Merry Christmas {Eve}!

Sorry I've been MIA... Christmas is the best time of the year, but also the most stressful. With crafts galore, presents, and of course waiting until last minute to get everything done, it takes a lot out of you!

But rather than talking about Santa and presents I have a question for YOU. Yes you. Have you sat back during this busy holiday season to remember the real reason for the bows and trees, the stockings and presents? Have you looked at the miracle that Christmas truly is? Christmas is a season of hope, joy, love and peace. A season of such magnitude, no other holiday could possibly hope to measure up to.

Have you gotten caught up in the tinsel and tags? Have you been a Scrooge this year? Did you remember the reason of the season?

My message to you this Holiday season is to enjoy yourself. To laugh and love. To believe that everything will work out. I know many of us are caught by the recession and feel as if we need to give more to everyone, but FYI: it's the thought that counts. So share a friendly word, a smile to a lonely person, forgiveness to someone who has hurt you, and you will gain the happiness and love we all wish to have during the holidays

Merry Christmas!

Much love this holiday season,

Tacie

Novice Design Work

Well, I've officially designed my first blog header for someone else. Wow. You wanna see it? Here it is:

To see it in action go to her blog: Here (if it's not up yet, it should be at most, up in a couple of days.)

Yay? Nay? If anyone who reads this is a professional designer, I would love any advice, criticism or what not you have. I really have no idea what I'm doing here. I just play around until it looks nice.

And for those of you who don't design at all... You want a personalized blog header? For free? I would love if you gave me another chance to expound on my design skills.

You know what? If you want one- The first 10 commenters will get one! Leave a comment on this post with your email and I'll get back to you asap!

OH, and this is just a little Christmas tree thingy I made last night... How you likey???

Thanks for commenting! ;)

P.S. These are all my designs. Please don't copy, use these designs without my permission or claim these as your own work. I spent a while working on these and I would hate to have all that go to waste. Thank you!

And the Winner is...

After tallying up all the extra entries, and making a trip over to random.org we now have a winner of the custom banner!

Congratulations Greta!

Email me at ducksgoquack3@hotmail.com with your favorite colors, whether you would like a holiday banner, or regular, and whatever ideas you have in mind for your banner.

Congrats! And for all of you that didn't win, keep checking back, if this goes well, I just might do a similar giveaway to this one!

You Want One of These?

[Look UP...]

Hey, if you want a custom blog header, leave a comment...(Thanks Crystal for the idea!) One lucky commenter will receive a personalized somethin, somethin for their own blog.

Oh, and do you like my new one? If you compliment it in your comment and you'll get an extra entry.

So, yeah I know I'm not a pro at this, but I try... (And I'm real humble too!)

Giveaway ends Friday, December 4 12:00 MST

Winner will be announced Saturday, December 5

Remember to tell your friends! You want another entry? Tell who referred you to this giveaway and you both get an extra one!

Want another entry? Become a follower of my blog!

Make sure you leave a comment for EVERY entry, or they won't be counted!

P.S. I got some really great stuff at the thrift store... I'll post pics and maybe a tutorial soon!

A Time of Thanks

Well, Thanksgiving is this THURSDAY! Oh, goodness, I cannot wait for all that delicious food, and the friends and family to get together, but most of all the food!

But, more importantly than food (That shows how important this is) I would like to give a shout out to one awesome lady.

This is my Grandma. Aka the friendliest person you will ever know. Unless you are a sales person, then she probably won't be so friendly...

Upon first meeting her she'll give you a hug. Not the creepy, stalker-ish kind, but the kind that gives you warm fuzzies, and can make your day go from horrible to wonderful in the blink of an eye.

She's also been through so much that it's hard to imagine how she stayed the way she is. I'm not going to go into details, but lets just say she hasn't had the easiest life ever. But she loves life all the same, and I'm especially glad that I am able to call her Grandma.

She is so giving. SO giving. Not just with materialistic stuff either. She gives her time to help anyone in need... especially a distressed granddaughter. Yeah, she's that cool.

So my grandma pretty much rocks, and I love her. If you ever meet her, I bet you'll know, she's the one who will hug you before she knows your name. :) Good luck getting out of that one!

Happy, Happy Birthday to ME!

Hey! Guess what? Tomorrow's my birthday. I love birthdays, they just rock! Oh, and you wanna know what I got for an early b-day present??? Contacts! No more glasses, no fogging up in the winter, no wet glasses when it's raining... that's heaven to me!

So, I was thinking about hosting a giveaway, but I have no idea what to giveaway. If you've got any suggestions, or you would like to sponsor a giveaway on this blog, I would love you forever. As a friend, of course!

