I love how our lives are woven together.
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Ho Ho Ho - Hop

 A
Quilter
knows that 
the holidays are 
closer than we think. 
Some of us prepare all 
year long, and others need
 a nudge in July. If you like to 
procrastinate like me.......today is 
the day to receive your nudge.  You
will find so many talented ladies sharing 
their projects... I'm sure you'll find inspiration
  no matter what form of crafting you do. I will be
 back on Monday the 5th, with my project to this hop.
 In the meantime you can follow the hop by starting at the 
beginning ... scroll down for the list.  Carol is the Head Ho Ho this 
year and she is the one cheering us on and keeping us on track.
Please
hop with us
  
July 31
August 1
August 2
August 5
August 6
August 7
August 8
August 9
Sew We Quilt
 
 

Tuesday, Tea, and a Modern Hot Toddy


It's still Tuesday here. ....
but....
I am so so late for Elizabeth's Tea Link up....but I can explain.

 At first I thought I was tired....but then I realized I was being taken over by a nasty bug.
 I spent the day sleeping. 
 Yes ALL DAY.  
So now it's going to be hard to sleep tonight...right?  

Wrong

I'll just have a hot toddy and that should do it.
I do not drink alcoholic beverages often,
 an occasional Margarita or Kahlua and Cream.
( oh and chocolate wine as Sunny has pointed out )

 Just this past February I met Rum Chata.
I had a creamy drink made with
this smooth devil while in Florida last winter.

 But somewhere between February and now,
 I got this idea to add it to my Keurig Chai Tea.

 Ummm.... heaven !
 I love Chai Tea with a bit of the Rum Chata.
 Just a bit....a shot....an ounce...sometimes a bit more.
Now where's my pillow?

goodnight.
  


T stands for TuesdayT stands for Tuesday is a new weekly blog link up party 
hosted by Bleubeard and Elizabeth
<-----   click on this link to find out more.
       

click here for a
classic hot toddy recipe

Tuesday, Tea and Play Time



Good Morning Friends !

So what do you do when you have three or four deadlines for specific projects?
Well if you're me, you pick up an old project that was cast aside
...who knows when....
 and resurfaced during "the great craft room purge and clean up".
I don't know when I started this fabric collage.
But....even though the theme might be a bit overdone. 
I decided I still want to finish it so I could hang it next to a clock.

( Remind me to get a clock for the craft room. )



 this is not attached yet....I'm still pondering



 These are not attached yet either.....same pondering.


And the butterfly....tilt left?, right?, no tilt?
not attached....
....this pondering will go on all day.

But they are just a distraction. Because what I am really pondering right now is
how to quilt the piece I made for the HO HO HO Blog Hop coming up very soon.
( can't show you yet .....sorry )
soon   ...   very soon.

Do you do this too?   
Do you work on a "less important" project while noodling  out
details of a "more important" one?

For me the distraction actually helps me focus. 
I'm sure this is probably a brain disorder....
but who has time for analysis? 
  
Christmas is coming .....it'll be here in no time at all.

Marianne


T stands for TuesdayT stands for Tuesday is a new weekly blog link up party 
hosted by Bleubeard and Elizabeth
<-----   click on this link to find out more.
       

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11 things


I am trying to stay busy
 when it's so easy to just kick back
 with a book and tall glass of lemonade.
I was able to stay cool last week
 by sorting and organizing my craft room.
All of my projects were placed on the back burner 
and they need to be brought back out.
 
I might not get to everything on this list this week.....
but at least I am trying to stay focused.



Marianne
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Tuesday, Tea..... and Staying on Track



Good morning !

Advice from a Wolf....Stay on Track
An old old friend is starting a
 new blog link up party.
And I would love to support her efforts and join in.
 I am not implying that she is old old.......
I just mean I have "known" her for a long long time.
I "met" Elizabeth on Yahoo back before blogging
became and everyday addiction activity pleasure.
She was the hostess of several Altered Art Swaps
and I was a happy participant.
The theme of her link up is T stands for Tuesday.
with a twist..... tea is not required....
but sharing what ever you may have in your cup is.
All the details are on her blog.
Every morning I wake up, let the dogs out,
and make myself a cup of good old Lipton tea....
with 1 oz. of milk and one Splenda please.
                         
  And yes I do measure the milk.
a peek inside my tea cabinet





 Today I woke up before the dogs even wanted to go
out so I had a chance to go down to my
 freshly cleaned craft room  to fold a few more
yards of fabric.  I am staying on track, in organization mode.
 I am committed to  putting everything
away so it doesn't become a disaster zone again.

good advice....keep your den clean  ---- HA !

Elizabeth has provided a button for us to add to our sidebars.
by clicking on it you will be wisked away to her blog and her very first 
T is for Tuesday Link up Party


Please grab a cup, or glass, of something and join in. 
 I am going back down stairs where it is cool....
today is going to be a hot one.  
Thanks for stopping in.

Marianne

Where I (should) create


 Every year Where Bloggers Create rolls around and bloggers all over
 the world join in to celebrate their crafty spaces.
 I participated a few years ago and had plans of rearranging
my space based on the the wonderful ideas I gathered.

remember this picture from a few years ago?

