WHAT I'M DOING FOR LENT...

Greetings, friends!

I know many of you know that I always observe some kind of discipline for Lent...this year, I felt behooved to make my discipline (insert ominous organ music here) COOKING! (collective gasps heard all around)

You can follow my Culinary tales here on my Contemporary Monk Blog...also, those of you on Facebook, I post a daily link to my blog to keep you updated.

Here is today's exciting episode...enjoy! lol

COOKING ON $2 A DAY: DAY 4

Hello friends and those with morbid curiosity!

Today was day four of our $2 a day meal challenge. And I confess to you...we blew it. I DID cook today (as was my original Lenten discipline "deal" with God) but for breakfast only. I felt that I am to allow myself the grace of ONE meal out per weekend, and today was that day. So we seriously "blew" the $2 a day budget. However, in only cooking breakfast, I DID meet the breakfast quota:

Chocolate Chip muffins ($1.00 mix - 6 servings) .16 per serving. 1/2 banana .12 Hot tea .05  Total breakfast: Bud: 16x3=.48,+.12+.05=.65  Paula: 16x2=.32+.12+.05=.49. Grand total breakfast: $1.14

THEN, we finished off the leftover pizza after church, and took a bit of a road trip to see an amazing roadside attraction recently in the newspaper:

THE VANDALIA FIRE-BREATHING DRAGON!

I know many of you are jealous and cannot imagine what kind of good fortune would afford us such an awe inspiring sight...but here it is, in all it's tin and metal glory...(note the husband and wee dog in the picture for scale) YES, he's HUGE. The sight of him evokes fear into the hearts of man and beast alike...Powered by a 20 lb. propane tank, the dragon (once enticed by a token) spews fire at innocent onlookers. Pics below of a "terrified tourist" fleeing for her life...

 NOTE: my terror as I stand in the shadow of the beast and "feed" the dragon the token ...

 And I immediately run in fear for my life...

 (Fortunately, Bud caught this dramatic moment on film, lest the dragon get the best of me and actually do something film worthy)

 Determining I am now at a safe distance, I turn to face my would-be assassin...

 THEN...WEBSTER TO THE RESCUE! Behold, Webster the Wonder Dog attempting to slay the dragon for his masters...

On the lower left corner of the picture I have circled and pointed to our fearless protector....

MY HERO! However, upon closer inspection, the ferocious  face of this stainless wonder looks more like a friendly puppy...

And so, road trip taken, fierce some beast assuaged, we leave in search of...LUNCH!

We found a happy little local haunt...the ChuckWagon, and had a delicious Sunday meal (well over $2) and then the intrepid explorers made their way back to the Vern, feeling quite satisfied in their conquering of the Vandalia Tourist Trap Dragon!

Stay tuned tomorrow for more exciting tales of culinary delight and adventure!

A VERY BELATED CHRISTMAS GIFT...

Greetings, dear reader!

I have a confession to make...I have been feverishly in the throes of trying to create/complete Christmas presents for my nieces...due to the financial nightmare that was our late 2011 situation, I hadn't the funds to purchase the gift I initially wanted to get darling niece Emileigh:

Behold the amazing book offered by Anthropologie:

It was $40...and while I LOVED it, I couldn't afford it. So I decided to create one for her myself...

I started out with a 9.99 black cloth bound sketchbook, various washi tapes and stickers, papers, and fabric odds and ends...The image on the front and back cover are Graphic 45 Steampunk papers...aren't they fabulous? The letters are from Michael's $1.00 bin...I should have gotten 40 packages of these letters...I LOVE them!

 I incorporated hand painted papers and original brown paper bag collages...images from a clearance rack kids book (written by Madonna...the illustrations are fabulous...The English Roses)

Do you remember my niece Emileigh is the one with the Etsy shoppe? I created a headband much like the ones Em makes for the sketch of this particular English Rose...I love how the page turned out...I just cut and organically began to assemble the book as ideas came to me...(as many of you know, I don't do too well with a "pattern" or a detailed 'plan') lol!

 And then created pages where she can cut, paste or sew designs and/or photos to the page...

 Again incorporating my own personal art in several of the layouts...

 And hand drawing frames, and borders on the pages...

 I actually sewed the fabric to this page...and stapled ribbons at the bottom...I love how it turned out...

Funny how many of my creations "take on" the aqua and red theme...although I had no intention of incorporating that into her book necessarily...

 Here I used stickers and a measurment card from a tape measure/washi tape package...and button stickers!

 Emileigh's friends are as talented and adorable as she...I'm sure she'll want to add photos of her friends in their fashion/trendsetting ensembles!

 And SHOES! OH MY GOODNESS! DOES THIS GIRL LOVE SHOES? Stilettos no less...

 so space for those pics was a MUST...(lots of blank pages before and after for additional drawings/photos...

 And this is my favorite page...a page that pays homage to patterns...chevron, stripes and dots...

And here is the back of the book...there are lots more pages, some blank, some with other surprises on them, but I wanted to share with you some of them so you could get a feel for the book...not a Hywel Davies sketchbook to be sure...but something I hope she'll like just the same...

Next? Working on amazing niece Aria's photography sketchbook! FUN! More soon!

Paula Clare

INSTALLMENT 2 OF: OH MY GOODNESS!

Greetings, dear readers!

After only a few days to recover from the first "Random Act of Kindness" that landed on my doorstep, I awakened to even more goodies arriving at my mailbox! Behold the Valentine-y goodness:

What wonderfully, quirky and inventive things to send! See the vintage "Cootie" and the bag of little Sherriff's Stars? LOVE! And the heart-shaped measuring cups and spoons are just utterly adorable! 

