Chalk Fun

So, I have a new chalk pencil.  I had been eyeing them for a long time on Amazon and finally got one.  I also realized today that chalk can be used on construction paper and card stock and not come off... unless you lick your finger and smudge it.  So there is room for error. 

During nap time today, I began a self-care e-course online.  A word stuck out that is most common but I need to be reminded sometimes, as we all do.  I thought of my chalk and black card stock and decided to make something.  I printed out the word, using my font of choice.  I traced and filled in the letters on the back of the paper.  The ink was solid black that i printed with so I could easily see it.  Next I placed it on my card stock, face up.  Meaning my chalk tracing was on the bottom.  I gently pressed the word and it magically appeared on my card stock.  I used my chalk pencil to trace it and filled it in with regular chalk.  Then made some squiggles and circles.  It made me happy and took up a little me time.  Which I needed.

 

And this is my new friend... chalk pencil... white.  I got two of them here.

 

 

The Votes Are In

After stalking the Robertson County Fair website for a day and a half, I ventured out today to pay a visit to the exhibit hall.  Really, I made a cake to enter, sort of as an excuse to get in... sort of an attempt at winning.  I didn't win in the "Un-Iced Cake" category and after sizing up the competition I could see why.  They were precious and had some major experience... to put it nicely.  I could picture my myself, and my two friends named Stacy, who also enter items in the fair, in another twenty years sitting in their chairs waiting to hear if our fried pies won.  Seriously.... I was out of my league.

I did manage to bring home several ribbons on my non-baked items at the fair this year.  Eleven ribbons out of twenty four entries.  I am tickled to death and can't believe it because competition is stout.  Here are pics of most of the things I won.  Followed by other views in the exhibit hall.  Please, visit the Robertson County Fair and if you live in this wonderful county, please consider entering your own items next year!  It is so much fun and I am so glad that I decided to again this year.

 Zinnia category... you're mine!

 Very fancy quilt!  What a keepsake.

 This is a 3 inch and under division.

Isn't it precious?

 Hello Honey.  Hope someday to have my own here.

 That big ole watermelon on the floor is the big mama that beat mine.

 I wanted to take a nap in this corner.

I love the smell of tabacco.

 Well... here's the green eggs... where's the ham??

 Look out ladies.... I am in on this one next year.

You'd better believe it!

 I totally admire the cherry tomatoes canned here. 

That's a lot of work!  I know... I did it a few years back... once.

New Shop Items

I am so excited to introduce a new area of my shop peppysis on etsy! It is a vintage clothing department and here are a few preview pics.

This is only a sample of vintage garments from the sixties and seventies that will be available in my shop very soon. 

 

They HAVE to go... or I will keep them.... and I don't need to.

 

P.S. Some of the accessories will also be available... YAY! :)

 

to the fair we go

i can't believe it's fair time again!  the robertson county fair is here and today was drop off day.  we have been so busy this summer that i had decided not to enter anything this year until this past week.  i take a lot of pictures during the year and can a lot of food.  i also love joining in a being a supporter of the fair.  so i decided to go through a year's worth of pictures and print some out.

we also grew the biggest watermelon that i have ever grown this year.  without the aid of fertilizers and all that jazz.  i was really not ready to pick it because the stem wasn't quite ready... but the size was.  it weighed in at 47 pounds and when we were at my grandaddy's today he insisted we measure it so he could brag to his friends.  it measured 23 1/2 inches long and 33 inches around.  big 'un in my book!

so, i will let you know how i come out.  i've been known to bring home a ribbon.  but every year i look at what other's bring in and their hard work... just like mine.  everyone deserves a ribbon. 

 it got a tad heavy!

Halloween Dreams

Being the summer lover that I am, it may be confusing that my favorite month is October.  Not just because my birthday falls in middle, plus three days, of October, but because somewhere around the end of my favorite season, Summer, the Halloween bug bites me.  I begin craving a Halloween party and spooky decorations including spider webs, pumpkins and blood dripping candles.  Year round I have odd things in the house, which aren't odd to me, but to most may be.  I keep things in and around our home in jars and odd places that I find in the woods, that most people would not touch.  I have bones, owl pellets and odd rocks, along with feathers everywhere.  I have the ability to spot feathers just like I have the ability to spot four leaf clovers.  A keen eye... maybe a keen witches eye... spookily spotting off items for spells and tinctures.  Really I just wanted to say the word tincture.  I'm not a witch....... or am I?

