Something About Nothing

My oldest daughter and her group of friends dubbed themselves The Anderson Family while in high school.  They have long since graduated and went about the world serving LDS missions, going to college, graduating, getting jobs, getting married and starting families - not necessarily in that order nor have they all done all of those things.  Through these years they have stayed in touch and every Christmas they have a family party in which my daughter and the "Mom" of the family give each member a lovely homemade gift with The Anderson Family logo   on them.  This year they wanted to create a Christmas tree ornament.   I suggested that we start with a ready made ornament and add some vinyl using my Silhouette Portrait electronic cutter.  I bought vinyl when I bought the machine but have been scared to try it.  I'm really sorry I haven't tried it sooner.   IT WAS SO EASY! I started with their family logo: Set it up in the software for the Silhouette and ad

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

My copy of Quotes Illustrated arrived today! I've been im patiently waiting as many people reported that their copies had arrived from one coast to the other and so I was thrilled when mine arrived today. Even more so when I looked in and saw that Lesley Riley had autographed the book as well. What a treasure and collectors item! Here is the page with my artwork. *happy dance* Thanks Lesley for letting me be a part of this beautiful book! There are so many beautiful pieces of art work by wonderful artists and great quotes that Lesley has collected through the years.  You can buy your copy on Amazon .  The price keeps bobbing around as it becomes more and more popular and is currently about $16.  Last I checked it was #5 on the best seller list under the "Quotes" category!  Woohoo Lesley!

Just laying back, relaxing, enjoying the pre-holidays. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah OH That is SO FUNNY!!! My sides hurt! I'm a last minute kinda person.   The holidays always sneak up on me!  I've been working on finishing up some gifts,  doing last minute shopping and thinking about doing some baking.    These are just two of the types of cookies I normally bake each Christmas. However this year is a little different.   My youngest daughter and I have taken gluten out of our diet to see if it will help her Cyclical Vomiting Syndrome and my arthritis.  It is hard to eat gluten-free when other people in the house are still eating gluten!  But it does help to have a buddy.  Fortunately for us, my friend, Terina , just did a few posts on her gluten free blog about a cookie sharing party she had.  She has posted a number of fantastic looking gluten-free cookie recipes. If you would like to try some of these yummy recipes go o

I know it's just a week until Christmas and I am STILL getting my Christmas gifts together. I found a cool website called IfOnly  that offers some pretty awesome gifts for the person in your life that doesn't want more "stuff."  How about an experience of a lifetime?  AND each experience benefits a charity too!  Win, win!  For example: How about a BBQ in Joe Montana's backyard?!?  And yes, Joe will be there! A personalized video call with a favorite athlete . A private round of golf with a favorite famous golfer. A concert meet & greet with a favorite entertainer. And among the awesome "stuff" they have are things like signed guitar picks and signed guitars as well as signed and worn athletic gear.  Stuff that will be treasured for many many years.  I'm still searching through to see if I can find something awesome for a special someone in my life.  See if you can find something for your someone special by clicking any of the links in

Is it really less than two weeks until Christmas?  Maybe I should START shopping!!!!

The challenge for my local quilt guild this year was to use a half yard of this ugly fabric in a traditional or art quilt.  The majority of the half yard had to be on the FRONT of the quilt. My first question was if I could over dye or paint the fabric and of course the answer was a big fat NO!   Marsha wasn't going to make it THAT easy! It took me a long time but I finally decided to dye some pink and brown fabrics and make a free form quilt out of it.  I am surprised with how happy I am with the results. I was going to call her "Straight up Ugly" in honor of the ugly fabric but decided that she has transformed the ugly fabric and so she is called "Straight up." She has inspired me to want to make more quilts like this with other  what-were-you-thinking-when-you-bought-that  kind of fabrics. Here are the quilts from the rest of the ladies. . . . . .The art quilts:  . . .the turtle on the right won the category. . . Congratulat

There’s something about the holidays—that warm glow from the fire, the fact that you actually get to spend time with your kids (or your friends’ and family’s kids)—that makes it the perfect time to curl up with the little ones in your life and read them a storybook. Reading a totally new, beautiful, amazing book with a child is a treasured holiday experience. And if you choose the right book, every time the child reads it alone in the future will bring back the memory of that time you shared. If you’re a little tired of the standard children’s book selections in your local brick and mortar store, Blurb has a really incredible assortment of self-published children’s books that you won’t find anywhere else this holiday season. Try a few of these future classics and create some new holiday memories this year. Title: Ollie + Loo Author: Joni Cooper www.blurb.com/b/4554150-ollie-+-loo Joni Cooper brings incredibly original characters to life with brilliant illustrations in a b