{ bella mittens }

Hello,

Well, I've been bitten by the knitting bug again! Last week I made a pair of pink/purple variegated legwarmers for my daughter. Before that I made the grey slouchy hat and black scarf that are shown above under my latest project.... Bella (from Twilight, of course!) Mittens! These are just like the ones she wore in the movie.

This cute ensemble is for sale! Please make me an offer, if you're interested. The mittens are a size small. They're a little snug on my hands, which are approx. 6.5" x 3.5". The hat & scarf are "one size fits all". Everything will be done and ready to ship by Monday. Just think, you could wear these to the New Moon movie! * Apple not included. ;-)

-Cindy

Organize your craft supplies... one Craft Rack at a time!

Please take a sec to visit my Bag Shop on etsy!
Handmade bags for everyone.

{ busy busy }

Hello,

This is one of those "sorry I've been neglecting my blog" posts! I have pretty good reason, though! I've been busily preparing for the opening of my new business, Tangles Hair Design.

There are so many costs involved in opening a business that it's been great to get so many things for free/very cheap from VistaPrint. So far I have ordered business cards, post cards to advertise my grand opening, gift certificates, a lawn sign, window sign, rubber stamp, address labels, price lists. Everything is personalized and for most of the items I only had to pay for shipping. The great thing is that the quality is fantastic and it's a fraction of what you'd pay for having something printed locally.

So, what have you been up to these days?!

-Cindy

Organize your craft supplies... one Craft Rack at a time!

Please take a sec to visit my Bag Shop on etsy!
Handmade bags for everyone.

{ memories }

Hello,

Here's a pic of my girls taken in front of my first home! I took this yesterday at a {very sad} family gathering. This is the cabin my parents lived in after they were married. I think we lived here for about 2 years before we moved to Fernie and then back here to a bigger and better cabin.

-Cindy

{ fabric covered bulletin board }

Hello,

Over the summer in all my garage sale-ing I picked up a few bulletin boards. I decided to decorate this one to use in the hair salon for my customers to tack up their business cards. First I painted the frame white using ceiling paint. I was a little leery of this paint since it went on totally translucent, but overnight it darkened up and totally covered the yellow that was underneath. I then applied a piece of Ginger Blossom by Sandi Henderson fabric (thanks Sandi for designing such luscious fabric!!)  with 505 fabric adhesive and staples, then edged it with some lovely green Stampin' Up! grosgrain ribbon (thanks Sarah!!).

Now I need to buy some thumb tacks so I can glue buttons to them - like this! There's a great step-by-step tutorial over at the Fresh Vintage blog on how to cover a bulletin board with fabric.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadian bloggers!

-Cindy

PS. A big thank you to everyone who purchased a Craft Rack from me last week. I really appreciate the sales!

Organize your craft supplies... one Craft Rack at a time!

Please take a sec to visit my Bag Shop on etsy!
Handmade bags for everyone.

{ inspired by }

Hello,

I've been really inspired by the Life in the Fun Lane blog lately.  She takes old, unwanted furniture and decor items and spray paints them white. You should peruse her blog... her work and her home is gorgeous! So anyway, I do not have an air compressor with a paint sprayer attachment, so I used a regular paint brush and whatever white paint we had on hand to paint a mirror frame and a wicker laundry hamper for my (still slightly under construction) hair salon!

Another example of white paint beauty is this lovely antique wall cabinet in Madelyn's home.

Now I want to paint everything white!

Organize your craft supplies... one Craft Rack at a time!

{ "Not-so-Scary" Halloween Giveaway }

*** Update - there is no winner... because not one person entered the contest. ***

Hello,

Please leave a comment on this post to receive one entry into the contest... post about it on your blog with a link back to this post for an additional entry!

In your comment please let me know what your favorite pattern is from You Can Make This!

I will draw a winner in two days, on Friday, October 9. So, please spread the word! One winner will receive the following e-books:

Fancy Filled Tutu with Bonus 40 Tutu "Recipes"

Pumpkin Polly Patterns

Paper Piecing Project: Pumpkin Patch Pillow

Frayed Applique: Too Cute to Spook!

Little Miss Spider Applique Patterns

How to Applique the Easy Way

Hocus Pocus Patterns

Just a Little Something for a Happy Halloween Table Runner

Thanks, YouCanMakeThis.com for sponsoring this giveaway!

