Snowflakes and Hot Cocoa

            As the flakes fall outside I am warm and snug inside.  Busy working on photos for the Etsy shop and chatting with a local shop owner , Jean.  She owns a lovely Quilt shop in Montello. The Teapot Quilt Cottage, also the Garden Center. With shoppers at a minimum during the wintr we discuss plans for spring, which will be here before we know it.  Valentines Day is aso fast approaching and we exchanged ideas and talked about the projects we have under way.  These winter months are great ties to take a class to learn a new hobby or just get together and chat.  Jean offers many classes in quilting and knitting in her shop.  If you are ever in the Montello area, tis ios a must see shop. At 5050 Main Street right in Montello, just watch for the gian teapot sign and treat yourself to a visit.

             This morning I finished up a new pattern I bought on etsy for a giraffe hat. It is adorable. I can't wait to get a few more sizes done. This is one I will surely take to Watertown for Josephines. I have yellow yrn ready to start the duck hats and sweaters. The frog hat and poncho are done and a new frog prince hat. Many new items for the spring.

My new found time, after closing the shop has been great.  I am finally doing those tasks I had trouble finding time for and feel like I am getting my life back.   Long over do!  I hve made dinner and been on time, baked bread and made dinner rolls. One afternoon snuck in a short nap and no one even knew !   Soon enough I will find my niche and a new project, but for rght now I am doing ok.  I do feel the need to get permision to enjoy a day.....that too will pass I hope. Life is too short to always be chasing a dream.  I want to be living it a day at a time and enjoying the people in my life.

Fall has disappeared

With days in the upper 70's it sure does not feel like October here in Wisconsin. But, as the orders come in from Etsy, I am sure it is. Skunk and frog hats, a few dinosaurs and a duck or two. People are getting ready for Halloween. Our two little guys are going to be dinosaurs, well that is today. They may change their minds before the day comes!

The shop will be closing on October 31st. The hats and baby items will all still be available on Etsy as well as the painted gingerbread and Dress-Me Friends in the other shop. Until then , I will keep working to get ready for the holidays and enjoy the time with family.
I am going to be able to do alot more baking, so as usual I have been surfing and looking for new recipes to try.

here is a pumpkin cookie recipe I have come across and can't wait to try.
Ingredients


1 (14 ounce) can 100% pure pumpkin

2 eggs

1/2 cup applesauce

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 (18.25 ounce) package spice cake mix

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease two baking sheets.

2.Beat the pumpkin, eggs, applesauce, and vanilla together in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the cake mix, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves until well blended and creamy. Drop by spoonfuls on prepared baking sheets.

3.Bake in preheated oven until tops are firm when lightly touched, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on racks.

Oh what a day

Today has been one of those days when you just want to sit and cry. Maybe its the grey day outside or the fact that I am way too old for all this day to day baby stuff. I can't keep up. Having part of the house under construction doesn't help either. Orders are coming in for the skunk and frog hats and I can't seem to get more than five minutes to myself here.  As I type this I sure sound like I am whining, and I hate whining! I did finish a little Packer hat for JJ today and did get to list a few items on Etsy but beyond that is has been diapers, toys and alot of crying, the majority mine I think. Feed me, change me, pick me up.....and then feed me all over again. I did this the first time with out ever breaking a sweat but, at 55 I am out of patience and want someone to feed me and put me for a nap. I did have a minute this morning before they woke up to find a nice applesauce cupcake recipe. My plan for the day was , as they were finishing the work. ( they have stopped for the day at it is still undone ) I would bake some cupcakes with the boys and we would then have a nice day. When they napped I would dust quick and then work on hats. Well, I have learned NEVER to make plans.....kids change them. No naps, crabby baby and a 2 year old who I think is attached to me at the hip. Tommorrow will be better......at least that is what I am praying for tonight.






