Merry Christmas 2014

Dear Friends and Family,
From our home to yours,,,
Merry Christmas and may your 2015 be filled with Love and Joy...

Baking Day...2014

Spending the afternoon with a kitchen/baking challenged husband,, is certainly quit the task!..
Gary loves most anything that comes from the kitchen, soups, casseroles, bread, cookies, even Jello!

That being said, he really wanted to try his hand at cookie baking...
Oh Dear, this could be interesting... HoHoHo!
Thank goodness for easy peasy slice -n- bake cookie dough.... lol!

and yes,,, he did wear the apron the entire time... lol!
So, he sliced, he mixed, he cookie cutter cut and manage to put his own spin on baking...

We managed to bake 4 types of cookies, a ginger bread loaf and I managed to get 7 cookie gift tins packaged up before Gary could start sampling all the cookies...

All in all, we had a fun time in the kitchen,,,, after 42 years of marriage, who knew! lol!
Merry Christmas from our Kitchen to  yours.


 

Finger-less Gloves...

Oh lookie lookie what I received from a dear friend...

 how cute are these...

I have been wearing them the past few days,,, Luv 'em.
And... she sent me the pattern/instructions,,  now I just need to learn how to knit! lol!

Hello December....2014....

Ok, since I am at the computer, and the weather is looking pretty ominous outside, I have 3 or 4 options,,, sit in front of the 'Idiot Box' (T.V.),  Nope!
Catch up on some reading... I can do that later...
Go back into my messy sewing room and work on some more UFO's...
or...
Catch up on my Blog.... so here I sit... lol!

 Getting into the Holiday Mood... yep, got my red tree and my pink tree up first!

 did a little wool scrap crafting.... a wool & burlap pin for my coat.

 a easy peasy pot holder.. front side...

 and backside....

 discovered 'Stack' stackable-ready to open, single servings of Pinot Grigio wine...

 how clever is that! pop one off, unpeel the lid and Voila' you have an instant glass of wine in a self serve plastic wine glass with out opening a whole bottle.....

 I applied these 'Jambeery', nail wraps... fun orange and pink plaid... Luv Plaid!

listening to some wonderful old Holiday albums,,, yes, the old 33's... on our old Stereo...

 Finished up some projects, this sweet 'Winter' themed Banner and fabric gift tags..

and this sweet machine stitched embroidery is one that I just finished. It's from a collection of Embroidery designs from Bernia.
It was suppose to be a 24x24 inch deco pillow, but then I decided I have way to many pillows, so in stead I turned it into a Table Topper...

Last August, I bought 2 of these sweet kits, one for me and one for a dear (former) neighbor...
It uses 'Moda' fabric... What a great easy peasy, lazy day project.

Well the sun just poked it's head out from behind the clouds, so I am dashing outside to enjoy... we are due in another Winter storm tonight, so I don't want to miss out on even the slightest bit of sunshine... TaTa for Now!

December,,, Already?

Where did November go?
Oh My Stars! I have some catching up to do!
Where do I begin?

Started on some quilting projects...

Learned a new Holiday Libation recipe... HoHoHo!

Did some Junktiquing.... found this cool vtg. file cabinet.

re-purposed some old cashmere sweaters into neck scarves...

And that catches me up to Dec 1st..... hahaha... I mean, HoHoHo!

November 2014...

Well just a few 'this & that' to finish up November...

 Gary up a tree.... last pruning for the season...

 me transplanting some lavender... 

getting ready to go out to dinner with my Sweetheart...
Other then that, it's pretty quiet around here... in fact it rained most the day yesterday which gave me an excuse to play in my craft room.... after all, I have a lot of Christmas gifts to get working on...
Have a Happy November...

Happy 42nd....

Well my High School Sweetheart and I celebrated our 42nd  wedding anniversary...
Oh wowzers! where did the years go???

November 2014...

June 2071  "Disneyland Grad Nite"

Yep, we have not changed a bit!!! well maybe a tiny bit... but... he will always be my High School Sweetheart!

Lace and Spray Paint...

I bought a 'G' and "B" letters cut from wood.... sprayed a layer of primer and the a layer of white...
Then I layed a piece of old curtain lace over the letters, and sprayed a layer of black.. and Voila!

Pretty Kool, don't ya think? And I can still use the lace for other paint projects.
I sprayed a light layer of clear sealer just to protect the paint..
Now to figure out what to use for decoration,,, I am toying with using some old earrings to glue on for that little bit of Bling!

Cashmere Scarves.... aka 'Rags-2-Riches'...

