Cozied Up with Fabric

For sometime now it has been a great interest of mine to be selling my own crafts (specially at Etsy.com and craft fairs).  At first I was rather hesitant and slow to begin the actual process, feeling rather unqualified to make sewing in to a business, but now it has been such fun to spend a good part of the day sewing!  Also, if anyone has any suggestions on where to find good crochet yarn and vintage/vintage style fabric, please share! 



My first completed project are these cotton fabric napkins in an adorable owl pattern - to fun!

Now that fall is here I have also enjoyed doing some of the fall-type things: romps in the leaves, apple cider, buttoning up the garden, and a party in a friend's barn loft!  I also learned that when you're pulling out the sweaters for yourself, you can't forget you're mug...

Isn't this to sweet!?  Coffee needs a hug sometimes too!  You can buy these dear little things at Mug Sweater Shop.

Have a blessed Autum!

~Amber Nicole~

Wilderness Lodge Again

Just last Friday we got back from another great time at Wilderness Lodge water park.  I have lost count of how many times we have been there, so it feels like I am saying the same thing each year I post about it.  But there were a couple new things.. mainly a couple new slides:

The red one is a practically straight drop of five stories while the other is a loop (which is cut off to the right of the photo).  I was planning on going on both of them - just to say that I did - but the lifegaurd said that people wearing skirted swimsuits have more troubles making it over the loop:

And as I had already seen people make it up to the top of the loop and then slide back down to where they came from, I opted out!  But with the red one there was no chance of going to slow! :)  Probably the scariest part was standing at the top on the platform and then having the floor drop out from under me as I go zipping downward!



Over all it was a fabulous vacation, the weather was just wonderful!  Oh, and I had fun going in the hot tub only for adults (18+), just because I could. ;)

Day at the Zoo

Last week my Grandparents took my six year old cousin, sister, and I to the zoo and amusement park.  It was so much fun to spend a day with family exploring the things to see!



Seeing the animals up close and riding the rides was lots of fun, but the main part was spending good, quality, time with family!  Christian (our cousin) always keeps us laughing and very entertained, and even though we only have one cousin, I don't see how we could have more fun with any more! <3  He kept us smiling and it was fun to see what it would be like to have a little brother.

 We were also able to ride the old carousel and go paddle boating for the first time!  Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of boating - I wasn't sure if I should chance taking my camera out on the water or not, but I wish I did.  Both were fun experiences though!  And you can be sure that after eight hours of fun, we were ready to spend a relaxing evening at home!

Many blessings on the rest of your summer, friends!

Vacation Bible School

A couple weeks back Anna and I were privileged to help out at our church's VBS, which in years past has been so special and fun, and this year was no exception at all!  I led a small group of four and five year olds, two of them being in Cubbies (Anna and I lead Awana Cubbies) last year and will be back again this fall and one looking much forward to joining this fall!  They were so sweet, obedient, and made me very proud with their memorizing ability!  I was really blessed to be able to spend a week with their exuberance!

Two of the three in my group and I (one little boy wasn't able to come every day).

The morning was spent in Bible lesson, craft, snack, learning about missionaries, and games, and song time.  It was really neat to see video from the African church we were raising money to translate verses into their language for.  They are people that really love the Lord and are used by Him, but probably haven't been able to read much of the Bible! 

Bible Lesson

On Thursday the focus is on Jesus' death on the cross, and even though, as far as I know, no one accepted Jesus as their Saviour, I think, at least for my group, they understood well and had some things to think about.

Anna and and couple of her kids

Many friends we have met over Bible Quizzing through Teens For Christ also came to help out through the week.  It was so nice to visit with them again now that we only get to see them about twice a year.

VBS 2012 will be a special memory for a long time, and now I am really starting to look forward to AWANA Cubbies!!

~Amber

The Swing

The Swing

How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!


Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
River and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside--


Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown--
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!
      

Robert Louis Stevenson

Ever since I was a baby I have loved to swing!  Back then I swang right to sleep, and even though I don't do that any more, it's not often that a day goes by when I don't swing!

Our set is nicely positioned in our backyard so that while swinging I can look out over our ten acre horse pasture!  It is a perfect place to still enjoy the outdoors while keeping those misquitoes off and look out over the field, pray, sing praises to our Lord, think, or even read.  It is a perfect spot during sunset, but during the quietness even the friendly squeak of the swing seems to loud and should be hushed in the splendor of God's creation.

~Amber Nicole 

Homemade Poptarts

As I was browsing Pinterest I ran across a recipe for mini homemade poptarts and I thought they were a sweet idea, but then didn't think much about them afterwards.  But then more recently I again saw on Pinterest a recipe for the full sized ones, it was nearing Father's Day, and so I thought it would be a fun thing to make.  Daddy loves poptarts but I thought by making it myself it could have less sugar and no nasty additives and preservatives!

