, signed first editions, reference books, fragile antique books...I love them all.

When the Kindle was introduced, I was in heaven. Finally—I could go on a week's vacation without having to bring an extra suitcase just for the books that I wanted to read. Seriously, if we were flying cross-country, I'd have three books in my carry-on just to tide me over until we landed. Now I only have to carry my Kindle and life is good.

Hubby has insisted for years that since I love reading so much, I should write a book. He has visions of me writing the next bestseller; I think he actually wants to be a househusband. Or maybe he just wants to go on book tours with me; standing in the background beaming as I sign books. Nah, he just wants to see those big old fat checks coming in the mail.

Unfortunately, I have no imagination. Zero, zip, nada. Writing a book is beyond me, but there is another way that I can stick a toe in the door of the publishing world: proofreading. And that's what I've been doing for the past couple of days; I've been reading and proofing a novel for an author. Thank goodness I paid attention in English class!

I've also signed up with a fantastic outfit called Blogging for Books. It's a wonderful opportunity for people like me who love to read...I pick out a new book that looks interesting from ones they have available and they send it to me, either as an ebook or sometimes as a real book. My job is to read the book and review it, here on my blog for you and also in a public forum like Amazon.com, in order to spread awareness about it. How fun is that?

I'm waiting for my first book to arrive; it's an Amish trilogy (I love those!) and has the word "quilts" in the title. What could be more perfect?

Hugs,
Pam

It's All In A Name

2011-12-28T12:36:00.000-08:00

As a blogger, you spend a lot of time writing your post, choosing the right photos, editing those photos, and placing everything on the page just right so that it looks pretty.

What...you don't do all that? Well, people with mild OCD like myself tend to obsess over all those little details because ~~it will drive us crazy if we don't~~ it brings us pleasure.

Anyway, one thing that a lot of us tend to gloss over is the titles that we give our blog posts. We will often slap a title on there willy-nilly just before pressing the "Publish" button, without giving much thought to it. And in doing so, we're missing a huge opportunity to promote our blogs to a whole new market.

Google and other search engines seem to place a higher priority on the title that we give our blog posts, rather than their actual content. So giving your blog post a relevant title with buzz words that are high in the search engines at the moment can help propel your post to the top of the search lists. And for me, this usually happens quite by accident.

My blog posts that get the most hits in Google are the ones that I would have never expected to be so popular. For instance, the post I did recently titled "My Belated Christmas Wish List" (where I listed all of the things that I should have requested for Christmas, but didn't) is getting a lot of visitors from all over the world at the moment.

And why? Because a lot of people happen to be Googling the phrase "belated Christmas wish" or "belated Christmas wishes". And here's what they find:

Yup, that's my blog post in the #2 spot! So when some poor sap from South Africa who's neglected to send his friends or family a Christmas card turns to Google to help him figure out what to say, he ends up with my personal wish list instead! LOL

So what have we learned?

There are a lot of procrastinators out there, my friends!

Hugs,
Pam

P.S. I changed the title of this post at least half a dozen times before landing on one that I thought might be both relevant and "popular". We'll see what Google thinks!

Thanks for Passing It On

2011-12-27T10:57:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, that sweet Diane from Lavender Dreams hosted a giveaway for two adorable prim stocking ornaments that she made herself, each with an organic peppermint lip balm tucked inside from Eco Natural Soap. Diane gave two away with the hope that the winner would pass on the second to someone else.

Ann at A Hole in the Basket Primitives was the lucky winner of the two stockings, and being the generous person that she is, held a giveaway of her own to select who would receive the second stocking. Plus, she added in a wax snowman face tart from Brandy of The Lil' Prim Cabin on Etsy.

And I was lucky enough to be the winner! Not only did I get a sweet little handmade from my friend Diane, but also some other goodies to try from two other handmade sellers. And it's all thanks to Ann's generosity.

This is one of the reasons that I love blogging...the wide open hearts and arms of the bloggers, who share their lives and talents with others. I'm now starting a collection of the handmades from my blogging friends and can't wait to add to it in the coming year.

If you haven't yet "met" Ann and Diane, I hope you'll pop over to their blogs; they are both wonderful talented ladies that I'm sure you'll love as much as I do.

Hugs,
Pam

Christmas Show and Tell

2011-12-26T17:18:00.000-08:00

Even though I couldn't be with my family for Christmas this year, thanks to Face Time we were still able to open our presents together. Isn't technology grand?

I was thrilled at the thoughtfulness of the gifts from my children; both of them did so well at picking just the perfect presents for me.