There are candy hearts (and a tube of Valentines M&Ms which have mysteriously "evaporated" (so says the guilty hubs) and darling cupcake liners...and rubber stamps and vintage valentines and...and...

Wait a minute...did I say CUPCAKE LINERS? (Several were Mary Engelbreit) hmmmmm....I'm starting to think this has the earmarks of a certain someone...I shall continue to ponder that notion. Meanwhile, back to the goodies...

And crepe paper and ribbon and twine and cupcake toppers! (See my darling little Owl? A creation from Elizabeth at Creative Breathing) OH! And look at the Hello Kitty book (HOW IN THE WORLD DID THEY KNOW I'm a "closet" HELLO KITTY fan? SPOOKY?!?!) And see the mousepad UNDER the Hello Kitty book? A vintage Shasta...a "for no reason" gift from my dear friend Sandy McClay at 521 Lake Street. (In fact....I'm starting to think MANY of these goodies have Sandy written all over them....confessions?)  

See this fab little travel cup? I got it at a dollar store a thousand years ago...but here's the GREAT thing...not only does it keep your Earl Grey piping hot, but it has a clear insulating cup so you can change the look of it! It was just Christmas sweater paper, but NOW, I used the darling little sack some of my treats were in to make an adorable, vintagey Valentines Day travel cup! I just LOVE the little skunk! Isn't he sweet? This vintage pattern is one of my faves. 

I can't wait to get started...I think I shall make celebratory cupcakes first! Isn't blogdom an amazing place? So many incredibly generous, kind and wonderful women...OH! Which reminds me...go HERE:
And read all about this genius woman: Jenny Lawson

Who purchased this most amazing dress (honestly, it's breathtaking!)

Wore it long enough for a photo shoot (a GORGEOUS photo shoot), and then mailed it to other women who wanted to: 

"I want, just once, to wear a bright red, strapless ball gown with no apologies.  I want to be shocking, and vivid and wear a dress as intensely amazing as the person I so want to be.  And the more I thought about it the more I realized how often we deny ourselves that red dress and all the other capricious, ridiculous, overindulgent and silly things that we desperately want but never let ourselves have because they are simply “not sensible”.  Things like flying lessons, and ballet shoes, and breaking into spontaneous song, and building a train set, and crawling onto the roof just to see the stars better.  Things like cartwheels and learning how to box and painting encouraging words on your body to remind yourself that you’re worth it."

And so off it went, traversing the globe...this amazingly, magical incredible dress made by Sunny Haralson . I DARE YOU not to cry when you read this story! 

A dear friend and I are going to do something similar here in Mt. Vernon...stay tuned for details!

ALL THAT TO SAY, WOW! Thank you dear friends (both known and unknown) for making me feel special and loved!

Love and hugs to you all!

Paula Clare

OH MY GOODNESS...DID I MISS SOMETHING?!?!

Greetings friends in blogdom!

I am writing to you in a state of ... of... shock and awe! 

(Okay, that's not my best "shocked" and "awed" face, but it's one that lets you know how much I'm smiling!)

In the past two days, I have received some of the most amazing things in the mail...is it my birthday? No....Christmas? No....whatever could it be? Just friends in blogdom being their amazing selves? YES!!!!

Look at the goodies that have come my way! Some from Renee at My Vintage Mending (THANK YOU, Renee!) and another "friendly sender" from "Friendship Lane in the Heart of Ohio". I cannot get over how sneaky this sender was...there wasn't even a postmark on the package! HOW do you do THAT? Must be a friend with a secret-weapon friendship with the postal carrier...or ... or ????:

 October Afternoon papers...MY FAVORITE of all papers! Christmas Style (oh so retro!) and Campfire and 5 and Dime! The very papers I've been secretly coveting for weeks!

 Darling vintage storybooks and (SWOON) a vintage coloring book...10 Little Indians...no doubt to go with all my vintage cowboys! LOVE! And more vintage images on storybook cards! So SWEET!

 And doilies and pipe cleaners and vintage papers and craft supplies and little tiny, Eastery goodies just SCREAMING for an altered art ... SOMETHING! (Tiny shadowboxes inside easter eggs? Little book/turned shadowbox)?

 And a valentine fabric "tussie mussie" (what is it Jenny B. of Allsorts calls these?) Anyway, one of my very own! LOVE! And the little cowgirl hankie shall have a revered place in the canned ham...I'm framing her in a barnwood frame! And buttons and trims and all the "matching" goodies that go with October Afternoon papers...OH HOW I LOVE THEM! This color scheme is so very ME, don't you think so? And vintage valentines and Christmas, and... and...

It's just all so kind, you know? I mean, my husband is always taken aback by the generosity and friendship of "virtual strangers" ... but *I* know better! I know there is nothing "virtual" about our friendships...blogdom is a REAL place where REAL kindred spirits meet and inspire and create and share with one another! I am feeling like Queen for a Day...especially when I cannot think of a single event or "reason" for such amazing kindnesses. 

LOVE the Lipstick hankies...a fish and a pig...with lipstick! SO kitschy! I LOVE them! I'm beginning to wonder if this was part of a well devised conspiracy????? Anyone going to "fess up?" Or is this all just incredible random kindnesses finding the same doorstep?

Regardless, I am feeling amazingly blessed and very, very fortunate to have such awe-inspiring bloggy friends. Kisses and hugs to all...I'm off to play!

Hugs,

Paula Clare

STILL INSPIRATIONAL...

Martin Luther King Junior