Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Inspired fall....

Hello there! I've sure been enjoying all the wonderful autumn colors and projects online. I've been soaking in every drop of fall that I can. This time of year in Minnesota is spectacular. Our weather has been gorgeous and the trees are starting to glow with their bright hues. The temperature is cooling down and there is a crispness in the air. It invigorates me to no end...I just can't get enough! Remember this altered journal (above) that I made in Pam's class at Art in Ashland? Well, I decided to actually start using it as an art journal to capture my feelings about the season. I had some fun cutting, pasting and journaling.

I've been inspired lately to document my daily life more. Get back into scrapbooking, in a sense. Making my art personal. Bought this new scrapbook and Elsie's recipe box of inspiration to get me on the right track.
Speaking of documenting everyday life. Ali Edwards is leading a Week in the Life project on her blog. This is the scene I found in my home when I peeked out from working on this post.Here are the projects they were working on. Lowell filling out his calendar for September, of course remembering to put "Lowell's Birthday" on there and Chloe drawing pictures. These are the moments of my day that I want to photograph and remember; the "ordinary moments" that are so fleeting. Here are some newly published books chock full of inspiration. My friend Julie Collings has an amazing new book out called Pretty Little Felts. She has a variety of wonderful projects that are unique and beautiful, so true to her style. My sister gave me Taking Flight by Kelly Rae Roberts for my birthday. It is a must have for the creative journey. I was thrilled to find this brand new book Folk Art Halloween by Bethany Lowe. She is one of my very favorite artists for vintage-inspired Halloween decor. That's what's been inspiring me lately. What about you?
Finally, I wanted to share this lovely estate sale find from last weekend called "Girls Book of Treasures". It was published in 1899 and is so fun to read. Makes me want to create my own book of treasures.
P.S. By the time I finished this post the above scene had transformed into an oatmeal "sparkle" angel-making party. Ahh..kids.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Fall Friday's...


The kids and I have really been enjoying our Friday morning excursions with my parents to check out all the fun fall outdoor activities in our area. The weather has been supurb and we're enjoying evey second of it. Wonderful memories for the kids to have with nana and bobo.

In the last month we went to ...



the downtown farmer's market


Today we went to a new (to us) apple orchard. We enjoyed a hay ride, playing in a silo, running through a corn maze, saying hello to a pony, picking apples and having a picnic. What more could you ask for on a Friday morning!?





On a funny, note Cari emailed me the other day to let me know that I'm on Matthew Meads blog here. Such a funny picture. It was taken (totally unbenounced to me) at Junk Bonanza when I was scrounging through my wallet looking for my business card. Jennifer Murphy was behind me waiting to take my picture with him, while I gushed to Matthew about how he inspired my sweet and sinister swap with his wonderful black and white Halloween styling. Never found my card, but did enjoy a nice chat with him.
Hope you have a glorious fall weekend.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Happy Autumn...


Fall is here. My absolute favorite time of year! Thank you so much for the wonderful birthday wishes. I had an action-packed fun-filled weekend.The morning of my birthday, we did the Autism Speaks, Walk Now for Autism fundraiser.Here is our team, consisting of my parents and my family. We were part of the larger St. David's Team where Lowell attended his Autism Day Treatment program and is now in an inclusion room there (and his picture graces their homepage). We walked on the Canterbury Downs horse track.We came home for cake and then hubby took me out to eat at Fogo de Chao downtown Minneapolis. If you like meat, this is the place to be. It's a Brazilian steakhouse. I had the best chocolate mousee dessert. Yum! I bought the book Life is a Verb for myself, it is based on this blog. It has wonderful exercises for living each day to the fullest and changing our perspective. Oh yea, also bought this necklace (above) for myself from Amy when Kristen of Mood Swing Studio was her InspiredFriend. Does anyone else buy birthday presents for themselves?! hehe.
Almost got the perfect family picture. Nice face, Chloe!
The Autumn Gathering House Party will now take place on October 23rd, where we can all share with one another our fall/Halloween decor. If you have a blog link in your comment on this post and want to participate, I've been adding people to the blog roll on my sidebar. If you don't see your name there, it means I don't have a blog url for you. I just wanted to share with you what I have up right now. This new shelving unit (above) was a recent estate sale find.
Ever since I saw this in Marie Claire Idees magazine, I've had my eye out for something similar. When I stumbled across it recently, I couldn't pass it up. Love it!

I always like to share my ever-changing studio/dining room display.
Love this little grouping. The card is by oneripepeach.

This vintage wallpaper covered chest of drawers was also a recent estate sale find. The colors couldn't be more perfect.

This crazy scarecrow is new. My mom gave it to me for my birthday. This is how I feel some days:)
I'm a big fan of scarecrows. Making one is on my year to-do list.

