Happy Friday!

I can't believe it is already October 9th!  

This year is going by so quickly.

Halloween Decorations

I have decorated our house for Halloween - 

it is probably my favorite holiday to decorate for.   

So fun!

Halloween Mantle - I'm really enjoying the fabric swag 

I added behind the Halloween banner that I made last year.  

Mercury glass (fake mercury glass...). One can never have too much :)

I got the cute black and white pumpkin this year at Hobby Lobby.

This is my favorite Autumn decoration.  I love it because my mom gave it to me just a few years before she passed away.  Every time I look at it, I think of how much I love my mom and how much she loves me.

A dear friend gave this to me for my birthday a few years ago.  

Don't you love having items that remind you a certain time

 or of someone special?

I made this last week... I think it still needs something...

My Halloween Village

Don't you feel like you can walk down this pathway to go trick-or-treating!

So many of the pumpkins in my collection came from friends.  

I love that!!!

I love this little Scherenschnitte (German Paper cutting), 

pumpkin picture that my husband and I got while on vacation 

in Pennsylvania about 10 years ago.

In the Garden

My garden is the pits right now...  It was really a nice early spring and my garden was fabulous, but then it got hot and dry...  Right now the only things thriving in my garden, are sweet potatoes (hopefully - I haven't dug any yet), lots of jalapeño peppers and a little okra.  I need to get out and do some weeding and maybe a little planting.  But, I have been crafting so much, that gardening has taken a back seat...

Toad Lilys in the shady area of the yard - so sweet!!

A Little Cooking

I made this delicious salad last Sunday night for my father-in-law and his friend who came for dinner.  My husband grilled some steak and chicken and we had this lovely salad and bread to go with it - super yummy!  I got the recipe from here.  It is a Barefoot Contessa recipe.  I love her!!!  I have never been disappointed from a Barefoot Contessa recipe.

I did change up the recipe a tad (as I usually do).  

Below is the recipe with a very few changes.

Wild Rice Salad

1 cup wild rice blend - cooked according to package directions

2 oranges peeled and cut into pieces (all white parts, pith, removed)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons orange juice

2 tablespoons pear infused vinegar (I used this instead of the raspberry in the original recipe)

1 cup dark purple grapes cut in half

1/2 cup toasted pecans (350 degrees 8 minutes)

1/4 cup dried cranberries

3 scallions cut into tiny slices

salt and pepper to taste

While the rice is still warm, place in a mixing bowl.  Add oranges, grapes, pecans, cranberries and scallions to bowl.  In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix orange juice, olive oil, vinegar, a dash of salt and pepper (to taste) and mix to blend well. Pour dressing all at once on salad and toss.  Allow to sit and flavors deepen for about 15 minutes at room temperature.  (Also really good cold)

This is the wild rice blend I used:

I purchased at my local, HEB grocery.

Crafting for Christmas

Joy wreath I made for Christmas.  I will have about 2 more of these available in my Joeby's Studio craft business.  I'm still trying to decide if I want to do an Etsy.com shop, or just sell locally...

I have had laryngitis for 2 weeks...  But, I am confident that I will be able to talk normally tomorrow... ha ha.  My husband says that I have whispered that to him for 13 days...

I hope that you have a wonderful weekend!

~ Joeby

Craft Fair and Birthday

Yesterday was my 2nd Craft Fair at Grace Lutheran Church in Conroe, TX.  It was so much fun!!!  I felt a little calmer entering this fair since we had so much fun last weekend.  

This week I was crazy busy making items for the fair.  It is funny what sales at one fair is completely different to the next sale.  That makes it even more fun to come up with something new!  I am having so much fun.  I love making things.  I am even thinking of opening an etsy.com shop.  Lots of people at the fair yesterday and the one last week wanted me to open one :)  

Once again, I couldn't have done this without my sweet husband helping me.  I have the best husband ever!!

The pictures aren't the best from this craft fair.  The lighting was off.

I love the wooden Joy wreaths - I have sold several and each sell makes me do a happy dance :)

Halloween is such a fun holiday!!  The "Wicked" wreath was inspired from the musical "Wicked."

Mustache Fun :)

September Birthday

I had a big surprise for my birthday earlier this month.  My husband left clues on the day before my birthday around the house to take me on a little trip to celebrate and get away for a few days.  I didn't find out where we were going until we got to the gate at the airport!  I can't believe he kept such a secret without me finding out. 

It turned out to be a trip to Las Vegas, and then to California to visit our youngest daughter and her husband.  I was SO excited!!!

