What I’ve learned about gardening in Kodiak, Alaska: Carrots and kale thrive in our flip-flop coastal climate. Tomatoes and cucumbers thumb their noses at you. Still we try. Tomatoes though, having traveled a few thousand miles to my dinner plate, are fit to photograph; but not fit to eat. Tomatoes, as the rest of the world knows, crave warmth. So much so that an ideal temperature for these fussy plants lies between 70 and 92 degrees F. Seed Savers Exchange calls it the goldilocks zone. Too cold, say in the trenches of 32 to 50 degrees F, and tomatoes exhibit “cold stress” tantrums: leave shrivel and turn yellow; stems lose posture, and roots stop sucking up water. Oh, you want fruit to set? Forget it below 50 degrees, which happens to be a common outside […]

What is up with winter this year? We had snow yesterday.....snow in Mississippi! We didn't have a whole lot of it, but enough to make the ground look white in places. It was so pretty coming down, I really do miss the snow. Today's card was made for the Operation Write Home midweek throwdown, cards for kids ( including tweens and teens.) I used the SplitCoastStampers sketch 473. I think teen/tween cards are the most difficult to make, especially for boys. I'm going to work on getting better at making these. The controller on this one is a bit 'old school' but that's how it goes. Technology changes so quickly! I think my favorite part of this card is the 'you're the man' that shows up on the top patterned paper. The sentiment stamp is open letters that I stamped directly onto the yellow paper. It got just a bit lost so I used the C3 Copic marker, which is a cool gray, and shaded it. I like that it doesn't really introduce another color into the card, but it does make the sentiment stand out a bit more. I've done this a few times now and it works well. Quote for the day: "People who shine from within don't need the spotlight." - Unknown Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day!

What I’ve learned about gardening in Kodiak, Alaska: Carrots and kale thrive in our flip-flop coastal climate. Tomatoes and cucumbers thumb their noses at you. Still we try. Tomatoes though, having traveled a few thousand miles to my dinner plate, are fit to photograph; but not fit to eat. Tomatoes, as the rest of the world knows, crave warmth. So much so that an ideal temperature for these fussy plants lies between 70 and 92 degrees F. Seed Savers Exchange calls it the goldilocks zone. Too cold, say in the trenches of 32 to 50 degrees F, and tomatoes exhibit “cold stress” tantrums: leave shrivel and turn yellow; stems lose posture, and roots stop sucking up water. Oh, you want fruit to set? Forget it below 50 degrees, which happens to be a common outside […]

Hi! I'm sharing three cards today because they kind of 'go together', at least for the sake of my blog posting. :) Sometimes I love the patterns on the patterned paper so much that I really want to create cards with it. That's what I did with the 3 cards for today. There is minimal stamping on them, but I really like how they turned out. All the papers are from the We R Memory Keepers For the Record collection. For this card, I used 4 papers from the collection and colored the flowers and the green leaves with my Copic markers (the bird was already colored and the words were already on the paper). On the inside I stamped a Tim Holtz's sentiment that says, "it's the little things that make life BIG." For this one, I used 2 papers from the collection as well as grey cardstock. The faux washi tape and the doodled frame were already on the paper, so I just stamped the "Hi There!". For this one, again I used 3 papers from the collection. The frame and the ribbon beneath it are already on the paper, so I stamped the sentiment, which fit so perfectly here. The stamp is made by Inkadinkado. For the thought for the day, I think I'll go along with the last card. "Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase." - Martin Luther King, Jr Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day!!

Zesty cranberry salsa recipe from Marion Owen's Alaska kitchen, and 8 surprising facts about cranberries | healthy recipe | healthy cooking | Lagniappe blog

A new OWH Sketch was posted yesterday and I got a new stamp set in the mail Saturday. See where this is going??? :) I know this isn't a newly released stamp set, but it's new to me and I love it! The sketch is shown below and is definitely a fun one! I used Lawn Fawn's You've Got Mail set along with a Hero Arts shadow stamp (used for the sidewalk) and the hearts are from a TPC Studio set. I made 4 of them for Operation Write Home. :) Quote for the day: "Happiness is when what you THINK, what you SAY, and what you DO are in harmony." - Ghandi Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day!!!

