September Fades Away...

I realize my photos have absolutely nothing to do with my blog title.  The days are passing so quickly and I am not keeping up with my desire to post more often.  The calendar is showing me another month is quickly fading away.  Just like the greens of Summer which are now turning golden, and sunset and crimson we are Falling into Autumn.  It will be time for Mr. C and I to take our annual Cruise in Clara (our trusty vintage Rambler) to view the gorgeous Fall Foliage colors. 
However, I have been busy with keeping my house and outdoor chores current.  We actually had a showing this week and remain hopeful that our "one buyer" will find us soon.  In the meantime we are preparing for another Winter here. 
I asked Mr. C to help me draw a circle with twelve spokes because I was having great difficulty doing so on my own.  Math and Engineering are not even in my realm of knowledge...Mr. C is the double Engineer and therefore I knew he could do it.  Oh Dear!  He took me to his "white board" and it became lesson time.  Yikes!  After a while of me trying to listen and really show interest he brought out his "tools of the trade" from his high school and college years.  I LOVE these tools and begged him to never get rid of them.  The white handles are ivory...SWOON!

After a couple hours Mr. C did in fact draw me a proper circle with twelve spokes and I was elated.  Before I could snatch the paper he did exactly what I knew he would do.  Yes!  He ripped it up and told me I could use his tools to draw my own.  Gulp!  Thank goodness I did pay attention and it was very fresh in my mind.  He left the room and I was able to actually produce the proper 1" circle and the required twelve spokes I needed.  I was more than proud of my accomplishment and showed my teacher.  "Well done!"  I thanked him for showing me how and letting me use his treasured tools.
You will have to wait until another post to see what I needed this for.  Can anyone venture a guess?  P.S.  The image in the lower left is the hand drawn one I did before lessons and you can see it is way off center.  Bad!
Our weather has been cooler and lovely.  The Fall colors are happening all over town. I would welcome some rain. Until then I shall hand water more of the lawn as it is still dry even with our nightly drip watering.  The new sod really gets thirsty!
I am enjoying seeing what everyone is creating and decorating.  There will be no decorating here while we are listed.  The brokers do not want anyone offended.  Our world is complicated!
Blissfully Falling into Autumn...<3  

CQ ATC Swap Challenge...

I haven't been very creative of late.  The season changing and days getting darker earlier and cooler temperatures all have me feeling like I should be preparing for hibernation.  Summer really is my favorite time of year and now it is over.  So...I decided to take on a challenge!  Pam of Kitty and Me Designs is offering a CQ (Crazy Quilt) ATC (Artist Trading Card) swap.  Well I adore ATCs so that is a non decision.  And I did take an online CQ course from Kathy Shaw of Shawkl.com to learn the basics of CQ.  I also follow Renee and her CQ treasures.  Renee is offering how to's on her blog here.
And I also follow Mary Anne of Magpies Mumblings who does amazing CQ.  So I begin...

With most of my sewing supplies either packed and put away or donated away I gathered some fabrics my daughter recently mailed to me.  I have no idea where she acquired them because she doesn't sew.  And I did find a few very small scraps in another bin of mine.  Well, I never said I am organized...completely.  LOL

Thank you Renee for your wonderful tutorials on how to piece such a small venue.  ATCs are only 2.5" x 3.5" when finished.

 

 

Here I am beginning my sewing.  Thank you Mr. C for unpacking my machine and cabinet.

 

I must admit without Renee's tutorial and my trusty iPad set up I would still be trying to manage with my fabrics and piecing them.  I am feeling "challenged" already!

I made three different foundations just to be certain I have one that will work.  I admit I made a miscalculation and have no way to hoop these.  Well I suppose I could sew them to a larger muslin.
Maybe that is what I should do so I have a tight tension on my seams when I embellish them.

Now I must find my muslin to sew a larger fabric that will fit my hoop.  I have one more foundation but Mr. C's laptop I must use to blog with photos somehow ate that photo.  See...I am already challenged and I have barely begun my CQ ATC journey.
As I have mentioned our weather is chilly.  I am already cold and we are not even close to freezing which comes with Winter. Brrr...
We met with our Broker and had an interesting conversation.  The Real Estate market here continues to be depressed and there are no buyers for our home.  Yes, we could still get lucky however that is a very long shot.  So we remain listed and hopeful.  Mr. C is absolutely gutted.  His dream is to move.
I am truly enjoying seeing your wonderfully creative projects and Fall decorating.  Our home remains devoid of any decorations so as not to offend anyone who "might" come to view our property.
Falling into Autumn (Spring down under) and Creative Bliss sweet friends...<3

Creative Snippets Happening...

