Thank Goodness...Tomorrow is Friday!

This week seemed slow to me...maybe it's because it's been so nice out that all I can do when I'm at the office is keep looking out the window thinking it would be nice not to have to be at work...but oh well...bills to pay!

You know...we only have 3 more days and then it will be Halloween! We finally got out to the Big Box Store and picked up a couple of bags of candy which I told DH he was NOT to touch.

After work he tells me that the oddest thing happened...he had come home at lunch and he was sitting at his desk when he hears a rustling sound...when he goes to the kitchen he sees Guinness Pup on the counter and he had very carefully ripped a small hole in one of the bags and took a couple of pieces of candy.

I asked Guinness and he told me to look at the bag and measure the slit against the width of the blade of the swiss army knife located in his dear old dads pocket....guess what? Can you believe DH was fibbing?! He finally confessed after I told him I was calling in the autorities for that specialized testing I see on tv shows! That's it...he's grounded LOL!

OK...so I'm sure you guys are looking at the pics and thinking what is up with that? Well, there's a town close by that every year holds a contest every year where people sign up decorate scarecrows and then they line both sides of the street with them. We went by the other day and I thought I would share some of the winners with you.

The First Prize went to the Abominable Snowman. It was really cute and reminded me of the old claymation Christmas Classics of years gone by...Rudolph and the land of the MisFiT toys.

Now to understand the Second Prize winner you have to know that in our area ALL summer long we have been having quite an infestation of STinK BuGS! If you don't have them in your area count yourself lucky! They really don't do much other than eat, play tootsies with each other MULTIPLY and just plain get into everything. Who knows how they do it but they even get in your houses and if you try to squash them you find out pretty quickly why they are named the way they are.

In any case, the winner was a Scary Looking Guy covered in Stink Bugs! Made me laugh :)

Third Place was a Crab Fisherman and the Runner up was a Ballerina. All were cute and there were oh so many along the road. We didn't come back the same way or I would have a picture of a Lady Gaga Scarcrow that I found very funny as well.

Little things like this make me laugh! On top of that I love to see everyone's creativity!

In OTHER news....Michelle is going to be hosting a brand new challenge on the forum. If you aren't already a member what are you waiting for. Come on over and sign up...TONS of great information for all of you who own cutters. It doesn't matter the kind...KNK, CraftRobo, Cricut, Pazzles, ETC! Everyone is welcome!

It is a Christmas Card challenge that is going to be starting on November 1 - the 20th. All you will need to do is make ONE CARD a day, but as she said some will be easy enough so you can make more than 2 in a sitting! There's going to be prizes as well! Just click on this link for all of the info !

Well I'm getting tired so I guess that means it's time to get ready for bed.

Til next time!

Eddita

Beautiful Fall Day!

Well I hope everyone has had a nice week! Busy weekend as always but that's ok. Hubby and I went for a motorcycle ride today and once we got up in the mountains I asked him to pull over so I could take the above picture. It was REALLY pretty up there. The air is getting a little crisper and all of the leaves are finally starting to change.

This really is my favorite time of year. When the air starts to get a little chill, when you see all of the Halloween Treats and Costumes showing up in the stores and starting to think about all the cute little Trick or Treaters that come to the door.

Remind me sometime and I will share a story about my daughter around 3 years old and her WAY too large bunny suit I made her one year. It was one of the worst (although cutest) things I ever concocted. She'll tell you how I traumatized her and forced her to go out in it with rubber bands to hold the legs and arms up, but you know...she was able to wear it for the next 4 years LOL!

Well enough of that! While we were riding I also had the camera in my hand and did a really quick video to share with you. This is my perfect day! The sound you hear in the background is the wind...you really don't get to hear the motorcycle much.

Well I hope you enjoyed it and on another note, just want to remind you all that my 40% off sale ends today! Don't miss out...next sale won't be for a bit!

'Til Next Time!
Eddita

Woo Hoo a SALE!!!

Wow 2 posts in 2 days?! Amazing LOL!

Well as promised, since it has been awhile, I just want to let you know that the cute little Cat in Pumpkin Digi is my featured item of the month and available at 50% Off!

Also as an added bonus ALL of my other files are on sale for 1 week Only for 40% Off!

If you haven't perused lately I have a number of new files up as well as some wonderful ones that are perfect for the fall season like Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart, Horse and Wagon with Title, and many more! Don't miss out!


