Lovely long weekend

What a long weekend, lots of things were accomplished and I'm feeling pretty good! Friday was the day to bake for my brother-in-laws party at his store, which by the way was a great success. My lovely hubby was such a great help being my assistant, I couldn't have done it without him, sweetheart you're the best.It wasn't all baking, I put together another little pillow and I made a load more aromatherapy sachets after an excited phone call from my daughter who was participating in a craft fair on Saturday. My little sachets were a great success and sold like hotcakes, how great is that. So now I have made them in some lovely scents, Lily of the Valley, Lilac, Gardenia, Honeysuckle and Jasmine to name a few. Once again my home smells so wonderful and I am so relaxed and very mellow. I hope I will be as successful with these little sachets at the next two upcoming craft fairs.Here is another lovely pic of my brother-in-laws store decorations, I wish I could have him come over here and do the decorating for me, our living room looks like a truck ran through it, there are Christmas boxes and decorations everywhere, as soon as it is all done I will post some pics.

Have a great Monday everyone!

An award, a tag and a storybook pillow

I had fun today, lots and lots of fun! Many years ago when our daughter was a little girl, I used to make her applique pillows, I think she still has some of them tucked away somewhere. Today I decided to make some more children's applique pillows for my Etsy shop, the theme of this little pillow came to me last night when I had trouble sleeping. I imagined little mushroom houses dotting the countryside, I may be the craft person in our family but our mother was the story teller, oh how I wish she were still with us, she would have made up such a wonderful story about this little pillow that children would have been spellbound, just like we were. But alas the story will have to wait until this little pillow goes to a new home, maybe one with a story teller with a wonderful imagination just like my mothers. Now on to my award and my tag:
Tess over at Driftwood gave me an award this week, thank you Tess, along with the award came these wonderful questions, now you can find out even more about me...if you dare!

7 Things to do before I die

Refuse to eat a piece of chocolate (that will never happen)
Learn how to crochet
Visit China
Finish all the projects that I have started ( I think there is more of a chance that I would refuse chocolate)
Write a book
Swim with dolphins
Hug a panda
Visit again, the place where I was born

7 things I do now

Eat to much chocolate
Drink to much tea
Start to many projects
Don't say "no" enough
Take baths that are way to hot!
Put other peoples feelings before my own ( got to work on that one)
Spend to much on Etsy


7 things I can't do

Swim
Crochet
Drive a stick shift car
Cartwheel
Draw anything
Leave the house without make-up
Give up chocolate!



7 things that I find attractive in the opposite sex

Being manly and sweet at the same time
Calling home just to say they miss you
Always making me feel that everything will be OK no matter what
Being able to figure any mechanical problem out
Getting teary eyed at a good movie
Being able to parallel park
Making the best cup of tea in the world


7 things I say most often

Make me a cup of tea
Do we have any chocolate
Do we have any more chocolate
That was your chocolate
Love you too!
Are you doing anything right now?
Can you come here a minute

7 celebrities that I admire

I'm not really a celebrity person but here goes

Maya Angelou
Kevin Spacey
Audry Hepburn
Meryl Streep
Robert Redford
Ina Garten
Duchess of Kent

7 favourite foods

Well I'd like to say chocolate but you all know that already...
Bread pudding
Brussel Sprouts(weird, huh?)
Roast potatoes
Strawberries
Fresh peas
Pomegranates
Potato salad

7 people to join in the fun..

Whoever wants to, I think you've all been a little tagged out, so join in if you wish.

Phew, this is a long post, finally I want to wish everybody a lovely Thanksgiving, have safe trips if you are traveling, and enjoy the wonderful day with your family.

See you all next week!

Romantic and smelly!

