Insomnia

Last night I couldn’t sleep.  I was asked to teach a class on some kind of craft next month.  I was so excited I couldn’t sleep!

There are so many fun things to do.  I used to have craft booths in two locations.  I am thinking about making some Christmas ornaments, or possibly some packaging for Christmas goodies.

Then today my daughter asked me if I would be interested in doing some craft fairs with her.  Oh my goodness!  I am so pumped!  I have been thinking it would be fun to do some furniture make-overs.  I have found a wonderful source of inspiration at Domestic Imperfection.  One of her great ideas is here

I’ve been playing with hand-carving stamps.  It takes a steady hand but it is kind of fun!  I made this double-sided stamp from an eraser I bought in a 3-pack at the dollar store.

Double sided stamp

Painting really releases the creativity out of my soul.  I know that tole painting isn’t as popular as it once was, but I think I can find some projects that will catch the eye.

What do you like to do?  How do you nourish your creative side?

Celebrations

This last week was Miss E’s birthday.  So my daughter made her little sis a cake… a MEGA cool cake!  Miss E gave her a picture of what she wanted and Heidi made it.

To add to the day Russell gave her a dozen red roses.  She was so surprised and blushed like crazy.

I am constantly amazed at the talent of my kids.  All of them!

Miss E plays the piano and the viola.  She and Russell and Ethan are all musically talented.

Ben is athletically talented.  Tom has the wit and imagination of C.S. Lewis.  Jeremy is an artist and chemist extraordinaire.  Heidi is amazing at cake baking and decorating.  She also is a super do-it-yourselfer.  Anything she can imagine she can make.

I feel very blessed to be the mother and step-mother of such great kids!

Canning, baking and birthdays

I have been enjoying the fall weather and continuing to do some canning since I last posted.  Today I am finishing up some pickled figs.  Our tree has produced so many figs it is ridiculous!  I am completely amazed at how much one little tree can put on!  There are still little ones growing too!

A week or two ago I made some chili sauce using a recipe from my Great Grandmother Empey.  Now that is some delicious chili sauce!

Before that it was grapes.  I am looking forward to drinking that home-canned grape juice this winter.  Yum yum!  We have a couple different varieties of grapes, concord and a lighter variety.  You can see the two side by side in same jar in the picture.

Since the weather has been cooler I have been doing some baking as well.  Nate loves ginger cookies so I made him a batch.  I have to admit that it was my first time baking ginger cookies.

Today is Miss E’s birthday!  So she is the recipient of my first ever hand-carved stamp.  She is OBSESSED with the band, One Direction!  So I made her a “1D” stamp.  I hope she likes it!

I hope everyone is enjoying the last little bit of fall clean-up.  What a beautiful season!

Handcarved stamp for Miss E’s birthday