All I can think of when I see this picture from HMNS Sugar Land is “Man! Those nostrils are HUGE!”
The boys had quite the time. We liked it so much we bought memberships so we could go and visit the Houston HMNS the next weekend. We liked that, too, as well as the Faberge egg exhibit but I think we actually preferred this little version over in Sugar Land with the dino dig and small planetarium. Don’t the boys look cute? I mean, scary?
I have been swamped with work. And church stuff. But I couldn’t resist putting up this great picture of Gabe – he’s skinny as a toothpick but at this rate, that won’t last long. He was dying to try the Mel Burger from Mega Mel’s Cafe in Tomball. Great place! If you finish a Mega Mel (which is even bigger than his) within 2 hours (and the Mega Mel costs $19.95 – 2 lbs of beef, 1 lb of bacon, cheese, lettuce, tomato, etc.) you get your name written on the wall. Fun family night at a greasy spoon.
Slow Dance
Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round
Or listened to the rain slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight
Or gazed at the sun into the fading light?
You’d better slow down
Don’t dance so fast
Time is short
The music won’t last.
Do you run through each day on the fly?
When you ask how are you, do you hear the reply?
When the day is done, do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores running through your head?
You’d better slow down
Don’t dance so fast
Time is short
The music won’t last.
Ever told your child, we’ll do it tomorrow
And in your haste not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch. Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time to call and and say, “Hi!”
You’d better slow down
Don’t dance so fast
Time is short
The music won’t last.
When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day
It is like an unopened gift…Thrown away.
Life is not a race
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.
— Anonymous
I have a poem to share but first I need to get it from the source I heard it from yesterday. Will post soon. So WORTH it – I could have used the advice it contains about 10 years ago. Basically the gist is that I need to s…l…o…w…d…o…w…n! Meanwhile, the ads I designed yesterday were only supposed to be a half a page so here is the semi-final result. Still working today. Need to get a catalog section done and then on to the cover to finish. No more panicked rushing, though, I’m turning over a new leaf.
I am still busy working, which I love. But I seem to be having designer’s block. I blame it on needing more uninterrupted time but Benjamin’s such an easy kid, I really have lots of time to work. I think, lately, it’s other things getting in the way. I need to reprioritize. As much as I hate to admit it, we need a home and food so work kind of is really, really important. Here’s one of a few ideas I submitted for an ad today. I don’t know if they’ll use it but I feel like adapting it to say, “Mom’s everywhere give sleep an A+!” Because THAT we know would absolutely, unequivocably be truth in advertising.
I was on the phone with Donnie this morning making reservations for a little weekend getaway when Bennie came into my office this morning asking if he could play horse checkers. I said, “You mean chess?” He said, “No. Horse checkers.” Very cute kid. He’s getting too big too fast.
I’m baaaack! Briefly. A few more days of overwhelming work and then I will be blogging regularly again. It’s good to be back. I ran across this project at Ruffles and Stuff in my internet meanderings and thought I’d share. It’s a great, cheap, beautiful project. The creator’s name is Disney (what a great name!). She calls it a pom-pom lamp. It’s times like this when I really do wish I had a little girl. Somehow this just wouldn’t work in a boy’s room. However, I’m thinking it could easily be adapted to make something for a boy if you use the interior guts of the project and place it behind clear Legos, a monster mask (well, that could be scary!). I’m sure you can come up with better ideas than I…and if you do, please share.
Gabe: Hey, Mom, I’m the 2nd newest kid in my class.
Mom: Oh? Who is the newest kid?
Gabe: Dakota.
Mom: Where is he from? Is he white, black, hispanic, oriental?
Gabe: He’s American.
Mom: {smirk} Gabe, I love you!
Gabe: You know, cocker spaniel. He’s our color.
Mom: You mean caucasian? White?
Gabe: Oh yeah, that’s it.
Ta, da, da, da…the winner is….Carmel of Mellow is Me. Congratulations, Carmel. Email me your address and I will get your book sent off to you.