I wish you could all smell my house right now, it is simply wonderful! I have been incredibly busy all weekend long making things for a few craft fairs that my daughter is once again participating in. For some reason I have been feeling soft and romantic so I decided to make some pillows complete with their own wonderfully smelling removable potpourri sachets. This one smells of Magnolia and it is just divine. I even used some of my lovely vintage lace that I found a while ago in an antique shop.Then I decided to make some Lavender Sachets, it took most of the afternoon to make them and I have to say that I was wonderfully relaxed after smelling all that lavender. I think in time I may make more and add them to my little Etsy shop, just for a change of pace and to add more variety. I have so enjoyed making these, it as a nice change to make something that doesn't have arms or legs!It wasn't all sewing this weekend, believe it or not I did leave the house for a while to run errands and stop by my brother-in-laws shop, here is another one of his beautiful Christmas decorations. I don't imagine it was to easy getting that large wreath onto the ceiling above this wonderful chandelier, but it sure does work, doesn't it? I hope you can get some decorating ideas from these pics, he really is very talented when it comes to Christmas decorating.

Now for a couple of thank-you's, first to Tess over at Driftwood for a lovely tag, I promise I will get to it this week, that was so very sweet.

Next I can't end this post without thanking my wonderfully talented daughter for updating my blog header and my Etsy shop header. Now I am all Christmassy looking and I just love it! She has been busy updating her own blog and has some neat ideas on there so pop on over and take a look and say "Howdy!"

Hope you all have a great start to your week.

Beasley's new clothes!

Now that Beasley is properly attired and not feeling quite so self conscious he would formally like to say hello!
Beasley and I are going to take a long weekend to catch up on some much needed house cleaning and errands, so we will see you all next week.

Beasley!

Beasley hoping soon that I will start to get motivated and make him some new clothes! He is quite a big boy and would like everyone to know that he is 1 foot 4 1/2 inches!Just when I thought I had seen the last of my roses this year this little yellow one popped out, even through all the wind, rain and chilly temperatures. My husband bought it in to me...what a guy!My mother-in-law had a bit of a clean out this weekend and I was lucky enough to be the recipient of these wonderful tablecloths. She brought them back from Germany many years ago and never got around to embroidering them, I hope I can find the time to do them as I think they will be beautiful when finished.There was even a roll of iron transfers in with them, I think there is enough to make a border around a pretty good size tablecloth, I am feeling so lucky lately with all the wonderful goodies that are coming my way!Anyone want an apple??? I wish this was mine but it isn't, it is another one of the decorations in my brother-in-laws store, I just think it is so wonderful, I would love to have a bunch of them in a very large basket sitting on floor by the fireplace, maybe if I bug him enough he just might let me have them....not!

Hope you are enjoying your day.

A very productive weekend!

What a great weekend it was, I managed to get lots done and I am feeling quite proud of myself...even if I do say so! I made not one, but two pair of slippers, first I made a little pretty pair, then.......I made what I affectionately call my old comfortable granny bootees from my lovely warm piece of boiled wool fabric. I have to admit that they don't look very feminine, but once your tootsies are tucked inside, well, its like a hot flash on your feet!Next I made a Christmas pillow, still not sure if I will keep it or put it in my little Etsy shop, I have been thinking of some different things to make for my shop, I think a variety of things is probably a good idea.This is a wonderful find on Etsy, these lovely little hearts cut out from damaged quilts, they were so reasonably priced and I can think of a lot of ideas on how to use them, so I am sure you will see them pop up from time to time on projects.We stopped by my brother-in-laws antique store to wish him a Happy Birthday on Saturday, and he already has his store decorated so beautifully for Christmas, I will share more pics as time goes on, just to put you all in the Christmas Spirit.

Well time for dinner and my granny bootees, have a lovely Monday all!

Rain, rain and more rain....

