Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from our house to yours! My little greeting card has images of my 3 black cats, past and present. Today is the final day of my 3 day weekend so I am going to make the best of it. I got so much accomplished this weekend with my crafting. Got some Christmas gifts made and created a new craft pattern.
Short and sweet post today. Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Halloween and I hope you all have a fabulous week!
Ghosts & witch grouping are a part of my Halloween & Fall Kit at Etsy.

Pet Day - Punkie

Since this is Halloween weekend, Punkie decided that she should be the pet of the week. We have two other black cats in the family but she insists that she is the Queen of black cats for a number of reasons. First, she lives with me, second, she's the oldest and has been around for 11 years, and third, because she's such a good girl. You'll meet the other two at a later time. One lives with my son and the other lives in Heaven now :(

On to Pumpkin! As you can tell by the photo, she goes by many names. For years I called her Kinnie Roonie but Brian (her Dad) likes to call her Chunkie Punkie and the kids call her Plumpkin. But to her defense, she has lost a few pounds and isn't so chunky or as plump anymore.

Punkie, as I like to call her, is the Purrrfect cat (sorry, couldn't help myself). She really is. She doesn't get into anything, she doesn't knock things off tables, she doesn't jump onto anything or go where she doesn't belong.

She has never gone potty outside the litter box. Not once in 11 years! When I take Bubba outside, she will stand by the door but doesn't attempt to go outside. She's also a love-bug. She has a few select people that she will snuggle with. She's so soft too!

She really is the best cat anyone could ever have.

Teapot graphic above can be found in my Tea Time Scrap Set at Etsy.

The Hazards of Gardening?

My body hurts, the backs of my thighs feel like someone is sticking me with pins. I have come to the conclusion that gardening is hazardous to my health!

Or maybe I'm out of shape?

Photo Above: My garden during the summer months.

Productive Day & Bragbook Freebie!

I've had a full and productive day. It started when we went out for breakfast which we usually do on Sundays. When I came home I did everything from working on Christmas ornaments (for my sweet shop themed tree) to working in the yard. Did some crafting, house stuff, bookwork, and I got in my 10 minute clean out for today. I'm hoping to condense that filing cabinet at least to half.

I also made a free brag book quick page for anyone who wants it. The photo in the page above is from years ago when my son was little and we were carving pumpkins. I miss those days but I can still scrap them! I've gotten so many compliments on my banner here that I thought I'd make a Halloween quick page like it to share. It's a 300 DPI, 4" x 6" printout, PNG format. All you have to do is put your photo behind, the place for the picture is transparant. Hope you enjoy it!

You can pick it up here.

The images in the scrap page are from my Halloween & Fall Kit.

10 Minute Clean-out

I've been struggling with balance a lot lately and I'm determined to come out on top. Don't we all do that? Don't we all try to find balance? Why does it have to be so hard? Well, I'm on the quest to find it! I have the type of personality where when I find something that peaks my interest, I obsess over it. I can start a big craft project on a Saturday morning and find myself working on it all day long. That is nice if you are trying to get something accomplished but not if you have other things in your life that needs attention as well.

One thing I hate is clutter! I think a cluttered home creates a cluttered mind. Since I do feel that way, I don't have a lot of stuff laying around that I don't need, but I can also say that there is always stuff you can get rid of. I now begin the task of the 10 minute clean out. I am taking 10 minutes a day to clean and rid myself of unused and unneeded items. I'm beginning with my filing cabinets. There are many places that will follow, my purses (yes, lots of them), my clothes, kitchen stuff, etc...

So do you find it difficult to create balance? I think that creative people probably would. Because like me, I'm sure there are many others out there that get on a creative streak and can't stop.

Photo Above: Just a little fall decorating!

Husbands and Glass Tables

Warning: Do not let your 260 pound husband sit on a glass coffee table. It will break!

My lips had just begun to form the words, "Do you really think you should be sitting on that?"  CRUNCH! Need I say more?

My husband has been such a good sport about allowing me to put this incident on my blog. He subscribes via email so he will see this post first thing tomorrow morning. Besides, I'm sure he doesn't want this to happen to another coffee table.

