Surprise from Japan

Dearest Janine, also known as the Crafty Tokyo Mama surprised me recently with a care package. And she was spot on with her little message - I was very surprised!

I always love checking out the stamps she uses.

And the inside was pretty as well! She takes such great care with her packaging, it is always a treat.

Inside was this fantastic chocolate...which lasted all of a day and a half. And it wasn't until I'd eaten it all that I figured it out. The segments were each a different flavor like it shows on the package. Oh well, each was still amazing. Like the mango and chocolate together; how did I not know that existed?!

 This adorable pouch had the most interesting opening/closure mechanism I've ever seen. Is is getting a lot of use holding my lip balms in my purse.

Love this little journal! I am alwas carrying something like this around and calling it my brain because I write down everything so I don't forget. Just in case I have a genius idea or something.

And the card - such neat artwork.

Janine sent me this package after my last couple posts mentioning I was down. She is such a dear lady. If you haven't yet (even though I've blabbed about  it several times) visit her blog and shop - both are lots of fun!

Thank you Janine, it made my month to get such a thoughtful gift.

Lollipop Lips - Wet 'n Wild Juicy Balm

I'm fairly certain I've shared this song before, but in any case it's what came to mind when thinking about this post so if you want music to listen to while you read, try Lollipop Lips and try not to get it stuck in your head.

Was at the drug store/ variety store the other day and spotted a series of brightly colored lip balms by Wet 'n Wild. This brand has impressed me lately with a few nail polish purchases I've made that have really held up even with my work.
I admit with the balms it was nostalgia that really caught my eye, it looks like something I would have had in junior high.

It's in a giant tube and with fun, bright colors and fruit "flavors" all I could think was how much fun it would be to have this fun smelling balm.

However, the color frightened me a little. Was it going to color my lips? I got to looking at them...there's a bright green one...it seems unlikely they'd make these a tinted balm if one of them was green. Plus it doesn't say they are tinted anywhere on the tube that I can see.

I pulled this out when I needed some moisture on my lips, popped off the cap with gleeful anticipation and....

Yep. These things are tinted.

My reaction was something akin to this:



I honestly wasn't able to wear it long enough to tell if it moisturized or had any other benficial qualities because it looks so hideous on me. I know that some people could easily wear this as a tint...I'm just not one of those people.

Instant relatives

At a shop in Sisters, Oregon I spotted a few packages of photos. I love old photos so I browsed through the collections. One had a woman and a horse and I knew I had to buy the packet. Turned out to be the perfect choice as it was women and outdoorsy activities and nature shots. For $4.00 here is what I got:

I still haven't decided what to do with them, but I completely love them. And let me tell you I have NEVER looked that stylish in the outdoors. Ever.

Paint me argyle....or is it Plaid?

Back in...September? I submitted my painted pumpkin to Plaid Crafts Trick My Pumpkin contest. I put myself out there to win which is always difficult but can be so worth it.

The pumpkin I submitted was actually the argyle one.

I did not win the grand prize but I was chosen as a runner up! I came in third and was quite tickled to be chosen as even that. And I didn't know it at the time but soon received an email asking where to send my prize box. Prize box? Woohoo!

And here's what I won:

A box full of $50.00 worth of product! I got a small jar of Mod Podge which....I have actually never used before. I know, right? I don't know how that happened but I'm glad I can finally try it.

I'm also SUPER excited about these:

I'm excited because I'm actually wanting to try a new jewelry technique using these paints.

Thank you, Plaid!

Currently, they have a Christmas contest going on.

Old suitcases make a great show display

The last weekend in October I packed up my bits o' shine and headed to Bauman's Farm for a vendor event. They put us in an empty greenhouse with an apple tasting booth (and lots of corn stalks) so we got to stay dry and still had a lot of people walking through.

When plotting how to display my wares I wanted something with a vintage look. And by using an old suitcase I had, it worked as my display and carried all my display items!

I had a bracelet display but only two bracelets, instead I removed the foot off the base and stuck the stand into this candlestick - it was then the perfect height to display necklaces.

I still have no business cards *hangs head in shame* so I made these with the key stamp that comes on the box when you order from my etsy shop and had my shop address on the back. A few people were tickled by the fact that I am a "pirate.

The suitcase lining had a stain on the pocket so I covered it with this doily. And you thought I was just trying to make it look pretty! ;)

Strands of jute string in two levels allowed me to display most of my earrings at a height that was easy to see.

I had a great time selling (and spending money at the vendor next to me - cute fabric pumpkins and cup cozies!) and chatting with lookers and buyers. Even got a chuckle out of the chicken who kept coming into the building to find dropped bits of apple.

All in all - a success!

Sure signs it is summer

 You know what that means, right? First of all, I spend my after dinner time in the grape arbor drinking tea and reading. This photo is already out of date - I've finished that book and the next in the series.

Summer also means that I interrupt my reading and tea time to wander around and take gratuitous photos of dried up grass. I don't know why, I just love it.

Also Queen Anne's Lace - tons of photos of this weed on my computer! Oh but it is so pretty. And it was so well used at the Barn House sale last year!

The moon came out to play. :)

Thank you summer for your warm evenings and long hours - please don't leave me yet!

Giving me the raspberries

With two lengthy rows of raspberry plants on a year where they really produce, I'm kept quite busy keeping up with the fruits of my labor. Honestly I only want to freeze so many; I'd rather enjoy them now. (To freeze mine, I lay them on baking sheets in the freezer and once they are frozen individually, then I bag them.)

And when I had nothing in my cupboards and fridge but wanted breakfast I miraculously had all the ingredients to make the oatmeal muffins out of my great aunt's 1974 Betty Crocker's Cook Book (page 48 at the top) 

I half filled the cups, poked some raspberries in and then finished filling in with batter. Delish.

That used up...a handful of berries. I still have a lot of berries left. Then I found this flavored water recipe - yum! So I made a pitcher of lemon raspberry water. Also delicious. And refreshing! (and blogging has now murdered my proper sentence structure.)

That used up another small handful. Thankfully my mom knows me and my fruit snacks and bought me a food dehydrator earlier in the year. I dug it out and washed it and it had this great tray that meant I got to try fruit leather - one of my very favorite things.

I followed these instructions and it required almost no sugar at all. I added a small amount because my berries - at that point - had been a bit sun deprived and needed a flavor boost.

Also I learned to spread what I think is a fairly thick puree and just let it dry for a looooong time. This works much better than a thin layer which wants to flake. I also think if you used oven safe plastic wrap this would be even easier. I kept a small bowl of puree in my fridge for three days and made fresh fruit leather each day.

The rest? Raspberry jelly. (I used a mesh strainer and some seeds still made it through! Ah well.) I used the instructions found in the pectin box.

I have a glass topped stove and if I remembered correctly you can't use a canner on them because of weight and heat issues so I turned my jars upside down after I'd filled and put on my canning lids. The heat from the jelly is supposed to seal the lids for you. It worked, by the way, but I didn't get my jars as full as I'd thought (tie hair back next time) and my brother was looking at the jars and asked,
"Why is your jelly.......................levitating?"

I told him, "Because I made it like this."