Gifts From A Friend

My wonderful friend Rose came to my home Tuesday bearing gifts.  She is one talented lady I tell ya :-)  I let her borrow my A Primitive Place magazine and Mercantile Gatherings magazine when they come in and she makes me these awesome gifts.

First, is this adorable yummy smelling wax bunny...  I nestled him in with some eggs I made a few years ago.

Then she gave me this cute tray of wonderful goodness.  She made the bunnies and tag out of salt dough.  Aren't they the cutest!!!!  Just in time for Easter :-)

We had such a good talk that I almost made her late for work.  I saw her boss a few minutes later at the post office so I know she got there on time. LOL.  Anyway, it was good to unload.  She always knows what to say :-)  Thanks Rose!

I got my quilt top sewn together.  My seams are pretty well matched up.  It looks fabulous!!! Next is basting it all together.  I seem to be having an issue, whenever I quilt, with my backing getting all scrunched up and skewed despite pinning and basting with thread.  I'm debating whether or not to try spray basting.  I'm looking for anyone who might be able to lend a suggestion.  I just don't want to mess it up :-/  I'm going to be machine quilting this.

Casey:  I'm not sure if I'm going to part with this one yet. ;-)  I'll let everyone know. lol

I thought for sure Steve was moving back in, but he didn't.  We have hit a stumbling block all of a sudden that I never thought was an issue in our 3 years.  Please pray for me so I have the wisdom to know what to do.  I really want for this to work, but this could be a deciding factor.

Have a great weekend!  I will be either working or teaching this weekend.  So yep my weekend is pretty well shot. lol 

Update and My Quilt

Well, my friends, it has been a tough last few days.  Steve and I didn't do much talking from Saturday until last night.  He needed some time to himself (finally he told me this last night) to decide what he really wanted and whether or not he thought we could make this work.  I, of course, was very impatient.  I always think the worst when I text him and he doesn't respond.  I know that's sooooo high schoolish. lol.  So, finally yesterday I texted him that I didn't think this separation thing was helping our communication problem at all and that I felt like I was bugging him by trying to contact him.  Either that or he was trying to avoid me.  I wasn't really sure, but told him I would TRY to cut back on contacting him.  YEAH we all know that I can't shut up or stick to not texting him.  Call it what you will. I call it insecurity. :-)  I mean what was he thinking, what was going on, who was he with, inquiring minds needed to know.  I trust Steve with all my heart, but you know how a mind can race and the thoughts that swirl.  FINALLY, he said we would "talk" last night.  Yes, this was through text message, but sometimes we can organize our thoughts better this way and say exactly what we feel.  We have decided that he will be coming back home so that we can work on this face to face.  There's no better way than to live and work on it each and every day.  We both have a lot of changes that need to be made which will be uncomfortable because they are outside of our comfort zones, but we think we can help each other.  So, my Stevie is coming home tonight!!!! We were both terribly unhappy being away from each other even for just a little over a week.  So, as my friend Kim says... Well, it's about time you two get back together... so let's crackin on some crafting!!!! LOL.  I LOVE all you guys for your honesty!!!!

So as not to disappoint, I've made some progress on my quilt...  Holey Moley!!!! this is another post in and of itself.  But I will give you the Reader's Digest Condensed version.  My mind not functioning at full capacity could not make any decision on what colors to blend with my blocks.  I wanted it to be "old looking".  So,  my Facebook friends kept getting updates and pictures and choices to help a poor girl out this past weekend. 

Finally, I made a decision with everyone's help and this is where we are now.  I know the turquoise jumps out at you doesn't it? It really is not that bright.

