Clouds after wind storm

Clouds after wind storm
Originally uploaded by li'l miss muffett

We had a seriously wicked wind storm whip up the other day. The sky was full of these neato lookin' clouds. Unfortunately, we had a tree break in half, too. It is pretty diseased so we will have to take the rest of it out. :(

Productiveness

Yes, that's what happens when you clean your shit up!

After cleaning the other day I sat down and started doodling. As you can see from the pictures in my previous post, I have tattoo flash all over my walls. It's good inspiration... plus I think it looks groovy. Anyhoo, right above my drawing space is some flash that has a gypsy lookin' lady. I got out my paper and pencils and started drawing a copy and came out with this:
I think she turned out pretty. It looked a little plain without a background so I added the sky which I just finished up today. I may do a little more work on that or I might leave it sketchy. What do you think?

I made my own tortillions for the smoothing. I'm thinking about making up a tutorial for them 'cause they are so simple to make. Maybe for my next post?

Before and After

Ummm...yeah, so this is what my sewing table looked like before
and this
Here's another angle... I didn't realize how much of a disaster this whole thing was until I started digging it all out! It took me about three days! I thought at first, I can get this done in an afternoon while Conner takes his nap. No problem! Yeah right. Was I in for a big surprise. I cleaned out a lot of crap and gave Meghan several items. She's starting to get into sewing (yay!) so I gave her a whole box of fabric scraps and some thread and needles. Lets hope she keeps those off the rug. Anyhoo, I got some more storage containers at the $ store for all the little bits and pieces.
So here's the outcome:
I moved a lot of stuff around and rearranged my table. Now I have a sewing section to the right and drawing to the left. It already makes me feel more productive. I sat down and started drawing the other night and it felt so good to have room to spread out! Gee imagine that.

This is the last week of school, too! Conner is going to summer school through June so he can get a little extra speech therapy. He's doing really well with it, by the way. Making lots more sounds and starting to say some new words. He's even stringing some words together now! Meghan is super excited about being done with school. I can NOT believe she'll be a sixth grader!
Man am I old!

Mmmmmm....Food Porn

Okay, I admit it... I indulge in a little food porn once in awhile. Flickr is a good place for free food porn and Craftster, yeah Craftster is good, too. So, anyway, what I'm getting at here is I'm going to share a little food porn with you today. You know, just to forewarn you...you may go away hungry....heh.

A few weeks ago I was browsing some blogs and came across this post on Angry Chicken's and she had a link to this recipe. Now, lemon bars are my most favorite dessert in the whole wide world (okay, okay, ONE of them anyway). Yesterday, I made these amazing Lemon Shortbread bars as dessert for our Mother's Day supper:I've made them a couple of times before but these were soooo much better. I'll tell you why...The first two times I used margarine and the bottled lemon juice. The recipe calls for using real lemons (duh) and real butter. But, lemme tell ya...it makes all the difference in the world. I made these babies with real butter and real lemons this time and oh.my.goodness. Sheer lemon heaven. The crust is rich and flaky the filling is creamy and tart. It also has a strudel topping made of flour, butter, and a little sugar. Yuuumm-o! It only calls for 1/2 cup of lemon juice and has 2 CUPS of sugar. The result is very sweet and not nearly lemony enough for me so I added extra lemon juice. I like mine really tart. I probably added an extra 1/2 cup. I'm not really the measuring type. I also added a little extra flour so it wouldn't be too runny. They turned out perfect. Got raves from everyone else, too! Here's an extra naughty extreme close-up:
Seriously, I'm getting hungry just looking at this.

Okay for some more sweetness, but the kiddy kind:
Conner made this for me at preschool. The little pot says "Mom". I just love it. Meghan made a little book that has several memories and things she likes about me, stuff like that. I about started crying. It was so sweet.

I think I'm going to rearrange my sewing table today to make more room for my drawing supplies. It's becoming a pain in the butt to try and draw around my sewing stuff and vice-versa. I'll take some before and after photos so you can see how terribly disorganized I am, erm...I mean, how organized I can be! heh heh.

First, I need a lemon bar though....

Happy Mother's Day!

