Is It Spring Yet?

It looks like it finally stopped snowing here!  My sweet husband has already cleaned off the driveway and my car for me!  I will be going to Hobby Lobby with mom today.

Well, it may not be Spring in my backyard yet, but it's looking more and more like Spring in my house!  These little birdies are another of my projects:



They aren't done yet.  But I expect they will be later today.  I need to pick up a new glue gun.  Mine is well loved and it makes so many strings, it drives me crazy!  Short trip for me these days!  Mom just bought a new one and hers doesn't make any strings.  I need one of those!  Anyway, I'll post more photos once they're complete.  I just think they're too cute!

It's really nice to do some of these craft projects.  I used to love designing and making things for craft shows years ago.  The part I didn't like was packing and unpacking my car, setting up and taking down and sitting at the shows all day.  Etsy sure is a nice outlet.  Although who knows?  I have been thinking about doing the Farmer's Market in Crystal Lake this Summer.  That would be nice as it's small so I wouldn't have so much loading and unloading to do. 

In other news, I started on Block #5 of my Garden Crazy Quilt:



No marathon stitching, but it's a start.  I haven't felt too great the past few days.  I'm assuming it's the weather.
I must say again, this weirdo stuff that I've been living with for over a year now is really getting old.  I try to keep myself busy so as not to focus on how I feel.  And at the same time, I try not to push myself too much because that's not good either.  Some one, please tell me again that this does go away eventually!

The "Baking Bug" is coming around again too.  That Kitchenaid is just screaming at me!  I think I'll take a day next week and bake up a storm.  My sweet neighbor shoveled my driveway for me yesterday so I want to take him some cookies to thank him for his kindness.  And my uncle asked me for some Coconut Macaroons back at Christmas so I will make him some of those.

Well, I'm off to straighten up the house and get myself together to go to Hobby Lobby.  This weather has always made me feel like an animal in a cage!  But I will keep thinking SPRING!

Sneak Peek

I've been busy here with my stash and my glue gun!  I just finished up these pretty little Valentine's Day Trinket Boxes:



Click on the photo to see a larger version.  I'll post more photos in the next few days.  I'm so pleased with them!  I almost hate to part with them but into my Etsy shop they will go.  I have a few other projects that I'm working on too but I need to get to Hobby Lobby for a few things that Michael's doesn't carry.  And it's snowing today.  I'll spare you my complaining!

When I finish up here on the computer, I'm going to start stitching on Block #5 of my Garden Quilt:



I've been all over the map since Christmas and I think if I just sat and stitched for awhile, my mind might settle down a bit. 

I'm on Facebook now.  I was going to do the linky thing here but I have to change my Blog Layout and then I'll lose everything and have to redo it.  I don't feel like reworking my entire blog.  Anyway, you can find me over there if you're interested.  I'm still figuring things out but I'll get the hang of it eventually.

Well, I'm off to stitch and watch the snow come down.  Isn't it Spring yet?  Ha, ha, ha!

Have a good evening everyone!

Happy New Year!

Then came old January, wrapped well in many weeds to keep the cold away. Spencer



Just a quick note to wish everyone a safe and Happy New Year! I just finished straightening up my house so now I'm ready for crafting, stitching, sewing & glittering! Be sure to stop by over the weekend to learn more about my new Biscornu Of Month designs.

Farewell 2009

and good riddance! It's been a horrible year for me, my husband and so many hard working people. For me, it's been the nightmare depression and of course, Scott has had to deal with helping me so it's been hard on him. He's a Ford technician at a large dealership near the city and things haven't been good at most dealerships this year including ours.

Despite not watching the news or reading newspapers, I'm well aware of the fact that so many hard working people have lost jobs and homes. So many have to dig & scratch just to put food on the table these days.

I look forward to 2010 and pray that it brings balance to our economy, healing for those who suffer from depression for whatever reason and peace to our planet.

With that said, I brought a little peace into my own life yesterday. You may remember me talking about the Mason Jar lamp that my dad made for me:



Well, that lampshade has been bugging me for about 2 years now! It was too plain and boring despite my addition of the beaded trim and braid. The other day, it finally occurred to me to add some roses to it and so yesterday, I did:



So much better now! And it couldn't have been easier! I found some fabric with shabby roses on it, cut them out and glued them on with fabric glue. Voila! A new old lampshade.