I decided on using solid brown blocks and not green, though a very good opinion was given that I should've used a brown with a tiny pattern on it.  OH WELL, there's always next time.  I only have the top three rows sewn because I can't read a ruler!!!! LOL.  Somehow someway I cut some of the brown 6 1/8" not 6 1/4"!!!! GRRRRRRR so I had to go back and tear out seams and restitch because my seams weren't lining up.  After I got that far I gave up for the evening and spent time with my son watch "Big Bang Theory".  I just LOVE that show, but I digress. Interesting note if you watch that show my daughter, who has Asperger's, has some of the same traits as Sheldon.  lol.  I hope to work on my quilt a little more today before Steve get's here.  I already did one of the things he asked me to do was to empty out another dresser drawer for him.  I was to go through and get rid of stuff I didn't wear or didn't fit.  I really did need to do that btw he just gave me the push to do it.  Maybe when he said he'd buy me some new clothes it made it more enticing. ;-)

Just a few more pics of the quilt.  Can you tell I LOVE pinwheels?  They go together so easy!!!!  I'm getting pretty good at them if I do say so myself. lol.

Have a great day!!! I hope to be back Thursday :-) with a good report.

Fat Friday Recipe on Sunday

On my word!!!! Have I ever told you how much I LOVE Pinterest!!!!! Well in case I haven't I do. LOL.  I have been "pinning" some really awesome looking recipes.  I'm trying to make a new recipe each week.  I get so tired of the same things over and over.  As I've said before, my recipes are not for those on a diet!!!!  I think I deserve these after the kind of week I've had.  Anyway, this is the newest recipe I've made...

Peanut Butter Rice Krispies Treats

I can't get a good picture of what it actually looks like inside so when you go look at the recipe you'll see how yummy they really are.

So HERE is the recipe. 

One thing I'm not good at is melting chocolate.  I can never do it right when I use a microwave.  It never melts.  It just clumps together and gets hot.  I don't know why other than I'm cursed. LOL.  So, when you make these the top is not suppose to look like mine in the top picture.  I just didn't care and just clumped the chocolate in there and spread it around.  Let me tell you it didn't effect the taste one bit. :-) 

I'm set for the rest of the week for my sweets.  Here I thought I was going to have to make cookies. LOL.

Self Discovery

This post is a not so normal post by me today.  This is a reality hit me in the face this past week, and so that you know my life is not perfect and I don't always just write about how good my life is going in an attempt to pull the wool over your eyes so to say.  We all have struggles and again I'm no exception.  I know you all think I'm just so sweet and nice (had you fooled lol).  I do have my own issues.  I am a very outspoken (no say it isn't so) lol and independent person.  I haven't always been, but here in the last few years it has gotten worse.  I tell people what is on my mind (bluntly I may add)  without thinking first sometimes.  It's very hard at times to switch from witch mode at work to sweet nice me.  Obviously, there are times that I must be mean and nasty to people (patients) at work.  I don't like to but sometimes it's necessary.  Long story short my mouth, mind, body, and soul decided to rear it's ugly head this past weekend. 

When it comes to a significant others most times I clam up in fear saying something to hurt them.  I just keep everything bottled up inside until one day the angry witch comes out to play.  Needless to say, if you noticed my sidebar before today you noticed that the picture of Steve and I was taken down.  Yes, my friends, I asked (ummm ok demanded he move out) over the weekend.  Bet you didn't know that while you read Monday's post. lol.  Neither Steve or I are very good at communicating.  He too bottles things up, but never gets angry or yells.  THAT my friends sometimes drives me crazy!  You know there are sometimes you just want to fight with someone because it'll make you feel better.  Well, our (OK my fight) got out of hand and I got so angry I just didn't know what to do.  So..... I thought by asking him to leave it would fix everything. WRONG!!!!!!!! It didn't.  It in fact got worse because I couldn't stand to watch him move his things out and I missed him terribly by Monday evening.  I couldn't believe what I had done to hurt my best friend.  (sigh) We were so happy together... how could one little fight cause me to throw it all away?  Friends I'm here to tell you I plead temporary insanity. :-/  We exchanged a few text messages in the days to follow and decided to go out to dinner to "air things out".  We decided we would then figure out where we stood.  Tuesday and Wednesday were very difficult, but it gave me time to think.  Think about what exactly was the issue.  It had nothing to do with what to throw in the trash or give to Goodwill or whether Steve was spending enough time with me.  YES, this was the argument that sent me over the cliff.  (shaking my head).  To be honest, this was just the straw that broke the camel's back.  The deeper issue was communication.  We had gotten too busy with work, kids, and other things to really talk and discuss things.  So, what do I do but turn to the internet to figure out how I was going to change and start communicating better with him.  I learned a lot.  For those who are my friend's on Facebook you have already seen my list of things to work on.  For the rest of you some of these may hit home with you too.  Now you'll see just how I got into the mess I was.

