May the Horse Be With You!

I came here intending to bring you wisdom for the new year, which happens to be in the Chinese zodiac - the year of the horse.

I was quite certain that in just a few keystrokes I'd find ancient wisdom in what this horse year had in store for us.

Instead I found a lot of websites that said things like:

-you find good calamity in this year of wood horse
-after the slithery snake of 2013 we can have landslide and forest fire

Not exactly what I was going for. So I've decided to make up my own Chinese zodiac outlook for 2014 if that's okay with everyone. Except I'm not a fan of China. So here's my American Year of the Horse Zodiac by Understand Blue.

-Horses (or as I call them, horsies) are awesome. Therefore, 2014 will be awesome

-Horsies represent freedom to those of us who live in the wild, wild West. So I predict that freedom will actually come back into style in 2014 and replace the NSA, drones and the IRS with cat videos and silly string.

-Horsies are wicked fast, and so I think this year is going to go really fast. Please hang on, and try to be productive.

-I hate to bring this up, but on behalf of my brother I must. Horses bite. So watch out for mosquitos and the IRS.

-If you're single, please note that where there are horsies, there are cowboys. If you're a boy, please note that where there are horsies, there are cowgirls.

-Into every life, a little horse poop must fall. Don't get all bent out of shape about it. Don't whine. Buck up and get over yourself. Get back in the saddle. Don't share the poop. Everyone has their own poop - they don't need to hear about yours.

-Good shoes are very important. You can never spend too much. Seriously. it's the year of the horse. I can't recommend Zappos highly enough.

-While it's said that horseshoes are lucky, that's completely false. You make your own luck. So do it. See the don't whine part above. 

-Take care of your mane. If you're not a Clydesdale, it's the only thing people will notice.

-Be a Clydesdale - they're awesome. 

-Horses aren't afraid of anything except for mice. This is where we get into the part about horses not really being all that bright. Mice aren't scary. The lesson here is not to overdramatize things, unless you're telling a story, in which case bring. all. the. drama. 

-Chew your food. Several times. Eating fast is for carnivores.

-Work hard, Even if it's not glamorous. It builds strong bones and makes you appreciate resting and playing a little more. 

-Have a big heart. Go at full speed until it gives out. :)

Most of all, you should probably watch Secretariat - I think you can get everything else you need to know from that :).

Whatever happens, may the horse be with you.

Stamps: Happy Watercolor, Ancient Asia, Deadbeat Designs May the Horse Be With You

Ink: Summer Sun, Orchid Opulence, Tempting Turquoise

Paper: Whisper White

Now, you may be here for the Season's Givings Blog hop - in which case - welcome!

This was such a fun and joyful event last year I'm really excited that we're doing it again! I met so many new friends and had so much fun hopping around from blog to blog.

I was really blessed this year with some crafty Christmas gifts, including this Derwent Inktense pencil set (crazy AWESOME price on them on Amazon right now) and a Brother Scan and Cut Machine - OMG! I can't wait to play with these tomorrow!

In the spirit of paying it forward, I will choose one lucky commenter to win an amazing prize package to help them ride their crafty horse into 2014!

This package includes:

• Sycamore Street ribbon and matching buttons
• Remember This rotary stamp
• Label Bracket Punch
• Epic Day Designer Series Paper
• Cloudy Day Embossing Folder
• Epic Day This 'n That Designer Journaling Stickers (2)
• 1.25" Pink Pirouette two tone ribbon
• 1.25" Cherry Cobbler two tone ribbon
• Decorative Window Gift Boxes (6)

 That's more than $80 worth of amazing stampy goodness! You'll need your own horse to haul it all! :)

I'll be choosing my winner on January 6th at noon - so don't waste any time - leave me a comment! Tell me what you got for Christmas and what your plans are for 2014!

If you're hopping along, the person after me is Kelly Klapstein - GO LIKE THE WIND - see what she has for you.

Most of all, happy new year! :)

Here's the full hop list in case your horse ran off and you are lost.

