Where I've Been and What I've Been Doing

That's right - I've been to Wonderland and back again!  We threw a Sweet Sixteen bash for my middle daughter last weekend and the theme was "The Mad Hatter's Tea Party."  So for the last month or so, we've been getting ready, by painting signs like the ones above, making tall flowers like the ones below (from pool noodles and tissue paper!),

and making goodies like the "Oreo Cookie Truffles" on the tiered stand here,

 and these Top-hat pops (marshmallows on a stick, dipped in chocolate with a cookie brim and fruit leather hat band).

I even printed signs for the sliders we served as appetizers

and we wrapped water bottles with labels that said "Drink Me."

We rented a local hall and made one long table over which we hung chinese lanterns, to resemble the scene in the Disney movie.  It all looked very colorful and festive!

I even printed "A Very Merry Unbirthday" sign on colorful paper.

The crowning touch was the two cakes we baked and decorated.  I was quite taken back by the cost of a custom cake, so Chelsea and I decided to bake our own.  We bought boxed fondant in two colors (plus a bit of white for the note on the hat) and cut out flowers with cutters in three sizes.  The hat cake is just a 9-inch layer with three 8-inch layers on top, trimmed a little to make it more hat-shaped, then frosted with green buttercream.

Chelsea and her friends all had a great time and she is a very happy teen!

But now I need a vacation!

Thankful Thursday, 50th Birthday Edition!

Yes, it's true - I've reached the half-century mark!  (Boy, that really sounds old, doesn't it?).  Although I have to face facts that most of my life is probably behind me, I'm confident that I still have much to look forward to.  I believe you're as young as you feel and I still feel like I'm in my mid thirties (still look it too, right?  lol!).  Anyway, an attitude of gratitude also keeps you young!  Here's what I'm thankful for today:

1. 50 Healthy Years:  That's saying a lot!  I've never broken a bone, had root canal, or been hospitalized for anything other than childbirth.  Here's to many more healthy years!
2. Life in These United States:  I feel very fortunate to be a citizen of the US, with all the benefits, creature comforts, and freedoms we so often take for granted.
3. My Faith:  I feel fortunate to have been baptized into the church and to have kept up a relationship with God, which keeps on growing.  It truly helps me deal with life's little daily challenges and keeps me on the right track.
4. My Husband:  I guess it's true that opposites do attract!  Seriously, as different as we are, we balance each other out and somehow manage to keep each other going.  We're so fortunate to have found each other!
5. My Girls!  It's hard for me to imagine my life without my three amazing daughters.  Sometimes I take for granted the wonderful people they are - beautiful, healthy, talented, intelligent, creative... (we're so much alike!  LOL)

What are you feeling thankful for today?

Presents and Projects

Happy Monday, eveyone, hope you had a great weekend!

 Look at t he fantastic carry-all my Mom made for me for my birthday!  It is very roomy and has pockets all along the outside, but it's also reversible, so the pockets could be on the inside.  She chose a sturdy quilted fabric in colors that I wear all the time.  Isn't it great?  Thanks, Mom!  I love it!

I also finally bought myself a polymer clay conditioning machine (aka, a pasta machine).  All this time, I've been conditioning the clay by hand, which is tiring.  And when I roll it out, it never comes out even and smooth.  I do use clay quite a bit, so I hope to get a lot of use out of this.

 But lately, I've been sticking with fabric.  Over the weekend, I put together these four 4-inch-square coasters.  I used the scraps from my previous project so they came together very quickly.  I still need to paint the edges with acrylic paint and seal the tops with that fusible vinyl.  I had a lot of fun choosing fabrics and getting back into decorative free-motion quilting.  Small projects are so satisfying because they can be finished in a day or two!  

Have a great week!