Applesauce Cupcake Recipe




Ingredients
•1/2 cup butter or margarine
•1 egg
•1/4 cup sugar
•11/2 cups flour
•1 teaspoon baking soda
•1/4 teaspoon salt
•1 teaspoon cinnamon
•11/2 teaspoons nutmeg
•1 cup applesauce unsweetened
•1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•1/4 cup walnuts

Mixing Directions
1.Preheat over to 375dregrees
2.line cupcake tins with paper or foil liners
3.cream butter or margarine until creamy and fluffy
4.beat egss and sugars for one minute or until well mixed
5.add to butter or margaring
6.mix dry ingredients togetherand blend inmargarine or butter mixture
7.put in vanilla
8.put in walnuts
9.pour into 12 cups about 2/3rds full
10.bake 15 to 18 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean


Applesauce Cupcakes taste delicious with peanut butter icing.

•1 cup confectioners sugar

•1 cup creamy peanut butter
•6 tablespoons unsalted butter
•3/4 tablespoon vanilla
•1/4 teaspoon salt
•1/3 cup of cream

Mixing Directions
Place all ingredients in a food processor or mixer, and beat on low speed, for approximately 3 minutes, until it becomes a light and fluffy frosting.

Fall is here

The temperature doesn't show it but on Saturday we have Harvest Fest in Montello and I am busy finding some muffin recipes for the pancake breakfast and bake sale. It should be a fairly busy day downtown and it is kind of sad to watch the shop get empty but.....nose to the grindstone and looking ahead to the diner. I will still make the sweaters and hats for Josphines in Watertown and the etsy shop. I will get much more done at home, I have already painted the living room and changed things around and the bathroom. The kitchen could use some tender loving care and it keeps my mind busy while all the paper work and waiting goes on. Not that my two little helpers don't keep me busy enough. The shop will officially close October 31st. So there will be big sales as I don't want to store anything and will be making new items for the fall and Christmas shows I plan on doing.

Apple Muffins


These apple muffins smell like apple pie when they're baking. If you can't find cinnamon chips in your local supermarket, simply leave them out. Or use chocolate chips or butterscotch chips instead.
The walnut streusel topping gives these apple muffins wonderful crunch.



Prep Time: 15 minu
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:

•1 cup all-purpose flour
•1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
•1 Tbsp. baking powder
•1/2 tsp. cinnamon
•1/4 tsp. salt
•2 Tbsp. butter, melted and cooled
•1/4 cup ground flaxseed meal
•1 large egg
•1/2 cup sugar
•2/3 cup skim milk
•1 cup chopped apples
•1/2 cup cinnamon chips
•.
•For Topping
•1/2 cup finely-chopped walnuts
•2 Tbsp. brown sugar
•1/2 tsp. cinnamon
•2-3 tsp. skim milk
Preparation:

1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a large muffin tin.

2.Whisk together flours, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

3.In a medium bowl, mix melted butter, flaxseed meal, egg, sugar and skim

4.Fold dry ingredients into wet, stiring until incorporated, but do not overmix.

5.Stir in chopped apples and cinnamon chips.

6.Fill muffin cups two-thirds of the way.

7.Combine topping ingredients. Sprinkle over muffins.

8.Bake 18-22 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

9.Cool on a wire rack before serving.

 

http://www.indiegogo.com/Patti-Lekas

Costume Alternatives for kids

Once again I am busy coming up with some costume ideas for the two little guys in my life. Last year the baby Carsen , who is now one and running around was an adorable skunk. I made the hat and bought a pair of black sweats and he was warm and toasty as we did our trick or treating. JJ was a frog, again I bought a pair of green sweats that he wore until they didnt fit. The hats were also worn all winter, the ear flaps came in handy here in Wisconsin. A funny side story to this is that I have two granddaughters in high school who also had frog hats made and proudly wore them all winter, who knew it would be so easy to keep their ears covered. Then started taking orders for their friends. A college student from, New York ordered a skunk hat last year too from my Etsy shop. I have added a couple new  animals but the boys favorite this season is the dinosaur. Their favorite show on PBS is Dinosaur Train. So, I am making dinosaur sweaters in all kinds of colors and combinations.  My fingers are working non stop, if only I could crochet in my sleep.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Grammasgifts is my shop for all the cute costume alternatives and baby items!

