Friday 5 [Wenatchee photography + design]

I totally forgot to post this earlier. Oops!

1. We went to Coeur d"Alene, ID for our 15th anniversary last month. One of our favorite shows is Guy Fieri's "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" and two of the restaurants featured on his show are located there. We ate at one of them THREE times, it was so good. Capone's in Cd'A (and they also have one in Post Falls, ID) was the bomb! So, SO good! Pictured below was the Black and Bleu burger with garlic fries. Seriously these fries were amazing. I felt bad for my hubby that on our anniversary I was eating garlic fries every chance I got. Lucky he loves me! The other place, Jimmy's Down the Street, was also delicious. It was more a breakfast place, so we only made it there once. The Pecan and cinnamon rolls were fresh  made every morning and about the size of your head. So good. The chicken fried steak was probably the best I've ever tasted!
2. The week after, we went to Boise, ID to visit my parents. I am a graduate of BSU and wanted to take my family through the campus. Man has it gotten bigger. Of course, I graduated, um, a FEW years ago. (cough...more than twenty.)
3. The next weekend we saw Bill Cosby in concert. So fun, he's still got it. A master story-teller! (photo from his website.)
4. What I drew on the cover of my new calendar for 2013. My motto for the coming year.
5. This summer was tough. I went up and down the same 5 lbs. over and over. But, this has become a lifestyle for me, it's not a "diet" that I am on. I cahnged the way I eat and the frequency in which I move, get serious exercise every day. Eventually those 5 lbs realized I wasn't quitting, LOL, and they gave up and let go. Now, on to the next 5...

5 mediums, 6 ways = 30 projects in November [Wenatchee photography + design]

Ha ha, it's not midnight yet so I'm still on track. You had your doubts, I know (so did/do I). But she slides in under the gun.

Project 3 (fabric): I made a wrap/cozy for my mason jar. I use mason jars every morning to take a strong double-bag tea to work. The lid keeps it from spilling in my purse or car on my drive in. But the glass is always super hot. Good for drinking, not good for holding. Enter the wrap. Pretty easy, I just measured and cut a piece of batting (fleece would work too), allowing for a bit of overlap and an extra 1/4" all around for seam allowance. Use scraps, quilt up the front side. Cut a backing to it, put them right sides together, include a thin hair elastic (the wrapped kind) in the seam of one end. Double or triple or quadruple stitch over the elastic part to keep it secure. Sew all around leaving about a 3" opening in the middle of the bottom seam. Turn it inside out, poke out the corners and either hand sew the opening closed or machine sew all the way around right next to the edge, closing up the opening in the process. Sew a large button about 3" in from the opposite side that has the elastic. Et Voila, warm drink, cool hands.

5 mediums, 6 ways = 30 projects in November [Wenatchee photography + design]

Project 2 (paper): I made this mini-album out of a set of 6x4" numerical (31) tabbed index cards. I decorated the cover with a vintage book page, some misted paint over a stencil, sewing machine stitching, a punched shape from an old card ("life") and some letter stickers. I used my wire-binder and punch to bind. Not entirely sure how I'll use it yet. One thought is as a perpetual notable dates calendar. On each page I list all the birthdays, anniversaries, etc that fall on that numbered day. No matter what month, I can turn to that page and see if anything is coming up. I have this routine when I am standing in a store where I'll say "OK, it's XXX month, today is XX. What is coming up that I need to remember? Anyone's birthday?" With this, no matter what the month, I can turn to that day (or a day coming up in like a week) and know what's on the horizon.

Another idea was as a one-line journal. Have you seen those? Journals where the intent is to just list one item for each day. The books are fairly small, yet contain 5 years worth of notable comments. I've seen them made in book format and in boxes with index cards. For that use, you could either write directly on the tabbed cards (always writing on the appropriately numbered day no matter what month) or write on index cards and add them to the book behind the correct tab by pulling apart and reclosing the binding.

5 mediums, 6 ways = 30 projects in November [Wenatchee photography + design]

I love the start of a new month. Each one signals a fresh start, a chance to create some lasting body of work. Photo-a-day projects, knit-alongs, holiday gift-a-thons. I love them all and fail to remember that my personal biggest challenge is not getting bored before the time period is up. I am more of an idea girl, only passionately in love with creating that one sample that shows my idea worked. It's pure genius! Look at what I created! I'm going to make 1,000 more! I often get so far as to buy all the supplies, get them started, assembly style (because I like being efficient) and then...well, I get bored. The project(s), in various states of doneness, sit on the kitchen table and taunt me, until, finally, I get rid of them.

Well, November rolled around and, guess what? I want to do a monthly project-a-day kind of project. Go figure. But this time it'll be different. No, really! I figure if I give myself a little variety (5 mediums), but still a little constraint (6 ways) (too much freedom is often paralyzing), I have a better chance of completing my self-imposed challenge. Plus, I'm hoping I end up with a few holiday gifts I can check off my list. Even if they only go to me :)

My 5 mediums are paper, photo, fabric, pen (real and/or digital) and string. Wish me luck!

Since I just came up with this hair-brained idea today, I'm keeping today's easy. I loved this simple photo, taken this morning, of the view through my windshield as I started my car to go to work. Love the color and suspended leaves. Fall is so magical. Decided to make this into a desktop background for my computer. To keep it functional as well as beautiful, I included a monthly calendar and some organizational panels for my desktop icons. (I place related icons on those colored areas so they don't get lost in the photo.)

Fall hiking [Wenatchee photography + design]

Awww, fresh air, crisp air. We're finally getting a little Fall without fires and smoke and although it seems like Winter is rapidly approaching (snow on the hills already), I plan to soak up every minute I can. Also, after having asked for snowshoes each year for more years than I can remember, I decided I'm just buying my own. Plan to keep the outdoor activity up even after the snow flies. Hopefully these views will last for quite a while longer, but if not, I'll be ready. Get outside wherever you are. Look up. Look out. Listen. You might just love what you hear.