On another note, I am super swamped with “real” design work so the blogging will be on hold for a little while. Be patient with me and I will make up for it with super fantastic holiday ideas that I’ve been saving up and will post very soon! Not to pass over Thanksgiving, but I’m in the mood for Christmas!
I am so, so, so very excited to get one of these printed up on a canvas for our new home. It will be a 24 x 36 inch size (2′ x 3′) hanging portrait/vertically. I need to fix some of the typography but I think it will be pretty.
I made these cookies last year and found this old post. I am so thankful I found it because a) I loved the recipe and forgot where it was and b) I wanted to share it even without a good picture of the cookies!
I am NOT usually a cookie freak, since I just made a triple batch of chocolate chip cookies just last week, but I had some whole frozen cranberries to use up and my mother claims to not like chocolate (really, I met another person who doesn’t like chocolate this week – where are you people coming from?!). I wanted to make a cookie my Mom would like since they are coming over for dinner today {sigh: this year my mother is 1,000 miles away}. These are a great alternative to the popular pumpkin chocolate chip cookie. I like the tart cranberries in there! Give it a try – the recipe is from my tried-and-true vegetable and harvest cookbook called The Victory Garden Cookbook by Marian Morash. We have never had a bad recipe from the cookbook.
Pumpkin Cranberry Cookies
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 c. pureed cooked pumpkin
2 1/4 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup cranberries
1 T grated orange peel
1/2 cup chopped nuts
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla, egg, and pumpkin. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; beat into pumpkin mixture. Halve cranberries (I left ’em whole and they worked out fine!) and stir into mixture along with orange peel and nuts (again, left those out, more kid friendly). Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake in a preheated 375° F oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Makes approximately 36 cookies. Again: I left out the orange peel and nuts and these were still very delicious!
I love, love, love Amy Bradley’s designs. Partly because she was a graphic designer first. Yes, I’m biased. In honor of meeting her at Quilt Market, I’m putting up one of my purchases – her book pattern called Peek-A-Boo – for a giveaway. Just make a comment on this post before Halloween at midnight and you will be entered to win. If you link back to this giveaway on your blog (I can see your links so no need to tell me), I will automatically enter you twice. I haven’t held a giveaway in awhile since we moved and this is a great way to remember all the Quilt Market fun! Good luck!!! For details on this particular book, which runs $20, check Amy Bradley’s website.
Houston’s International Quilt Market didn’t indicate any sort of economic recession to me. These people have a passion and they take it seriously. There are some wonderful men at Quilt Market (if you’ve never met the big wigs over at Clover tools, run their direction as fast as you can – they are funny, generous true gentlemen!). But overall, the estrogen was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Husbands lined the walls, held the bags, and stood aside while female shop owners and designers worked the floor. Fabulous!
In Amy Bradley’s booth.
They even have little green ribbons for those of us who were venturing there for the first time. Other newbies stopped me to ask where I got my ribbon. You see, at Market, it’s all about what you’re getting: contacts, friends, food, fun, but most importantly…inspiration. And I’m not even a quilter!
Izzy & Ivy Designs won best new booth or something like that (an official award; not a made up one like mine!).
I came upon Quilt Market almost by accident: hubby transferred to Houston and my good friend Benay, of Beany Boy Quilts, wanted me to help her design and layout a quilt book. We’ve been in Houston about 14 weeks and – true to her word – Benay came down to visit me and we headed out for downtown. The rows upon rows of interesting fabrics and quilts were mind boggling. I don’t quilt, you see, but any girl with graphic sensibilities can appreciate a good quilt design. You could immediately tell which pattern and fabric designers stood out from the crowd because their booths were crowded. There were so many fun exhibitors who actively passed out fliers, smiled and said hello, inviting you into their booths. In contrast, there were quite a few exhibitors who just sat in their booth looking unfriendly and not even saying a word. I noticed a trend: those with traditional patchwork and passé designs were the ones looking uninviting. The best exhibitors had not only fresh, fun quilt designs but they also included other projects: animals, backpacks, books, you name it! Their creativity wasn’t limited to quilt design. And it showed. They were genuinely creative people.
