Arrggg.....No Stitching Time

Ok, so I didn't get to stitching yesterday.  But I did get my floors cleaned and my laundry all caught up!  I finished my little Valentine Cat Dolls and will post photos of those soon.  They are so cute!  I did a bunch of other things too but at the moment, I just can't recall what it all was.  Whatever it was, it seemed to take me the majority of the day yesterday.

I did get the rest of our handmade cards listed in our Boutique:

At the moment, all I have left to list are my cat dolls.  I do know that mom has been sewing on more vintage hankie door pillows and she'll be working on some new Tussy Mussys today.  I'll be heading over there shortly and I'll make a few more cards.

We're not planning on too much more in the way of "crafty" things.  Mom and I really love stitching and sewing so we're moving in mostly that direction.  But I have always loved paper and I love making cards so there will always be a few of those in the works!

Handmade Glittered Christmas Cards Sets

Ya'll know I love my glitter!  That's why I like making cards.  I can add loads of glitter to them!  I put together a couple of sets of my Handmade Glittered Cards for Christmas:

My plans for today changed slightly so I'll be sewing up my Pink Ribbon Purse this afternoon.  I'm very excited to see what it looks like as a purse and I'm excited about this project because it will help the cause in a small way.  But every little bit helps, right?

First, I have to run to the grocery store.  Then I can get my sewing machine running!

Cards With Glitter

Cards With Glitter!  Ya'll know how much I love my glitter!  All that glitters IS gold to me!!!  And there is no better place to pile it on than on handmade cards.

Mom and I have been making things like crazy!  I think it keeps us from being crazy!  LOL!!!  Anyway, for today, I thought I'd share our latest card creations:

 Aren't these pretty?  Even prettier in person!  Also available at Etsy.

Ok, I'm off to finish up on my Halloween Crazy Quilt Door Pillow.  I ran my errands yesterday so I could have today free to stitch, bake and do whatever!

Happy Easter Weekend!

Good Morning everyone!  Well, I'm almost done with my Crazy Garden Quilt.  All I have left to do is to put the back and sleeve on, top stitch it and hang it!  I'd like to get the back on tomorrow morning before we head over to mom's.  Still not sure if I will try to do that or not.  When I do the top stitching, I'll do that on mom's machine.  Hers is much newer than either one of mine and it's electronic so there's a bit more precision there.

In the meantime, here is an Easter card that I made:



Happy Easter Weekend!

Cookies, Valentine's And Biscornu's

It's an interesting combination of topics, don't you think? 

I baked 2 batches of cookies yesterday morning:



Chocolate Chip Sugar Cookies and Chocolate Orange Chocolate Chip Sugar Cookies.  I took some to my parent's house yesterday for my dad's birthday.  And whenever I bake, I fix up a couple of little bags for the 2 little kids across the street. 

These are not my Valentine cookies.  I won't start on those until the weekend.  Just a little treat with red & pink sprinkles!

And speaking of Valentine's, I only made one Valentine Card this year:



I'm not into cards so much anymore.  I guess I discovered some other interesting things to put glitter on!  Ha, ha, ha!  You know me, all that glitters is gold!

Anyway, I worked up my Biscornu Of Month for February:



and that is now available here.

I'm out of steam for today.  I started a Marie Antoinette box but I don't have the energy to work on it at the moment.  I think I'll go stitch and listen to Food Channel.  I didn't do all that much today.  I made some soup and did some paperwork and laundry.  That's it.  Some days are better than others I guess.

Notes To Myself

Slow down girl!  Settle down girl!  Relax girl!  Oh, these things just don't seem to be in my vocabulary!  I keep moving from one task to the next despite the fact that all I really feel like doing is stitching.  That motor on my ADD butt just doesn't quit.  At least until I'm so exhausted that I have no choice but to take a shower and go bed.  And oh yes, how about those night sweats!  Love that.  NOT!  And then the restless leg syndrome caused by my medication.  My body wants to sleep but my legs would rather get up, marathon walk around the lake and stroll down to the WalMart for awhile.  They say that the 40's are some really great years for us women.  I think not!  I hope my 50's will be some good years.  We'll see how that goes when I get there.

In the meantime, here are the latest creations by Mom and Myself:







Mom made these sweet little Blanket Babies.  Some of you may remember that Mom made a ton of them for Pat Winters' Comfort Doll Project.   Although they are for decorative use only, they would make the cutest little package tie-on's for a new baby.

These pretty little Blank Note Cards were made by mom as well:



And I made this set:



I have a tendency to forget that it takes a lot of time to take photos, edit photos and upload photos.  I feel like I didn't accomplish a thing if I don't create something each day.  Jan reminded me and I quote, "As for the accomplishing , you did this - sometimes accomplishment means just acknowledging you're alive".  So true Jan and I think that's something that we all have to remember.  Wasn't there a book out awhile back called, "Women Who Do Too Much"?  That would be me, with an extension added that I never feel like I do enough.