We stayed at the Hotel - Aria, in a fabulous room with a fabulous view.  I wanted to walk that first morning since we were in a "healthy" competition with our DC kids to see who got the most steps with our fitbits :)  We walked down the Las Vegas strip.  It is so much fun to walk when most of the partiers are sleeping!  And, desert air in the mornings is cool and refreshing!!  We walked past the Hotel Paris where they were serving breakfast outside on the patio of this little French restaurant.  We didn't have much money because Al didn't bring his wallet.  He just stuck a little money in his pocket for me a diet Coke on the way back to the hotel after we walked.  Luckily, we had "just enough" for breakfast.  It was so good!!  The quiche was mine and the waffles were Al's - he never turns down something sweet :)

Giada's for Birthday dinner!  So good!  Totally recommend it.  We went to Las Vegas earlier this year, and ate at Giada's then, also.

Lobster Ravioli - so good!!!

I was too full for Birthday dessert - but our waiter insisted 

on bringing me a treat :)

We got tickets to see David Copperfield after dinner at the MGM Grand.

Highly recommend it!

Big Bear, California

The next morning we drove from Las Vegas towards San Clemente, California where my daughter, Lily, and her husband, Michael, have moved.  On the way, I wanted to either go through Palm Springs or Big Bear.  We decided on Big Bear since it was a pretty hot day.  Big Bear is in the mountains and was nice and cool and so pretty there!!!  

Would love to go back.

Fish Tacos in San Clemente - so good!!

We got to Michael's and Lily's in time for dinner.  

I was so excited to see my girl!!!

My Birthday Cake

Lily made me a fabulous birthday cake!!!  

I was so surprised and the cake was delicious!!!  Isn't it pretty?!?!

The next day we drove to Solvang.  It is north of Santa Barbara.  It was quite a drive, but we loved going there one other time on vacation, so decided to visit in the car and enjoy each other's company. We had such a fun day!!!  We were starving after being in terrible California traffic for so long (on Labor Day weekend).  We found a cute pub to have lunch.  I got fish and chips and it was delicious!

Michael and Al in Solvang.  I did just a little shopping 

that we had to bring home :)

Countryside in the Solvang area 

Breakfast on the next day

I feel like we ate our way from Nevada to California...

My first cronut, too. and it was delicious!!!  

And, the blueberry fritters were pretty fabulous...

After our super healthy breakfast... We headed south to San Diego!  We went to the Birch Aquarium. It was lovely!!  My iPhone took all of these pictures, and I am especially impressed with the cool seahorse picture!

Al & me in San Diego with the lovely Pacific Ocean in the background! 

 I'm ready to go back :)

My sweet girl and me

After the aquarium, we went to see the San Diego Padres play the Los Angeles Dodgers!  It was so fun!!!  The stadium is fabulous

 and the weather was fabulous.

Petco Field in San Diego

September has been good to me!  I loved my birthday trip - especially visiting Lily, and I have loved starting a little crafting business - Joeby's Studio. 

I hope you have a great week!

~ Joeby

Back to Blogging!

It has been over a year since I last blogged!  How did the time go by so quickly?!
One of my "problems" was the death of my computer.  Where all of my fabulous pictures were stored.    I got a terrible virus that ate my computer.  After much sorrow for the loss of my beloved HP computer, I made the decision to get an iMac.  However... I have been scared of it... no idea how to move things around.  Well, I have finally learned how to do a few things!  Most importantly, I have learned how to access my pictures (not just look at them)!

Crafting in Joeby's Studio

For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to make "something" and sell it.  When I was pretty young, I made yarn dolls and sold them at school.  I also went through the phase of gluing beads on shells and selling them at school.  Then, I made flowers and sold them at school.  I was probably not supposed to do that, but I never got in trouble.
The bug to sell things has been churning a few years now, and I took the plunge.  Yesterday, I entered my first craft sale and sold things to other people!  It was so much fun, and SO much work!  I loved every minute of it!

Halloween candy dome - I love these!  Takes forever to make, but they turn out so cute!

Felt Trees - in my current favorite color of grey :)

Burlap pumpkins with real pumpkin stems and ribbon leaves.

Molded paper clay snowmen with hand knitted little hats.  

Little hats are pretty easy to make :)

Part of the set up yesterday.  I really didn't know what to expect, or really how to display anything.  When I was setting up (or even thinking about it), I could not remember one booth from all of the previous craft shows/sales that I had ever been to.  When looking online for ideas, nothing seemed to be similar to what I wanted to do or what I had to sell.  I hated to spend too much money on "displays" and then end up hating the whole process.  I am thankful that we had a couple of tables, and that I had a few pieces to display at different heights.  It was a perfect first show.  I am very thankful for my sweet husband, who helps me in everything and totally supports me.  I could not do this without him.  We had such fun day together!  At one point, he did offer to buy everything so we could go home - but, I think he was teasing!

So, "Joeby's Studio" has begun :)  I am so excited to make things for other people.  I love to receive hand made items, and I love to make something that hopefully someone else will enjoy.  I think I got the crafting bug from my Grandmother Sutton.  She loved to make things and would love to see these items I am making.

I hope that your week will be a good one!

~ Joeby