Sometimes The Late Bird Gets The Worm...

I hope all of you are enjoying the last few moments of 2010. I've had a wonderful time being unplugged this past month but with the dawn of a new year I'm excited to get back into my normal routine.

What's with the boots you ask? I saw these at Anthropologie about a month ago when I was on a shopping day with my friend Carole. I wanted them so bad but at the time I hadn't yet bought one single Christmas gift for anyone so I couldn't justify it. In true Lisa fashion I waited too long before coming to terms with the fact that I had to have them. I began searching and they are GONE. Online was sold out, and I could hear the pity in the salespersons voices when I called all of my local stores. Those Anthro girls can't bear the thought of someone going without let me tell you...one of the stores called me back with a hot lead that a birdie told them there was one pair left {and in my size} at the SoHo store. I called them up and sure enough they had them. That would have been the happing ending but they made it happier when my sales girl rang me up over the phone and they ended up being $108.00 on sale instead of $278.00. Happy New Year to me!!

Yes, I know. This was a fluffy post but I'll be back next year with some recipes I tried this month that we loved as well as a few things I've been working on. Until then, enjoy your last few hi-calorie hours of 2010!

Sweet, Sweet, Sweet...

This past Saturday was my sons 10th birthday. We celebrated by taking him out to his favorite fondue restaurant and then on to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Joining us for dinner was his bestie, Tori. They have the sweetest little relationship. You see, Tori is my cousin, but let me explain that. Tori's mother, my Aunt Tina, was married to my uncle many years ago. They had 3 children together before he passed away. My Aunt Tina remarried and had 3 more children, the youngest being Tori. We were pregnant together, I had Jake one month before she had Tori. They have always held a special place in each others hearts, as is evidence of the photo above as well as the photo below on his 5th birthday...

Dinner was great, we all enjoyed it so much. There was great food and even a few stolen kisses...

Nothing new about that though...

and a few secrets too...

And since we're on the topic of love check out my younger boy and the love of his life at their Christmas program {pay special attention to their hands}...

Whoa! I don't remember when I saw him this gleeful!

Oh, I Remember You!

Wow, Thanksgiving came and went and so did a blur of activity! Between classes, Christmas trees, parties and a bit of vertigo I've really been on the run. Sound familiar? It's a great time of year, so much to do and prepare for.

The picture above is a small peek of some projects I've been working on. You'll see more of them later. Do you just love the tiny doll skate? I'm crazy about it!

Let's talk trees for a minute. What do you get, flocked or unflocked? We've always gotten an unflocked Noble Fir. This year I decided that I wanted one that was flocked but just here and there. It took me 4 tree lots but I finally found one that saw my vision. The tree carnie and I coined it, "heavy tips". So basically the tree only has clumps of flocking sporadically at the ends. It's FABULOUS! I'll have to take a photo of it when I have better light to show you. After we decorated and put the kids to bed I did what I've done for the last couple of years and moved half of the ornaments to the upper portion of the tree. I was laughing as I moved them and I realized that I'll only do this for a couple more years before they can reach up to hang them higher. Bittersweet I tell ya.

Enjoy Your Day of Food & Family!

It All Adds Up

I mentioned a couple of days ago that I was going to post about a pair of red panties. Yes, this is a first {and altogether likely...the last}.

Every now and then I get behind with my laundry. Well I have a pair of red lace panties that I HATE with a passion. Apparently I had dialed back 15 years when I bought them some time ago, I mean seriously...what was I thinking? Anyway, it's a bad start to a perfectly good morning when I open my underwear drawer up and they are the sole pair in the drawer. As I rip them out of the drawer and slam it shut I think the same thing, "these stupid panties need to be thrown away!". Ultimately they are later put through the wash and they wind up right back in my drawer where they wait for the next ill planned laundry quandry.

