Handmade Boutique - More New Additions

I added some more of our new products to our Handmade Boutique.  Mostly mom's things as I can't really seem to get anything finished. Maybe because I'm always online!  LOL!!

Anyway, here are the lastest Valentine's Day Gift and Decor items.  First, 2 of my mom's gorgeous Tussy Mussy's:

 Ok, so I did finish a couple of things.  Here are my Valentine's Day Trees:

 And a little Valentine Bird Ornament that I made:

 Mom made some gorgeous crocheted scarfs but I didn't have time to get them in our inventory yesterday.  I'll do that over the weekend.

For today, I'm going to mom's to play with the glitter.  And I'm quite eager to get back to some stitching.

Handmade Shabby Chic Boutique - New Additions

First, thank you everyone who left such sweet compliments on my Marie Antoinette Crazyquilt project!  I'm eager to move on to Block #6 but I thought I'd do a few other things first.  I'm finishing up on an embroidery project and then I'd like to make a Victorian Lady purse.  Then I'll get back to Marie Antoinette.

For now, I'll share photos of our Handmade Boutique additions:

 These beautiful Handmade Valentine's were made by mom!

I have some more of mom's gorgeous Victorian Valentine's Day Tussy Mussy's to photograph and list today.

In other news, I'm coping with some mild withdrawals again but it's nothing I can't tolerate and I know it'll pass.  I need to get off some more of this Zoloft.  The side effects are getting to me.  I'll write about the side effects in a future post on Coping With Depression & Anxiety.

Crazy Quilting - Marie Antoinette Crazy Quilt Block #5 Completed!

It's been a snowy, icky day here.  I thought it best to stay inside and finish up stitching on Block #5 of my Marie Antoinette Crazy Quilt:

I am so pleased with how that fan worked out on the block!  Perfect for the center of this quilt!

If you're new to my blog, the Marie Antoinette themed Crazy Quilt will consist of 9 blocks, each are 9 inches square.  Here are the first 4:

I'll start on Block #6 in a few days.  For now, I feel like doing some simple old fashioned embroidery!

Crazy Quilting - Marie Antoinette Crazy Quilt Block #5 Continued

I thought I'd give you a quick progress report on my Crazy Quilt featuring Marie Antoinette.  I did quite a bit of stitching on this block yesterday and this morning:

I'm going to turn the computer off now and stitch the rest of the day.  I have left over homemade soup and bread for dinner.  And I might make Scott heat it all up!!!

Shabby Chic Boutique - Valentine's and Sachets

I thought I'd share the newest additions to our Shabby Chic Boutique.  As seen in Shabby Lane Shops New Year Romance magazine:

Mom's beautiful Victorian Tussy Mussy's for Valentine's Day:

And here are my latest additions!  Bonnet Girls Fragrance Sachets:

Made with little paper faces, antique hand dyed lace, vintage millenary flowers and potpourri.  My home smelled wonderful when I was making these!

I'll have an update on my Marie Antoinette Crazy Quilt shortly.  I'm waiting for the camera battery to charge.

Crazy Quilting - Marie Antoinette Crazy Quilt Block #5

Well, now that the holidays are behind us and our Shabby Chic Boutique is at it's new location, I was finally able to get back to my Marie Antoinette Crazy Quilt.  This is Block #5 before I started stitching on it:

And here it is with some Embroidery and trims:

I found that little fan at a Flea Market over the summer.  It's a real fan that opens and closes!  I've been saving it for the center block of this Crazy Quilt.

I sewed it down which was a challenge but where there's a will, there's a way! I just made some soup and some bread so now I can stitch the rest of the evening!

Simply CQ Blog

If you love Crazy Quilting like I do, you'll want to visit Simply CQ blog!  Hosted by Debbie of Mosaic Magpie blog, Simply CQ is dedicated to the art of Crazyquilting.

Here you will find projects, tutorials, links and conversation with other lovely ladies who enjoy this Victorian Art.

Please hop over and click the follow button!  There will be surprises along the way as well!

Our HANDMADE SHABBY CHIC BOUTIQUE is now open!

I'm pleased to announce that our new Handmade Shabby Chic Boutique is now open for business!

It was a lot of work but it's so nice to have my own domain.  There is no membership, no sign up, no login here!  Customers can place orders without any extra fuss.

You might want to make yourself a pot of tea and then sit back, relax and enjoy paging through our Shabby Chic Boutique catalog.

I've added all sorts of new things.  Some nice Baby products and some pretty Valentine's Day decorations.  And there will be more for Valentine's Day items soon!

Here are few of our new products:

So that's my exciting news for today!  Now that I have the new Boutique all set, I can get back to stitching, sewing and gluing.  I'm really eager to start on Block #5 of my Marie Antoinette quilt. 

Enjoy everyone!

The New Kitty & Me Designs E Commerce Website - Almost Ready!

Whew!  This has been a lot of work!  But wait until you see our new Shabby Chic Boutique shopping site!  It's gorgeous!  Very neat and organized and there will be no sign up, no login,  no membership!  Customers can just order what they want without any hassle whatsoever!  I'm really getting excited about this!

Here's a little sneak peek of a few of our new handmade products:

I have to pretty up the main page a little more and do some of the technical stuff and I hope to have the site ready for the new URL announcement tomorrow!