My lovely little family gave me this vast supply of colored pencils (132 to be exact):

I promptly put them in order(I'm OCD like that), sharpened them, and did a li'l sketchin'.
I hope all the mother's out there have a very happy, very lovely day. Extra special happiness to my mom, sister, Grandmas, and Mother-in-Law! I love you!!!

sneaky peek...

at some drawing I've been doing recently:


This is for NiRosha. She very graciously asked me to design a logo for her soon-to-be-opened shop. I didn't want to show the whole thing since she's not open yet. She told me I need to advertise the fact that I do this kind of stuff and by darn she's right! So, if you need a logo..... ;D
I hand draw this stuff, btw. The above is pen & ink and a little marker. I'm afraid I don't know coding and don't have photoshop but still....

It's up

I thought it was supposed to be up tomorrow but lookie!!!

I love rainy days

As you can see from my view from the computer it's a dreary day. We have another chance for rain...like 90%. I LOVE it! I don't know why but I just love rainy days! As I type this up it keeps getting darker and darker so I look for rain anytime now. As long as we don't get hail or tornadoes. My tomato plant could use a good drink:
I can't believe it already has blooms on it either. yaay! Our rose bush is in bloom too. Actually, that's quite an understatement!
Just look at all those buds!

These babies smell sooooo GOOD! I swear I was 20 feet away and could smell them. I've sorta let them go wild. I haven't trimmed them back for the last few years and they're spreading big time. We really need to do some cleaning up of the flower beds but we've been avoiding it. We have hundreds ( I means HUNDREDS!) of irises and they are so crowded that some are not blooming. Yikes. Mom, I thought you were going to get your butt over here and take some! heh.

On my crafty note, I'm thinking about breaking out the emroidery supplies again. I've been lookin' around the needlework forums on Craftster and it's making me itchy to stitch. I bought a T-shirt custom made for Conner by the super sweet, super talented Amy of Early Bird Special . I just love it and he does, too. This was the best picture I could get of him in it. He wouldn't quit wiggling and moving around. I think he's showing me a Flaming Hot Cheeto here.

Anyhoo, I'm think about making some for him myself. I'd like to try sew directly on the knit but need to get some stablizer first.

Well, that's about all I have for today. I told my sister yesterday that I'm going to try to update everyday. I didn't post yesterday so, sorry Steph, I lied. Hopefully, I can get a little blurb every two or three days. Sometimes I just have nothing to post!

I hope you have a super "hump day"!

excitingness

Yes, I know that's not a real word but it's kinda what I'm feeling! Last week I was contacted by a woman who works for Babble.com about using one of my pictures for an article running this week. May 9th to be exact. The piece is a personal essay written by Rachel Pastan, author of the book "Lady of the Snakes". Here's the photo(those are Conner's 18 month old hands):

Kinda cool, huh?

Over the weekend I got another offer to draw up a logo. This time for a crafty business. I love doing stuff like that! I'd love to make a living doing it too. I've thought about taking a couple art classes at the junior college here to just brush up my on my mad skillz. heh. I'd also really like to learn graphic design using computers. Hmmm...maybe someday. Get Conner into school full-time first maybe.

I've got a lot of catching up to do today so I better take off!

Here I am again

Dammit, if I could just make up my friggin' mind. Well, as I just posted over here, I figured out what my problem with Blogger was and I'm still not tellin'! But it's so much easier to blog and add crap to my page, etc. on Blogger. I think I'll just start where I left off thankyouverymuch. So hopefully I can fill this electronic page with enough witticism and humorous banter to keep it lively.

On with the recent news...

Meghan had her first band concert last night. It was fun and Conner even liked it. He liked the drums best, I think. Not too many squeaks and squawks so that was a bonus. Here's a couple pics:

playin' a happy tune

Meghan (in peach) yakkin'. What's new?

