Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts

IT'S TIME FOR SUMMERWEEN!!

June 20, 2024

Did you know there's a Halloween celebration at the start of summer? I certainly didn't until last year when my daughter excitedly shared the concept with me. The whole idea of Summerween, a quirky celebration that stems from the fictional town of Gravity Falls, Oregon, intrigued me. Gravity Falls is a beloved Disney cartoon that my girls used to adore, and even though it's long off the air, my youngest remains devoted to its charm. The unique blend of autumnal festivities int he bright day of summer resonated with her, and a group of friends eagerly embraced the chance to celebrate this whimsical event.

As Summerween has transformed into a nationwide phenomenon embraced by young people and Halloween enthusiasts alike, I felt inspired to join in on the fun this year. To spread the word and encourage others to participate, I created this graphic for Instagram, celebrating the delightful spirit of having Halloween at the beginning of summer. It's a chance for those who cherish everything Halloween; candy, costumes, and community - to come together and revel in the joy of this imaginative tradition.

If you're curious about how this enchanting celebration originated, you can check out the Gravity Falls Summerween episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SNEwiG98SM Feel free to share the graphic I created for your own social media posts; let's keep the magic of Summerween alive and thriving in our communities!




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TRANSFORMING OUR GARDEN INTO A PARTY PARADISE

July 17, 2023

After years of thinking about it, my daughter and I finally transformed our forested backyard into a space for a potluck garden party. With lush native plants and winding trails, our yard had always been enchanting, but the abundant pollinators, stinging insects, and overall natural chaos made hosting a gathering seem too complicated. For some time we wondered how we could invite friends into our wild sanctuary without the interference of biting bugs or the need to keep a watchful eye on our food. This year, however, brought a unique turning point. The ongoing drought meant that our usual influx of wasps was absent, with the blooming schedule of the Joe Pye weed and goldenrod slightly delayed. This unexpected change presented us with the perfect opportunity to carve out a little party nook.

With determination and a bit of elbow grease, we cleared a spot by removing some overgrown mint and chives, relocating them to a sunnier area. Soon, our makeshift tables were nestled among the vibrant foliage, and the excitement of finally hosting was palpable. When the day arrived, the atmosphere was nothing short of delightful. To our surprise and joy, not a single mosquito dared to join the festivities, and only a few curious insects made a fleeting appearance to inspect our delicious spread. It was a perfect blend of nature and friendship, a testament to how even the wildest spaces can be transformed into inviting settings.

The highlight of our gathering was undoubtedly the crafting, as we shared laughter and creativity under the open sky. Surrounded by the beauty of the outdoors, we felt a deep gratitude for the wonderful friends who joined us, each contributing their unique touch to our creative projects. In that moment, amidst the vibrant plants and gentle breezes, we celebrated not just our shared friendship, but also the joy of creating and enjoying life in harmony with nature. Our potluck garden party was a beautiful reminder that with a bit of flexibility and a love for the outdoors, even the most intricate plans can come together seamlessly. 





Painting by Maya Valadez


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THE JOY OF VISITING NORTHERN MINNESOTA & GOOD FRIENDS

October 13, 2020

 Spent a day visiting a dear friend in northern Minnesota a week ago. My friend lives completely off-grid on over 80 acres of land in the middle of the forest surrounded by the most diverse wildlife (plants and animals) you will find in the state of MN. It truly is a little piece of heaven at his place. It was a great place to escape to for the day.

Here is my daughter and my friend checking out a wolf den.



We found some bobcat scat.


My friend showed us how to identify wild ginger by sight and taste.


We explored around all the beautiful trees growing on his property; sugar maples, aspen, cedar, white pine...

My favorite part was walking for hours in the woods taking in the awesome autumn smell in the air and learning about our surroundings.


Thank you, Barry. 

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I AM STILL A MUD PUDDLE GIRL

August 23, 2014

Back in 2007 my friend Carrie over at Under the Willow presented me with a digital Mud Puddle Girl award (see original post about that HERE).