My point is, why do I inconvenience/annoy myself this way on a repeated basis? All I ever had to do was throw them out. I'll give you another example. I hate to stop for gas. When I do I'm so anxious to get on my way to wherever I'm going that I only put $10 or so in at a time. Consequently I'm always on E. I would have to say that I fear I'll run out of gas on at least a twice a week basis. Do you see a pattern here? Oh but wait...what about the lip liner that I carry in my purse that is so in need of sharpening that I'm painfully scraping wood and very little color on my lips at this point? I could go on but I won't.

I'm starting to identify lots of tiny stresses that I'd rather not live with. And most of them are so easy to solve. I pitched the skivs, swapped the lip liner out for a mechanical one and filled up on my way home today. What I'm trying to say is that you can do alot to make things better for yourself. A bunch of tiny actions really can add up. I'd rather start working smarter than working harder as they say, instead of making any kind of resolutions in the next couple of months.

So do you have "red panties" you can throw out?

Great Shopping in Omaha Part II

This is my last post about my trip. I just wanted to show you a few things that I found at a great nearby antique store. I was worried that there wouldn't be anything left by the time I got there but it just goes to show you that everyone likes different stuff. I went crazy over this purple velvet purse. It's SO worn which both thrills me and breaks my heart at the same time. I mean, to look at this purse you'd have to figure that it was some girls one and only bag...

Just look at the handles, they're almost broken from use...

I plucked up this faded red biscuit tin too. Can't have enough pretty storage now can we? I like how colorful the floral bouquet is...

The picture of this valentine does not do it justice. It's several layers of pretty goodness...

This old lavender makeup tin was a must have. I can only think of 1000 things I could store in it...

In other news, I'm busy at work on several projects, more than I usually work on at once. I'll share them soon.

Great Shopping in Omaha Part I

Today I wanted to share a few of my favorite finds at the vendor faire that they had at Silver Bella. I purchased this gorgeous ring from Beth Quinn...

At another great vendor table I found this old postcard album in a crate on the floor. It's quite big actually, maybe 9x12. I'm not usually one for red but I really liked the embossed pink flowers on the front.

And I love, love, love this shoe made of vintage wallpaper by Denise Nelson. You can't see it in the picture but the heel is a big bobbin with thread.

Tomorrow I will be back with my antique store finds. I'm so happy with the things I found there.

After tomorrow I'll have shared a bunch about my trip and it will be time to move on and address that red panty situation I mentioned last week. Hopefully it will make you smile, laugh even, and get you thinking about...well just wait for it!

They Had Me At Pincushion...

Look at this perfume bottle, a scent that Anthropologie is carrying. I haven't even smelled it yet and I put it on my wish list online for my husband to buy me for Christmas. Presentation IS everything!

Silver Bella Workshop with Teresa McFayden

I'm back with more pictures of projects we made at Silver Bella. This project, taught by Teresa McFayden, was our opening night workshop. You can see hers here. I added some of my favorite items to mine. For once in my life I packed really well for something!

I've had this leg forever, I'm not even sure where it came from. I'm really happy with in right in the center...

And this darling little girl, she looks terrified...like someone is going to rip her beloved basket out of her hand...and oddly, she resembles my Dad, how weird is that?

My remaining projects all need just a little bit more finishing up before I post pictures of them. I'm going to work on them later so that I can share them with you tomorrow.

In other news, coming up is a give-a-way as well as a blog post on red panties. That's all I'm going to say for now, you'll just have to stop back by.

I'm Back From Silver Bella!

I just realized today that I never mentioned on my blog that I would be attending Silver Bella in Omaha this year. It was my first time going and I have to say, it was wonderful. I haven't had a chance to take many classes in the past few years and it was such a treat to walk in to a class, sit down and assemble my project. The above class was one that I took with Charlotte Lyons. She is such a sweet lady. This is the chatelaine necklace.

Making and beading the strawberry was my favorite part of the class...

It was so fun to add little touches that make a project uniquely yours, like the tiny rose applique that I love to put on practically anything that doesn't move...{oooh...I didn't realize when I took this picture that I'd also be giving you a preview of the pocketwatch necklace class I'll be teaching in February}...

I tied lots of my favorite wrinkly candy colored ribbons to the necklace and wound turquoise thread around my spool...

