Just call me creADHDivkj!

I've self diagnosed myself with creative ADHD. I have so many creative ideas swimming like made around in my head and I can't seem to stay focused on one idea for very long and then I am off and working on another idea. I should change my nickname from cre8tivkj to creADHDivkj, LOL! Here are some projects I've been working on...

I've had flip flops on my brain lately. First a gal in my looming dishcloths group mentioned she would love to see a flip flop dishcloth pattern so I set out to make one (more on that in a bit). I worked on that for several days making my chart and making my prototype and reworking the pattern, etc., etc...Then my stepdaughter's 10th birthday party quickly decended upon me and I had to quick figure out something "cool" to put on her cake. I got the crazy idea I was going to make a flip flop shaped cake. I hunted my fool head off for days looking for flip flop cake pans to no avail. I decided I was just going to have to make my own pans. Yes, you read it right, I had to MAKE my own pans! I then set out figuring out how I was going to do that. I found in the grocery store a foil roasting pan (the disposable kind you use to roast a turkey in) I decided I could some how form it into the desired shape. WRONG! I bent and twisted and formed and fussed and messed with that crazy thing for more than an hour. It was 10:30 on Monday evening (the night before my stepdaughter's birthday), I was getting desperate. It seems like inspiration always strikes me when my time is running out. I finally decided to cut out of cardboard the shape of the flip flop, cover the shape in tin foil and then cut the sides from the disposable foil pan and form the sides around my flip flop bottoms, clip the corners (as you would clip material when sewing to form corners) and I secured the foil pan together with heavy duty packing tape on the bottom of the pan. I went to bed apprehensive if this would even work. The next morning I sat and thought for a moment, I couldn't possible bake anything in this pan (the tape would not hold up to the heat) so I brain stormed for a bit and thought of making a nobake cheesecake. I got excited when I realized that the crushed graham crackers would look like sand on the beach and I was going to crush extra crackers and scatter them around the cake once I pulled the form from around the cake (I forgot all about this creative thought, however, when the 6, 8, 9, and 10 year old girls and boys started showing up for the party and the noise in my house went up 20 notches, LOL!). Here's the finished cake:


Coolest Flip Flop Birthday Cake Ever!

I completed my daughter's beach themed birthday party by making her a cute beach scene banner she and her friends and brother's and sister's could get their pictures taken with. The kid's really got a kick out of this banner. They laughed and laughed getting their pictures taken as a "Surfer Dude" and a "Hawaiian Hoola Dancer". Kaden and Sam (my boys) took turns being the "Hawaiian Hoola Dancer" and "Surfer Dude":


Sam poses as the "Surfer Dude" while Kaden poses as the "Hawaiian Hoola Dancer"


The proud birthday girl adored her flip flop cake.

Now, back to the flip flop dishcloths I am designing. I have completed my first test pattern and I have two ladies lined up to test two more prototypes and I will be ready to release my design. I have a really neat idea to jazz up the design (I promise, you won't be dissapointed). Stay tuned for pictures and the FREE pattern for you to try out for yourself.

Another creative project I recently completed is the blog banner and blog button I made for my friend Vivian McKnight. I really enjoy reading Vivian's posts on her blog and on the Yahoo groups we both belong to so I handpicked her to help me write a big project I am working on (yet another creative project in the works). As a big THANK YOU gift to her I wanted to design something just for her. She told me what she envisioned for her blog and the following picture formed in my mind:


Vivian's Blog Banner

I am almost finished with my parent's 50th Wedding Anniversary video presentation. It's been a huge, time consuming (but enjoyable) project. I've added so much since my mom and dad got a sneak peek. I was able to work some things in that are very meaninful to them and I do hope everyone enjoys watching what I've so enjoyed putting together. I wish I could share this BIG project here on my blog, but unfortunately, it is 125 MB and would never upload to the web. It is nearly 30 minutes long and contains video clips, music, photos, and voice over narrations.

3 a.m. wake up call!

BEEP BEEP BEEP! ALERT! FIRE! GET OUT OF THE HOUSE! BEEP BEEP BEEP! ALERT! FIRE! GET OUT OF THE HOUSE... Imagine gettting a wake up call at 3 a.m. that your house is on fire! That is exactly what happened to my family last night. I flew out of bed so fast, I was the first one up. I screamed at my husband "LEE! FIRE!" and ran into the hallway to grab our little girls. But, there wasn't any smoke. My husband jumped out of bed and together we ran through the house trying to find the fire. Our inline smoke detector also detects carbon monoxide and we thought maybe this is what set it off.

