Weather + Cuts + Colds

Wow, Sorry. I haven't posted in forever, but things here have been quite busy. The winter storm that we had here in December sucked. It caused a huge mess that we are still cleaning up. It started out as an ice storm, then snow and rain. The trees were not able to withstand the additional weight of the rain after about 3/4" of ice on them. We lost our power for 6 days, phone for 10, and just last week the phone company finally restrung the line (we had a little pink house line from the road, through the forest, up to the top pole). Lots of Oak trees took out those lines. We didn't get power back till the day after Christmas. At that point everyone was not in a very nice mood.


Mid January, I get a call from the school and am told that they got the bleeding to stop, but that I needed to come look at it. During PE kiddo got hit with the badminton racket, and, yes, stitches were involved (3 of them).


Then the colds hit. I have been continually sick for about 2 months. Stupid cold bugs. These are the kind that totally suck the life out of you. You have no energy. Take naps to try to get energy back. I am finally feeling almost normal. I have done no creative crafting whatsoever. That's how yucky I was feeling.

I now have lots of new ideas and now need to get to work on all of these after Spring Break.

Do Something Good Every Day

Let's take this as a sign from the Universe and try to make/do something good for someone else (or yourself) every day. Thank you Universe.

Okay, I got a few new listings up yesterday on ArtFire including the other set of Dragonflies in red.

Like Sparkle? or Dragonflies?

New listing on ArtFire today! Very pretty, sparkly dragonflies. These are so fun to wear and have the elusive (ever try to catch one) dragonflies hovering around your face! Check it out. I have another pair to list in RED too!

Free Shipping Offer

I am offering Free Shipping on purchase(s) from my Etsy shop, Miss Chic Boutique, from today (11/26/08) through Sunday 12/4/08.

So if there is something that you have been wanting -- get it now without having to pay for shipping!=)

Sharing Time

In the spirit of the upcoming season, I am sharing one of my favorite recipes with you. This recipe came from a newspaper insert about 20 years ago and I no longer have the original or have a clue who came up with it. I have adjusted it slightly to my tastes.



These little cheesecakes are perfect to take to any gathering as they are already 'ready-to-serve.' You can make them ahead and freeze them and pull out the morning of your event to chill out in the fridge. You can use Amaretto liquor instead of Kahlua (which I make my own by-the-way)!


Also, not all of my brood will not eat regular cheesecake, but they ALL eat these! Give em a try you may be surprised.

Green

On the way home from school yesterday conversation with my 6 YO dd:

"Mom, the colors are just beautiful right now," (talking about the trees)

"Yes, they are. Be sure to enjoy and take in the colors before they are gone."

"Mom, I know God's favorite color."

"You do? What is it?"

"Green. Everything is green. The trees the grass the plants. Green, Mom." (Said with the tone of: Duh, Mom, why haven't you thought of this too!)

How funny is that? You just never know what is going through their minds.

Halloween Sweet

These are the yummiest sugar cookies I have ever made. I have had this recipe from Wilton for well over 20 years and it is incredibly yummy. Did I say that twice? I make mine fairly thick and frost with a good layer of frosting. The cookie is so soft. The kids request these for Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween and Christmas.

Fall Colors

These are from last year, but I went to scan in this years leaves and they are the same leaves. I need to find a new neighborhood to go to! Anyways, love the colors.





These are really easy to create. Get the leaf, put it on your scanner, put bright white paper on top of it and scan it at a really high resolution - tada! You now have a nice scan of leaf that you can frame or use for scrapbooking, or whatever!

Surprises

Wow - I found out today I was included in a treasury on Etsy. Thank you Sedgeworks.

And . . . my hand beaded Horse Feather earrings were mentioned in Stacey Kimmel-Smith's blog today! Thank you Stacey!

Creating + Life + Family

So . . . I have not posted in awhile, but I have been incredibly busy getting kids on track in school, taking care of the garden and the bounty that came from that, creating things for Etsy as I was going along and for school auctions and just life in general.

Here is a picture of some of the bell peppers and tomatoes that I have dehydrated lately. Got tired of canning them. These dried veggies are so yummy in pasta salads, salads and dressings! Bell Peppers look alien, but the tomatoes are really pretty. The kids have been eating them faster than I can dry them as snacks as they are so sweet and become chewy.

I am getting ready to start working on some new earring designs and maybe try to finish up a couple of old crochet projects and get them listed. Oh yeah . . . and . . . waaaiiiit foooor iiiitttt . . . . the kids want me to make Halloween costumes!!!

Walk the Plank!

Ha! I no longer have to walk the plank - I finished the Captain Hook Sleeves from the Knit.1, Spring 2006 issue.





Here's some pictures of myself modeling the finished top!

Pictures are done now!

Birthday Present for my Mother.

I finished my mother's birthday present and got it off in the mail today! Hopefully she will get it before this weekend's over! It's okay to post as she does not have a computer!

Are these not the cutest little faces????

I got this great beading pattern from Mary Hipple (she's on Etsy: wolfdendezigns38 - http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5941559) Be sure to check her out, her designs are really wonderful (and she's great to work with too).



If you really like this set of earrings I currently have another set listed on Etsy:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=14592414

Tea Rose Halter Top

Okay - So I was gone for 2 1/2 weeks at my mother's following her knee replacement and I haven't posted since I have been back. I went into hiding!

She lives pretty much in a very rural area (aka . . boonies) and its a good drive into town to doctors or grocery stores. Needless to day, I did not get very much done on the things that I PLANNED ON FINISHING! Dang it all! I did get this done, however:

Tea Rose Halter Top by Wenlan Chia from Interweave Knits, Spring 2007

I also was able to get a lot of beadwork done and some designing of earring patterns too! So I have some new earrings that I have completed from Mary Hipples designs and a couple of my own design!

In the next 2 weeks (promise) I hope to have the bullion sleeve top done! (If it kills me) I will find the time to complete it as I want to wear it to my dh's parents 50th wedding anniversary towards the end of September.

Updating Info

My mother is having knee replacement surgery and I will be MIA for 2 or 3 weeks. I know, like I haven't already! I will post more pictures of finished works when I get back. So, no, I did not fall off the face of the planet!! (Not yet anyway!)

Another UFO, but it wasn't my fault!!???

Okay, okay, my fault - I made the sleeves to the captain hook shirt from the Spring 2006, knit.1 magazine (I know, okay -- 2 years ago) Gheesh, but could not find the "right" shirt to put it on. Dang it all. Really silly since the sleeves made up really quick and easily. Very pretty bullion stitch.






Then totally by a fluke a shirt that I bought in a stack of other regular shirts turned out to have the perfect length sleeves to attach these too. (It only took 2 years - so what??) I am in the process of pinning and getting ready to drag out the sewing machine and put them in their place once and for all. I also need to hunt down my ribbons to weave ribbon in the row around the elbow attachment when I finish sewing them down.






Maybe I can post a picture of the finished captain hook sleeves by Tuesday or Wednesday (of this year) haha. Joke - funny!