Christmas in July

I know when the thermometer reads 80 it is hard to think Christmas but.... that is exactly what I am up to here. I am painting Santas and getting the sweaters and caps all tagged and ready to go. Gingerbread families are drying and ready for finishing touches,
   I have a couple gift ideas and a neat way to decorate not just at Christmas but in your kitchen year round. GINGERBREAD.  simple yet adorable.
First if you have little ones, you can trace gingerbreadmen onto brown craft paper for ornaments and let them decorate with markers and a little white glitter for a sugary effect. Brown craft foam also works very well. Just trace a cookie cutter. make garlands cards, oh so many cute items for one pattern.
  Not feeling in the mood yet?  simmer a pot on the stove with a little ginger and nutmeg, maybe a dash of cinnamon and your house will smell like the holidays while you are busy working.
  My personalized gingerbread family has been a great gift idea now for a few years, the babysitter, grandma, friends and even yourself. Each little cookie wears the name of a family member.. Extra cookies are always available.  Gingerbread ornaments for your tree or use as gift tags that the recipient can use over and over again.

Make these ornaments and gifts with your kids, they will remember the naking years after the gift is gone.   

Our furry family members...

Yesterday our family lost one of our furry family members. Timmy our 13 yr old collie who has been like the bad little boy in our house for years. He arrived on Valentines day when he was just 12 weeks old and won our hearts. He was a leaner, could'nt seem to get close enough to anyone. He thought kids hot dog buns and crusts of bread were treats and would drop to a sit at the raise of a hand, hoping you had bread. He never minded kids crawling over him, counting his toes and even dressing him up a time or two. His faithful friend Lassie passed on last year and it has been a long sad year for him, he seemed to age immediately and miss her terribly. I am probably the worst, I cry at Lassie movies, hallmark commercials etc, but a couple months back I met through emails an author who had written of his own journey through the passing of his two pets and I am hoping I can use that to help not just me but the kids get through this a little easier. Christine Bellport on Madisons Channel 15 was kind enough to get the word about him and his book out to our area , and I can't thank her enough. This morning , as tears rolled down my cheeks fed the bread crust to the squirrels, Timmy would have gotten it if he was still here.
http://blogs.denverpost.com/fetch/2010/06/20/how-two-dying-dogs-taught-life-lessons-to-denver-attorney/?source=rsshomeblog
How a Denver attorney learned life lessons from his dying dogs

Fetch — The Denver Post
Denver attorney Doug Koktavy discovered how to live in the moment with his canine best friends

Dairy Daze ......cupcakes, cows and kids oh my

Today is the beginning of Dairy Daze in Montell. But, for me it started early yesterday as I began the baking for the Cupcake sale.

These are the rootbeer floats cupcake, first recipe wasnt what I wanted so these came out great!  18 of these jumbo cupcakes. oh, did my kitchen smell delicious!  here is the link for the recipe http://www.gourmetmomonthego.com/2010/05/mini-root-beer-float-cupcakes.html

These are banana split cipcakes. The centers are filled with banan, pineapple and strawberry.  Here is the link for the recipe http://www.beantownbaker.com/2009/09/banana-split-cupcake.html

the cupcakes on the left are Funge Mint Sundaes topped with Andes mint pieces.

The cups have malted Milk caupcakes topped with a malted milk ball. Here is the recipe link http://cupcakestakethecake.blogspot.com/2010/01/malted-milk-cupcakes-plus-recipe.html

 Those are fudge mint cupcakes in the middle.

I also make strawberry sundae cupcakes. the centers are filled with stawberry and topped with whipped frosting and a cherry.

