10 in 2010

2010 has been an eventful & busy year for us. And since with the close of 2010 (in seven hours here), we will also have said goodbye to the first decade of this century, I thought I'd look back a bit and celebrate 10 in 2010!

* After a few attempts, I created a new blog header this year and finally created a matching blog button.  Come & grab it, if you'd like!

<center><a href="http://timecrafted.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Time Crafted" src="http://i1139.photobucket.com/albums/n547/TimeCrafted/TmeCraftedBlogButton.jpg"/></a></center>

*  Time Crafted celebrated its first blog birthday in 2010 and I'm looking forward to celebrating number two quite soon!

*  We, as a family, fulfilled one of my main goals behind choosing the One Little Word {Life} for 2010 with our veggie and herb garden.  We all enjoyed planting, tending, watering, and harvesting summer squash, zucchini, tomatoes and many other tasty delights.  Looking forward to continuing this family activity in 2011 as well!

*  Created a page dedicated to Autism & GF/CF Links and have recently updated with three fab mama bloggers who share their stories (they are most definitely Worth the Click).  I'll be adding some fantastic gluten free, GF/CF, and other food allergy/sensitivity bloggers on that page in the coming weeks!

*  2010 had me spreading my wings creatively through photos & fun Flickr play, altering journals (I didn't do a lot of altering in the past & now I'm loving it, with more altered projects in the works!), writing & bringing story back into  my words, and while I've stalled a bit in my journey with paint, I'm looking forward to pushing through in 2011.

*  Signed up for a social media hot spot that I never thought I would get into:  Twitter.  And can I tell you a little secret?  Lean in and I'll tell ya.......I really like it!  Come find me @timecrafted!

*  Found some uber fun weekly hops to participate in, including Tickled Pink at 504 Main, Writer's Workshop at Mama's Losin' It, and SITS Back 2 Blogging event in September.

*  Speaking of 504 Main, Holly has put together "THE BEST of Tickled Pink 2010" this week, with five different categories and I was incredibly honored that my story Meet Grandma meets Jerry Rice has been included in Part 3A Cool Ideas!

Thanks so much, Holly!

*  Holly is also doing a Tickled Pink link up today for this Best of 2010 party and I very quickly knew which post o' mine is my favorite this year.  I've linked up with a story of my Four Musketeers and our adventures through over twenty years of friendship:  A Special Day...Five years in the Making.

*  And I've saved the best for last.  What's that you ask??  YOU!!  You are the part of the blogging equation.  And I'm grateful for all the connections I've made in the beginning, the new people I've connected with in 2010, and I can't wait to continue in 2011!

Thank you for each of your visits and every comment, tweet, and email!  I can be a chatterbox in real life and I love chatting with you! :> 

Here's to a wonderful 2011 for all of us!  What plans do you have for the coming year?

'Mater Moment

Our garden is growing with gusto and Hubby & I enjoyed the first tomato of the season, off the organic vine. 

Our sweet boy got so excited when he saw the first tomato turn red, that he promptly picked it....probably a couple of days early.  No worries, it ripened up the rest of the way on the counter.  Hubby sliced it up, passed around the sweetest tasters for all of us to try, and then made us BLTs for lunch with the rest of it.  Would you believe that was my very first BLT?!

Here's another question for you, what kind of tomato is this?!  We have no idea.  Its shaped like a heart, super red, sweet, and this one is almost, but not quite, the size of a tennis ball.  The vine is between four and five feet tall (its hard to tell because after it grew out the top of the tomato cage, it started following along the low 'fence' we have around the garden to keep the cats & critters out of it).  Whatever it is, its delish and producing like crazy.  Now, we're just waiting for more to turn red!

Oh yea....as spoiled as I am to be able to go outside to take pics most of the time, there is one challenging aspect...our kitty cat, Bonnie.  Bonnie, meet Tomato.  I'm sure she was mighty disappointed that what I had brought out was a treat for us and not her!

