The day after CHRISTmas ...

I wonder what Mary and Joseph did today all those years ago ....

I hope everyone had a blessed CHRISTmas and is recovering nicely. 

Be back soon.

Has this ever happened to you?

I swear, my BIGGEST pet peeve, with Christmas decorating, are the lights.  Honestly, tell me, yours too??

Tell me about it.

Want to see what I mean?  AND this is the SECOND strand and the SAME location of "outage".  Mean, mean lights!!!  How dare they, AFTER I decorated the entire tree. 

Do you see the mean little lights that quit on me?

 And if that isn't enough, after putting a new strand on and finish decorating the tree, Vandy's Christmas tree did the same dang thing!  Almost the same place .... grrrrrrrrr 

Vandy loves his White House tree.

Cadet It!!

Good morning lovelies!  I have been so busy having fun, I have almost forgotten to share it with you.  I am obsessed with these cadet caps.  I have embellished a ton and each one I want to keep for myself, however they are for my Etsy store and Christmas gifts.  I have to be honest, I ordered one as a gift for myself from, oh, brb, let me go find it.

http://www.katiesrosecottagedesigns.com/

Katie is so talented with the vintage world.  My cadet caps are different than hers, but I have to give credit to her, the girl has skills!!!  I warn you now, do not go to the sold page.  You will be MAD when you see all the cool stuff you can not have now!!!

So, here you go with today's fun idea!! 

Color my cap!!

Stinking cute!

This one matches Addie's newly covered lamps!!  Tomorrow ...

Thoughts?

Have a great weekend!!!

Charleston and a rush to get home

Good evening my girls.  I hope these past few weeks have been wonderful for you all and you haven't missed me too much.

Vandy and I took a much needed trip after the wedding I shot, but came rushing home on Friday.  Jack, the 13 year old boy that I watch every other week for my friend Linda, has a knot.  A large knot.  He will be going into surgery on Tuesday so they can remove as much as they can.  Praying hard for him.  So, until then, I have managed to stay busy instead of being a worried freak.  Okay, I am still a worried freak, but faith is keeping me reeled in. 

So back to the trip .... it was lovely.  Charleston is lovely.  And we ate enough oysters for an army!!!  Here is just a taste of our trip ....

Pawley Island

On our boat ride

Vandy looking into the sun!

Interesting?

Another Wedding Shoot

Do you ever wonder how many times God has to put something in front of you before you go, "Oh, that's what you want me to do??!!!" 

Right before we left for vacation last week, I shot another wedding. They are such a sweet combined family! And we all know how I feel about my Cason!! Here is a little preview ....

back from beyond ...

vandy and i picked up and blew into south carolina for a bit.

charleston is a lovely town.

no internet.

so sad.

but we had a marvelous time together.

just us.

however i am back.

well rested.

see you ..... very very soon!

Gobble Gobble!

Happy

Thanksgiving

All!!! 

There once was a crafter

Have you ever been so overwhelmed by all of your "want to do" projects you melt into the couch and shut the door to your studio, hoping your husband doesn't go in there because you already know what the issue is??

Seriously? 

I know!  Me too!  

The thing is, I so want to do them all.  Sewing, painting, glittering.  And do you remember when I changed the apartment into my photography studio?  It was so crisp and clean.  Nice walls.  Cool barn wood flooring.  Nice props.  I loved it. 



A family affair

A confession.  I am not sure when the hoarding started.  By the way, I hate the word hoarder.  How can a crafter not be a hoarder?  I mean seriously!!!  We have things we need for everything we do.  Fabric, paint brushes, painting supplies, threads, tools, the list goes on and on. 

So, when did the 'collecting' begin?  When did it begin to look like ... like, well like ... like this ...



From the doorway



my working table

Craft hoarder?  A touch, but I am working on all of it.  My goal is to post a picture a day for the next week of finished projects and then ship them out of the house to their new owners!  Feels a bit like "Let's Make A Deal", but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do!  Am I right? 

Fried Friday

Yes, the name of today's post is "Fried Friday".  No, no fried anything, with the exception of my brain and my energy.  Energy can be fried, I promise you.  And it started frying about 11pm last night.  I know, an hour before Friday, but hey, I can not help the "fall" back time clock in Ohio. 

I am going to bore you with this little story, and at the end, I am going to share some pretty cool things happening in the blog world. 

Wednesday, Vandy comes home with the biggest frozen turkey I have ever seen.  Seriously, HUGE.  And all I can think is, Martha Stewart JUST said, two small birds is better than a large bird.  I already knew this, but Martha was my validator.  So, I blinked my eyes and said, "Babe, I thought we decided on duck for Thanksgiving since there is just three of us."  He says, "No. Turkey." and grins that impish boy grin that tells me he just told a tale.  He has decided to do the turkey for the work Thanksgiving party on FRIDAY! 