OK, so I think I have mentioned in the past how I like to save money when it comes to food. We grow tomatoes, herbs and veggies in the summer and then can them at the end of the season so we have yummy food during the winter. I will admit that the added benefit to canning is that I know exactly what is going into our sauces, etc and don't have to worry about things I can't pronounce ending up in our meals.




Now Hubby and I have always enjoyed yogurt and even with "no inflation" it just seemed to be getting a little pricey. On top of that there are a lot of ingredients in the product that really have nothing to do with the yogurt itself. So, for his birthday, I bought him a Yogurt Maker from Amazon. Now yogurt is something that in itself is super easy to make. All you need is Milk (2% and up since you really need a little fat in it) and some starter. You can either purchase it or buy a small 6 oz. container of Plain (that's unflavored people) Yogurt at the grocery store but you have to make sure that the ingredients show "Live Cultures".

While I had never made yogurt before, hubby had and basically used wide mouth canning jars and the oven or just the hot outdoors in the summer (when it is above 105 degrees out) but I really liked the idea that the machine came with cups and lids so we could take them to work.


There are a lot of great videos on You Tube but basically all you do is heat your milk in a pan over medium heat (stirring occasionally of course) until it hits 185 degrees. Electronic thermometers with alarm are perfect for keeping track of this. Once it hits temperature, at this point you have killed anything that might be in your milk and have made it sterile. You then let it cool down to 105 degrees, add your starter, stir and then maintain the 105 temperature for a period of 4-5 hours. Then you refrigerate and you are done!




Super simple! Another great advantage of the machine is that I just turn it on and set the timer and walk away. What is basically happening over the time is that the culture is growing and incubating away. Once it has thickened up you know you're done. So at this point from 1 gallon of Hormone Free Milk, we can make about 24+ cups of yogurt for about $ 3.00. We then add some homemade jelly or fresh fruit to the mix along with granola and can you say very economical, healthy, yummy breakfast?! In addition to tasting great it's also very good for your tummy as it naturally contains the "prebiotics" your body needs :)


Okay...so I guess that's enough rambling for today! I have to get things picked up and work on some new files!


Hugs,
Eddita

Tell Me It's NOT SO!!!

Has it really been almost 2 months since my last posting?! I sit here trying to think of what I have been doing and I guess with family things as well as home and work, I have been pretty much non-stop.

I did go to the Paperthreads Retreat held recently in Baltimore and can I say what a Wonderful time I had. A few of the gals from the SC retreat were able to come and I got to meet and put faces together with the names on the forum! What a whirlwind, I could have used a couple more days just to be able to finish everything I wanted to!

I have been saving up money for awhile and yes...I broke down and purchased a KNK Maax! I love my 13 inch KNK but I have been coveting the Maax for awhile since it had a little more pressure and also had the laser to help with Print and Cuts.

I've decided to keep the 13" model as my daughter has expressed her desire for it so that she can use it for cutting gumpaste for her cake decorations. I know she will get some great use from it!

I have also been busy creating some new files which I have uploaded to the site. Keep an eye out for them as they will be hitting the store soon!

This first one is a Digi Stamp and I used a picture I have of Guinness Pup as my inspiration. I just thought that with the Fall Season upon us this would make a cute Halloween Card but it would look equally as nice on a layout. I made up a bunch of cards to send out to the family but pictures really don't convey how really cool they look in person.

I also created a BOO Pumpkin file and made it so you could use either horizontally or vertically. Since I am always trying to find cute ways to journal, I also included a single pumpkin in case you want to enlarge and use as a journaling block.

I also finally got around to finishing up my Robots Galore File. You may remember I did a Robbie/Roberta Robot Digi file awhile back. Well here are there friends in cut file format. I will

eventually make digitize these as well.

Also, as it has been FOREVER since I have had a sale, I just want to let you know that all my files will be on sale shortly. I will let you know when it starts, just check back to find out when it starts fo you can really SAVE!

Until tomorrow!

Eddita :)

The End is Near!

Every day brings us one day closer to the end of my very first ever Quarterly Membership! I just finished uploading the file pictured above (EC0145 - A Woodlands Party) so if you are already a member make sure you log into Paperthreads to download this cute file!

It's not too late to sign up! So far there have been 17 files uploaded along with 1 extra one (which you can look at in the upper left corner of the screen in my SLIDE show). I still have a few up my sleeve including a couple of cupcake wrappers for you animal lovers out there....want a sneek peek???

OK...here is the Kitty One

There is also a cute Doggy One as well but I won't bore you with a pic...at least not yet!

