Fun Day!

Yesterday (my hubby Gordy) and I had a fun day together. The weather was beautiful in the low 40's and sunny so we went to the Como zoo and Conservatory in St Paul MN. They have a baby Orangutan at the zoo right now that is SOOOOOOOO adorable and really enjoyable to watch. I love to go to zoo's and can look at the animals forever, my husband on the other hand moves rather quickly through, so I never get to stay as long as I would like to.

One of my favorite place to go, most especially in the winter months, is the Conservatory that is on the same grounds as the zoo. That's where both of these pictures were taken. The top on is of the beautiful palms. This is what it says about them:

…fills this 64 foot tall crystal dome. There are over 150 tropical palm and cycad species displayed here, and some specimens are more than a century old. The Palm Dome is also home to an “orchid nook” which features flowering orchids, drawn from the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory’s extensive collection of orchid plants. Bromeliads are also displayed in the Palm Dome while in their peak of color.

There were lots of blooming orchids to smell and I did try to smell each and everyone, OH some of them smelled so heavenly! I love the humid warm air in there I could stay for hours, but not with Gordy there he walks through so fast, I kept telling him to smell the flowers and enjoy it sit here with me and just relax. I did manage to get him to stay for a little longer that way, hehe. It's probably a good thing he doesn't like it as much as I do or we would have never left the place, lol. I can't wait to go back again soon! On December 6th the room in the bottom picture that is fall now will turn into a Christmas theme.

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! This was our delicious 20 lb. turkey that I made today. It was so tender and moist, YUMMY!!! I wanted to take it out of this ugly aluminum pan to take the picture but it was too hard without it falling apart. We had 9 people for dinner, all the food turned out perfect if I do say so myself, lol, we had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes w/gravy, squash, corn, broccoli, homemade oatmeal bread and of course pumpkin, apple and chocolate pie. It's a good thing Thanksgiving only comes around once a year or we would all weigh a lot more. After sending home leftovers with everyone that was here we still have enough to be eating leftovers for days. I am so thankful for my great family, friends and all of you blog buddies. I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving too and that you have a lot to be thankful for. Hugs to you!

Three new purses!

These are three of my new purses I've made. This is my favorite style that I make so far. I made a purse with this style for me and my daughter. It is the perfect size to carry all of our everyday essentials in. I LOVE the two outside pockets, they work GREAT for your keys. They're all machine washable and are sprayed with Scotch Guard, does it get any better than that! Very cute inside too with a cell phone pocket and another pocket inside.

I spent the whole day cleaning today! It felt so good to do that. Boy did my house need it! As all of you crafter's know it is so hard to keep up when you are in the rush of crafting for the season. Maybe now I will get caught up, NOT! That will never happen!

My brother Al and I will be making more recycled mittens starting Wednesday for our show on December 11th. They are so warm, cozy and cute! I will post some pics when we get some done.

Hope you all had a good start to your week.........

Show success!

Thank you to all the GREAT ladies that came to the North Branch craft show for making it a big success! What fun it was to see all of my returning customers, and meet the new customers. Such nice ladies! It was so neat to hear all of the compliments and appreciation. That's what I work so hard for, and of course because it is my passion! The space there is really small it is only 10 x 6, YICKS. That is way smaller than any other space we set up in so it is a challenge to display things to look good. I was happy with the way it looked though. My new display (the turquoise painted doors) made everything so much brighter looking. One of the show organizers asked me if I would like a bigger space next year, double the size. She told me if I did want a bigger space they would give it to me next year, I think I will take her up on that. It would make it a lot easier to set up. Stupid me knew I was forgetting something, couldn't think of what it was, it was my camera, oh NO. Crappy blogger right!
The biggest hits of the day were my dollies, and the recycled wool mittens to name a few things. My purses didn't sell well there, not sure why because so many ladies were looking at them. Last year purses didn't sell good there either though so I don't feel so bad. Now I have lots of wonderful choices for my show at St Cloud State University on Dec. 11th in the Atwood building so PLEASE come see me there if you are looking for a super cute purse!
Have a terrific Sunday everyone!

Luke's Birthday!

Happy Birthday Luke! Today is my youngest son's birthday, he's 25 yrs old. We celebrated last night with the family. This is a Dairy Queen cake he is holding, I didn't have many designs to choose from so he ended up with this hot rod, he said it was cool though. He is a GREAT guy, a man with few words but when he does talk people listen. We are VERY proud of him.
I am going to lunch with one of my best friends that I haven't seen for a while so I am excited! We're going to an Italian restaurant that has the most amazing salad ever, grilled apples, chicken, Gorgonzola cheese, candied pecans, oh it's so yummy! Hope you all have a good day!

Two more new purses for my show!