So without further to do here is the link to the sight for..

Homemade Poptarts

I thought they laid it out so well that there was no need for me to rewrite it!  It does take a little time, but I think it's worth it!  I made strawberry poptarts, but they also give the recipe for making the cinnamon kind and also suggest filling them with Nutella, if you like that sort of thing (I have never tried it)!  Anna and I were also talking that it would be fun to experiment with marshmallow cream and chocolate to make the S'more kind.

Here are the ones I made (sorry about the bad quality of picture).

Thank you for reading!  Let me know if you try them!

~Amber Nicole

My Graduation Open House

It has now been almost two weeks since my graduation open house (I know, I have been neglecting my blog of late!) and I am finally here to post about it.

The week before was very busy doing pretty much a top to bottom spring cleaning, and we were busy to the end, but I think all was finished in good order.  Family and friends were very helpful in baking cookies to bring our count to over 600!  Even though we had never experienced planning for a party like this our figure of how much food to prepare wasn't to off (leftovers isn't a bad thing, right!?). 

The sign in table: we kept thinking of fun ways for people to leave a note, so we went with all three; typing on the typewriter, writing in the book or on a sticky note to post on the board.



Picture and display table complete with home sewn pendants.  I really enjoyed the decorating part!

Menu

Ham and Turkey with Swiss Sliders

Fruit under palm tree (made from pineapple and palm leaves - pinterest idea!)

Chocolate and Carrot cake

12 different kinds of cookies from Lavender Shortbread and Ruhbarb to bear shaped cookies for the little ones

"One Smart Cookie buffet"

Cutting the Carrot cake.

A good game of volley ball!

I was so very blessed by all the friends and family that came - it was SUCH a special day for me!!  I can easily say that it went better than I imagined and we were already talking about Anna's open house now that we enjoyed this one so much!

Now this past week I went to old time school, and celebrated my tenth time going; six years as a student and four years as a teacher's assistant!  It was another fabulous week!

One young lady rode her pony to school for show and tell and then used it for the game Annie, Annie Over.  She was so fun to watch!

Thank you for paying a visit!  Blessings on your summer!

~Amber Nicole

I Am Graduated!!

I am graduated!  Which is news that is a week old now.. I graduated on May 11th and that evening we had our own little ceremony with presenting of my diploma and wonderful note from my Mom.

My tassel (I have no idea what side it is suppose to hang from ;).  We didn't think there was a real need to get a cap and gown, but that it would be fun to have a tassel for a fun memento.

And after our home ceremony we went to celebrate at Leann Chin's and Cold Stone Creamery - yum!

                         

I had a wonderful homeschool education and really enjoyed it, but now I am excited about focusing on my true interest!  I dream about starting my own shop on Etsy.com and although it hasn't happened yet it will be a huge dream come true soon!  I enjoy sewing (aprons, pillow cases, dish towels), card making, and I am also thinking about making up party favor boxes.  I had bought some berry boxes for my birthday party, but of course, they only came large quantities, so now I need to find a use for the rest of them!  At the beginning of this shop starting up it will take some experimenting of what will sell for me.

But in the mean time, I have found out that Etsy can be a great place for learning too!  The Online Labs have all kinds of videos done by the experts to help figure out how to do these sometimes foriegn things.  There is also teams & forums to find people with like-minded interests and learn or share with them!  This is what has been getting me excited lately! <3

Other things going on:

For Mother's Day Anna and I hosted our 3rd annual Mother's Day tea.  This year our Grandma was also able to join us and the weather turned out perfect for an outdoor tea complete with chandelier hanging above.

Back on the graduation theme: our main focus is on preparing for my open house - only twelve days away!  Yesterday we ordered my cakes, Mom has been very busy with my school scrapbook and I have been working on decorations and other little things.  Some great friends and family have also been baking cookies to supplement the cake - there could be 400+ people here, although we are expecting a lot less.

It has been a very busy but exciting time for me!

~Amber

Graduation Photos

Lately we have been busy planning for the brand new adventure of graduating, and just a couple of weeks ago we took my graduations photos.  Yes, in just two more days I will be a homeschool graduate!!  And in the beginning of June I will be having a open house, and that called for invites.  Thankfully my sister was willing to be my photographer and she did it beautifully!

So, we finally found a day that it wasn't raining (to much) and we headed out to the pasture to try and catch some good shots of Annie and I.

Now, first I will say what didn't really work out; this was one of our inspirations...



and this was how it came out....

I know it would need some photoshopping even if it did work out, but it wasn't really, so we moved on to other ideas...  But, if you're going to take your graduation photos with your horse, I would not suggest doing it on the first ride of the season (which is what we did!).  So there was a little bit of hippity hopping around by Annie (which was scarier for Mom than in was for me) but over all it went really well!  We also tried to get pictures of Annie and I giving each other kisses, but those things just can't be timed, thus those didn't turn out either.