7:30 this morning I came to the shop to put out my decorated COW, open the doors and get ready for the other members of our group to drop off cupcakes.  Shirley from Rustic came and dropped off some cheesecake brownies. Then before 9 Jean from the Gardne Center came with some brownies and muffins. My shop smells wonderful.

The weather is funny today, cool but very humid so campers are out and about checking out the shops. No kids participated in the sidewalk art contest HUH, maybe the cloudy skies kept them away.

It has been a long day and the smell of these cupcakes has been driving me crazy, but it was good practice for when we open the diner. I can see it now CUPCAKE of the DAY!  How much fun is that.

Thankful Thursday at Pattibears

First off, I was thinking back to 1 year ago when we were waiting for little Carsen to be born. Not sure if he would have Down's Syndrome, what other problems he might have.  Well as I watched him try and walk this morning I feel very blessed that he was perfect . Happy, outgoing baby that at times never seems to sit still. A blessing.  He was pictured in an ETSY treasury today http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c11246378348eef6df8b842/whats-that-smell?show_panel=true

The adorable little sticker will be 1 tommorrow.  Last fall he sold many hats with that photo.

Thankful that school is out and the kids no longer need a ride back and forth each day and can help out at the shop.  My lawn can get mowed and no more 6th grade Math homework to help with. Mikey is going to Jr. High.  Now that makes me feel really old and a little scared, but this is thankful Thursday so I won't dwell on it.

Liz is off Sunday to St. Norberts for a summer college program, a great kid, smart and funny .  This time next year she will be gradyuated and off to college.  How time flies.

Matt and Chrissy are home and working hard at the resort nearby, I am thankful they have their jobs as jobs are hard to come by and this one is within walking distance.

Thankful that at home all seems well, for the time being. It takes so much energy to be stressed and I can really use the break. Having MG stress can knock me out and I have a full house, 3 teenagers, 1 eleven year old, 4 days a week a 1 yr old and a 2 yr old then 2 grown daughters ( here is where the stress comes in ) 3 dogs and a hubby ( can be major stress) LOL so thankful right now all is good!

Photos from the shop

This is the little girls MOOSE hat. I came up with these for Moosefest the beginning of May. I am thinking..... change the bow and it could be a reindeer for Christmas

Little boys sweater and earflap cap, also a matching blanket as well as a hooded sweater in the same color

I charged the batteries and with a rainy day outside it seemed the perfect time to get the photos taken and share them , here on the blog. So many of the pieces I paint are too big or too heavy to sell online, but they are here in my shop in Montello.

The green window was an old storm off a house in town, reuse/recycle less waste... this is from the same house but being so small I can't imagine what it was a door to!

Finally Friday

this has been a long week. Although I woke up to the sound of rain this morning, ( and I have a leak in the new section of roof ) it should be a nice day to finish projects and get ready for the weekend. I don't seem to have enough hours anymore, with trying to get the diner funding and all the work done, the shop and keeping it filled, 3 teenagers, a hubby, 3 dogs and 4 days a week the little guys stay over. I am ususally too tired to even enjoy all the planting I did and to just RELAX. But, rain helps downtown, It is funny how many people come out in the rain to visit the shops. With memorial Day behind us each weekend gets a little busier. I am picking up six more windows tomorrow and will hopefully have some time to work on them, if I can get one of the teenagers in my house to come and help watch the shop. There used to be no problem but now they all work at the resort near us and have STUFF of their own to do. They are great kids, just very busy! LOL I need to make sure we get all our plywood cows cut out so the local businesses can get them decorated for Dairy Daze , June 12th. It should be alot of fun , with visitors voting on their favorite COW and with the cupcake sale, we hope to be very busy. The money from our sales goes to help premote the downtown area and pay for advertising and such. This months theme is ice cream named cupcakes like rootbeer float, hot fudge sundae etc. I can't wait not only to bake them but to samle a couple. I am making some mini ones for tasting! I started the South Beach diet and this is killing it, how can you bake and not taste these cupcakes, oh well I can start again after the bake sale.

