A day of Quiet, Solitude and Prayer.

Our family has decided to spend a quiet day at home in observance of the 10th anniversary of 9/11. We are flying our flag proudly on our front porch. My husband, John was suppose to be in that building that fateful day 10 years ago. I didn't find out until he sent me a fax at 3:30 in the afternoon that he was all right. He was on a train out of Morristown, NJ and headed for Hoboken and then on to the WTC. His train was running late and when the train pulled into the station in Hoboken it was stopped and all the passengers were told they could not go into NYC that one of the towers had been hit by a plane. Little did John know that a second plane was heading towards the second tower and all the devastation that happened after that. Our daughter, Megan was in college in Massachusetts and our other daughter, Jenny was at home. They were both frantic with worry for their father. Our family was one of the lucky ones that their beloved family member was not harmed or worse killed and came home to us that night. My heart goes out to all the families that lost loved ones and friends.

Prayers are in order for this day of rememberance. God Bless America!!!

Fall = Outdoor Fireplaces and Firepits!

When I think of Fall outside I think of crisp air scented with wood fire. John and I bought a wood pit for him on Father's Day and his birthday. We can't wait to use it!! There is nothing better than sitting outside when it gets dark with a roaring fire crackling and popping! The warmth from a fire outdoors just makes me relaxed and rested. I looked on google.com and found the following outdoor fireplaces and pits:

I love the way this fireplace has been decked out for Fall!

This beautiful firepit has a lovely glass edge around the pit. Just gorgeous!

What a gorgeous firepit by the lake! I would just love to sit by that lake and enjoy the warmth of that fire!

Isn't this just a comfy looking place to be at night! I could so be there with a nice glass of wine and a book!

I hope everyone has a really nice weekend!!

Enjoying the cooler temps immensely!!!

What an absolutely gorgeous day here in Charlotte today!!! The temps are down, the humidity is down but I am up because I love this weather!!! It is definitely getting dark earlier and earlier. I really am ready for one of my favorite times of year-Fall!!! I feel myself putting socks on at night and getting cozy under a warm fleece throw, having hot tea instead of cold and just plain snuggling in.

This weekend I will be making an apple crisp to celebrate this wonderful, wonderful weather!! I hope everyone is having this glorious weather too!

Rainy Day in Charlotte!

Today is gray, dark, gloomy and just plain not a nice day! We need the rain badly but I still prefer the sun and blue skies to the rainy, gloomy days!

Hope everyone is having a great day!

Craft Room Project Complete!

Tada!!! While this picture isn't real clear you can get the idea of what John and I created on Saturday! We are very proud of what we accomplished with little effort and little $$. I create jewelry for gifts and my etsy site and I needed to have things more organized. I was telling John a few weeks ago that I didn't even know how many different kinds of ribbon I had for my keychains and bookmarks because the were all just piled in a basket. He said I need them on a dowel. I told him I had a few ideas about that. One thing led to another and here we are with our craft room organizer! This organizer is 2 feet X 3 feet. We used prepainted pegboard for the base, which was much better than having to paint.

Here are some more photos (sorry they are not that good but that room is on the dark side and it is very hard to get really good photos in there):

I had always wanted to try to make something with chalkboard paint and here is my version of a little board I can put cute sayings on to encourage me! Right now I just have my blog name on there and create! How I made this chalkboard was really pretty simple. I had this old frame, which I spray painted white. I took the board that came with the frame and painted it with chalkboard paint. 2 coats to be exact covered it nicely! John and I drilled it to the white peg board. I decided to glue the beautiful teal silk flowers over 2 of the holes and I also found these metal scrapbooking plates. They say family, laugh, memories, always and together.

Closeup of the family metal plate.

Here are the 2 dowel ribbon holders we made. We used 4 eye hooks and put wood stops that move up or down to keep the dowel from popping out the end of the eye hook. Because of the span and the weight of the ribbons there was a little sag in the middle of the dowels. I came up with an idea of tying lightweight wire on the bottom dowel, looping it over the top dowel and attaching it to the hole in the white pegboard. It worked perfectly. Today I will be purchasing some more ribbon!! Gotta fill it up right!! After all a girl has to have supplies to create new things!!

I now have tons of places to hang my completed projects! This makes it easier to keep track of what inventory I have and it also keeps the keychains and bookmarks nice and smooth and wrinkle free!

Here are 2 of the keychains I made. Now I can keep everything in a section and find things more quickly. All the keychains together, necklaces, bracelets, etc.

Well that is all the pictures off my Craft organizer. I know have to devise a way to display all the earrings I make. I'm envisioning something with wire on a stand. Maybe a tree and all the branches (made from wire) will have my earrings hanging from it!! To the sketch pad I go!!!

If you would like to visit my etsy site you can click on the right sidebar for my etsy site on this blog or go to www.etsy.com, click on Seller in the drop down box on the top of the site, type in cherylmcdermitt1 and there you are! I will be adding some new things shortly. Some Autumn items will be added soon. Never to early to start thinking Christmas presents everyone!!

New Project for my craft room!

All I'm going to say is white pegboard, chalkboard paint, dowels and eye hooks are involved in the craft project John and I are creating for my craft room. I will post a picture of the finished project tomorrow. We have been having so much fun doing this project together!

Today was filled with errands! We started out by going to Home Depot to get some supplies to make our craft room project, then headed over to Michael's, Barnes and Noble to updated my Nook, Wendy for a bite to eat, Borders, the Bank and finally the local farmer's market stand for corn for dinner! Whew are we tired!!

I immediately started painting part of the project with the chalkboard paint because it takes 2 hrs. to dry before I can apply the second coat. John has put the rest of the stuff together and now we are just waiting for paint to dry.

I'm off to get the rest of the craft room ready for the unveiling!! Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday weekend!!

Hello September!

As I drove into work today I remembered it is September 1st today! Where did the summer go! Alot of things have been going on in August and the days just got away from me. I am looking forward to some cooler weather and all the foods and smells of Autumn. What comes to mind is Apple Crisp with a dollop of cream or vanilla ice cream, pot roast dinners, stews and soups, cinnamon, spice scented candles, pumpkins, gourds, Indian Corn and all the rich jewel tone colors that Autumn brings.

This Labor Day weekend will be a nice relaxing one for John and I. We will be rearranging my beloved craft room. I need to organize things in there better. I've got some ideas for some Autumn jewelry and bookmarks that I want to make materialize not just sit on my sketch pad! I will be meeting some friends to knit on Saturday, which is always relaxing and fun! Sunday we will be having a nice BBQ lunch with Megan and Ken (our oldest daughter and son-in-law). Monday I'm doing a little shopping and jewelry creating with Jenny (our youngest daughter). Of course, she is bringing little Owen with her. Papa is going to have some wonderful alone time with him!

September to me always meant a new season starting, a nesting time if you will. I always love to pull the down comforters up around my neck and snuggle down in my bed at bedtime. I seem to read alot more and knit alot more.

As I leave you, I hope you have a wonderful September and start to the Autumn season!