Good luck everyone!

-Cindy

{ fabric giveaway }

Lila Tueller Designs is giving away a jelly roll and a layer cake!!

Click here to enter.



Organize your craft supplies... one Craft Rack at a time!

Please take a sec to visit my Bag Shop on etsy!
Handmade bags for everyone.

{ meal planning monday }

Hello!

It's that time of the week again... meal planning Monday (on a Tuesday)! How did your meal plan go last week? Did you stick to it? We had a minor lapse on Thursday... I had planned something lame and didn't feel inspired to cook, and we were having a busy day (so many excuses LOL), so we went out! I updated last week's post to show what really happened... and added a few photos of some of the yummy stuff I cooked & baked.

So, I have my trusty recipe binder here and will flip through it to look for inspiration. When I find an enticing recipe online, I will usually print it and stick it in this binder. I also email it to myself and keep a folder called "Recipes" in my email program. (Eudora). That way if I ever lose the printed copy or if someone asks me for a recipe I can easily print it again.

Here we go:

Sunday:

• Pioneer Woman's Lasagna This was a huge hit with everyone in the family. We had another family of 5 over for dinner on Sunday. I didn't double the recipe and it was plenty for Sunday dinner as well as leftovers for Monday! That was one heavy lasagna, and so delicious. If you print it out, I noticed an omission in the printable recipe when I compared it to Ree's blog post. In the blog post she says you're supposed to simmer the meat & tomato mixture for 45 minutes and that step is missed on the printable version. I didn't catch this until after I'd made the lasagna so I didn't simmer... and it was still perfect.
• Caesar salad
• Garlic toast: made with artisan garlic & rom
  
• Apple crisp with ice cream (thanks for bringing dessert, Tammy!).
  

Monday: leftovers

Tuesday:

• Roasted chicken legs & backs. Once the chicken thaws out I'm going to soak it in brine (water, salt, brown sugar, bay leaves) for a few hours to tenderize it and add flavor, then I will roast it in my Pampered Chef lasagna pan.
• mashed potatoes - Giada style
  
• roasted rutabaga
  
• Rice Pudding - update: I wouldn't recommend this recipe as it is written. It's completely runny after 25 minutes. After baking it for 70 minutes, it finally resembles rice pudding.
  

Wednesday:

• Spaghetti with Marinara Sauce
• Chocolate un-baked cookies
  

Thursday:

• BBQ Chicken Pizza - My kids' favorite home made dinner!
  

• Recipe: bread machine dough, pizza sauce, onions, red peppers, can of pineapple, diced, cooked chicken smothered in bbq sauce, drizzled bbq sauce, fresh cilantro, grated cheddar cheese.

Friday:

• Baked Potato Soup
• cold veggies
  

Saturday:

• Andrew's 1st Birthday cake!
  

What's on your menu for the rest of the week?! I'll try to come back throughout the week to update this post with pics and what we actually had for dinner.

-Cindy




Organize your craft supplies... one Craft Rack at a time!

Please take a sec to visit my Bag Shop on etsy!
Handmade bags for everyone.

{ you can quilt this }

Hello,

Have you been to the new You Can Quilt This website yet? I just clicked on over there from You Can Make This. I didn't realize they had a whole quilt section! To use my daughter's line, "How exciteling!". What's neat about this online pattern store is that you can download and print the patterns as soon as you purchase them... no shipping fees, no daily disappointments when you check your mailbox and there's nothing (good) in it!

While you're there, be sure to check out the FREE section! There are over 45 free projects in the You Can Make This site and about 13 free projects in the You Can Quilt This site. I am dying to try the paper pieced Christmas trees! They'd make an awesome table runner for my coffee table.

Oh my goodness! I just noticed they have a whole section for handbag patterns! Help! I'm in trouble now. They have the Sweet Pea Scrunchie Shoulder Bag... it's adorable!.

What's your favorite source for patterns?

-Cindy

Organize your craft supplies... one Craft Rack at a time!

Please take a sec to visit my Bag Shop on etsy!
Handmade bags for everyone.

{ handy helpers for quilters & sewists }

Good Morning!

Today I thought I would share some of the online tutorials and other handy websites that have helped me in my quilting. Some of these sites I refer to again and again to help figure out how much fabric I need for a certain project, or to remind myself how to make a quarter square triangle unit, etc!