Carrie had her own line of Mud Puddle Girl products and the idea, I believe, came from having her own little Mud Puddle Girls (granddaughters). So... I was very honored when she presented me with the above award, so much that I still haven't forgotten about it. The other day I was standing at the screen door watching the rain pour down when it popped into my head.  I thought... when did I stop being a mud puddle girl and how can I be that girl again? I told my 7 year old to get her rain coat on and we headed outside to play in the rain. I had no idea how much she would love it. I told her how when I was a kid we'd always play in the rain and I didn't know why when we reached a certain age we stopped. As we played in the ankle deep water we sang and danced to the rain Gods, Walayka and Thul we named them (Aiyana said we had to combine water + lake and thunder + lightening), and we got soaked. I, being the old one, gave up before Aiyana did but it felt good to play outside and teach my daughter how great it is to be a Mud Puddle Girl.  Thank you Carrie!!









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HANDMADE GIVEAWAY

June 3, 2013

Nothing gets me back into the blogging groove like a giveaway.  If you enjoy handmade items than this blog post is for you.
I am part of a card swapping group over at Splitcoast Stampers.  Every month a group of us ladies swap handmade cards with one another.  Well... when you swap 10 cards every single month you end up with a whole lotta cards, so... I'm going to give some away.

All of the cards that I receive are beautiful so whomever wins won't be disappointed.  I went through the bunch I've collected and picked out my favorites to give away.  There will be 2 winners, 5 cards for each winner.  I've selected 2 birthday cards, 2 holiday cards and 1 thank you card for each.  All you have to do to be entered into the giveaway is tell me what your favorite season is and why :-)



I will use Random.org to choose the two winners.  Deadline to enter is June 10th, I'll announce the winner on June 11th.  Please make sure to check back to see if you won so I can get your mailing address (through private messaging of course) and send your cards out no later than Monday, June 12th.

If all goes well with this giveaway (meaning: enough people interested) I plan on doing a giveaway every two weeks over the summer.  Why you ask? Because Every one loves to win things and receive packages in the mail, plus it motivates me to be create on a regular basis.

Some of my giveaway ideas: candles, soap, wool dryer balls, hemp bracelet, yarn.  So please check back often :-)

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FRIENDS AND FUTURE

January 12, 2013


“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” ― Anaïs Nin, The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1: 1931-1934


Thank you Shirley and Joe for your wonderful gift of friendship!  We feel very fortunate to have connected with such caring individuals as yourselves.  The bracelets that arrived today were such a sweet surprise.  We love them!  I'll never take mine off!!  


Thank you Teresa for always making me laugh and encouraging me to write.  I am so very lucky to have you in my life!  You truly are an extraordinary friend.

AS FOR 2013 - my plans...

Do more of what I'm currently doing but try really hard to do it better.

1. Be a better mother, wife, sister, friend, activist, writer, crafter...

HAPPY 2013 EVERYONE!  (even if this post is 12 days late).








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HOLIDAY COOKIE SWAP

December 11, 2012

When you can't do an "in person" cookie swap with friends you go for the next best thing...

A VIRTUAL COOKIE SWAP!

The participants and rules are:


So here are my recipes:

Salted Caramel Brownies
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
8 oz. plus 6 oz. Hershey's semisweet chocolate chips
3 oz. unsweetened chocolate 
3 extra-large eggs
1 1/2 tablespoons instant coffee granules, such as Nescafe
1 Tbs. pure vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 Tbs. of sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs. all purpose flour, divided
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
5 to 6 oz. good caramel sauce, such as Fran's
2 to 3 tsp. flaked sea salt, such as Maldon