I'll be making up my absence on the blog this week with a few posts of the other class projects that I made as well as a few pictures of my great finds at a local antique store that was close to our hotel.

Last but not least, it was really fun to know that so many people that I don't know read my blog and enjoy it. Now thanks to this very well put together art retreat I know a few that I didn't realize kept up with my crafting and flea market tales. In fact, a few kind ladies asked how my daughter Gracelyn was when they saw my name tag. At first I was confused until they told me they'd read she'd had troubles on my blog. It made for a really small and wonderful world.

Life Resumes - Thank Goodness!

This has been one of the hardest weeks ever. It all started on Saturday of last week. We were getting ready to go to a Halloween party and I noticed that my 4 year old had what appeared to be the chicken pox. I wasn't entirely convinced so I called her doctor who knew she was on an antibiotic for an ear infection. She said that she had an Amoxicillin rash and that she'd be fine. She partied like a rockstar in her costume and was carried in to bed. By morning the rash had spread from head to toe and it was covering virtually every inch of her. The doctor still thought it was related to the antibiotic. By Monday morning her lips, eyes, hands and feet were purple and swollen so I rushed her back to her doctors office. Once the doctor saw her she told me to take her directly to Stanford and that she'd call to let them know that we were on the way. At that point I knew it was serious and I called my Dad {who was closer than my husband} to go with us. I literally put my purse on my shoulder, pulled the t-shirt over my daughters head and got a map from the doctor when my Dad walked in. One of these days I'll have to investigate exactly how he manages to appear out of nowhere when I know good and well there wasn't enough time to get to me that fast.

To speed up the story she had Erythema Multiforme, a skin disorder that is unexplained. They told us that it was harmless unless it spread to the blood vessels in her eyes {Stevens-Johnsons}. We prayed every 5 minutes for the two days following and checked them hundreds of times. Yesterday she woke up with only one small red dot on her cheek. We're so happy to have her well again, there's just nothing like being able to throw worry out the window.

Happy Halloween!!

Croque-Madame

I have been under the weather since Sunday afternoon and this afternoon was the first time I felt like getting out of bed. Not only did I feel like getting out of bed but I HAD to make Croque-Madames for dinner. Have you had this? Oh my goodness, it's SOOOO good!!

I found this great recipe:

5 T butter
2 T flour
1 c milk
6 oz thinly sliced Gruyere {swiss cheese}
1 tsp dijon mustard
Sliced sweet french bread
Thinly sliced ham
Eggs

To make the Mornay sauce I started by making a roux. This is simply melting 2 T butter in a saucepan, adding 2T of flour to that until smooth and bubbly and then adding 1 c milk until boiling. To that mixture you add the dijon and 1/2 c of Gruyere. Once this is smooth it's done.

Begin assembling sandwiches for grilling by spreading 1 T of the Mornay sauce on one slice of bread and ham and Gruyere on the opposite side. Invert the Mornay sauce slice on top of the ham and cheese and butter both sides of the sandwich. Grill as normal. Once all of the sandwiches are grilled spread one more tablespoon of Mornay on the top of the sandwiches and broil for 3 minutes. Add a fried egg on top of each one {normally this is a sunny side up egg but I prefer fried} and serve.

I had had this sandwich before but nobody else in my family had. They all loved it, suprisingly, my 4 and 5 year old ate every bit of theirs.

On a different note, stay well, there are sick people everywhere!!

Have A Great Weekend!

Chicken Pot Pie Recipe

I promised those of you who attended Saturday's workshop that I would post the recipe for the chicken pot pie we had for lunch. Here it tis...

• 2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast
• 1 bag frozen mixed vegetables
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups instant biscuit mix
• 1 cup milk
• 1 stick melted butter
• salt, pepper & dill

In a greased 2-quart casserole layer the chicken and mixed vegetables. Mix the soup and chicken broth and and pour over the layers. Stir together the biscuit mix and milk and pour over the casserole. Drizzle butter over the topping and season with salt, pepper and dill. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes until the topping is golden brown.

