Creative Juice Studios

My Last Blog Entry Here - Visit Me on My New Blog...

2008-08-30T13:50:00Z

After wasted hours and frustration trying to make this "Quick Blogcast" site work for me, I have decided to cut my losses and switch to the mor user friendly "Blogger".

If you would be so kind to update your links for me to the following http://creativejuicestudios.blogspot.com/
it would be greatly appreciated.

You can also be taken directly to my new blog by clicking on the following:

Creative Juice Studios New Blog!

Hope to see you on my new site!

Creative Summer

2008-08-28T21:59:00Z

Well, in addition to lounging at the lake all summer, I did find time to complete a major project...

I finished my daughters pink and black quilt - to match her pink and black room!

She was very patient while other projects kept being moved ahead of hers, but I think she was worth the wait!

She's been in her "new room" since the beginning of the year, and I started this quilt about 6 months before the "move in", so it was long overdue.

Summer, Part 2

2008-08-28T18:15:00Z

Once I returned from Panama, I hit the ground running. We hosted Dave's entire family at our lake cottage over the long 4th of July weekend. We had 26 people staying in our little cottage (that includes the tents in the yard, and those sleeping in the screen porch)!! We get together annually in the summer to celebrate all the neices and nephews birthdays. I call it Christmas in July!! The location rotates between Dave's siblings, and it was our years! It is always lots of fun, but very exhausting.

In additon we host various other friends and family at the lake over the summer. We love sharing it with those we love. Watching a kid who has never tubed or skied befrore give it a try is so much fun. Dave is a very kind, and patient boat captain/water sport instructor.

Cookouts, boating, swimming, reading, relaxing, fishing and just enjoying the company of those around us is what the lake is all about for me. It is so relaxed, unhurried, and unstructured, that you feel that you can leave all the stress of normal life in the car when you arrive! Don't get me wrong, there is still work to be done - I will fill you in on the big work project we tackled this summer up there - but everything seems to be done on "lake time"!

Thanks for all the memories!

Released from the Panamanian Prison!!

2008-08-21T19:38:00Z

If you have checked my blog this summer and saw no activity since my last entry before leaving for Panama, you might think that we have been being held in a Panamanian Prison. Well, thankfully, that is not the case, but the summer flew by so fast that blogging was not a major priority. But the kids have started back to school, so my life has slowed down a little. I thought I would steal a moment to give you brief update on our trip, and then in the next few blogs, I will update you on the rest of the summer.

Our trip to Panama was great. It is so nice to spend unhurried time with my spouse. It made me remember when we were first dating.

The weather was VERY HUMID and HOT, and periodic rain. That is because Panama is a Rainforest. The upside to that is the many beautiful plants and flowers...

The old section of town was one of my favorite areas.

The resort we stayed at was awesome.

To see the Panama Canal in action was really amazing.

We did some deep sea fishing. That was the activity that Dave was most excited about. We didn't get the best boat. But Dave did catch this 14 pound Mahi Mahi...

My favorite day of all was when we were taken via yacht

to an island in the Gulf of Panama.

There were suppose to be 20 people on the excursion, and they booked workers to handle that amount. But only 8 showed up, so we had 9 people to cater to our every whim. One of the guys even brought Dave a refill of his rum punch 20 feet out into the water!

It was a great day!

And all in all it was a wonderful trip. Thank you Dave for working so hard to earn it, and thank you GSK for providing us with a time we will never forget!

Panama!!!

2008-06-19T02:52:35Z

My husband and I are leaving on Saturday morning for a all expenses paid trip to the country of Panama.

My loving husband is an awesome salesperson who was ranked in the top 4% of his companies sales force last year and won this trip as a reward for his hard work.

See you in 10 days!!!

ETSY Front Page - Entry 2

2008-06-18T12:32:00Z

I am still flying about having one of my pillows included in the ETSY front page treasury.

I have to give a big THANK YOU, to beadznthingz's for including me in her Treasury. If you get a second, check out her etsy store - she makes the most beautiful polymer clay beads. I'm not sure how she does it, but alot of them look like glass. They are very cool! She sent me a screenshot of the treasury actually on the front page, here it is...

Well, as "high" as I am about this, I'd better get back to work...

I MADE THE ETSY WEBSITE FRONT PAGE!!!

2008-06-18T02:54:00Z

Only in my wildest dreams did I think that one of my items would be included in a Treasury on Etsy.  A Treasury is a group of favorite items that is selected by members or administrators. They are usually grouped together by color, style, medium, etc. The front page Treasury changes several times a day, and is selected by the Etsy administrators from their favorite Treauries. And for that Treasury to make it to the FRONT PAGE of the Etsy website was not something my mind could even imagine.     I guess dreams can come true...

