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!