In all my downsizing and sorting and purging and rearranging I am finding clever uses for some of my things. I had this wonderful canvas tote sitting in a cupboard filled with stuff.  I donated most of that stuff and repurposed this fabulous tote.  I emptied a desk drawer that was overflowing with all my Random Acts of Mail cards, stickers etcetera and my Love Notes postcards etcetera.  I also now have easy access to my mailing supplies and fun pens and markers.  I can now carry this upstairs or downstairs or in fact to a class if I were taking one.  This is so much nicer than digging through an overstuffed drawer.

Another day recently I decided to get ahead on some little gifts I like to give.  Now even though my bead drawers are packed away and my bead podium is gone I still have access to my beads.  Not too easy but doable.  I decided to concentrate only on Millifiore glass heart beads.  I made lots of earrings and charms for my gift cupboard.

Here they all are ready for gifting. I use simple place cards for keeping them ready to personalize and gift to someone. I was feeling quite accomplished.  Just a small "mess" on my large table and one that I could quickly hide away if need be.
 

Next up were some very easy ribbon bookmarks I created.  I was invited to join a group of very talented and creative ladies and I was not going empty handed.  Shopping from my supplies I came up with fun buttons and stitched them onto some fun grosgrain ribbon and the plaid ribbon.  The ladies were thrilled (my word not theirs) and I must say bats were way more popular than the spiders.  This button on ribbon bookmark is an easy and quick gift anytime of year or occasion. The buttons vary so much and so does ribbon.  Have fun with making these.  If you don't hand sew you can always glue the button to the ribbon.
Mr. C and I finished the garage and it looks amazing.  He painted the entire ceiling and it took two gallons of high gloss white.  I tried but my arms just weren't strong enough so I was the ultimate Schlepper!  Bring on our "one" special buyer...Please!  Due to the economy here in small town America Mr. C and I are preparing to hunker in for yet another Winter.
Prayers and continued Healing Energy for everyone affected by storms...Fire or Water!  Mother Nature is NOT happy with us at all and we need to do something to get her happy once again.
Creative Bliss my friends...<3

We Labored Weekend...

America just finished Labor Day Weekend.  So Mr. C and I decided to LABOR!!!  We emptied most everything out of the double car garage. This garage is large and completely drywalled.

Mr. C had to do some prep work and that was two days.  This large wall had a boo-boo from the time I drove in and was trying to park my truck.  Oops...I hit a wooden shelving unit that sat against the wall and had lots of wood mouldings and pieces on it.  Well, the shelving unit got stuck into the drywall and made a long hole.  As you can see here Mr. C worked his magic and now the wall is good as brand new.  This is only the primer spread on.  Thank you Mr. C for fixing my boo-boo.

We worked all four days of the holiday weekend and it was HOT!  Not only HOT but not a spec of breeze and at times very smokey from the fires in CA and humid from Storm Lydia coming up from Baja.  I think Mr. C lost a few pounds and that is a good thing.

He stayed well hydrated with water and Peach Snapple he likes.  Wine had to wait for the evenings.  Did I mention this garage is large? Very large.  Two gallons of paint just for the side walls and the garage door wall. We will need another two gallons of paint to finish the back wall and the ceiling.  No we didn't finish the garage and hope to do so this weekend coming up. 

We are painting gloss white and it has totally brightened up the garage.  Of course it is fresh and clean also.  None of the Real Estate people we interviewed ever said a word about this garage but we believe it is going to help with a sale.  When Mr. C and I are out searching for our next home, the garages are a top priority and we want large and finished and clean.  After all Mr. C and I both love cars and vehicles and take pride in what we own and drive.  Mr. C's garages are very important!!
Enough about this.
September is rushing along just as quickly as the previous months of this year.  I might even try to make a list of what I need to accomplish this month.  I am not very good at list making however I feel it might help me "discover" (my 2017 word) the priorities of what I want to actually get done.
I missed getting my new box of Crayola crayons or anything else related to Back to School.  I seem to do less shopping and hoarding since the reality of downsizing and purging entered into my routine.
I believe you all are busy creating and decorating for Fall and Halloween.  I love seeing what y'all are making and decorating. 
Prayers for all of Hurricane Harvey victims and now for Irma that is happening.  <3