.....a little something extra!

Hi! I'm sharing three cards today because they kind of 'go together', at least for the sake of my blog posting. :) Sometimes I love the patterns on the patterned paper so much that I really want to create cards with it. That's what I did with the 3 cards for today. There is minimal stamping on them, but I really like how they turned out. All the papers are from the We R Memory Keepers For the Record collection. For this card, I used 4 papers from the collection and colored the flowers and the green leaves with my Copic markers (the bird was already colored and the words were already on the paper). On the inside I stamped a Tim Holtz's sentiment that says, "it's the little things that make life BIG." For this one, I used 2 papers from the collection as well as grey cardstock. The faux washi tape and the doodled frame were already on the paper, so I just stamped the "Hi There!". For this one, again I used 3 papers from the collection. The frame and the ribbon beneath it are already on the paper, so I stamped the sentiment, which fit so perfectly here. The stamp is made by Inkadinkado. For the thought for the day, I think I'll go along with the last card. "Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase." - Martin Luther King, Jr Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day!!

Vollmacht Lagniappe Impact That little something extra. The Lagniappe [lan-YAP] band is refined, dashing, and tough. A solid 14kt European yellow gold ring, inlaid with a blackened English Sterling fractal hammered finish. The Lagniappe band features touch of the esoteric and is filled with hidden sentiments. the hammering is broad and masculine, reminding us that a life well earned is a life hard fought for. The interior of this gold ring has a black inlaid stripe to remind you that it's ok to take a moment to find your center and that reflection is key. Finally, the tiny granules of gold along the outside edge of the ring number exactly 180. This is to remind you, that in any circumstance, you can always do a 180 and fix those simple mistakes. The Lagniappe band is 10mm wide, double thick with a royal weight comfort fit. Up to one ounce of solid precious metal. As Shown: $2,451. Umbra: Vollmacht by DeMer

Lagniappe (Pronounced (Lan-yap) is a word with Quechua, French, Spanish and Creole origins that is used in Southern Louisiana to mean a baker’s dozen or as the Merriam-Webster dictionary describes “something given or obtained gratuitously or by way of good measure.” This design combines a baker’s dozen (or more, actually) of different types of crochet stitches that make a unified whole. The design comes in four tranches, which provides opportunities for experimentation with different color combinations. The first tranche is a sampler of different but uncomplicated stitches. The second tranche is a chain mesh. The third tranche is a granny motif. The fourth tranche is a twisted fringe. Gauge is not important and size will depend on the type of yarn and hooks that you choose to use. Note: We’re up to Version 5 of the Pattern. Which now includes charts for the design - although I wasn’t sure how to chart out the fringe so you’re on your own folks.

Product Description This month, send me two of whatever lagniappe is being shipped. Lagniappe (lan-yap) is a creole word for 'something extra,' like a baker’s dozen. Each month, our team will add a little something extra because we love quilters and want to say 'Thank You' for being a member!

The amazing story of how the world's most popular rose, the Peace Rose, survived the invasion of France during World War II.

The amazing story of how the world's most popular rose, the Peace Rose, survived the invasion of France during World War II.

Hi. For today's card, I went back to my more usual cardmaking efforts. To begin with this card is based on the sketch from the Sweet Sunday sketch Challenge. This is the sketch... and this is my card. I love patterned paper, so when I saw all the pieces on this sketch, I saw an opportunity to mix patterns. :) I used 3 different double sided papers from American Crafts and Studio Calico. I also used my Cricut to cut the Thanks! I'm giving myself bonus points for that. haha I added some twine and some brown Pearl Pen to finish. Operation Write Home is low on thank you cards right now, so I will be making thank yous for a bit until I finish filling the box I am sending them. Quote for the day: "Being honest may not get you a lot of friends, but it'll always get you the right ones." - John Lennon Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day!