I just love the shabby chic cottage look. And I've mentioned several times now that I just adore pink! Pink & mint green! Even when I was little, those were my favorite colors. So more and more of that is moving into my little cottage home!

Moving on to my Garden Crazy Quilt, I finished up Block #4 yesterday:



The colors look a little dark in the scan but it's really quite soft and pastel. I haven't started on Block #5 yet. This was supposed to be my "winter project" and I'm already almost 1/2 way done with the stitching. I'm thinking of a taking a tiny break and doing a few other things. I have craft ideas that are calling to me. Stay tuned to see what I come up with. You know, there will be glitter!

So what do you all think about the changes to my banner? I was going to add flowers but the lace seemed like enough of a change and enlarging it a bit fills the space nicely. I'll be making changes to the banner in my Etsy shop as well.

In regards to my photo yesterday about my mom's therapy dog Chooch, Christine mentioned that Chooch looks like a senior herself. Indeed she is. Chooch just turned 10 years old back in October. Other than her grey muzzle, you'd never know it. She has tons of energy, she plays and she loves to beg me to take her walking! And do I love to walk her! In her younger years, Chooch was a show dog. She won many ribbons. When she reached the age of being too old for dog shows, she made her way to my mom through our vet. So now Chooch is a therapy dog and she enjoys it as much as the residents of the retirement center do. It's her purpose and it probably helps to keep her youthful.

Well, I've rambled on long enough for one post! Again, I say goodbye and good riddance to 2009!
I wish everyone peace, comfort & plenty of quiet time in 2010! Have a safe New Year's Eve everyone!

Treasures

I hope everyone had a very nice holiday. My birthday and Christmas were both quite nice and much better than last year!

I wanted to share the lovely gifts I received from several of my friends in blog-land. I first saw these on Cathy's blog and absolutely loved them:





I left a messagefor Cathy, telling her how pretty they are. A few days later, I received a package in the mail from Cathy. Needless to say, I was blown away. They are so pretty and such treasures to me. Thank you very much Cathy!

A day later, I received these gorgeous vintage lace cuffs from Freda:



Oh, I can see these with my black velvet blouse! These are lovely Freda, thank you so very much! They are in my treasure chest.

I actually do have a "treasure chest" that I keep my handmade gifts from my blog friends in. I'll have to share a photo of that with you. It's a box that DMC sent to me years ago and it's perfect for the special gifts that I've received.

I mentioned that Scott took me junkin' at the antique mall on my birthday. I hit the vintage embroidery transfer jackpot as well as the vintage cookie book jackpot:



2 of these books were $3.00 and the others were only $1.00. There's one from 1924. That is quite interesting. In fact, my mom had to decipher a few things for me! Oh, back in the day!

I promised ya'll a photo of my mom's therapy dog with her santa hat on. Here's Santa Chooch:



Isn't she cute? I took about a dozen photos of her and this is the only one that wasn't blurry. I'm going print a bunch of copies of this photo, then mom and I are going to make little cards to take to the residents at the retirement center. They adore Chooch and we thought it would be nice to give them a photo of her next time we go.

In other news, here's a quick update on my Block #4 of my Garden Quilt:



Just a bit more beading to do and this one will be complete.

I'm feeling a bit more like myself but still rather scattered. I can't decide if I want to stitch now, or start on a few Valentine's or sit here and update my Kitty & Me Banner a bit. As I mentioned a few weeks back, I'm going to expand my Etsy shop and I thought it would be nice to add some flowers to my banner. I think I'll have some tea and a Clementine first and then I'll decide!

Finally for today, this is what we dealt with on Saturday:



This is a view of my house & deck from my backyard. Scott felt we needed a photo to remind us of the snow. Ha, ha, ha! I think not!

Well, that's all for today. Like I said, my mind is kind of scattered at the moment. I need to find a way to focus on something. Scott is taking me to JoAnn Fabrics tomorrow for a little shopping spree. To be honest, that's all I've done for the past week! After tomorrow, it's time to sit down and use my stuff.

Quick note to Alayna - thank you so much for your message! I'm glad to know that you were pleased with the Gingerbread Cookie recipe. I've tried several different Gingerbread recipes and that one is the absolute best!