Lawn Fawn

Reverse Confetti

My Favorite Things Stamps

CAS-ualFriday Stamps

Fresh Squeezed Stamps

Julee Tillman: Verve Stamps

Avocado Arts Stamps

A Jillian Vance Design

Latisha Yoast

Amber Hight

Amber Kemp-Gerstel

Alice Wertz

Debbie Corbari

Vera Wirianta Yates

Lori McAree

Carolyn King

Sharon Harnist

Amy Tsuruta

Beth Pingry

Angie Blom

Julia Stainton

Sharon Johnson

Michelle Woerner

Cindy Lawrence

Lori Tecler

Daniela Dobson

Savitri Wilder

Theresa Momber 

Giovana Smith

Kimberly Crawford

Maria Levine

Colleen Schaan

>>>>>>>Lydia Fiedler<<<<<<<<

Kelly Klapstein

Kim Kesti

Laura Williams

Shanna Vineyard

Jennifer Gallacher

Heather Pulvirenti

Stacey Schafer

Leigh Penner

AJ Otto

Teri Anderson

Julie Overby

Margie Higuchi

Jimmi Mayo

Tenia Nelson

Lee Ann Barrett

Iwona Palamountain

Kim Jackson

Linda Lucas

Sarah Gough

Dina Kowal

Elena Roussakis

Lisa Henke

Jodi Collins

Joanne Basile

Melanie Muenchinger

Darsie Bruno  

Libby Hickson

Dana Joy

Jody Morrow

Heather Campbell

Savannah O'Gwynn

Lee Murphy

Lisa Arana

Jocelyn Olson

Isha Gupta

Piali Biswas

Ashley Harris

Bunny Vance

Anabelle O'Malley

Andrea Murdock

Stephanie Muzzulin

Alyssa Bennett

Christiana Reuling

Laurel Seabrook

Melody Rupple

Emily Branch

Megan Hoeppner

 Happy and safe and blessed New Year to you.

Loveyameanitbye.

Because I Always Do What Heisenberg Tells Me To Do

I've been relaxing this week.

I like to take the week between Christmas and New Year's off every year because a) it's a quiet week at work so I don't spend the whole vacation actually working and b) because I have new toys I can play with in the studio.

I got the 72 set of Derwent Inktense Pencils (which Amazon still has an INSANE price on) this Christmas and so I've been Inktensing up a storm! I also got a felting machine so I'm looking forward to messing around with that. Yesterday, my sister and I set up a still life and painted and I'm about to go do that again this afternoon. I'm really not very good at that, so the practice is good for me. I got a new (to me) kind of oil paint that NEVER dries until you heat set it - Genesis - enabled by a Facebook friend - Sunny Carvalho. Haven't played with those yet.

I'm at that point where I don't know what day of the week it is. I love that moment in a vacation. I do sort of need to know what day it is soon though because I'm taking two crafty classes with the BFFs tomorrow. I think.

When I saw the new Happy Watercolor (from the new upcoming mini) set sitting on my desk this morning, I knew what I had to do with it in honor of my vacation. :) The greeting is from one of our custom monogram address stamps that I bent to my own dark purposes. Muahahaha!

Stamps: Undefined Heisenberg, Custom Address Stamp, Happy Watercolor

Ink: Summer Sun, Lucky Limeade, Basic Black

Paper: Whisper White

I always do what Heisenberg tells me to do. After all, he is the danger.

Part of my relaxation has included cooking.

My two favorite things I've made are Beef Stroganoff with Polenta (instead of noodles) and Panettone Bread Pudding.

Here are the recipes for your enjoyment! Go relax!

Beef Stroganoff (Adapted from Epicurious)

2.5 lb. beef tenderloin, cut into stew sized chunks

2 TBS oil

6 TBS butter

¼ C finely chopped shallots

1 lb. small button mushrooms, sliced

1 C beef broth

2 TBS cognac

¾ C creme fraiche

1 TBS dijon mustard

Pat meat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat oil to high. Working in batches, add meat in a single layer and cook just until brown on outside - about a minute per side. Transfer to rimmed baking sheet.

Melt 2 TBS butter in same skillet over medium high heat. Add chopped shallots and saute until tender, scooping up brown bits. About 2 minutes. Add mushrooms. Sprinkle with pepper and saute until liquid evaporates about 12 minutes. Add beef broth, then Cognac.

Simmer until liquid thickens and just coats mushrooms, about 14 minutes. Stir in creme fraiche and Dijon. Add meat and any juice. Simmer over medium-low until meat is heated through but still medium rare. Season to taste.Serve over polenta

Polenta  (dramatically adapted from Ina Garten, Food Network - terrible errors in their recipe)

4 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade

1 cup polenta

1 tsp salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving

1/4 cup creme fraiche

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter

Directions

Place the chicken stock in a large saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat until the stock comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and very slowly whisk in the cornmeal, whisking constantly to make sure there are no lumps. Switch to a wooden spoon, add the salt and pepper, and simmer, stirring almost constantly, for 10 minutes, until thick. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pan thoroughly while you're stirring. Off the heat, stir in the Parmesan, creme fraiche, and butter. Taste for seasonings and serve hot with extra Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top.

