AMANDA'S BASKETS: Can't Complain...

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Can't Complain...

...about the heat when I saw that New York City was 103.   Makes my little paltry 90 look absolutely cool in comparison.

By the way...
TO ALL THE WHERE BLOGGERS CREATE PARTY VISITORS: You can still see the tour of my studio by clicking on the 'WHERE BLOGGERS CREATE 2013 TOUR' link found in the side column.   Please enjoy the tour.

I didn't get too much creative work done...still trying to get the house ready for visitors.   But I did play with...

Right, markers. And I found out that not all markers are made equal. That really didn't show up to the naked eye as much as it did to the camera lens. You can see in the ICAD challenge cards that many of the markers did not deliver even coverage. Learn something new every day...

Even manipulating the photo software couldn't even the color. Like I said, learn something new every day.

So how's your week coming along? Are you enjoying the heat wave or is your weather a bit more rational? I don't know about you, but when it's this hot, fabric is something I don't work with...way too uncomfortable. And, quite frankly, I miss it. I'm hoping that the weather will cool down to at least the 80's so I can get back to my first love...fabric!!!

Two weeks from Thursday and the Inchie Challenge begins. I've been collecting lots of 'inchie' supplies getting ready to enjoy making those little works of art. Hope you follow me during the month...and if you want, make some inchies yourself.

Stay cool...
Thanks for coming by...
See you tomorrow...

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?