Catching up on Crafty Inspirations

I love these artists, bloggers and their creations… they just make me drool. Check them out if you dare.

Image from http://donnadowney.typepad.com/

• Donna Downey’s wall art
• Oh Fransson! Book Tour and Giveaways
• Anna Maria Horner’s Rainbow Around the Block project
• Tatertots and Jello Complete Blog Makeover giveaway and Bumble Bee Birthday

Of course, this is just a handful of things to check out. I’m completely backlogged with articles to read and projects to finish.

Other random Friday thoughts…

• I’m excited about working with new reporters at Craft Critique.
• Still working on the t-shirt quilt, but finished a couple of baby blankets.
• After hosting a party, I usually have two to three (relatively) unproductive days. I need to clean up.
• I can’t believe Thanksgiving is nineteen days away.
• Most of my family will be in the Philippines for Christmas = early Christmas shopping and gifts.

Tags: crafts, websites

A Favorite Game: Restaurant City

I’ll admit it. I’m addicted to this game on Facebook. It only makes sense. I like food, building and design, enjoy the multi-tasking and managing. All the fun and none of the risk. You pick the menu, get food as awards, decorate your restaurant and if you manage it well, it grows. At first, my kids were really into it, so naturally, I named our little cafe “Ollie’s”, then “Abby’s” and “Julie’s Cafe”.

It looked like this many, many months ago. And now, the place is “SereniTEA” and has grown by leaps and bounds. I gave it an Asian feel for obvious reasons. The graphics are just so darn cute, from the furnishings to the food. These designers are doing such a nice job with it.

This might make you wonder if all I do is sit around and play video games all day. I can assure you the answer is NO. After a long hiatus from Sim City (another virtual world game that I played years ago.), I found this to be just a fun way to decompress from everything else I do. Anyone else out there play this game?

Unrelated and random thoughts

• The Chicago Craft Social last Friday was another hit! Lots of first-timers, lots of familiar faces, too. Check out my review on Craft Critique soon!
• The T-shirt quilt top is so close to being done! I probably have a few more hours on it. Now if I could just stop blogging, playing, doing chores, etc. and finish the darn thing. *grin*
• I can’t believe Christmas is less than three months away, which means, our cookie exchange is about 2-1/2 months away! Planning will begin soon!
• There’s a new writing opportunity at my door… more on this soon! *** UPDATE! The online newspaper has launched. My articles (like you need more of me?), mostly on food and cooking, will run every two weeks. Thanks for all the support! ***

Tags: fun, games, restaurants, websites

A Little Rest and a Little Online Game

I’m taking a little break from the blog to relax with my family. It’s been a fun week in the Seattle-Tacoma area (it’s NOT raining, ha) and I can’t wait to share some great places, food and finds.

While we were sitting around having a lazy morning, I heard my little man squealing with laughter mixed with screams from the laptop. Of course, I wanted to know what was going on and my nephew showed me this game. I found it slightly disturbing, but I couldn’t help but laugh. Tell me, am I sick? Warning to those in an office – turn down your speakers and try not to laugh out loud.

Cheers…I’ll catch you readers next week!

Tags: family, vacation, wasting time, websites

Personal DNA

Another one of those weeks where I’m catching up on chores, writing, reading, crafting, mothering… I wanted to take a break and thought to share this personality quiz. I used to take a bunch of these in high school and college. Now that I think about it, why did I keep taking these quizzes? Is that was girls do? My daughter has two quiz books from American Girl… we start so young, don’t we? I’m not sure what I was looking for then. Maybe it was some insight into the person I was versus the person I wanted to be. Maybe, back then, it was to confirm that I was the right girl for my crush-of-the-month.

Well, this quiz assessed me (now) as a Dynamic Inventor. Figures, hehe.

My personalDNA Report

Tags: fun, games, wasting time, websites

Some Website Clean-up, Fun and Giveaway

Funky Monday soup, right? We’ll get to that in a moment. I’ve been toying around with this site layout. I’m no web programmer by any means, just playing around. Some of the additions are:

• Along the right hand side of the blog, I’ll post some books and products on cooking, crafting, etc. Some books I own, some I’ve borrowed, read at the library, seen at friend’s homes… I just think they’re cool books, and I think you might like them too. I promise not to clutter up with too much advertising. That was never my intention with this site.
• Further down the right hand side, there is a “Google Friend Connect” box. I don’t know if there are people other than my family who are following my craziness – well, on a regular basis. I sure do appreciate it if you are, and if you feel so inclined to follow along, feel free to sign-in.

So, around 8:00 PM last night, I realized, “OH, it’s Sunday!” It was one of those, “Gee, I thought it was Saturday” moments, and I have to get my head back into the weekday routines.  But no, I was wandering around cyberspace and found this site: Sign Generator from RedKid.net. So much fun to be had. There are lots of images to choose from – pick one and enter your phrase. That’s how the Monday Soup came about.

How about your own Oscar award? Street sign? Magic 8 ball? I would have to shake the ball again if I got this fortune. We all have those days, don’t we? I feel like making a bunch of goofy ones and sending them off to my friends.

Lastly, go by Craft Critique today to see my review on Donna Downey products (there are 3 articles, mine is number 2 or 3), and sign up for the wonderful giveaways! I’m so excited to be able to bring these fun opportunities to readers! Entries are open until Wed., May 5… Happy Cinco de Mayo!

(My Craft Critique legal disclosure that I have to include so I or others don’t get in trouble!)

Tags: fun, funny, wasting time, websites

Recycled Paper Coasters

This is what I do when my kid doesn’t want to go outside, wants to snuggle and watch The Wiggles, Sesame Street and Little Bill. I have a hard time sitting still. So, I took apart a catalog that just came in the mail and made these coasters. Can  you see Martha Stewart’s noggin? Heh. Wish I could take credit for these little paper projects, but I found this tutorial a while ago on Jess Jones’s blog, How About Orange. After following her blog a little while, I actually met her in person this past Spring at the first Craft Social. My coasters need a little work because I didn’t exactly follow her directions, nor did I have the computer by my side, but they work!

While this is a departure from my seemingly endless conversation about food, it’s made me think about how this journal is evolving. I’m contemplating extracting all the food (and some entertaining) entries and starting a separate blog. I really thought I’d be talking about crafting more often, and no doubt, it has a special place in my heart, but somehow I take more pictures of food and have this want to share it online. Not only that, I’m finding it difficult to make time for crafting, but hey, everyone has to eat, right?

I have no name ideas, I don’t even know how to do the task. WordPress for Dummies seems to be a good purchase right about now. But, I haven’t yet made the executive decision to lop off the food conversations. There are pros and cons to having everything in one place.

Tags: blog, crafting, paper, recycled, recycled paper, websites