AMANDA'S BASKETS: Short and Sweet

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Short and Sweet

PICTURES OF THE DAY:

These are some photos I took out west. The tree/bush growth was interesting. From a distance it looked so soft and fuzzy, something to cuddle. Of course, up close one could see that it was early spring growth on trees and bushes just ready to pop open with leaves. Definitely not something to cuddle!!!

The weather here in Maine this afternoon is absolutely beautiful. It was raining and cold this morning, but it sure has cleared up. The neighborhood kids are out playing and enjoying all the sunshine.

I have been taking pictures of the studio today trying to show it off in its best light. Will post them either tomorrow or the next day. And, I have been doodling some more. It's fun to just 'go with the flow' of things. I have quite a collection now. I am not exactly sure what to do with them.

One idea was to reduce the doodles to the size of ATC's and use them as backgrounds. Another is to print them out on fabric and incorporate them in some creative projects like the cover of journals, or maybe pocket organizers.

Speaking of pockets, have you seen the 'pocket swaps' on some of the blogs. First you create a set of pockets to hang up as organizers and then you fill them with a variety of things depending on who you swap with. I think it's kind of a neat idea. What do you think?

Thanks for visiting...

CRAFTING IDEAS

I am always looking for a small piece of paper to write down something which will later be disposed of. I decided to use some of the scrap paper of which I have a ton. I mostly use the paper for glueing projects. I decided to cut the paper into a small size. (Six pieces from a piece of copy paper.). But just having them sitting on my desk would get messy without a container. So, using a cardboard box, I cut it down to size and using a hot glue gun I glued the ends together. Using a picture from a magazine cut into pieces and stick craft glue, I glued the pieces to the box inside and out. I also used some decorative tape for the outside edges. And to finish the top corners which were not covered, I used straight pins with colorful tops. Looks nice and works well.

MAGAZINE IDEAS

(New) One article in the Farmer's Almanac 2024 is a list of trends. One I knew about is the trend to downsize in just about every area. Another trend that I was surprised about was called ''The Human Library' which offers people on loan to talk about specific subjects. Finally, more folks are adding pets to their family and as a result, stores are adding more pet food, toys and medication to their offerings. There's also a nice garden article which suggests mixing vegetables and flowers together for success.

RECIPE IDEAS

Have you every made Cherry Dump Cake. It calls for 2 cans of Cherry Pie Filling (21 ounces), a white cake mix, 1/4 -1/2 cup butter, melted & 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans. In a 9 by 13 pan, spread both cans of cherry pie filling. Add the melted butter to the cake mix and break apart the resulting mixture and crumble it evenly over the pie filling. Sprinkle the pecans evenly over the mixture. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 - 45 minutes until the topping is golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream. Fast, easy and very delicious.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

What if you want to establish better habits, then decide what habit you want to work on. Again, try an easier one first for that good feeling of success. Let's consider more exercise. Start small. Don't try to run a marathon right away. Set the amount of time, the type of exercise and when to do it to begin making sure that it is within your reach. If it works for you each week add a bit more. Walking is one of the best ways to get good overall movement but there are many exercise videos on YouTube of varying lengths and difficulty to check out. Change your exercise routines to eliminate getting bored. For hardcore exercise with weights, give yourself a day in-between to recover. Even on days you would rather not exercise, do it and see if you feel better. It takes an average of 66 days to establish a habit. Just think 66 days to establish a good habit for a lifetime. Sounds like a good thing to me...how about you?