Fall ... From My Window

The leaves were beginning to change when we were in Ohio ...

But on our way home is when we saw some really amazing fall colors as we drove through Pennsylvania.

I have this "thing" about fall leaves and barns ... so I thought I would share a few of my favorite pictures I took as we were driving down the interstate in the car.


Isn't this absolutely beautiful ... fall foliage & a barn??


Some people say "God paints the earth in flowers" ... well, this time of year "He paints the earth with fall foliage"


This was a beautiful view ... the colors are muted because we are looking through the car window


Isn't this farm/barn wonderful? I want to live there!


Fall ... aaahhhhh ... MY time of year!


And another beautiful farm ...


Griffin LOVED watching these windmills ... they were all over the place. He called them "windows".

It was a beautiful drive ... I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

Happy 40th Birthday Colleen!!

Today is my fabulous friend Colleen's 40th Birthday ...

Happy Birthday Colleen!!

I've just added some fun new paper piecings to my Ebay listings!






This is a sampling of some of the new items listed ...

I've also added some popular paper piecings from the past as well.

If interested in seeing some cute, fall inspired paper piecings click HERE!

The Cleveland Zoo.

Okay, so I'm ready to share pictures of our trip to the Cleveland Metropark Zoo ... but first ... I have to tell you ... I went to an Archiver's!!!


I have always wanted to go to one of these stores however I've never had the opportunity until I went to Cleveland. If you have never heard of Archiver's, it is an amazing scrapbooking store with over 40 locations! They have some really wonderful items ... I found some cool things (like owl brads!) that I've never seen before. If you would like to see pictures of the store then click here!


And look what I found while we were away ... a Martha Stewart Owl Paper Punch! Oh my goodness ... I wasn't expecting to find it, I didn't even know it existed. But, I have to tell you ... it was absolutely one of the highlights of my trip!

If interested in some punched pieces from this cute punch ... I have them in my Ebay Store ... you can click here for more information.

And now on to our trip to the zoo ...


I love this picture of Griffin in front of the words made from plants ... it reads Cleveland 2008 if you can't make it out.


And the sign welcoming us to the zoo ...


Oh my goodness ... what is that WILD animal standing there? Is it a monkey? A parrot? Why noooooo ... it's a Griffin!


Of course I had to share pictures of the giraffes, seeing as it is my favorite animal


And Griffin and I love flamingos too ...

We had a really nice time at the zoo ...

But going back to the hotel was a little scary for me. Our hotel was about 30 minutes away from the zoo, so I put the address in my handy little GPS and off we went. We got there just fine ... but on the way back to the hotel, it sent me a back a completely different way. I am the first to admit I am NOT good with directions or maps, that's why I rely on my GPS (which Mike says is not a good thing and I agree now). I knew something was wrong when all of a sudden the huge buildings in downtown Cleveland were staring me in the face and the huge football stadium was right in front of us. The GPS had me turning here and turning there, finally landing me in an area that I was totally scared to be in. It was a pretty rough looking area (that I had to drive in for 8 miles!). Apparently the road I was on was supposedly 4 lanes (2 lanes each way), but there was only a middle line painted and to me it looked like there was room for only one lane on each side. Buses were passing me in a lane that really didn't exist in my mind! I was scared ... really scared. My friend Heidi called me on the telephone when I first started on this scary 8 mile adventure and she was sweet enough to "hold my hand" over the phone while I made it through. Honestly folks ... this was one of the scariest moments of my life.

Heidi ... thank you for being there for me when I needed you!

And The Winner Is ...

Today is the day!

The drawing for the "Owl Give-A-Way" ...

I would like to thank every single person that entered. I enjoyed reading the things that bring you joy. They were pretty wonderful!


This morning I printed out all of the names that entered, plus all of the extra entries for the referrals ...

Griffin chose the winning name and it is ...

Jennifer from New Jersey!

If you can please email me your mailing address I will get this out to you as soon as possible!

We're Back ...

We are back from our adventure ... we were gone for an entire week ... and guess where we went?

Cleveland, Ohio!! Well, we were actually in Beachwood ... and it was a great trip. I have pictures to share and I will do that in just a few days.

I just wanted to pop in this morning to say hello ... and to remind you this is the LAST day to register for the "Owl Give-A-Way". I will be drawing the winner's name tomorrow (Monday the 13th!). So be sure to come back to see if you win!

Something else I wanted to share ...

My wonderful blogging friend Cecile has started a new blog where she is offering her wonderful, handmade paper piecings and layouts


This is one of Cecile's amazing original layouts

You must check them out!

Click HERE to see her new Scrappin' Cecile's Creations!

I hope ya'll have a happy Sunday ... Mike is flying his final long distance solo today and Griffin and I have to go grocery shopping.

Guess Where We've Been ...

Our family has been on a little adventure this past week ...


Care to guess where we've been ...

Or, if you KNOW where we've been, what fun things did we find to do?

Don't Forget To Comment ...

Hey everyone ...

Just a reminder ... the Owl Give-A-Way will be ending soon!

If you haven't yet commented to register to win and you want to, make sure to click HERE to do so by Sunday, October 12th!

Colors Of Fall.

It's no secret that fall is my absolute favorite season ... the colors of fall are a big inspiration to me.

I ♥ Fall!


Pumpkins are one of my favorite things in the world


And flowers ... just look at these amazing colors

Believe it or not ... I took both of these pictures at Walmart of all places.

Bass Pro-Shops: Outdoor World

A new Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World opened near us in Ashland/Richmond ...