I am going to try and take start to finish photos on my next garden window I paint, many people are afraid to try things like this and I hope they realize YOU CAN do it. Then maybe one of the rock painting. I do classes for kids and adults during the summer. Kids are so much easier because they are not afraid to try and adults are fearful they will make a mistake. No mistake is so bad, if you don't like it ...paint it black and start again. I have more than a few times. I think more people need to know there is no right or wrong way to paint, paint because you enjoy it. If you like it , it is GOOD. I paint not just to make money at the shop or on Etsy but it is my main stress reliever.......teen, hubby =stress and painting makes it all better!

I hope you have a great Friday and enjoy your weekend I am hoping to but as with all families anything can happen and things change in a flash so ROLL with the changes and don't sweat the small stuff ( the wisest thing a friend ever told me ) and it is all small stuff!

Wednesday 's

Wednesdays are almost always not very productive. We have a downtown business owners group meeting at 8:30 to discuss the upcoming events in town and how we can best promote our town and businesses. A very friendly group of four or five of us , planning to "SAVE the WORLD" one event at a time. About 10 am we return back to our businesses and get the day started. MOST of us,

I am a first thing in the morning person. I have myastenia gravis and am at my best early in the day. Somedays I come in at 7:45 with an idea and get right to painting and g all day each piece coming so easy. Other days like today I am thrown off by a change in plans. Today our meeting is at 6:00 in the evening! I have accomplished little all day.
Montello where I live has a population, at the time of the 2000 census, was 1,043. A toursit area that two years ago was hit by floods and last year had a drop in tourists due to the closing of our boat launch. With fewer tourists of course our shops make less money, the locals have a harder time finding jobs and we are forgotten. I have decide this just can't happen. Montello is a great small town for kids to grow up in, friendly people and loads of natural resources . So I am working to get us back on the map, all the while still filling the shop and trying to keep home life good for all of us. By all of us, I mean I am never quite sure how many will be there. Some days there are us ( my husband and I ) Kathy my daughter and her son Mike, Liz, Chris and Matt ( three teenage grandkids) 3 dogs and 4 fish. Other days my oldest grandson Joe is there with his two little guys and even my daughter Cheryl and a stray friend or two. I can't tell you the last time I was home alone!

My son has backed me along the way with my shop and website. Without him , I dont even want to think how things would have been. I use my painting as a stress reliever, stress is my #1 trigger for my MG. A Profitable shop would be nice, right now after two slow summers we are tredding water and I may have to make a decision to close the shop....but for right now I am painting to fill orders and keep my sanity.With the help of my son I am going to revamp the old diner in the photo and give out downtown the anchor it needs and a central visitng location for the locals and toursits alike. It will be alot of work and I am knee deep in paperwork right now , but if you want it, and focus anything is possible. This is how I see the next chapter in my life!!!

but until that chapter starts I will be painting because painting takes the stress away and the customers visitng makes each day enjoyable. But, today I was interrupted and didnt get an early start so I have finished almost nothing and now that I am typing this....IT IS OK tomorrow will come soon enough and I will get everything done! I had a good friend who worked with me at Michaels about 13 years ago and when I would worry about what seemed like everything she would say "Don't sweat the small stuff... and it's all small stuff" and she was right. So I will get stuff ready for the meeting tonight, reada few more blogs, finalize my cupcake recipe choices and call it a good day.

Memorial day Weekend....great fun

The weather was perfect for visitors to come up to Montello and visit the shops and see all the great stuff we have to offer. Campers were seen pulling in on Thursday and the sites were filling up fast. Downtown where we are located the sidewalks had shoppers strolling, many with ice cream cones and doing some shopping. The windows I painted earlier this week are gone! In fact we had two ladies wanting the same one. How fun. I will get a few more done this weekend and get some more of the cutre camping , cabin signs done. Then I am off to paint and decorate my COW for Montello's dairy dfaze on June 12th. Local businesses are painting and decorating wooden cows and we will have visitors vote on their favorite cow. I will also be hosting this months CUPCAKE SALE at my shop. I ahve been baking and finding new ice cream themed cupcakes and have a few that are a gourmet delight. When we hold these bake sales the money goes to help pay for advertising for other events throughout the season and purchase decorations and such that we need for the downtown. Our last money helped pay for the Moose fest appreciation dinner, gas for the shuttle busses and we still have a little left. So come on down and get your self a cupocake or two and enjoy Montello and my shop.

