It's Fall!

my children's pumpkins

My two school aged children are beginning their third week of vacation today.  Our public schools follow a year round calendar, so they get a vacation every nine weeks.  It is nice to have them home during the day.  Our house is definitely full of energy and there is never a dull moment.  I think the baby is going to miss them dearly when they go back to their normal routine next week.  I will too.

Needless to say, I have not had much time to dedicate to my own interests.  I was able to spend some time making a Fall wreath for the front door last night.  I was inspired by all of the cool Fall projects that I have been seeing in blogland.  Fall has actually taken me by surprise this year.  The weather has been unseasonably warm here, and it still feels like Summer.  In fact, I was going to purchase some mums for the pots on the front steps, but my geraniums are still blooming, so I think I am going to skip the mums this year.

I am making a wreath inspired by this acorn wreath from Made's blog http://www.dana-made-it.com/2008/07/tutorial-acorn-wreath.html.  I adore the wreath that she made.   Although, I was unable to find any available acorns, so my wreath is made out of many large, dried lima beans.  Gluing all of those beans to the wreath is very time consuming, and I found myself wondering if I was crazy to spend so much time making a wreath.  It looks pretty cool though.  I also love that it can be repainted to accommodate the changing seasons...like a chameleon. I have not yet decided on the color of the wreath.  I wanted to see if I had the fortitude to glue all of the beans before I decided on the color.  I have actually enjoyed making the wreath.  There is something very relaxing about methodically gluing all of those beans to the wreath in organized rows.

What made my wreath making even more enjoyable, was that my husband and I were able to listen to some of the This American Life podcasts from the past couple of weeks while I was crafting.  We adore listening to This American Life together.  It is the perfect stay at home date night for my husband and I.  We also love to watch Modern Family together.  We rarely ever watch television, but we really enjoy that show.  Funny stuff:)

I also just started reading Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer.  Even though I am only a couple of chapters into the book, I can already tell that it is going to become one of my favorite books.  Foer is an amazing writer.  I have been a vegetarian since I was in high school, so I already agree with the premise of the book.  However, my husband is only a part-time vegetarian.  He said he wants to read the book when I am finished with it.  It will be interesting to see if he turns the corner and becomes a full-time vegetarian after he reads the book.

Have a great week!   

      



 

Crafty diversions, Citronille and a school holiday

I haven't made any more progress on any of my current quilting projects because I discovered the wonderful world of digital scrapbooking.  I thought that my scrapbooking days were over until I discovered digital scrapbooking.  I have found it to be very addictive.  One of the nicest things about it is that it is a mess free project.  Long gone are the days of cleaning up little scraps of paper and sticky glue.  When my son was born eight and a half years ago, I made several traditional scrapbooks for him.  It was very labor intensive, and when I look at the layouts now they are definitely dated.  My love affair with traditional scrapbooking was very short lived, and all of my supplies made their way into the attic a long time ago.

A couple of weeks ago I stumbled upon someone's post about digital scrapbooking, and I quickly discovered all of the beautiful digital kits that are now available.  I especially adore the kits by Paislee Press.  Check out her beautiful kits at http://www.oscraps.com/shop/home.php?cat=329&treem=1.  They are gorgeous.  Paislee Press is actually giving away a beautiful DIY digital calendar kit on her blog.  Checkout her amazing blog for a chance to win at http://paisleepress.blogspot.com/2010/10/2011-diy-calendar-kit-giveaway.html.  In the past couple of weeks, I  have already created quite a few pages for my youngest daughter.  The layouts seem to come together very quickly.  It is definitely not as time consuming as traditional scrapbooking.  It is also nice that you can save what you are working on and finish it later, if you are in the middle of a layout and your five month old starts screaming to be nursed.  After I finish the baby's scrapbook, I plan on making a scrapbook for my middle daughter.  She has a baby book, but I have always felt guilty that she did not have a scrapbook like her older brother. 

 

I also recently discovered Citronille sewing patterns!  These patterns are beautiful!  I adore Oliver and S patterns, and it is nice to find some more patterns in the same genre.  I love the simple classic style of these patterns.  I am a bit apprehensive knowing that the patterns are written entirely in French, however my best friend is fluent in French and she said she would help me translate if I needed her too.  I am going to order a pattern or two in the next couple of days, and I will share my sewing experiences on the blog.

More than likely, I will not be able to dedicate very much time to my creative pursuits because my two school aged kids are on a school holiday for the next three weeks.  My kids attend a year round school, and it is time for their Fall trackout.  They get a three to four week holiday every nine weeks.  I feel like I just got used to the idea of my middle daughter attending "big kid school", and now it is already time for a holiday.  It is nice to have them home, but I fear that the baby might not enjoy her naps for the next couple of weeks.   Have a nice day.  We plan on enjoying the beautiful Fall weather that arrived here this past weekend!