We've been to the one in Orlando many times (when we lived in Florida) and we've also been to the one in Atlanta. I think Mike has been to the one in Nashville too. The one near us is HUGE and just gorgeous inside!

I thought I would share some pictures of our visit.


Welcome to Outdoor World ...


I ♥ the interior ... it's so rustic!


They also have a Nascar section ... mostly related to Marti Truex Jr. and I think I saw some Dale Jr. stuff in there too


And a fudge shop too ... not only did they have fudge, they had other candies, wonderful smelling candles, gifts ... I was in heaven. It was just SO pretty!


They even have a restaurant, the Islamorada Fish Company. We had lunch there, and it was AMAZING! The service was great and the food was delicious! I had a catfish sandwich which was absolutely perfect. Mike had a buffalo burger and he said it was delicious. Griffin had one of his favorite, corn dog nuggets and the way he scarfed them down I would say they were pretty good too!


There were so many toy choices ... Griffin had a hard time deciding on what he wanted


They have this huge indoor fish tank that is just loaded with fish. This picture is kind of hard to see, but it's pretty amazing. They also have a water fall you walk under when you are walking upstairs to the second level


Griffin discovered one of the MANY wild life vignettes ...


They even have an indoor target range ... Mike and Griffin enjoyed playing around with that


This is a picture of one of the many beautiful lights ... it was so detailed and just gorgeous!

We had a great time ... if you live nearby, it's a great place to go!

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Today one of our favorite friends turns 4 years old!


(Ryan is in the green shirt, Griffin, Darius & Sam)

We wish we were together so we could help you celebrate!

Happy Birthday ...

We love you and miss you!
Mike, Missy & Griffin

Pumpkin Patch Scarecrow Paper Piecing.

Woo Hoo ... I'm excited to share another new paper piecing I created.

This is a one-of-a-kind Missy Made It Original!


It's been some time since I've had a chance to sit down and create ... it's feels so good to have some time to do it!

If you are interested in this paper piecing click HERE for more information!

Pre-School Pictures.

Griffin had his pictures taken at pre-school and we got them back last week.

This is the first time he's ever had any kind of professional pictures taken. I've never taken him for a sitting anywhere ... not Walmart, not Sears, not one of those "fancy-schmancy-costs-too-much" photo studios.

I was anxious to see what we would get ...


I like this one alot!


I think this is a really cute picture of him. I just wish his shirt wasn't tucked in. He's really an "un-tucked" kinda kid. And, I wish I had him in jeans. On this picture and the next I couldn't get a shot of it without the glare from my flash. And I had to have the flash on because it was too grainy without it.


Our little man ... our three-year-old pre-schooler


Of course we had to get them all ... heck, I even ordered some extras!!

Whoooooo ???

I'm feeling relieved ... I finally have all of my orders completed AND shipped. I feel much better knowing my scrapbooking friends will all soon have their custom paper piecings in their hands.

I know in my heart making one-of-a-kind paper piecings is what I'm best at. I can be creative and work when I can ... I really have to remember that.

I need to focus on what I ♥love♥ doing.

With that in mind ... look what I made yesterday!


This is a brand new original design ... a Missy Made It Original!

If you are interested in this item you can click here for more information.

I wanted to clarify something about a post I made a couple of days ago ... this is what I wrote:

"I'm getting really excited about a couple of things that I plan to announce here on my blog in the next couple of weeks ... so make sure to visit often for some fun new announcements, freebies and other stuff!"

First ... NO ... I am not pregnant. So many of you asked that. It would be a sweet thing, but the answer is NO!

What I was announcing was you will see many more fun freebies (like the owl give-a-way) and more new original paper piecings. You guys had me laughing out loud with the questions.

Hope you have a great Thursday!

Read "Owl" About It Give-A-Way!

With all that's going on in the world ... I thought it was time to bring a little "joy" back and have a give-a-way!

I was walking around Target the other day and I spotted these owl kitchen items. As soon a I saw them I thought they would make a GREAT give-a-way ... as owls seem to be all the rage these days.

So with that in mind ... look what I have to give-a-way to one lucky person.


Give-a-way includes the following:

* Debbie Mumm "Old Fashioned Cookie Recipe" Cookbook

* Enchanted Autumn Whoo? Owl Stickers

* Three sets of fall inspired stamps

* Adorable Owl pot holder and matching dish towel

* Two matching Owl kitchen towels

Now ... you may be wondering ... HOW DO I ENTER?

That's easy ... just leave a comment in the comments section on THIS post to be registered to win. Your comment should be related to "what is bringing you joy right now".

And here's another little bonus ... if someone comes and leaves a comment and said "so and so sent me" then not only will the commentor be registered to win, the person that sent them will get another chance to win. Does that make sense? Let me see if I can clarify:

Say Abby visits my blog and sees the give-a-way opportunity and she leaves a comment. She's registered once for the drawing. But, then if she posts the give-a-way link on her blog and ten people visit, choose to leave a comment and mention that Abby sent them, Abby would then have ELEVEN entries ... and those that told me that Abby sent them would be entered to win as well. Is that clear as mud? I'll wait to see if that's too confusing and may have to adjust this tidbit of information if I get comments about it being too confusing.

I will accept comment entries for the give-a-way until midnight (ET) on Sunday, October 12th. I will then put every one's name in a hat (possibly multiple times for some) and ONE name will be drawn to receive this cute Owl/Fall inspired give-a-way.
I hope you have fun with this ...