I surfed my gal Martha Stewart's website for inspiration this morning.  I also have a number of books on hold at the library right now, ready for pick up, and am craving the hosting of  Halloween party of my own this year... yet again.  Although I've never hosted one. 

Here are some of my favorites from the slide show on Martha Stewart's website.  I hope she doesn't mind me borrowing them.  If she sues me.... she'll win.

1. i love the plastic teeth in these little darling pumpkins.
2. i truly like old, black and white photos in old frames.  you can even spray paint cheap frames and print pics online.  easy.  i also like the specimens under glass.
3. this room reminds me of a spooky house on monteagle mountain near beersheba springs hotel from being a child and peeking in the windows of some one's summer home. 
4. a dc craft idea.  card stock, punch holes, thread yarn through... instant spider webs.
5. i like the pumpkin on the chair and the whole look of the room.
6. tea stained cheesecloth.  easy and cheap... like i like.
7. i love these mice.  i also love them template she includes for free with this one.
8. bats on a clothespin.  how simple and brill.
9. glow sticks in balloons.  once again, simple and brill.
10. this is definitely do-able.  and spooky.  especially if the are in a room where people are turning the lights off and on.  a silhouette murder scene.

ah.. if only i lived where you could see my house from the road.  just for the night.

here's the link to this fabu collection of Halloween ghoolness.  there are 75 in this slide show.

Dino Days Bulletin Board

It seems like I change my bulletin board at the DC once a month.  I love what I have done but I get tired of looking at it after a while and am ready for a change.  I have been pondering on what to change it to, since Fall isn't here yet but summer seems to be slipping away too.  So I decided to pick something that a couple of the boys here are really in to right now... dinosaurs! 

I always start by sketching out my brilliant ideas in my journal.  Nine times out of ten it is really close to my original drawing.  I couldn't quite figure out what to do for the background.  What materials to use rather.  I decided to bring my freezer paper down this morning and I am glad I did.  During nap time today, I was reading my book quietly and somehow it hit me.  So I got up and got to work. 

I cut the freezer paper as best I could to cover the cork board.  I drew out a copy of my sketch.  Please keep in mind that I am no artist.  I merely trust in the finished product that I conjure up in my head and it will eventually appear.  I used watered down craft paint, like I explained using in my water color journal last October, and it worked great. 

For the dinosaurs, I printed out easy coloring pages and had the kiddos color them.  I cut them out and taped them to the scene.  Whala!  Instant dino environmento!

*Please excuse my pics as I forgot my camera today and had to use my cell phone.

days of our day care

The soap opera version, minus the drama, of views of daily life here on our farm. 

I tell ya, this place sure keeps me busy.  Between the day care and life in general on our farm I am one busy girl.  Last Sunday afternoon, I put up 48 jars of green beans.  Whew.  Shaun picked five grocery sacks full of beans, my sister and I broke them up and I canned all afternoon.  My big pressure canner holds nine pint jars, which is what I prefer to can beans in.  I wound up breaking the other canner out around 9:00, which holds seven jars, to avoid being up until 10:30 canning.  It was quite a job.  Last year I put up 43 jars of green beans in four canning sessions.  We have one more picking and canning to go. 

We put out an extra row this year for the day care.  Yeah, I know, green beans are cheap at the grocery, blah blah.  I saved about 45.00 alone in green beans with that afternoon of canning on Sunday.  Plus they just taste better and I know no pesticides were used on them. 

And they are beautiful!

Giggle Box Garden Goodies

 Green beans from our garden at the house.

 Quite a job.  I don't know if I am still tired from that day or my new hours. 

 Good times in the sand box.  This was their bakery goods on display.

 Craft room junk.

 Artists

 Playing school.

Back To School Notebooks

This is a really easy way to dress up plain ole spiral notebooks.  I am extremely fond of Mod Podge, as you know, but this time we used simple glue sticks and magazine cut outs.  The cut out were from previously looked at magazines and consisted of patterns, cakes, interior stuff and colors.  We also hunted for letters to spell out the name of the carrier of the notebook to make a just a tad more special. 

They turned out super cute, don't you think?!?!

 one of my dc helpers... aka my niece.

ain't she purdy?