November & a Month of Thanks

November—A Month of Thankfulness

Empty candy wrappers are scattered around the house.

The carved pumpkin has yet to show its age.

The deciduous trees have only recently begun their autumn fashion show.

October is barely behind us, but all eyes are facing forward—to the next two months of thankfulness, togetherness, and abundant generosity.

November is an important time to pause and reflect on the things for which we are thankful. To show my gratitude to the readers of this blog, I will post printables and free eBook reminders (with dates) throughout the month. This way, the kiddos in your life can have some fun while they are dreaming of turkey legs and pumpkin pie—while you find the time to plan and create the feast for the table.

My Thanksgiving-themed book, Pickled Pumpkin Pie, will be available for a free download on November 10^th and 11^th on Amazon. Jaime Buckley created the amazing artwork for this book. I am attaching three activities that are included in the printed version of the book.

Have fun and THANK YOU for reading this blog.

The link below will take you to the eBook on Amazon. The free download is scheduled for November 10 and 11, 2016.

Link to eBook: Click Here

Kickstarter Kickoff with a New Book Project

Nearly two years have passed. Where, oh where did the time go? I am sorry that this blog has not received any new posts from me for a while. I realize there are no excuses for such a long delay. However, my dear husband has been battling the Big ‘C’ and my time has been spent with him and working extra hours to help him with his much-needed time off from work. He hasn’t beaten it yet, but I’m confident he will. He’s a fighter and my bestest best friend!

I wanted to take this opportunity to share my newest project—a story and activity book for the kiddos with a Thanksgiving theme. I know that we haven’t even reached Valentine’s Day yet. However, this project was put on hold in 2014 and is begging to be released. The project will hopefully be launched by late spring.

So, without further delay, I’d like to introduce Pickled Pumpkin Pie—a story told in rhyme about a quirky uncle and the family that loves him. This story is a tribute to my dear Aunt Kitty. While she was not a lot like Uncle Pete in respect to his peculiar ways, Aunt Kitty always brought laughter and sunshine into our home with every visit. Families are what it’s all about, after all, and I wanted to find a way to thank Aunt Kitty for making my childhood fun.

For this latest book project, I teamed up with a very talented artist—Jaime D. Buckley. His comic book style was perfect for the characters of this story and I am thrilled and honored that he created the illustrations for this book. He is definitely a “Hero” to me~and to this project.

To help defray some of the costs for this book project, I have also ventured into the world of crowdfunding with a Kickstarter campaign. I discovered this great avenue for supporting projects when I backed a campaign in Baltimore, Maryland—the former home town of my father and grandfather.

Below are some sample activity pages from the print version of the book:

Artwork by Jaime D. Buckley

A Needle-felted Pumpkin Available for One of the Pledge Tiers

Below you will find the link to the project. I hope you consider making a pledge. Thank you in advance.

Click Here to Access the Kickstarter Campaign

Christmas Is Almost Here~Time to Slow Down!



Link to Bead Crochet Pattern

December 16th—where oh where has the month gone? In fact, where has 2013 gone? Nowadays, time certainly does seem to move faster for all of us, young and not-so-young. With busy schedules, many commitments, and the often self-imposed pressure to be all and do all, there is often little time to merely sit down, relax, and do a bit of nothing.

This year I decided, with a bit of coaxing from a coworker, to spend time doing some activities that seem to make time slow down. In other words, after a nearly 3 year break, I picked up my crochet hook and dragged my sewing tools out from the back of my closet.

Just as we adults often feel overwhelmed this time of year, the little ones in your lives probably feel the same way. As Christmas is just around the corner, one of the best gifts you can present to your children is the gift of time. Slow down and spend a few hours each day doing something that is slow-paced and relaxing. Watch some holiday shows. Read a few picture books. Play family games. The activity is irrelevant. The time you spend together is what matters most.

If you do decide to watch some holiday shows as an activity, why not help yourself relax and unwind even more by picking up your own crochet hook and knitting needles? Both have been known to lower blood pressure as well as lower the resting heart rate—a gift you can definitely offer to yourself this Christmas season.

The image at the top of this post will take you to a link to a pattern I created several years ago for a local newspaper. The link will take you to Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood’s blog where the pdf of the pattern is stored. The child-size purse takes about 2-3 hours to complete while the doll-sized purse can be whipped up in a little over an hour, about the time it will take to watch Rudolph, The Grinch, and A Charlie Brown Christmas-three of my favorite Christmas classics.

This post will be my last post for 2013. I hope to SPRING back into blogging action by mid-January.

 

Needle Felted Snowman Creation Based on Vintage Christmas Card...I LOVE snow!

 This post has been shared on the following blogs. Please check them out:

Crafty Moms Share dot Blogspot dot Com

Create-With-Joy dot Com

Merry Christmas, Everyone! Thank you for reading my blog this year.