Conner and Daddy, being good boys

Broken bones and training bras

Ok. Well, we've had an interesting coupla weeks around here. Well not that interesting but I thought that sounded like a good opener. First off two Saturdays ago my dear husband broke his foot. So, we spent nearly the whole afternoon in the waiting room of the emergency room. Okay, okay, it was only like 2-3 hours but it sure felt like all day. Come to find out he has what they call a Dancer's Fracture because it is very common amongst dancers and athletes. Apparently, his wasn't too bad so they stuck this ugly little bootie thing on his foot and sent him along his way with instructions to see a Orthopedic surgeon on Monday. Yeah. No temporary cast, no wrapping of an Ace bandage, nothin', nada. And then we find out our crappy insurance won't pay for any of this so we'll have an inflated hospital bill of probably $1200-$1500 with only an ugly little bootie thing to show for it. After a lot of internet research about his foot, Gene pretty much said "F@%k going to a doctor!" and we went to a medical supply place and got him one of those walking boot/cast things that he can take off and on and it is working. It is the same thing the doctor would have put on him anyway. Thank heaven for the 'Net. It only cost $85. I'm sure the doctor would have charged triple that or given him the fancy neumatic one that was $600! Good Lord!

I bet you're wondering about the whole training bra bit. Yeah... well, me too! My sweet little girl turned 9 this summer and with that she's starting to blossom a little bit. She is of the plump persuasion anyway so I thought it would be fun to get her a few of the little training bras that are basically a cropped tank top, you know? She wasn't too sure about them at first and wore them a few times during the end of the summer. She's used to them now and wears one everyday. Okay, that's all fine and good, right? She came home last weekend from spending the night at her Granny's (who lives in town) and apparently she failed to pack a bra or something because when she came home she wasn't wearing one. And the scary fact was I could tell!!! ALRIGHT! I WANT TO KNOW WHO IN HELL TOOK MY BABY GIRL AWAY FORM ME AND TURNED HER INTO A MINI-WOMAN!!! Is it my fault for getting those friggin' baby bras? Did they make her breast GROW? I just want to sit down and cry. I found our video camera awhile ago and finally got it working. We haven't used in forever because Meghan dropped and it made a loud whirring noise whenever we used it. Anyway, that's neither here nor there.... I played some of the tapes and there was my little sweetpea opening her birthday presents from when she turned 2. And Christmas at 2 1/2, singing her ABC's outside in the backyard when she was not yet 3, and a preschool performance. Oh I just cried and cried. I'm crying now just thinking of it! I wish I could rewind time like I did those tapes. I miss her like that so much but I do love the "'tween" she is now and the young woman she is becoming and further more the woman I think she'll be.

I do have a little crafty update. More swappage...Imagine that! I got my handbag in from my Handbag swap partner. Julie was moving at the time of the swap so she e-mailed me and told me it would be late. That was cool of her. It is handknit and felted. Really lovely, but I can't use it as a purse dammit! The way it is constructed it hangs open and all my crap falls out so this fall when I start crocheting and knitting again I'll use it for my projects. I sent off my Flat Stanley for that swap yesterday. He is going to Washington. I can't wait to get mine. I've already got plans for him. Muwhahaahaaaa!

I sent my Letter for me #3 buddy an ATC. Actually, my very first! When she wrote back to me she told me what they were in the first place! Miss Annie you have inspired me.
What else, what else.....I can't think of anything. I do have several more swaps coming up this month so more on those later.

It's almost 9 a.m. and Conner is still in bed so I better go get him up. The lazy bum! Thinks just because he's not even 2 yet he can sleep as long as he wants. ;) Gene says he's about ready to start mowing the lawn. hehehe (he is joking, trust me!)

Have a beautiful day!

sorry no pictures again. I fully intended to have some but for some reason they won't load. I'll try again later!

Swap!!!

Swap mosaic
Originally uploaded by li'l miss muffett.

Whew! I have seriously needed to update this sucker for awhile! Sorry everyone.