Hi - I got some work done before I decided to treat myself with some creative time this morning. :) I made these two cards for the CAS-ual Fridays challenge to use polka dots. The CAS style is definitely not my go to style, I find it difficult, but I LOVE the look of CAS cards. So, I'm going to try to get better. :) I used the concentric circle stamp that was on my table from yesterday and again used kraft cardstock and white ink. The sentiment is from Stampabilities and originally I wasn't going to add the color layer underneath the sentiment, but it just needed that bit of color.....okay, I needed a bit of color. :) I couldn't decide what color combo to use, so I just made two cards. I have a tendency to make two cards at a time anyway, so that worked for me. Quote for the day: "Let yourself be drawn by the strange pull of what you love. It will not lead you astray. - Rumi Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day!

Today, I got my box for Operation Write Home ready to mail and hope to get to the post office tomorrow. I actually have a bunch of packages to take. I'm trying to send packages fairly regularly to our two kids in college. I LOVE pinterest. I get on it every day and save so many card ideas to it. I thought I saved the card to my pinterest board that I based this card on, but I can't find it. I know that on the original card, they used one of the Hero Arts Basic Grey stamp sets, but I had this flower in my stash so decided to use this one instead. I stamped on watercolor paper and use my watercolor pencils. I added little gems to the centers of the flowers and rounded the corners of my card. I love the simplicity of it! Quote for today: "Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't" Thanks for stopping by!!

Hi! Two days in a row is a good thing! I loved the look of the Tim Holtz blue print looking stamps, but wasn't sure I would use them enough to spend what they cost. So a friend of mine had an extra couple sets of card kits from Archivers that included a small sampling of the Tim Holtz stamps. I bought her extras and am very happy I did. The kits include samples of what you can do. Well I really liked the light bulb stamp. They used it with a Thank You sentiment and that really didn't work for me....BUT....I have a set from Unity that includes lamps and sentiments that go along with them, so these are what I made. I added some twine from American Crafts. HomeGoods had a pkg of it one day, I think about 10 different colors, you know on the way to the checkout counter, where they have all the "add-ons" :) I'm still working on my Operation Write Home box and definitely think these will work. Quote for the day: "Wake up every morning with the thought that something WONDERFUL is about to happen." :) Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!

More work done means I get to play just a little. Oh, and just so you know.....I think painting a ceiling equals a workout!!! :) I'm trying to finish filling my Operation Write Home box with Thank You cards and this is what I came up with. I used some papers that need to be packed....that's a bonus right ;). Quote for the day: When something goes wrong in your life, just yell, "Plot twist!" and move on. - Pinterest Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day!!

Mark Twain writes about 'lagniappe" in Life on the Mississippi. He called it “a word worth travelling to New Orleans to get.” So what is that little something extra that New Orleans has to offer? We have a 4-day weekend to discover.

Vollmacht Lagniappe Impact That little something extra. The Lagniappe [lan-YAP] band is refined, dashing, and tough. A solid 14kt European yellow gold ring, inlaid with a blackened English Sterling fractal hammered finish. The Lagniappe band features touch of the esoteric and is filled with hidden sentiments. the hammering is broad and masculine, reminding us that a life well earned is a life hard fought for. The interior of this gold ring has a black inlaid stripe to remind you that it's ok to take a moment to find your center and that reflection is key. Finally, the tiny granules of gold along the outside edge of the ring number exactly 180. This is to remind you, that in any circumstance, you can always do a 180 and fix those simple mistakes. The Lagniappe band is 10mm wide, double thick with a royal weight comfort fit. Up to one ounce of solid precious metal. As Shown: $2,451. Umbra: Vollmacht by DeMer

