Haitian Art

Today, I received a gift from Wanda.

She purchased it off of an Etsy shop, after reading about it on Rebecca Sower's blog. Rebecca visited Haiti after Christmas, and brought back artwork to sell to help the people there. Feel free to visit Haiti by Hand to learn more.

I also received the tags from the Valetine's Tag Book Swap! How exciting! They are all so wonderful. Here they are, all put together in a Slide show.

A Busy Night

When I got home from work, I found that I had received the ATC from my partner in the Picasso Style Portrait ATC Swap. I think it's awesome.

Then, since I've been craving it, I made Chicken Pot Pie for dinner. Actually, I just made the filling, and put it in a mini Italian bread loaf, since I couldn't find anything bowl shaped in the bread section at the grocery store. It was decent, but I thought it had a little too much pepper and could have been creamier for my taste.

2 cans (10 3/4 ounces each) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Potato Soup
1 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves, crushed
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 cups cooked cut-up vegetables *
2 cup cubed cooked chicken
1 packages (7 1/2 to 10 ounces) refrigerated biscuits

1. In 3-quart shallow baking dish mix soup, milk, thyme, pepper, vegetables and chicken.
2. Bake at 400°F. for 15 minutes or until hot. Stir. Arrange biscuits over chicken mixture. Bake 15 minutes more or until biscuits are golden.
3. * Use a combination of broccoli flowerets, sliced carrots and peas or broccoli flowerets,cauliflower flowerets and sliced carrots or broccoli flowerets and sliced carrots.

While eating dinner, we watched Bride Wars. It was a really cute movie, and I like how they left it wide open for a sequel, maybe called Baby Wars (or has that happened already and I missed it).

Then, I went downstairs and finished my collage for the Cupid's Kiss Valentine's Day Swap. I think it turned out well, but we'll see how the recipient likes it.

ATCs from Italy

Today, I received two Birthday ATCs from Italy! I was so excited, because I didn't expect to get any more.

ATC from Marina

ATC from Silvia

Fabrics for I Spy Swap

Before returning home from work today, I popped in to Wal-Mart and picked up fabric for the Let's Play i.spy Swap. I hope that the others in the swap enjoy them as much as I do. Here's a sneak peek:

Then, during the second half of the Ravens-Colts game, I cut up the fabric for the No-Sew Block Swap. The pieces are not as perfect as I would like them to be, but they're not too bad.

i.spy Quilt Swap

I have now joined the Let's Play i.spy swap. I certainly hope that I enjoy making the two quilts that I'm commiting myself to. This will make the purchase of a rotary cutter and cutting mat well worth while ;-)

Picasso Style Portrait

Well, I finished my Picasso Style Portrait ATC. I was unsure about it at first, but eventually, I decided that I like it. Too bad it's a one-of-a-kind ATC, and I'll never be able to reprodude it. I used Picasso's "L'Italianne" as my inspiration.

I tried to make it kind of cubist, and this is what I came up with.

Tags Are On The Way

Hooray! I just put my Valentine Tags in the mail! This is how they turned out:

Not too bad. And guess what? Tom even said that despite his initial misgivings, they did turn out nice. It's hard to get a compliment out of him, so I'm pleased.

Valentine Collage Swap

Yeah! I found out today that I have been accepted into the Cupid's Kiss Valentine's Day Swap. I'll need to create a 4" x 4" collage, which I learned how to do at Silver Bella two years ago. Now, I just need to remember how to do it...

Stop Me If You've Seen This One

While watching the Ravens-Patriots game, I saw what is now my new favorite commercial. Here it is...

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Happy birthday, Dad! I hope it's a happy one.
Today, I picked up fabric for the No-Sew Block Swap. I think that they'll work out well. I only wish that I was able to find white with yellow dots for my white fabric. Here's a peek of my selections.

Then later, I continued working on my tags for the Valentine Tag Book Swap. I placed the die-cut hearts on the tags, and found some lace that I put on the bottoms. I also thought of a fun yarn to tie through the hole at the top of the tag. I think they're missing something, and I might think about wording of some sort, but maybe not.

Tags are Coming Along

Tonight, I worked on my tags for the Valentine Tag Book Swap some more. They're coming along. I added doilies, and played with the placement of the hearts I die cut last night. They need to be in the mail next week, and if I stay on schedule, I won't have to stress too much about them.

Sunshine Cleaning & Tags

After work tonight, I had a nice evening. It started off with receiving another Birthday ATC. This one was from Shelina in ???. She calls it "Question Mark."

Next, I went downstairs to start working on my tags for the Valentine Tag Book Swap. I painted them while watching a DVD that Wanda brought with her at Christmas, "Sunshine Cleaning."

It was a cute movie, but I don't think I'd recommend it, there were too many little things going on that didn't connect well. And, I would have liked to see the sister stay involved with the family in the end.

Will Try Quilting

I saw this fun looking swap over on Swapdex, and I thought I'd join in. It's the No-Sew Block Swap.

For it, I will need to send in pieces for a quilt square in the colors of pink, green and white. What pushed me over the edge to join it, was that Holly at the Tidewater will be having a baby in April, and she will be decorating in pinks. If it turns out, and if I get it done in time, I think a quilt would be a nice addition.

Angels & Demons

Tonight, after work, I watched a new DVD that I got for Christmas, "Angels & Demons."


I had read the book in the past, and I've tried reading it again, but got scared, so I had to put it away. It was a good movie. As is my way when I've read the book first, I was too analytical about what was missing or different from the book, but overall, I really enjoyed it. And surprise, Tom did, too. I recommend both the movie, and the book.