Summer's End

That school bus rolled up the street right on time this morning, signaling the official end of summer.  The first day of school happened to fall on an auspicious day this year: my birthday.  Since the house was quiet and I wanted to combine some errands with some celebrating, I took myself out to brunch!  I've always wanted to indulge in a plate of decadent cream-cheese-stuffed french toast, but for some reason I never did it - til today!  This is "frittered french toast" from the Everready Diner in Brewster, and it comes dusted with cinnamon and sugar, and drizzled with raspberry sauce!  Wow!  I couldn't even finish it, so I'll have the rest tomorrow.

Another present I got for myself was this set of 36 colored pencils, below.  I use colored pencils more often than you would think, and the basic 12 color set just wasn't doing it for me anymore.  I don't need a fancy artist-quality brand or anything; for my purposes, these will do just fine.  Now I have a variety of shades of each color to use for sketching or on shrink film charms.  Sometimes just a little, inexpensive thing like that gives you just the lift you need!

 I also made a bit of progress on my fern piece.  I decided to use the same fern batik as sashing around the larger fern block and some smaller squares.  I fused on a variety of leaves and stitched around all of them by hand with a blanket stitch.

 When I first looked for ferns to trace for this pattern, I really wanted to go with one of the more divided, feathery looking ferns.  I knew that would be a hassle to cut out and stitch so I took the route of ease and simplicity.  I was going to simply free-motion around the edges of the fern, but the idea of a blanket stitch popped into my head.  I think it gives it a feathery appearance without all that work.   I also like the touch of shine the metallic thread adds.  For once, I followed my gut without overthinking and it worked!

I'm not sure how I'll finish this piece.  It's about 13" square, so it might make a nice pillow cover, but it will probably end up getting too much wear.  Maybe just a small wall hanging.   I think I'll call it "Summer's End."  The colors capture this time of year, when it is really still summer and everything is mostly green, but you begin to see tinges of rust and yellow here and there.

And although the summer is ending, this time of year is also a beginning - another school year and, for me, another year of my life.  Maybe it's a good time to revisit and revise the goals I made in January and plan the next few months accordingly.  One of the things I really want to get serious about is dropping a few pounds and exercising a little more.  I did start the day with some stretches and exercises, but the diet will have to wait until tomorrow - after the birthday cake and frittered french toast are all gone!

Another Busy Weekend

This morning there was a hint of fall in the air.  I snapped these shots while I was out for my morning walk with Cassie.  It seems that summer is quickly coming to a close and I'm trying to make the most of each day left.

But last night summer was still in full swing as we celebrated Chelsea's 14th birthday with a bunch of her friends.  We spent most of the day Saturday setting up, preparing, and organizing the evening's events.  She requested some special-effect lighting and loud dance music, so my husband did his best to accomodate.  He worked frantically to connect speakers to our various digital music sources and hung  black lights outside under our upper deck for this fun splash-drumming activity with fluorescent (washable) paint.  If big smiles, big messes and loud noise are any indication, then this turned out to be quite a successful party!  About ten girls spent the night downstairs in our family room so the fun went on for a long time.

 After all that fun, there was plenty of clean-up to go around, so after all the guests left, I continued my mission to get the house in good order before school starts up again by steam-cleaning the family room carpeting and doing tons of wash (lots of wet towels after they washed off the paint in the hot tub!).  Mark took down all the lights and speakers he hung up yesterday and of course the girls pitched in to help get the house back in order.

Tomorrow starts a new week and once again, I'm taking some time off to continue getting organized.  I've already gone through several closets, underbed boxes, kitchen drawers and cabinets, but there's plenty more de-junking to do and I'm so lucky I can take some time off to get it done!  Of course, I've managed to squeeze in a little creative time here and there, so I'll have a few new things to share next time.