But guess what..... That never happened. 
My space did not get organized.
 IT GOT WORSE

It turned into a storage room. It was cluttered to the ceiling.
There were bins of fabric everywhere. There were dishes
on all the tables, they landed there during our kitchen remodel and
never found their way back to the kitchen. 
There were old art projects gone wrong. 
The room was a disaster.
It weighed heavy on my creative spirit.

So this year I decided I had to do something about it.

I am in the process of moving my all of my
sewing and quilting supplies from our office space upstairs.....
I had taken over the office..... and dining room
 because there was no room in the craft room.
Crafting became more and more difficult.

Time to fix this.

So instead of a tour of a completely finished room 
I would like to offer you a tour of what my room looks like today.    
 I have a long way to go with this new room
 and I am actually getting excited about this makeover.

Three days ago I decided to run to Ikea for some bookcases for my fabric. 
I have one more bookcase to put together and add to the left of what you see here
I love fabric !

 As you walk around the room clockwise,
 the next section of shelves houses bins of books and magazines.  
This will be moved to make room for a design wall. 
The chest of drawers holds altered art clutter. I will probably remove that too.  
look !  I can see the floor!
 The next wall is home to all my rubber stamps.
This area is in need of a major purge.
This is where you might want to follow my blog if you don't already follow.
Because I will be having some serious GiveAways in the near future.






 The back wall is home to ink, paint, markers and my paper cutter.
there's that floor again

 Next up is my paper storage, embellishments, and beads and ribbon area
I love paper too !

 The walls of my room are painted in six different colors. 
When we moved to this house I used up paint from other projects to paint this room.
 I would love to repaint but that would mean moving all that elfa...
...and that is Not going to happen anytime soon.
I have 6 (well 5 now... will be 6 ) tables....4 that are 5ft long and two that are 6ft long.
A long long time ago I would invite friends over to play here.
 I need to put the "missing" table back and plan
a crafty get together with a few friends.


one more thing....
 I found this jewelers bench in an antique shop in florida over ten years ago. 
I still haven't decided what to do with it so the drawers are empty.

what would YOU do with this?

 So there it is.
My Artsy Craftsy Quilty Space.
Clean and de-cluttered.
After the Great Purge. 
Almost a blank slate.
 I need to bring my sewing machine down here and some art for the walls
 and a dog or two........ and it will be as sweet as it
 was 10 years ago when I used to play down here everyday.

 Thanks for stopping by and be sure to go visit
to see the list of crafty spaces on tour. 
I will be looking for ideas to bring to my space as I
 transition from a Hoarder back to an Artist/Crafter/Quilter.

wish me luck 
Marianne

* I am linking up to Sew Many Ways too.
 Because who knows when this room will ever be this clean again.

getting ready for a party


so I guess by now you figured out that I am having techy issues. 
I tried to futz with my blog template ....
and in the process...I almost broke the whole thing.
why?
because...
I am participating in Karen Valentine's Blog Party
and I  want everything
 ( both  here on my blog and in my crafty space)
 to look all spiffy and clean for all my guests.

I think everything is working now so I will leave well enough alone.
Please join us all on Friday for the big event.
Click on the invitation above for more information.

Come as you are..... I will be.

Marianne

more color



color test




oh please dear god of the blogs let this post publish

edited to add photo of 5x7 cards I am working on.

 I am trying to play with my blog template code without training wheels .
So far it is not working out well.

Things might get worse before they get better.

fingers crossed
Marianne


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Scraps, Glue and a Winner too.

I am happy to be a part of a swap hosted by Sandie of Sandra Kaye Designs.  I "met" Sandie a few years ago when  she launched her blog. Then I joined one of her quiltie swaps and fell head over teacups in love with her Bright Bold and Colorful style.   She is a creative type who likes to dabble in several different mediums. Mostly Mixed Media and Art Quilting. One common theme runs thru her work and her blog.....COLOR    She's not afraid of it and throws it around like she'll never run out of it. If you want to know what's at the end of the rainbow it's probably Sandie's Studio.

So for her 5x7 mixed media art swap, I have been 
playing with old scraps and glue.  I am making backgrounds.










While I had my glue stick out I thought it would be fun to start next months cards too.  These backgrounds were made by cutting up a container store catalog and weaving the strips together.
 Then I added a layer of sheer lace paper using water soluble varnish as an adhesive.




 


                                                                           And finally.............

I'll bet you thought I had forgotten about the gift card giveaway. Well I didn't. But let me tell you it was not easy making sure all the blog hop participants received two chances while everyone else got one chance.
 ( note to self....make the next giveaway easier )

So after printing out the list of comments twice and cutting them into pieces..  no picture....but trust me here....this did happen and hubby wasn't happy at all to be drafted into choosing the winner out of a bowl. 


The winner  of the $25 Amazon gift card is:


                                                        Patty.....check your email dear.


So that's it for me. I hope my friends here in the US had a fun holiday yesterday.     I spend 4th of July evening trying to keep my dogs calm. We live out on the edge of the burbs of DC and there is a country club two miles away. Well they had fireworks on the 3rd and 4th this year.   So we had two nights of shaking doggies.  Poor things.     But I must admit is is wonderful to see the fireworks thru the trees.....we are that close.

See you again soon !

Marianne