Where has the time gone?

Hey crafting world out there. Life has been happening way too fast for my taste. I had this wonderful vision of posting as I got packages in from swaps and as I worked on cool projects in my evenings and on the weekends.

That hasn't happened.

A lot of my evenings have been spent cleaning up from the day or trying to go to sleep early since I have been so tired. Thank you concussion. And my weekends have been more of the same. I'm going to keep trying though and putting one foot in front of the other, getting things done, taking pictures as I have time, and posting when I get a chance.

So, on to funner things (and yes, that is a word. It's in the dictionary.) Swaps! I have been getting a lot of packages recently, which means that I have all sorts of awesome stuff coming in! I have loved the fun of opening up my mail box, which I used to check maybe once a week (maybe) for junk mail that my mom ended up forwarding to me that she thought I needed. Yep, really exciting. But now, I am getting all sorts of awesome fabric and postcards. It makes me excited to come home!

This was what was waiting for me in my mailbox today. A total of six fat quarters, 98 2.5" squares and two wonderfully cute tea packets.

There also were multiple wonderful postcards. I love to see what people can find and what they choose to send.

So, I finally folded all of my laundry that has been needing to be folded and found these gems in the laundry. I think these were some of my bargain bin finds from a few weeks ago. The rest have already been sorted into my stash yesterday (I sorted my stash!). I also feel like taking pictures of what is going directly into the stash may not be in my best interest if my long distance significant other decides to follow. He already rolls his eyes at the quantity of fabric and other craft supplies I own. I don't think I need to give him the blow by blow accounting of it.... But I probably still will post pictures as I remember to take them of what I bring home. I have been trying to do a little bit better of maintaining my stash and then using it in projects (gasp!). We'll see how that actually carries through.

And with that, I bid you all good night! I either need to sleep or read, but whatever I do, it will be relaxing so that I can try to start bouncing back!

Creativi-TEA and Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Okay, so this is another swap-bot post. I feel bad because I started out saying that this blog is going to be about my quilting, but car accident + little to no energy + simple swaps = more swap posts for right now. I might even work on sewing tonight; we'll just have to see. Probably just something really simple like chain piecing squares for one of my postage stamp quilts. :-)

But, right now, it's tea time. It's a very cool idea for a swap. You make these really cute envelopes and place a tea bag in the little envelope and mail off two of these packages to someone else who is expecting some fun tea. I think it's going to be fun. Also a really good use of the scrapbook paper that I got in a mix pack that probably won't ever make it into my scrapbooks. (I tried to flip the picture, but no such luck. Just look at it upside down...)

In other highlights of the day, I got a postcard from one of my swaps today. Yay! First postcard!

And lastly, I am working on roasting butternut squash. I got a great deal on squash on Wednesday (yes, car crash day, but beforehand) and want to get it roasted and into either soup or gnocchi here soon. It's nice to take as much time as I need. A lot of other recipes are time sensitive, but this one is nice and slow. Yay for slow.

And, I just have to post this recipe, that way that I can remember it. It turned out really awesome. I based it off of this recipe, but I modified it a lot.

Easy Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients:
2 medium/large butternut squash
4 chicken bouillon cubes
2 cups water
2 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

I'm lazy, which is why I used the powder, rather than fresh. I'm okay with it.

1. Split the squash in half, clean out the seeds, and then roast in the oven (set at 400 degrees) until soft and the skin is starting to pull from the meat of the squash.
2. While the squash is roasting, microwave/boil the water, then dissolve the bouillon cubes in the water.
3. Separate the meat from the skin and throw the skin into a blender. Add the water, with the onion powder and garlic powder.
4. Blend until smooth.

5. Enjoy! (I put a little bit of ricotta cheese in mine, but I've also heard of sour cream, creme fresh, etc.)