Does anyone have a tasty tomato recipe they want to share?  Please do!  It looks like we're going to have quite a bit this summer to slice, dice, and taste. :>

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If you were coming here, looking for something creative....say, that composition book that I said I started (in my last post)?!  It will be going up on Tuesday or Wednesday, so please do come back.  I think its coming out pretty cute! :>

Celebrating {Life} & Independence Day

* * * * * *

Wishing all of my friends in the United States a very

Happy 4th of July!

Guess what greeted Hubby when he was checking on our veggie garden last night?!  This beautiful and scrumptious organic crooked neck squash literally popped off when he moved a large leaf to see what might be growing!  We were already roasting some organic zucchini (purchased, as our zucchini are still growing), so we added this beauty!  You can't get more Garden to Table than that!!

{Life} is my One Little Word for 2010 and this beautiful veggie is a product of part of what and why I chose {Life} as my word this year.  The whole family has been in on this veggie garden, from planting it, to tending & watering it, to now harvesting & eating from it.  We are growing life, living life, and personally, loving the life that this small garden is bringing into our lives as a family.

Hubby will be barbequeing later today and even later, we will pull the telescope out to stargaze and watch some of the high fireworks set off for the show at the high school from our backyard.  What fun have you been having this weekend?  And if this is your holiday too, what does it hold for you?

One Little Word Update

When I chose my One Little Word for 2010, I chose {Life}, and while there were many reasons to choose that word, one particular reason swayed me. Before our daughter arrived a few years ago, we had our veggie garden and loved it! We loved planting it as a family, watering it, checking on it, picking from it, and cooking with what we grew.....all as a family. Once we had our wee girl, we didn't replant. And I have missed it....a lot.

So, to remedy that, my wee girl (who loves her fruits and veggies so much that we often have to bribe her with a veggie to get her to eat the main course on her plate) and I have been bringing home 2 1/2" organic starter plants the last couple weeks.

And now, tomatoes, chives, and parsley are in the ground, in planters on the deck, and in an old antique wash basin. Sharing those homes are a few other herbs & veggies, including:

Sage

Yellow Bell Pepper
(that was a wee bit chewed up by the time it got into the ground
...not sure that it happened before or after it arrived home)

Red Bell Pepper



And our boy's sweet strawberry plant! Can you believe it was only a couple of leaves big when he brought it home in his backpack from a local Ag Fair??!!

And since I took these pics, zucchini, rosemary, Japanese eggplant, peppermint, crooked neck yellow squash, and artichoke organic 2 1/2" starter plants have followed my wee girl and I home and are waiting to stretch their roots out in some deeper soil!

We are all having a lot of fun and enjoying having a veggie garden again.....or in the case of our wee girl, for the first time. It feels good to plant {life}, help it grow, eventually harvest it, and bring it into our kitchen to better our lives!

What's growing in your garden this season?

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Oh yes....one last thing, my wee girl, our Princess, came running up to me the other day with excited words spilling out of her wee mouth, "Look Mom!! I spelled 'Disney'!!!"


When I told her what it really spelled, she was tickled and proceeded to write 'Princess' on every single thing she could get her hands on! That was one great big little thing that made me Smile!!

One Little Word 2010

Anyone else giving Ali Edwards' One Little Word a whirl for 2010? I haven't before, but it sounds like a fab idea for the coming year!

{LIFE}

...to live it, breathe it, try it, adventure through it, eat it, find it, document it, grow from it, share it, celebrate it...

...to love it!!!

Hope your New Year's Eve is safe and anywhere from pleasant to rip roarin'! What do you think or hope 2010 might bring for you?

Papertrey Ink {Texting} Blog Hop

Edited to Add: Okay, so you all are gonna think I'm either color blind or just plain nuts! When I craft in the living room, which I have been doing a lot of lately (to be with the fam), I do not have the best lighting. And when I'm cooking something up paper style and on the fly when I realize late in the game that oh my, Papertrey Ink's Blog Hop is that night after paying Miss Dawn McVey a visit earlier in the day, it would seem my ability to see color goes down the drain (well, I really don't think that is it.....more like I needed to shake my marble jar and make sure all all those marbles are in there are ready to play!) Okay........sooooo.............here it comes...........are you ready for it?? (I'm not) Okay, holding my head in shame here..........it would seem the reason the photo was coming out so stinkin' pink is........because.....that cardstock was not really Melon Berry.....but, rather, Berry Sorbet!!!! (I'm rapidly melting into a puddle of goo right now as I type this.) Please forgive me for forgetting to shake that marble jar as I was racing to create, post, and link in time! I must go now as my kidlets are asking why there is nothing but a puddle of goo where their Mama once was.