So leave a comment w/ your email, so I can contact you if you have a brilliant idea. If the idea is good enough, there just might be a few lucky winners. Oh JOY!

Well, have an awesome day, and I'll be waiting for your comments! :)

Where, Oh Where Could My Cam-er-a be?

I lost it! Oh goodness, my trusty friend has always enjoyed a good game of hide-and-seek (who doesn't???) but this game has gone on long enough!

Well, he looks like this:

With a red case, and a few scratches here and there... it makes him look rugged, okay???

So, my dear old camera is missing crafts, joy, love and happiness, but then again, they're all pretty much the same, right?

But, we're carving pumpkins tonight, so I gotsta' go find him, so toodles!

Heaven in the Form of a Pint

Oh. My. Goodness. I lie to you not. This loverly creation from Ben and Jerry's is my new favorite. You should go and buy a pint of it right now. I'm not kidding, it's seriously that good.

Oh, and my pint has received its fair share of loving, I'll be out to get some more soon.

Oh Joy

What is joy? Happiness? Enthusiasm? Jubilation, Euphoria The list could go on forever you know.

So, are you full of JOY?

Are you ENTHUSIASTIC about life?

Well, I hope you are. And if you aren't I bet you could do something to get better. Drink a cup of hot Cocoa. Go buy a small present for yourself. Listen to some 'happy' music. Talk to that special someone. Jump around for no reason. Laugh. Yeah, laugh. Out loud, right now. It'll make your day about ten times better, guaranteed.

So, now that I've expressed my erratic thoughts for the day, on to the fun stuff.

SO... I made this awesome scarf over the weekend, unfortunately I have no pictures. But! the tutorial is here. Enjoy, and be enthralled with the simple craft.

I'll leave you with that, and this:

:) OH JOY!!!!

I'm in love

with my new blog header... aren't you? It's so pretty, and fall colored, and wonderful! I can't wait until winter! (Although it does feel like it's already the chilly season here in good ol' Provo!

So, enjoy the header and I'll enjoy my sewing, and show you what I did later on. Let me just tell you, it's great! (But really bad at the same time too!)

And yes, I know you are going to ask, I did do this on my own! Aren't you so proud of me???

Prepare yourself...

I've been kinda picture happy the last few days, so enjoy, or just scroll past really fast. They both work.

Hey! How'd that get in there? Oh, well!

So, this past weekend I took a visit with my brother to the Springville Art Museum (there was hardly anyone there!) And I have to admit there there were some amazing paintings there, like this one:

And this one, it was crazy, examine it, then think about it. Notice anything slightly heartbreaking here? Yeah, me too.

And I started on my quilt! (Finally!)

I love this fabric... really I do.

I told you I was picture happy!

And these are the final blocks: (You can get a lot done through three sessions of General Conference)

And here's a little contest of sorts. I took all three of these pictures. Which do you like the best?

Picture A

Picture B

Or Picture C?

Yeah, I know they aren't the best pictures in the world, I blame it on my camera. That's why I'm getting a new one... got any good suggestions? I'm looking for an awesome camera. That's all you need to focus on. (In other words, don't worry about the cost, or size. It just needs to be awesome!)

So leave a comment, about your favorite picture, your favorite camera or your favorite childhood pet. :)

Let's go on a Picnik!

Sorry about the annoying spot on this one, I didn't notice it when I took the picture... Darn it.

There's this awesome website called Picnik, also known as the coolest picture editing website known to man. Well, at least known to me. (You are entitled to your own opinion.)

So, this amazing website lets you do tons of stuff, so much I could never hope to write it all down. Best part is: it's FREE! (There are only a few things you can't do with a free account, but still, it's free.)

Take a look at these. Not something I could do by myself, seeing as how I don't own any form of Photoshop, nor do I know how to work it if I did own said program.

So, go check it out! I know you want to!

One last thing, do you like the new font, or should I just stick with the old one?

Procrastination...

Is not a good thing. I promise you that! Now, I know I promised to do better at blogging, and I know I haven't. Well, with homework, work, crafting, everything that's going on in my hectic life right now, what do you expect? I would love to sit and write a post everyday. But I can't. I'm bad enough watching a few t.v. shows without adding blogging on top of it.

SO... until life settles down some more, I guess you'll just have to settle for the occasional post. How many faithful readers actually read this, though? Does anyone itch for a new post to read, or is it just so so? I would love a comment on that (I sound like a broken record. But... no one ever does leave a comment.) I promise I don't bite! Maybe I'll just make it mandatory for there to be a comment for another post... nah, I'm not that mean!