We ran downstairs to check on the kids in the basement. They were all up, eyes wide with fright. We checked every room and found no smoke, no fire. I told my husband to go outside and see if he could see any smoke coming from the roof. No smoke. We were puzzled. Our sleepy minds couldn't figure out what had happened.

The alarm started up again...BEEP BEEP BEEP! ALERT! FIRE! GET OUT OF THE HOUSE! BEEP BEEP BEEP! ALERT! FIRE! GET OUT OF THE HOUSE... We suddenly remembered that we had a plug in carbon monoxide detector we could plug in and see if it was going off due to carbon monoxide. But where was it? The last anyone had seen it was in our office. 3 a.m. is not the best time to look for something that someone thought they saw somewhere. We are still recovering from a whole house move and things are still unpacked and we still have boxes stacked in our closet. We couldn't find the carbon monoxide detector.

The alarm had shut off at this point so we could only assume it had malfunctioned. The only other way to set off this alarm is to purposely press the button to test the alarm. No one had pressed the button. We milled around the house for awhile, uncertain what had happened, relunctant to go back to bed.

After we decided it was safe to go back to bed, a bad thunderstorm came through and my husband climbed back out of bed and turned on the t.v. to track the storm. I drifted off to sleep, the thought of determining a fire escape plan for myself, my husband, and our two girls upstairs. We have already figured out an escape plan and a meeting place for the four kids we have in the basement. Our eldest daughter has a removeable ladder on her bunk bed and it is perfect to hook up into the window wells so each of the kids can climb out and run to safety to the swingset. Please, please, do not wait until 3 a.m. to figure out an escape plan! Do not wait until your mind is half asleep like we did. This 3 a.m. wake up call woke us up to the fact we hadn't planned anything.

Below are some websites that are great for helping you determine an escape plan for you and your family:

Home Fire Escape Plan

Exit Drills in the Home

Don't Let This Happen to Your Home

Saying Fairwell

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
~1 Corinthians 15:55


There has been much loss for us within the past year. We lost a brother (my brother-in-law) last fall; last week my dear aunt (my mother's oldest sister) passed away; I just heard yesterday that one of my sister's friends (a sweet, sweet lady that was a bride's maid in her wedding) passed away this weekend; and now we lost our cat Beauty. We believe she was run over on the road or was taken by an owl. She never came home the night before last, when they are gone that long, they normally do not return.

I spent most of the day on Friday driving down to my parent's house in southwest Minnesota so I could attend my aunt's funeral Saturday morning. I hadn't seen my aunt in many, many years. The course of our lives leads us in directions far far away from those we love sometimes and I hadn't had a chance to see her or to say goodbye. Her funeral was my only chance to say fairwell. Even though I came down with the flu on Thursday night, I still insisted on driving down so I could attend her funeral. I drove down with a fever and aches all over my body. I drove down with two little girls that weren't feeling well either. Amanda had gotten sick the day before I had and still wasn't eating much and was very whiny. My other daughter Paige got sick on Friday evening when we were sitting in my parent's living room. She got sick all over me. My mother had just handed her off to me and the movement must of been just enough to completely upset her stomach.

I said goodbye to my aunt Saturday morning. She looked just as she did the last time I saw her. She resembles my mother and my grandmother a great deal. Her passing makes me realize my own parents death may not be far behind. My husband has said the same about his parents. His father has been dealing with failing health ever since he had a couple strokes last summer. On Sunday we saw him, he doesn't look well. My husband is bracing himself for his death...

O death where is thy sting?

Contest Winner Announcement!

First of all, I want to send out a GREAT BIG THANK YOU to each of you who sent me your name ideas for our baby boy alpaca born to Martini, the beautiful alpaca we are purchasing from Hollyhock Alpaca Farm in Becker, MN! There were so many wonderful names to choose from! The decision was a tough one! There was one name that struck a cord with us though. We LOVED the concept behind this one name! You see, alpacas are raised for their luxurious fleece, their value resides in their fleece. The more crimp they have, the better. The softer, the better. When you take this into account, there is only one name that says it all, the name Sampson. Sampson from the Bible, got his strength from his hair. A male alpaca Sire is carefully chosen because of the quality of his fleece (hair) and his composition or stature (strength). Sampson fits him perfectly! The lucky gal with the winning name is Trish. Congratulations Trish!

See you next week!