SO THANKFUL!!!

Happy BLACK FRIDAY Everyone!

NO ... I'm not one of those crazy shoppers who jumped up from the Thanksgiving dinner table to get in line at the stores so I could be first to grab onto those bargains everyone has been advertising!  Don't get me wrong ... I LOVE TO SHOP ...but just getting too old to deal with the crowds!  LOL!

Instead, I'll spend my time today doing a little clean up after yesterday's FABULOUS THANKSGIVING DAY FEAST with my family and maybe start thinking about replacing my Thanksgiving decorations with Christmas decorations ... you know how fast time flies!!  But before I start that 'crazyness', I wanted to share a couple photo's with you of what I am MOST THANKFUL for!  My little family!

(Back row L - R) Granddaughter, Morgan ... My hubby, Mark ... Grandson, Jonathan ... SIL Frank ... Daughter, Carolyn

(Front) Me and my Mom

(L-R)  Morgan with fiance CJ

Mom and gentleman friend Ken

Yes, EXCITING NEWS!, our granddaughter & CJ got engaged a few weeks back!  They are planning an October 2014 wedding which gives her time to complete her college education at Kent State where she is studying to be a Sign Language Interpreter. 

 My 'baby' Carolyn & hubby of 21 years, Frank!

 OH MY STARS . . . where has the time gone?

My 'little family' is growing up and I am so proud of each of them!

It has been a beautiful, peaceful day and we are thankful for the OH SO MANY BLESSING this year.  2013 holds great hope for a few new changes in our lives. . . Mark is now retired . . . Frank is venturing out and opening his own business . . . Jon will start driving in the spring . . . and of course Morgan / CJ will have lots of wedding plans to start putting in motion.  We pray God will watch over us again as we do our best to provide & guide our children through life and it's many challenges!

The work is done and now it's time for Mark & I to just sit back and enjoy all the memories we've made today with our friends & family!

God Bless Each of You!

Please come back soon when I'll have new crafting projects to share & hopefully inspire you!

Busy, Busy, Busy ...

Hello my blogging friends!  I had fully intended to share with you another crafting project today but since hubby & I are hosting Thanksgiving tomorrow we had a few things to get done first!  

After a leisurely breakfast and dropping off a pint of homemade cranberry relish to a friend who is a waitress at the local Friendly's Restaurant, it was time to get started (note the time on the clock ... nearly 10am)

Yes ... I'm fortunate enough to have a husband who loves to cook and pitch in on holiday cooking/baking!  He wanted to make turkey shaped sugar cookies so I let him get started first before I dove into making the pies.  They came out really cute and taste good too!

Okay ... now it's my turn!

I wanted to make 2 pumpkin & 1 cherry pie for our Thanksgiving Dinner dessert.

Boy, I don't know who makes the bigger mess!  

ME or HIM?????  LOL!!!

Now keep in mind ... there will only be nine of us at the dinner table ... and already we have sugar cookies & pies for dessert.  Then my daughter mentioned these yummy cherry/pistachio scones my husband made last year so of course, we aim to please and after finally locating the recipe, Mark was ready & willing to get those started.  Now on these scones, it's a team effort . . . he whips it all together in the food processor and I do the kneading/cutting & baking.  They are SO GOOD!!!

I have added the recipe for these scones on my RECIPES & HOME CANNING page if you'd like to give them a try!  Okay ... so baking is done!  Now on to cleaning up & getting the diningroom ready!

 I thought I'd better put a few other decorations around (other than just in one room, LOL) so got the mantle decorated in the living room too!  Now you do realize we are hosting a Christmas Party here on Dec. 16th so this time next week, I'll be putting Fall/Thanksgiving away and getting started on all my Christmas decorating!  YIKES ... when am I ever going to find to craft??  

NOT TO WORRY ... I do have priorities you know!!  LOL!

WELL ... that's it for me today!  It's nearly 8:00 P.M. and I'm ready to put my feet up and enjoy a little TV with hubby!  In the morning Mark will take care of the turkey & stuffing and I will gather together the other dishes needed to complete our feast!!  

SO LOOKING FORWARD to spending the day with my family!

I hope you are able to enjoy your family tomorrow too!

BLESSING TO YOU ALL and 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

The Sisterhood of Crafters Challenge

Hello my friends!

It's time once again for a new challenge at The Sisterhood of Crafters and I hope you'll come join in the fun!  Today's challenge is an easy one!  With Thanksgiving only 1 Week away, we need to hurry and get those cards in the mail so we are asking you to create with this in mind . . .

THANKSGIVING

CELEBRATING THE HOLIDAY!

We are thrilled to have Shelly Images as our sponsor this challenge and one lucky winner will receive a $9 gift voucher to Shelly's Images store.

Since I am fortunate enough to be a member of the Shelly's Images DT, I am delighted to share not just one but three different cards with you utilizing various SI images & sentiments.  

Using 'Pilgrim Girl Colored Version' image.