1. Preheat the oven to 350.  Butter and flour a 9x12x1 1/2 inch baking pan.
2. Melt the butter, 8 oz of the chocolate chips and the unsweetened chocolate together in a medium bowl set over simmering water.  Allow to cool for 15 minutes.  In a large bowl, stir (do not beat) together the eggs, coffee, vanilla and sugar.  Stir the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and allow to cool to room temperature (it is very important to allow the butter to cool before adding the chocolate chips, or the chips will melt and ruin the brownies.)
3. In a medium bowl, sift together 1/2 cup of the flour, the baking powder and salt and add to the chocolate mixture.  Toss the remaining 6 oz. of chocolate chips and the remaining 2 Tbs. of flour in a medium bowl and add them to the chocolate mixture.  Spread evenly in the bottom of prepared pan.
4. Bake for 35 minutes, until a toothpick come out clean.  Do not over bake!
5. As soon as the brownies are out of the oven, place the jar of caramel sauce without the lid in a microwave and heat just until it's pourable.  Stir until smooth.  Drizzle the caramel evenly over the hot brownies and sprinkle with the sea salt.  Cool completely and cut into 12 bars.

Note: the above recipe isn't a family recipe, it was just something I found in the Food Network magazine that turned out to be a big hit with my knitting group and my family so I figured they were awesome enough to share here :)

Holiday Rolo Melts
I have no idea what these are called, I just made them because the recipe was on the back of a rolo bag and again, another hit with everyone I shared them with.  They are yummy and really easy to make.

1 bag of holiday pretzel rings
1 bag of rolos
1 bag of glazed pecans (found in the baking section of the grocery store)



1. pre-heat the oven to 350
2. line a cookie sheet with parchment paper
3. lay out as many holiday pretzel rings as you can fit on the parchment paper
4. place one rolo in the center of each pretzel ring
5. place cookie sheet in oven 1-3 minutes (test every minute because some ovens melt the rolos faster than others). 
6.  when the rolos is melted (usually in about 2 minutes), remove from oven and set the cookie sheet on counter.
7. place a glazed pecan into the center of every rolo, push down until the chocolate fills the pretzel (if it doesn't fill the pretzel then the rolo and pecan will fall out of pretzel when it cools).
8. you can allow the rolo melts to cool on the counter until hard enough to eat.  I usually pop mine in the fridge to cool them quickly.  

and even better than what is above...

More Recipes!
Please stop over to visit the blogs of the wonderful virtual cookie swappers.  All of these awesome ladies have great recipes to share and bake a million times better than I do so don't miss out!!  (a few may not have finished uploading their recipes yet so stay tuned because all recipes will be live soon).





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REAL FRIENDS MAKE SURE YOU NEVER STOP CREATING

October 13, 2012

I wish I had a bumper sticker that said real friends make sure you never stop creating or maybe even better would be real friends know that creating keeps you sane or something like that.
My friend Teresa over at Homestead Notes (growing, writing, creating) is the person my bumper sticker would be referring to.  When I was giving up on knitting, she mailed me a a pattern for knitted sox to keep me going, when I told her I wish I could bake like her she sent me an awesome cookie recipe to get me baking, and most importantly when I don't say anything at all she knows exactly what I need - like the wonderful wolf fabric she sent me yesterday.  It came at the perfect time, bringing a smile to my face after learning that the injunction to stop the wolf hunt has been denied.  Yes, fabric with beautiful wolf faces makes me smile in the midst of all the idiocy of hunting and trapping.

Teresa knows that one key to inner peace is being creative.  Whether that be writing, making soap, knitting or baking... creativity is the spice of life :-)

So this post is for you T - Thank you!!

The beautiful wolf fabric Teresa sent:



My first lace scarf.  I'm actually about to finish it and it only took me 2 months. Yay! (don't laugh but I'm thinking I might frame it. LOL!)





and... the awesome cards I received in a swap.  I don't have pix of the ones I sent to others but here is what I received back:















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SOAP SUDSATIONS

February 13, 2012

(Sorry about the picture quality. The iphone at night in a dim lit kitchen does NOT make for the best photos).

I'm so excited to share that my new soap from Soap Sudsations arrived today and included in the box was something extra. Thank you Monica for the wonderful soap and the extra special frog that made the trip alongside our little green buddy. 





I could barely get our frog out of the package before my 5 year old made off with it. She's running around the house with Mr. Frog right now calling "ribbit, ribbit, ribbit." I chose this particular soap because it goes so well with the kids bathroom. Not that the soap will last very long once little bodies hit the tub but I had great visions of it sitting on the counter for a while next to the frog toothbrush holder and in the midst of the frog shower curtain. Ah well :) The frog soap is being loved and shortly it will be rubbed down to tadpole size.

