Thursday, October 30, 2008

UP at 3am







Ok well Barney our puppy got me up being a wild dog at 3 this am so got a cup of coffee and went to my craft room. WHERE else would a girl go at 3 am??? LOL ok well here are a couple pics of the altered microscope slide pendants into ornaments i made. PLUS this country farm girl LOVES charm bracelets so made one with my "boys" pics on it. This will make you laugh, i was big into FFA in high school and my mom and dad bought me a charm bracelet with PIGS on it!! YES pigs in different pastel colors and i still have that bracelet too!
SO made one for myself and will make a few to sell at my upcoming shows. I am going to start a blog just on my altered stuff called Altered Wearables by Chicken Scratch. Does that sound ok?? Since my crafts are Chicken Scratch Primitives and well the farm is Chicken Scratch Farm and Bake shoppe.
Ok well hope yall have a super duper wonderful day. The sun is shinin out here and it actually is almost 50 outside and not windy!! YEAH!!
Talk to ya soon

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

First snowfall

Oh my goodness we had our first actual snow yesterday and today. It sleeted, snowed, and rained the last 2 days and it has been COOOOOOOOOLD! only 40 out now and goin to get colder tonight. Well it is almost nov and we have had worse weather than this. Sept and Oct were absolutely beautiful and we did enjoy all fall has to offer in our great state!! I am working on lots of new paintings and will post some pics asap. This nov a freind and I are putting on our own craft show in a little town hall we rented, it will be the sat after thanksgiving and we are going to offer lunch and make your own cookie trays plus have some already made ones to purchase. Will keep ya posted on this!! Well have a super night and if you are like us STAY WARM!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

New creations for me






















Well here are pics of 2 of my altered baby books i finished. I love love love the sepia pics they are how i want to make the papers actually look now!! LOL well just playin with dig cam to see what i havent tried before. I am still havin difficulties with taking close ups though!! URRRRGGGGGGG!!! I took a couple pics of my additions to my altered wearable jewelry i am making for my upcomin craft shows. They are fun and we pulled out the ol glass cutter bought several years ago at a show but NEVER have even used that dang thing so NOW hehehehe will play with it to make small charm bracelet altered pieces!!

Now that yesterday was the last market day for us =( will miss all my market buds that is for sure!! will have lots more time to "create". Hopefully work wont get in the way too much!!LOL

right.

It is so danged windy here it is blowin all our beautiful colored leaves around and down like a rain downpour but the "girls" (our chickens) are runnin here and there all over the farm lovin this sunny cool day. I do have some flats of greens planted in my little greenhouse and the spinach is doin wonderful and the arugula so hopefully our friends and us will enjoy them into early winter time. My mom and I are plannin on cannin more of our applesauce and then some apple butter yet and that is about it for awhile. Will hopefully have extra made when market opens up next spring to take along. Well better get my self busy here and get in my craft room and CREATE!! yeah~~ have a wonderful rest of the weekend!! TAKE CARE and dont forget to live each day fully!!!

New creations for me











Gosh i sure will miss all my market buds!! Yesterday was the last market day for us and it sure was cold a dear friend and I sat in the back of my opened trailer with a heater going and of cource a pot of fresh steamin hot coffee!! I am so glad i bought that coffee maker to take with!! LOL Well fall is rapidly comin to and end round here, the winds are howlin out there which in turn is makin our beautiful colored leaves fall like a rain downpour.






But on a happier note here are pics of my newest additions to my altered wearables jewelry!! LOVE making these guys and ordered some supplies this am from Tim Holtz who i adore his talent!! Ok so far I have several microscope slide pendants and soon will have a pic of the small ones we are cutting to make charm bracelets with! Plus I was playing around with our dig cam and didnt even know you could change the colors from blk and white to full color and sepia!! WOW look at the diff of the baby altered books i did up. Love the Sepia ones and wish that is how they were in person! LOL

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

AlTeREd ArT PeNDaNts


Here are a few more pendants i worked on today!! FINALLY getting to make some new things for my holiday craft shows. Well i am sure having fun playin with papers!! Gotta admit i am soooooooooooooooooooo adicted to paper!! GOTTA get more!! LOL
Have a great night!!
"live life joyfully"

Apples and Apples




Well my mom and I made thick-n-chunky applesauce the other day i think it looks so good in the jars. We added some cinnamon and nutmeg and allspice and she had it on pancakes!! Shortcut to making apple pancakes i guess. LOL We mixed our jonathon, ida red and macintosh apples so if you love applesauce we recommend using a few kinds for a unique flavor.

Well we are expecting so cold weather blowin in and possibly maybe some ................... well.................... some .................. yuk!!! CANT even say that nasty word **SNOW** oh next week. Hope not i am just not ready for all that.

It is only 46 outside today but the sun is shining and the air smells so good and FALLish!! LOL too early for snow i say.

Here is a pic of a new project i have been working on for way too long and finally got some done. I am loving altered art things and the micro slide pendants are so much fun!! Got 7 of them done early this am. This particular one is for your MOM or just a mom or yourself .
Gotta run some errands so hope yall have a great day!! ENJOY the fall!!