CARD #1 - Having this image PRECOLORED saved me a lot of time and I don't know that I could have colored it as beautifully as Shelly has with her copics!  I did add the yellow chalk out around the image but that was it as far as coloring.  The turkey is a Cricut cut, the corners were made with the SU photo corner punch and the paper is Karen Foster.

Using "Thanks Sentiment2" image.

   CARD #2 - This beautiful sentiment pretty much says it all!  I simply die cut it with my Spellbinder classic ovals & scallop ovals.  The design paper was a scrap piece (DCWV I think) and the fall ribbon was also in my stash.  A slight sponging of Tim Holtz 'brushed corduroy' was added to the sentiment panel to mute the brightness of the white cardstock.  A Kaiser bronze pearl was also added to the center of the flourish.

Using two images "Pumpkins" and "Thanks Sentiment".

CARD #3 - For this last card I have actually used another piece of the same Karen Foster dp used on my first card.  The striped paper panel is from DCWV.  Corners are from the SU photo corner punch and scrap cardstock.  Three embellishment adorn this creation ... buttons (Bucket O'buttons), Kaiser pearls & Doodlebug Designs Doodle Twine.  OH ... and I've used the COLORED VERSION of the Pumpkins image (so time saving)!

Here are a few additional qualifying challenges I'd like to enter:
Chalk-Ah-Lot Cafe - Thanksgiving (Card #1 around the image)
 Creative Inspirations Paint - Turkey, Turkey
 One Stitch At a Time - With Thanks
Outlawz CAS Challenge - Thanks (Cards #1 and/or #2)
 Pile It On - Let's Be Thankful
Scrappy Frogs Challenge - Give Thanks
Sentimental Sunday - Thanks/Thanksgiving (Card #3)
Card Makin Mamas - Thanksgiving / Thank You Cards
QKR Stampede - Turkeys Strut Your Stuff (Card #1)
Sweet 'n Sassy - Thanksgiving

NOW it's your turn to come on over to The Sisterhood of Crafters and share your Thanksgiving creations with us.  You have 2 weeks to play and have a chance to win this fabulous prize.

Hope to see you there!

Have a wonderful day and as always ...

Holidays with Family ...

... it doesn't get much better than that!!  

 

(Back row:  L-R ... Carolyn, Morgan, Frank, Jonathan

Sitting:Ken, Mom, ME, Mark)

I haven't gotten much done in my crafting ... but I sure have enjoyed hubby being home and spending time with my family over the Thanksgiving Day weekend!!  Here's a few photos to share with you ...

The Franjko's in the kitchen  (where all the food is) LOL!

Morgan asked for a LITTLE bit of whipped cream on her pie!!

Never let Frank be in charge of the whipped cream!  LOL!

FOUR GENERATIONS

(L-R)  Morgan, Carolyn, Mom & Me

My TWO FAVORITE LADIES!!!

My grandkids are growing up so fast!

(L-R)  Jonathan, CJ (Morgan's boyfriend), Morgan

Morgan's FAVORITE socks

Mark & I took advantage of the beautiful weather we had here in Ohio over the weekend and got the outside of our home decorated for the Christmas holiday season.  It averaged around 60 degrees and it was so nice to be able to do this without coats & gloves.  I even cut my grass one last time and have now rearranged my equipment by putting the riding mower away and have the snow blower out and ready for when the WHITE STUFF shows up.  I am really proud to show you a couple photos of the outside of our home ... with the new landscaping & shutters ... the decorations look even better than before!!

 (CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE)

Today it's been raining so it was a good day to start on the inside.  We got the tree up & decorated and I even got the mantle MOSTLY done.  I have a couple other pieces I'd like to add once I dig them out!  LOL!

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope your Thanksgiving gathering was as blessed as ours!

Mark has to go back to work tomorrow & I'll be playing catch up in the crafting cave but I'm looking forward to going out to dinner tomorrow night.  We celebrate our ANNIVERSARY tomorrow and I pray we have many, many more together!  Mark is truly MY BEST FRIEND and I love him dearly!!

See you later!

BIG HUGS TO YOU ALL!!\

Darlene

How Blessed!!

Hello All! What a wonderful Thanksgiving DH & I had with "the kids". We only have one daughter, SIL, 2-grandkids, so we refer to them as "our kids". The day was PERFECT!! The kids walked in just as we were carving the turkey and ready to eat!! We finished eating when my granddaughter (Morgan) said "Nanna, you didn't take any pictures!" So I handed her the camera and told her to try and capture the day as best she could at this point! (There are several more photos that I'm not showing here ... Mo wasn't familiar with my camera and some came out a bit blurry)

As you can see the turkey isn't as pretty as it was prior to everyone digging in ... but the desert table was still in tact. DH searched the TV for something we could all watch until time for the Dallas game (kids like Dallas ... we're Steeler fans) to come on. He found "Alvin & the Chipmunks movie" on HBO on demand and it was so cute! We all enjoyed it and had some good laughs!! We also found time to play a couple rounds of RACKO with the kids ... by the look on Morgan's face, she's loosing again. Brother, Jonathan is very competitive and won the previous game!!

How blessed we are to have the loving family we have and the food bounty in front of us! Praise the Lord!!