A Girl Named Evan

I've moved my blog

2010-10-20T00:47:00.000-07:00

I'm moving my blog over to evanchandler.com/blog

~~Please join me there by clicking the link and perhaps one day I'll figure out how to auto redirect!~~

You should be automatically redirected. If not, please click the link above. Thanks.

Sciatica ≤ “Creativica”

2010-10-19T19:28:00.001-07:00

I am very heavily sedated. I am on 3 wonderful medications including a prescription Tylenol, hydrocodone, and prednisone. I have been diagnosed with a sever case of sciatica… in layman’s terms that means my vertebrae is pinching my sciatic nerve which then causes severe shooting pains from the small of my back to the heel of my foot. It’s pretty awful.

But I have found a new friend in hydracodone. When I’m not completely unconscious, I find myself incredibly chatty about the most random of subjects or playing on Photoshop. I mostly Photoshop due to the fact that my husband is at work and I’m laid up in bed.

So here are my narcotic creations:

I was hoping this one would look like 3 pieces of canvas layered. Not sure I got my desired effect, but close enough.

And Lastly, my favorite:

The Great Porcupine Debacle

2010-10-15T21:34:00.001-07:00

I wanted to share this story with you all because well, now that I look back on it (from 10 –15 minutes ago) it’s really funny.
Background story: My dogs have been getting out… anywhere from 2-3 times a day. My biggest dog weighs 80lbs and knows exactly how big he’s gotten. He enjoys throwing his weight around and often if you’re bending over to pet him, he enjoys going right through your legs hitting your bum with his head while sitting down at the same time and literally throwing you forward. I’m telling you, he knows what he’s doing!

Anyway, he loves to bat things with his front paws and will angle himself to the bottom of our OLD wooden fence and push and push until he breaks the boards… Two boards and he fits through. Anyway, to make a long story short, all 3 wandered out one night and 2.5 hours of searching (9-11:30pm) in the dark I found them 20 feet from my house coming out of the cotton field. Upon a morning light investigation, while headed to the vets to get the big dog er, “tutored,” I found my male basset (actually the fastest of the 3, if you can believe that) had 3 or 4 very small (about 2 inches) porcupine quills in his chest. I pulled them out VERY easily and set them on the console of the truck for further investigation when not operating a motor vehicle. Once they were examined I threw them out. Or so I thought. Tonight the boogers were attempting to break out again after dark. I ran to my truck to grab my flashlight so I could see the hole and determine if I would fix it tonight. As I was scrambling around in my truck I managed to find one of those “thrown out” porcupine quills with the tip of my finger.

Don’t laugh! It looks tiny but it was ferocious! For 2 hours I wrestled with it, I cried, I begged the hubby to come home and pull it out for me, I cried some more. I yanked, and soaked it and pulled and dug at it but the sucker would NOT budge. The hubby read online to cut it because quills actually have a vacuum on them. I used wire cutters to cut it down to about a 1/4 of an inch. Then he told me I should soak it in vinegar to soften and “shrivel” the quill. This is a laughable statement. There was NO shriveling to speak of! After realizing I had not other choice… I grabbed a rubber band and (in what is probably not the recommended removal method) wrapped the tip of my finger tight enough to lose circulation and feeling. Then I soaked it for 10 seconds in vinegar and pulled. I’m happy to report that I’m now quill free. Though the vinegar was then able to get in my wound and that stung like the dickens!
That friends, is the closest I’ve ever been to a porcupine. :)

Epiphany

2010-10-10T14:37:00.001-07:00

It has only just occurred to me recently (as in the last 10 minutes) how I’ve become a much more visual person. About 8-10 years ago I would have classified myself as a poet. I was good with words and could write a (good) 6 or 8 page paper in a day. I was a connoisseur of vocabulary. I suppose this is something like a foreign language in that, if you don’t continue the practice, you lose the ability. My dear blog reader(s) I have lost this ability. I’ve found over the last 3 or 4 years that this blog has been in existence that the amount of pictures in my posts have increased and the amount of words have decreased exponentially. This astounds me (I’m trying to reach with my vocabulary here, can you tell?). I should try harder to document my life, not because it’s interesting to the general public by any means, but because I hope one day my great grandchildren will find what we did in our past time as interesting as I find what my grand parents and great grandparents did in their pastimes…

Ok enough gibber-gabber. On to the pictures! For the last 5 years I have been dreaming about making it to the World Equestrian Games in Lexington, KY. They are like the Olympics but for horse sports. Held every 4 years in a different location but never once have they been held in America, until this year. This was the first time for America to host and I was bound and determined to make it. Well, by golly I did! I drove 7 hours from Lubbock to San Antonio. 3 hours from San Antonio to Houston. From Houston I rode with my friend 14 hours to Nashville, TN and from Nashville another 4 hours to Lexington, KY. We camped for 4 nights and endured 3 days of grueling heat and freezing cold nights. It was a blast.

To the pretty horses!

Don’t Laugh… I had lens envy.

pip, pip, cheerio.

glass and photography

2010-09-08T15:49:00.001-07:00

In honor of football season (we won't talk about it as to not start any fights), in honor of the oncoming fall, in honor of new beginnings in new towns - you may notice a new banner overhead. :)

I've been working like crazy to get glass prepared for the upcoming Cotton Boll Festival in our town. Vendors come from all around to participate in the festivities in the square.

I’m really quite proud of that JD green camera coaster. She’s mine, all mine!

Here’s a few from a recent engagement shoot. Jessica arranged the whole shoot and I was the second.

Kiss my Glass.

2010-08-25T20:09:00.001-07:00

I’ve been etching glass like a maniac. I’ve decided to get a booth at our local festival and so I’ve been going at it like there is no tomorrow.

Alice in Wonderland:

Jackrabbit ornament:

And then I’ve been playing with jars and wine glasses as well. I can pretty much do anything. :)

new business ideas

2010-08-16T05:43:00.000-07:00

I have a new business idea that I'm currently exploring. I'd like to sell things online while we are living in Canada for a year. I figure the more I can do - INSIDE- the better. :)

I've begun making travertine coasters and I'm looking into purchasing a sandblasting cabinet to make custom wine glasses and such. My dad has one and he and I made one of my best friend's wine glasses for her wedding. They came out gorgeous!

So many more updates to come about the business and loads more as we begin our travel to Canada. We wont' be moving until sometime in October. I'll be quitting my job at the bank mid September. I've started to pack and clean out the house. It's all happening so fast that I just know October will be here in a blink of an eye. In the meantime I have a one week vacation planned for me to go up there. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures!

It’s brand new-ish.

2010-06-22T16:59:00.001-07:00

It’s up and running! It’s finally complete! My website has taken me many more months than truly necessary to complete but I finally did it. Please check it out here. I’m really happy with the way it turned out and I even learned how to use dreamweaver in the process. I’m really starting to kickoff my photography business and maybe get some images sent off to stock photography websites.

I’m Baaaack.

2010-05-19T21:11:00.001-07:00

So after 6 very long months of not having internet at our house. It’s back on! I’m so very excited to show ya’ll over the next few posts what I’ve been up to! I’ve taken on metal smithing – mainly trying to get into silversmithing and I LOVE it! It’s really fun!

In the last couple of months I ordered a reversing ring for my camera, cheap, off of Amazon ($12). This allows me to turn my lens backwards on my camera to take macro photographs.

Don’t you just love it!? Granted, I find that I really have to use a tripod and moving objects such as the early arrival of the June bugs don’t make for good subjects. But who doesn’t love a good flower macro?

I know I do.

Oh and just because I want to share a random tip of the day - (A request from my mother to put this in my blog) – When opening tin cans, if the lid falls down in the can where you can’t reach it, instead of shoving a knife down in there or risk cutting your fingers, grab a refrigerator magnet of the fridge… stick to the middle of the can top and voila, that pesky tin can top comes right out. :)

Photography: Love

2010-04-19T19:16:00.001-07:00

It’s Spring. The flowers are blooming and people are gettin’ all twitterpated. Like these two:

Jessica and Scott have been long time friends of mine, Jessica since high school and I’ve known Scott know for a few years. I was so ecstatic when they asked if I’d shoot their engagement photos. We went all around Lubbock and literally spent an entire day doing shoots around town. We started out on the Texas Tech campus where they are both alumnus (allumnis?).

Enough gibber jabber, on with the photos.

Thanks guys, I had a blast!!

Herbology 101

2010-03-17T17:40:00.001-07:00

Forgive my awful Harry Potter nerdom. I have been germinating seeds for my vegetable garden! I’m so very excited about this years crop! I have all sorts of yummy things growing.

How does one germinate a seed? I learned this back in 1st grade. Thanks Mrs. Amy, wherever you are… We took limabeans, put them in a warm, wet, paper towel and then placed them in a plastic bag… Placing this in the window… germinates the seeds.