Yep, this is at 6:30 pm on WEDNESDAY. 

FROZEN 26 pound turkey needed on FRIDAY.  And how in the world do they get those birds so dang frozen anyway?  My ice cream melts before I can get home, and a frozen turkey can barely thaw in 4 days, let alone 36 HOURS!

So, I'll speed it up here.  Thursday night, yup last night, I am watching Private Practice (2 hour special, 9-11pm) and shopping on the internet and have several times said, "Babe, you need to work on that turkey."  To which he replied, "Okay, in just a minute."  At 11:00PM, the frozen bird is still frozen and he gets up only AFTER I said, that bird is still frozen.  So, I walk out of the room to go get some cleaning stuff to clean out the sink to start a water bath and upon re-entering the kitchen apartment he has that FROZEN bird in the sink cutting away at the netting. 

I scream. 

Yup, SCREAMED. 

Didn't he hear me say I was going to get some cleaning stuff to clean the sink out for the water bath for the FROZEN turkey.  Oh, sorry, he says.  So, I clean the sink.  And then I tell him what to do before I return to the other kitchen to put away the cleaning supplies. 

Upon returning to my husband and the FROZEN 26 pound turkey, I see steam.  Guess what I do?

Yup.  I SCREAM! 

"What are you doing?" 

He looks at me shocked.  Shocked I tell you.  He tells me he is thawing out the turkey.  I inform him you can not run hot water on a turkey, you want everyone to get sick?  And he looks at me like I have said the stupidest thing in the world.  I said, "cold water bath".  And I thought, "You are the smartest guy I know, where did your smarts go?!"

I told him to move.  I would do it.  Go on to bed.  I had already made the stuffing that he HAD to have in the turkey for flavor, so I was just in a holding pattern.  (Stuffing adds more cooking time, more cooking time to a 26 POUND FROZEN turkey)  You can see it can't you?  He says, ever so lovingly. " I'll get up to get it out of the oven." 

I know.  I know.

So, finally I loaded that giant bird into the bag, a feat all by itself and got it in the oven. 

Yes. Stuffed. 

I am a 10-14 pound turkey girl.  A 26 pound turkey might as well be 50 pounds when you have to man handle the thing.  In the oven it went.  To bed I went at 12:30am.  I woke up at 4:00 AM.  I smelled the turkey.  I heard the timer going off.  My husband didn't stir.

Down the stairs. 

Insert thermometer. 

170.

UGH 

Another thirty minutes.  Finally, 180 after another additional 15 minutes. 

I let it rest.  I grab all the juices with a spoon because someone has misplaced my juice sucker.  (Fried Friday, what's that things name again?)

Turkey rests.

I get all the stuffing out, way too moist.  I stick it back in the oven to dry up a bit.  I carve the turkey.  The 26 POUND turkey.  I try to be neat and pretty.  I watched MS the other day on turkey carving.  Yes, the same show where she said, 2 small birds.

I know.  I know.

So anyway, at 6am when my husband finally stirs from his wonderful night's sleep, he comes down the stairs and says, "Hi babe, how's the turkey?"  How's the turkey???????  Not fried!!!!  So, now that all the work is done and he has his coffee, he is cleaning the bird.  He likes this part of Thanksgiving.  I do not. 

Especially when I am fried.

Especially since I have to be ready for Breaking Dawn in 2 hours.

Especially since I have a photo shoot at 3 pm.

The end. 

Now for four really cool things for you to do this weekend and it has nothing to do with a FROZEN turkey.  You have to go check out my "Wine Not" giveaway HERE.  And if you want to learn how to make them yourself,  you have to go HERE.

Then my cousin Jenny, (I know you all want to have Jenny as your cousin, but I am don't share well under friedness) has this super cool giveaway HERE.  I have already ordered my books from Miss Terra at Campbell Lawson. Jenny has never led me astray in the cool arena. 

And then, on Donna's blog at Funky Junk Interiors, she is having this AWESOME giveaway and introduced me to Lori at Katies Rose Cottage Designs.  I rarely win anything, but this one I WANT, NEED to win!  Okay, okay, I want to win.  I ordered one of the hat's that Donna is sporting because I, well just had to have it.  Lori's stuff is right up my alley.  LOVE LOVE LOVE her stuff.  And, this is where I was shopping when my husband was ignoring me about that dern FROZEN 26 POUND turkey!