Panettone Bread Pudding (Courtesy Giada, Food Network) 

Sauce:

1/2 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup whole milk

3 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup amaretto liqueur

2 teaspoons cornstarch

Bread Pudding:

1 (1-pound) loaf panettone, torn or cut into cubes. (If you are in Austin RUN to Mandola's and get theirs - INCREDIBLE.)

8 large eggs

1 1/2 cups whipping cream

2 1/2 cups whole milk

1 1/4 cups sugar

Directions

To make the sauce: Bring the cream, milk, and sugar to a boil in a heavy small saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently. In a small bowl, mix the amaretto and cornstarch to blend and then whisk into the cream mixture. Simmer over medium-low heat until the sauce thickens, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes. Set aside and keep warm. (The amaretto sauce can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm before serving.)

To make the bread pudding: Lightly butter a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish. Arrange the bread cubes in the prepared dish. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, cream, milk, and sugar to blend. Pour the custard over the bread cubes, and press the bread cubes gently to submerge. Let stand for 30 minutes, occasionally pressing the bread cubes into the custard mixture. (Recipe can be prepared up to this point 2 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Bake until the pudding puffs and is set in the center, about 45 minutes. Cool slightly. Spoon the bread pudding into bowls, drizzle with the warm amaretto sauce, and serve.

Whisper my name. Heisenberg says so.

If Life Gives You Lemonade, Make Lemons!

I was half listening to Modern Family tonight while I was cooking and I had to stop and laugh out loud at Phil. As usual.



That just cracked me up.

I had some lemonade - in the form of some Arches Watercolor paper. Beautiful, smooth, hot press paper my dad gave me for my birthday. It's the kind that you have to free from the adhesive with your palette knife.

Sometimes, some people - not mentioning any names - get impatient and try to free it too fast. And sometimes it rips. Then sometimes, some people - not mentioning any names - are sad that they made lemons out of it.

BUT - I chopped the salvageable part up into ATCs and painted tiny paintings. So is that lemonade again?

First, I masked the edges with drafting tape. I like drafting tape better than artist's tape because it really doesn't tear your paper - sometimes artist's tape does.

After that I made an ATC for this week's Mix-Ability challenge, which is super cool - we had to use triangles, circles and squares and at least two mediums. I chose mountains, and moons and a masked off rectangle. I used my Lukas Aquarelle watercolors and my Montana refillable acrylic paint marker.

I love this tiny scale. It lets you be creative, but it's not big enough to feel lost in.

Here are two others I did in the same session - all are ATC sized - 3.5" x 2.5".

Hopefully life is all "WHAT???" now! :)

Loveyameanitbye.

The Joy of Light and Dark

Last night I listened to Pope Francis' Christmas Eve homily.

I'm partial to this Pope, not just because he ditched the ridiculously expensive papal wardrobe, reprimanded a German bishop for spending $3 million on a marble courtyard,  sneaks out at night dressed as a priest to feed homeless people in Rome, and used to ride a Harley.

In addition to those things, I also admit to a bias with regard to his choice of name, because St. Francis is my favorite - the patron saint of animals and little children - how could he not be everyone's favorite? I have a life sized, hand hewn mesquite statue of St. Francis in my living room, if that tells you anything about my bias. (You can see pictures of him in this blog post.)

But the real reason I'm partial to this Pope is that I think he's an artist. If you listen closely to what he says, he speaks a very visual language.

I particularly liked this section: "There are both bright and dark moments, lights and shadows," Francis said in his homily. "If our heart is closed, if we are dominated by pride, deceit, self-seeking, then darkness falls within us and around us. "

I also just got done with a four week drawing class where our teacher kept teaching us to look for points of tension in our drawings - those places where things were out of balance, and where the viewer might get trapped in sameness with nowhere to go.  To escape these points of tension, you need contrast. You need light and dark, up and down, complementary colors. To appreciate the white of the paper in your drawing, you need deep, dark shadows.

That was one of the most useful art tips I've ever gotten. And it's not a bad life lesson either.



But again, I'm biased. My go to art is high contrast, black and white, yellow and blue. No feathered edges here :).