Ok, kids are you ready? We are going grown-up style on this germination… Take 1/2 a cup of planting soil and pour it into a plastic sandwich bag. It must be plastic. Then take your seeds and dump them in…. Next, pour 1/8 cup (coffee scoop) of WARM water into the bag. Before sealing the bag completely, blow into it to make it poofy… Remember plants breathe in, what you breathe out… This makes a mini greenhouse…. Now place in a sunny location and your seeds will begin germinating! Yay! I have my spearmint plant, Strawberries in the blue jar, then a small actual greenhouse… The rest are peppers, carrots, squash, herbs, and bluebonnets… I have a few other types of flowers as well. I can’t wait to show ya’ll my garden in a few weeks. :)

The Weather and Photos and Stuff…

2010-02-19T22:54:00.001-08:00

So this kid right here, is super stoked that that stuff in the photo is not falling from the sky anymore. As a matter of fact. It’s the second Texas Tech baseball game of the season! It is going to be 70 degrees and darn near perfect outside!

There might even be a Women’s Rugby Game on the horizon! Didn’t know that Women’s rugby existed? Me neither. Til today when I saw it on Facebook. Go figure, I mean it sounds intense… and I’m about an intense game. Let’s do it!

Then we’ll be over with our weekend. And back to work…

And back to snow. Cold weather. Blah.

And ice, who needs ice?

Not me. Not this kid. Bring on Spring. Bring on Fresh Vegetable gardens and Fried Okra. Yes ma’am.

Mom’s 60th Birthday!

2010-02-14T19:42:00.001-08:00

My mom turned 60 on Friday. So we had to throw her a big celebration.

Lots of people came! The paparazzi and everything. So mom and Aunt Dana ~~danced a jig for us~~ walked their red carpet walk.

It was mom’s bluebonnet birthday. Somehow all of us seemed to collaborate on a bluebonnet theme without knowing it.

This cake was awesome, and totally delicious!

One of my best friends from the age of 4 and her husband came over to help celebrate. This is me trying really hard to keep my eyes open. I get crazy eyes in photos. It’s genetic. Totally incurable though.

I’ve decided I need kids. I need kids like yesterday. My husband will be a great dad one day… not now… but one day. :)

Happy 60th Mom! I love you!

?????

2010-02-09T18:50:00.001-08:00

My husband is back from the Great White North!

Will I be next to go!?!?!??

Maybe. Yes, maybe.

First, I must acquire a legal way to enter the country. I do not own a passport. :)

fun with flashlights

2010-01-29T17:03:00.001-08:00

You can never have too much fun with extended exposures and glowsticks.

Hello, World!

2010-01-21T14:27:00.001-08:00

Yea, ok so I’m only about a month behind. I haven’t had internet since right after Thanksgiving. So I need to catch up a bit. You don’t realize what a luxury it is to have internet until you don’t. It’s so nice to think of something to google and be able to do it!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and ya’ll are having a great start to your New Year! Our family trip to Las Vegas was a blast! We saw much of the strip, won some money, lost some money and even sat withthe big boys at the Texas Hold ‘Em tables! The food was really wonderful at the buffets too! Om nom nom!

Currently I am working on obtaining my Associates degree. I have 4 more classes before I’m done. I’m starting back after 4 years off from school! I’m taking government – let’s just say that the profs political beliefs do not reflect mine!

Also, I was looking for a new way to develop blogs because as we all know, blogger’s formating, especially for pictures just sort of sucks. I have since found Windows live writer! It’s amazing! So easy to use and totally free! Just download it! download Windows Live here!

Thanks for being patient while we work our internet issues out with our ISP. :)

Hello, World

2010-01-21T13:06:00.001-08:00

So I haven't been around in a while, this I know. We had some issues with our ISP and just decided that while times are tough, we'd save money by leaving the internet off.

I haven't been around in a while due to that.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a Very Happy New Year! The hubby and I had an amazing time in Las Vegas! We ate amazing food at the buffet everyday. The fruit and cookies were especially YUM!

I have to tell ya'll that my sister in law conviced me (like she had to beg me or something, ha!) to go to a knitting class with her. I can now do basic knitting! It's so easy too!

Jackrabbit Jewelry

2009-11-21T08:37:00.000-08:00

Ahhhh, the smell of sweet, sweet, success! I made this charm out of precious metal clay. I was able to roll out the clay, cut the local high school mascot out of the clay, allow it to dry for 24 hours, then fire on the gas stovestop. This is what turned out. It's nearly perfect. If only it were a few millimeters thicker it'd be a bit stronger. Live and learn though. There are several more on my flickr. that I've created. Some originally had CZ stones in them but unfortunately never made it without falling out. :( I'll figure it out eventually. I also learned that during the cooling process (dumping the freshly fired charm into water) you can't cool gemstone pieces with water. It cracks them like glass (duh, evan). Had I actually thought that through I probably could have saved one of the CZs. Anywho, I'm hoping to sell these... Its about the size of 3/4 of a quarter. It's also .999 (or 99.9%) pure silver. Sterling is only .995 (99.5%). My husband thinks because of that .004 silver thing that it makes it look a little more costume jewelery-ish. I tend to agree, it doesn't look anything like sterling. Not nearly as mirror shiney... Though I'm thinking I could fix that.

Here I show the charm after firing. First quenching it in cold water.

Then before brushing with a brass brush.

And After brushing with a brass brush.

Veterans Day

2009-11-11T08:47:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all our past and present men and women in the armed forces. Happy Veterans Day!

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free. ~Ronald Reagan

My newish Design Studio.

2009-11-05T17:42:00.000-08:00

Don't you just love the words Design Studio? Makes me sound fancy and professional don't you think? Its way better than, "My Teal Garage." Which is what the outsider looking in might think... But to me, this is purely a design studio.

If you want you can look on the lefthand side over there and gander at the flickr. I've added notes when you mouse over the photo to explain some things. I'll try my best here.

There is red fabric to the left hand side of the photo - that's a wingback chair I'm starting to take apart to eventually reupholster. Now if I could just find some nice faux leather for around a buck a yard (Go ahead and tell me to "Get Real" now..).

The window is going to eventually house some needlepoint and cross stitch samplers.

The brown table in the middle is going to go in the house this weekend. The husband needs it in his office.

The desk in the back - well pardon the disorganization on it, I'm still putting away stuff.

The other small brown desk is an old sewing table I'm giving a modern look to and putting in my guest room. The drawer organizer above it eventually will either be bright orange or hot pink.

My cabinet door wasn't quite dry enough to handle at the time of this photo so alas, you have one door missing. I'll clean out that cabinet tomorrow though. There aren't any drawer pulls on the drawers because the screws they came with aren't long enough (annoyance!).

So yea, this is about 4 months off and on nearly complete! :)

COTTON!

2009-11-04T15:07:00.000-08:00

It's cotton harvest time. That means my allergies are KILLING ME. The dust and seed in the air is crazy. I love West Texas 99% of the time except the 1 month out of the year (November) where the harvest is in full swing. My allergies kept me up for about 2 hours last night because it felt like someone was drilling into my head...

So what, you might ask was so crafty about this entry? I gathered enough cotton in that picture to make 1 tshirt. :) Amazing how little it takes.

Lasagna for my Garfield

2009-11-02T17:36:00.001-08:00

I made lasagna all by myself for the first time ever!

1lb italian sausage

1 can tomatoes

2 cans tomato paste

Italian seasonings

1 small can sliced black olives

1/2 box lasagna noodles

pepperonis

cheese of choice

brown sausage and drain. add rest of canned ingredients and italian seasonings. Cook noodles and layer. Put pepperoni on top layer and cover with cheese. Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes. Voilla!

Hubby said it was really great and "meaty." I honestly didn't have any because I am no fan of italian sausage. :)

My Poopers.

2009-10-28T05:45:00.000-07:00

I have 3 dogs that I've talked about before around here... 3 very lively basset hounds. My hounds are not the cliche bassets with the big droopy sad eyes, ~~who are lazy~~ scratch that my dogs can be very lazy, but they are generally very active.

They have big long velvet soft ears.

And They act like complete goobers!

I recommend everyone have at least 2. :)

All Hallows' Eve

2009-10-25T21:20:00.000-07:00

Halloween is admittedly my least favorite holiday. I know, I know who doesn't like to dress up and play vampire and goblin? Me. I'm a party pooper. I have a few decorations out that I've stolen from my mom from my childhood. A set of bears dressed in their halloween costumes.

Well, the employer told us we could all wear a halloween shirt on friday instead of our normal "high school spirit" shirt. So I'm making a Edgar Allan Poe "Nevermore" shirt! A screenshot of what's in my head. I really wanted the whole poem to "fill" the raven but I just don't have the patience for picking around all those letters!

Until it's making though I'll leave you with the oh so creeptacular firefighting skull the hubby and I created today. :)

Speaking of firefighters, I also made a shirt using our lovely, lovely vinyl cutter (I LOVE THIS THING).

shooting and shooting

2009-10-18T19:17:00.001-07:00

went out to dove hunt, just wound up shooting the guns for fun and shooting lots of wildlife pictures.

Now I'm fairly convinced that all weekends need to be 3 days, I'm so exhausted!

You there! Cake or Death?

2009-10-17T14:36:00.000-07:00

I choose cake! Coffee cake! I've been eyeballing this recipe on the King Arthur Flour website for a few weeks now, but seeing as how I've started a new "No Sugar" diet I really didn't want the temptation. I finally broke down Friday afternoon when I found out we'd be waking at 4:30am on Saturday (O.o) to go hunting. I wanted something quick for breakfast to go with the 13 or 14 cups of coffee I was going to need.