More to life than cupcakes

I have been so busy over the past few months with The Great American Moose Fest and the shop that I finally decided the weathre was nice and it was a good time for ma Grandma and me day. In this case I am the Great grandma and my daughter Patrice is the Grandma. So, I called her up and explained or project.......The three of us , her, me and JJ her grandson were going to build a green bean teepee. We picked the day collected the sticks and set out to get it built. At two JJ is more of a supervisor it seems, alot like his Dad. But he loved the digging in the dirt and the carrying sticks, sometimes away from the project. Her you see him and his Grandma finishing up the tying of the sticks.

Here all tired out from the hard work he tried it out to see if it was big ewnough to sleep in ( he was pretending to snore). After school Chrissy my grnadaughter helped hom plant pole beans, scarlet runner beans and some black eyed susan vines. We have been watering ever day and watching for something to sprout. JJ is at my house four days a week so he is very hands on with this project. This morning we had sprouts.

Now with my day off complete and feeling recharged I am back at the shop painting and adding photos to Etsy and my site of some of my new work. If only every day could be a play date. Wouldn't that be great. The moral of this is we should never get to busy to stop and enjoy the simple things like a little boy ,some dirt and green bean seeds........ PRICELESS

cupcakes...cupcakes...cupcakes

Here I am again, looking for yet another great cupcake recipe, The I came across this one and thought this could be it!

Cookies and cream make anything taste great! These cupcakes go so fast after they're baked, be sure to hide a few for yourself."



Supplies:
1 box chocolate cake mix
1 cup sour cream
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
18-24 whole chocolate sandwich cookies, crumbles
1 recipe vanilla buttercream frosting

Mix together cake mix, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla. Place a spoonful of batter on the bottom of each paper liner. Place a whole cookie on the bottom lying flat. Cove with remaining batter until 3/4 full.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes. Allow cupcakes to cool completely.

Add crumbled cookies to buttercream frosting. Be generous and frost cupcakes nice and high.

Frosting:
8 Tbsp. (1 Stick) butter, room temperature
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3-4 Tbsp. milk or cream
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Place butter in large mixing bowl. Beat until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds. Stop beating before adding sugar to avoid a large mess.

Add sugar, 3 tablespoons milk or cream, and vanilla extract. Beat frosting starting on slow, increasing your speed until frosting is nice and creamy. Add up to 1 more tablespoon milk or cream if frosting is too thick.

This recipe was taken directly from "101 Cupcakes in 10 minutes". I have got to buy this book, Walmart does carry it and I am off to order one for myself. I should be off painting and I find myself on the computer drooling over cupcakes.

Great information...shared

Yesterday morning I attended a meeting given by Fred Clarks office in Portage. There he had gathered people from SBA, Dept. of Commerce , Small Business Developement Center and more. They described just what they could do for small businesses in Wisconsin and there was a question and answer session after . Alot of very good info was exchanged. Now I have come in to the shop early to get more work done today so tommorrow morning I can go to Madison and attend a breakfast sessiion with Kathryn Jeffers. From what was said yesterday she is a wonderful speaker and can help you turn things around in your business. I don't know of any business who would'nt like to be better. So there I paln to be from 7-9 and then back to the shop until it is time for the Montello NOW meeting at 5:30. That is another heavy meeting, we should be able to find out from the answers given what Steve Krueger will do with The Great American Moose Fest next year. Enough heavy stuff, I am off to paint fun things, not sure just what as each piece of wood is so different. The weekend had been busy at the shop and with Memorial Day right around the corner I do need to get some pieces done. So, I came ready to paint and enjoy myself, that reallly matters or the painting just doesnt work.
Still pondering my cupcake recipes, my grandson Mike 11, thinks we should try them all out ahead of time and then decide. Taste testing seems to be the answer so I will let you know what we come up with. Also if one seems to be great I could enter it in IRON CUPCAKE MILWAUKEE I am leaning towards all of them myself. A huge bake sale would be wonderful!

