Happy Halloween!

These sweet little scarecrows are in my Garden Window. I've never really used it for plants. Instead, I like to decorate the top shelf with different do-dads for the holidays and seasons. The bottom shelf is for Lucy. She likes to lay there because of the warm sun. I'll have to get a photo of her laying there sometime. It's just too cute!

Well, I've been enjoying my Kitchenaid Stand Mixer quite a bit. I made about 6 different kinds of cookies so far. My mom and I visit the elderly at our local retirement center every other week. Mom's oldest dog, a gorgeous Black Lab named Chooch, is a therapy dog. So we take Chooch and visit the sweet elderly people at the retirement center. They absolutely adore Chooch! I need to post a photo of her too. Perhaps at Thanksgiving.

Ok, so where am I going with this? Geez, I'm still waiting for my brains to get back in my head!

Mom and I made several different kinds of cookies and fixed up these pretty little treat bags to give to the residents at the center:





Of course, we made the tags as well:



It was amazing to us, how a little bag of homemade cookies could brighten the day for so many people! They were thrilled and went on and on about the cookies and the tags! Some of the residents no longer have family or friends to visit them so they really look forward to seeing mom and Chooch and I. And 2 days later, they're probably still talking about the Halloween treat bags!

I had intended on taking photos of my cookies and sharing a recipe or 2 but again, my brains are still somewhere else at the moment. I will be so glad when this depression subsides and when I can get off of the Zoloft so I can think straight again! My Dr. told me that I have to stay on the medication at least until late Spring. All of the symptoms have to be gone for some time before I can taper off. Well, I can honestly say that the symptoms are still here but at least I can function better.

I stitched up my Holly Doorhanger over the past few days:



I hope to have the energy to run my sewing machine later this week. Once I get these sewn up, my Christmas gifts are done. I still have 2 purses to sew up too. Both from last year.

Well, that's all for now. Hope everyone has a Happy and Safe Halloween!

Glittered Pumpkins & Pumpkin Biscornu Designs

Well, my new Kitchenaid has kept me quite busy! I've made 3 batches of cookies this afternoon. I also made some fudge and another candy. I'll have photos soon and I'll share my fudge recipe. It's so easy!

In the meantime, mom & I did a fun little project yesterday. Glittered pumpkins:



I was driving to the Post Office yesterday, and decided to stop at the farm market on the way back for some squash. Those little tiny pumpkins always catch my eye! I already had a few but decided to get some more and suddenly, I had this idea to glitter them and add some dried flowers to the top. So I bought 8 pumpkins and drove over to mom's house! (Ya'll know I love my glitter!)

These are the supplies you'll need if you would like to make some:

Aleene's Tacky Glue
Hot Glue Gun
1 inch wide flat paint brush
Fine Gold Glitter (I used Martha Stewart's glitter available at Michael's)
Small Silk Autumn Leaves
Moss
Dried Flowers or dried stuff from your backyard.

First, wash the pumpkins and let them dry. Using a 1 inch wide flat paint brush, spread Aleene's Tacky Glue on the pumpkin starting at the stem. You don't want the whole pumpkin covered. Just the top but you do want it to look like frost settled on the pumpkin. Sprinkle on glitter and let dry.

Then, using a hot glue gun, glue some moss to the top near the stem. Add some small silk Autumn leaves, some dried flowers and snips of dried things from your backyard.

A quick & easy project, perhaps perfect as Thanksgiving Dinner Favors!

I have to go and frost my pumpkin face cookies but I'll leave you with a new design project:



I feel like I missed out on Spring (I don't even remember it) and Summer wasn't much better but I am enjoying the Fall. If you would like to stitch my new Pumpkin Biscornu designs, you can find them here.

My New Toy & Some Stitching

I bought myself a new toy. As most of my long time readers know, this has been an awful year for me. A huge tree limb fell on my house a week before Christmas last year and although the damage was minimal, we still had plenty of damage to deal with. I had a mental breakdown and went into a state of horrifying depression on Christmas Eve (my birthday). I had to say goodbye to my teddy bear Garfield and among other things, the current state of the economy has not been good to us.

There were months there, where I couldn't stitch or do my designing. I didn't have the energy or mental capacity to run either one of my sewing machines. I was able to make cards with my mom and I was able to bake. And bake I did! There must be something about it that has been helping me get through this awful experience. I've baked more this year than I have in the past 5 years!

Anyway, I've been wanting a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer for quite some time now. Thinking back, I remember looking into them about 8 years ago but I was very specific on the color. I wanted a Professional heavy duty mixer in Pistachio green. Well guess what? I bought one for myself:



I wanted the Professional model because I intend to make bread in it. It just arrived last night!

I haven't been able to use it yet but mom and I have been playing with hers so at least I know what to do and don't have to read the instructions. As soon as I get something made in it, I'll share some photos and more recipes.