Let me tell you, this is by far, hands down the BEST from scratch recipe I've ever tasted. The cake was dense and it was just a perfect amount of filling.

I want to add that in that recipe it notes that if you want the cake to focus on the cake itself to use 1/3 cup brown sugar for the filling instead of one cup. I took the middle road and used a half cup and it was just right for me.

I think next time I'll use splenda and splenda brown sugar to see what I can get.

Kiddos

2009-10-05T20:10:00.000-07:00

I had a chance to help a friend of the hubby and I's out by taking some portraits of his kids before the moved out of state. Here are a few of them:

Trey with Abby:

Nicole playing

Daddy with Keegan - he bumped his head.

What's For Dinner?

2009-08-27T18:00:00.000-07:00

I have to admit that I've always been very intimidated by making my own flour tortillas. I thought it was a difficult process requiring lots of special ingredients and spending lots of time in the kitchen. In reality it takes very little effort and only about a half hour. That half hour is mainly allowing the dough to rest to make it not so "elasticy."

I got the recipe off of Homesick Texan's Blog - Her recipe is as follows:

Texas Flour Tortillas (adapted from The Border Cookbook by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison)Ingredients:
Two cups of all-purpose flour (can make them whole wheat by substituting one cup of whole-wheat flour for white flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
3/4 cups of warm milk

Method:Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and oil. Slowly add the warm milk. Stir until a loose, sticky ball is formed. Knead for two minutes on a floured surface. Dough should be firm and soft. Can be reheated in a dry iron skillet, over your gas-burner flame or in the oven wrapped in foil.While you probably won’t have any leftovers, you can store in the fridge tightly wrapped in foil or plastic for a day or so.Makes eight tortillas.

Place dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for 20 minutes.

After the dough has rested, break off eight sections, roll them into balls in your hands, place on a plate (make sure they aren’t touching) and then cover balls with damp cloth or plastic wrap for 10 minutes. (It’s very important to let the dough rest, otherwise it will be like elastic and won’t roll out to a proper thickness and shape.) *I recommend using a warm towel, like my flower sack. It really helped the dough along.

After dough has rested, one at a time place a dough ball on a floured surface, pat it out into a four-inch circle, and then roll with a rolling pin from the center until it’s thin and about eight inches in diameter. (If you roll out pie crusts you’ll have no problem with this.) Don’t over work the dough, or it’ll be stiff. Keep rolled-out tortillas covered until ready to cook.

In a dry iron skillet or comal heated on high, cook the tortilla about thirty seconds on each side. It should start to puff a bit when it’s done. Keep cooked tortillas covered wrapped in a (damp, warm) napkin until ready to eat.

Making the fajitas. Chicken, Bell Pepper, and Onions. Yummmm.

Savory, savory, success! Hope you enjoyed my first of many attempts at tortillas. I will also say that the husband and I really like our foods a bit saltier. So if you really like a Taco Cabana type of tortilla I would probably add another 1/2 to full teaspoon of salt to the recipe. I'll have to play with the salt content.

The Horny Toad

2009-08-16T13:11:00.001-07:00

It's no lie. I have quite a fascination with horny toads. I really just love the little lizards! My husband would catch them on the jobsite but never would bring them home for me to love on! I had honestly never seen one alive until today. We were at a BBQ fundraiser for a neighboring fire department and I was helping a big engine truck back into the garage. This little guy jumps out and nearly runs under the tire!! Then runs back to the wall where I pick him up and tell him how naughty he was for running out in front of trucks! Being the size of a quarter, If he would have just looked both ways before... nevermind... So I took him home to photograph and set him free in my front yard where there is a plethora and variety of ants and grasshoppers for him to snack on to his hearts desire. Who knows maybe I can have a colony of horned toads in my front yard one day!

Photography and Updates

2009-07-29T21:48:00.000-07:00

I've been traveling again. I flew back Sunday to Lubbock to explain to my boss about needing more time off. Thankfully he was more than understanding and encouraged me to come back and help my family. My mom's knee surgery went fine, but with one small complication: They cut her tendon. She has to keep it as immobile as possible for 6 weeks making EVERYTHING more difficult. It was very stressful for all of us to have me leave after only a week of her being home.

So I drove to Lawton, OK Monday afternoon to take my darling husband more clothes. He was called to a windmill farm to weld on some trenchers and only took 2 days worth of clothes, a week later he was still there with no end in sight! He now currently knows he should be home by Monday.

But I wanted to spend a day with him considering I hadn't seen him in 10 days. So Tuesday we spent the whole day together and I went to work with him Monday and Tuesday night.

I don't really like night photography. Pictures never turn out well for me at night. But this set really boosted my confidence in my night photography skills. I just have to remember more light! :)

Post number 100 ya'll!

Updates

2009-07-20T20:48:00.000-07:00

You may notice some construction on the blog over the next few days. I'm working on integrating this blog onto my actual website so that you can just hop over to evanchandler.com to read it. So if things look a bit funky when it loads, that's probably the reason why... if it stays funky for several hours or days, by all means, let me know!

Since sliced bread.

2009-07-20T13:25:00.001-07:00

While bored in a hospital (my mom had her knee replaced) what is one to do? Play with her iPhone, of course!

I found an app from OnOne Software that allows you to wirelessly control your camera from your iphone like a remote. AWESOME and totally worth the $20 bucks. Picture above taken from my camera using my iphone. If you're camera supports liveview (mine doesn't) then you can also live view from your phone too! Totally awesome!

Alright I'm taking a nap then it's back up to the hospital.

Passed Out

2009-06-28T13:38:00.000-07:00

This was going to be my big reveal weekend. I was going to uber clean the house and totally get my craft room set up out in the garage. Well life grabbed hold of me and had different plans. I had a root canal on friday and have been in a good amount of pain since. I'm going back on Monday to see if an infection has set in. The entire right side of my face has been hot and swollen for 2 days and I didn't have that the last time I had a root canal.

Onward to happier things. I went outside to move and water my plants and this is what I found. I normally only have to have a finger on the lock of the back door for my pups to spring up from their naps. Today I walked outside and they were all 3 still passed out. I walked up on Stonewall intending to spook him but instead had to quitely muffle my laughter and take a picture with my phone. He had his nose stuck inside this pot and was just snoozing away. I guess it had smelled really good. I just can't imagine him actually putting it in their intentionally to sleep. I love my bassets, they are such characters.

Party!

2009-06-21T08:47:00.000-07:00

The party was really fantastic! All-in-all we had about 9 people over. Everyone was really suprised about the cake! I was really excited with how well it went over and the taste was awesome. So not only was my cake all sorts of fun colors, but so was the table setting:

We had smoked brisket, baked beans, potatoe salad, jalapeno poppers and of course, cake!

Most people have candles on their birthday cake. I get a house fire. :) (controlled burned of course, not a "real fire.")

It was a most wonderful birthday.

Party Time - Birthday Cake!

2009-06-19T18:14:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we are celebrating my birthday with our friends and some family. Trey and I are smoking a brisket and I'm making potato salad, deviled eggs, and baked beans. YUM!

I also made myself a cake! I'm so excited because as of lately it seems all my friends have a cake decorating bug. I decided to take the leap and go for it. I bought some wilton gel food coloring and rather than color the icing. I colored the cake! I love it! It'll be a huge suprise when we cut into it tomorrow - so long as husband doesn't give it away. :)

Just your typical looking white cake.

And then, BAM!
There is a turquoise, hot pink, lime green, and orange layers. I went with 4 layers just for kicks. Between each layer is a fudge frosting. The outside and tops are all done with vanilla frosting. I then used a bag and tip for around the edge of the cake. I'm pretty proud - hopefully this sucker doesn't just fall apart tomorrow.

Pictures of it cut, tomorrow! Excited!

It's (almost) my birthday!

2009-06-17T21:33:00.000-07:00

So in about a half hour it's my birthday. My wonderful family got me a Wacom Bamboo Pen Tablet! I'm sooooo stoked about it. I can write, draw, and sign my own signature on my photos now! This thing is crazy and I've only played with it for a few hours. LOVE IT!

Thanks family!

The very start

2009-06-14T07:38:00.000-07:00

Part of my garage is complete. Tryin to blog with the iPhone. Hope
this works!!

I'm an awful blogger!

2009-06-11T21:21:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, I'm an AWFUL blogger. I'm so sorry! I've worked somewhere around 45 hours just this week and I just haven't had ANY time for crafting, much less blogging!

But I do have a pretty picture of my (technically my mother-in-law's) amazing roses that are blooming.

This weekend the hubby and I have a few projects in store that I'm planning on documenting. One is a smoker that'll eventually have axles so we can pull it. We are kinda huge into bar-b-ques and smoking meat now. The other is a garage renovation. My garage space has been significantly increased due to the selling of our four wheeler. I went from stepping around all sorts of things to actually being able to move in our garage. So now it's time to set up a space just for crafting. I even got the husband approval for painting it all sorts of fun colors and making it into my space. WOW! Right?!

So I promise I'll try not to leave you in the dark for quite as long next time. :)

2009-06-11T21:19:00.001-07:00

Yay now I can post from my phone! So fun!