Hi! Today's cards are a mix of inspiration! I picked out the stamp I wanted to use first and then had to come up with how to create with it. The first one is for the Operation Write Home/Our Daily Bread Designs February challenge. The challenge is to use brown as the main color on your card. Of course this makes me go straight for making a masculine card and this is what I came up with. The papers are from We R Memory Keepers and the stamp is Hero Arts. I colored the letters with Prismacolor pencils and added a bit of white souffle pen for highlights. I finished it with some doodling and a bit of twine. This one is for the Operation Write Home Midweek Throwdown - using hexagons. I didn't think I would get to play along with this one because I don't have any hexagon dies or punches......gasp!!! I do have this lovely salmon paper from Studio Calico that has hexagons. It was kind of a sweet surprise, because I bought this paper because of the color and didn't remember it has hexagons. The background paper is from Crate Paper. Again used Prismacolor pencils an souffle pen. Finished this one with Pearl Pen. Thought for the day: "If there are ice cream trucks in the summer, why aren't there Starbucks trucks in the winter?" - Pinterest Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day!!

Well, I kind of took today as a vacation day. :) I have been working so hard getting the house ready to put on the market and getting ready for our trip etc. Now that the house is on the market and we are back from our trip, I can relax a bit. :) Of course I went for the sketches. :) This one is from Retro Sketches #82. I made two cards with the sketch! This one actually has a plum background, I really need to get my photo box set back up. On the list of things to have when we get moved. This one is on a kraft background. The other sketch I used is from Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #193. What a fun sketch! I made two of these that will be going to Operation Write Home. The colors are a bit off on this picture. The background is more coral. Both of these were so much fun to make. Both are using stamps that I got from the store in Missoula, MT when we were visiting our son at college. Quote for the day: "Because when you stop and look around, this life is pretty amazing." - unknown Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day!

Lagniappe (la ·gniappe) noun 'lan-?yap,' - 1. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit. 2. Something given or obtained as a gratuity or bonus. Launched in 2005, the blog Aquarium Drunkard has become a daily destination for many on a never ending quest for musical discovery. In 2011, Aquarium Drunkard established The Lagniappe Sessions, featuring some of the site's favorite artists covering some of their favorite artists. Released for RSD Black Friday in 2016, "The Lagniappe Sessions Volume 1" brought these sessions to vinyl for the first time. Aquarium Drunkard has now teamed up with ORG Music for a second volume of the series, featuring an eclectic group of artists including Kevin Morby, Mikal Cronin, Mountain Goats, Damien Jurado, and many more. The record, limited to 1,500 copies worldwide, comes pressed on clear vinyl exclusively for Record Store Day 2020.Track List:Disc: 11. Six Organs of Admittance - Night Goat 2. Zachary Cale - 1970 3. Steve Gunn - Astro Zombies 4. Mikal Cronin - Can't Hardly Wait 5. Scott Hirsch - So Far Away 6. Nap Eyes - 2 Kool 2 Be 4-gotten 7. Mountain Goats - Blood Bank 8. Damien Jurado - Gimme A Break 9. Mountain Man - Slow Burn 10. RF Shannon - About Her Eyes 11. Erin Rae - Duchess 12. Kevin Morby - Random Rules 13. Joan Shelley - I Would Be In Love (Anyway)

Get Free General Shipping & 100-Day Exchanges on the White/Space Lagniappe Hug Earrings or other White/Space Earrings from At Present Jewelry.