As you can see, "My Cottage Charm Quilted Pillow was on the FRONT PAGE of the Etsy website this afternoon...



I was not on-line to see it actually on the front page, but my cousin captured a screen shot of the treasury for me before it expired.

If you want to see the full treasury of Colorful Circles and Squares, before it expires on Wednesday, June 18, 2008 at 10:46 am... , click here.

The Lake - Week 2

2008-05-29T13:00:00Z

As I promised, here is week 2 of my summer at the lake.

Memorial Day Weekend is typically opening day at the cottage, so there is usually lots of work involved, but in addition, we always make time for fun...

We got the boats in the water, and Hubby, C and P even went fishing, and caught this huge walleye...

Grandma and Grandpa M came for the day on Sunday. Grandpa enjoys the screen porch and his suduko.



I made time to get my plants potted...



All in all, it was a great weekend...

Don't Try This at Home...

2008-05-28T12:28:00Z

Thursday afternoon I was working on a pillow top, and decided to try my hand a free motion quilting. I found out my sewing machine is not designed for this. It is an older "computerized" machine, and it won't let you sew a straight stitch with the feed dogs lowered. For those who are confused by this, the feed dogs pull the fabric in to the needle as you sew. To properly do free motion quilting, the feed dogs should be lowered so that the material is not pulled, and you can move the fabric freely this way and that - i.e. the term "free motion".

Well, being the stubborn Irish girl that I am, I decided that this would not stop me, so I did some experimenting and found that if I used an open foot and set my stitch speed to a medium speed, that I could move the fabric freely enough to take a "stab" at it. I don't use the foot control, I just use the botton on the front to stop and start the machine and set the speed.

Well, to make a long story longer, I was in a hurry, as I was trying to finish in order to get to my daughters school to see her end of the year pep session (she is a middle school cheerleader). I was rushing, and not paying as close attention to where my fingers were in relation to the needle in the open toe foot, the fabric was being pull by the machine in one direction, and I was trying to move it in another, and low and behold, I did something I did not think was possible...

I sewed right through my finger - nail and all...



It would not stop bleeding, and I was afraid I may have hit the bone, so I wrapped it tightly, and drove myself to the emergency room.



2 hours, and a $50 co-pay later, I walked out with a heavily bandaged finger, but without any stitches and having not hit the bone. They did notice in the x-ray, 2 very small pieces of metal in my finger - remnants of the needle (which broke into 3 pieces - one still in the machine, and 2 imbedded in the fabric), which they said would "work themselves out".



Needless to say, I missed the pep session, but under the circumstances, my daughter was very understanding.

Once again, being the stubborn Irish girl that I am, I went down later that afternoon, bandaged left index finger and all, and finished the quilting on the pillow top. All things considered, I think it turned out pretty good, and not one drop of blood was shed on the fabric.

First Garage Sales of the Season

2008-05-21T17:17:00Z

I hit my first garage/yard sales of the season this past Saturday. I love finding a deal and I love turning someone else's trash into my treasure! I feel it is my way of helping the environment!

Here are a few of my recent finds...

Griffith's vintage milk glass with red top spice jars. Even with the original holder. I have actually been looking for one of these in a price I could afford (or more aptly willing to pay) for our lake cottage for 5 years! I scored this one for only $10!

This great small Fiesta ware black pitcher. It too will go to my lake cottage. I scored this in the original box for only $5!

All these "yummy" home decor and garden books. I got all of them for $10! The list prices total up to $200 if I bought them in the store at retail price!!

I also scored this brand new Vera Bradley bag and card holder. In addition I got 3 new Vera Bradley shirts (not pictured) - I didn't even know Very made shirts. I got the whole lot of Vera stuff for $30! The list price on the bag alone was $72 and each of the t-shirts were $28 - they all still had the tags. Not sure how much the card wallet was - that was the only one without a tag, but I can tell it is brand new too!

I also got an overhead projector for $5 - not sure what I will do with that one, but just couldn't pass it up. If nothing else the kids can use it to play "school".

It was a good day!!!

Lake Season is Offically Here!

2008-05-12T15:25:00Z

We have a small "summer cottage" on a lake an hour north of our "real home". We purchased it 6 years ago and have enjoyed it the entire time.  We have "fixed it up" and decorated it on a shoestring budget. It came furnished, but the majority of the new furnishings came from friends, yard and garage sales, clearance racks, thrift and antique stores. I love decorating the cottage. One of the fun things is turning trash into treasure - which I just love. The other is doing some things there that I probably couldn't get away with in our "real home".