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-11T16:23:00.000-07:00

I searched West Texas high and low for bluebonnets in hope that I could photograph one for my mom for mother's day. I kid you not they just don't exist up here! Until I ran across an old abandoned house that someone obviously planted before they left just down the street from me! Hooray! I snapped some pictures and ran to my local camera shop to have it printed on canvas. Then I took a trip to hobby lobby and stretched the canvas myself. Voila! I love you momma! Happy Mother's Day!

Cooking Time!

2009-04-21T18:58:00.000-07:00

I have been inspired! I finally bought The Tex-Mex Cookbook by Robb Walsh!

Let me tell you it's amazing! All the recipes sound simply delicious! I'm making Chile Rellenos first tomorrow night. I'm crossing my fingers they are as amazing as they sound.

I also bought Robin Millers Quick Fix Meals - She is a host on Food Network that will make one thing during the weekend and her family can vary from that one thing the rest of the week. I'm hoping that with all this working I've been doing I can cook big on Saturday and not have to do much during the week when I'm dead tired and pooped.

I'm also going to try my hand at a recipe I found online for Outback Steakhouse's Honey Wheat bread. It contains instant coffee and cocoa powder so I'm not holding my breath but we'll see....

busy bee

2009-04-19T09:15:00.000-07:00

I have not forgotten about this blog! I swear it! Between working five days a week now, the fire department having an arsonist on the loose and tornado watching (I set off the tornado siren for the town!!) I haven't had time for anything really.

I did however, set up a small vegetable garden this weekend. I bought a bell pepper plant, strawberries, and jalapenos. I'll also be getting okra and big jim peppers for chile rellenos. Yummy!

Pics to come soon! I do have some great baseball, softball, and fire shots up on the flickr. Link to the side or click here

Zaza Gallery - Photo on Canvas

2009-04-04T09:24:00.000-07:00

So I joined Twitter. You know, the social networking place where you "tweet" what you are doing to no one and everyone at the same time (that's from a hilarious parody video, btw). Haha, anyways it was there that I ran into ZAZA gallery. I found out that Hughe puts your photos onto canvas! His prices are really the best I've researched out ($25 for an 8X10!). Today was the day I recieved mine and I couldn't rip that box open fast enough. I literally gasped when I saw my canvas. I think the colors are 10X more vibrant than in my original photo!

Original:

The Canvas:

I'm so impressed! I wish everyone could see it in person, my pictures are really not doing it any justice. I'll definitely, definitely, be ordering other photos for gifts and such. These are just too great to pass up! I can see a wall full of flowers on canvas now... Thanks Zaza Gallery!

Desser - Fin.

2009-03-18T19:09:00.001-07:00

Well, it's all done. The dresser is all done and moved into our bedroom. I'm thrilled!! Although, you will notice I totally forgot one pull knob. I'll pick it up on my next run to town though.

It's so gorgeous!

The Transforming Dresser

2009-03-17T13:37:00.000-07:00

It's halfway done. It's spring break so with my time off from the schools I've been busy getting the house un-naturally clean and tidy, while also working on the dresser. I ran out of 240 grit sandpaper though and my local hardware store should have a new shipment in tomorrow. Oh the joys of small town life.

So in this photo you can see the blue the dresser used to be -- where I have left it on the bottoms of the drawers. The places where it's been sanded down and of course how the drawers and top have been stained. I LOVE it!!

Black and White Cupcakes

2009-03-10T14:52:00.001-07:00

So, I've been working non-stop on an old dresser the hubby and I were given from my father -in-law. He bought it when he was really young. Then it was painted white, then really bright blue. I've got it all sanded down to just bare oak. This thing is solid too! It's awesome! I'm going to give it a really light coat of stain so it'll stay rustic looking and match the rest of our bedroom furniture. I can't wait to get some pictures of it when it's finished.

So now that you know where I've been and what I've been doing over the past week or so... I'll show you what I concoction I've baked up for tonight's bunco party.

"Black and White" cupcakes. So really they are "Yellow and Brown" but we won't get technical. You just take yellow cake batter (boxed is my preferred cake mix) and chocolate cake mix and spoon it into the cupcake pan side by side with a tablespoon... or whatever size spoon so long as both are the same in size. Then they'll come out halvsies!! Since this photo I have taken a knife and cut about a half in down in the very middle and filled with Betty Crocker's whipped icing so that they are like hostess cupcakes! Yeilded 24 Texas size cupcakes.

So Fun! I love bunco nights. It let's me unleash my creative baking. It's really hard to bake 24 Texas sized cupcakes for just the hubby and I.

I've been busy

2009-03-03T18:05:00.000-08:00

I've been a bit busy. Firefighting has pretty much completely consumed my free time.

But you guys deserve a picture. Dear Husband took this picture.

Firefighting Crafts

2009-02-25T08:15:00.001-08:00

I'm not so sure I've mentioned this on here but Trey and I have joined the local volunteer fire department. I have been put in charge of PR and anything they need "made."

So far I have put together a website, A sign to hang on the building and am designing the patches. I'm having a blast being put in charge of the department creativity!

The Potential patch - Fire departments sometimes use patches like business cards. The patches are placed on jackets, hats, dress uniforms, etc...

The sign- OMG, this sign gave me hell. I used oil based spray paint and then tried to seal it with oil based sealer. The sealer ATE the red paint! I had to redo a section. It was so awful.

chocolate covered strawberries

2009-02-17T04:58:00.000-08:00

Yummo-in-my-Tummo!

I made these for a dinner party we had on Sunday night. They were a big hit, especially being covered in Ghirardelli milk chocolate! These were already some of the sweetest strawberries I've ever had too. Not too hard, just pop the chocolate chips in the microwave using 20 second intervals until melted. Have wax paper ready and out. Using completely DRY strawberries roll them around in the chocolate and allow to dry on wax paper... Unless you're like me and steal a few still warm!

Mom's Birthday

2009-02-13T15:27:00.000-08:00

So my mom's birthday was yesterday (Happy Birthday Mom!!). I didn't really know what to get her so after a long though process I decided to make her a spa set. I made some soap, lotion, and a candle all in her favorite scent, Moonlight Path! I just sent them to her so they should be there in a few days. I found all three incredibly easy to make! I love making them! I also placed washclothes that matched the color I dyed the all 3 pieces and put in lots of chocolates. She'll have luxury in a box!

As you can see the soap is actually two tone! This is done by first making a half batch and dying it very dark, pouring it into a mold (a shoebox lined with wax paper in my case) and waiting about a half hour. Then making the other half and dying it slightly lighter.

Sorry the pics aren't very good. I remembered as I pulled up to the post office I hadn't taken any and found my point and shoot in the truck! So these are very rushed photos.

Lotion
Candle

TexMex How I Love You!

2009-02-12T11:07:00.001-08:00

There is no hiding that I love Tex-Mex. Rice, beans, and beef fajitas. My mouth waters at the very thought. I have been searching high and low for a recipe that resembles Taco Cabana's rice... (that I can make using minute rice - being the only rice that I can actually cook well). Everything has been too... "Spanish-y" I finally decided to type in "Tex Mex Rice" to see what popped up and in my stumbling and scraping around I ran across this blog. Homesick Texan

I kid you not, if you are hungry don't even open that page. I have nearly died of hunger from looking all over her lovely blog and not being able to pull myself away from it. But seriously here is a preview - of rice of course.

On her blog she mentions a book that Monday (payday!) I'm going to definitely purchase:
So for those of you who like me - LOVE your tex mex but either don't know how to cook it or live too far away for it to be genuine... Between these two sources we'll all be well fed.

Sermon on the "Mount"

2009-01-27T08:57:00.000-08:00

I first experienced Sermon on the Mount while attending Tarleton. I was majoring in Equine Science and the Equine office was promoting an event called Sermon on the "Mount." I had no idea what it was about but we were told that he relates horse training in a biblical sense. This sparked my curiousity. I had no idea how this man was going to tell me about God and tell me how to train my horse at the same time.

Well let me tell you folks, I went the first year and was hooked. I can't even describe his messages, they are truly amazing. The following year I looked foward to going! I was training a yearling for a halter/saddle breaking class and knew he was coming. I knew I could further relate to what the message was... Only to be suprised by Mr. Rosie coming to work with us one on one in that class. It has always held a special place in my heart!

So I wanted to share a few videos with you all to show you what in the world I'm talking about :)

Rascal

2009-01-23T20:47:00.000-08:00

I was indeed hoping to do something very special for my 75th post. So here I guess I do. I get to remember my bestest buddy.

"If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons."
-James Thurber

My dear, sweet Rascal passed away today. He was 2 months shy of 15... My mom said he just wasn't acting right and when she took him to the vet, they said his kidneys weren't functioning properly. He'd have meds and a special diet the rest of his life, on top of already being blind, deaf, and falling down after standing too long or hardly being able to make it up and down steps. She decided it was probably best for him to go peacefully than to suffer any longer.

For years I thought this would be one of the hardest days I'd ever have to face - and although I have been very weepy this evening I'm really at peace. I've prepared myself, really, since Christmas for this day to come.