Communication lesson #1 for me. I need to listen better to the other person instead of thinking about what I'm going to say next to prove a point.

Communication lesson #2 for me. Accept criticism without getting defensive. :( ugghh so hard for me.

Communication lesson #3. I don't always have to be right. I need to compromise more.

Communication lesson #4. Tell people what I expect or want don't assume they already know. Not everyone thinks the same way as I do.

Communication lesson #5 for me. If I feel myself getting too emotionally charged during a conversation I need to leave and cool off. Don't say things out of anger to hurt the other person.

Communication lesson #6. Try to see the other person's point of view. Repeat to them what I'm hearing them say to be sure we're on the same page. Don't make it sound like I'm mimicking them though.

Anyway, the picture of us will be reappearing :-)  We have decided to live apart for awhile, but still see each other as much as we can.  The kid's are thrilled because they both like Steve and didn't understand why I would do such a thing.  Obviously you can't tell them everything, but I told them a few reasons why and they were bummed.  Moving on to last night dinner went really well.  We both discovered how much we missed being away from each other and promised to try harder.  We were stuck in a rut.  I didn't realize that until yesterday when I decided to do some things for me.  I painted my nails AND toenails.  I know you are saying sooooo lol.  I haven't done it in YEARS!!!!! I had one bottle that was completely dry. lol.  Then I dressed up and put make up on to go to dinner.  Again YEARS since I did that too.  I felt awesome last night when he saw me to pick me up and said I'd looked really nice.  He says I need to do this kind of stuff for myself because I was letting myself go by wearing sweatpants, t shirts, and work clothes all the time.  HE says I need to get "girlied up more often" and he's right.  We are going to make time for "us" without the kids and be more of a team and not individuals.  We had forgotten what made us so happy in the beginning and are trying to get that back.

Are you bored of my ramblings yet?!?!? lol I'm almost done.  Anyway, I know this picture is grainy, but my cell phone takes awful pictures.  But this is me all glamed up ready to go to dinner.  I didn't have a shiny forehead it was the flash lol.  I have long hair, but because it was so hot I had to pull it back. lol.  I just noticed my eyebrows look different to... huh lol  I figured if he decided we were through at least he could see what he was walking away from. lol

So anyway, we are back together (sorry for those of you who wanted the chance to steal him  ;-) lol  The kids and I are struggling with him not being here at night, but we will get through it.  All of this being said, I have examined in my life where I am going wrong with him.  I want to spend time with him but as he pointed out the crafting has gotten out of hand.  When he was home in the evening, I a lot of times, would go to the craft room and craft.  This was taking time away from him and the kids.  So, I have decided that after 5pm no crafting.  This of course will cut into the items that I make for the booth.  WHICH I may have to make some decisions on whether to close it down so that I have more time with my family.  I'm still on the fence with that right.  I will still make items, but they may just be available on the web only.  I'm not sure yet.  I'll let you all know as I decide.  Also no cell phones in the evening unless my kid's are somewhere and might need to get a hold of me.  This is just scratching the surface of things I need to work on.

OK, you made it through all that.  Here's something a little happier to show you.  I have picked the colors for my quilt and have gotten started.  These are only a few of the blocks.  Trust me they look awesome with that backing I picked out.  This will be all the blocks for today unless my son will mow the grass instead of me.  I still have a few hours til 5 :-)

I think I'm going to try a new recipe tonight, so I'll post about it this weekend.  Thanks for sticking with me for this post.  I sure do feel a lot better and different over the last few days and hope I can reflect it on my blog.

New Project

Well it's Monday once again.  We had a beautiful weekend here in Ohio.  I even got sun burned on Friday while I was at work.  Seriously, this is some strange weather.  I have no doubts that we will pay for all this sunshine in May when it snows. LOL.