The cottage is our home away from home. It is my refuge. When we get into the car to head to the lake, all cares and worries are left at home. We have no phones - hit or miss cell service, no internet - we have not even been able to "borrow" wireless from our neighbors (although I have to admit we have tried), and no cable (there is a long story to that which I will not get into here).

Everything is laid back at the lake. Friends and family are always welcome, and we love sharing it with them. It is a ski lake, so the only thing fast there is skiing and tubing.

In honor of the upcoming lake season, I want to share my refuge with you too. At least once a week, from now until September, I pledge to dedicate my blog space to some aspect of the lake.

Today I share with you some of my favorite treasures I have found and use to "decorate" my space. I have many more, but quickly took a few photos as we were leaving on Saturday...

My cousin and his family come up for a weekend every summer. Lori (his wonderful wife) and I always spend one of those days hitting all the thrift stores, antique stores, garage sales, barn sales, church rummage sales, etc... A lot of the treasures posted here were found with her. But this one always reminds me of her, because we scored it together, and she painted the words "Crooked Lake" on it for me. In another post, you will see the other amazing work of art she did for me at the lake.

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-09T12:29:00Z

Just a quick post to thank 2 of the most special women in my life. First is obviously my Mom. Seen here in between my "baby" sister on the left and me on the right, while we were visiting my parents in Florida this winter.

There aren't words to describe my mom, and her generous heart, her faith, and her everlasting dovotion to her family. I truely have a wonderful role model in my mother. Thanks mom, for all you do.



The second is my mother-in-law. She too is an inspriation to motherhood. Loving, helpful, and kind. Raising 6 kids of her own - one of which is obviously the love of my life.



I am truely blessed to have such wonderful women in my life.

                             Happy Mother's Day to you Both!

Here are the Mother's Day Cards I made for my Two Moms...

"Done is Better than Perfect"

2008-05-08T15:43:00Z

I was wandering though some other blogs yesterday, and came upon this statement...

"Done is Better than Perfect"

That statement has haunted me for the last 24 hours or so. I am one of those people who will start a million and one projects and complete 10 of them. That is due in part to a variety of factors... procrastination, lost interest, lost pieces, and just plain poor follow-through. But one of the other reasons is that when I do something I want to make sure it is "perfect". The perfect color, the perfect fabric, the perfect pattern, the perfect whatever...

But the problem with that is that in all reality it will never be "perfect". And I waste a lot of effort on trying to achieve what I know is impossible.

So I pledge today to make this my new Motto... Done is Better than Perfect!

I began working on it at about 3 am this morning when I woke up and could not get back to sleep. I have been working on a memory quilt for my friend for a year now. The top has been finished for almost 10 months , and I was originally going to hand quilt it. But it was taking way to long, so I took out all the hand stitching I had already done and gave it to a machine quilter to do the actual quilting. When I got it back last Saturday, I realized that she had put the backing on "sideways", so that the sides both had too much backing and batting hanging over the edges, and the bottom of the quilt had a 3 inch gap with no batting and backing. Needless to say, I was not very happy. My reaction - the part of me wanting everything to be perfect - was to take it back and make her take out the million stitches and redo it. But even that would have been action, and rather than take action at that point I just put it away and decided to worry about it later. But this morning while I was laying wide awake in bed, my new motto came back to me. So rather than drag this project out any longer trying to make it perfect, I went down to my studio, trimmed the excess batting and backing, trimmed the top and bottom borders down to match the batting/backing and began to bind it.

Yes, it is a little shorter than I had planned, but in the grand scheme of things it really doesn't matter. Here is a quick photo of the quilt as it is right now - only partially bound. I planned to finish the binding today, but my lack of sleep is catching up with me, and for right now a nap is calling me - before my kids get home from school.

Success!

2008-05-07T16:00:00Z

Well, my first "commissioned" quilt is now finished. It has been pieced, quilted, bound, washed and dried. It is so soft and cuddly. I have truely enjoyed making this "piece of art" for little 4 year old Zoe. I can't wait to see pictures of her in her new room with her quilt.

I am actually quite sad to see it go...

Now I am on to finishing my daughters quilt that I started almost a year ago, and binding a memory quilt I started a year ago for my dear friend who lost her husband. A quilters work is never done!

I am also working on some small purses/wristlets/clutch bags. Here is a picture of one I made for myself...

Perfect Spring Day

2008-05-04T17:52:00Z

Today is a perfect spring day. The sky is clear beautiful blue. A slight breeze is blowing, and the temperature is a comfortable 65 degrees. I took an opportunity to try out my new camera on some of my spring foliage...