Pet Day - Meet Patches

Today I'm going to introduce you to Patches. This is my son's cat who lives with him in his apartment. He came to us in the middle of the deep freeze. About 7 years ago we noticed that something was living under our deck. We didn't know what it was at the time. Elyse finally discovered that it was a kitten. It took us a couple of weeks of feeding him before he would trust us. As soon as we got close enough we grabbed him and took him to the vet. Poor little thing had an upper respiratory infection, eye injury, and was  underweight. The doctor was surprised that he even survived the sub zero temperatures considering how sick he was. We got him some medicine and he turned out to be a great pet and family member for us all. Isn't he handsome?

My New Friend

I went out to grill my fish a few nights ago and was greeted by a stick bug. I've seen him around before, if it's even the same one. Last year he would go from one place to another. One day he'd be on the light outside the back door, the next day he'd be on the thermometer, and the next day on the gas meter. I just think he's so cool looking!

I did some research and found a few interesting facts about them. So here are three that I think are totally cool:

1. They don't bite but they can put up a great fight when they are approached by a predator. And they can even win! They can inflict pain with their legs and they regurgitate an awful smelling and tasting substance into their predator's mouth.

2. They hold the world's record as the longest insect. The biggest one on record measured 14 inches, but with legs fully extended it measured 22 inches. That's quite an insect!

3. When all else fails, they play dead. Yep, they just drop and they can be super still. Many times their predator can't find them once they hit the ground.

Busy!!! Fusible Fleece?

I've been buried under beads, buttons, and fabric for what seems like weeks! Some things I can't show you until I release my pattern line early next year and some things I'm waiting for Halloween to be over. I just feel better about putting Christmas stuff out there after then. I do have a couple of things I think you'll like. I have two tutorials for Christmas ornaments and a couple of free printables I think you will find handy.

For now though I have a question. I'm working on some new designs and I'm about to break out the fusible fleece I just bought. I've never used it before and I was just wondering if anyone else has. I'm working on some stockings and few other things about that size. I could make it easy on myself and do a little hand or machine quilting but I thought I'd try something new.

Have you used it? Do you like it? Does it hold up well? I doubt that the items I'm making will be thrown in the wash.

Photo Above: Pretty fall colors on my way to work. I think they are about gone now though.

Five Things I've Learned About Electronics

Below are some things I've learned along the way about electronics, or I should say, the use of them. These 5 things have made my life much easier and have at times, saved my butt!

1. Control S: This is probably one of my favorite tips ever. Before I started doing this, I lost so many things. There is nothing like working for hours on a a document or project only to have something or someone interrupt it and it wipes out all your hard work! Sometimes your computer will lock up for no reason at all or your laptop battery dies. It can all be avoided by typing "Control + s" (at the same time) every few minutes.

2. Backup Everything: In our house we probably have half a dozen external hard drives and countless flash drives. Those are all nice and handy to have and we use them both for various reasons. But the best thing to do is use an online automatic back up. I use Mozy and it's so convenient. It automatically backs up once a day. If I've been doing a lot of work on the computer I can just click it on my task bar and back up at that time too. It feels so good to know that my files are protected away from my home.

3. Carry A Spare Battery: Whenever I purchase a cellphone or a camera, I always buy a backup battery and I carry it in my purse. When my battery dies, I charge it, then swap it out with the one that's in my purse. This makes my battery last longer and I never have to worry about running out of juice. This has saved me when using my cellphone and my camera.

4. Save Ink & Paper: This is the easiest thing of all to do. I always keep the default on my printer set to "fast draft." This setting allows you to print while using the least amount of ink possible. Most of the things that I print are recipes, pattern pieces, and other items that just find their way to the trash anyway. When I print out something I want to keep, I just change it.

You can also save paper by putting it back in the printer and using the other side before throwing it away.

5. Calendar: This actually goes against technology but when it comes to my datebook, I prefer my Lang Pocket Planner. I think it's so much quicker to pull that out of my purse when I need to record an event or check my schedule. Nothing beats my paper datebook. As for my "to do" list, I like to keep that on my E-Reader/Pocket PC.

Those are just a few of my favorite tips when it comes to technology. Do you have any you'd like to add to my list?

Photo Above: Patches and Pumpkin seem to be having some sort of discussion at my computer