I Think I’m Back {again}… lol.. & a Canning Recap!

I’ve been a crazy busy girl around here the past couple of weeks.  Stacey Flores came to visit for a week  had sooo mcuh fun! (I have some fun pics and maybe a video or two to share, too.)  I worked like crazy last week and had a lot of other things going on, too.

Basically my sporadic posting on this blog boils down to one thing, my health.  For the last couple of years I have had really bad health. It finally came down to severe iron deficiency anemia (which went undiagnosed for a long, long time) and some issues with my heart that were due to the IDA.   It has been a rough, rough road and I had to wear my “game face” way too long.   HOWEVER, comma, but, my health seems to be finally getting better and I am feeling the excitement and finally have the ENERGY to do the things I’ve wanted to do for a long time now. Without getting into too many details, today marks 4 months since I had a minor procedure that basically prevented further major surgery and pretty much “saved my life”.   I just feel like doing all the projects around the house and in my home that I haven’t been able to do for the past couple of years.   I have just felt this zest for life and doing things over the past several months and have not wanted to spend as much time on the computer.  I HAVE been crafting here and there and making jewelry but have not cared about photographing it and sitting at the computer long enough to blog about it because I’ve been too busy DOing things. LOL! Anyway… for those of you who hang with me on Facebook you have seen me posting about the goings on. Facebook seems to be so much easier lately because I can have the laptop on in the kitchen or front room and stop and post tidbits as I walk past the computer throughout the day.

This year we’ve been focusing a lot in our home on getting our food storage/emergency together and have canned and bottled foods like crazy people over this summer.  I’ve been doing some major couponing and getting LOADS of stuff we use for free. (I ONLY use coupons on items we actually use.)   We have also been so blessed with being gifted a lot of free fresh goodies (cucumbers, grapes and apples) and found some incredible sales on meats and other goodies. These are goodies we will eat throughout the next year and a half and then start all over!  I am EXTREMELY grateful that my husband will do this with me.  At first I think he did it just to

Here’s a list of what’s been keeping me/us busy:

59  Quarts of Apple Pie Filling (many for gifts)
17   Quarts of Applesauce
7     Quarts of Apple Slices in light syrup
6     Pints of Apple Butter
13   Quarts Peaches (Red Haven Peaches)
44   Quarts of Tomatoes (crushed)
20   Quarts of Dill Pickles (1/2 were gross, so they got tossed 8 wks later)
9      Pints of Chili Sauce (like a tomato relish, B’s Great Grandma’s recipe)
11    Half Pints of Roasted Red Pepper Spread
7      Half Pints of Ketchup
11    Half Pints of Dill Pickle Relish
14    Quarts of Concord Grape Juice Concentrate
11    Small Jelly Jars (1/2 of a half pint) of Grape Jelly
13    Quarts Chicken Noodle Soup (minus noodles)
20    Pints of Chicken (in chunks)
6      Quarts of Chicken Broth
19    Pints of Beef (in chunks)
6      Pints of Beef Stock
8      Pints of Cranberry Apple Preserves (with orange pieces, too)
6       Half Pints of Cranberry Apple Relish (w/pecans and brown sugar)

And currently simmering in a big pot on my stove:
Cranberry Apple Butter (1 big batch) to go in half pint jars

I think that’s everything.

I think we’re done canning.

Except for some more apple butter…

But I think we’re done canning.

I hope.

 

Here are a few snapshots of our 2010 adventures…. You can click to browse through the album (it will open in a new page) or or you can glance over the small thumbnails below. :)

 

View Full Album

Howdy

Hey folks!  Not totally dead here and I did not fall off the face of the earth.  Been busy canning and had my good friend, Stacey, here visiting for a week.  I will try to pop on with some pics of crafty goodness again VERY SOON!  Just whittling down some projects and duties that can't be postponed this time of year at work, too.

Inky Smiles and Hugs!
Erin

The Crazy Lady Returns

Hello friends!  I’ve been absent for a while from the blog.  We’ve been crazy busy around here (that seems to be my life, doesn’t it?) again… Last Thursday I did a video at the Inky Smiles Craft Lounge and then it was crazy day after crazy day and I didn’t have a chance to post the pics of the book or anything else crafty fun.  