Yeah, I know this post is random, and it's just been one of those days. You know, the days you feel like biting everyone's head off for looking at you, more like, you don't feel like socializing with anyone. At all.

So, onto crafting (since this is a crafting blog) I've been rocking out to Christmas music (don't hate me, I just feel like joy, and Christmas is about joy. Period.) as I've been working on my quilt, but I'm not at my house, so I don't have any pictures on this computer right now, so I'll have to show you later.

So, I hope you have a fantastic day, and you guys rock! (That was thanks in advance for commenting...)

I'm sorry.

I really am. I haven't been constantly blogging and I'm sure that I'm not that interesting when I don't blog at all.

So I'll give you a taste of my next project. I just need to run to the fabric store once more for some more fabric.

So, here it is:

Picture from Cluck Cluck Sew

This little beauty, the Double Hourglass Quilt is my next attempt at craftyness.

Allison from Cluck Cluck Sew has an awesome tutorial for this quilt on her blog. It is the easiest pattern ever and I'm stoked to try it out.

I have some really cute fabric I plan on using for the quilt, it's Recess by American Jane

So, this is technically my first quilt, and to be honest, I'm kind of scared. Any tips?

OH! And I promise that I'll be better at blogging in the future... possibly more giveaways?

Well... three people... WHOO HOO!

So, now that we've had such a great turn out on the givaway :), it's time to announce the winner!

Thanks to the help of RANDOM.ORG

And the winner is:

Numero 3! Who was Jordan! (After taking into account the extra entries...)

Jordan, you'll soon be getting an email from me, and I hope you have fun shopping in the shop!

Tacie

Giveaway!!!

Have any of you been to the shop lately? Well, if you haven't, go on, check it out! Oh, and did I mention that I'm having a giveaway? It's for a free 5 bucks to the shop, and if I get more than, oh we'll say 50 comments, I'll up it to 3 different winners.

THE RULES:

* 1 Free Entry: just enter your name and your email address for your 1st chance.

* 1 Entry for every person you get to enter: leave the name of the person who told you about this giveaway and you both get another entry.

* 1 Entry if you become a follower: It's pretty simple, just become a follower, if you already are, then leave another comment saying so.

* 1 Entry for your favorite item from the shop: go to the shop, and leave a comment saying your favorite thing there.

* 1 Entry for your thoughts or ideas on how to improve the shop and blog!

Make sure to leave your email address on each entry so I can contact you if you've won!

Thanks for entering, and I hope you all have a great Labor Day! (If you live in an area where it applies!)

I'm back!

Back from being lazy, non-motivated (how do you really say that?) and back from neglecting my poor little blog. What, you ask pushed me back into the vibe?

A newly opened etsy shop, that's what! Go on, check it out! It's at this link right here, or here, or here. They're all the same. If they don't work for you though go to: tailfeathersinc.etsy.com. You know you want to!

I bet you also want to know what loverly items are being sold at said store? Well, here's a little peak, for those of you who wish to be lazy. I get it, no hard feelings, I myself am being quite lazy also at this particular moment.

Leave a comment with your favorite item and there may be a free somethin, somethin involved, if you know what I mean... but then there may not. Depends on how I'm feeling

Monday Munchies

Today's munchie is: CAKE BALLS!!!

This delicious treat is as good as it looks! Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm!

I would love it if you guys commented and told me whether you like these recipes, or if you would prefer something else, even if you have ideas for it! As we all know, I love comments... what? You didn't know that? Well, now you do! Good luck!

Tacie

P.S. I finally joined the world of ipod touch users, and I'm addicted! (Doodlejump is a very addicting game. Don't say I didn't warn you) Maybe I'll try doing a post from that, I'll tell you if I do!

It's Still Monday!

I have a post for this Monday Munchies, part 4... I think. Aren't you so happy that it's on an actual Monday this week?

Well, since I'm still a slacker, and It'll take a while for me to get out of that, I only have a link to another blog, so here it is.

(Picture from Brownies for Dinner)

Oh, my! Doesn't that look delicious? MMMMM!

And in Crafty Blogland, over at Red Bird Crafts, Emily has an amazing idea. They're called Story Stones, and they are adorable. Here's some insructions on how to make them, and she has a bunch of different one's at her blog. She also sells them in her Etsy shop, so go take a look there too!

(All Pictures from Red Bird Crafts)

Seriously, you can't tell me those aren't amazing!

Help me Rhonda, help help me Rhonda...

The Beach Boys, :), they make me wanna dance. Just the beat of Do You Wanna Dance, or Fun, Fun, Fun makes me wanna jump up and dance! Shimmy, Jump and Jive right in front of that open window, right as your next door neighbors walk past! Whoo hoo! Okay, maybe not that much, but you get the picture right?