Rascal was my 9th Birthday present. He was my first dog and the best dog we've ever owned. He was the smartest, most talented dog I've ever seen! He could speak loud, "whisper," sit, come, fetch.... He LOVED tennis balls. He was a good friend... He was probably my "once in a lifetime" dog.

I'll miss him very much.

Vanilla Cake

2009-01-22T20:38:00.000-08:00

So Hubby and I made a vow to eat healthier now that he is a volunteer firefighter again. He wants to get back into shape and I could use a better shape, LOL! But, my naughty sweet tooth got to me and haunted me until I would make a vanilla cake with buttercream icing. Sounded so delicious!

That was until I took the first bite. Am I crazy or does anyone else prefer a box cake to scratch cakes? This is the fourth scratch cake in a year I've made and NONE of them have tasted very yummy. Not to mention my buttercream was too, er, whipped I guess is the word.

So, my sweet tooth is gone for now and I didn't even eat a whole piece of cake. This wasn't so bad for our eat healthy thing after all.

Bucket List

2009-01-21T19:15:00.000-08:00

I found this and thought that it was a nice way to reflect on the things I've done, and the things I wish to do one day... Of course this doesn't include my tour of Europe, New Zealand and Australia.... Hehe. I'll cross off the ones I've done.

Here is a list of 50 unconventional things to do in your lifetime. You may find a few to add to your bucket list.

~~1. Search for UFOs and aliens in Roswell, New Mexico.~~

2. Go on a ghost tour.

3. Race a car or motorcycle on the salt flats of Utah.

4. Walk on a boardwalk at 2 am.

5. Be in a movie, whether as an extra or as the star.

6. Pan for gold in a mountain stream.

7~~. Watch the sun rise and set in the same day.~~

8. ~~Go outside and dance in a rainstorm.~~

9. Become a viral video star.

10. Take the tour of Disney World’s underground tunnel system.

11. Camp at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

12. Have a credit on IMDB.com.

13. Be in a talk show audience.

14. ~~Help someone help their self.~~ I think I can cross this off... I hope anyway.

15. Adopt a pet from a shelter or rescue group.

16. ~~Inner tube down a river.~~

17. ~~Run a business.~~ Working on it anyway...

18. ~~Visit a food factory.-~~ Mrs. Bairds!!

19. ~~Go camping somewhere that has no contact to the outside world.~~

20. Help family members achieve their goals and dreams.

21. ~~Watch all the top rated films of all time.~~ watched the top 5 in h.s. lol.

22. ~~Take a spontaneous road trip.~~ I think my first 2 years of marriage qualify here...

23. ~~Write an article for a newspaper or magazine.~~ Had my photography published in the college paper.

24~~. Fail several times at something.~~

25. Make an oil painting.

26. Work at a zoo or aquarium. (Technically Jess and I had a very inside look at the Galveston Aquarium. One of my favorite memories is hearing those fish "chirp" and being on top of a shark tank. AWESOME!)

~~27. Create a website.~~

~~28. Work a job you hate.~~

29. ~~Get to know yourself and those closest to you.~~

30. ~~Hunt for treasure.~~

31. ~~Confront at least one of your big fears.~~ Elevators!

32. At least attempt to tackle every dream and goal you’ve ever had.

33. ~~Befriend an enemy.~~- In high school I did... :)

34~~. Make friends with very successful people.~~

3~~5. Take one day to just watch the clouds and take one night just to watch the stars.~~

36. ~~Travel for a full year.~~ Again... I think I qualify.

37. Raise a Seeing Eye puppy.

38. ~~Read all your favorite books again.~~ I don't have too terribly many favorites but I have read them ALL again! Hehehe.

39. Work less, live more.

40. Vacation on a house boat.-

41. Find what you were meant to do.-

42. ~~Live without email, IM, or your cell phone for a week.-~~

43. Join a peaceful protest for a cause you support.

~~44. Be on a TV news program for something positive.~~ I was on the news a few times Freshman year for pep rally.

45~~. Watch a movie being filmed.~~ Bastrop and Austin we stopped to watch several times.

46. Stomp grapes at a vineyard.

47. Create an invention.

48. Get your name and biography on Wikipedia.

49. Learn how to drive a tractor.-

50~~. Do all your favorite things from childhood:~~

Kilns and such

2009-01-19T14:34:00.000-08:00

So I was holding out on you folks. I was dreaming and scheming what to do with this nifty little object. My husband suprised me about a week ago by telling me he had placed a bid on an auction site on a kiln at the lubbock school districts auction! A kiln of my very own! Oh the dreams! Oh the possibilities! I don't think ya'll would ever hear from me again!

Alas, I'm here to stay! We were outbid in the final moments of the auction. I am still kilnless. But there are other kilns about in the big world of ceramics. I'm sure that another will find me and find a place in our home where it can warm my craftings. :)

Beyond that I've been kept so busy up at the school lately I haven't had much time to do anything but come home and cook and go to bed. I've got days booked all the way to the first of April (they like me, they really like me!)!! I've got quite a few things I need to finish making though so perhaps I'll start them very soon.

Happy crafting!

MOO!

2009-01-16T07:17:00.000-08:00

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If you forward the following unique-to-you code to friends who have never bought from MOO before, they'll get 20% off any 1 MOO product.

Your unique friend referral-code is: NH7GUP

This code is unique to you, so we'll know if any of your friends have taken you up on the offer. If they buy something you'll get a FREE FLICKR PRO* account as a thank you from us!**

www.moo.com

So if you use that code, we both reep the rewards. Thanks!

Coffee Addicts Anonymous

2009-01-14T19:57:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the nonstop substitute teaching I've been doing as of lately I've become a straight up coffee addict. I wanted something creative to do today, so while we were in town today I picked up a Starbucks "create your own" tumbler. This is my design. I seriously redid it about 16 times before feeling good with this one.

The journaling says, ""Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body. But rather to slide in sideways, totally used up, totally worn out, screaming "HOLY CRAP! What a ride!""Haha, great philosophy.

A Post!

2009-01-06T09:30:00.000-08:00

Let's back track a bit and show ya'll what I crafted for the holidays! I couldn't before because if I put the photos on Flickr, they would have leaked to my sister in law!

I had brown background with different turquoise and brown fabrics to applique her name with! A nice turquoise fabric binds the quilt together.

I forgot to get finished pics of my father in laws quilt but it was a tshirt quilt of all the construction companies he's worked for over the last 10+ years. It was pretty amazing to see everyone's reaction to their quilts.

I got playdough in my stocking and made a creepy man face, lol.

Here's Stonewall in full out gallop. I love his ears! I'm hoping to get out in the next few weeks and start shooting a bit more than I have... Baseball season should start soon too and I'm hoping to get some fun shots at the home games.

The bedroom redecoration

2009-01-01T12:20:00.000-08:00

My mother in law helped me to redecorate my bedroom! I was given a Hobby Lobby gift card for Christmas and we spent a while picking out some art to go around the bed. I picked the two metal looking scrolls and rotated the room around. Even the husband is amazed at the transformation from plain to cozy! I'm currently refinishing a dresser to match the rustic wood in the room. Eventually we'll go to traditional nightstands but for now we'll continue to have the newlywed look. :) Happy New Year!!

pas chambre romantique

2008-12-30T13:34:00.000-08:00

Translation: My bedroom is not pretty, nor romantic, nor anything I'd like for it to be!! I want it to be warm, inviting, rustic, charming, with a touch of "romance." I'm not even sure what romantic looks like but all those HGTV shows say it!!

So, I've always prided myself on my decorating skills. I love it when people walk into my house and tell me how wonderful it looks. The rest of the house is done, except the bedroom and I'm just creatively dried up for that. I never thought I could say that!

So this is a picture of my bedroom as it is now. I love my headboard and matching bookshelf/nightstand. I also love how luxurius and hotel like my bedspread is, along with 12 matching pillows! (thank you Chris Madden collection) I really wasn't a big fan of gold colors until this came along. Now so long as its a muted gold, I love it! Other than that the paintings can be moved either around the room or completely out of it.
This is the current layout of my bedroom. I couldn't find a tape measure without driving 5 minutes across town to my husbands shop, so the room size is a rough estimate. Basically, give or take a foot. I have an upright piano, armchair and ottoman, and dresser with tv to also consider.

This is how I'm thinking of re-arranging the room. The only problem is with the window. It faces East so the morning light can be vicious. But I also figure that with some good curtains that problem could be solved.

Please, be honest! Lots of input is necessary. I have a gift card to hobby lobby and some Christmas cash burning holes in my wallet! LOL.

Swirly Twirly Sugar Cookie Forrest

2008-12-21T14:02:00.000-08:00

Here is more sugary goodness - this time I made swirled sugar cookies! I took just a package mix of sugar cookie dough, halved it and rolled one half into a ball with some food dye in the middle. Then worked the dye into the dough. After that I used 2 sheets of wax paper to roll out the dough on a cookie sheet to make it a rectangular shape. I did the same with the non dyed dough. Then placed the red dough on top of the white. I rolled them up then used a white sprinkle on the outside for decoration and taste,then refridgerated for a couple hours.

Tip: You can take thread and wrap it around your cookie tube and pull. This should give you near perfect circles without squishing the dough! In the picture the smaller pieces in the back are still just dough, so that you can see what it looks like before and after. Happy Baking!