Finally, a fall recipe to share with you. I created this version of a waldorf salad on a whim when we had Joe's family coming over for burgers and brats yesterday. I had fresh apples from the orchard, tossed in some grapes and poured in a bag of trail mix that I had. The mix had nuts, raisins, craisins, and chocolate chips in it. Mixed a little mayo with lemon juice together and stirred it all together. Delicious!
If you need any more fall inspiration, you must check out the links here.
Hope you're enjoying your first day of Fall. The most glorious time of the year!

Friday, September 19, 2008

33 things to do before I turn 34


I turn 33 years old tomorrow.

This year I want to...


1. make a collage a week

2. keep a kids journal


4. attend ArtNest

5. visit Laura in California

6. go to NYC for our 10 year anniversary

7. write the book that's in my head

8. write a business plan

9. try a new recipe each month

10. survive winter without gaining 10 lbs.

11. have my photographs made into postcards

12. take a community education class

13. have Chloe take a dance class

14. plant a tree in our yard

15. have a children's garden...bigger than this year's

16. go to Chicago...visit Cheryl

17. make handmade Christmas gifts

18. learn manual mode on my camera

19. create a nature journal (with the kids)

20. drink more tea

21. become an explorer of my world

22. weed and donate books to the library

23. make something with my sewing machine

24. buy an old typewriter

25. have a vendors table in a local show

26. make a scarecrow

27. find a photobooth and have my photo taken in it

28. start clipping coupons..and use them

29. go snowshoeing

30. look at the stars more

31. buy less, make more

32. read a book a month

33. take a self portrait

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Postponed...and gathering button!


I am going to postpone the Autumn Gathering House Party that was going to take place on the Autumn Equinox, until October 23rd. I've been out enjoying our gorgeous fall weather so much, that I haven't had a chance to get everything decorated inside. I also want it closer to Halloween so everyone can showcase their fall and/or Halloween decor. Kelly Harcus created the fabulous button above for us. Feel free to add it to your blogs. I put it on my sidebar as well, and if you'd like to participate I will add you to the blogroll.
Some flickr inspiration. See more of my flickr favorites here.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Fall supplies galore...



My fall supply etsy shop update is complete.
See all the goodies HERE.

I made this shadowbox collage with this wonderful image from a vintage tablecloth that is for sale in the shop and a BOO tag from oneripepeach.


Also lots of supplies that could be used for projects on the Sweet and Sinister blog. So glad I could make so many of you happy by offering up more slots.


Enjoy!!!

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Happy 5th Birthday Lowell...

We had a wonderful party today for the birthday boy. It is so fun to see him understanding that this is his special day and enjoying it with friends and family. Here he is enjoying his Max and Ruby worm cake. Yum!It's so fun to have our birthday's so close together. Mine is next Saturday, the 20th. We'll be doing the Autism Speaks Walk Now for Autism that day. If you'd like to support our team, click here. Also some pics from the apple orchard last weekend. We had such a beautiful day. We really have been outside a lot, enjoying the fall weather.

Some exciting news folks, because so many of you are still requesting to get in on the Sweet and Sinister blog after seeing pics of the amazing projects on our flickr site or hearing about it on other blogs I've decided to start up a third Sweet and Sinister blog to open up a bunch more spaces.

I just can't turn people away when over a dozen amazing artists have come up with step by step tutorials for projects created just for the Sweet and Sinister bloggers. Since there is still 6 weeks to go before Halloween, there is a lot of time for crafting. Now this new blog will have all the tutorials that have already been posted, plus the new ones that I post each week. In fact, my fabulous guest designers are creating such amazing projects just for this blog that I am going to have to start to post a tutorial and giveaway every few days to pack it all in before All Hallow's Eve. If you haven't joined in the fun or know someone that wants to, just click on over here and check out at my etsy shop and you'll recieve the invite.

Speaking of support, our fellow blogger, Sarah, of GypsyMermaidLife has lost her home due to Hurricane Ike. See her blog here for updates. Absolutely heartbreaking. I'm sure she will need to replenish all of her art supplies.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Blissful Friday...

We went to the beautiful Minnesota Landscape Arboretum today and got lost in the bliss puffs of the dhalia's in full bloom. It was a wonderful end to a trying week. Seems like I've heard from so many people that this week was a rough one between parents and children. I'm sure it has a lot to do with the new school year starting, new schedules and all the adjusting that entails. I got into a major funk, which is absolutely no fun. However, it does always make me re-evaluate things and check in to see if I'm living my best life. There will be some adjustments made as we head into fall and that leads into the long winter that we have here in Minnesota. It's really only been a few months really since our last snow in May this year. Sigh. I plan to better my parenting, there's always room for improvement there. Hope to enjoy the harvest and get my kids eating better. I also hope to make a lot more art on a personal level. Try to document things a bit more deeply. With all that said, today I was truly able to stop and smell the flowers and discover the artistry of the plant world. Enjoy the plethora of pictures. Ahh......