Friday I had a bunch of errands to run and ppl to meet and 54 lbs of purpley grape goodness to pick from a generous neighbor’s fence line of grape vines… which we steamed and bottled that evening until 2:30 Sat am. 

Saturday morning I got my hair cut and colored and then we ran family errands and did some major grocery shopping and started canning 30 lbs of chicken which lasted well into the 2 am hours Sun morning.

Sunday we slept in until 11 am and then finished canning the chicken, chicken soup, chicken broth and beef chunks. 

Monday I worked all day and had things going on in the evening.

Tuesday I worked all day and had MORE things going on in the evening.

Wednesday I went shopping at Ikea with my friend, Valerie, did lunch and then hit the Rings n Things road show in Salt Lake City and tried to start getting the kitchen cleaned up.

Today I slept in a little and then ran errands and thought about cleaning my kitchen.  It’s still dirty.  Tonight I get to go take photos of some young friends who are headed on a group date for a fall dance at the high school.

And tonight I hope to get the mummy makeover book posted and shared here on the blog.

~Inky Smiles!

Cutting Fabric with Your Cricut & New Video

A couple of weeks ago I was wandering around Big Lots while waiting for Brent to meet me at the ortho dr  for a knee check up and saw this FABULOUS beaded and satin fabric frame that just needed to come home with me.  {Seriously, it JUMPED into my card} So $5 and some tax later I was rolling all sorts of ideas around in my head for it. 

I wanted some cute letters cut out to spell “Fall” but didn’t necessarily want to just cut and glue some paper.  When I was sitting at my desk staring at various sheets of paper I caught a glimpse of my pumpkin scraps out the corner of my office… Hrmmm..

I’ve been wanting to cut fabric with my Cricut Expression for quite some time now.  I asked around and Googled it and decided on a method that works pretty well!  I cut out some fabric letters and adhered them to a piece of linen textured chocolate brown cardstock and placed it behind the glass.

Here’s my finished project:

It’s PERFECT nestled amongst my pumpkins and fall foliage on the hutch/buffet in my living room. 

You might be able to see the texture in this photo.  The Cricut really did cut out the letters a lot more cleanly than I thought they would.  How fun would this be to cut out a cute phrase or image and applique to some baby onesies or a tshirt of your own?

And here’s a silly and short video @ The Inky Smiles Craft Lounge (sorry, it got cut into two pieces while recording on Ustream and I haven’t figured out how to splice it and re-upload it yet) of me showing you how I cut fabric on my Cricut Expression.  Be sure to watch part 2 as well!  Each link opens in a new window.

Fall For Fabric Cut On Your Cricut {Part 1}

Fall For Fabric Cut On Your Cricut {Part 2}

~Inky Smiles

Exciting News

For about a month now I have been keeping a little creative secret.  I've been bursting at the seams to share.  So now that Tresa Black has announced it on the official student website I can share my little joyful news!

I am going to be a teacher for one of the mega classes at Creative University in February! This is my second year (first as a teacher) and there are going to be nearly 60 attendees this year!  I am SO incredibly excited (and nervous, lol) to get to have this fun opportunity.   I have the prototype made for the class but am working out some details which should be done in December. YAY!  I will share when I am able to.

Here's a preview of how fabulous and fun Creative University is:




See you in Idaho in February! Woot! :)

Pumpkin Winner - I did not forget!

Hey friends! I did not forget.. .lol! And my phone alarm kept screamin at me all day and all night.

We got home after 10 pm last night from work and clothes shopping for my man.  He was in "desperate" need of new work clothes.  I've been working on training him in the fine art of clothes shopping and buying clothes more than once per year, but... we must have gotten sidetracked somewhere, lol! Anyway.. we enjoyed a delightful dinner at PF Chang's and then hit the stores.   I managed to sneak in a stop to Tai Pan (home decor schtuff) and picked up a glittery black tin star and glittery orange BOO to hang in my front door wreath for Halloween. :)

Anyway.. without further adieu... (or whatever).... the winner of the random drawing from the comments is:

#7 is Carolyn Sharkas!!!

Carolyn - just pop me an email (click on the link) and I will pop this pumpkin in the mail to ya!

