Good To See You, September

Aaaah, it's the -ber months. 

Yeah, I'm a fall girl!

I am ready and looking forward to sweaters and pumpkin scones, chili, yellow and red leaves ...

fall drives along two lane roads. 

In Virginia it will take some time to get to that point, but the waiting and expectation is worth it. The temperatures are falling at night so that you need a sweater in the morning, and then that sun warms you up enough to pull it right off and roll up your sleeves.

The drama of weather! 

And while watching and waiting for those glorious days of apple cider and donuts, I will create with my favorite leaf stamps and dies ~ can't have too many leaves.

Am I right?!

Images Stampin' Up!

Dear August

Dear August,

Just let me be honest here,  I have a love/hate relationship with you and I almost dread turning over the calendar page.

You are suffocating,  stifling,  sultry ( and not in a good way). You are hazy, hot, humid.  And there are 31 days of you, which feels like 41. 

So, how to cope: turn the AC to artic and cozy up to a TV series to binge watch.

In the coolest part of the morning hit the farmer's market for watermelon,  cantaloupe,  tomatoes, corn and butterbeans and ...

Chilled watermelon hits the spot anytime of day. Tomatoes sandwiches can't be beat for summer lunches. Corn and butterbeans with a side of sliced tomatoes is an excellent late supper eaten on the screened in porch after the sun sets. 

And it is so important to stay hydrated in the heat. Mint Iced Tea is so refreshing, and smells heavenly if you have a few fresh sprigs from the garden. If you don't have a pot or field of mint, the tea is still delicious ~ try it. 

In some of the most appalling heat I have experienced, I discovered the Augusta Arnold Palmer, served at Mary Mac's Tea Room in Atlanta. It's a delightful mix of lemonade and Iced Tea Flavored Vodka (my ABC store carries Firefly).

August, you feel a little melancholy at times. I can smell, feel a change coming on; I am happy to leave you behind, but also hesitantly wonder of what's to come. I love Fall, but September isn't truly Fall, at least not in Virginia.

So, short of moving to Alaska or Maine for the month, I will settle for artic AC and stay inside and CRAFT!

I am so glad that I found Stampin' Up! and a cadre of stampin' friends. These friends often come to my rescue when I just can't handle you anymore. We always have new SU products to play with as we gather around a craft table or a computer screen.

It keeps us cool, calm and collected. We craft and solve the world's problems.

If I weren't a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator I most likely wouldn't have met Linda or Ellen or Jenny or Dail or Kathy or Pamala or Monica or ...

I am always looking for more stampin' friends who'd like to share the Stampin' Up! experience.  You don't have to live next door or even in the same city. You don't  have to become a Demonstrator. First things first, let's stamp.

August,  your heat cannot stop us. Your storms cannot scare us. We will 

               Stay calm

                     and

               Stamp On

See ya later August!

(Stampers: there is so much fun going on at Stampin' Up! right now: new Sunflowers Paper Pumpkin, Cozy & Bright Christmas Card crafting kit, Mini July - December Catalog featuring  craft ideas for fall and winter days, AND  I have card crafting classes, too!)

If you'd like a Stampin' Friend or Creative Coach, or to join my team of Stampin' Up! Demonstrators, I am here to help ~ I'd love to chat with you, maybe over a tall glass of Iced Tea! 

Miss Me?

 I've Been Everywhere Man

I know, where have I been? Underground, off the grid. Truthfully, on the sofa most of the time. Chilly weather, under the weather. But I did not forget about you, in fact sometimes I talked to you, you know like writing a blog in my head. Then I just didn't make it off the sofa to the computer to put it in writing. 

I have been playing with crafty ideas and products, making a mess. A mess is a sign of a creative mind. My favorite crafty days are when I spend time making a mess with others - at a class or on the road at a retreat -  with paper or legos or icing. 

Time with friends always includes food and drink, right? Funny, we take pictures of our food to post on social media, but then never pictures of ourselves after we've eaten all that food. 

and drink.

Wait! I take that back. Here's after an afternoon's lunch .

(laughter truly is the best medicine)

The biggest mess of all is really me. Take today. With a craftermath on my dining room table, two classes to prepare for, UPS boxes to unpack, I was in the kitchen punching stars from Pepsi cartons and Orville Redenbacher popcorn boxes - silver, blue and red. I got the idea when I was thinking of stars as embellishments for the scrapbook of my grandsons. Yes, I could have gone to the craft store and found stars, stars with adhesive backs yet, but I would have had to put on my shoes and find a hat and ... nah. And then it rained.

So, I wonder just how many stars I can get out of these two boxes? And since they are both empty, I'll have more soon - probably before I can even finish with these two. But, what a good idea! 

Tomorrow I am going to a monthly team meeting. I haven't been in a while; I hope they don't ask me where I have been.

I'll be back, but leave the light on for me.

All aboard!