How can you get them along with all the rest for just $ 10? Simple...just click on this link to get started!

In other news...it is hotter than all get out right now! We are talking triple digits! DH was saying he could really use some cooler weather...I reminded him that in January when we had snow almost over his head that he was wondering where all the heat was....never happy LOL!

I must say I'm getting pretty tired of the head myself...today there is no way we are venturing out except to walk the dogs....right now Guinness is the perfect pet! Not only is he all about just chillin but he's toilet trained too! Got to love the CaDog!

Hope you all are well...I'll be sharing more a little later on!

Eddita :)

Time Flies and A Cute Little Scalloped Box!

Time really doesn't stand still for anyone does it? After a whirlwind week with the family, my DH fun Birthday Celebration and getting back to work, it really surprised me when I looked at the calendar and saw July sadly is soon coming to an end.

As such, it's almost the end of my Quarterly Membership and I want to thank all of you who have been with me from the beginning and those of you who have continued to join in! So far I have uploaded 16 files as well as 1 bonus one and still have a few more to put up before all is said and done!

If you want to see what has been shared, just watch the slide show in the top left corner of the blog which even includes the cute little DIGI Stamp Lizard I used in the original ad. If you are interested in joining in on the fun, just click here!

Nothing much exciting going on...oh wait! We did have something happen just yesterday! I was in the bathroom around 5 am getting ready to shower for work when all of a sudden I heard a rumble. Now at first I thought that the trash truck was being extra loud when I realized that it was a much deeper sound and I was actually vibrating a little. I stood there for a moment and then it all passed. It was only when I got out of the shower and turned on the TV that I learned I had experienced an EaRtHQuaKE!

Now for those of you who feel them more often than they care to think, it may not be a big deal, and in the great scheme of things, 3.6 may not sound like much, but when you NEVER have felt one before it was pretty interesting! DH of course was still in bed passed out, but I won't forget it for awhile. My mom who lives about an hour South of me called me and told me that they too felt it way over at her house...pretty impressive!

Ok...so beyond that nothing else exciting has happened LOL!

Off to get ready to go out...DH is inviting me for dinner...I will never say no to that offer LOL!

Until next time!

Eddita :)

Hubby's BDay - Medieval Times

It's been quite a whirlwind of activity around here this last week. As I mentioned before the family has been visiting and last night we went to a mall near BWI airport to take the GrandGirls to the Bass Pro Shop to do activities and see the fish in the big tank etc...actually that is the story we told DH.

Now you have to understand, he "HATES" going to malls, but he was a sport and came along. I thought the girls would take a lot longer to paint the birdhouses but it only took about 35-40 minutes which meant we still had another 1.5 hours to hang out before heading to our true final destination...Medieval Times! For those who have never been, it's a 2 hour dinner with show with the good vs. evil theme. All food is eaten with your hands while you watch the knights joust and do battle...but I digress.

So there we are trying to stretch the time out and DIL and I are hopping to one store while DH sits in a chair in the middle of the mall and then his boys have to go to Best Buy and then I remember I need something at Bed Bath and Beyond, etc...the whole time DH is starting to squirm and ask what time are we leaving...I told him 4 pm. At one point he looks over to me ans says that he swears he heard my Sister's voice but didn't see her...I looked around and didn't see her either (thank goodness because she and her family were meeting us at the castle along with the rest of the family for DH surprise party). Now he had been sitting staring into a shoe store for awhile and I knew he needed a new casual pair so we actually were able to do a little shopping for him as well.

FINALLY 4pm comes and we start to walk around and he sees the castle but says "what's that big stone wall thing" and me being quick on my toes says "its an arcade"...it wasn't until we were actually up at the doors and he sees people inside at tables and the horns blowing that he sees the WHOLE family lined up waiting to wish him a Happy Birthday! He was SURPRISED!!!

We went inside, I got him a drink, we mingled and talked and then we were the first group led inside and seated...all 20 of us! He really enjoyed it and we ALL had a good time. They even called out his name when they listed the celebrations that were occuring and the King wished him well on his "VERY BIG" Birthday LOL! I have posted a video snippet of the show for you below.

You may have noticed the picture at the top of this post. It is the latest file which I have just posted to the quarterly membership file No. 14. It's a cute Name Holder Place Card for those who go to crops. Even if you don't go you can always use the cute accents on any layout for that special touch. Special Thanks to Elizabeth (scramper75) for cutting it out in order to share with all of you!

Well that's about it for now...more updates later!

Eddita :)