UStream Fall Pumpkin Video Tutorial

Hey friends!  Sorry I haven’t been around much this week… I didn’t get more owls sewn or even clean my studio up because I worked a couple extra days this week and have been learning the ins and outs of the Ustream broadcasting process.  I also went to the dr again for my knee pain and had a lovely “little” cortisone shot in my knee.  Let me just tell you… that was a whole new adventure in pain. LOL!  It seems to be calming my knee down and I’m able to do a little more again, yay!  However, it does look like I will need to schedule a scope surgery on the knee in the next couple of months. (I’m trying to work up the courage to just go get it done.)

Anyway.. I did have a successful broadcast last night! It was good to see some of you there in the chat room! :) I didn’t have too many technical difficulties and it seemed to go pretty smoothly.  I was nervous as heck but now I think I can handle doing more videos like that. It was actually pretty fun and I only had one of my supplies “jump ship” on me during the broadcast.. one of my leaves decided to FALL (buwahaha) off the desk but thankfully my handy and handsome assistant  (Brent, of course) was nearby to retrieve said fallen leaf. I lurve him.  Oh and my hair cooperated! WOOT!

I’m going to work on the sound and not yelling into the microphone and causing it to go bonk on me. LOL!  Don’t have your sound up too loud or it will be a little “scratchy/screetchy” in places.  I’ve got can lights/recessed lights in my studio ceiling so they shine right down on the desk (hence the circles you see in the reflection).  Gonna work on that, too.

I’m going to be doing another broadcast in a couple of weeks, too!  Watch the video and see what we’re gonna be making!

Here’s the link to my Ustream channel:  Inky Smiles Craft Lounge

And here’s last night’s video! (I apologize for the commercial in front of it… I wish I could take it off.. but the ads help us have a free broadcast.)

 

Enjoy!  I will be giving one pumpkin away to a random commenter… leave a comment on this post and I will draw a name on Tuesday evening, October 12th.  (And I won’t forget cuz I’m putting it on the calendar in my phone.. aka brain… tee hee!)

~Inky Smiles!

Pumpkin clarification & Ustream class/tutorial

I just wanted to clarify... I know that I said they were completely handstitched but they are MOSTLY handstitched.. lol!  The pumpkins are sewn by machine to make the round and all the details are added in by hand stitching (instead of gluing).   I will show you how it's done when I do the UStream video next week.  The "pattern" for this came from Fiskars online.

My Ustream channel will be located here:

The Inky Smiles Craft Lounge

I am shooting for Thursday, October 7th @ 7:30 pm Mountain Time. (This is 6:30 West Coast, 8:30 Central and 9:30 East Coast) I am going to check it out and try to work out the technical details with Brent and get it together :)

~Inky Smiles!

Pumpkin Delight

This week I’ve been having some fun shopping for fabric and drawing up patterns for some ideas for future projects. I have all these ideas rolling around in my head and I’m trying to stay off the computer and actually DO some crafting :) 
It’s fall and I am so ready for the colors and textures and crisp  cool air of fall, but it’s been in the 90’s this week. Yes, I know we live in a desert, but it’s a MOUNTAIN desert… lol! I’m surrounded by the most beautiful mountains in the world and the leaves on the mountain trees are changing already, but with our 90 degree weather it’s not quite happening here just yet.  Since we’re not getting fall just yet I decided to create a little fall for my home.
Here are a few pumpkins I made using another Fiskars pattern.  They are very similar to some that I have made previously and are super duper easy.   I’m seriously thinking about doing a Ustream video and inviting you all to play along with me on a project like this.  What do you think?

MMMM falll colors and textures, rich and delicious.  I pulled some fabric that I had set aside in my stash for some table runners … so glad I did because I am in love with pumpkins right now!

A tower of texture! Tee hee!
Here’s a little close up of the button stem (my twist on the project).  The original did not have a stem.. they just glued the leaf and curly ribbon into place.  There is no glue on this project.. it is completely hand sewn (after the original pumpkins are machine stitched to form the rounds...)  My aching fingers are proof.

I’m off to pick up my space and make an owl or two! 
~Inky Smiles!

Strength of a Woman

For all my beautiful and wonderful sisters!  Thanks to Beverly for posting this on her FB profile yesterday!  Quoting Bev .. “Love this song Shaggy, but where's my big and beautiful white women represented? LOL!”

It’s a catchy and uplifting little tune.  I hope you enjoy it!

~Inky Smiles!