This year's Christmas card, while it praises light by contrasting it with some crisp dark, is a bit of a departure for me from my normal neat and clean Christmas cards. I've had such fun with the Mix-Ability challenge on Splitcoast this year, I had to do a little mixed media for my Christmas card.

 

To create the world (how's that for an ego trip? :D ) I watercolored a full sheet of Canson Watercolor paper with a diluted Tempting Turquoise reinker. While it was still wet, I sprayed it with some Stream Adirondack ink in my mister to get some deeper blues. Then I spritzed it in spots with a mixture of Kiwi Kiss reinker and rubbing alcohol, which pushed the water-based inks away and made the fun, well defined spots of "land" on my world. I punched them in two different sizes - 1.75" and 1.25" and used Joy to the World for my greeting in Basic Black.

And, since every year I break down the anatomy of my card - for 150 cards, I only used three sheets of the Canson ($1.23), and 75 sheets of Whisper White cardstock ($17). So the total consumable cost of these 150 cards was $.12 each. How about that for a bargain? The cheapest I could find on Amazon were cute, but about $.72 apiece. And not lovingly handmade by yours truly.

I had fun making them, and I always have fun writing a note to my friends each year. It's a time that I really treasure, because I rarely (sad, but true) make time to just write notes to people for most of the year.

I like (despite my Virgo tendencies) that each one is completely unique this year. here's a sampling.

Maybe you recognize one of these as the one you got!

Joy to you and yours today. I hope you have a great holiday!

Merry Christmas!

Where's Eve?

Well hello there. Merry Christmas Eve!

I wonder why we don't have "eves" for new holidays - only old ones?

Instead of just All Hallow's Eve and Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, shouldn't we have Independence Day Eve, Thanksgiving Eve and other assorted modern eves?

There's so much more festiveness involved with an eve, don't you think?

It's a two-fer!

Last night was the 4th (we think) annual wrapping party that my brother-in-law came up with. They invite the neighborhood over and we provide wrapping paper and ribbon and cards and tags and everyone can wrap their gifts (or we wrap them for them) without messing up their house or revealing secret gifts to their children. It's a really fun tradition and we had a great time last night.

I made some cookies, thanks to my friend Tandra - that were AMAZING and also the easiest cookies I've ever made! Here's the recipe. Bonus - they are very low calorie and gluten free!

Coconut Cornflake Meringue Kisses

Ingredients:

• 3 egg whites
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
• 3/4 cup cornflake crumbs (from 2 cups cornflakes crushed almost to powder)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpats.

Whip the eggs whites, cream of tartar and sugar into a meringue until you form thick soft peaks, about 8 - 10 minutes.

Fold in the coconut and cornflake crumbs.

Drop by spoonful onto parchment lined cookie sheets.

Bake for about 18 minutes or until golden.

Original recipe here. 

Try to eat less than 10 in a row - I bet you can't.

I'm so behind on blogging that I'm bringing you a card I made in October!

I stamped the little hydrangea from Best of Flowers in Memento London Fog and colored it with Touch Twin Markers ( Y45, RP9, GY48, RP138, F124). Then I masked it off and sponged Daffodil Delight through drywall tape on top of the image. The greeting is from Oh, Hello.

For those of you who are having a severe coldsnap or like my poor friend Ronda Wade, are without power in a 45 degree house, maybe at least some artistic summer sunshine will warm you up!

What's up for your holiday? We are having Christmas with my family, and my mother says she has some new trivia game that is going to show us all how much we don't know! The challenge has been accepted. We're also going to make these CUTE binder clip angels. Pictures to come. 

I hope today is full of fun and cookies! I'd love to hear what crafty products you've asked Santa to bring you - I love to be enabled!

Oh - and in case you missed it, the engineers who did the original guide to cats are out with a sequel - and it's hysterical!



Loveyameanitbye.

Casting a Wide Net. Also - a Cute Fox.

Okay - I've been wanting to ask this question for a long, long time.

Thanks to this supremely boring article, I learned that if you have 100 friends on Facebook, your first level "friends of friends" network is actually 27,500. That's a lot of people.

That means, I have a potential "friends of friends" network of about 350,000 people. And that doesn't include Splitcoast, Twitter, real life, etc.

That's a great number for a statistical sample. And as you know, I'm a scientist. Pfft. Anyway...

We occasionally get pizza delivered. God bless America, by the way, land of the free, home of the brave, place where people bring delightful Italian snacks to your door for not very much money when you're too busy to cook, yet starving.