So, here's my list:

• Binding Yardage Calculator
• Quilt Calculator
• Easy Prairie Points Tutorial
• Stipple Quilting How-To Video (scroll through the videos on the right)
• Another Stippling Video
  
• Bind a Quilt by Heather Bailey - how to do a continuous quilt binding
• Binding with a No-Show Joint - (scroll through the videos on the right)
  
• Scrappy Log Cabin Blocks Tutorial - this is a super fun way to use up fabric scraps!
• Free Paper Piecing Patterns
• Free Christmas Patterns from McCall's Quilting
• Hand embroidery stitch guide by Crabapple Hill Studio
• Quilt Blocks Galore
• Stippling Tutorial
• Smocked Dress Video by Heather Ross on Martha Stewart
  

If you'd like to share a handy quilting website please leave a comment here with the link. Thanks!

{ thank you splitcoaststampers }

SplitCoastStampers is an amazing online community for rubber stampers that I used to participate in regularly when I was heavily into paper crafting. What I find so amazing about this forum is that, a thread that was started 21 months ago that simply mentioned my Craft Racks site is still driving traffic to my site. Just this week I've had an influx of orders from people who read the thread at SCS. Thank you, SplitCoastStampers!! You rock.

Here's the post I'm referring to:

My stamp pad storage holder

---

Several people here asked me about my stamp pad holder and where I got it. I had bought it about 6 years ago through someone in Canada. I searched for it and couldn't find it but lo and behold, I finally found it and the good news? someone here at SCS sells them off her blog! I love this thing and has worked perfectly for my needs. It does not take up a lot of space, holds all my pads, can be painted and decorated, is very sturdy and I even think it can be hung on a wall if wanted.

Here is the link to my photo of it:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ga...00&ppuser=7997

If anyone is interested in this or the other holder (I loved their ribbon holder also. Had that until I moved into my room) here is the SCS's blog that sells them.

http://craftracks.blogspot.com/

Hope this helps all of you that asked me about it. I am very excited to have found it once again. I love this thing!

Organize your craft supplies... one Craft Rack at a time!
These awesome racks hold ribbon, ink pads, wheels and misc. craft supplies.
They make a perfect gift for the crafty person in your life!

{ weekly menu plan }

Happy Monday!

I don't always plan my meals for the week, but when I do I find that the week goes much better and family meal time goes off without a hitch. There's nothing worse than coming home from work/school/after school activities to realize that you have nothing planned for dinner, no meat thawed out, no inspiration, and no idea what to make! Ten minutes of planning, and an hour of shopping for the right ingredients goes a long way to creating a peaceful family dinner time.

I thought I'd share with you what's on my menu plan for this week... not that it's overly exciting, but it doesn't have to be! It's got to be do-able.

Monday:

Supper: home made mushroom soup (Company's Coming recipe) with chicken salad croissant.

Dessert: apple crisp with vanilla ice cream.

Tuesday:

Lunches: chicken salad sandwiches with the leftover chicken from Monday.

Supper: Chicken corn chowder (again, using up the leftover chicken). I have home made chicken stock in the freezer that I'll use.

Dessert: Pioneer Woman's Chocolate Sheet Cake - you've got to make this, seriously!! It is that good.



Wednesday:

Supper: Rachael Ray's Black Bean Stoup and Southwestern Monte Cristo Sandwiches.

(here's the soup at the pre-liquid stage)

Thursday:

Supper: went out.
Friday:

bake something fancy for Bag Ladies (Decadent Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Sauce from Betty Crocker's 40th Anniversary Cookbook).

Supper: Hearty Beef Stew in the crockpot.




---

So, do you plan your meals for the week? What are you cooking this week?! I am looking for a website that has (free) online meal planning. Do you know of one? What's your favorite recipe site?

Have a great week!

-Cindy

Organize your craft supplies... one Craft Rack at a time!

{ adorable }

Amy

Isn't my sister absolutely adorable? I lovvvve her new haircut!! I wish I could take credit for it, but, since she lives so far away, I only get to do her hair on rare occasions. Whoever her hairdresser is did an amazing job on this super cute inverted bob. See all that curl? It's all natural!

Move down south, Amy!

Love,

Your sister.

Organize your craft supplies... one Craft Rack at a time!