So you see, a fried Friday looks like this ^.   

Wine Not, A Tutorial Debut

So, my first tutorial .... Wine Not!  Remember the dimensions from yesterday?  Good thing you can go check out yesterday's post to get them!!  Okay, so after you follow the instructions from yesterday, this is how it should look.  And I hate to admit it, but I tore my fabric.  Yup, I can not cut in a straight line to save my soul!  And don't even get me started on a rotary cutter.  Another story, another time!

The two pieces of fabric, right side to right side.

Here is the tie piece.  I kind of tri-folded the fabric and just went to town with it on my sewing machine.  I just went back and forth, back and forth until I was happy with the way it looked!

The tie.

Remember to tuck the tie on the inside of the two pieces and sew over it a few times, just to make it extra secure.  If you use thin cotton fabric, while you are sewing around the three sides, every now and then, put your machine in reverse and go over that spot a few times.

 

This is what the bag looks like after I sewed it all around and
pinkied/trimmed the excess fabric.

Isn't so cute?  I thought I would make a birthday bag and add a little tag to it for my girlfriend with the December birthday!  I made the tie a bit longer so I could tie a bow, all birthday presents need bows!  Don't you think?  You all know I love wine, but these would be cute with old fashion candies in them for the kiddles too?!!

Super cute!

Now, remember to go to yesterday's post to get the measurements and to post a comment so you can get in the running for one of these cute bags!!  And tell your friends!!!  Wine not??

Wine Not?

Wine not! A giveaway!

Hi ladies!

I wanted to give you a fun little gift to keep or give away or make yourself!  Aren't these the cutest bags?  They are so simple to make, but easier to win!  All you have to do is make a comment and tell a friend or two friends to come visit my blog and make a comment that YOU sent them. 

Simple enough? 

I think so!! 

This bag has sparkles in the stamped Bubbly. 
What a great gift wrapper for a party!

So stinking cute I tell you!!!

So, they are easy peasy to make!!  Grab your favorite fabric!  Cut two pieces 14 1/2 inches by 7 inches.  Take a piece of scrap fabric at least 20 inches long an inch of more wide and make something that looks like a piece of bias tape.  I sewed up and down the strip a couple times.  This is how you make the tie. 

Take the two pieces of fabric, laying them so that the outside pieces are facing each other.  I hope I said that right.  Anyway, sew around them about 1/4 inch seam.  So starting with the long side, sew down, across the bottom and when you get about 11 inches up the other side, slip in the tie you made, and continue sewing until you reach the end of that side.  (Of course leaving the top open)

Now, invert it and you have the cutest wine bag.  You can stamp whatever you like on the outside!!!

I should take pictures, shouldn't I? 

Dern it! 

Okay, I will. 

Umm, tomorrow. 

That's right, tomorrow I will post the "how to" pictures. 

In the meantime, I will leave this giveaway open until Sunday!  Cute eh?

How does it happen ...

I am going to say it again ...

I am so blessed.

Perhaps I am not so in charge as I think. 

Yep, I am sure I am not.  Which is very disconcerting when I thrive on being in control.  Hmmm.

So, remember I did Eric and Nickie's engagement pictures, and wedding, and then I did Amanda and Chad's engagement pictures and doing their wedding next month?!  And then I had a family shoot last weekend and a senior photo shoot the following Tuesday and another family shoot this Sunday. 

WOW.  God blesses me so often, and I do not thank him enough or take the time to thank my family and friends for sending business my way.  So thank you. 

Here are a few shots I love from Stevie's shoot. 

his skateboard

On the tracks

Senior Rah!

Another success story .... a bless filled day!

My favorite Veteran's -

I am blessed.  My military family .....


My father - Joseph A. Hrovatic



My Mother - Kathleen Joan Andrus Hrovatic

My Aunt Joanne - Joanne Hrovatic Blackwell


And Aunt Joanne is married to my Uncle Chuck, Chief Master Sergeant.  Not an easy feat, only ONE percent of the Air Force enlisted manage to make it to Chief!  ONE percent! 



The love of my life - Charles Mason Vanderberg



I do have more family members that have served in our military, but the list is very long.  My son in law was an Army guy and now is a wonderful carpenter with a beautiful baby, my first gran, and is just an amazing husband to our daughter Christy.  Happy he served and came home safely!

So today's post -- Thank you Veteran's, near and far, past and present.

Engagement Shoot - Round 2

I have been blessed again to take pictures of another happy couple.  My boy Cason's Mom asked me to take her engagement photographs as well as her wedding.  I am just so excited about it.  And, Amanda has the post beautiful blue eyes ever!  We had entirely too much fun.  Her fiance Chad is so funny.  He had has giggling most of the morning.