Sunday, October 19, 2008

PLEASE CLICK on this link to help feed abused and neglected furry kids!!

THANKS so much they need it alot!!

click everyday





http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=3">http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=3

My baby and Carmel Apples

Ok well my baby Barney who is now 8 mo old!! Isnt he a cutie pie?? We had an order for a dozen of our gourmet triple dipped drizzeled carmel apples. First we dip in our homemade carmel mix then dip in milk chocolate then roll in asst chopped candies or nuts then drizzel with melted white and dark chocolate!! talk about yummy!!! We are also making gourmet dipped pretzel rods you could take a peek at them on my etsy site
http://chickenscratchprims.etsy.com
Also see some other yummy goodies we been baking! SPECIAL ORDERS are welcomed!! just email me.
Have a super weekend!!





RECIPE

OK here is a recipe for a semi-homemade bun recipe a friend sent me. WE made them also stuffed with sliced ham and mushrooms.

1 16 oz pkg hot roll mix
3/4 cup shredded swiss cheese (3 oz)
2 thinly sliced small onions
1 TBSP fresh rosemary or 1 tsp dried crushed
1 TBSP olive oil

Grease 2 baking sheets, prepare hot roll mix as per pkg EXCEPT stir in cheese with liquid. continue following directions. After dough rests divide into 12 portions shape into balls. On lightly floured surface roll into 4 in round circle place on sheets cover and set aside.
In skillet cook onion and rosemary in olive oil until tender. Make an indentation in top of each dough circle, spoon onion mix ontop of each bun. I like to add just a pinch of kosher salt to each top after brushing with an egg wash. Now cover and let rise (approx 40 min) until double. Preheat oven to 375, bake 12-15 min until tops are golden. Cool store in airtight container. Can freeze for up to 4 month wrapped and put in freezer safe bags.

Also here is a great Chai Tea mix recipe i found and love!!
Great also as a gift to friends, coworkers, mail carriers, etc......

makes 4 servings per bag
1 1/4 cups nonfat dry powdered milk
1/4 cup black tea leaves
12 cardamon pods (found at a local health food store)
4 2 in pieces of cinnamon sticks
2 tsp dried lemon peel
layer ingredients in clear bag, starting with milk ending with lemon peel. Seal and store in cool dry place up to 3 months.
You could add this to a shipping label tag tied around bag
To make Chai: in lg saucepan combine 4 cups water and bagged mix. Bring to boil, remove from heat cover and let stand for 5 min. strain thru sieve, paper coffee filter or cheese cloth. Sweeten with honey to taste.

*for gift you could tuck a cut piece of cheesecloth and the bag of mix in a large mug and wrap with clear cellophane, add a pkg of homemade cookies and your all set!! *

HOMEMADE GIFTS ARE THE BEST!!

Fall pics












Well happy happy fall sunday!!! WOW it is cold here~BRRRRRRRR 42 degrees right now but hopefully will get up in the 60s today. I wanted to share some pics i took of our farmstand and all the beautiful fall colors around. Gosh fall is just a great time of the year. We love it so much we got married in late oct outside at the farm back in 2000. 8 yrs already!! Where does it go?






Thursday, October 16, 2008

Fall greetings






















Well only 2 market days left =( the summer has just flewn by and dont remember half of it!! WHAT happened to those long dog days of summer?? As we grow up and get a bit older those long days arent so long anymore!!! Do you remember days that you were actually bored as a kid and complained about having nothing to do?? GOSH growin up on a farm there was always something to do and of cource chores all the time but still boredom did occasional set in. NOW however there are just NOT enough hours in the day to be bored!! Do you have that same problem? Well we planted a few flats of arugula and spinach and am tryin some beans in the greenhouse, which are all sprouted now! hoping they will produce something before the cold sets in but i am thinkin i will put at least a small light bulb hangin out there to keep it a bit warmer. Gotta go cut some blueberry bushes for cuttings and will plant them in pots to see what happens. I sure am wanting some fresh picked greens for a nice spinach salad!! Well will wait as the store greens just dont compare. Above is a pic of our Silly Dilly Beans, our green beans pickeled and canned. they are wonderful on a salad, as an appetizer, on a veggie tray or just eatin out of jar. Plus after picking some of our peaches we made peach butter. This weekend my mom and I are making spiced thick n chunky applesauce with some of our extra apples.

Oh well really gettin in to altered art wearables now too!! LOVE charm bracelets and necklaces so here's pics of a couple i did this week. They are on my etsy site http://www.etsy.chickenscratchprims.com/ chick em out if ya get a minute. Also am goin to make some soldered glass ones which my glass is on its way in the mail so will post pics of them and am goin to be takin special orders on them. My first one will be of my "boys" of cource!




I will post a few market pics and since we are at our peak colors here which is absolutely stunning this year will take some pics if the sun is out tomorrow. Hope yall have a great rest of week and weekend!!