Image from Coatt

Baby Girl and I share a love for museums and unique handcrafts, so I was thrilled with the very unique Morse Code necklace that she found for me at the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art. It was designed by Rebecca Coagan Scharlatt and is also available in her online store. Each necklace is made of a fine silk rope strung with gold beads and tubes representing dots and dashes of Morse code.

My necklace has seven tubes and no beads, representing the code: dash-dash dash-dash-dash dash-dash, which translates to "mom".

*sigh*

I love my baby.

My boy had a bit of help from his girlfriend choosing my gifts, I think; although he's quite capable of choosing gifts all on his own that bring tears to my eyes. They did their shopping at Connecting Threads, starting with a kit to make an adorable Cuddle Bug baby quilt and matching pillow, complete with the fabric needed to make the backing.

Of course I was curious if they were trying to...ahem...tell me something, and all my boy would admit to is that once I make the quilt I should hold on to it. Knowing that troublemaker of mine, he's simply trying to yank my chain a little so I'm not holding my breath on becoming a grandma any time soon.

Another part of their gift was a "needle nanny", which is something I'd never seen before. It's made of metal and has a strong magnet, making it perfect to attach to your shirt or project and hold your needle when you need to take a quick break. And it's so pretty, too!

They also gave me the All Things Cupcake runner kit, which is a perfect quilt project for a beginner like me. Since I haven't actually started the kit that I bought myself for a lap quilt that was intended to be my first quilt project, looks like this cute runner is going to have the honor of being first. Aren't those colors and fabrics scrumptious?

All in all, my kids did a great job at making their mom very happy this Christmas. They are both planning on coming out to Idaho to visit in February, so I'll have a chance to spoil them both while they're here. They may be adults and all grown up now, but I miss those kids something fierce!

My Christmas present from Hubby was my sewing machine that I told you about here, plus all of the other sewing paraphernalia that I've been accumulating since then. Aside from the pincushions that I made, I have yet to produce anything out of it, mainly because I was trying to sew on our kitchen table and that wasn't working out too well.

In an effort to make me "put up or shut up" I think, Hubby pulled several bookcases out of a tiny windowless room in the basement we're using to store some of my inventory and replaced them with folding tables.

Then I was able to organize all of my sewing stuff and create a "craft room" of sorts, or at least the beginnings of one.

Now I have a place for my fabric stash (in stacks by color family, or course!), with quilt kits on the lowest shelf and my quilt book "library" behind the doors at the bottom:

This area is for the AccuQuilt Go! and its accessories, and my thread:

And this table is for my rotary cutting mat and tools, and the sewing machine:

The wood shelf sitting on the floor on the right is going to be hung on the wall, after my sweet Hubby prims it up for me first. That will hold sewing notions and tools.

My new craft room isn't very big and is awfully plain and colorless right now, but I hope that it will evolve into a colorful and fun place for me to craft and create. If not, I'm going to have some 'splaining to do! LOL

Hugs,
Pam

Christmas Blessings

2011-12-25T09:06:00.000-08:00

On this special day, I have so much to be thankful for; my cup runneth over.

A wonderful family that I miss very much:

Christmas 2010

Sweet furbabies that enrich my life:

A new home:

In a wonderful, magical place:

A new hobby:

And my prayers have been answered: our Internet speed has suddenly increased exponentially in the last week...which means that we are finally able to surf the net at nearly "normal" speeds!

Old speed:

New speed:

Yes, our speed is still slower than 85% of the rest of the country, but it's much better than it was, believe me. And it's not consistent, but the majority of the day it is pretty darned good. So I am a very, very happy camper right now, considering how much time I spend on the Internet.

I'm also grateful for you, dear friends. It's been wonderful jumping back into the blogging world this fall and making so many amazing new friends and becoming reacquainted with old ones. Since moving cross-country, I haven't made any close friends yet here, but my virtual friends have kept me from feeling lonely. And for that, I thank you.

Life is good and I am feeling so very blessed. Everything isn't perfect; that would be impossible. But I refuse to dwell on the not-so-perfect; I'm going to focus on the things that make me smile.

My fervent wish is that you are feeling blessed in your life, as well.

Merry Christmas,
Pam

A Merry Christmas To All

2011-12-24T10:01:00.000-08:00

The tree is up:

The lights are lit:

The snow is falling:

The manger is ready:

Let Christmas begin!

Best wishes for a happy and magical Christmas for you and your families!

Hugs,
Pam