In the meantime, I stitched up a doorhanger:



It looks like a pink blizzard doesn't it? Me, who loves Christmas so much! NOT! And mentally crashing on Christmas Eve last year does not help me to like it any more. But my mom gave me some suggestions to make it different this year and to keep my mind occupied with something more fun. I asked Scott if he would either take me to JoAnn Fabrics on my birthday or the Antique Mall that I love. Being the sweetie pie that he is, he told me that we may be able to do both! That should help.

So, that's my Christmas doorhanger. It'll be a gift. I'll be starting another one shortly and then I'll sew them both together at the same time.

Ok, I'm off to try my new toy out!

Altered Cookies

It seems that all sorts of things are being "altered" these days. One of the easiest things to alter is a basic cookie recipe:



This recipe for Drop Sugar Cookies is the recipe I sent in to Just Cross Stitch this year to go with my ornament design:

1 cup sugar
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/3 cups flour
1 bag mini chocolate chips

Cream butter & sugar. Add vanilla, egg & baking soda. Mix well and add flour. Add mini chocolate chips. Roll into 1 1/2 inch balls, flatten with a glass dipped in sugar. Bake at 350 degrees until light golden brown.

I altered this recipe by adding the zest of 1 large orange, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg.

I've made this cookie recipe many, many ways and will share my "alterations" as I make them again. Give these a try. They are really good!

Be sure to visit my Boutique!

Spider Purse & Flea Market Treasures

First, I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to email me. I believe we have my email working properly again. I kind of freak when this sort of thing happens because I don't know what to do! My friend Chris helped me with it and hopefully, it will continue to work for me!

I finished up my Spider Web purse:



There are 7 spiders on this bag. Can you find them all?

The ladies at the Post Office were drooling all over it yesterday. Everyone is fascinated by crazyquilting!

Next, I thought I would share my recent Flea Market treasures with you. I hit the jackpot this last Sunday! First, with a pair of cat figurines that I absolutely fell in love with:



I plan to repaint my guest room light pink and stencil cabbage roses around the room. I want it to have a very cottage vintage look and I thought these would be pretty sitting on the dresser.

Next I found yet another pile of vintage embroidery transfers:



Ya'll know how much I love these! I've done pretty good with the iron-on transfer finds this flea market season.

I know I've recently mentioned that I've been baking a lot. It's helped to take my mind off the terrible depression symptoms that I've been dealing with. I started a new collection (like I need another one) of vintage baking cookbooks:



I paid $2.00 for each of these. In fact, the Betty Crocker Cooky book is one that my mom has had since the 1960's and I maul it every time I'm at mom's house! I was thrilled to find my own copy at the flea market. Esp. for only $2.00! I think Borders bookstore offers it but it's around $15.00 or $20.00 now.

Anyway, the Christmas Cookie booklet is from the 1950's. Mom told me that the electric company used to send out cookbooks and other little things now and then. Interesting! Now we get the bill and pray it doesn't go up!

I also found this pile of vintage appliqués:



I'm sure they'll find their way onto one of my crazy quilts eventually.

Last but not least for today, a vintage hat and 2 spider pins:



I bought the vintage hat for the silk and velvet flowers. I can usually find these for about $4.00 or $5.00. I take the flowers off and use them on my stitching or on cards.

And where were those spider pins when I was working on my spider purse? I've never seen one on a web before.

I do have one other treasure that I bought but I had a hard time getting a good photo of it. It's a stitched framed piece with roses on it and a little verse. I'll try taking it outside on a sunny day and see if I can't get a decent photo. It's gorgeous and is also intended for my guest room when I get it repainted.

Email Issues

Thank you everyone! The only email that came through was from Judy. I'm not getting me Etsy email or my PayPal email. Can't figure out what's going on. As soon as I do, I'll ask for more messages.

Email Messages

I'm not sure that all my email is coming through. I was wondering if I have a few readers who would take a moment to send me an email and then leave a message here for so I can see if everything is working correctly.

Thanks much!

2009 Just Cross Stitch Ornament Issue

I thought you would like to see my ornament from the 2009 Just Cross Stitch Ornament Issue:



Not too bad for the state of madness I was in back in January when I did the design! Well, I think it was January. I'm really not sure as the past almost year is pretty much just a big blur to me. I still have that "not quite in reality" feeling but I'm sure that will pass in time.

On the back cover, in the Zweigart Ad, you can see my Redwork Christmas Afghan design:



I looked at it and thought to myself, "Wow, what a pretty afghan! I wonder who the designer is." Then I realized it's one of my designs and thought to myself, geez, I can't wait until my brains are back in my head!

Anyway, Scott and I went to a flea market today where I hit the jackpot! I found a bunch of vintage transfer patterns, a pair of gorgeous vintage cat figurines with roses on them, 2 vintage spider pins, some vintage lace appliques, 2 vintage cookie cookbooks and a framed stitched piece with roses on it. I have to take photos of my treasures. I'm out of steam for today.