Hi! I have been discovering new challenge blogs lately. I love that because I'm always up for someone giving me a starting point for my cards and I love having choices for those starting points. Today's card comes from the Card Concept Challenge. The challenge is to use texture on your card. Another fun thing they do is have 6 different styles and you have to determine what style you have used to make your card. That is going to be a challenge for me by itself. I don't really know what my go-to style is. This is my card. I created texture by using a border punch and layering the borders. I added a border row at the top and then stamped the sentiment. I added a bit of ribbon for color. I have read the definitions of the different styles more than once. I am going with Classy and Elegant for this one. I don't think it fits into Clean and Simple because of all the layers of border. I have a sparkly red ribbon that I want to use on a card like this, but this one will go to Operation Write Home, and since glitter in most cases is against the guidelines, I choose not to use glitter at all for my OWH cards. For the life of me, I couldn't remember where I saw this layered border punch idea first. I knew that it was a colorful card, I loved it and it just stuck out in my mind, but I just couldn't remember where I saw it first. Well, since I wasn't going to let that get the best of me, I went on a search. FINALLY, I found my first card made with this idea and thank goodness in the description I said that I cased it from Sandy at Operation Write Home!! I just went to find it on the OWH blog, but to no avail. So, Sandy, thanks for this idea, I really do love it. Once again, OWH is great inspiration! It was a fun challenge and definitely got me thinking about my styles and which ones I don't use often but want to work on. Quote for today: "The grass is greener where you water it." - Neil Barringham Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day!

What I’ve learned about gardening in Kodiak, Alaska: Carrots and kale thrive in our flip-flop coastal climate. Tomatoes and cucumbers thumb their noses at you. Still we try. Tomatoes though, having traveled a few thousand miles to my dinner plate, are fit to photograph; but not fit to eat. Tomatoes, as the rest of the world knows, crave warmth. So much so that an ideal temperature for these fussy plants lies between 70 and 92 degrees F. Seed Savers Exchange calls it the goldilocks zone. Too cold, say in the trenches of 32 to 50 degrees F, and tomatoes exhibit “cold stress” tantrums: leave shrivel and turn yellow; stems lose posture, and roots stop sucking up water. Oh, you want fruit to set? Forget it below 50 degrees, which happens to be a common outside […]

Hi! I hope everyone has moved into summer mode and is having a great time. :) It seems that my little family can't go too long without an adventure so we are beginning another one. We are moving to Jackson, MS. We have moved enough times to know that it is not a small undertaking, but I'm hoping we are up for the challenge. The packing has begun somewhat, but the house is not on the market yet. As usual, we were in the middle of some house projects when we made this decision, LOL. So my stamping has now become sort of a reward for getting things checked off my to do list. Plus I keep telling myself that the more stuff I use, the less I have to pack, you see my logic here right? ;) My card for today uses the Operation Write Home Sketch #178. Have I told you lately how much I love sketches? I used papers that were on my desk from other cards recently made as well as Hero Arts stamps. The anchor is a set that has a die with it as well. The bonus on this card is that I used eyelets! Yes, real eyelets, I can't tell you the last time I used eyelets, so I was kind of proud of myself, LOL. Okay, back to work for me, but thanks for stopping by and I hope to keep posting because that means I have been able to reward myself with some stamping time, which means that I have been productive. ;) Quote for the day: "To thrive in your life you need three bones. A wishbone, a backbone, and a funny bone." - Reba McEntire Have a great day!!

lagniappe noun la·​gniappe | \ ˈlan-ˌyap, lan-ˈyap\ Definition of lagniappe : a small gift given to a customer by a merchant at the time of a purchase: something given or obtained gratuitously or by way of good measure. The baker put 13 donuts in the bag, the

