I've been seeing some really neat backdrops made of fabric, just regular fabric, nothing fancy. And I found a few inexpensive portable backdrop frames but of course, none of them are available locally. So I did a little googling and found the instructions to make one out of PVC piping for under $30.
Yesterday, we picked up the PVC and by 10 am we had made the frame with an additional bar across the middle. It comes apart and can easily be packed up. Super light, super cheap. 
I quickly tossed my duvet cover over the rack, added a few clamps and my trusty big red dog. And voila...
I've been looking all over for damask print fabric to use as a backdrop and couldn't find a thing. Yesterday I found this duvet cover and it's exactly what I was looking for! And I like the colour!
I made a couple of cards, both using embossing resist.
I did a bit of scrapbooking too, got 3 pages done. 
Feb. 18th. Sunny, warm, maybe 9 degrees. The grass that Linus hasn't pulled up is greenish. We spend a bit more time outside throwing the ball.
Feb. 23rd. Fog, frost, -4 degrees. Cold, damp, dismal, but wait, the sun is shining, it's burning off the fog, and it did shine for most of the day! But it was still darn cold.
Feb. 24th. Snow, wet, but not as cold, 0 degrees. Makes a great hiding spot for the poop I didn't pick up yesterday, oh, wait, I did, because it was frozen and picking up Poopsicles is what I live to do.
We have this very old, just for decoration wooden ladder that I use in the garden as a trellis, it's leaning against the deck right now. For some reason, this guy had a brain fart and decided this was the way to get up onto the deck. He stood like that for the longest time, trying to figure out what to do. Ah...the life of a SAHM. (It does count, even if they are dogs.)
In other news...Kerry and I have been discussing the sad state of our weights. Slowly rising, causing our clothing to become ill fitting, we have decided to eat better, more fruits and veggies, and to move a bit more with evening walks. Nothing earth shattering, but a step in the right direction. Besides as Kerry put it "We need to get our Disney legs."
That's right. You can own a brand new pair of the Olympic mittens, just add your self as a FOLLOWER, if you are already added, don't worry, you'll be in the draw. 
Today, being dry and a bit overcast but not too cold, we decided to hit the car wash with Shaun. Kerry had been before so it was a huge surprise to Shaun and I. We don't get out much. For $8, you get to pre-soak, wash, and rinse in a warm secluded bay. Much better than getting out the bucket of hot soapy water, and the hose of ice cold water and making a mess in front of the house. Who knew?
It's not the ideal place to pull the camera out, it's warm, it's poorly lit, it's damp, and it's just ripe with opportunity to spray someone with a high pressure water gun, but I'm trying to be more photo journalistic, I'm trying to push myself to learn the ins and outs of my camera. The photo above is a tad yellowish because along with poor lighting, and dampness, the carwash also has hideous yellow and blue tarps as back drops, the nerve.
I don't know if I mentioned that Shaun bought a brand new 2010 Ford Focus before Christmas. I have never even had a brand new car! He's just 20 and bought his own, so damn proud! I need to get him and his little car out for a photo shoot so I can scrapbook it. 
And because I had to wait all day before I could see my mom, I did a little card making. Nothing spectacular, I watched the Young and the Restless as I made cards.
This is the layout from January's class. I love my little owl, but can't find the right pictures for the layout.
I used my super cute mini milk carton die and my Big Shot to make these. They are cute but pretty useless for anything other than filling full of candy, like Kisses or cinnamon hearts. I'm practical, and this die was a huge splurge. Now I have to make it work and use it for everything, I'm definately using them at Easter. I'm thinking of things to put in them ... maybe dog treats, Kleenex, allergy pills, Cadbury Mini Eggs, jelly beans, money...
Today, I taught the dogs about backdrops and props. Sally is sporting a very large flower clip from Fabricland. She doesn't seem to mind. She's sitting in front of a table covered with Amy Butler fabric.
Linus said he's sit, but he was not posing. He didn't even wash his face this morning.
I made this scalloped heart garland this morning, I was feeling all Valentinesy. Sally is posing on my bed on duvet. I found that scrolly white iron thingy at Home Sense a few years ago.
Linus is doing as little as possible for his treat. "Momma, my head's too heavy!"Emily and Illi were doing their homework last night. They had to find a current event out of the news paper, cut it out, and ask a bunch of questions about the current event. Illi found the article about the 17 yr. old girl that let the contractor in his 50s into her house. She left the room only to come back to find him naked from the waist down. We can imagine what it was he planned on doing. After we discussed the situation, and how serious it was, Illi had a little fun with it, she started singing Pants on the Ground. These two girls are hilarious. The also discussed drugs and the number of kids in their school that do them. I asked specifically what kind of drugs are you talking about, Illi started listing them Pot, and that other green stuff, what's it call? Marijuana! To which my street smart kid says pot is marijuana! Ah...mystery solved!
They also discussed an article on the controversial pro-life ad with a hand holding an aborted fetus. It's very interesting to hear teen aged girls' views on these things. Emily might know the difference between pot and marijuana(there isn't any) but she can't say the word rape, instead she uses nicer words like "an accident".
Sometimes I complain that I'm home all day with dogs that don't really talk to me. I can pretend in silly voices that they do talk but really it's nothing compared to what happens when the kids come home. I'm very thankful to be able to hear their chattering, even it it has confirmed that I don't want 4 kids, I'll keep 2 and send the other 2 home. It means they feel comfortable enough with us to share what is going on in their lives during the time they are away from us.
I also made Texas Style BBQ sauce from scratch.
It took a while to put the smoker together, but it was worth it!
It's a good thing the smoker had this very accurate thermometer. 
After 4 hours of smoking the ribs were to-die-for! On the bbq shows we've been watching, namely BBQ Pitmasters, they say that good ribs won't pull away from the bone when you bite them. You should be able to leave a perfect bite mark in the meat. I think these were a bit over cooked, but pretty close to what they say you want in a perfect rib. The pork roast became pulled pork, I made sweet and sour coleslaw and served it along with the bbq sauce, on toasted garlic buns. I might just smoke all my meat from now on.
While we were waiting, Kerry took a picture of me in my Yokohama fleece from the contest I won.