As a loyal customer of two pizza places in particular, I have received many opportunities to participate in surveys for these businesses, which supposedly occasionally result in a $1,000 cash prize for a lucky survey taker.

I used to work in a service business, and customer surveys are very important, so I always take them for brands that I care about and connect with, with or without the lure of a potential cash reward.

However, a curious person like myself wonders to herself, usually at 3 AM when a cat wakes her up, if anyone in her network of 350,000 people has actually been the recipient of such a prize.

Since the sample population size is valid, I'm asking you to ask - has anyone you know won one?

If not, my suspicions that this is the Big Foot of foodservice may indeed be fact, not conjecture.

Let me know if you know someone, or even know someone who knows someone who has won a survey prize.

In the meantime, please enjoy this RIDICULOUSLY ADORABLE FOX from the Life in the Forest set that will come out in the Occasions Mini Catalog - SQUEE!! He DOES make me happy.

Stamps: Life in the Forest, Happy Watercolor (let me know if you need a catalog!)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper: Crafter's Companion Marker Cardstock

Accessories: Touch Twin Markers: Y141, YR21, R2, B63 (twin)

Loveyameanitpleaseaskeveryoneyouknowandreportbackthxbye

Blue Snow, Of Course!

I had my monthly class yesterday and despite the frigid temperatures, we had a blast. It was also my customer Christmas party, so everyone went home with a prize.

One of the cards we did was for a VSN challenge by Lee - to create snow in a color. Well boy that color choice was hard - NOT.

I saw this technique in Tootsy's gallery on Splitcoast and I thought it was so cool.

What I did was cut a snowflake with my Festive Flurry Framelits out of the chipboard that comes with every package of Designer Series paper. I taped that to the back of my Core'dinations Coastal Cabana, and used the sanding block to sand it, giving me a ghostly blue snowflake for my background. Then I just added a precut, silver glimmer snowflake from the Festive Flurry ornament kit - I'm having a class on this next weekend, by the way, if you'd like to come - and a Frosted Finishes embellishment. It's so sparkly and cool. I think they enjoyed it.

Now speaking of blue things - I had a little fun experimenting today with my Pan Pastels, now that I've cracked them open.

I am no good at drawing, but I still made this fun portrait for an art journal page in under 7 minutes.

Want to see how?

I have a video tutorial over on Project Reanimate, because it involves a little recycling. To see it, follow me to my Making Faces tutorial.

Loveyameanitbye.

Sir-up or SEAR-up?

It's amazing how words and colors make people feel. This week, a lot of people posted the Pantone color of the year.

Here it is.

And here was my reaction:

Me too, kitty.

Me. too.

Radiant, my hiney. It's so dull and awful. It seriously makes me feel ill. 

But some people love it! What part of our brain determines whether a color makes us gag or squeal?

My theory is that it's the same part of our brain that makes us cringe when people pronounce something a certain way.

Take syrup for example. When Bobby Flay said SEARup this morning instead of SIRup, I wanted to reach through the TV and tape his mouth up with some radiant orchid duct tape. But he'd probably say the same about me if he heard SIRup.

Then there's CARmel and CARAmel. I'm a carmel person, personally. CARAmel gives me an eye twitch.

And don't get me started on PREEEEsentation. Really - don't.


What makes you twitchy?

Cold weather makes me twitchy. But not if it's only on paper. Tonight I'm hosting a Virtual Stamp Night Challenge for our Up to SNOW good VSN - the challenges are completely adorable.

My challenge is for you to get nekkid and STREAK!!

Hang on, you freaks - keep your clothes on! Wait for instructions please! :D

Here are all the details of the challenge - so at least keep your clothes on until you read them.

We're giving away Fan Club Memberships too so you'll definitely want to play.

For my challenge sample, I used this week's Mix-Ability challenge for inspiration. Kyra challenged us to use Versamark and chalk or pastels, so I decided to bust out my Pan Pastels that I bought in Santa Fe in 2012 and still had not opened. (Shame on me.)

I taped this stencil down over my Whisper White card base and then used my Ranger blending tool to apply Versamark all over the cardstock.

I removed the stencil and used a sponge to apply Pan Pastel in Ultramarine, Phthalo Green Tint and Hansa Yellow Shade.

They have such a soft feel to them - it's not like chalks at all - it feels more like a very silky makeup powder. I'm in love. They work so well with Versamark.

Since I wanted the technique to be the star of the show, I chose just a small greeting from Christmas Messages and a little snowflake from Snowflake Soiree. I added a teeny rhinestone to the center and voila - a streak!