Well it is that time of year again in Western Washington when the salmon swim in the streets, thank goodness that the flooding does not affect us, although my heart goes out to all those that are in the thick of it right now. The only problem that we have is a very soggy garden and an overflowing pond, so I consider us very lucky.Finally after having a month long wait my Birthday gift finally arrived from my little sis in England, it was worth the wait, she sent me a lovely knitting book and a bunch of beautiful yarn, I sure wish it wouldn't take stuff so long to get here from the UK though!Here are a few pics from inside the book......I just love the legs on this little horse.......and these little sea creatures are just so adorable, what a lucky girl I am.A while ago I was given this lovely piece of wool fabric, well of course you guessed it, yes I boiled it and now I have a wonderful thick soft piece of boiled wool. Today while browsing around the Internet I came across these wonderful handmade slippers on the Martha Stewart website, so I am going to give them a whirl and see if my lovely fabric will give me a great new pair of boiled wool slippers to keep my tootsies warm!

My new car!

My husband is a very funny man, this weekend he went to the Seattle Auto Show, where he proudly told me that he took a pic of my next new car....oh yeah he's real funny!
Well as promised here is the inside of the new books that I purchased recently,They really are very nice books.....while there is nothing spectacular or new, I am enjoying them immensely......I think these little coasters are very sweet.This book shows about how French homes are decorated......although there are a few sewing projects.I love all the wonderful fabric's, I could spend a fortune if I ever made a visit.
So there you go, I hope you enjoy them, and I hope you enjoy your day!

Rainbows and Baking

It was a drizzly dreary grey weekend, and I really didn't feel like doing much of anything, and then this appeared and suddenly it didn't seen quite so dreary anymore.
So off I went to the kitchen and did some baking, I decided to make a family favorite, Apricot White Chocolate Almond Biscotti. I believe the recipe came from my sister-in-law and we have enjoyed it for years. It is a bit of a long winded recipe but here it is if you would like to try it.Ingredients

2 3/4 cups sifted all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
3 1/2 ounces imported white chocolate (such as Lindt) cut into pieces, I often use white chocolate chips
1 2/3 cups whole almonds, toasted
2 large eggs
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon apricot flavored brandy
2 teaspoons almond extract
1-6 ounce package of dried apricots, dicedLine an 18x12x1 inch cookie sheet with foil, butter and flour foil.Combine the first 6 ingredients in a food processor, process until a fine meal forms.Next add the chocolate or the chocolate chips and process til finely chopped Then add the toasted almonds and chop coarsely..Beat eggs, brandy and extract in a large bowl. Add flour mixture and apricots and mix til a moist dough forms.Divide dough into three 2 inch wide strips, refrigerate the dough for thirty minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake dough for about 30 minutes or til golden brown. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees. Cut logs crosswise into 3/4 inch wide slices and place on a cookie sheet, bake ten minutes, turn biscotti over and bake ten minutes more. Allow to cool, then biscotti can be stored in an airtight container for up to two weeks, Phew! I told you it was a bit long...hope you enjoy.

Finally apologies for those of you that wanted to see inside my new books, because today's post was quite long I will post pics of the books tomorrow...hope I am forgiven!

Paulina

...and the troupe trickles in....
Some lovely soft fabric I ordered came a few days ago and my fingers have been itching to get started in on it, I have shown great restraint though and not touched one square inch of it until I have finished a couple of other projects that I am working on, now if it had been chocolate that had come you would be staring at a photo of an empty candy wrapper right now!It has been a pretty good week for getting stuff, these two lovely books also came in the mail, I will be having a look at them this weekend, apparently our weather is going to be foul so it definitely is a stay indoor weekend. I am really started to feel very spoiled, as if the fabric and the books weren't enough I also won a wonderful door prize! This wonderful little pincushion so lovingly made by Jen at Jen Maruska Design was also in my mailbox today, I am just thrilled, my old pincushion was really starting to look a little ratty so now it's time to retire it and use this lovely new one, thank you Jen, it is much appreciated.

Well that's it. I am outta here, see you all next week!

Ingrid

Ingrid patiently waiting for the rest of the ballet troupe to arrive so they can start practicing The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.