Update On New Kitty & Me Designs ECommerce Website

Another quick update for today.  I accomplished a lot on the new website yesterday.  It took me awhile to figure out it but once I did, I was able to move 2 pages of my products over to the new site.  It's a very slow, tedious process!  Copy, Paste, Copy, Paste, Copy, Paste.  Only 7 pages to go!

I think this will be really nice when I have it all done.  It looks more professional than Etsy and I have a lot more options.  It's just time consuming.

I have a lot of new things to add to the new shop.  Mom & I have already been working on some gorgeous new Valentine's and I have my new Baby Pillows to add but I'll do that last once I have everything from Etsy moved over.

I'll keep ya'll posted!

News from Kitty & Me Designs

Just a quickie for today ladies.  I've decided to move my shop to it's own website.  I've already purchased the site and starting setting up the information but I'm having a terrible time figuring it out.  I keep going in circles!

Anyway, as soon as I have it ready, I will post again.  In meantime, my products are still available at my Shabby Chic Boutique on Etsy.

Embroidered Shabby Chic Pillows

During the month of the December, Mom & I decided to keep our crafting simple.  We pulled out my boxes of Vintage Iron-On Embroidery Transfer Patterns.  We traced a bunch of things so we had some easy projects to Stitch on during the holiday chaos activities.  We both completed a few projects:

First is mom's Shabby Chic Candlewick Pillow:

And then Mom made this lovely Blue Floral Door Knob Hanger:

I've been stitching on some Baby Pillows.  Here is my Pink Baby Door Hanger:

All are available in my Shabby Chic Boutique at Etsy.

I have more Baby Pillows that I'll share tomorrow.  The camera battery needs to be charged!

I spent my morning working on some Valentine's Day Decorations.  I'll have photos of those soon! 

In other news, as per my Dr.'s consent, I started to decrease my dosage of Zoloft again.  I'm alternating 50 milligrams one day and then 37 1/2 milligrams the next day.  I have to go back & forth on that to help keep the withdrawals down to a tolerable level.

The side effects of the Zoloft have gotten bad again.  Screwy weirdo dreams all night long, horrible sweating and back pain that is indescribable!  I'm hoping to notice some improvements in the next few weeks.

Well, I'll be back tomorrow with more of my Embroidered Cottage Style Baby Pillows!

Needle Felted Polar Bear

I've been wanting to share this gorgeous Hand Needle-felted Polar Bear with you for awhile now.  This beautiful Felt Polar Bear was made by Kathi for a Custom Order:

The limbs are not sewn on.  The entire bear is felted as one piece!  Kathi is very good with 3 dimensional needle felting.  He measures 10 1/2 inches long by 5 1/2 inches high.  Kathi made 2 crocheted scarfs for him as well.  This Polar Bear is a gorgeous piece!

Kathi also made the Needle Felted Snowman in photo #3.  They too are absolutely adorable!  There are several available for purchase in my Shabby Chic Boutique on Etsy.

Shabby Lane Shops Magazine - New Year, Romance Issue

You might enjoy picking up a copy of the latest Shabby Lane Shops Magazine - New Year, Romance Issue.

This Valentine magazine is loaded with wonderful Recipes, Do It Yourself Projects, Short Stories and Featured Articles by Shabby Lane Shops members.  I have an article in this issue along with a fun tutorial!

This magazine is available in over 300 newsstands including select Barnes & Noble Stores.  You can also order directly from Shabby Lane Shops website.  Lovely ideas for the Shabby Chic and Cottage Style Home.

Please visit my Shabby Chic Boutique at Etsy

It Ain't All About The Cookin' by Paula Deen - BOOK REVIEW

I always gravitate towards non-fiction. I prefer biographies, auto biographies and how-to books to drama and fantasy.  I have ADD!  There's plenty of drama and fantasy in my life!


Paula Deen is one of the most charming television personalities on Food Network. Her down home southern charm compliments her old-fashioned, southern cooking quite nicely.

I recently read this wonderful book and I thought my readers would enjoy hearing about it and perhaps reading it themselves.

Paula, did not always live the charmed life that she does now. Although she started out with wonderful, loving, parents and family, her strong family roots didn't keep her from making mistakes along the way. We're all human, right?

Paula struggled with Depression, Panic Attacks and Agoraphobia. Unless someone has experienced these debilitating Disorders, they have no clue what it does to the physical, mental and emotional being and the spiritual being. Yet, without this experience, Paula may never have risen to the "Queen Of Butter" that she is now. After reading this wonderful, well written memoir, I truly believe that what doesn't kill us, only makes us stronger!

It Ain't All About The Cookin' by Paula Deen is one of the best auto biographies I've read in years! Paula has a wonderful sense of humor and her writing is quite the reflection of her speaking!  Meaning, she writes just like she talks!  Fun!

I have loved Paula Deen since I first saw her on Food Network years ago!  She's down to earth, kind, giving and thoughtful.  If you suffer from depression, you might find it helpful to know that many celebrities suffer with it as well.  If you love to cook and bake or if you're thinking about starting your own restaurant business, you'll definitely want to read this book!  Paula also includes some of her best loved recipes!

If you do suffer from depression, anxiety or panic disorder, you might like to read my articles on Coping With Depression.