Now that is a very self confident streaker!

Now, I have to bring you another crockpot recipe.

Dina sent this one to me. I modified the recipe of course - the original one called for fish sauce, which reeks like roadkill, so that wasn't an option. I always substitute ponzu or hoisin, or sometimes a mix of the two. For this recipe I used ponzu. Also, for some reason, once again the internet brings us a recipe without salt. I don't get it. So I had to use a lot of added salt. I like my peas crunchy, so I did something different with those. Finally - it needed heat - I don't think Thai food is completely done if it doesn't make my face sweat. I added a LOT of pequins - more than most humans would like - so use cayenne to taste if you want to spice it up. It is INSANELY delicious. Even my completely anti-soup human LOVED it and came back for thirds.

Enjoy! Then take your clothes off and come play in my challenge!

Thai Crockpot Chicken Soup

2 tablespoons red curry paste

2 12 ounce cans of coconut milk

2 cups chicken stock

2 tablespoons ponzu or hoisin

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons peanut butter

1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces

1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced into 1/4 inch slices

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 heaping tablespoon fresh ginger, minced

40 chile pequins, crushed, or serrano, Thai chili or cayenne for heat 

1 cup frozen peas

juice of 1 lime

cilantro for garnish

cooked white rice

salt, to taste (it needed 4-5 teaspoons)

chopped peanuts 

Mix the curry paste, coconut milk, chicken stock, ponzu sauce, brown sugar and peanut butter in a 4-1/2 to 6-quart slow-cooker bowl. Place the chicken breast, red bell pepper, chiles, onion and ginger in the slow cooker, cover and cook on high for 4.5 hours.

Cook the rice in chicken stock instead of water. (I toast my rice first - I think it tastes better that way.) When the rice is done, add the frozen peas, stir and replace lid, while you stir the lime juice into the soup.

To serve, put rice in a bowl and pour the soup over the top. Garnish with cilantro and chopped peanuts. 

(Original recipe)

Whisper my name.

NOW You May Pass Go and Collect Your Holiday Cheer

In my one woman crusade against being rushed, I am now pronouncing that you can OFFICIALLY begin to think about Christmas with my full blessing.

The last few pieces of pumpkin pie are lingering in the refrigerator, and the turkey is being transformed into pot pie and tetrazzini, so now, and only now, is it appropriate to look forward to Christmas.

So it is said, and so it shall be written. Here endeth the lesson.

Yesterday was Small Business Saturday and I did it up right. We went to Renegade Craft Fair and bought Christmas presents from local artists. And perhaps a few things for ourselves. Then on to Blue Genie - which is also a craft fair, but the artists are not at the booths - it's set up more like a store - very relaxed, fun, no-pressure event. Sometimes it can be uncomfortable to walk past an artist without buying anything, so this event takes that discomfort out of the equation.

Then we had lunch at Salt and Time, a local restaurant, the owner of which we met at a Renegade Craft fair a few years ago while he was trying to build up his business. Now he has a beautiful brick and mortar butcher shop and deli and it was really incredible. Highly recommend if you are in Austin any time soon.


Last stop of the day was at Austin's completely amazeballs independent bookstore - Book People.

I have a present for nearly everyone, and nearly all of them are handmade, so I'm pretty excited about that.

Now for the enabler alerts.

My favorite find of yesterday was this STUNNING laser cut felt peacock purse from Keeper Goods.

LOVED these floral illustrations by Ginably.

Gorgeous terrariums by Urban Anonymous.

And in the non-local, non-handmade great deals category - via Kristina Werner - a great deal on a nice little sewing machine!

Whew. That was a lot of shopping!

Time for a little handmade of my own.

This is for today's Challenge Chick's December challenge - which I'm hosting!

The challenge is to shed those winter layers and make a one layer card.

I got all tricksy and used the INSIDE of my card too, thanks to my oval framelits. Heh. Booya!

I used the Northern Lights technique AND the glowing lights technique on a masked portion of the inside of my card. Then I stamped the little deer from The Cat's Pajamas in black. Hard to see here, but I sprayed the masked "snow" portion with glitter spray so it's all sparkly.

I cut the oval in the card front with my oval framelits. Then I stamped the greeting from O Holy Night in black on the front. Simple!

This is our last challenge for 2013 - come play along - use keyword CHXDEC13 on Splitcoast!

And with that official pronouncement behind us, feel free to begin your merrymaking.

Loveyameanitbye.