Itty Bitty Book

I absolutely love it when little things like this tiny velvet book are waiting for me inside my mailbox. This one came all the way from PA, it was from a Mennonite family.

It's so itty bitty it just fits in the palm of your hand. Isn't it a shame that we have so much these days that we don't use something or adore it as much as the person who obviously owned this little treasure?

I wonder what they kept inside of it?

Fab Flea Market Finds - Part 2

This gaggle of millinery flowers was an exciting find. I'm just thrilled with the super big reddish/pink one.

This old tin is sweet and could only be used for 100 different things. Not sure what I'll store inside but it was too nice to pass up given my love of pretty storage.


Out of the hundreds of ornaments that I ran across and perused these are the ones that made it into my bag...{that made it sound like I five finger discounted them - I did pay for them first of course}...

I've been wanting one of these calendars for a long time. How cute is this? I could have sworn that I spun it to October 31st before adding it to a Halloween vignette in my studio. Tiny hands, that's probably what happened here...

A whimsical find, didn't really need it truth be told but look at the buttons I put in the drawer. Cute huh?

Totally not sure what this was for but you know how I love velvet worn items. This orange, collar holder?, had the faintest bit of velvet tufts left on it. It got some serious use people...

There were several other small finds but these were the highlights. I've got two projects in the works, soon I will post sneak peeks of both of them. I'm taking requests for the February classes that I listed last week so if you have something in mind that you'd like to do be sure and let me know!

Fab Flea Market Finds - Part 1

Well I've been threatening to share pics of my flea market finds for the past week. Instead of one long post I thought I'd share a couple of things a day. I don't know what this metal catch-all was originally for but I scooped it up without any debate. Each tier has a mesh bottom. Does anyone know what it's intended use was?

I found this pretty print at the Addison Endpapers booth. Love the little bit of red and pink together. More fab stuff tomorrow!

Creative Class!

Today I taught a private class for 3 sweet friends. Take a look at the mannequins they made...



Each one turned out so different. Check out the loot on those girls! After that class we made gigantic spools. This was a really fun class. Again, they're all different. Check out the one made by Debbbie that is Halloween themed.



I haven't forgotten about sharing my flea market finds with you. I got a new computer this week and it took a little minute to get everything set up. I LOVE it! I traded my Mac for a new PC. The Mac was great but I just never found the time to figure it all out.

I have been wanting to make some green faced witches with my Character Construction stamps all week long. After my nephews homecoming game tonight I think I'll come home and stamp a few with my 4 year old.

Tacos Laguneros

After a great day of shopping the flea market with my friend Carole I headed to my Moms for a cooking lesson with my sisters Mother-in-Law, Rosa. She had made a dish, Tacos Laguneros, that I could not get enough of. She was in town visiting this weekend so I asked her to make them with me. They are SO good that I wanted to share the how-to with you.

We started with 3 lbs of pasilla chiles {the same chiles used for Chile Rellenos}. After cutting the tops off we sliced them lengthwise and took all of the seeds out. Once that was done we sliced the chiles into shred like slices and sauteed them in a few tablespoons of butter. As they cook down they begin to blister slightly and they take on a brighter green color.



After lightly frying white corn tortillas we filled them with a spoonful of chiles and a sprinkling of cotija cheese. We rolled them up the same way you would an enchilada and lined a large baking dish in a single layer.



After all of the tacos were rolled we put two tomatos and 1/4 of a white onion in the blender with 1/2 cup of water. We added that mixture to a frying pan coated with oil.



Once the mixture began to boil we took it off the stove and poured it over the tacos.



The final layer was crema latina, or mexican sour cream. We put enough on to cover the tacos, it was a fairly thick coat.



The tacos were baked for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven. 3 lbs of chiles yielded us 49 tacos. I will probably add a bit more of the chile filling to my next batch which will likely yield more like 33-35 tacos.

People these are SO GOOD! I would like to tell you that I didn't eat a dozen of them between 3 and 9pm but I believe honesty is the best policy!

Please let me know if you try it! I'll be back tomorrow to show you what I picked up today at the flea market.