L to R: Benay Derr, Amy Bradley, Lizabeth Rolfson
Amy’s quilt design for baby – great idea!
The sweetest and kindest exhibitor has to go to Amy Bradley and her daughter and mother. What a fun crew! They are the kind of people you just know you love instantly. And her work…well, she was a graphic designer first (I’m not biased or anything) and it shows.
Mary Cowan, right, of Mary’s Cottage Quilts
Another trend I noticed was that the freshest designs of the lot were not from good old Moda or Windham Fabrics but from independent start ups – most coming out of Utah. Riley Blake was a huge hit – what a great setup out of Alpine, Utah – and Mary Cowan of Mary’s Cottage Quilts in Sandy, Utah. Another Utah favorite was Abbey Lane Quilts: Marcea Owen and Janice Liljenquist were so friendly and patient with us as we had to touch every. single. thing. My favorite fresh designs outside of Utah were from The Noble Wife. Designer, Jacquelynne Steves and her stalwart husband showed that all of the hotbed of fabric designs is not exclusive to Utah as they hail from Woodstown, New Jersey.
My all-time favorite booth of the show, however, has to go to Melanie Hurlston of Melly & Me. This group from Australia and their lovely accents were not the only thing that attracted me to their booth. I was hooked from the Friday night Sampler Spree and sought them out Saturday to get another hit from their hip wares. The books – all designed and produced by themselves (including the photography!) – were a breath of fresh air. They exuded confidence in their own designs and it just plain didn’t look like everybody else’s version of the latest trends. They were fantastically independent and I cannot toot their horn enough. I will be seeking them out for personal inspiration, graphically speaking, and I don’t even quilt! They totally were the Homecoming Queen of Quilt Market in my book!
Speaking of graphic inspiration, the award for best overall graphic sensibilities in quilting design would have to go to Patrick Lose of Patrick Lose Studios. I had the chance to chat with him and it’s no wonder – he used to teach Graphic Design at a design college in Des Moines, Iowa. Now that’s so close to home, it gave me goose bumps (I’m still a little midwestern home-sick!).
Lizzie B’s groovy peace quilted rug.
Other standouts: Lizzie B Cre8tive – she would have to be runner up for Quilt Market Homecoming Queen – great rugs and all around design. Very eye catching! I also liked Cloud 9 Fabrics, organic and super soft fabrics.
The Miss Congeniality award goes to Laura and Lynnette of Beach Garden Quilts in Seattle. They were wonderfully friendly – like instant best friends – and helped us feel at ease. They have some innovative quilted looking floor mat designs – be sure to check them out.
A quilt in the display section…name anyone?
The only thing left is to recuperate. But I don’t have time. I’ve been so inspired, I have all sorts of graphic design inspiration to work out.
p.s. You can look at all of my Houston Quilt Market pictures at my flickr account.
I’m tagging along with my quilter friend, Benay of Beany Boy Quilts to Houston’s famous International Quilt Market 2009. Stay tuned for info and pictures next week! We are going to play hard for the next 48 hours. Watch out Houston, these Nebraska girls can cause a lot of trouble!!! In the meantime, go over to Willow Leaf Studios by Jodi Beamish and check out Benay’s new pantograph designs. That girl learned Illustrator faster than anyone I’ve ever met and has some great new designs being sold on Jodi’s site.
Jack is currently our toothless wonder but I created this photograph for a stock photo site today. It was just too cute not to share! It’s from last summer but, good memories. Busy with “real” work this week so I’m not getting much time to blog but, that’s okay, I’ll be back soon. Looking forward to Quilt Market in Houston this weekend so be sure to check back for the news and some fun pics.