Hop, Hop, Hop! Its time to blog hop, Papertrey Ink style! This month we are to include text on our creations. And here is what I came up with!! I love text and fonts and the whole nine-yards, so I'm really looking forward to seeing what everyone else has created! :>


Just as an FYI, the cardstock that looks pink here, really is Melon Berry. I do not know why it is reading so pink...except for the button! I used the CPS 125 sketch for this Papertrey Ink Blog Hop challenge.


This is a Pure Poppy card base, layered with a text stamped piece of Melon Berry. The next piece of Pure Poppy is stamped with a script (its hard to see) with Versamark and then stamped some of Life's fabulous images on top with Versafine, Sepia. A piece of chocolate ribbon (the very ribbon I use to sew new tags onto a kidlet's Teddy Bear as they are worn out :>) is run across the card. I stamped Melon Berry and Pure Poppy cardstocks with the flower stamps from Everyday Classics in Versamark and cut them out. I layered them with foam tape and glued a Melon Berry button tied off with some chocolate embroidery floss on top.

Here's a close-up in the hopes of trying to show that script stamp. Have fun hopping tonight and I look forward to visiting you! :>

Supplies:
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink
Ink: Versamark & Versafine
Stamps: Life & Everyday Classics - Papertrey Ink; French Script & By Definition - Stampin' Up!
Ribbon: Offray
Button: Papertrey Ink

May PTI Blog Hop

Its time to Hop, Hop, Hop at May's PTI Blog Hop! The challenge this month is to get into the spirit of summer and use yellow. That meant it was time to play with PTI's lemon tart cardstock. I had no set plan in mind when I got to it, with the exception of the lemon tart objective and using Lisa's great stamp set, Life (one of my favorite sets!). After playing around with different color pairings, I arrived at a mixture of raspberry fizz, plum pudding, and of course, that lemon tart. As I was gathering supplies, I came across a Tim Holtz set that I bought about a month ago and had not yet put ink to it. Well, that had to be corrected, right?! I stamped the flowers in two different purples to create a happy little corner, the Tim Holtz sentiment (isn't it fabulous?!) in pink, and used the same pink with a sponge to ink the edges. I hope you like it and I am So looking forward to seeing what scrumptious yellow creations you are sharing tonight! Have fun and I'm off to hop, hop, hop!!

Supplies:

Cardstock: Lemon Tart, Raspberry Fizz, Plum Pudding - PTI
Ink: Pink Passion, Lovely Lilac, Elegant Eggplant Classic dye inks - SU
Stamps: Life - PTI; Life's Possibilities (sentiment) - Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous

An Unwanted 'Houseguest' vs. Craft Time

Unfortunately, I've gotten hit at the very end of this cold and flu season with the third bug in a row. Hopefully though, the third times the charm and when this bug vacates, I can stay healthy for awhile!! Fortunately, this not so welcome houseguest of a virus is starting to pack its bags in preparation for what I'm hoping is a timely departure and I was able to craft a simple little card!

I somewhat recently bought myself a Scor-Pal for my birthday, but have not used it for anything other than scoring cards to fold. While I bought it to make pretty boxes, my "houseguest" just was not going to give in and say, "Adios!" or "Au revoir!" quite yet, so I settled for trying something new (to me) and using it to make some decorative scoring marks. The effect is subtle, but I like it. For me though, the best part about this card, is simply having the energy to make it! YAY!!!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Plum Pudding, Raspberry Fizz, Stampers Select White - PTI
Ink: Raspberry Fizz - PTI
Stamps: Life - PTI
Bling: Bling it On - Lisa Bearnson
Other: Spica Glitter Pens (pink & purple) - Copic (inside of card)