So it takes quite a few shots to get a couple of good photos, but it actually came down to a hard choice for the top three that go on the invite.  Here are a few of the "honorable mentions":

                            

      Clambering up to get into the tree for some photos :)

To bad the lighting in the barn is so strange.

Here is a bike one for my Daddy, it almost made in on the invite (not really). :-)

After looking through a hundred photos or two we needed to put our top picks into the invite template, which Amy was so gracious to do!  It wouldn't have turned out without Amy and Anna's help!  We bought the template off of ChicDigitalDesign  I liked that it was so different than many of the other graduation invites and there wouldn't be many others like it being sent around.  And here is the finale result....

I am excited to become a graduate, but it will also be sad to be finished with my formal schooling which I have known for 13+ years!  To celebrate on Friday we plan to go out for dinner; maybe to Leann Chin's and Cold Stone Creamery?

Thank you for stopping by!

~Amber Nicole~

A Spot of Tea

Tea parties can be loads of fun, and a perfect way to catch up with friends, and neither do they have to be just "little-girl-pretty-princess" teas.  I love looking through the "Teatime Bliss" and other such magazines and getting inspiration for my next big tea.  Actually, I had a high tea last summer, next time I imagine more of a simple tea and scones with lawn games, or maybe an ice cream social and pie swap ~ wouldn't that be such fun!

Do any of you collect tea cups?  I think it would be a lovely thing to collect, but I don't know if I will ever start.  At least it would be a useful collection, but I wouldn't want to get more than I could use.  My favorite are the beautifully floral cups, I can just see them sitting at a little outdoor table scape, set for a few close friends.

As for putting in those tea cups, I've used to never really like tea (how horrible for me to say - a girl of all things vintage! ;).  But I have found that a not so strong brew fits me just fine!  I also like the look of puting the soup in a larger tea cup for a nice luncheon!  We also found a recipe for a sweet tea that is also good for kids that don't usually drink normal tea or for anyone with more of a sweet tooth that day:

Russian Tea

1 3/4 Cups Sugar

1 Cup Sweetened lemonade mix

1 Cup Powdered Orange mix - Tang

1/2 Cup Instant tea

1/2 t. Cinnamon

1/2 t. ground cloves

Mix, store in air-tight container.

To serve: Add 3-4 t. to 1 cup of hot water, or 1/2 Cup of powder to 7 cups of water.

Also, find some tea etiquette at Tea Laden.  I find it interesting that somehow holding the pinkie out while sipping tea became the way everyone thinks they should do it - it is not!  Actually the opposite, it can be considered improper and rude! :-o  Of course, most gathering with friends do not have to be so proper, but just more of a nice time with loved ones. 

Enjoy your tea time dear readers!

Blessings, Amber

My 18th Birthday

I am now 18!!  And my dearest family made the day oh so special for me!

The morning started out as pretty much every birthday morning - I opened up gifts before doing much else!  They included new DVDs (Courageous - fantastic movie, Facing the Giants, and Love Finds a Home), the two "One Yard Wonder" books (on sewing), and a gift card to Joann Fabrics!  Soon after that we were off to spend the day at Duluth!

Sadly, it was rather foggy and only in the 40's, but nothing can burst birthday spirits! ;)

A ship obligingly was passing through the channel soon after we arrived, so we got a good view of that right away.



Soon after that we went to Famous Dave's for lunch, and then to Vertical Endeavors to rock climb!  Vertical Endeavor turned out to be a really nice place where we could hook up ourselves, so it made for easy moving from place to place!  The climbing went well until after a few up and downs, then our arms were getting so worn that even the easy ones we used to breeze through were very hard!  But it was such fun (way high up there! :D), a good work out, and I have been feeling it in my arms for day! :-)

The rest of our time was spent in shopping Duluth and enjoying the lake.  But the bad weather soon drove us into Caribou for my free birthday coffee!

The rest of the evening was spent quietly at home watching Love Finds a Home; over all my birthday was so wonderful and special!  But the celebrating wasn't over...

Two days later I had another wonderful celebration with my dear girlfriends!

Of course, some Pinterest inspired decorations.

Menu:

Chicken Wraps

Rainbow fruit kabobs

chips and pickles

cupcakes and ice cream

I love planning the decorations and food, but I'm not very good at choosing creative activities that will last the whole party.  But Mom stepped in to help with that, and she came up with some very fun games.  It started with a photo scavenger hunt where we go around doing crazy and fun activities and games - like in the picture above, where we have to pass the hat not using our hands, or how about a homesteading game where we carry an egg on a spoon in our mouth, shoot a chicken (picture of chicken on can), pluck the chicken (feathered balloon) and kiss one of our chickens :) - and take a picture of each activity.  We also made fabric flowers for hair, bag, or to be used in any other stylish way.

Thank you girls for coming and making my day special!

Blessings, Amber