The basket the inspired the reindeer

Believe it or not, this is the basket that inspired me to do the reindeer. Maybe just because it was brown? This one is made of felt that I stitched together. Paige would probably enjoy playing with it.

Baskets and Blooms Reindeer

I am so proud of myself! I came up with an original idea that I didn't copy from anyone! I was playing around with my Baskets and Blooms Sizzix Bigz die. I thought that when the basket was

turned that it resembled a horse. Then I got to thinking about Christmas coming up and decided that I could turn it into a reindeer. I had some fuzzy brown felt in the basement that I thought would be perfect for the "face" of the reindeer. The eyes are made from the small bloom. I removed the petals on the black to make it a circle. The whites of the eyes are the teardrop shapes that form the inside of the larger loopy flower. The eyelids are one small bloom cut in half. I used small black buttons to complete the eye. The nose is the large bloom. I ran thread around the outside of the flower, placed some poly fill in the center, and then pulled the threads tight. The mouth was stitched with crochet thread. The antlers are a Oak Leaf Sizzix die. I just cut it apart to get the shape I wanted.

Next, I would like to make the basket into a turkey for Thanksgiving. I have been seeing lots of turkeys made with punches and I think I have an idea of how to make this basket into one as well. Stayed tuned for that!

A day of stamping

My friend Jeong Soo came over yesterday to try her hand at stamping. She was a very fast learner! She does beautiful paper folding, so the next lesson will be her teaching me!

These are the cards I came up with for her to try. I hadn't prepared anything before hand, so these were just off the top of my head. I wanted to keep things fairly simple so that she wouldn't feel overwhelmed and get frustrated. We had a limited amount of time before she had to leave to pick up her son from school so simplicity was really a necessity today. Maybe we will be able to spend a whole day on a weekend to get more done.

A little windy lately!

I had been meaning to take a picture of this tree because the colors were so intense and gorgeous. Yesterday when I looked out in our front yard this is what I saw. A really strong wind had come through and knocked down a large branch of the tree. Luckily, it wasn't long enough to strike the house. The landlord has someone coming to check out the tree to make sure it isn't rotting and that is what caused the branch to come down.

Paige goes to a Toddler Tunes class on Wednesday mornings. The group has 8 kids. It can get quit chaotic but Paige seems to have fun. She refuses to say anything in the class though. Her teacher encourages them to speak in the class and there is always silence when it is Paige's turn. She will be talking non-stop before we get to class but the minute we walk in the door she doesn't make a peep. She will nod yes if she is asked a question but that is about all.

She also does gymnastics on Tuesdays. I am hoping to get some pictures of that next week and get those posted.

I voted...with some help!

Paige and I headed to the polls at about 1:30 this afternoon. We brought along a bag of Wonder Pet toys and books. Luckily, there was no line and I was able to vote right away. I think it took a total of 5 minutes to vote and double check my ballot. We went to Dairy Queen to celebrate her being such a big helper on Election Day.

Trick or Treat

We went Trick or Treating Friday night with three other families. All together we had 10 kids. It was quite something keeping track of everyone! We had a lot of fun.

Zach and Clay scared the little kids with their costumes but the days of cute costumes are over for them! I am a little surprised that they even wanted to trick or treat this year. They have been saying for several years that they are too old to go.

As you probably noticed from the pictures, Scott was no where to be seen. He had to go to his masters class, so he missed out on the fun. He did make up for it later in the evening when the guys headed out for a night on the town.