Now, I know there are those who don't like them, but I forgive you. And hopefully you can forgive me for liking the Beach Boys. I am done now.

Oh, and if you were wondering, I am in the crafty mood once more. It's a secret right now, but my newest project involves, 5 points, a craft knife and pretty paper, now aren't you excited! More to come in the future!

Oh, I give up!

Now we all know that I'm a procrastinator. So I give up... maybe next week I'll type up one of MY recipes... and I'm giving you a link to Life as I Know it... Cake for Breakfast YUM!

Now go make some *healthy* cake for tomorrow's breakfast. And I'll try not to put it off as much next week... Notice the key word was TRY! :)

Tacie

Shame on me!

I didn't do a Monday Munchies post yesterday... darn! I guess it'll have to be Tuesday Tasties, or something like that... but I was thinking about doing a recipe for lightning cake... any objections? Keep an eye out, I'll post the recipe soon!

Tacie

Monday Munchies

Duh duh duh duh! (Imagine trumpets flaring, and royal, rich looking people standing around.)

it's Peanut butter play dough time!

I (yes, I) love to make and play with Peanut Butter Play dough. Seriously, it's peanut butter and play dough combined! Edible Play dough!

So before I babble on for too long, here's the recipe:

1 C. Creamy Peanut Butter

2 C. Powdered sugar (some recipes use dry milk, but this tastes SO much better!)

1/2 C. Honey

Then: Mix, mix, mix, mix, mix some more, make your children mix, and finally mix the mixture. (Have you ever said a word so many times it loses it's meaning? Well, that's what just happened to me!) Or you can use an electric mixer (like a kitchen aid thinger...)

Last: ENJOY!

(Picture from Ourbestbites.com because MY camera is uncooperative.)

Tacie

Time to Share the Wealth

I thought sharing with you guys all the really cute bag patterns I've found will get me back into the crafting spirit... but maybe not.

First up...

The Blossie Bag from Bloom and Blossom

And there's the Pleated Purse Pattern from My Spare Time

And some more:

A cute tote bag from J Caroline Creative

The Diana Hobo from Elizabeth Carrol

The Market Bag from A Film in the Fridge

The 32 Minute Messenger bag from The Qulting Diaries

The Mama Backpack from Happy Things

The Buttercup Bag from Made by Rae

Well, good luck sorting through these patterns and I would love to know which of these are your favorite!

Tacie

Wow... It's been awhile!

Hello all you! I'm back! Well, technically I was back on Saturday but haven't had any computer time since! That also means I haven't had any time to upload any photos, so I guess you don't get any pictures either... :)

And now, Introducing:

MONDAY MUNCHIES!!!

Disclaimer: This picture isn't todays recipe. I'm sorry, and yes I DO know that they look delicious.

A new part of the Pattern Impossible blog family. Every Monday I'll have a new recipe, from the web, or a family tradition, or somewhere. Maybe I'll even make it up on the spot. BUT! Let me warn you now... it will not taste good unless a miracle is involved. So we'll stick to pre-made recipes. :)

Well, todays is over at The Thrifty Chick blog. This recipe looks delicious. (Notice how I say looks not is... I haven't tried it yet.) But maybe I will. Tonight looks pretty free.

I'm not feeling very crafty lately though, as I bet you can tell. When you feel that way, how do you get back into the mood? I really need help. My sewing machine hasn't been touched in weeks. Pathetic, I know. :(

Well, I will see you tomorrow or next week or whenever I feel like it, so until then, Enjoy your LIfe!

Tacie

And we're off!

To camp Mia Shalom, a.k.a. Girls camp! I won't be thinking about this blog for the next 6 days, so... I leave you with one final

FAREWELL!

Is it just me...

or does anyone else wish they lived in the time of barn-raising, greased pig wrangling, small town living, Little House on the Prairie time period?

WARNING: In case you haven't guessed by now, this isn't a craft related post

Maybe it's just Reading too many Marcia Lynn McClure romances (oh gosh, how I love those books!) or watching too many reruns of Little House while sewing, or even visiting the Bar J Wranglers (I'm talking laugh your head off funny) but oh how I wish I lived then!

And those cowboys! Stop me now!

(Yeah, I know that's John Wayne, but boy does he make one good cowboy!)

Now, I'll go back to dreaming, and you can surf some more blogs, but hey! I got you thinking about it, huh?

Tacie

Wanna enter a giveaway?

Over at Make it and Love it there's a giveaway for a chance to win some adorable watches from Kendee Watches. Okay, I admit it, I'm posting about this for another entry to win, but you should too! Aren't these adorable?

Go on! Check it out!