~Pamela Susan~

October 31st means...

Hope you have a fabulous evening!  More pictures to come soon. :)

 

xo,

Pamela, a gal who was ecstatic to finally have an excuse to don her Mom's 70's homecoming dress as part of her costume.  Groovy dude. :)

Fabric Pumpkins :{{recycling guitar strings and old clothing, too!}}:

Okay.  I only have a few moments but I've been so excited about these fabric pumpkins I couldn't wait to share them with you even though I don't have a tutorial ready yet!  I made all of these yesterday.  So much fun. 

Honestly, I've been wanting to make them since my eyes first laid sight of fabric pumpkins at my friend Paulette's home back in Medford, Oregon over 6 years ago.  SIX YEARS. I'd say it was 'bout time.

 

And can I be honest?  I think my favorite thing about them are the tendrils.  There's actually a little story about them, too. 

It starts like this.  Yesterday Miss C ate her lunch much quicker than usual.  So quick that I didn't believe she actually ate all her PB & honey sandwich.  So I checked the garbage for any remnants.  And that's where the tendrils come into the story. 

The previous night my hubby changed the strings on his guitar and threw them away.  In the garbage.  And lucky for me they were staring at me in the face while I was looking for that uneaten sandwich (which Miss C actually did eat all by herself!).  And luckily a couple of the ends of the guitar strings were already curled and resembled tendrils, otherwise I don't think I would've thought to snatch them from the trash, finish curling them, and stick them in pumpkins.

So if you have a guitar in your house, and it's in need of a string change, then perfect timing!  You'll love them on your pumpkins.  That is if you make them.  Which I hope you do because they add such a nice autumnal touch to a dining room table. 

And since we're on the topic of recycling, I also used some old beat-up, cut-up clothing to fill the pumpkins.  (You know the type of clothes--the ones that are so gnarly you'd be embarrassed to donate them to goodwill!)  And for future pumpkins I'm hoping to use socks that no longer have a mate.  Which means I need to get to that huge basket of unmated socks in the corner of my family room.  Better to stuff a pumpkin with them then the landfill, right?

Okay, so after the busyness of Halloween I'll get a tutorial up for you. I think you'll loooove making them.  They're pumpkinlicious.  :)

 

xo,

Pamela

 

An oldie but a goodie :{{Glitterific Pumpkins}}:

Hello there!  Sorry it's been so quiet around here.  We've been keeping pretty busy in out little household and I try to only blog when my head is fully out of the water.  And since it is for the moment, I thought I'd highlight a fun craft from last year for all my new readers... GLITTER PUMPKINS! 

I was going to make them again this year but I have something else up my sleeves... maybe I'll be ready to post about this new craft tomorrow??  We shall see.

Meanwhile, visit last year's post and get to glitterin'!

 

xoox,

Pamela

DIY Mr. Mummy Lantern :{{a super easy peasy halloween craft}}:

It's been a while since I shared a craft with ya'll, hasn't it?  Want to make a quick and easy Halloween Mummy Lantern?  Alright!  Then gather the following items:

~wide mouth canning jar

~hot glue gun

~strips of cheese cloth/ gauze

~scissors/ large hole punch

~white and black paper for eyes

~scrapbooking jewel brads

~pliers

~candles

To make Mr. Mummy, first remove the backs off the 2 jewel brads with pliers; glue to the paper eyes. Then wrap a large strip of gauze around jar and hot glue the eyes to the front, then wrap the strips of gauze around jar numerous times to mummify him; adhere ends to jar with hot glue gun.  Place candles inside, light, and your done! 

Told ya he was super easy peasy to make!!

 

 

**But please note: I know I probably don't even need to mention this but PLEASE be careful with the candles!  Make sure the gauze doesn't overlap the lip of the jar and reach the flame.  I reeeealllyyyy don't want you to start a house fire.  And please keep your Mr. Mummy Lantern out of your kiddos reach.  Candles/lanterns + children= not smart, not good.

Both quart and pint size jars grouped together would be cute, don't ya think?  I hope you give it a try.

Have fun!

 

xo,

Pamela, a gal whose not big on scary Halloween decor but thought Mr. Mummy was kinda cute

 

Calling all Longview, Washington peeps!

Avey's store is having a Grand Opening THIS Saturday!  Come meet her and all the other vendors.  It'll be a grand time. I'll be there with bells on right at 11:00 for the best selection.   Plus, did you see that there'll be door prizes??  Yeah! 

I hope you come, too!

 

xo,

Pamelalalala

Spider cake pop, anyone??

Did I ever tell you I was made Bakerella's Pop Star list for the second time?!  It's true!  I did.  How crazy cool is that?  Yes, Sally the Spider is kinda famous.

So if you're looking for a spiderlicious Halloween treat or craft, here you go. 

I think she and her sisters are pretty nifty.  But perhaps pumpkins are more your thing?

And to all of you who've found me via my Snowball Cake Pops, welcome!  I'm amazed at how many visitors I get here for them.  They're so simple to make, yet so fun & tasty. I hope you enjoy them and the blog!

 

Smiles,

Pamela

 

Reuniting with high school friends at a pumpkin patch is my kind of day.

And what a wonderful day it was!

But real quick... remember how I said I was going to make apple cider doughnuts because I didn't think you could find them around here??

