THE CREATIVE CONNECTION EVENT & THE DIY DISH

THE CREATIVE CONNECTION EVENT is now in full swing mode!

There are lots of exciting happenings tied to THE CREATIVE CONNECTION EVENT like this gigantic Giveaway being held by Kim & Kris over on THE DIY DISH.COM sponsored by THE CREATIVE CONNECTION! There are hundreds of dollars worth of prizes donated by THE CREATIVE CONNECTION artists and there will be 25 LUCKY WINNERS!
After you have finished making Mom a present hop on over to THE DIY DISH.COM to enter the Giveaway...
Here is a list of the prizes...WHERE WOMEN CREATE is giving away 2, Where Women Create books and 4 issues of the Where Women Create magazine!

As well as a ProvoCraft Yudu Screen Printing machine, a French General bracelet kit, a Studio D Sharp inspiration paper kit, a wonderful cupcake wall hanging by Lisa Kaus, the Birdsong wall hanging by Anna Corba, 3 journals with 8 inscribed pencils and a WHERE WOMEN CREATE bookmark!

6 beautiful Camille Roskelley quilting patterns!

A gorgeous necklace by Halligan Norris, a package of 7 bright, sparkling glitters by Cathie Filian who btw has just released her new book 101 Snappy Fashions!

As one of the sponsors of THE CREATIVE CONNECTION EVENT, LARK BOOKS is giving away 2 debut books in their Homemade Living series by Ashley English: Keeping Chickens and Canning & Preserving as well as an advance copy of Vickie Howell's, Craft Corps! Another fabulous TCC sponsor, MICHAEL MILLER FABRICS designer Patty Young has donated 3 yards of her sweet Flora & Fauna fabric!

2 stunning Dara DiMagno necklaces!

Founder and owner of INDYGO JUNCTION, Amy Barickman is giving away 3 of her most recent books and 14 of her newest patterns!

A gorgeous toile linen and dupioni silk hanging sachet filled with lavender and buckwheat by Debbie Murray and Shea Fragoso!

An entire line of CROCHET BY FAYE patterns from Robyn Chachula!

AND an all season THE FARM CHICKS, Serena Thompson papers gift pack, including 2 sets of everyday tags, everyday recipe cards, Valentine tags, Christmas tags and Christmas recipes cards too!

There are 3 ways to enter THE CREATIVE CONNECTION EVENT giveaway on THE DIY DISH.COM web site:
1. By watching episode 7 of THE DIY DISH (the video above) and leaving a comment on their THE DIY DISH.COM blog!
2. By clicking on THE CREATIVE CONNECTION EVENT and taking a look at the classes and panels that will be offered that weekend, then go back to THE DIY DISH.COM and tell them in your comment which of the classes or panels interest you!
3. By helping to spread the word about THE CREATIVE CONNECTION EVENT and THE DIY DISH. Twitter, Blog, or even embed the video above on your blog or site! The giveaway closes Friday, May 21st so you have plenty of time to head on over and enter, the 25 winners will be announced Monday, May 24th!
GOOD LUCK to everyone and we sure hope to see you in September at THE CREATIVE CONNECTION EVENT in Minneapolis. It is going to be ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!

Easter Eggs

I went to the market yesterday with big plans for making a festive little Easter cake, which seemed like a good idea... at the time.

We were running low on provisions so I jotted down a few items, milk, butter, a dozen eggs and flour, that should do nicely.

Once at the market I quickly gathered all of the ingredients I needed making sure to open the carton of eggs to be certain none were cracked.

I loaded my groceries into the car, slipped under my seat belt and headed along home.

I had the radio turned up listening to beautiful classical music, pulled up to a red light when suddenly a chill went up my back... I had the distinct feeling I was being watched!

The light turned green, trying to pretend it was just my imagination

I turned the music up and continued along my way.

It has been an especially busy week here in Texas, I got to attend a huge antiques fair that was absolutel, hey did

you hear something?