I am off today and hope to get some accomplished.  I'm considering starting a new quilt.  I need to do some math figuring because the backing I want to use is only 1 yard.  I can't get any more because it was a thrift store find.  But what I should really do is finish up the project I'm in the middle of.

I keep seeing all these wonderful needle/pinkeeps that people are making with stitcheries.  So, you all know me I have to figure out how to make one. lol.  I would still like to know how to make one the drum looking ones.  Anyway, this originally was going to be a check book cover because I actually picked up a pattern at the thrift store to make one.  I pulled out the directions tried to figure them out and couldn't.  That could be because I didn't want to take the time to read carefully.  I know I needed elastic which I don't have so I changed my mind to a pinkeep. lol.

First, I got this really awesome FREE pattern (click on the words FREE pattern to get the chart) from Marly at Samplers and Santas.  She stitches the most beautiful samplers!!!  I substituted my own colors though.  Cute isn't it?

Anyway, I then went to my fabric stash to see what I had to blend with the colors.  The one on the right was a fat quarter and the beautiful teal/green was a scrap I got from the thrift store. 

Anyway, this is how far I've gotten.  It will fold in half like a checkbook cover.

And the inside...  I came up with this little pattern.

I am now down to how I want the area to store my needles and pins.  I've been playing with a few ideas.  I'm thinking a pocket so that when I get some of those really awesome small Victorian looking scissors I can slide those in the pocket.  OR a little pocket to store the floss I'm using for that particular stitchery.  OR just an area for storing pins and needles only.  See why it's not done yet ? :-)  lol.  I truly will use this when I take my projects with me.  I also think I'm going to add a little button or tie of some sorts to tie it closed so it won't open and things won't fall out.

I thought I'd show you the fabric I want to use on the back of the new quilt I want to start on. I've had this fabric hanging over my craft table ever since it was built.  I just think it's so cool.  In the picture you can't tell, but it looks like a stitched sampler close up.  Believe it or not the fabric I used in my other project would blend nicely with this backing!  Though obviously I don't have enough of both to do the entire quilt.  So I must look into my stash and see what else I might have. :-) I think I've found a couple, but I'm not real sure yet that the fabric I picked is what I want to blend.  I can see using reproduction civil war fabric patterns, but I don't have much that would blend.  So, back to the drawing board. lol.

Thanks for stopping by.  I'll talk to you soon :-)

Thrift Store Finds

As promised I'm back to show you my most recent thrift store finds.  I thought I may not be able to share today because we had a huge clap of thunder right in front of our home that knocked out my cable, internet, and phone.  YIIKKEESS!!!! NOOOOO!!!!!!  It even set off my neighbor's car alarm.   So I decided to give the cable guy a call and obviously we are back on track.  He told me it blew out the entire neighborhood. Shew!!! I have a lot of computer work I need to get done today.  So if you see things moving around on my blog it's me :-)  I'm also updating my selling blog a little too.  But I 'll share that in a minute.

Last week I got the urge to thrift shop.  When don't I right.  LOL I've been trying really hard not to go and just redo the things I already have.  Some of my signs I just painted were redo's :-)  But I hadn't been to the one I LOVE in Amish country for awhile and you all know what I buy there.  Yep, you guessed it fabric.  On an average I can get a yard for $2-$3  You can't beat that.

I also found some AWESOME cross stitch charts...

 

Then I went to the just regular old Goodwill.

I finally found some velvet!!!!  Woot Woot!!! Now I can make my velvet strawberries.  And of course vintage fabric.

So perfect for Spring!!!  I think I'm going to try coffee staining the birds a bit.  They are quite bright.  I think I want to try putting at least the nest and a bird in a jar.

 I saw a tutorial on Pinterest how to turn the broom into a prim broom.  And you all know my pewter infatuation!!!  I'm now buying it whenever I see it and if it is a duplicate I am reselling them.  This one has already gone onto a good home.

This gorgeous patina metal bucket!!! LOVE!!!!  Not sure if I will use it outside or inside.

I think I made out like a bandit!!!! LOL.