If you are in the market for some awesome handmade soaps please check out Soap Sudsations. Monica, the owner, is a fabulous soap artist selling numerous fun, creative soaps for children & adults. While you are checking out her soaps don't forget to visit her blog Bubbles in My Head where she talks about her business ventures and other interesting things.

Note: now my 5 year old has taken the soap and is using it to play dolls with her LaLa Loopsy. Who knew, right? lol!
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HANDMADE SOAP GIVEAWAY!!!

January 27, 2012

My friend Teresa over at Raising Our Own...kids & food is having an awesome blog giveaway. Don't miss out! Teresa will be sharing some of her sisters amazing handmade soaps with fellow bloggers so make sure you follow the link above to get all the details and enter for a chance to win.

This giveaway is for residents of Canada & the U.S.




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SOAP SWAP REPORT

October 19, 2011

I received the most awesome bars of soap and a bag of natural laundry soap in the latest swap. There was no theme, just a deadline. We swapped out on Sept. 1st. After years of smelling EO's and FO's I must say that this latest swap was full of the most fabulous scents EVER! Thank you ladies for your friendship and continuing to share your creativity year to year :) I can't wait to use everything!!



THANK YOU AMBER

THANK YOU NATALIE

THANK YOU CARRIE

THANK YOU HEIDI

THANK YOU DENISE
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UNDER THE WILLOW GIFTS

December 4, 2010

My dear friend Carrie over at Under the Willow Gifts makes the most awesome products that each year or throughout I always need to get my hands on some. I can't blog about what I purchased too much right now as I've ordered these for Christmas gifts and the recipients read this blog but I couldn't contain my excitement so I wanted to say at least this... 
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FRIENDS, TRAVEL, CRAFT...

June 25, 2010

We recently took a small trip to the North Shore of Minnesota. Always a beautiful location to spend time in with the family.
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UNDER THE WILLOW: DOG SHAMPOO

May 4, 2010

Carrie over at Under The Willow Gifts has created some great dog shampoo. I recently purchased a bottle from her for my little ones (I have three chihuahuas) and decided to give it a go. Normally, they hit the groomers, but since my oldest isn't doing well on trips away from home and the others don't like to go anywhere without her, we've decided to do their bathing ourselves.
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THE LEMONADE STAND AWARD

January 22, 2010

Has been given to me by my friend Teresa over at Homestead Notes. If you've never read her blog please check it out, you won't be disappointed. She's a very funny and intelligent blogger, her blog is always interesting. You'll love all the pictures she shares as well.
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THE GIFT BASKETS WERE A HIT!!

December 12, 2009

This year for my sister and her staff I decided to have a Christmas party. The girls and I have come through so much together in the past 9 months I wanted to do something nice for them. Since I'm always preaching to my staff about the dangers of chemicals in our environment (LOL) I thought it would be fun to make them gift baskets comprised of only handmade goodies. At the same time I wanted to support some of my fellow indie business pals.
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UNDER THE WILLOW SENT ONE OF HER GIFTS

November 11, 2009

So no, I couldn't take a single picture of Carrie's laundry soap that would do it justice. So I'll just have to convey my excitement and the beauty of her product through words.
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SHOUT OUT TO A DOMESTIC GODDESS

August 28, 2009

Yup, this is me.
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HELLOOOO BLOGGING WORLD!

June 23, 2009

Things are somewhat settled and stable on our end so I've decided to return to blogging. Of course, I missed it like crazy and would peek in time to time just to make sure I wasn't missing out on toooooooo much.
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REIKI - HOW CAN IT HELP YOU?

May 4, 2009

Years ago, after learning about the benefits of Reiki from a woman sitting next to me at a Tibetan Film Festival in Minneapolis, I decided to become a practitioner. It took be several years to actually commit to doing it but I recently found the right teacher and have since taken my journey into the wonderful world of Reiki very seriously. 
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