Cupcakes on the Brain

I have an 11 year old grandson MIKE who not only loves when I make cupcakes but loves to watch Iron Chef with me. Last night I told him about Iron Cupcake and he thought that was the best thing he ever heard of. Now, today after the shop I told him I had a comment from Iron Cupcake and he almost fainted. How did they know about his Granma and could I print it off. Well, I was thrilled also to see the comment and if you, like me are a baker or just loved baked goods check out their site and this

become an Iron Cupcaker.

To join, all they have to do is email me IronCupcakeEarth@wi.rr.com ( IronCupcakeEarth.com) with the following information to join. All Iron Cupcake participants must register via email.

Name

City, State, Country
Blog Address
Flickr Name
Referral: MY BLOG NAME

Any questions you or your readers may have can be found at the Iron Cupcake Earth Central Hub.

IRON CUPCAKE is getting bigger everyday. In addition to our ETSY artists, the makers of the CUPCAKE COURIER have donated one of their awesome carriers to every challenge winner for the next 12 months! I am also in talks with the folks at an incredibly hip, uber-desired kitchen accessory company - who must remain nameless for the moment. They are in for a similar offer. So the pot gets bigger … and cupcake lovers all over the world will reap the benefits!

IronCupcakeEarth
Bringing the World together one Cupcake at a time!

what could be more fun, ever age group enjoys a good cupcake, they make people smile, and it doesnt take much to exercise of one little cupcake!

So you heard it here, go spread the word and check out their site!

Sunny Saturday

It is just beautiful outside today. The sun is shining and the wind has finally died down a bit. I am determined today to paint outfits for the Dress-Me Friends, finish a coupl orders and then if their time, work on a few slab wood pieces. I am never quite sure how those will turn out. The wood does it's own thing. With all the black bear sightings in the area, maybe I should do a couple more pieces with bears on......maybe the Don't feed the bears !

I am still looking for cupcake recipes for Dairy Days, so many choices. My grandson J.J. is my baking buddy he comes running when he hears the mixer to help lick the beaters. He makes even the grey rainy days bright.

Shop filling up

Hand painted windows, no waste here I paint on just about everything I can find. One man's trash is another mans treasure!
Dress_me Welcome Friends and outfits are always a must in the shop and online!

Some of my favorite things to paint are BEARS and the rustic wood is so much fun, each one is different!

Moose Fest is over.....

Moose Fest brought an estimated 7,000 people to Montello and the surrounding area. The attendance was estimated at between 10 and 20 thousand but for a first year event it went very well. Of course like every event things need to be tweeaked and this will be rehashed before next years event. The Pro fisherman and the kids were a great hit. People are still talking about how nice it was to get some life back into the area. local motels and campgrounds saw increased business and the downtown shops had alot of traffic throughout the weekend also. We are hping those vendors who came this year will be back as we are looking for ways to relocate vendors so everyone is in the same area, and hopefully all get increased traffic.

That over I have put aside the moose hats and am busy painting for orders and getting those rustic camping and fishing signs done for in the shop. I will also be starting the rock painting clases and hope to see alot of new painters this season.

Memorial Day Weekend is always busy and after that we will be onto Dairy dayze with some cute cow ideas coming up so stay tuned.....

Don't forget the Moose Hunt is still on until the end of July so come on out to Montello and grab a dozen or so tickets from the surrounding shops and businesses!