Happy Halloween

I've been a bit busy lately so I haven't really had any creative time, so unfortunately I don't have any projects to share with you today. I've decided to make this weekend a 'me weekend' which means I'll be cooking up a storm ... I'm planning on making some chili and two kinds of soup (spilt pea and English onion) and getting a lot of unfinished projects completed.

In the mean time I thought I'd share some pictures with you - but I do need to clarify something first - I'm not one of 'those people' that dresses up their pets on a regular basis ... I just think it makes a cute photo op on holidays.

my little bat & pumpkin

camera-shy Maizie

Smudge - lovin' every minute

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween!

It's Better in the Dark

Last night I went to dinner with a group of friends to a very unique restaurant ...

... it wasn't just a place to enjoy fine dining, but one that heightened all of our senses because we ate in the dark.

That's right ... in complete darkness. 'O Noir' is fairly new to my city, but it's concept can be found in other cities in Canada and throughout Europe. When you arrive you spend some time in a dimly lit lounge area where you make your dinner selections. Once you've placed your order you are escorted to your table by your guide who is blind. In fact, the entire waitstaff is blind.

Let me tell you, once that door closes behind you it is completely dark ... you can't even see your hand in front of your face. It is very disorienting when you first sit down ... we all had a 'dizzy' feeling from our eyes trying to get use to the absolute darkness. Then, when you are seated your guide explains the layout of your place setting. You are then brought your drink and a bun ... and it's up to you to find your knife and butter so you can eat. It is lot harder than you might think ... I ended up buttering my hand.

As the experience goes on we felt ourselves becoming a little more comfortable with our surroundings ... heck, drinking and eating a bun in the dark was easy. But, then came the main course. I had the steak with potatoes and vegetables. The steak was cut into managable sized strips, so it didn't have to be cut it with a knife ... I was just picking up things up with my fork and taking bites, which was harder than it sounds because I ended up sticking my piece of asparagus up my nose. But once I got the hang of it the food was really, really good. We all ended up using our fingers towards the end of the meal because it was the only way we could think of to know when we had eaten everything on our plate. The dessert course was next ... and that was just as hard and just as tasty as the main course.

the door to darkness


the view inside the dining room

Now I'm going to enjoy the rest of my Sunday ... I'm hoping to get a few cards made and a couple of layouts organized. I hope you're enjoying your weekend.

It's been a busy week

I can't wait for this week to be over. It seems like I was always on the go ... and the worst part about it is that the rest of the month is looking like it will be the same way.

I'll fill you in on what's been going on this week. First I got a new vacuum as my other one broke. I have two cats so there's fur everywhere. I had a gift card to Lowe's that I wanted to use so I went there to see what they had. I ended up getting a Bissell Lift Off Revolution Pet which is fantastic. It has special attachment to get pet fur off of the furniture.

my new vacuum =P

It came in this pretty big box that my cats are having a blast playing in ... they're having so much fun that I haven't had the heart to break it down for recycling. I'll give them 'til the weekend and then they'll have to find somewhere else to play.

Smudge in a box

I did find a little time to work on some cards. I wanted to try some new things to see if I liked the way turned out.

snowflake card

snowflake card - open

That's all for me for today. I hope everyone has a great rest of the week.

A nice fall day

Today was a beautiful day here in southern Ontario ... the sun was out,the air was crisp and the sky was clear and blue. I decided today would be a nice day to go for a drive, so I took my mom out for breakfast. We went to one of my favourite breakfast places ...

My mom had never been, so I thought it would be a nice treat. Everything looks so good on the menu, but I'm a sucker for eggs benedict. I had the asparagus and swiss cheese eggs benedict and my mom had their 'buckwheat blessings' which is buckwheat pancakes wrapped around sausage. All of the dishes come with a nice assortment of fresh fruit ... and it always comes to you looking exactly the same as it does in the picture on the menu. Here's what our brunch looked like ... I say brunch 'cause we had to wait in line for a little while so by the time we sat down to eat it was officially 'brunch time'.

buckwheat blessings

eggs benedict

Well, now I think I'm going to enjoy the last few hours of the weekend watching one of my all time favourite shows ... Gilmore Girls. I've seen them all a bunch of times, but I do enjoy just putting the DVDs in and just watching the series from the beginning. I've just started season 3, so we'll see how long it takes me to finish them off this time.

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend.

An early start to Christmas

I'm still struggling to get rid of my cold ... it just doesn't seem to want to leave. Since I have been sick I've had a lot of time to blog surf and start working on some projects. The first project I'm going to share with you is a boxed set of Christmas cards. I've been thinking about making a set of cards to give away as a gift, but I couldn't really think of a nice way to package them up. That is until I saw this great video tutorial on how to make a card box.

I started by making the set of cards ... I didn't want them all to be the same so I changed up the colours and the layout. I made a set of 6 cards and then used the same design to decorate the front of the card box. I think it's absolutely fabulous. And so did the person I gave the set to ... my mom. She's always liked the cards I've made, so I thought this would be a nice little surprise 'no occasion' gift for her. And the fact that it came with a surprise dinner of fish and chips from our favourite place didn't hurt either.

card set

box with cards inside

close up of box

I'm definately going to make more card sets ... I'm thinking a birthday set and then an all occasion set would be a good place to start.

Now I'm off to finish making my 'famous' tomato sauce.

Happy crafting!

(sorry, but I can't remember the name of the stamp set I used - it was one I got from Michael's and I threw out the packaging. The next time I'm there I'll make a note of which one it is.)

Oh, Smudge!

Yesterday was our Thanksgiving holiday. I planned on spending the entire day working on some projects. I live in a one bedroom condo, so space is at a premium. I do have a desk in my den space (it's a nook outside my bedroom), but when I get in a 'crafting mood' I like to spread out. So, I often find myself taking over the dinning room table. Well, I don't know if any one else has the problem I was having yesterday, but my littlest kitty (Smudge) wanted to get in on the crafting too. I didn't mind him sitting in the middle of the table too much ...

... it was when he decided to stick his paw on the open stamp pad that I had a problem with.

After I washed the cranberry ink off his paw I was able to get a few more things done, so I'll post them soon for you to see.

It's been far too long!

Happy Thanksgiving weekend to everyone in Canada!!!

It's been too long since my last post ... things kept coming up which would keep me away from home and then I got sick. I still have a nasty cough, but I've been able to make the most of my 'recovery' time to work on some projects.

The first one I'll share with you is a gift-card holder. I had made one before, but this time I took some inspiration from a very creative lady, Dawn, because instead of using ribbon to tie the gift card holder shut she made a paper band. I must admit I do like this a lot ... it gave it a much cleaner look. Here's the one I made ...

front

inside

I have a feeling I'll be making a lot of these this Christmas as my mom and I like to give gift cards to the local coffee shop to our neighbours.

That's it for me today ... I have to get ready to go to another Thanksgiving gathering today.


(sorry, but I can't remember the name of the stamp set I used - it was one I got from Michael's and I threw out the packaging. The next time I'm there I'll make a note of which one it is.)