Anyway, as you can see I've had some swap action going on! I think I've said before that I'm hooked and having fun with it! In the photo starting at the top left-hand corner is a letter from Annie in NY. I sent her a letter for the "A letter for me #3" swap and she wrote me back! How wonderful. She is very into Artist Trading Cards (and very good at it) so I asked her to tell me about them 'cause I know very little about them. I didn't even know they exsisted till I joined Swap-bot. Anyway, she sent me a lovely, funny, awesome letter in return and even sent me some of her very own ATC's! Gah! How friggin' cool is she, anyway!?! The next is some beautiful ribbon from Natalie (one of them is not in the photo). She sent along some D-rings to make a couple of belts which was so thoughtful! Ribbon is awesome, BTW. It's the good stuff! and moving on...stickers from Ella. Very cute! I love the little fishy. He's made of foam so he's poofy. I love the poof... She also sent me way more than the required amount which is totally cool. I try to do that in all my swaps 'cause I like to make people smile and extra goodies always make me smile! =D Also, surprises ROCK! Next, at the beginning of the next row is more ribbon swappage. It's from Mari in Finland. Again, some really awesome stuff...some even vintage. *!* (whispers)i love vintage....There was vintage buttons and a little wooden gamepiece. The envelope she made by folding what looks like a very thick magazine page and taping it. I love it! Must try it... the little note card is handmade too and very pretty! The card from Lesly was from my very first swap "A letter for me #2" (I missed #1). The card is so cute and a very nice letter indeed! The last picture is actually what I'm sending my buddy for the "Fall Fabric & Trim Swap". Unfortunatly, I am missing a few pictures. =( I received an awesome package of stickers from Sasha and I can't find it as I'm reorganizing my sewing stuff. She sent an envelope chock full of scrapbookin' stickers and others, too. So sweet! Remember, I love me some surprises! And the other two are letters from "A letter for me #3 & #4" swaps. They're in my craft stuff, I promise. Both letters were amazing! Both ladies were so friendly it gives me hope for the world! Thank you, Natalie B. and Jennifer!
Have a good day everyone!

Last minute everything!

Well we seem to be doing everything in the last minutes before school starts. We were gone over the weekend to do some school shopping and stayed at my mom and dad's since they are close to Wichita. Meghan is staying there for the week and we will be going back there on Wednesday. We have a "thing" to go to Thurs. and Fri. Gene was eligible for "Admiral's Club" with his job. This basically means he sold enough life insurance during a previous period and is being acknowledged by getting to go to this special meeting. It's actually pretty cool. I'm going with him and on Thursday night we are having a Murder Mystery Dinner and everyone has a "part". Gene is Louis Armstrong and I'm Karen Carpenter. We are going to have fun with it though. They said for us to go all out for it and Gene is borrowing a trumpet from a buddy and I am working on a costume. I just need some bell bottoms or something as I have a top that should work. It'll be a stretch 'cause Karen was really small and petite and well, I'm so very not! Anyhoo, it should be fun.

I got a lovely letter from my "A letter for me #3" swap partner yesterday. Miz Natalie is from the U.K. which was so cool to me and it seems as though we have quite a bit in common. So, I promptly wrote her a 5 or 6 page letter and got it to the post office today. It only cost 85 cents! Cool! I'm having too much fun with these swaps, I tell ya. I went to Craftster and had a look at their swaps and it just looks too complicated! Too many rules although, I understand the reasoning! I really must get going though. I have lots of laundry to catch up on before we leave again! I'll be staying at my Mom's for a few days after we get done with the meetings since my sister and her kids will be there too! Wow! 5 kids under one roof? Eeeek!

Later ya'll!

Swap-Bot goodies

Swap-Bot goodies
Originally uploaded by li'l miss muffett.

Well, here is the package I'm sending my Swap-Bot partner! I hope she likes it. I'm really pleased how it turned out and I'm thinkin' I need to make a similar one for me!

My partner is in Brazil, by the way... How cool is that. Until I see how much the shipping will be. I have absolutely no idea what to expect.

This is just a quickie post, I have to go get supper started: Fried Catfish and mac-and-cheese. Maybe some redbeans and rice...? YUMMY!!!

Swapbot Mania

Well, I have (finally) discovered the wonders of Swapbot! A few weeks ago I was invited by a flickr buddy to join the Handbag Swap. I have never been involved in a swap and was so excited to be invited! I had seen on many a blog where people were getting all this fabulous mail and it completely eluded me as to how all this was happening! Well, I've found it and it is sooo addictive. I've already signed up for two others! I even received my first swap item today. I signed up for the "A Letter for Me" swap and I got my letter today! It's from a lovely lady, Lesly. How exciting is all this!? How fun... I must be a bit cautious though because I can see myself signing up for several of these and not having anytime to, like, take care of my kids and house and stuff. hehehe I'm currently working on my handbag for my swap and waiting to hear who my partner is for the Ribbon Swap. (!) You should definitely try it.