I could have sworn I heard someone sneeze...

hey there it is again!

Now I know you had to have heard it THAT time?!

It sounded like EHHH AHHH CHOOOoooo and then a tiny small gesundheit even!

And jeepers! Its coming from the back seat!

I pulled over to the side of the road,

got out and cautiously

went around to the trunk,

legs trembling, brow sweating, hands shaking.

The moment of truth... I flung open the trunk door!

I heard in a very loud voice, NOWS OUR CHANCE GUYS! MAKE A RUN FOR IT!

And thats exactly what they did, the dirty dozen rolled down to the floor board, hopped out and scrambled away scattering in every direction!

I thought to myself oh well, so much for our Easter cake, I guess I'll just pick up a couple of smoothies they're better for us any ways! Happy Easter Everyone, may your day be filled with sunshine, joy and lots of brightly colored eggs!

Jungle Book

Bringing up baby Alexandria is turning out to be a remarkable adventure. I am certainly no stranger to raising kittens, I have always had at least one if not several cats in my life since childhood.

For me life would simply not be worth living without the company and companionship of animals. That being said... our little, or maybe not so little (any more, she is growing like a weed!) Alex is something all together different!

She is complex, fiercely independent, bold, smart, clever and playful, she can be very gentle, sweet and loving as well. Everyday is a new adventure with her for sure. Little Julliette will attest to that, even though they are getting along famously!

So far the only thing we have had broken is a giant ostrich egg that I have had for 10 years, Alex just couldn't resist... and how could I blame her, I mean it was a GIANT egg for heavens sake!

I decided I needed to create an environment more suitable to her wild heritage so I dragged in some very large tree limbs and strapped them to her cat tree and as you can see, she loves it!

I have begun to notice the things about these Bengals that make them so different from domestic cats. She has a funny way of purring, she doesn't really purr when you pet her though it is obvious she loves it...

Alex purrs very, very loudly when she is getting into mischief or playing with her toys and it is adorable!

When birds come to the windowsill Alex stops dead in her tracks, she won't move a muscle and it appears she actually stops breathing or slows it down so much it is undetectable to the eye! It scared me the first time I saw her do it!

She now has discovered the wall light switches and thinks it's real funny to leap up and switch off the light whenever she wants to. And sometime in the last two days she has figured out that flipping them up turns the lights on too!

I was talking with a lady recently and she gasped out loud and put her hand to her mouth when I told her we had gotten a Bengal, it kinda freaked me out a bit because I guess they have a reputation for being really wild and aggressive.

And here is where all of my experience with cats and dogs comes in handy. I spend a good amount of time everyday playing with her, teaching her about the house rules and training her. She is wonderfully responsive and pays real good attention.

After a training session she likes to go into the bathroom and flush the toilet to watch the "water show" happen, really cute and annoying all at the same time!

Sometimes it feels like we are living in a Pink Panther movie as we watch Alexandria and Julliette (our 4lb Chihuahua) act out a scene with Julliette as the infamous inspector obliviously entering the room and Alex as Kato quietly, patiently, laying in wait for her chance to pounce!

They chase each other around the living room coffee table and into the dining room and around the dining table in repeated figure eights. One minute the dog is chasing the cat and the next minute the cat is chasing the dog. They really enjoy each others company!

I have been doing a lot of research on Bengals as they are a relatively new breed (since the 1980s) so that I can learn to raise her correctly. I thought I'd post a couple of photos of the Asian Leopard Cat which is

what domestic cats such as Abyssinan's, Egyptian Mau's and Burmese were bred with to get the Bengals.

Oh, I almost forgot, Alexandria has a great love of water, I have to be very careful to get the temperature just right when I start the shower for myself because she will hop right in with me and splash around! It's cute but kind of unnerving, I suppose I will get used to it though! Thanks for stopping by to visit, next week I will have some very interesting adventures to go on with you!