I have been a bit busy in my Sewing room this weekend...
I love Cashmere sweaters,,, and have been collecting them from Thrift shops.. so I can re-purpose them... I look for sad, worn, moth bitten, stained ones that sell for a few dollars and then I wash and dry them and then I take my scissors to them...

 measure,, cut,,,

 and then off to my sewing machine...

 snuggly warm...

 this was my Saturday's work...

 can you see the bling?

Oh my! they are multiplying!

I add a little bit of bling to each scarf..
Thank goodness Christmas is coming up!  heeheehee!

Rainy Saturday

Today is one of those days, where I should be in my sewing studio (you know, the room where it looks like an explosion occurred!)... and do some organizing,,, I have so many UFO's (un-finished objects-projects)... that I should finish up or at least pack away with all the other UFO's..
Honestly, I do eventually get around to completing them,,, but today is not the day to do so! haha!

'Wool/Felt project. and 'YoYo' book marker.

Coffee Themed pillow case for a friend.

SO with this much needed rain, I am feeling a bit lazy,,,   

 in no hurry to get anything done,,, well except the breakfast dishes... and maybe have another cup of coffee...

YeeHaw! have a fabulous Saturday,,, I know I will!

Deer Crossing...

Coming home this evening, I had to pull over several times... to let the deer cross the road.
It's that time of year that they migrate to there winter spot.
Our small lakes are nearly dried up due to the 3 year drought... so the deer are coming onto our property in search of food as well as water. I have been keeping a bucket full of water out back,,, and I have noticed the deer are even eating the bird seed out of the flat feeders... not to mention what is left of my roses and almond trees. Oh well.... I don't mind sharing...

 This last little guy has deformed, or possibly a leg that was damaged and healed crocket. But he seems to not let him bother him,,, He has been around our road for several days...

Field Trips...

Who says you are to old to go on field trips!?!
I belong to a ladies Auxiliary in my community, here in the mountains... and we decided it would be fun to do something other then just a monthly meeting and coffee... so.. we took a field trip out to a Pomegranate farm in the next town over.

 A family owned and operated Orchard, with Almonds, Pomegranates, apples and grapes...

 and best of all, all organic... this pomme and 4 apples cost me $2 and the apples weighed in at 1lbs.

 as you can see, a whopping 5 1/2 inches... I see lots of yummy pomme seeds waiting for me.

and yes they press and sell their pomme and apple juice....
Bottoms-Up!
Support your local Farmers. I do.

Tea Time...

Oh My Stars!! I have discovered my newest favorite Tea....

I had errands to run on Monday,,, you know the ones... Post Office, Bank, Ceramic Studio, Tea Shop and lastly, the Market... Well what I did not realize was... it was Columbus Day,, and the P.O., Bank, Ceramic and Tea shops were closed ..  NOOOO! I was super twitterpaited!

So all I could get done was the Marketing...
Well I decided I needed a special treat to make the day not a total wash!
And this was my treat! A flavor of Tea,,( yes I must have close to 50 types of teas at home)... new to me, but this one sounded intriguing and so I placed it into my shopping cart along with the other items.
I got home later in the day as I had to get dinner started, so I didn't make myself any tea... I usually pour tea around 2p.m., as that is when I stop, catch my breath and reflect moment.... quit soothing and makes me take time for myself, to day dream...
Well, I finally made myself a cup on tea on Tuesday, and OMGeepers! this tea is just what I needed...
It is a blend of White tea, lime & cucumber peels.. so very smooth and refreshing. The smell is lovely and light.

If you like cucumbers and or limes in your water,,, you will love this tea!
And now to go finish my tea... after all, it's 5min. to 2p.m.  I am ready to go Day Dream!

Someone Gives a Hoot!

Awww, one of my dear friends does give a hoot! well, sort of, lol! ,, she made me a sweet Hoot Owl doily.

 Is this cute or what!!??!?

it's a mix of linen, cotton and wool,,, embellished with buttons and a rhinestone leaf.
I love it!
Thank you Andrea... I truly do love it.

Re-purposed Jeans..

At a recent outing in Ventura, there was a wee 'Craft Fair' by the beach... as I meandered through the various artists booths I spotted this delightful gentleman,,,

and what I really liked about his booth is that he re-purposes old clothing, mostly jeans... and this 'cowboy' style hat is one of the many things he makes from jeans..
'Sew very cute!  on the sides of the hat are the jean's pockets, perfect for tucking away business cards, stick of gum, or what ever... I should have bought one... but as always... I spend more time chatting with the vendors than buying,,, well sort of! lol!