I had to stop at the grocery store this morning so I buzzed through the resale shop which is next door.  I don't usually find much in that one.  It's mainly clothing but today I got lucky:



Is this too cute or what?  So shabby cottage style!  I only paid $3.00 for it!  I have plans for it for Easter.  I'll add some Easter grass to the bottom, sit my sparkly white bunny in there and tuck my metallic eggs in around the bunny.  I'll tie a pretty bow to the handle and call it Spring!  I'm sure I'll find a use for it for the rest of the year too.

I'm looking for a magazine holder that is similar in style.  I'm a magazine junkie!  I'd like to get some of them out of my computer room and my bathroom (library) and move them to a corner in the living room where I can reach them while I watch television.

Speaking of tv, Food Channel is calling me.  First I have to put together my Impossible Bacon Pie that I'm making for dinner.  No, I don't cook!  Really I don't!

I'll leave you with an update on Block #5 of my Garden Crazy Quilt:



Quick note to Karen who left me a message regarding my mom's Tussy Mussy's:  Please drop me an email so I can reply to you Karen.  I don't have your email address and it's important to me to answer your questions.

Making Christmas Cards

My Thanksgiving cards are made and ready to mail out so I've started on some Christmas cards:



I have another one at mom's that I started today but it isn't quite finished yet. I have a few other projects going as well. I mentioned last week that this will be a pink Christmas for me. I'll share what I'm working on when I have things ready. I have to make Christmas different this year so I decided on everything being pink rather than the traditional harsh red & green. I find soft pastel colors calming on my nervous system. Of course, I'm using lots of glitter as well!

I still want to pick up some pink poinsettias that I can glitter. I'll be going to Hobby Lobby with mom next week. I'm sure I'll find some there.

I had some other things I was going to chat about today but it seems that they've slipped my mind. I'm sure those thoughts will come around again and hopefully it'll be when I can write them down!

Chocolate Sugar Cookies & Thanksgiving Greetings!

I got home from mom's yesterday and I just had to play with my Kitchenaid. I whipped up a batch of Chocolate Sugar Cookies:



My dad loves these and although Scott isn't much for sweets, he too is quite fond of these cookies. Here's the recipe:

Chocolate Sugar Cookies

1 cup Sugar
1 cup Butter
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 Egg
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/3 cup Cocoa
2 cups Flour
1 bag Semi-Sweet Mini Chocolate Chips

Cream butter & sugar. Add baking soda & cocoa. Mix well. Add egg & vanilla. Add flour and mix well then finally add the bag of chips.

Drop by teaspoon full on baking sheet. Flatten with bottom of glass dipped in sugar. I then add seasonal sprinkles! Also, I bake my cookies on Parchment Paper. It helps them to bake more evenly.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes or until cookies are done but not brown.

I'd love to play with my new toy a little more but I'm toast for today now. I'll be taking my bath shortly and laying on my bed with my remote control and the new issue of Artful Blogging. Of course Nightmare, my little guardian, will be hogging the blankets!

I also thought you would enjoy seeing my handmade Thanksgiving cards:



You may want to click on the picture to see them up close. They're very glittery!

I have some new projects rolling around in my mind. I try to keep myself busy in hopes of keeping my mind off of how I feel. I still don't have my head all together yet. I can't do things as quickly as I used to. And I can't seem to organize things well yet. I'm assured that it will all come back in time but for now, it's a little frustrating.

I'm off to fold a load of laundry and put dinner together. We have left-over taco salad for tonight. Scott told me that taco salad was "border-line" cooking. Ha! I said no way! It's browning a package of ground beef and mixing in a jar of mild Pace Picante sauce!

BTW - I'm a little behind on my email. I plan to have that caught up by the end of the weekend. If you're waiting to hear back from me, please hang in there. I'll be replying very soon.

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!

Some Of My Cards

I thought while I still had my computer on, I would share a few of my cards:







I don't know how but I've made quite a few over the past few months. Just thought I'd share something pretty.

Cat Dolls

I had an order for 8 custom Glitter Cards so I spent my weekend working on those. I also added a few new ones here. I love making them but I still have glitter from one end of my house to the other!





My next projects will be a couple of my little cat dolls for Christmas Gifts:



I hope to start on this later today. I have a ton of these cat dolls sewn up and I know I can't stitch all of them so I'll be putting some together with some vintage lace and packaging them up for my Etsy shop. That's on my list for tomorrow.

Ladybug Purse and more Glitter Cards

Ladies, this cold I have is getting on my nerves! I'm going to keep this one short again and just post the photos of my latest cards and an update on my Ladybug purse:













Made by me







Made by my mom

All cards can be found in my Etsy shop.

Finally for today, an update on my Ladybug purse:



I plan to do some sewing tomorrow. I have an order for a custom cellphone pouch. It's a Christmas gift so I want to get started on that asap. I also thought I would sew up a few crazyquilt blocks for my Etsy shop. I have plenty of blocks sewn to stitch on but I'm really feeling like running that treadle machine!