Simply XSBaggage

Happy Halloween!

It occurred to me this morning that it's not only Halloween today, but that means it's also the last day of October! How can that be?

It's been such a busy month for us. We've spent just about all of our days off this month going to Port Angeles (a 2 1/2 hour drive, one way) to clean and move all of my belongings from my home there, to our home in Orting. No small project! We have some great renters that will be ready to move into my little house by mid-November, though, and I am grateful that I can feel comfortable with who will be living there.

Just up the highway from our home there are two great farms that really do it up big for Halloween. My Grandsons were here visiting and it was the perfect opportunity to go have some fun!

Not sure what Miles was showing me here...

My Son, Daughter-in-law, and Grandsons. This was taken after we spent 1,354 hours lost in the corn maze. My Son had to break out his GPS to get us out of it. Fun times!

Love these two little 'pun-kin heads'!

Spooner Farms is a super place for Fall entertainment for kids and adults!

Fingerprint Friday

Over at Pampering Beki's blog, she does a feature every Friday called "Fingerprint Friday". Her idea is taken from a Steven Curtis Chapman song that goes like this:

I can see the fingerprints of god
When I look at you
I can see the fingerprints of god
And I know its true
You're a masterpiece
That all creation quietly applauds
And you're covered with the fingerprints of god

She invites other bloggers to join in and give their interpretation of how they see God's fingerprints in their daily lives.

I just can't help but see God's fingerprint in little children. What a miracle and masterpiece He has created in them!

I love their:

curiosity

innocence

sense of wonder

energy!

My grandson, Miles, is really showing his personality lately. We're all convinced that he's going to be the family jokester. He does silly things when you least expect it. If he sees you being too serious, or if things get tense, he'll start making goofy faces, as if he's trying to lighten the mood. And it works!

I adore my grandsons, and it's such a treat to be able to spend time with them. I hope they always want to spend time with their 'Gwamma'.

Among God's best gifts to us are the people who love us!

A perfect day for a hike

Sunday was a beautiful day and I took some time off from my sewing to go on a hike with my son, daughter-in-law, and two grandsons

We went up the Elwha River valley to the Whiskey Bend Trailhead and hiked the Humes Ranch trail. It's like a sea of green as you hike through the old growth timber.

The trail is nicely maintained. 

The boys got a free ride in.

And Lindsay really got a work out!

We stopped in the meadow at Michael's cabin for our picnic lunch.

And a little 'Dad and me' time:

So sweet!!

Baby Miles was enjoying himself too:

What is it about boys and sticks? He had at least one stick in his hand all day. 

The hike to the cabin is about 1.5 miles in. Rested and tummies full, we headed back out. This time 'the little man' wanted to walk.

He's a great little hiker already!

Until it got close to nap time.

Fingerprint Friday

Over at Pampering Beki's blog, she does a feature every Friday called "Fingerprint Friday". Her idea is taken from a Steven Curtis Chapman song that goes like this:

I can see the fingerprints of god
When I look at you
I can see the fingerprints of god
And I know its true
You're a masterpiece
That all creation quietly applauds
And you're covered with the fingerprints of god

She invites other bloggers to join in and give their interpretation of how they see God's fingerprints in their daily lives. I think this is such a great idea that I decided to join in this week. 

Here is where I definitely see God's fingerprints:

 

Holding my newest grandson, less than an hour old, beautiful and healthy, and having his 'Big Brother' shower him with kisses! Ah, doesn't it just melt your heart?! What an incredible blessing!

Be sure to hop over to Beki's blog to see her post and you can also see a list with links to the other participants today.

Banana Bread, Belts and Benjamin Button

I spent most of Saturday making new Belts to put up in the shop. I hadn't made any in awhile and it was fun making something besides purses and pouches. 

Something else I haven't done in awhile is make banana bread. I can eat bananas when they're pretty ripe, but when they get to the point of being 'slimy' when you peel them, it's definitely time to make bread.

I use the recipe from my favorite, most used cookbook (as you can see from the stained and torn cover) The Overlake School Cookbook. Mine is copyright 1984, the listing on Amazon is copyrighted 1993 and I don't know if it will have the same recipe in it. So I thought I'd share it with you.