Now, as I said before I'm restructuring my selling blog.  I will be posting pictures of my booth when new items are added for my customers who shop there.  I will also be posting Web Exclusives on there too.  This means for those of you who can't shop the booth will now be able to buy goods only available on the web.  To my booth customers... you will be able to buy the web exclusives, but you need to make arrangements to pick them up at the booth or have them shipped to you.  So , with that being said I have posted both Spring booth pics and some Web Exclusives :-)

 Please click here to be taken to my other site.

Minor Changes

It's wonderful what a little sunshine and warmer temps will do for you.  I came home from my 24 hour shift and dug in cleaning, washing, dusting, and vacuuming.  I have the window in the kitchen open the thermostat turned off, and the front door open so I can see outside and wouldn't you know I saw a robin.  Oh and 2 candles burning and a new Air wick plug in scent upstairs.  lol.  Since I was dusting I figured I'd make a few minor changes to the decor. Nothing major just a little different.

Before:

   



 After:

Before:

After:

The peg rack is different lol OK the bench is too, but I didn't take a pic of that.

 Before:

After:

I read in the Home Tour Country Sampler edition this year not to be afraid to mix patterns. So.... lol

I looked and I don't have a before pic of this because I didn't take one because of the TV.  Steve has yet to make me a cabinet to go around the TV.  Anyway, I had some black mirrored sconces on before and changed them to tin.  Not sure I like it yet.  I'm thinking these need to go above my headboard.

I also had to do some damage control.  Someone who lives in my home that fixes and builds things sat down with a pair of scissors in his pocket and RRRIIIPPPP!!!!  Of course I'm not naming names, but I think we all know who it is ;-)

And to think most times I add patches for the primitive look. LOL  Alright now it's confession time.  My chair has probably been ripped for about a month or more and I am just now getting around to fixing it.  Call it lazy I just never fixed it til today. :-/ lol.

Well, friends union break is over.  I need to get back to cleaning.  Check back Thursday for my thrift store goodies I found recently.

Signs I'm Working On

Since I will be working tomorrow I figured I'd post today.  I've been busy these past few days here at the homestead.  I locked myself in the craft room and got to it.  I really needed to create some new one of a kinds.  I LOVE being able to have free reign doing each sign.  Most of the signs are still drying as we speak.  Later this week they will be available in my booth :-)  I want to make sure the stain has time to really dry.

So, here they are...  my  newest creations...

Didn't realize the glare was that bad.  The top one is mustard and red says Home Sweet Home.

The pineapple sign on the top is SOLD.

and one more...

Today is such a beautiful day that we finally took down the Christmas lights.  LOL yep we're rednecks.  I cleaned the outside of my windows, swept off the porch, cleaned up the trash in my flower beds.  I know that it'll snow a few more times before Spring, but I feel a bit better by doing it.

Have a great day everyone!

Fat Friday Recipe

Geez! I haven't posted a Fat Friday recipe in a long time.  I will warn you none of my recipes are low calorie or low fat. lol.  This one is no different.

I found this recipe on Pinterest of all places.  It sounded yummy and easy.  This is the original link to the recipe.  I had to deviate a little because both of my kids are picky eaters.  My daughter is very sensitive to hot or spicy things (possibly from the autism) so I had to leave out the chili powder.  So here is the recipe:

4 boneless skinless chicken breast (cut each breast into 3 pieces)
salt and pepper
garlic powder
chili powder (again I left it out but I'm sure would taste awesome)
brown sugar
1 package of bacon

Alright once you've cut up your chicken, season it to your taste with the above spices.  Next take a piece of raw bacon and wrap it in a spiral around a piece of chicken.  Put some brown sugar on a plate and roll the piece of chicken with bacon in the brown sugar and place in a greased baking dish.  I used non-stick spray in mine, but you could use olive oil too.   Now after eating mine I think that maybe adding some pineapple with it some how would be fantastic!  Anyway, preheat your oven to 400 degrees and bake for 30-40 minutes until chicken is thoroughly cooked and bacon is crisp.  My kids actually ate this and said it was good, but like I say it needed a little something else as it was kind of bland to me.