{ Grandma's chocolate sour cream cupcakes }

Good Morning,

I made these really delicious cupcakes last week for my Grandma's memorial service using her recipe for Chocolate Sour Cream Cake that I posted back in February. Grandma used to make this cake for my cousin, Rachel, and I when we were kids and would stay at her ranch for a week every summer. I have so many fun memories from those summers! One of our favorite things to do was dress up in Grandma's fancy clothes and high heels, put make up on and then perform songs for Grandma & Grandpa in their kitchen. The one song that stands out is "Islands in the Stream". lol Now my cousin is a famous singer. And me? Not so much!!

Every time I make something that Grandma made, I will think of all the wonderful memories I have of her. And all the things she taught me. This cake recipe is no exception. Of course, hers tasted better... how could it not with farm fresh eggs, butter & cream?

Please, make this cake today! You (and your family) will thank me for it!! Here's the recipe:

Sour Cream Chocolate Cake

1 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
2 egg yolks (save the whites)

Beat until creamy.

Sift:

1.5 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
.5 tsp baking powder
.5 tsp salt

Add to first mixture.

Dissolve .5 cup cocoa in .5 cup boiling water. Fold in 2 beaten egg whites and 1 tsp vanilla. Pour into greased and floured pans (2 round 8" layers). Bake for about 30 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. For cupcakes check them at 20 minutes.

Classic Chocolate Butter Icing

Cream .5 cup softened (real) butter with 2 cups icing sugar and 1/3 cup sifted cocoa. Beat 2 tsp vanilla, 2 tbsp milk and 1 cup icing sugar into mixture. Gradually add 1 to 2 tbsp milk into icing until smooth and of desired spreading consistency.

Would you like to order a Craft Rack from me? Please. :)
Organize your craft supplies... one Craft Rack at a time!

{ extra extra }

This is so neat! Michelle Vandepol, a mom I met at the school, wrote an article for the local newspaper about our Bag Ladies group. You can read it here!

Michelle has also written a novel, Mother Mexico, and I understand she is working on another one.

Organize your craft supplies... one Craft Rack at a time!

{ september 8 }

Yesterday was the day the girls went back to school.

It was also the day my dear Grandma suddenly passed away and went home to be with her Savior. We have so many great memories, but we will miss her terribly.

{ batch of 4 }

Hello!
Happy Labour Day Weekend!
This morning I put the finishing touches on 4 of these messenger bags. I love this fabric. It's a heavier weight fabric, which is perfect for bags. No interfacing - yayyy!
The 4 messenger bags are all the same, except that only one has this cool gingham lining. The others have a nice beige lining. There are interior pockets and a large exterior pocket as well.

$45

Would you like one?

... and here's a better (I think? lol) pic of the silk purse.

So, please drop me an email if you're interested in buying any of my bags or quilts.
I would be delighted to send one off to you!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend

-Cindy

Organize your craft supplies... one Craft Rack at a time!

{ bag ladies strike again }

(photo stolen from Sarah's blog)

Hello,

Wow, it's been a busy/fun weekend around here! On Friday evening Sarah invited a group of friends over to sew the night away. We all worked on different bags. While we were sewing Marcia came up with the great idea to start a Facebook group called Bag Ladies Strike Again. It's an open group and you are more than welcome to join!! I hope to see you there. We'll be sharing links to free online bag & other sewing & quilting patterns as well as our favorite recipes, etc. Should be lots of fun!!

Read more about our bag making adventures:
-Marcia's blog
-Rhonda's blog
-Sarah's blog

So, come join the fun by joining our Facebook group!! Hope to see you there.

-Cindy

Organize your craft supplies... one Craft Rack at a time!

{ cowboy quilt for dad }

Here's the cowboy quilt I made for my Dad for his birthday!

(quilted by Rhonda using Stetson & Boots with King Tut thread)

{ open for business }

Good Morning!

A couple weeks ago I re-opened my Etsy Shop and filled it with handmade goodness. I would really love to sell these items to make some $$ for back to school... so, I've reduced all of my prices by quite a bit!

Also, I am open to making custom bags or quilts for people. These will cost a little more than the items I've already made.

I'll be back in a bit to show you the latest quilt I've made. Have a wonderful day!

-Cindy

PS. I also sell Craft Racks, which are ready-to-paint mdf storage shelves for stamping ink pads, stamping wheels, and ribbon.

Organize your craft supplies... one Craft Rack at a time!