Visions of Sugar Plums

2008-12-21T06:11:00.000-08:00

Okay, so maybe not "plums" persay - but definitely visions of sugar! I decided to try to make a batch of butter rum hard candy yesterday. I am normally a cinnamon candy person. My family loves cinnamon candy, especially those FireBall candies. But rather than voluntarily burning my skin, eyes, and of course mouth again this year I went for a nice, safe, butter rum. Just like the life savers (my favorite!).

I guess let me back track and explain my prior statement of burning for a moment. Last years hard candy making was a bit of a disaster on my part. I made a double batch, 2 dram hard cinnamon candy. During the process you wait until you are at 260° to add coloring, then add the flavor at 300° while removing the heat. Adding a cold oil based product into a sugar creates a lot of steam. This steam will hit you in the face if you aren't careful. I wasn't careful enough and got a face load of cinnamon steam last year and my eyes burned for a full 10 minutes before I could keep the tears out of my eyes! On top of that I had spilled part of one of the drams on my wrist and it quite literally burned my skin! And this was before it was ever hot! Then rather than grab the parchment paper like I had planned I grabbed the wax paper and wound up with a paper coating on my candy. To top it all of while breaking it up into smaller pieces a shard broke off and cut my hand, thus also burning it with the cinnamon oil.

So, bad experience with cinnamon candy? Yes! A nice, safe, butter rum was in order this year.

I died it green just for fun, because I wasn't really sure how to achieve a rum, amber color. My second batch will be red and I'll mix them together. While it was stiff and cooling I took a Christmas tree, mini cutter and pressed it over and over into the candy. It makes for random pieces of design in each bite!

Hope you've enjoyed this adventure in Candy Land!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

2008-12-17T16:12:00.000-08:00

Chocolate Chip Cherry Cookies! Yes, friends they are just as amazing as they sound! If you LOVE Maraschino cherries like I do, you'll love these babies too!

I made one batch and rolled the rest in wax paper in a roll put it in a freezer bag and popped it in the freezer so that a little closer to the holidays I can slice and bake more!

Windows Vista on the new laptop is acting funny. I can be typing and it'll randomly jump to another place... so if there are weirdly misspelled words, that's why, lol.

Woo hoo Holiday baking!

Recipe:
I don't use semi-sweet chips though, I use the ghiradelli milk chocolate chips and I added the cherry stuff to the recipe which is just ridiculously simple. lol. INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons hot water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 large jar Maraschino cherries
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips. Drain maraschino cherries and fold into dough. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.
Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.

Christmas and Photography

2008-12-07T06:39:00.000-08:00

Well it's getting to be that time of year. Santa is checking his list and I'd be willing to bet those reindeer are in peak physical condition by now. Husband and I are trying not to feel so bah-humbuggy because somehow we got left behind in JULY and missed the rest of the year. It just doesn't even feel like it should be Christmas time yet. So we decided to put up the tree and now it does feel a bit more like Christmas. Our tree is 9ft tall and was a gift from my mother-in-law last year. She found it at the goodwill. Apparently, Target stores donate their displays. After being stored last year there is apparently a short in a 1ft section of the tree and it blinks rather than stays lit. Oh well, I'll just unwrap that section after this year and buy some new lights for it. The photo caught that section on one of its off blinks, lol! I'm so glad we actually have a ceiling this year that can handle a 9 ft tree plus a 12" star topper. More pictures later in the week, my husband bought me a wide angle lens for Christmas and it'll be here Thursday! Hooray!

Here we have a picture of an elusive creature who is normally very camera shy. Or rather just hates have his picture taken. It's my husband working very hard at his new job and grinding some metal for hand rails. He was hired to make them for a city beautification project. After he gets done with the 6 pairs for this city, our city has hired him to make several more! YAY!

Chili Night

2008-12-05T16:21:00.000-08:00

It's Chili night for a chilly night! It's 6:20pm now and already 35 degrees!

I haven't been in the mood to craft much so I decided to treat you to what was going on in the kitchen. We are still moving but my allergies due to cotton season have been awful to deal with. Between my asthma acting up and migranes or working during the day I haven't been up to much in the evenings beyond sitting on my bum or cooking. Cotton harvest is on its way to the end though so I assume things will be back to normal shortly. In the mean time enjoy the chili! :D

Still Moving

2008-12-02T19:09:00.000-08:00

So now that Thanksgiving is over, we have just about 2 weeks left to move from the old house to this new house. I'm a little bit overwhelmed by having to set up temporarily in the garage rather than my pretty little studio. Mainly because the garage is a complete disaster zone. Just need the roof on the studio to be patched, then we can paint in there, build some shelves and I'll be good to move in! If I'm not working tomorrow I'll be working on it until hubby gets home from work.

I can honestly say I haven't crafted a bit since I packed up that room. I have been working like crazy for money for a new lens though. The 15th I'll pick out my brand new (to me) 18-55mm canon lens. I'm stoked! Yay for wide angle shots! Now I won't have to worry about being at very least 4 feet away from my subject!

If you haven't ever listened to the band Muse. I seriously suggest you give them a try. Supermassive Black Hole is my favorite song right now. :)

Turkey Day

2008-11-27T13:56:00.003-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you gobble til you wobble!

The Great Move

2008-11-13T20:47:00.000-08:00

So I believe the blog will be in a bit of a hiatus for the next few days. The husband and I are moving starting Sunday and I don't really see myself sitting down to sew between now and then (or potentially a few days after). I could be wrong - it's happened before - although you didn't hear that from me! I have a few tasty treats I'm wanting to bake so you never know. I guess this was pointless? Haha.

I have more big news! It's finally here, tomorrow I pick up my husband (7 hours from here - to say the least) after his last official day being employed by someone else. We are officially self employed Saturday morning November 15th, 2008. I will miss traveling the nation, and of course traveling Texas to see (very) remote places I've never seen before. Of course, I'll always have the memories and photographs (especially of Washington!) to cherish.

So I leave you with one of my very favorite pictures of Washington. Taken on the Wildhorse wind project on Whiskey Dick Mountain just between Ellensburg and Vantage, WA. If you look closely you can see Mt. Ranier.

Thanksgiving Menu and Recipe

2008-11-12T06:22:00.000-08:00

So I have really only just come to the realization that Thanksgiving is a mere 2 weeks away. With that being said I have sat down this morning to figure out the menu. I'll officially have 9!

Turkey (obviously) - not sure yet if we are smoking it again or going to attempt frying it.
Mashed potatoes
Jalapeno Cornbread Stuffing - Recipe for this below - provided by Good Housekeeping
Regular Stuffing
Orange Salad
Cranberry Sauce - Of the canned variety, call me lazy.
Twice baked sweet potatoes
Waldorf Salad
Cresent Rolls - again out of a can!

And the obvious obligatory desserts of Pecan and Pumpkin Pies. Probably also some fudge because my brother hates pie of any variety.

It'll be a mad scramble the week of Thanksgiving. My inlaws will be moving to Canada on Saturday and have taken their whole house. We are turning back our rent house and moving into theirs until they come back (2+ years). So we'll be going crazy trying to get moved!

Onward to the recipe. I can honestly say that I am definitely not a fan of stuffing (it's the soggy bread texture, just awful) not until this stuffing came into my life last year - its really, really good if you like spicy foods.

Like I say I'm a fairly lazy person - I love Jiffy Cornbread I made 2 boxes of it last year for this recipe

Ingredients

3tbs Margarine
4 Medium Carrots (cut into 1/4 dice)
3 Medium Celery Stalks (" ")
2 large Onions ("")
2 Medium jalapeno peppers (seeded and minced) (Here I substitued fresh jalapenos for pickled - I just used about a half cup)
1 (10 oz) frozen whole-kernel corn (thawed)
1 can (14 1/2 oz.) chicken broth

Prepare cornbread and set aside - or make one day in advance and refridgerate.

Preheat oven to 325. In a 12 inch skillet melt 1 TBS margarine or butter over medium heat. Add carrots and celery, and cook 10 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Transfer vegetables to large bowl.

In same skillet melt remaining 2 TBS margarine or butter over medium heat; add onions and jalaepenos and cooke 10 minutes or until tender and golden, stirring occasionally. Stir in corn, chicken broth and 1/3 cup water; heat to boiling, stirring. Transfer onion mixture to bowl with vegetables. Crumble corn bread into vegetable mixture; Toss gently to mix well.

Spoon stuffing into a 13x9 glass pan; cover with foil and bake 30 minutes or until heated through.

My favorite quilt

2008-11-07T11:29:00.000-08:00

Craft show time is here. I leave tonight for the show in the morning. I've made 2 quilts, 3 pillows, 4 spoon angels, and numerous keychains and clothespin people. I wanted to quickly post (my truck is actually running in the driveway) about my favorite quilt. The one red sqare is all that was pieced and it makes it just a very simple yet stunning (In My Opinion) quilt. Hope you like!

Wish me luck!

I'm back

2008-11-04T16:24:00.000-08:00

I'm back from my trip with quite a photography post. Nothing really more to say than that so on with the pictures!

A Face Lift!