Weekend Fun

Here are some photos (courtesy of my husband Mark) of the Great Jack-o-Lantern Blaze at Van Cortlandt Manor, where Halloween is already in full swing! They advertise that there are over 4,000 jolly jacks on display, and it certainly looked that way! Some of them, like the one above, look like they were done by local school children - so much youthful energy, enthusiasm and imagination! Below is a shot of a field filled with glowing jacks of all sorts - some were scary & creepy, but there were also animals like cats, even characters like pirates, devils, and clowns. Mark shot the two photos below without the flash so you could get a sense of how they glowed in the dark, but of course the shots are a little blurry because it's hard to hold the camera still enough for the shutter speed. The shot below that shows the manor glowing with eerie lights and images of the Van Cortlandts (I assume) carved into pumpkins too.

There were even jack-o-lantern dinosaurs. The first was taken without a flash, and the second one with a flash. It really illuminates the construction, but takes away from the magic, doesn't it? I really liked some of the displays that featured carved pumpkins hanging from the trees. These are carved with butterflies and really looked enchanting floating under the trees in the dark. There was a similar display carved with fairies with dozens of pumpkins carved with mushrooms and flowers below. I really liked these towers of pumpkins carved to look like sunflowers. There was a similar display that resembled a cornfield filled with crows. It was really amazing! After oooing and aahing over everything for about an hour, we headed home for birthday desserts! Yum!

Two Birthdays

We are celebrating my youngest daughter's 11th birthday today! We have some fun things planned, including having an early dinner at Olive Garden and then going to "The Great Jack-o-Lantern Blaze" at Van Cortlandt Manor this evening. Hopefully the rain will stop before then...

Meanwhile, I have another good friend at work who shares this birthday (I think I know about 5 people total who all have birthdays on October 1st. Guess what fell nine months earlier - New Year's Eve!). I made her these cute button earrings. She's a real bead and jewelry buff. I thought the range of purples and grays in these would compliment her wardrobe. Also, the fact that they're made with buttons and not beads just might make them a unique item in her jewelry box. Fun!

Happy Birthday to Me!

This weekend I celebrated my birthday! It's kind of funny that my mother was in labor on Labor Day, and now every year I get the extra gift of a three-day weekend to celebrate. Saturday I had the day to myself, as my other half took the girls and some friends to a water/amusement park in nearby Connecticut. I've decided to really focus on crafting some more charm bracelets and fabric coasters this fall, in an effort to sell them on ETSY as well as at the PAC holiday sale, and I needed to replenish some of my supplies of beads and jewelry findings. To that end, I visited all three of the local craft/fabric stores over the course of the weekend and had fun choosing some new beads and even adding a couple of new fabrics to my stash. Today I was able to spend some time playing with all my cool new stuff. I'll share some photos of the jewelry soon.

I was also treated to a visit from my parents, who had a chance to stop off at the library for a few minutes to see the FANE show. I took them to see my middle daughter cheer at a football game, and then we had a nice grilled dinner at home, followed by my favorite Chocolate Truffle Bomb cake. Last but not least, I was given my very own brand new hardcover copy of the book A Dance With Dragons, (see previous post) so now I don't have to wait for my copy from the library! Hope you all had a great weekend too! Tomorrow it's back to school!

47 Things I'm Thankful For

Yesterday was my 47th birthday. As I was sitting in the sunshine weeding my garden this morning, I started to think about how fortunate I am and about the many, many blessings in my life. I decided to devote this blog entry to listing these out, roughly in order from early on in my life to the present.

1. My parents, who are still alive and well, and came to spend the day with me yesterday.

2. My public school education on Long Island.

3. Being an American.

4. Being a New Yorker.

5. My older sister Nancy, who is still one of my best friends

6. My younger sister Carolyn who is also still one of my best friends

7. My brother Charlie, always fun to be with

8. My brother Paul, likewise good for a laugh

9. My God-given talents including intelligence, a sense of humor, and abilities in writing, art, and music.

10. My health and physical well-being.

11. My red hair.

12. My exceptional liberal arts education at Vassar College.

13. My loving and devoted husband, who has stuck by me for the last 25 years or so (we've been married for 17 of those), who brings balance, humor, fun, affection, and joy to me every day.