What Hoot!

So I’ve had this hankering for the past several weeks to SEW something.. something other than paper…. Poor Bernie (my Bernina Activa 240) has been staring at me from where she’s been sitting on the floor in my studio and I swear if she had puppy eyes, she’d have been using them… LOL!  ANyway.. yesterday I was perusing the internet and came across a fun little project on the Fiskars website.  Oooh La La!  I found me a project.. and then another… and then another…. but those anothers will have to wait.  Project #1 was about to be created.

I shared this little sneak peek yesterday on Facebook. (So much easier and faster than blogging!)

Miss Stacey Flores texted me cuz I texted her the sneak peek and she already knew what it was… “Cuz I’m smart like that” she said.. and “Cuz I’m addicted to ____ and ____ right now”. LOL!  Crazy woman!

 
The hardest thing about this little project was the time consuming stitching of the eyes…  round and round and round and round…. :)

 

I just love the eyes… I think that’s what drew me to the original Fiskars project. 

They just pop out at ya… literally, lol!

Introducing… well I haven’t decided on a name for her just yet… but I’m thinking Olivia or Ellie, maybe even Sally… what do you think?  She’s a wise ol’ girl… I think I will keep her around the studio!

She’s made with some scrap fabric I had in my scrap basket and the felt is real wool felt from my “penny rug” supply box.  I used bits of scrap ribbon to create her ruffly front.  All of the fabric is lined with lightweight pellon for stability (and ease of sewing) and the wings have an additional layer of polyester felt to give them some structure.  The pellon and felt were not in the original instructions.

Bottoms up!  I stitched my initials on her bum… remember Cabbage Patch dolls? 

Thanks for popping in today!  I’m off now to help Brent make another batch of Roasted Red Pepper Spread so we can bottle it up tomorrow. (It’s dang good schtuff, maynard!)

~Inky Smiles!

Erin

Yellowstone: Grand Prismatic Pool Area & Candy Winner

I just woke up from a Sunday afternoon nap and remembered I needed to post about the Where In The World photo guessing contest and a blog candy winner…

Here’s the photo again:

There were several guesses and you are all right.. it was taken in Yellowstone National Park and that is the Firehole River.  This photo is looking back towards the Upper Geyser Basin (which is where you would find the Old Faithful area).  If you turn to the right you will see this fine view with some lovely thermal feature activity:

And if you keep on turning, looking back towards the Grand Prismatic Pool area….

Oh wait, oops… your lovely hosts of this little tour decided to try to take a self portrait with the camera remote… lol! Mush, mush, mush….

And we’re turning, we’re turning…..

And voila! We have the Grand Prismastic Pool area… the big steamy area on the top left is the Grand Prismatic Pool… which looks like this photo that I snatched from somewhere online because I’m too lazy to hike up to the top of that big mountain in the back to get a clear view of it… the photos I have of Grand Prismatic are just steamy shots of the algae and side shots of the pool.  It’s difficult to snap a good photo in the chilly evening with all that steam.

And coming back to where we are standing we find a pic of my sweet hottie hubs… I was trying to make it look like the steam was coming from his hot hand… tee hee! I don’t think he was all that thrilled, but he appeased me nonetheless.. LOVE HIM :)

And now since you’ve read through this post and gotten this far, I should probably tell you who the winner is…. (drum roll, please)…..  Random Integer Generator online determined that our winner is commenter #1

KELLY JO!!

                                  

Shoot me an email with your mailing addy and I will pop these delicious goodies in the mail to you.  Pictured here are some pearls from Kaisercraft, some velvet flowers, chipboard crazy arrows, chipboard buttons,  3 sheets of rubons and some ribbon slides from Maya Road, and some fuzzy grey Thickers from American Crafts.

No husbands or thermal features were harmed during this photo shoot.  Buffalo chips, on the other hand, are another story.

~Inky Smiles!

Where In The World?

I have been on a much needed vacation with my sweet husband in one of the most beautiful places on God's great earth.  We just returned home this evening and I couldn't resist starting to edit pics.

Can you guess where we went?

Bonus points if you can tell me where EXACTLY this is in this great place we vacationed. :)

Leave me a comment and your guess and I will draw a name on Sunday for a fun little bit of crafty goodness from my stash. :)

~Inky Smiles!