2008-10-29T18:19:00.000-07:00

My blog has been given a face lift! I was growing quite tired of the denim look and wanted to add my favorite colors to my blog! (honestly, I have too many favorite colors) The banner was made with a digital scrapbooking kit - Lucky Star kit by Gina Cabrera

I will be away for the weekend in Stephenville with the family where I will do much crafting and take many pics to bring back and share with you all.

I was looking to leave you with a picture so this is what I found.

clothespin doll

2008-10-28T20:12:00.001-07:00

I'm still experimenting with this idea after seeing tons of them on flickr but here is my first attempt at a clothespin doll! She is indeed armless and I kind of like her that way. The hardest part is obviously the clothing. I didn't realize it would be so hard to figure out how to dress a clothespin girl!

No use crying over spilled paint

2008-10-26T08:31:00.000-07:00

I made these guys over the last few days. The snake is a dried gourd!

So long story short, Friday I spilled an entire bottle of black craft paint on my carpet and proceeded to not notice and track it through 2 rooms in my house. It took my MIL and I 2.5 hours to get the stains out. my FIL was nice enough to run to the grocery store and rent me a steam cleaner. The stains are gone aside from the initial spill spot that now looks like a dark spot in the carpet. Lesson learned: always paint on hardwood, tile, linoleum, etc...

Dog nails

2008-10-23T15:49:00.001-07:00

A non crafty post - weird I know... I thought I'd take a moment to talk about dog nail clipping. I started when my dogs were wee puppies, though I must say I was lucky because I was around only a week or two after my dogs were born and watched them grow from there. Anyway, since puppyhood when my dogs would sleep I would mess with their ears, nails, and teeth and anything else I could think of that I would need to do medically. I kid you not I tortured these puppies everyday for months when they slept (they could sleep through anything, honestly, this stuff NEVER bothered them.) So I would squeeze their nails, brush their teeth, stick fingers in their ears, etc... Now 2 years later I could literally do anything to my dogs and they just don't give a fart.

Which this back story brings me to my point... I found this product "The quick finder." A nail clipper that has a sensor that senses the quick (blood vessel) in the nail and tells you when it's safe to cut. I found a video of it on you tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLjO6cfIi-s

So, my dogs, who don't give a fart probably would hate this product... why you ask? Because goodness gracious that's a long process to get it to sense the quick. Seriously, I have the most laid back dogs in the world but even they wouldn't hold still long enough for this! They need to rethink this product just a little bit. Good idea in theory though.

Pillow Cases

2008-10-15T14:12:00.000-07:00

Post number 50!

I've been scrambling about still making things for the craft show. I've made a patchwork pillow today and plan to make lots more. I've decided just to sell them as "cases" because well, pillow forms are not in the budget right now (those suckers are a bit pricey!) Not really sure how much to sell them for though. This guy took me about 2 hours to complete, mainly because it's the first I've ever done in a zig zag design... I decided to play up the red and black quite a bit because of Texas Tech being so close to Amarillo (where the show will be). I've also got quite a bit of orange fabric because well, I'm a Texas football fan (#1 in BCS! OH YEA!). So we'll see how it goes. I'm going to throw together some orange and brown.. turquiose and brown too. Tell me what you think!

I'm still not the most perfect seamstress yet... I'll get there.

Say Hello to my little friends

2008-10-13T07:43:00.000-07:00

I keep taking pictures but this monkey keeps cropping up and asking me to finish her!

I'm quite fond of how the spoon angel came out. Please tell me you guys can see the angel! I've had a couple of people ask me to explain it because they can't see her. I'd love to know that someone beyond me is able to make out the angel. She does actually stand up like you see in the picture. She has another spoon that's been cut off and bent backward and attached that she stands on. I have 4 and each one is totally unique. Once I have them all standing I'll get a picture.

A.D.D. web browsing

2008-10-12T15:24:00.000-07:00

I won't lie, I spent hours upon hours on the web when I'm at home. Some people take nice long baths (love those too), some take naps, Some will curl up with a nice cup of cocoa to relax. I however, prefer the gentle hum and warm battery feeling of my laptop. No one understand what on earth I can possibly be looking up for so many hours.

I'll tell you, everything. For example, just today I was looking up recipes to take to my monthly Bunco club on Tuesday. I started at allrecipes.com - my favorite source for delicous recipes. I foun their halloween section which had a picture of some cookies that looked like thumbprint cookies. I decided to make these to share with the ladies... This lead me to an hour long search to find the cookies I was looking for - much harder than first intended... I finally found the recipe which had a link to another persons blog who I have delved into the last hour and a half.

I give to you Bakerella's Red Velvet Cake Balls:

Credit for the picture also goes to Bakerella. Don't these look scrumptious!? I'm making them tonight... as soon as dearest hubby gets home with the eggs... I'm so excited...

Oh and I'll get around to those cookies too.

The Crafts Display

2008-10-07T21:03:00.000-07:00

I wanted a fun and unique way to display my crafts at the upcoming craft show. This stand cost me $4 at Dollar Tree. 2 plates and 2 candlestick holders all glued together using E6000 glue. So cute and classy!

I'll display my little wooden dolls and Keychain flatware on this. After the craft show it'll be used to display delicious treats like cupcakes and muffins! Yum!

I've been busy!

2008-10-06T21:14:00.000-07:00

So many things are happening at once in my life. I've discovered I LOVE working with stained glass and old silver flatware. My husband is very quickly getting a new job working from our house doing welding. He's already got 2 jobs lined up and he hasn't even left his old job yet. I'm hastily getting ready for an upcoming craft show in Amarillo! Husband's grandmother is hosting it at their retirement center and its looking to be a big show. So I'm trying to scramble and get stuff going to put in the show.

First picture is of my brand new ring! I went for the 1 Corinthians 13 shot but the bible I was working with didn't have the verse on the correct side of the page. Oh well... I bought this ring to replace my "engagement" ring. That's a funny story, Trey and I never really formally got engaged... We just skipped to getting married! I did have a promise ring but it currently doesn't fit. So this ($10) ebay ring is just right! Yes! I said $10! Sterling silver, Pearl and CZ! I'm excited!
I finished my very first stained glass piece. I still need practice soldering but I'm fairly happy with the first...
Some keychains I'm putting in the show. They are made from silver flatware! So easy and so pretty!
My attempt at a fork angel. Link to the inspiration for this gal found at the website I linked to... I've figured out how to perfect her, I just need to find more serving spoons and forks.
And lastly, the promised picture of Phillie's finished quilt! Hooray!

no pictures - just a note

2008-10-02T22:46:00.000-07:00

I sent my friend an email asking if she got the quilt. She got it today, here's her reply!

OMG YES!!!!! Brad picked it up at the post office for me.. I LOVE IT EVAN!!! It is gorgeous THANK YOU SO MUCH! Brad and I are going to Anchorage next weekend and his parents are going to buy us a crib for Erica and I think that quilt would be perfect for her to cover up with. =) THANK YOU THANK YOU! I seriously love it and actually got a little teary eyed cause you spent all that time actually making it for her. That is the most thoughtful gift anyone has given to us for her and it means a lot to me. Give me your stupid number so I can call you!! LOL Thank you so much I LOVE YOU!!!!!!

This is why I craft! :)

Pass It Along!

2008-09-27T17:58:00.000-07:00

I'm going to pass along a website for some awesome handbags and a legit contest to win one. Im trying for 9am. It's a very small bag and very handsome! handbagplanet is the place to go. No scams, no spams!

Too many ideas!

2008-09-24T11:22:00.000-07:00

I've had so many new craft ideas hit me in the last few days I've had to start a notebook to write them all down! I don't want to forget any of them! One idea I had that I wanted to share is going to be a gift for my cousin's two girls. Sock Monkeys! I'm going to get colorful socks to create some very colorful non traditional sock monkeys. Since my family always opens stockings before their gifts I'm going to put a small picture of the sock monkeys "in the wild," in their stockings! I think they are still young enough to be suprised by this... =()

Ordering!

2008-09-24T10:20:00.000-07:00

I have been searching high and low lately for crafty blogs and one I ran across recently had something on it called a "pinch purse." Now I know if I show you this picture, we'll all think back to childhood memories of coin purses.

Familiar? Well she listed on her fabulous blog ( http://thesmallobject.com/stenopad/wordpress/ ) The lovely places to buy the frames for such pinch pounches and I have ordered 4 for 10 dollars! I'm very excited to have these come in over the next week or so! The possibilities for what they can be used for are endless!!

I got mine from http://www.pursenicketypatterns.com/purse_frames.htm

Shopping Around

2008-09-23T21:11:00.000-07:00

If you've never scoped out the site http://www.ltdcommodities.com/ I really think you should. I've never seen so much stuff that I want but do NOT need in one site before. I really think it's all just china made imported junk but it sure does look pretty... Seriously, who doesn't love primitive figurines and bathroom accessories?? Or even ornate candle holders? Honestly, if you can't find at least one thing for everyone you've ever needed to buy for on that site then the person you need to buy for is truly hopeless...Check it out.

Just for a certain someone who I know that loves pigs :)

Then I found an "All edge brownie pan" --- GENIOUS! Haha, I could spend hours looking at stuff on this site!

Yearbook Yourself

2008-09-16T08:06:00.000-07:00

This was just too much fun not to share!