14. My oldest daughter, who is blossoming into a mature and capable young lady.

15. My second daughter, who is also blooming in her own beautiful and unique way

16. My youngest daughter, who still allows me to hold her hand in public.

17. The modest home we have been able to afford and make our own for the last 14 years.

18. Good, clean water coming out of the faucet

19. Clean fresh air to breathe

20. Indoor plumbing, heating, and air conditioning (don't take anything for granted!)

21. A safe town and neighborhood to live and work in.

22. My fun part-time job at the library

23. Having such easy access to a wealth of books at my fingertips every day

24. My coworkers who make my job fun and easy

25. Old friends and the good memories we've shared

26. Neighbors that I can rely on for anything

27. The decent schools and teachers my daughters have had

28. The opportunities we've been able to give our daughters, like piano and horseback riding lessons, gymnastics, camp etc.

29. Vacations we've taken, especially the last one to St. John

30. The vacation home we share in the Poconos of PA

31. The beauty of the lake we live on and get to see every morning, every season

32. The climate and change of seasons here in the Northeast

33. The parish of St. John the Evangelist and my close relationship with God

34. My Mac laptop

35. The cameras I use to document the beauty of everyday life

36. Our dog, Cassie, who has been a blessing in disguise

37. The many cats I have known

38. The abundance of food available to us

39. My Bernina sewing machine

40. The space and materials I am able to use almost daily to fulfill my creative needs

41. The women in the Fiber Arts North East group, who provide comraderie, inspiration, and support

42. My many cousins and extended family

43. My in-laws, also still living, healthy and well

44. My two LI sisters-in-law, who are like sisters to me

45. Healthy teeth

46. My grandmothers, who I was fortunate to know most of my life

47. Mark's job, which allows us to afford this life and lifestyle

My Creation for Today

Yes, it's my hubby's birthday. He loves mocha cake and I usually just order one from the grocery store bakery, but my friend and neighbor, whose delicious baked goods I have had the pleasure of enjoying, gave me some tips on getting a good strong mocha flavor in the butter cream frosting. I tried it and it worked! The ingredients are

• one stick butter, softened
• 3 1/2 C confectioner's sugar
• 3 T unsweetened baker's cocoa (powdered)
• 1 T milk
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 2 T strong coffee with 1 t instant coffee dissolved in it

Beat all the ingredients until smooth.

I actually made two batches of the frosting. There was a little extra of the 2nd batch so I added 2 T of cocoa to that and used it for the edging and the words. Can't wait to taste it!

Happy birthday, darling!

Birthday Outing

This weekend I celebrated my birthday by going with my husband, parents and children to the Kendall Sculpture Garden on the grounds of the Pepsico Headquarters in Purchase, NY. The weather was perfect for walking around viewing the sculptures, and we all enjoyed discussing our interpretations of the various pieces. Below are some of my favorite shots:

This one is called "Girl with a Dolphin," by David Wynne. This was a family favorite. With the fountain flowing over and around it, it really gives the illusion and sensation of two figures swimming in a spiral around each other. It is really something to experience.

This one is called "Double L Excentric Gyratory II" by George Rickey. My daughters particularly loved watching it swing and change in the breeze.
This is "The Family of Man" by Barbara Hepworth. I just love the ancient look of these. They seem to be connecting us to each other and to our ancestors.
This is "Composition in Stainless Steel No. 1" by Gidon Graetz. I'm glad it has a name that leaves it completely open to interpretation. I saw a flying bird, my daughter saw an ice cream cone. The reflections on the piece also alter the viewer's perception of it.

Here is "Hats off" by Alexander Calder. His pieces always look so happy to me. Maybe it's the orange.
And here's another one by David Wynne, "Grizzly Bear," beautifully carved out of black granite. It sits on the edge of a pond and is just awsome to see.
I always like to include art and the outdoors in family outings. This one was particularly enjoyable. If you live in the NY metropolitan area, check it out! Another bonus: It's free!