At the Cusp of Autumn

I went a little garden crazy again. I got mums for the front porch pots. They're not very big, so I'm hoping they expand before the end of the season and fill out the color a little more. They are cute though. Just like the coleus that I bought at the beginning of the year.
I thought I'd try the anise hyssop . . .
Three plants I've been wanting for a l-o-n-g time -- lavendar, autumn joy sedum, and russian sage. Now, where to put them?

Green is the Loveliest Color

Well, the fresh asparagus inspired me. I remembered some of the greens I've enjoyed this summer.

Ferns from this spring. Sadly Vegas loved to eat them too.

My herb buckets -- sweet basil, chives, oregano, peppers, chili peppers, and wonderful sage. Look at them now!

My birthday girl.

An Shabby Autumn Recipe Book

This is DaisyD's paper, but I 'roughed' it up a bit. I made 5-6 Recipe/Memory cards that are interspersed through the album.

I thought this album would be a good gift for traditional family recipes, ones passed down through the generations so that pictures and memories of times together could be added to the recipes themselves.

It's 4x6 inches. And I used recycled cardboard from boxes, etc. I also got to use a lot of flowers and fun stuff like that.

Halloween at the Abla house . . .Chilling Indeed.

Fall Drive II

I wanted to do a purple/green halloween book last year and found the perfect paper at BigLots. This is the first result - "Monster Mash!"

Here are some of the monsters locked inside . . . Dracula the Vampire . . . Frank-n-stein . . . and a Mummy.
I used glitter and popdots on practically every page, so it really isn't that scary, but I think it turned out pretty cute. I used the extra scraps from the pages for a couple witchy tag albums. 6 pages per album, these had a lot of glitter and pops too.
I think tag books would be great for grandma or auntie brag books. Or they could hold favorite and fun halloween recipes and notes.
These are currently posted on etsy, but if they haven't sold I'll have them at the craft shows in October and November.

Fall Drive I

This is my latest tag book project, "Apple Red Happiness" which had Evan unconsciously whistling the tune the other day. he he. The papers are from the Fall Stack DCDW(?), and I love the candy apple pinks, oranges and browns with the lime green.

I got the stickers a couple months ago and this went perfect. Hopefully I'll have enough tags to do 2 books. I've also added some apple quotes which help fill it out. Little Daisy Alt font.

I also posted some fall paper piecings on etsy last night. Here are the little acorns that are a part of the offering. Even though this has been a mild summer, I'm looking forward to autumn.

More Secret Llama

Next Up . . . Baby Love!

Look at What I've Done - Catching Up

First, the Ohio State Stuff.

I'm almost finished with a third tag book, which I'm waiting to sell at the fall craft shows. I started 2 banners, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how to finish them. I got the letters glittered, but I'm not sure how much more frou frou they need before I hang them. I'm happy with how they're turning out, though. This is definitely for homes that like a little classier, unique look to show their team spirit. ;)
These are the 2 mini albums I finished. I used colored metal carbiners for the ring which I thought looked good and very easy to take the pages on and off. I'll have these at the craft shows as well. I may make a couple more because they're so quick to make. And I've got plenty of paper left over.

However, I'm hoping to make some Ohio State notecards to finish up the scraps. I haven't made cards before, but I"ve looked at layouts and sketched out some designs.

I'm hoping this does well at the shows -- I'm going to merchandise this a little more - I've got a red wagon, but I was thinking about a football bowl or something like that.

The Ohio State University

The Great Summer Destash 2008

100 Things or Categories I’m giving up . . . my sister-in-law,Marsha, has inspired me to simplify with an article she posted on her blog about the 100 Things Challenge. I told her I didn’t think I could do this – reduce my possessions to 100 things. There’s too much memorabilia and stuff at this point. However, I think I can get rid of 100 things. I’m going to try it this summer – ending with a garage sale and then give all the rest to Goodwill – and see how it goes.
Marsha, you’re my judge – this is the beginning of my list. Do all these count as one thing? Or can I count some as individual items?
1. 1 box of summer clothes that are too small
2. 1 box of winter clothes that are too small


3. non-black/white turtle necks
4. the fancy sofa
5. sewing patterns with no material attached to them
6. fabric with no project attached to them
7. non-matching mugs (ugliness factor)
8. plastic cups (ugliness factor)
9. old lotions
10. big pink pillow
11. old sheets
12. 5 knicknacks
13. 1 box of Christmas stuff
14. bag of candle melts
15. 1 box of other Holiday items
16. 2 boxes of books
17. 1 box of paper (to recycle)
18. 3 games
19. 1 box school stuff (Social Studies)
20. 5 skeins of yarn
21. 5 scarves
22. 5 pieces of jewelry
23. 1 box of scrapbook/craft items
24. 2 kitchen appliances
25. Old makeup
26. 5 hanging shirts
27. 5 skirts
28. 3 dresses
29. 2 pairs of jeans
30. 5 t-shirts
31. 1 box of office items
32. 1 box of memorabilia
33. 1 box of old stuff
34. 1 set of dishes
35. 15 Martha Steward mags
36. 15 cooking magazines (useful recipes saved in recipe folder)
37. 1 box of picture frames
38. 1 box of old tapes, books on tape
39. 4 old towels
40. 1 box of winter clothes I never wear
41. 1 box of summer clothes I never wear



This is not 100 yet . . . any suggestions.

The Upcycle Corollary
As a corollary to this I would like to find 10 things to up-cycle among our trash this summer. Up-cycling is recycling items or material that makes them immediately useful. Wikipedia defines up-cycling here. I heard the word first on etsy.com because their all about handmade and recycling. That's cool.


Here are some examples: leather cuff bracelets, a wool wreath, bird giving ball, plarn and crocheted plarn, journals and much more.


I like the idea of up-cycling, because it requires some imagination to repurpose materials originally used for another. Often the most successful up-cycling requires some artistic expression, but it is also entirely practical.


The bird gift balls are a clever example of this. I’m tempted to buy birdseed just so I can try out these bird gift balls next spring.

Stipulations:
- I will not buy any new supplies in order to up-cycle these items. I will have to use the supplies already on hand in order to complete the process.
- These may be items from the 100 things challenge. They may also be just trash that we would have thrown away otherwise (paper, aluminum, cardboard, etc.).
- The products may be reused in our household or made to sell.
- I need to list these on the blog as they are completed.

Potential