Prints of these and some other pictures I took are available for purchase on my Etsy store.

My Dream Job

2008-05-03T11:32:00Z

I posted a couple days ago about a blog site that was giving away a free quilt. Well, being curious, I check back to see if I had won. I did not win unfortunately, but what I found was that Camile Roskelly - Creator of fabulous quilt patters has just launched a line of Moda Fabrics. I am so pleased for her, but also so "jealous". I have to say that designing fabrics and quilts would be my absolute dream job! I always wondered how someone gets to do that, and will now have to check in with Camile and see how this all came about.

Here is a picture of Camile and some of her new fabric line... Cotton Blossoms. If you get a chance, stop over and congratulate her! You can get to her site by clicking on the Simplify listing in my favorite blog list.

Way to Go Camile!

I will be back posting about my own stuff later, but just wanted to give a shout out to Camile!

Free Quilt Giveaway!

2008-04-29T15:56:00Z

While wondering through some other blogs, I came across a new favorite blog. Simplify or Thimble Blossoms. To celebrate the one year anniversay of her company, is giving away a quilt this quilt on May 1.

To enter, click on the link below. Make sure you mention that you arrived there through my blog!!

Thanks.

Quilt Giveaway!!

Quilt Update

2008-04-29T15:13:00Z

I promised you some more pictures of the quilt I am making. I received it back from the machine quilter yesterday, and wanted to share some of the pictures with you. I told my kids this morning I will be kind of sad when it is done and I have to ship it off. It such a fun and bright quilt that I have really enjoyed designing and making it.

I am very happy with how it is turning out...

Front of Quilt

Close up of Front Corner

Quilt Back

I even gave her two more - a vintage top I scored at a garage sale a few years ago that I added an fun 40's inspired border to, and a memory quilt I have been making for a friend whoes husband passed away for a year now. I'd started to hand quilt it, but didn't like how it was turning out, so I took the hand quilting out and passed it on to her to do the machine quilting.

If you are looking for a good, reasonably priced machine quilter in Northeastern Indiana, let me know and I will be happy to pass her name along to you.

Well, a woman's work is never done, so on to grocery shopping, laundry, etc. then I can do down to my studio and work on the binding for the quilt and 2 other "projects/jobs" I got from my Etsy store... 2 custom pillow covers and another rick rack pillow case like this one...

I'm BACK...

2008-04-23T13:25:00Z

Yes, I know, it has been over a month since I have posted anything, but I am still here. I've had a lot going on in my personal life in the past month, and I would like to say that blogging took a back seat, but in actuality, it was left behind in the dust. But, the dust has finally settled, and I am back.

I've made some new things while I have been gone, and will be posting pictures of them for you to see, comment on and what not!

One of the things that has been taking up a lot of my time is the custom quilt I have been making. In one of my upcoming blogs, I will post pictures of the entire process, from designing it to laying it out to piecing, etc. But I have to get all my pictures together, etc. .. But here is a "sneak peak" of it...

I designed this quilt myself, so please do not copy it without my permission. Thanks.

Well, back to the studio, I have to piece the back so that I can get it to the machine quilter tonight.

Please continue to check back, I promise to be more faithful to my blogging!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2008-03-16T19:44:00Z

Luck of the Irish to you and yours!

I love St. Patrick's Day. I am very Irish (about 85%) and grew up with a very Irish "Mc Name". When I got married - almost 15 years ago, I lost my "Mc" and became a "ski". Now don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with "ski's", but I still feel 15 years later that I really lost part of my identity when I lost my "Mc".

So we celebrated St. Pat's day this weekend. Our local firefighters turn our river green and have an all day celebration Irish style.

In addition to "greening" the river, there are bagpipes...

And a Leprechaun...

The girls in the white and red coats on the right are our soon to be 13 and 10 year old daughters. Our son is in the orange coat in the front.

That's my "ski" in the black coat & orange hat that I sacrificed my "Mc" for. Although I miss my "Mc" around St. Patrick's' day, I by far got the better end of the deal in the trade off!

Our son is a true "clone" of his dad! Can you see the resemblance?!

All this St. Pat's day fun, and the day hasn't even arrived!

I am a lucky Irishwoman!

"Luck of the Irish Sale" at my Etsy Shop

To share my luck, I am having a "Luck of the Irish Sale" at my Etsy shop. It was suppose to be a one day sale - tomorrow, but I decided to start it early, so from now until Tuesday morning when I change all my prices back to normal, all items in my Etsy store are discounted 10%. If there is something you were considering, now is the perfect time to do it. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. All prices are already reduced the 10%, so just check out as normal and you will automatically receive the discount.