These are my newest creations for my show coming up next weekend. Both purses are a great size if you like a smaller purse or to use for a day out shopping or nighttime. The fabric I used on the top purse is so pretty and yet neutral, it has a zipper closure , silky lining and an inside cell phone pocket. The second purse is made out of girly fabric, I just LOVE these colors! It has silky fuchsia color lining and a cell phone pocket inside. The outside pocket is great on this one for glasses, keys or whatever.

Tonight we are having a birthday party for my youngest son, my baby! It is SO hard to believe he will be 25 tomorrow. Time sure flies! I am getting so old! I'm making lasagna, homemade bread, and salad. Dairy Queen cake for dessert. Whenever it is someone's birthday in the family they get to chose the menu and that is what he chose. So looks like I'll be busy today.

I am working on 3 new purses too. Have a TERRIFIC Sunday everyone!

Look at this new purse I made!

This is my newest creation! I think it turned out so cute! The pocket on the front is neat for keys. The inside is black silky material and it has a small pocket for cell phone or whatever you want. This style handle is so nice I have a purse with this style and it's so comfy to carry.

Another cold gloomy day here in central MN. November is the gloomiest month after all, YUCK! It is amazing how much it helps to have the sun shinning to get you motivated. I guess it's a GREAT day for working though right. It's easier for me to go downstairs to my sewing room when the weather is gloomy rather than when it's sunny. I have to decide now what to start making next. I'm thinking more purses. So I'm gonna go get busy now then, byeeeeee!

The last bunch of dollies are done!

These are the last of the dollies that I have made for my next show. The top two pictures are Emily Annie she is 9" tall. They are SO sweet kinda look like the original version of Annie. The bottom 2 pictures are of Madison Annie she is 12" tall, and the next one is Bailey Annie she is also 12" tall. They all have their own unique little personalities going on don't they. Hopefully all of my dollie ladies will like the new batch of Annie's they have to choose from. PLEASE come to my North Branch show to see them all in person they are much cuter in person!

I have a new purse to show ya tomorrow that I made too so be sure to check back tomorrow to see it. Have a fantastic day!

Three more dollies done!

I finished up three more dollies yesterday. This is "Tori Annie" she is 14" tall. I used material for their dresses that has cherries on it on the two outside dolls and strawberries and cherries on the one in the middle. I'm almost done with 9 other style dolls I just have their hair to put on they're bald right now, yikes. Can you stand more doll pics tomorrow???
OMG, it's snowing out right now, really hard and it is sticking to the ground so it's getting white! I am NOT ready for this! WINTER IS HERE!!! Mom and Dad you are SO lucky!
Have a wonderful Veterans Day!

More dollies done!

The top picture is of Kelsie Annie, she is 14" tall. The material I used for the dresses is so cute it has antique toys on it. The next picture is of Merrie Annie, she is also 14" tall. Her dress is Christmas material, and I found this cute antique Christmas ornament she's holding in Tenn. at an antique store. I LOVE the way they turned out!

I'll be finishing up more dollies today so I better get busy. Hope you all had a lovely weekend.

Some new dollies finished up!

I finished up some new dollies yesterday! The top picture is of "Baby Molly", she is 8" tall. The next picture is of "Lori Annie", she is 11" tall. Didn't they turn out cute! I have a bunch more different sizes to finish up today, I'm giving them their personalities, lol. I've also finished up a some sets of recycled wool mittens and hats too. I'll post pictures of them this week.
The weather sure has turned winter like here the last few days. November is usually known as the least sunniest month here in MN and is living up to that today being another cloudy day. Looks like the sun is supposed to show again tomorrow though, yeah!
My next craft show is coming up on November 22nd in North Branch MN at the high school. Hope some of you will be able to make it there. Well better get busy now!

I got roses from my sweetie!

Aren't these roses pretty! My husband brought me roses the other day for no special reason other than he love me. Well the rotary club sells them once a year at his school, but still how sweet! They are all different colors my favorite kind, it's way to hard to choose which color I like best so I like the mixed colors.
Working at the polls as an election judge went great the other night. We had 90 something percent turnout, amazing. We were there until after midnight finishing up so it was a long day. We may end up having to do a recount since the senate race was so close they are calling for a recount. I wonder if I will get called to work?
It's a dreary rainy day here today so I guess it's a good day to get busy working on my dolls. I have them done to the point of there faces and hair. So I better get that done so they come alive,lol. I have been side tracked for a few days so now I best get back to work.

Don't forget to VOTE!

Can you believe it there's only one more day until we vote! I am working as an election judge tomorrow. I'm a little nervous about it but excited at the same time. There is supposed to be a record turnout across America this year. I'm not sure how many registered voters we have in our township but I'm thinking it's 1000-2000, that's a big spread right, lol. Hopefully we won't be there all night after the polls close.

I went to the movie The Secret Life of Bees yesterday with my sister. I read the book and LOVED it so I was worried the movie wouldn't be as good but it was WONDERFUL! OMG, they did such a great job. I really recommend it and GREAT chick flick girl movie, go see it!

So don't forget to vote everyone exercise your right, women haven't always been so lucky!