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Banana Bread

2 ripe bananas

1 1/2 cups sugar (I use a little less than a cup)

2 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 3/4 cups flour (I used wheat flour)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon buttermilk (you can substitute regular milk and add a little lemon juice, this is what I do)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In large mixing bowl, mash bananas. Beat in sugar, eggs, and oil. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix into batter with remaining ingredients.

Pour into greased, 9X5-inch, loaf pan. Bake 1 hour and 20-30 minutes, until golden brown and top splits. Cool on rack 20 minutes before removing from pan.

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I actually make two smaller loaves with this recipe, reducing the baking time to about 50 minutes. And you can easily double it and make 3 nice sized loaves. 

This makes a nice, pound cake-like loaf that's still moist. And it's so easy to make there's no way you can 'goof'. 

After I took my banana bread out of the oven, I picked up my [very pregnant] Daughter-in-law and we went out to lunch. Sort of a last effort at some 'girly-time' before she's completely surrounded by boys. We also caught a movie in the afternoon, 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button'. We both enjoyed it, Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt played incredible parts. I did have to chuckle at a statement in a review I was reading about the movie this morning, 

"For the most part, unfortunately, it’s little more than a nearly three-hour reminder that we begin and end our lives in diapers." 

um, okay.

Toddler Talk ...

...or my favorite Isaacisms. 

Toddler's have their own language, don't they? Trying to figure out what they're trying to tell you can be a challenge. Yesterday I was playing with my grandson and he started pulling my hand and here's how the conversation went:

Isaac: ships Grandma, ships

Me: what?

Isaac: ships, ships, SHIPS!

Me: what Isaac? Show me

Isaac: my ships, my ships, my ships!!!

Me: aaacckk

Isaac: (now moving towards the pantry) MY SHIPS!!

Me: (finally clueing in) oh, you want chips?!

Isaac: ships!

He wanted Cheez-It crackers. Of course!

Here are some of my favorite 'Isaacisms':

fat tilly = fat kitty (their cat really is really fat)

barbarjman = garbage man (always exciting when we get to watch them scoop up the garbage can.)

keen = McQueen, as in 'Lightening McQueen'' from his favorite Disney movie, 'Cars'.

And my personal favorite:

fokky = coffee (so funny when he says it)

(He's showing you his car). :D I have so much fun playing with this little boy and he always makes me laugh!

Snow, Snow, and MORE Snow!

Today was the first day in weeks that I didn't work in my shop for 15 hours or more. Since before Thanksgiving I've been working pretty much 24/7. I've been starting around 4:30 a.m. and working through until 8:30 or 9:00 at night. My only reprieve has been the two mornings a week when I get to go play with Isaac for a couple of hours. 

I am so thankful for my husband who's been picking up the slack around the house and who also doesn't mind 'winging it' for meals. And also for Nikki, who comes to do the 'deep cleaning' that needs to be done around our home every other week. That alone is a stress relief for me!

But today I took the afternoon off and it felt great! We've been having some incredibly cold and snowy weather, unusual for Port Angeles. I curled up on the couch with the blanket and pillows and settled in watching the storm coverage on TV. There's a Blizzard Warning for our area and we could get up to a foot of snow tonight! And there seems to be no end in sight for snow!

Wow! 

Lucky for me we have a cozy little home and plenty of food to eat if we get snowed in! I'm so glad we didn't have this storm last weekend, when I held my Holiday Open House! Oh! Here are pictures of my house set up to be a little shopping boutique:

And, the most serious shopper of the day was:

my grandson Isaac! hmmm which Key Fob should I get....?

I hope you're all staying warm and cozy this weekend!

My Love of Brown

I'm not sure when it started. I think it was not long after I started making handbags three years ago. I started sewing with combinations of brown fabrics and the more I used brown in my products the more I loved it! It's a rich, versatile color that can go with almost any other color.

I find myself having to be careful when I'm choosing new fabrics because if I were just sewing for myself it would be all brown, all the time. But, I'm not just sewing for myself. sigh. At the fabric market in Seattle last week where I order my new fabrics, I tried really hard to 'think outside the [brown] box'. I ordered fabrics in greens, turquoise, pinks, navy blue, blacks and grays, and well, a couple of blue/brown prints that I couldn't resist. 

You must admit though, brown is a great fall color! And always sells well too, I'm not the only one that *hearts* brown! And so, I'm able to justify making more handbags in my new favorite color. Let me show you what I've been working on:

New handbags and wristlets. By the way, my website is still down, so I've listed these in my Etsy shop.