Well, I was wrong.  Terribly wrong!  Apple cider doughnuts DO exist on the west coast! And good thing, too, because the batch I made last Friday night were not...very...good.  I dunno what I did wrong but they were way too dense and broke apart easily when removing them from the oil.  You can imagine my delight when we had some the very next day at the Fir Point Farms pumpkin patch outside of Canby, Oregon while visiting a few of my high school friends and their kiddos...

Here are the finger-lickin'-good apple cider doughnuts.  Um, yeah. Much better than the ones I made.

Mmmm, mmmm good.

And what is it about the "pumpkin search" in a pumpkin patch that is so satisfying? I've always loved it.

And now my daughters do.

Such a great day.  EXCEPT, we weren't able to have the apple party with my dad like we hoped for.  Maybe we can try again within the next couple weeks?  Sure hope so.

Thanks, Kelli, for organizing our fun get together.  Can't wait to see you ya'll again!

 

xo,

Pamela, a lover of all things pumpkin

 

Orders, apples, & photoshop... that's what's on my mind.

Well, all the orders have shipped! (Minus the Forget Me Not necklace bulk orders--those will head out as soon as I receive my new chains.) Thanks for another great month!!  I have such great customers, did you know that?  I appreciate the many kind comments left at checkout & the thoughtful feedback left in the shop.  Thank you!

So, now it's the weekend.  I just love Fridays, don't you?  I think our family is going to do something extra special tonight. Something like make APPLE CIDER DOUGHNUTS!  I just can't believe they haven't hit the west coast like they have the east coast.  Seriously, why can't I find them anywhere here?  I know Puck's doughnuts in Ashland, Oregon sale them but that's too far for me to drive to satisfy my apple-cider-doughnut-craving.  You can't even get them at the pumpkin patch at Sauvie Island near Portland.  I tell ya, if there's a money making opportunity around here that l be it--someone please open Apple Cider Doughnut Stand!  I'd be your best customer, I swear.  If I wasn't busy enough already I'd open one up.  Maybe someday...

So as for now, we'll make our own.  And we'll use this recipe, even though it calls for Crisco.  (By now you should know I don't like that stuff!  Minny Jackson from The Help would be so disappointed in me, wouldn't she?)  But I'm going to use it anyways, because if it's good enough for Smitten Kitchen to use sparingly, then it is for me. :)

And speaking of apples, tomorrow we're going to have an apple party at my Dad's house.  Not only does he have some apple trees loaded with apples, but he also has an apple press just waiting for us to crank it away.  Fresh apple juice... I can't wait.  And then we'll probably make more doughnuts at his house.  Maybe we'll try to find some apple brats for dinner.  I wonder if Costco still sells them.

And then, if there's time, I want to play around with photoshop.  Two months ago I was terrified of that program but I'm starting to warm up to it.  It's not as scary as I thought it'd be.  It's actually pretty exciting because I can turn this underexposed picture of Miss J...

into this!

I also like this black & white one.

I still have so much to learn about photoshop and photography.  SO much.  But I'm enjoying the journey.  I'm actually kinda obsessed with it right now.  It's all I want to read about in my spare time.

What about you?  Have you been learning any new skills? Hobbies?

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

 

xo,

Pamela

The shop is Oooooopen!

And I can't believe it but in the last post I forgot to introduce some new cards I made for the shop.  Often times clients order gifts to be sent directly to the recipient so I thought it would be nice to offer some cute but inexpensive cards to be sent along with the jewelry.  Here they are...

They can all be viewed here.

Thank you and I hope to get all orders out by the end of this weekend!  Actually, a lot earlier.  :)

 

xo,

Pamela

New Flower Earrings and a Forget Me Not necklace for Monday's shop opening... yeehaw!

Happy October!  I can't believe it's already a new month.  You know what that means... my shop is opening back up Monday and Tuesday!  With the flower hairpins being such a hit last month I thought it would be fun to offer some flower earrings.  But guess what's extra special about these pretties.. their backs are made out of solid sterling silver posts & backs unlike the cheap nickel or surgical steel metal ones out there.  I'm kinda in love with these whimsical, romantic, yet simple ear pretties.

You can buy them in a group at a lower price (3 pairs for $24)...

 

Or buy them alone ($9)...

Such pretty little flowers they are.

For those of you who watched my church's General Relief Society Conference (a worldwide women's conference) last weekend, you'll appreciate this next design.  President Dietr F. Uchtdorf gave an exceptionally uplifting address that I think most women can appreciate and relate to.  It's just what I needed to hear... I felt like he was speaking directly to me.  Such important reminders to be more gentle and patient with ourselves, and that we're never forgotten by our Heavenly Father, regardless of what our circumstances might be.

So here's a little reminder necklace of his address, with a teeny sterling silver disc stamped with a Forget Me Not flower, adorned with a gorgeous blue zircon, the color of the clear blue sky. :)

I hand-carved a rubber stamp to embellish this little card.

I hope you like it!

 

The shop will open Monday morning, October 3 at 9:00 pacific standard time and will close back down October the evening of the 4th and will not reopen until the first Monday and Tuesday of November.

Happy weekend!

 

xoox,

Pamela

 

p.s. I have a few more designs I wanted to introduce this month but I guess they'll have to wait until Nov... if only I had one more week!  Ahhh, time.  :)