When I feel up to it, I want to repaint my guest room in an icy pink and then stencil cabbage roses in there. The kitty figurines and the vintage stitched piece are for that room.

I'll post photos when I have a little more energy. In the meantime, I thought you would enjoy seeing my JCS Ornament.

Autumn Home Decor

Today is a decent feeling day! I'm tired and still feel as if I'm on another planet but I've been thinking about new design ideas and projects and I did some stitching on vintage Vogart dresser scarf!

I also took some photos and have some finishes to share with you. First, is my Autumn Is In The Air pillow:



I have it sitting with one of my scarecrows on my grandma's cedar chest which I have behind my sofa:



I change the pillows and dolls with the holidays and seasons. I like things festive, but not cluttered looking.

Next, I finished up the door-hanger that I started for my mom for Mother's Day:



You may remember that little vintage heart-shaped wicker chair that I found a few years ago in an antique shop. Scott painted it white for me and now it sits in the corner of my living room. I always have a little door-hanger pillow on the post. And sometimes a black cat who shall remain a Nightmare!



I made the cross stitch seat cover years and years ago! I had it on a chair in my bedroom but when I brought this chair home, the seat cover fit it perfectly so I moved it.

Last but not least for today, I finished up the stitching on my Spider Web Purse:



Now to find a good feeling day to sew it together. I would love to be able to use it from now until Halloween. Perhaps over the weekend. Although we do have another flea market to go to on Sunday and I'm counting the minutes!

I'll definitely have to share photos of my baking. Perhaps I'll share a few of my recipes too. Stayed tuned for that! I'm off to make some Popovers to have with dinner. I'm getting tired so I'll just stitch after that.

I Ran My Sewing Machine Today....

and I finished up my "Autumn Is In The Air" pillow. I don't feel like messing with the camera at the moment so I'll post a photo of it on my cedar chest with my little scarecrows sometime in the next few days.

I also finished up the doorhanger that I started for my mom for Mother's Day. Better late than never. Then I sewed up 3 Christmas gifts. Like I said, I'll have photos of those pieces soon.

In the meantime, I've added some more do-dads to my Spider Web Purse:



I may have it finished later today. I'm starting to feel that awful feeling of pressure like my insides are going to explode so I know it's time for me to go sit and relax.

When I finish up on the Spider purse, I'm going to make 2 doorhangers for Christmas gifts:





I have a silver Christmas Tree pin for the focal point on the silver block and a holly pin for the center of the green block. I wanted to scan these so you can see them before I start on them.

Also today, I made some crepes with apple/raisin/pecan filling for dessert tonight. We usually don't do desert. I wanted to bake something but didn't want to push myself so I did these instead. It makes the house smell good but only took a short time and they're pretty low in calorie. Well, except for the sour cream that I'll putting on top! I'll have to start taking pictures of my baking and such. Been doing a lot of that lately.

Spider Web Purse Progress & a Finish!

I finished up my little "Autumn Is In The Air" counted cross stitch piece yesterday:



Being a designer, I like to give credit where credit is due. This is design is by Michelle M. Lash of Brittercup Designs.



Since I've completed the project and don't need my pattern anymore, I would like to offer it to whoever wants it. I'll gladly send it to the first person who leaves me a comment saying they would like to have it. US only please as I will pay for the postage.

It was a cloudy dreary day here yesterday so I had time for stitching on my Spider Web purse:



Today, I'll do the beading on the lace piece and start adding the rest of the spiders. The spider in the middle is a vintage pin that I bought at an antique shop awhile back. The pin-back is missing but I was able to sew it down close to the body on each leg. It's quite secure so I don't think he'll wander off anywhere!

This morning, my dear husband took my parents and I to a huge pumpkin farm! They have a fantastic petting zoo there. We saw giraffes, a baby zebra and all sorts of other animals. There was a potbellied piggy with 2 babies. Oh my goodness, they were so sweet! Well, ya'll know how I am about animals! Anyway, my favorite was the owls. I wish we could have gotten a photo of them. They were huge and had bright orange eyes the size of quarters!

This pumpkin farm is rather pricey so I didn't buy my pumpkins there. We mostly go to see the petting zoo. I'll get my pumpkins at the farm market down the road from me.

It was a very nice October morning but I'm quite tired now so will head off to sit and stitch for a bit.

Finally for today, I'll share a photo of the birthday card that I made for my father in law:



Scott said that it's a little "girly" but his dad won't care. He'll just be happy that we thought of him. I may make him some cookies during the week to send along with the card.

The cupcakes are made with one of Martha Stewart's punches. I buy them at Michael's when they have a 40% off coupon. I used the little puffy things that make them stand up off the card. It gives them a 3-D look. The stars are also one of MS's punches and the candles were some stickers that I had. And as you can see, I like my glitter!