She said yes!!

Happy Couple

  

Love



"Falling" for each other

You have to love happy couples!!! 

Can you say "Stinking Cute"?

I am on a Kroger's craze.  I am hitting every one I see from here to there.  Why you ask?  You are so not going to believe it. 

Tissues.

Kleenex to be exact.

Yup, Kleenex and not because we all are with colds, but because they have come out with the most adorable, stinking cute box in the world!  STINKING CUTE I tell you.  And, I have figured out if they adjust a few colors and add Santa Claus hats, I'll have them out for the holidays too!  I am storing them for spring.  The sad thing is, I only find a box here and a box there and several times have come up EMPTY.  I think someone is on to the same idea.



Stinking cute, right?



Loving it!

She is just darling!!

The seam doesn't even bother me!

Can you say "Stinking cute"?  I am still on the look out, two boxes is not nearly enough for the stock pile I am planning on creating in the hall closet!

P.S.  I have not been compensated in any way, shape or form for the endorsement of this Kleenex product.  teeheee 

Ain't spray paint grand?

Ain't spray paint grand? 

I LOVE it! 

Shake shake shake, shake shake shake, shake your cannnnnnn.  I love it more when KC and the Sunshine Band is playing on my IPod.  It really does make shaking fun. 

Shake, shake, shake, shake your cannnn!

So, a little preview, just a little preview.

Dirty and Wired.



Dewired, cleaned and starting the spray.

Makes you want to see more doesn't? 

I KNOW!! 

I KNOW!!! 

Me too!!! 

Stay tuned!!!

Got a Ham in the Family?

I am married to a ham.  He makes me laugh.  I can say look at me and he smiles.  Back before we both had lasik eye surgery, he would pause and rip his glasses off.  Then announce he was ready.  He is, if anything, photogenic and a great subject for me.  He is always "setting up" the perfect picture.  It usually is very helpful when I am out on a professional shoot.  It is the times I just want to point and shoot and go, that drive me a bit batty.



Our back porch view on vacation and Biltmore vino.



He loves to document his travels.  He is either at the top of a mountain or in a canyon, and even sometimes in the water.  He doesn't need me for these pictures.  He has his little tripod.  He also now has an IPhone, so he doesn't really need to borrow "my" camera or take his tripod.  And the benefit with his IPhone, he can facebook his shot pretty darn quick.  And does.  Sometimes before I even know he made it to the top of the mountain.   It makes me giggle a bit.  He is a lot like the kids taking pictures of himself, the difference being those silly faces all the girls are making now.  You know the kind, UGH!

Top of the world honey!

This next shot is when we stopped in a pub in Hendersonville.  I took the picture of his beer mustache.  This particular shot is like the fifth shot before he "liked" it.  FIFTH.  Yup.  (This is when I get a little batty)  He looked at every shot until it was one he approved of.  Can you say "Ham"?  He also repositions his ballcap so that it doesn't cast unflattering shadows.  I took a couple shots knowing his cap was on crooked.  Because I could.  And I deleted them.  Because I should.

Take one.

Take two.  Got beer?

He makes me laugh.  See how stinking cute he is in front of the camera.  You start pulling the camera out of the case and he goes into full pose mode. 



The water and mountains and reflection and my love!
I am sure the serious look on his face is him thinking do I have this all
cropped right, or do I need to adjust.



 Now the next shot below was the third shot, maybe fourth and he still wasn't happy that he had to squint a bit.  See how he "knocks" his ball cap up?  No shadows on the face or eyes.  Pumpkins, mountain, hay and a great subject!



Falls finest.

 Ham and all!  Batty and all.  I adore this man!!!!

Blogger Blues, But Not Really

I always come here.

For advice.

And help.

And relief.

Now, I have a new dilemma. 

Remember these guys?

Maya and Pete

The young lady that I gave them to, the young lady and her mom that HAD to take them the day they came to look at them.  The day I was not prepared to say goodbye and let them go home with the new parents anyway, they have had second thoughts.  "They are too much work."  "Her room smells."  All things I tried to explain when they came to "look" at Pete and Maya.  "She feels terrible about it."  I bet she doesn't feel nearly as bad as I did for a MONTH.  Okay, she might.  She is only sixteen.  Pete and Maya liked her.  They didn't/don't like her Mom. 

Okay so, have you see my SECOND studio lately?  Pete and Maya's old room?  NO?   Well that is because there is barely enough room in it for ME!    

What to do, what to do. 

You know what I am going to do right? 

Boohooo about it, hence the blogger blues.