Christmas Cards in January?

Why not! A Reuse/Recycle Christmas Card project is what I did today. I am the new moderator/fearless leader of the Reuse/Recycle art group, a subgroup of the Swell Sister Society. I hosted the first meeting at my home today. I got up early & made 2 quiches this morning. I haven't made those in years. Why? They are so good. My boys ate the leftovers for dinner with a little salad. I am going to make them more often. While searching for a recipe (I ended up making up my own) I saw one that used a large tortilla instead of a pie crust. I may try that next time. I'm thinking that would be tasty and a lot less calories. After I got those in the oven my son & I hopped in the car and headed for Heavenly Donuts. It's a little hole in the wall place down the street from my house that is well known for having the best donuts & cinnamon buns. We got 3 dozen glazed donut holes and they were almost gone when the girls left. Donut holes seem less evil than regular donuts. haha I even ate 2 of them and I am one of those odd people that doesn't like donuts. I also had grapes and beautiful strawberries, that came from who knows where this time of year, and they were big sweet and delicious. My hubby finished off the pitcher of cucumber water when he got home. I love cucumber water! If you haven't tried it, and you like cucumber, you must try it. Just plop in a few slices in your ice water next time you're making that salad.

The Christmas cards we made were from Christmas cards that we received. One of the artists, Mikie Spencer, does this every year and has her creations printed to use at Christmas time. She has made some really beautiful cards. I am not so happy with the one that I made & a little red faced to show it, and because of all the shiny gold choices (can't resist shiny) it does not scan well, so it's not a good candidate for printing. I learned in the process though. I still have lots of cards and will be making more. If you save your cards you might like to do this project with us. Hopefully I will end up with one I can use this year...we'll see. I think my cooking was better than my art today!

I am in the process of designing a knitting pattern for a neck warmer with my whimsical flowers on it. I also need to start something for my niece's baby so I went to the little knit shop we have in my little town. Ok that's another story....

Tuesday's Altered Thoughts

You may need to click on the picture to read. If you would like to see more Altered Pages & Altered Thoughts please visit my new blog here.

Yesterday I had my little doodle bug again. He was sick but the only time he cried was when I gave him green beans. It was hard not to laugh because he really grimaced & hollered! I had never seen him cry like that so it was a little shocking. He made it clear he did not want those green beans. Other than that he was an angel again. He can do razz berries now and is scooting around pretty well. His mom picked him up early and took him to the doctor. It turned out that he has a double ear infection poor guy. My youngest son (a preemie) is the same way. He was a very sick until he was about 7 or 8 years old but he would never complain. I would just know he wasn't well when his lymph nodes would swell (he had surgery to remove some of them) or by the look in his eyes. It's funny how JJ reminds me of my youngest son more than his dad, my older son. Anyway, I think he's the sweetest little guy on the planet. I take a picture of him every time he's over (at least once a week) so I am gonna have to get it in gear and start a scrapbook for these pictures.

Hayley Egan presented me with a blog award! Thanks Hayley! She has a lovely blog you should check it out. I have to list 7 things that I love then pass the award along. I have to give this some thought to come up with 7 things that aren't listed below, oh I'm sure I can do it! but will have to get back to you on that.

Something New!

I'm off to a Mardi Gras party tonight which will be a great time with a great bunch of friends. I may not be going all New Orleans on them but I may have a Hurricane...we'll see!

I started a new blog today! It's called Altered Pages, Altered Thoughts. Click here to visit! There is also a picture link on the right side bar that will take you there. It's for my new addiction/obsession of doing altered pages. I will just be posting Altered Pages to enjoy so I don't think it will be too much to keep up on. Don't worry I will still be posting some here on Tuesdays too! Some of my artist friends have already done some that are fantastic and I will be posting those. I'd love to see yours too!

Beautiful Recycling

Yesterday afternoon 4 of my Swell Sister's came over and we made beautiful cake/cupcake servers for our gallery opening. That's TJ doing a fine modeling job of all our wares! LOL We will be serving bite size cheesecakes on them. Initially we had planned on mini cupcakes but those are hard to find. Maybe not the "in" thing anymore ? None of us wanted to bake for over 250 + people! We bought plates, candle sticks, glasses, & vases from Thrift Stores and used an assortment of old craft bobbles, beads & stones to embellish. The sky's the limit on embellishment. We used a 2 part epoxy that dries clear to glue the pieces together and nothing is budging. It was so much fun! I wish I had a picture of all the finished pieces. Some servers had ribbon with sequins, pearls, and dripping beads. These could be really fun for tea parties and special Christmas gifts or Christmas servers and for just a few dollars. The Thrift Stores have lots of Christmas plates out now and Christmas doodads to embellish with. It's a fun way to spend the afternoon!
For a little refreshment I served a curry dip that I had never made before. I know that's brave serving something you've never made before but for some reason I do that a lot. I made it the night before just in case it was awful. The recipe said to let it chill for several hours anyway. I ran across the recipe online and it was so odd that I had to try it. I didn't follow it exactly (something else I do a lot) but I used all the ingredients. To my surprise it was super good and everyone liked it. It's a keeper and I will definitely be making it again. Here's the recipe...
2 C sour cream
1/2 C light mayo
1 Tbsp curry powder
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp horseradish
2 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp of Zerguts Red pepper Relish (recipe called for ketchup)