Seems like it is always raining at the train station. I have my rain jacket,  but the removable hood has been removed; not sure, but I think it is on top of the dryer, at home.

I spy an umbrella on the back seat, for whatever good it will do ; it's more pretty than functional. So I board the train, damp and chilly from the rain and the platform's dripping overhang. 

A woman in front of me is calling for the conductor; the roof of our car is leaking!

There is water everywhere. From my window I see that the streams are swollen and the ground is flooded.  Pollen covers the water with a green film.

A pasture full of cows. Hmmm, no one puts blankets over cows like they do horses. Aww, baby calves.

Wild turkeys.

I am chilled. If this were a British train a tea trolley would have already been down the aisle.

It looks like winter now. The trees are bare and the sky is trying to snow. It's finally time to put up the Christmas tree,  once I'm back home in a couple of days. Yes, I am one of the last people to put up a tree. Not only did I grow up putting up the live 8 foot tree the week before Christmas,  but now I don't like putting up any Christmas when it still looks like fall out my windows.  And fall is my favorite season. So, when the winter solstice arrives, up goes the tree to brighten the dark.

This is a different approach to Richmond today,  along the Shiplock Park and a narrow canal of the James River.

A former factory boasting a fading Old Dominion Hide and Fur painted ad. Brick smoke stacks. Warehouses converted into loft apartments and condos. A stop at Main Street Station.

The industrial scenic route around the capital city. Junk, graffiti - rain makes it even more depressing. A second Richmond stop at Staple Mills. I am anxious to see Ashland decorated for the holidays.

Amtrak rolls along beside Main St. in Ashland, straight through town. Impressive Victorian homes line both sides of the tracks, but set back beyond broad green lawns and walkways. With expansive porches and multiple balconies there are numerous wreaths and garlands, inflatable figures and one life-sized nativity announcing the holiday.

Back into the rural countryside.  I feel a nap coming on, the train motion  lulling me to sleep. 

'Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg! The next stop is Fredericksburg.  If this is your stop ..."

Well, it's not. From the brief stop at the station I can look down Caroline St. lined with festively decked lamp posts. 

I have not been to downtown Fredericksburg to shop for a while.  Caroline St. is filled with antique shops, specialty shops and boutiques; it takes all day to shop, plus stop for lunch. But today we roll on toward and Quantico and Occoquan, over rivers and by marinas. Folks continue to get on at every stop: the Quiet Car is full.

And then in the distance I see the towering George Washington Masonic National Memorial,  Alexandria. Before the conductor even begins his 'look around you and make sure you have all of your belongings' spiel, I am up and headed to the door - there are two precious little blonde headed boys waiting on the platform for Grandmama, and I can't wait to see them!

Wait!

Hang on! Hold the phone! I haven't said 'happy' and 'thanks' yet!

Well, November was a blur; non-stop go-go-go until I hit a brick wall and then spent the last half of the month under the covers, under the weather.

And now it feels like everyone is acting as though Christmas is tomorrow. It's not! 

If you are in the throes of decorating for the holiday, wrapping presents and trying to stuff stockings, enjoy every minute! 

I have a fall wreath on my mantle along with several decorative pumpkins. The leaves in my 'woods' are still turning. We have barely finished with turkey sandwiches. So, I want just a few more days of Thanksgiving.

I want to remember the old family dinners when we squeezed around the table laden with turkey and gravy and a dozen sides scattered down the center. We passed every china bowl of goodness plus the gravy boat and bread tray. I need to be able to smell Thanksgiving, not just inhale it. 

I need to hear the chatter around the table, the clink of the crystal, the jokes that Grandmama shouldn't hear. And please be careful when you run your finger through the candle flame. 

What I don't need is to relive washing the dishes, that was the worst chore. I would rather iron the 120 inch tablecloth than rinse and wash every dish and piece of silverware used for dinner. Oh, and pots and pans. There was no double sink ...

So after remembering that horror, I can get on with the change in the season. 

Often the day after Thanksgiving was one to visit the family that did not eat at our house, cousins and aunts and uncles. Luckily it was usually a pretty day for a drive  and ramble outside - I love our mild Virginia Thanksgivings. 

I sincerely hope that you had a lovely Thanksgiving wherever you were, whatever you were eating. I am delighted that you are reading this now and that you share my Stampin' Up! world. 

I am looking forward to the Christmas holiday and all of the traditions and food and songs and flowers that say "Merry"! 

I will share some of that here with you in the next few weeks. Please keep reading.

Enjoy the upcoming holidays!

The Thanksgiving card above was happy mail I received from a sweet stampin' friend and fellow Stampin' Up! Demonstrator. 

 

Don't wait for Christmas!

Making Christmas cards from the Frosted Gingerbread Suite of stamps and dies sent me looking for my favorite gingersnap cookie recipe.

 

Southern Living Magazine was a staple in my home and I relied on it heavily once I married and began cooking for a family. I purchased the annual cookbooks and any special series like The Southern Heritage Collection, copywrite 1984.

When fall rolls around it is time for pecan pies, pumpkin bread and gingersnaps. I still use this recipe and have offered it to anyone asking: 

Gingersnaps

3/4 c. shortening

1 c. sugar

1 egg

1/4 c. molasses

2 c. all purpose flour (I added another 1/2 c.)

1 t. baking soda

1 t. ground cinnamon

1 t. ground ginger

1 t. ground cloves

additional sugar

Cream shortening; gradually add 1 c. sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add egg and molasses; beat well.

Sift together flour, soda and spices. Add to creamed mixture, mixing well.

Shape dough into 3/4 inch balls. Roll in sugar. Place on greased baking sheets; lightly flatten balls.

Bake at 375° 8 - 10 minutes or until browned ~ tops will crack.

Place on wire racks to cool.

Store in airtight container.

Yield 6 dozen.

I love using my old cookbooks. The best ones are those that can be read and thumbed through, with history and anecdotes. The Southern Heritage Collection contains old photos, events, period illustrations, vintage advertisements and stylized pictures of the food, and my handwritten notes. They have been loved and used for many special occasions.

The volume that includes Gingersnaps is titled Family Gatherings. The table of contents reads: "Reunions & Homecomings", "Home for the Holidays", "Special Days", "Once in a Lifetime", "Just Family".

There are seven or more entire menus in each chapter so no special gathering goes without mention.

There are recipes for Dressed Eggs, Pineaple Pie, Krum Kake, Christmas Eggnog, Individual Liver Pate on Toast Rounds, Noodle Kugel, Bar Mitzvah Brownies with 

Chocolate Bourbon Frosting, Grits Souffle, Sally Lunn Bread, Old Fashioned Cheese Straws ...

I have just ordered some fresh pecans for Thanksgiving; Company Sweet Potatoes is a recipe that is always requested of me at family gatherings in November. All the girls in the family now have their own copy because we can't eat together at Grandmama's anymore, but we can all have the Company Sweet Potatoes, and remember.

I hope you have and make sweet holiday memories this season.

Sugar and spice and ...

Oh, the sweets of Christmas. Know how I knew Christmas was coming, and soon, at Mama's house?

Ribbon candy, vanilla creme drops, gum drops, wedding cookies, cheese wafers...

Mama had quite the sweet tooth and she believed hospitality meant,  'what would you like to drink?'

During the week or so before the holiday she began shopping for the expected family and company: cheeses,  party crackers (Sociables), Pepperidge Farm Party Rolls, pecans, walnuts, rum, bourbon, eggnog.

For the life of me I cannot remember where she bought the Christmas candies. But it was not Christmas without thin, I mean almost sheer, ribbon candy. She had a particular dish for it and it was always placed on the sideboard.

I preferred Peanutbutter Pillows and Peppermint Straws.  They had their candy dishes as well.  The Peanutbutter Pillows were golden brown satiny, sweet puffy hardened squares filled with soft peanutbutter. 

The Peppermint Straws were traditional red and white striped hard candy that melted immediately into a smooth minty filling. They looked like miniature bed pillows dressed up with festive pillow cases.

Sugar coated gum drops of all colors were poured into its designated candy dish, with a quantity reserved to craft gumdrop trees from green styrofoam cones, toothpicks and candies.

All of the candies were kept in the Butler's Pantry, along with the alcohol.

Mama did not bake much, only her rum cake,  but rather shopped at the local bakery for holiday treats which included her favorite, cheese wafers. Mrs. Erkert's bakery was an institution on Colley Avenue for specialty cookies and bread, birthday cakes and wedding cakes.

Fortunately that bakery hung on long enough for me to be able to walk my children up there for gingerbread men during their toddler Christmases.

These memories and more came rushing forward as soon as I saw the Gingerbread and Peppermint Suite during the July - December Mini Catalog preview back in June. Needless to say, I pre-ordered it immediately (always a perk of being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator!). And now it is finally time to start whipping up a few holiday cards and gifts with the items in the suite. See them all on pages 8 - 10 in the Mini Catalog.

Just like a pastry chef, you can 'pipe icing' on your cards using Embossing Paste (see Annual Catalog page 128), Snowy White Velvet Specialty Paper (p. 37 in the Mini), White Stampin' Ink  (p.129 in the AC); put on your white apron and toque and start mixing!

Order any or all of the items right from Shop Now on this website.

AND, order the entire suite before October 31 and I will treat you to a gift of gingerbread goodies  ~ I  will deliver or mail!

Please use this month's Host Code for your orders: MBKPGVWA.

The card above, inspired by SU Demonstrator Brian King, will be included in November's Christmas Card Buffet on Monday and Tuesday 8 and 9; to-go options available, as well.

Let's stamp!

And tell me, us, some of your favorite holiday goodies.