Now another Pinterest hint of the day:

Did you know you can bake bacon?  To be honest I didn't know that. lol Now I can bake my bacon while I'm making the rest of my breakfast without having yucky bacon grease splatter everywhere :-)  I put mine in with the chicken above at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

I've got the 5 new signs drying in the basement and will take pictures soon. :-)  I also made a haul at the thrift stores today, which I'll show you hopefully soon.  Have a great day!!!!

Here it is Thursday evening and I'm posting.  I thought I'd better get some things done or at least started to show you.  You'll remember in my last post I was excited to try something new.  Well, I haven't done it yet and it'll be on the back burner for awhile.  I have other priorities... like my booth. :-)  I am now pleased to announce I have 3 of my best friends now putting their beautiful work in my booth.  We are doing phenomenal!!!  Hence why my new project will have to wait.  I need to get caught back up with items for the booth.  I need to get myself busy creating new signs... we are almost completely out :-)  So, today I went digging in my garage for some signs Steve started, but didn't finish due to lack of time.  I also found some unpainted boards for some other ones.  After cleaning up my crafting table, from another project I started, (I'll show you that in a minute) I brought out the paints today and got busy.

The first picture are the ones Steve made.  I'm not sure I'm going to be able to salvage the Vintage Quilt one due to the sap coming out of the board.  Of course both of these need sanded and stained.  The Home Sweet Home is one of our newest stencils.

The red ones are freshly painted.  I have BIG plans for both of these :-)

This black odd shaped one was a trash find.   I'm not sure if I want this Americana or with a pineapple on it.  Guess we'll have to wait and see. lol.

Since I had a little fabric left over from my most recent aprons and bonnets I thought I'd put it to use.  I had to as it was sitting there calling my name.  Asking for me to use it because it was two of my most favorite color combo's.  Of course you know what that means, yes, I started a new quilt.  However, this quilt will also be put on the back burner for awhile.  You have to agree these fabrics would call out to you too lol...  I have to tell you these pinwheels were so easy to make!  I just kept going and kept going.  I have them all cut squared up and ready to use when I'm ready.  :-)  I think I might just have to make some other colors to go with them.

I also bagged up the spiced grubby eggs so that I can take them out to the booth tomorrow.  I was just out there today, and man we have been selling like crazy.  Hence the rush to make new items.  So be sure to check us out if you're in the area.  Our information is in the right column of my blog. :-)

I'm off for the next 3 days so I'm hoping to get a lot of crafting done.  I may need to have Steve cut some more boards for signs.  I have some awesome one of a kind ideas rolling around in this little brain of mine.  Well, I thought I'd post quick while my paint is drying.  I'll keep you posted as I finish things up. 

Monday and some For Sale Items

Hello everyone :-)  Here it is Monday already.  I don't have a lot to show you since I didn't get much crafting done.  I mainly worked with wax on Saturday.  Let me tell you I was getting frustrated with my wax.  I would make something and then decide I didn't like it throw it back in the wax.  So this is what I did do. :-)

Aren't they the cutest :-) ? They still need to be cinnamon dusted.  I have a total of 8 of these.  I'm willing to sell them in sets of 4 for $6.00 includes shipping.  You will get 2 of each type.  They are lightly scented with Country Berry Hotcakes.

Then I hand molded these eggs too.  The center is a plastic egg.  I have 20 of these and will sell them in sets of 4 for $6.00 shipping included.  These too are scented in Country Berry Hotcakes and will be cinnamon dusted or plain.  You tell me what you would like.

I also framed my fraktur bird painting.  It turned out awesome.  It is a OOAK and is behind glass with a black frame.  I will part with it for $15 includes shipping. 

I am also offering these two genuine pewter pieces for $12 for the set shipping included.

SOLD I'm also selling my blackwork piece I just picked up.  It is also under glass and has been professionally framed. I will let this go for $10 includes shipping.

Please email me if you are interested in anything above.  It will be first come first serve.  Paypal payment only. I got the supplies I needed over the weekend for my newest idea and will try to get to it this week.  I think I'm going to put up a tutorial on how to have a paint finish like this however...  Would you like to know how?  If there is enough interest I will.

I will talk to you towards the end of the week as today I have a date with the hair salon.  Then I have to work the next 2 days.  Have a great day :-)