scrapbooking give-away!

i'm earning an extra entry for posting about rebecca's give-away! she's giving away some heidi grace!

"Each cardstock paper pack has 24 pieces of double sided cardstock. I put 4 different accessory packs that coordinate with the cardstock packs. Even if you aren’t a scrap booker, with a few basic supplies you can use these to create a whole album or even a bunch of cute cards!"

if you're into scrapbooking or papercrafting, hurry over to Rainy Day Kisses and add your name to to hat. or don't. i guess my chances are better if you don't. :)

barefoot dogs. . .on friday

i knew when i joined barefoot bloggers the schedule might pose a bit of a challenge. while i love the idea of cooking something new with this group every couple of weeks, it doesn't always fit into my life. for one i live with Mr. Meat and Potatoes. my husband doesn't eat anything that is or ever was green. you may laugh but i'm not kidding. so to purchase all the ingredients and create a dish only i will eat isn't something i do on a regular basis. and while i want to try ina's pasta with sun-dried tomatoes. it won't be in a timely barefoot blogger fashion. and i apologize.

and to my new doggie pals, seems i'm slacking with you too. but i leave you with this:

my bad-to-the-bone, gigi. well worth the wait, no?

quit top complete!

after not too much swearing, i give you this:

can i get opinions on how it should be finished? i'm not doing the quilting. i think it needs some sort of solid border and then the bias in one of the fabrics - maybe one of the reds? no border? bias in black? i think i want it a scooch bigger. it's approx. 60 x 72 (minus seam allowances) and boy-child has a full sized bed so i do need to add something. i like this idea from the quilt along.

these are some seriously talented folks. i'm a little in awe to be sewing among them. click the link to see their work all together in our flickr pool.

serious fun.

webshare

not so litte red riding hood

by Dina Goldstein

omg this is funny as hell. or not: when disney princesses don't live happily ever after. pretty much like the rest of us. snow white's prince charming is not so charming, cinderella is a drunk, rapunzel gets cancer and belle (is it?) goes under the knife.

jpg online mag ran these photos. check it.

i'm official!

thanks for the shout, g. finally, the folks over at dogs on thursday recognise me as an official member. whew!

now to share a picture. . . since my sadie girl will be seven this month, this one is for her.

on her first birthday, the breeder threw a birthday party for the whole litter. there were thirteen golden retrievers swimming in the pond, chasing balls, sniffing butts and having cake. yes, there was even a cake. it was a hoot.

i had several friends who had goldens, they came for the party. it was the most fun i'd had in a long time.

happy birthday, sadie - girl.

smarter than me

i'm sitting here cleaning off my desk when i come across the metal knitting needles my sister gave me. as i looked at them i thought, i bet you could bend these around to make a bracelet. and i was sure the clever crafty folk on the internet were already on top of this one.

you should SEE some of the crazy things crafty folk are doing with knitting needles! go look, i'll wait. check this one too.

etsy is one of my favorite rabbit holes. type in something you love and see what comes up. by artisans. you know, those folk who make things. with their hands. people like me only way cooler. ;)

epic fail averted

thanks to everyone who offered encouragement and sympathy after my nervous breakdown. i decided to get new fabric and start over. and hello bonus - i like this combination of prints even better. how about you?

i've got all the strips sewn together and cut apart into blocks. now, after squaring everything up a bit i'll be ready to sew the blocks together.

quilting seems a bit like madness - you cut everything up only to sew it back together again just to cut it all up again so you can sew it back together. seems a little crazy to me but i am enjoying the process. i am. i swear. a lot, i know. i'm not even going to pretend and say i'm working on it because quite frankly, i like to swear. and quilting, as it turns out, gives me plenty of opportunity! so yes, i -do- like quilting!

first quilt - EPIC fail

i've been thinking about the old red barn co. quilt along for a few weeks now. i've spent hours drooling over all the flickr uploads of the beautiful quilts being submitted. i finally decided to go ahead and join the fun. sure, i'm about six weeks late. and ok, so i'm not that experienced of a sewer. i can do this, right? right?

i spent over an hour at the fabric store this week selecting just the right fabrics. the excitement is building. yesterday, i worked for an hour or so cutting all these fun fabrics into perfect little one and a half inch strips. they looked so happy nestled in their box. and today, i was all set to go:

machine - CHECK

ironing board and iron - CHECK

spray sizing - CHECK

happy little stacks of one and a half inch strips - CHE. . .

what? the strips are supposed to be HOW wide??

TWO and a half inches you say?

pardon me while i have a complete nervous breakdown.

miscellany

this post is exactly why i chose the name for my blog. today i have a little of this, a smidge of that and dogs. because it's thursday. i'm still not official, as if i need an excuse to talk about my dogs! and if you don't like hearing about them well, you may be in the wrong place.

first things first:

grown by me. from scratch. i love zinnias.

my sadie girl. holding still long enough for me to snag a picture.

and a sneak peek. inspiration here and here. but shhhhh. don't tell. it's a boy-child surprise.

and lastly, i am official over at barefoot bloggers. got my acceptance email this week. short notice though for today's recipe. i am ill equipped. after looking over the recipe i wondered - is it wrong of me to want to serve this in a glass with some vodka? :D check out meryl of my bit of earth. she selected ina's gazpacho this week. she's got a nice little blog. i think i'm going to like it on barefoot bloggers.

are you cooking up anything fun?

today

ali did it the other day. cathy's doin it today. and now, i'm doing it too. cause you know i want to be like cathy z. when i grow up.

TODAY June 25th, 2009

Outside my window... my garden is growing by leaps every second.

I am thinking... hormones are not my friend.

I am thankful for... my husband's good job.

From the kitchen... chocolate chip cookies. gone.

I am wearing... comfy capris and a wife beater. barefoot.

I am creating... fingerless gloves. again.

I am going... crazy with cabin fever.

I am reading... new moon. again.

I am hoping... the weather cools to bearable for being outside.

I am hearing... commercials on the tv.

Around the house... is dog hair, dog hair and more dog hair. oh and don't forget the dog hair.

One of my favorite things... air conditioning. in the house and now in the man-cave. i may never see him again.

A few plans for the rest of the week... hitting the local fabric stores for the makings of a surprise quilt.