It's a website called Yearbookyourself.com. You upload a photo of yourself and it gives you a senior picture for every 2 years from 1950 to 2000. At least for me, not every picture "fit." As to say my head was somewhat distorted in some of the photos but here are the best!

1970

1976

1980

1982

1990

So excited

2008-09-14T15:31:00.000-07:00

I know this may sound really petty to some of you but I'm so excited to have found this website. It's http://www.replacements.com

They make replicas and carry replacements of your silveware and china! I have been searching for my silverware to add more pieces for Thanksgiving time because last year I had to borrow my mother in law's stainless. No biggie but I wanted to have more place settings that match my flatware. This site carries them and at a heck of deal. PLUS, they carry all sorts of other "fancy" forks and spoons that match as well. Like I had no idea there was such thing as an egg spoon. Who eats and egg with a spoon?? And there is a special Jelly spoon too! I'm thinking about getting the matching napkin clips too. 24 of them for 10 dollars AND they match?? YEA!

Ok so obviously I'm easily entertained.

Check out the stuff they make for my pattern!
http://www.replacements.com/webquote/CBSSWS.htm?s1=gbase&3501614

Phillies Baby Quilt

2008-09-14T14:43:00.001-07:00

It's finally coming along. After about a month hiatus in which I really didn't go into my current sewing studio (hehe, i love that word). I have about 1/3 and almost a half of it quilted at the moment.

I can only take quilting (well, sewing really) about an hour at a time until my back starts to hurt. I need something more ergonomic I suppose. I think I must be an intense sewer. Can't you just picture me, all my muscles flexed moving fabric through my machine. Yea, I'm pretty hard core like that, hahah! Anywho, on to the pictures:

I didn't quilt in any sort of pattern. I think that is pretty obvious in these pics. I am pretty sure professional quilters would have a coronary at the site of my "unplanned" quilting. In my last couple of quilting classes that's basically what we learned is to plan ahead where you will move. Me? No! I just move it around in circles and stuff until I'm happy. The front looks great. The back looks like a 2 year old got hold of a pink marker and squiggled. Solid was not the way to go. It needed something busy. Learned something I suppose.

Feeling Artsy Fartsy

2008-09-12T21:34:00.000-07:00

So after being cooped up for almost 2 days (technically I was out yesterday night but we still stayed indoors) due to 7.5 + inches of rainfall I decided I needed to shoot something... Well, you know what I mean...

It finally stopped raining around 2pm and hasn't rained a drop since... the streets have cleared a bit and I felt safe enough taking my camera outside. Both of these were taken at 11:30pm.

So in case you didn't know, here in Texas we actually have 2 moons! Ok, so really I'd love to know how my settings were messed up that I got the shot to look like this. I played with the settings for 10 minutes and all the shots came out similar to this one. Pretty fun little shot though.

I was originally going to straighten this photo in photoshop but the more I studied it the more the crooked-ness grew on me. My tripod is missing a rubber foot making it just about a quarter inch shorter than the other legs. Combine that with the slope of the street for "drainage" (ha!) and you have a wobbly photo. I like the colors and how each street lamp puts a different glow on the photo. about a half second before the shutter released the street lamp dead center of the photo went out. I wish I could have captured it!

Patchwork Pillow

2008-09-11T09:21:00.000-07:00

Today's feature post brings us a nifty patchwork pillow. I got the idea out of a book titled, "Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts." An amazing book if you love quilting, sewing or just looking at quilt-ish creations.

Really easy pillow to throw together and I love the colors in this, although admittingly it goes with nothing in my house. LOL.

I have a baby quilt that desperately needs finishing because well, the friend has already had the baby! Congratulations to Ms. Phillie and baby Erica!

Notecard Set

2008-09-09T19:06:00.001-07:00

I know what you are thinking: "2 entries in one day!?" I know. I scare me sometimes too! But I figured I crafted so why not!?

I present to you a set of 4 notecards that I printed, scored, and folded. The images are all ones that I have taken and used a faux TTV effect (through the viewfinder). I've put this set on both Etsy and eBay. We'll see how they do! ::Crossing Fingers::

I'm trying to get some stuff sold so that I have a good excuse to spend money on this FANTASTIC stained glass kit I want. Yes, I totally want to do stained glass! How fun would that be?? It's like quilting but instead of needles to poke me I now have glass!

Horse Racing

2008-09-09T13:42:00.001-07:00

So this is probably the best photo I got from that night I went out to Retama Park. I bet small wagers and broke even most of the night. I was about 5 dollars ahead after the first race! LOL.

So the last race we stayed for I felt really confident in my decision and wagered 10 bucks between 2 horses (yea, I'm a high roller!) because one was the favorite and the other was well, my favorite conformation wise. Let's just say neither horses did crap. I guess that's the way the cookie crumbles. Anywho, only 3 others on the flickr. I'll try to find a couple more of the two hundred something I took. But literally I only had maybe 5 turn out well. Damn dusk shots. Oh well, you shoot, you learn.

the pic

2008-09-04T17:48:00.001-07:00

I didn't post yesterday because it was the husband and I's 3rd anniversary! It was very lovely!

As promised a pic of the new studio! I wish this was a before picture, but its a crappy cell phone pic because the point and shoot was out of batteries and it was just too dusty to expose my good camera. This is post hose down. I took so much junk out of this shed I really should post a pic of the trailer I have loaded down to take to the dump on friday (I just realized that was tomorrow). Anywho, I took one full wheelbarrow load out of just dust and dirt. I finally resorted to washing it down with soap and stuff after a cattle blower (like a leaf blower) would blow out all the dust!

The whole thing will eventually get painted white with a turqoise wall. I've very excited!

I'll take batteries tomorrow!!

The "new to me" Studio!

2008-09-02T20:22:00.001-07:00

So, in the hustle and bustle of my life, we are getting ready to move.... again. It never ends does it? Tomorrow marks Trey and I's 3rd anniversary and we've lived in 10+ different cities. The great thing is - is that we are only moving 2 blocks over! YAY! My mother and father in law are on an extended business trip (read: 2+ years) and we are going to be taking care of their house come November (read: Moving in). It's a lovely 3 bedroom 2 bath home with humongo shed in the backyard which will house my STUDIO (and 4 dogs)!!

Today it was raining whilst I was cleaned out the rat, junk, dust, grime, and dirt filled shed so I didn't get any pictures but tomorrow I will take some of the before pictures.

What has one been up to?

2008-08-12T07:57:00.000-07:00

A whole lot of nothing! I actually applied for a job with the city, got inteviewed, then got turned down... I then had to reformat my computer after it crashed yet again, and now I'm back. I mainly have photos, a website and a partially finished quilt to share because I just haven't made the time in the last couple of weeks to really sit down and craft. I did finish a quilt top and I'm a quarter of the way done with the quilting process, so I'll blog about that in the next couple of days.

I do have my website up and going now though http://www.evanchandler.com/
It's version 2.0. I wasn't terribly happy with the last one but I LOVE this one. Oh and I know the home button doesn't work yet... still working on it and it might change again because I lost all of its data after the reformat.

Onward to the photos! You can see all of them at flickr.

Applique Quilt - AKA "The Beast"

2008-07-23T12:45:00.000-07:00

I call this, the beast. It's been a beast to tackle. Mainly because the top is actually a king size sheet. It fits perfectly the guest bedroom mattress as a queen size bedspread (go figure).

So I'll use another sheet as the back and have a very, very inexspensive quilt for my guest bedroom. My lens will only let me zoom out so far (i'm in dire need of a shorter lens) so this is what you get until husband gets here with the Point and Shoot. I'm going to add another small applique to the upper right side because what you are looking at now is the bottom left corner.

Oh! I should mention now, I'm starting a photography business! I went out on a limb and did it! I have a website up, its very much still under construction but please check it out! http://www.evanchandler.com/

Fourth of July Photos

2008-07-05T10:08:00.001-07:00

I finally own a great camera. I got a Canon 30d for my birthday and I have been quite the photographer lately. Here are a few from last night. Happy 4th everyone! Hope it was spectacular for you!

been a while...

2008-06-24T10:11:00.001-07:00

So it's been a while, I've been fighting with this desktop. Still don't know what's wrong with it but it'll just randomly crash, so hopefully it'll let me post this before taking a nose dive again.

This weekend Trey and I are going to a wedding, so while in town we are going to see our friends who are having a baby boy! I made them this quilt. I guess I should also mention they LOVE john deere stuff.

The Ric Rac-ish Office Chair

2008-06-01T18:15:00.000-07:00

I entered this in the Craftster.org "Hot Seat" Challenge. I'm very excited! It was my first ever challenge!

The Back Story: It just so happened that I was planning on redoing an office chair when the challenge popped up. My mom called me and said they had bought my dad a new office chair. His blue one, although extremely comfortable was dusty (he sandblasts rocks) and grimey. I told her I'd take it! I happened to be going to Ft. Worth to visit my aunt. While out antiquing I happened across an entire bolt (about 4 yards) of this fabric for 10 bucks! Heck yea! It goes PERFECT in my sewing room!So, Voila, The Ric Rac-ish chair:

The Before:

And more detailed after shots: