Jen Bowles Design

(Makes Me) Happy Friday

First of all, Happy Halloween!
Do you have your costume ready?  I was all set to be a Devil with a Blue Dress On but ran into a snag with the Blue Dress piece.  Sometimes it takes more than one trip to the Salvation Army to score the goods you need.  I'll keep the horns, tail and pitchfork on hand for next year.  Instead it looks like I'll be donning my old stand-by:  Mrs. Potts.  The good news is no one this side of the Mason-Dixon line has ever seen me in my Mrs. Potts costume.  Not in person anyway.
What else is making me happy today, in addition to Halloween?  Hmmm, let's see...

• The first chocolate chip pumpkin muffins of the season.  Made 'em yesterday.  Low-fat and yummy--love that combination!  Oh look, there was already one missing by the time I took the picture.  Go figure.
• Bubbe's birds (aka Mom).  Their colorful, fun, whimsical and finely hand crafted whilst watching shows like Ugly Betty and Dancing with the Stars.  And she's already sold over 2 dozen of them to local retailers.  Soon to be listed in her new Brown Bird Studios etsy shop.  I'm trying to convince her to donate one to me so I can do a blog giveway : )   
• My good blood.  Yep, I got the results from all my bloodwork and everything looks fine.  The main thing we were checking was my cholesterol levels.  I am happy to say that everything is under control--including my HDL (good cholesterol) level which is at 64.  My doctor told me that anything over 60 is considered a negative risk factor for cardiac disease.  With a family history of heart disease on both sides it's best to keep on top of these things.  Just remember kids, eat lots of fruits, vegetables and salmon and get some kind of exercise every day : ).  With that kind of sage advice, I'm thinking the next President might want me for his fitness council.  I'm finding myself very funny today, must be the Halloween mischief in the air!

And now for something a little different.  A small list of what would make me happy today...    

• If the medicine I gave Will this morning would kick in so he could go to school.  He has to at least feel well enough to go trick or treating tonight.  His coughing, sore throat and possible low grade fever have already put my lunch date with BGD in jeopardy.  Of course Will's health is more important.  I was going to have fish though...
• A feather duster.  A good one.  One that isn't disposable, actually picks up the dust and holds it.  Does such a thing exist?  Do tell.  Please.  Now that we've turned the heat on (not much mind you) there's an influx of dust all over everything.  And using my shirtsleeve doesn't seem to be the most efficient way to clean it up.
• A glass of water.  I'm thirsty.  And I'm sitting 4 feet from the kitchen.  Gotta go hydrate!

Wishing everyone a happy and safe Halloween weekend!  

Show & Tell: JOY banner

Another day, another creation.  Sigh.
Feels good to be working down in the "cave", er studio ; )     
I've been spending a good deal of time down there lately, getting ready for a Jen Bowles Design re-launch of sorts.  Sometimes it's hard to get  motivated to go down there, but once I start something I don't want to come back up.  In the new basement studio I have 3, yes three, tables to use.  And I seem to be having no problem finding stuff to put on them.  Making banners, painting pots, working on Halloween costumes--there's room for all of it.
More to share soon!                                

Show & Tell: Halloween Cards

I'm always admiring the scrapbooking goodies by K&Co. at AC Moore.
And I seem to be going there a lot lately.
And K&Co. stuff seems to be on big sale a lot lately.
So I gave in.  Bought some Halloween products.  Made a deal with myself:  buy these and you must make some Halloween cards.  This year.  And you must mail them out.  On time.
Mission accomplished.
I even added some fun American Greetings Halloween magnets from Target.
Seventeen extra cents and a trip to the postal window to have each envelope hand canceled, and my greetings are on the way...                      

Show & Tell: Ruby Fairy

I made this clothespin flower fairy for my friend Ruby's 5th birthday last week.  Though the construction was a bit brutal at times (sawing off the existing "head" of the clothespin so I could glue on the wooden doll head bead), I think it turned out pretty cute.
Oh, and a big thank you to my photographic assistant Will for holding the fairy so I could take pictures.
He was thrilled ; )
   

(Makes Me) Happy Friday

It's been a tough week but I'll give it a go...

• Yesterday I was finally successful in having my blood drawn for some routine bloodwork (i.e. cholesterol level).  After losing consciousness last week during my first attempt (and spending 20+ minutes lying on the floor of the lab trying to feel well enough to just sit up), I returned to the scene of the crime yesterday morning.  5 needle sticks, 2 different labs,  4 technicians, and 2 1/2 hours later, I had parted with 3 small tubes of my plasma.  This is why I am not a blood donor...
• I got my oil changed today.  I was supposed to go last Friday but that didn't exactly work out.  Oil changes are one of those things that seem to come up at the most inconvenient times.  But I found out the other day that an old childhood neighbor of mine is a mechanic at a shop less than 2 miles from my house.  I drove over this morning and 35 minutes later I was home with fresh oil and newly rotated tires.
• I moved my laptop to BGD's desk.  I now have a perfect view of the 'bird garden' in the backyard.  There's a suet holder, a squirrel proof bird feeder and a bird bath.  I cleaned and re-filled everything this morning.  It's a sunny (though a bit chilly) day and I've seen at least 5 different kinds of birds just since I started this post.

{Picture of the gourds was taken last weekend when Ebby and I went to visit friend in upstate NY.  I thought the shapes and shades of green were very nice}

Wishing you a happy weekend...

Daisy

The following is the text of an email my husband sent out yesterday morning.

Daisy died last night.  She was only 79 days old.

She got very sick suddenly on Sunday.  We thought she was getting better later during the day, but overnight she got much worse quickly. I rushed her to the emergency room at about 5 am yesterday.  They ran a number of tests and determined she had a bad infection in her intestines and stomach.  It looked like they were going to be able to treat it with antibiotics and she would be able to come home in a couple days.  But soon after we left the hospital from visiting her on Monday evening, she took a very bad turn.  I went right back and was with her for the last couple hours.  The infection caused internal bleeding.  We tried giving her a blood transfusion from a donor dog, but it didn't help.  She went into cardiac arrest and passed away at about 9:30 pm.

We're going to bury her at home this afternoon after school.  She was a great puppy and we already miss her terribly.

(Makes Me) Happy Friday

What's making me happy this Friday is the fact that I made more stuff.
Unfortunately, my nausea, lightheadedness and extreme fatigue are making me not so happy.
Oh well, at least I was able to pull myself together enough to take some pictures of my creations on this
beautiful, sunny day. 
I like sunny days.  Another thing that's making me happy.

• This card is for my friend Ruby.  Her 5th birthday party is tomorrow.  She is a cutie.  The stuffed mouse is from IKEA. 
• It is also Ebby's friend's Julia's birthday.  I decorated a wooden J for her and made her a card as well. 
• Yet another friend is celebrating a birthday tomorrow.  A milestone one.  One that ends in "0" and doesn't start with 1,2,3, or 5.  But I didn't think it was polite to blurt it out on a banner ; ), so I just did the word 'wish' instead. Maybe she'll be wishing she was turning 23.  Or maybe she'll embrace the whole 40 thing.  Oops, I let it slip : )  

Happy weekend to all!

Our Yard, Today

                                   Giant mums (a bargain at $8.95 a piece), leaves in full color, bittersweet, our painted mailbox post (the yellow sign in the distance is the boys' school), yet another late rose, a fire bowl waiting for a cool evening.  It looks like fall around here...

(Makes Me) Happy Friday

Sure, no one will read this until Saturday at the earliest, but here's what's making me happy this fall Friday...

• Indian Summer!  Weather today was 70+ degrees and sunny (with soon to be peaking foliage), predicted to last through the long weekend.  Not missing the North Carolina weather today!
• My studio is clean!  And functional!  I might even take some pictures to post soon : )
• I spent two hours yesterday turning a spot at the bottom of the driveway from a weed & rock wasteland to a lovely little planting bed with fountain grass, autumn joy sedum and mums.  Ahhh, much better.
• On the way back from dropping Ebby off at a friend's house, the boys and I stopped to get (more) mums and pumpkins.  How could I not be happy spending time with these two??       

Hope there's lots making you happy this Friday!
Wishing everyone a warm and wonderful (hopefully long) weekend!

More Halloween Decorating

After walking by the two 20 gallon plastic tubs I use to store the Halloween decorations for the 50th time, I finally mustered up the energy to open and unpack them.  We brought them down from the attic over a week ago.
Here are a few more pictures of my progress, including some with our own Halloween mascot, Brady the cat.