I call that wristlet up there, 'Coffee at Tiffany's' because the velvet ribbon that I used on it reminds of the famous jeweler's color.

This one has gold sparkles in some of the flowers!

I made some new handbags too! And have more in the works:

I'm using some vintage buttons with the velvet ribbon on these. They should be in the shop later today or early tomorrow, depending on how my afternoon goes. So there you have it - lots of brown to keep the boss happy! 

Speaking of my afternoon: I'm so excited! I'm going to be going to the hospital to see my daughter-in-law's ultrasound, and we're going to find out if Isaac is getting a little brother or a little sister!! I can hardly wait!! I'll report back here with the exciting news!

Sunny Bike Ride

So just about the time I start whining about not being ready for fall, we get a sunny stretch of summer weather! Who says tantrums won't get you anywhere?

And no better way to enjoy it then a bike ride on the Olympic Discovery Trail with my 'favorite' daughter-in-law and grandson! We headed east from Railroad Bridge Park and rode through town and then back. Making a stop at Great Grandma's for a quick visit and a chance for Isaac to run around and entertain us.

He loves riding in the trailer that his Momma pulls behind her bike.

We rode through Sequim farm land:

And then across the Dungeness River:

A beautiful day and a super fun ride! I can't wait to go again!

This week I'm gearing up for the Opulent Art Show on Saturday. The planning for it has gone together so smoothly, to the credit of all of the members of our Creative Business Support Group. It's our first event, we've all been working hard, and I can't wait to see it all come together on Saturday morning.

Catch-up (not Ketchup)

My intention is to blog at least every other day, but truthfully, when things get hectic, blogging gets put on the back burner. And when I'm running around like a nut trying to get everything done in this 'one woman business', trying to write something interesting becomes a challenge. So, anywhoo, here I am, back after oh, about two weeks, (not even close to blogging every other day). I thought I'd show you what's been going on over here at XSBaggage & Co. HQ. 

* Arts In Action on the Port Angeles city pier was a success. It's fun meeting up with vendors that I only see at this show. And of course, lots of familiar faces and friends that stop by. Although I could have seriously done without the wind on Sunday. I was genuinely surprised at how many people came down to browse, despite the winds. Yay Port Angeles! Oh, and the CEO of XSBaggage & Co. stopped in long enough to crunch the numbers:

Oh-oh, he doesn't look happy. "You're going to have to work a little harder Grandma." :

Hey Isaac, how about if we use the profits to buy you some marshmallows? (his favorite!):

Yay!!

* Okay, moving on, last Friday Amy, from Sassy Java Baby was kind enough to feature my Fresh Brewed Zip Pouch on her beautiful blog. Thank you Amy!! Just click on the link there and go check out her fun coffee-themed blog. 

* This week I completed and delivered an order for a new children's boutique in Sequim, called Dungeness Kids Co. I was so excited to see this new store, and it is lovely! Beautiful (and very reasonably priced) clothing, toys, books and shoes for your little ones. I can't wait to go back and do a little shopping. I highly recommend a visit to this new store. And don't forget to have a look at the handbags from my line and the tote/diaper bags and changing pads that I did especially for this new store! 

* I've been working with the ladies in our Creative Business Support Group planning our first event! It's called 'Opulent Art Show', and it will be held Saturday, September 13th at The Cutting Garden in Sequim. We are putting out a call to vendors, so if you know an artisan who might like to participate, please have them contact me at xsbaggage(at)gmail.com and I can get them the information they'll need. It's going to be so fun! There'll be some beautiful items for sale as well as wine and snacks, and in a gorgeous setting!

* I've designed a new handbag! This is one that I've had on my mind for quite a while, but finally sat still long enough to put it to paper, and then to fabric. I started out by sketching it out until I was happy with it, then onto the pattern paper:

Then, onto the fabric. This part is always hard for me because I don't want to waste fabric, but I have to make a prototype, that I can then 'tweak'. 

The finished product:

A pleated bag, big enough to hold a magazine, a bottle of water and off you go to the park to enjoy the day!

There will be a couple of these (in different fabrics) listed in the shop later this morning. 

All caught up now (I think!). I'm spending the day sewing - I know, big surprise - and I'll be out at the Sequim Open Aire Market tomorrow. The forecast says rain, but I'll be praying for sunshine!!