Today, Janet from Simply Pieced hosted a sew-in at her house for our local MQG (happy International Quilting Day, y'all!), and I took the opportunity to finish up my kaleidoscope quilt, along with a new quilt top (but I'll save that for another post). It was so much fun to spend the whole day chatting with friends who understand my love of all things quilty and have hours of uninterrupted sewing time. Sewing, lunch out, and more sewing was a perfect way to spend the day as Spring Break comes to a close. I just LOVE the way this quilt turned out. It's so bright and cheerful, and just makes me smile! I kind of worried that adding the border would break up the kaleidoscope illusion, but I really like it, and the Kona Corn Yellow binding frames all of the colors without drawing your eye away from the center of the quilt. I decided to call this quilt Candy Dish. It just reminds me of vibrantly colored candies in a beautifully cut glass bowl. Of course, I pieced the backing from all of the scraps, and I think it compliments the definite pattern in the front of the quilt. Anyone who follows my blog regularly knows that I love a good pieced quilt backing (both planned and improv). I used to be a little intimidated by them, but once I tried it, I've never looked back. They take a little bit longer to put together, but there are some definite advantages- 1. It's a wonderful surprise. In Louisiana, we have a French word, "lagniappe" (pronounced lan-yap), which means "a little something extra." I like to think of a pieced backing is just a little bit of lagniappe for the recipient. 2. It keeps your sewing fun. The cool thing about a pieced backing is that there is no right or wrong! You can use the fabric you have, and sew it together however you want. This carefree way of sewing is really fun, and the end result is fresh and modern. 3. Fabric variety rules! I just love quilts with tons of fabric variety, but without pieced backings, my scrap baskets would be overflowing all the time! Using every bit of the scraps in the backing allows me to have more variety in the front, and it keeps me from having to buy several yards of a single backing fabric, win-win! I do have to confess that if I really love a fabric, I will save a few small pieces for my scrap baskets. That way, when I do make a true scrap quilt, it is full of fabrics I love! 4. Fabric SHOPPING rules even more! So here's the thing- I used 16 different fabrics in this quilt. Since those fabrics are completely gone, that means that I don't have to feel guilty the next time I'm at my favorite fabric shop and I see some yummy fabrics that I just can't pass up. (hmmm...I just used 16 fabrics in my last quilt. Oh yeah, I have room for these!) If you've never done a pieced backing, I hope you'll give it a try. Let me know if you do!

Fall colors on Kodiak Island, Alaska. A different splendor from the day-glo views on the East Coast. Alaska Nature Photography.

I am back to a sketch challenge today, I know you are surprised. ;) Here is the sketch from Operation Write Home. Here is what I created. :) The image and sentiment are from Unity Stamps. I ordered them when Unity was contributing money to Operation Write Home for each order. :) I used older papers, vellum and ribbon. I paper pieced the snowman's sweater, scarf and hat. It was a really fun card to make. Quote for the day: Thank you so much for stopping by and have a great day!!

Hi! Two days in a row is a good thing! I loved the look of the Tim Holtz blue print looking stamps, but wasn't sure I would use them enough to spend what they cost. So a friend of mine had an extra couple sets of card kits from Archivers that included a small sampling of the Tim Holtz stamps. I bought her extras and am very happy I did. The kits include samples of what you can do. Well I really liked the light bulb stamp. They used it with a Thank You sentiment and that really didn't work for me....BUT....I have a set from Unity that includes lamps and sentiments that go along with them, so these are what I made. I added some twine from American Crafts. HomeGoods had a pkg of it one day, I think about 10 different colors, you know on the way to the checkout counter, where they have all the "add-ons" :) I'm still working on my Operation Write Home box and definitely think these will work. Quote for the day: "Wake up every morning with the thought that something WONDERFUL is about to happen." :) Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!

As usual my cards today are based on sketch challenges. I don't know if I need to challenge myself NOT to use a sketch or if I just really need to accept that the sketches are working really well for me right now. Anyway, my first card uses SplitCoastStampers sketch 458. Here is my take on the sketch. I LOVE snow. Here in the south we don't get snow, some flurries occasionally, but not real snowfall. I miss it. So, I love to use snowman whenever I can. They make me happy, lol. My next card uses Sweet Sunday Sketch 195. I don't play along with this challenge as often, but I think I need to start. It was a really fun sketch to use. Here is what I created. I used a sweet stamp from Unity Stamp Co. I also used papers, flowers and a brad from my collections. :) Quote for the day: I know it's not really a quote, but when I was looking through my quotes, this one popped up and made me laugh out loud. I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!