New Teacup and Saucer

I really wasn't looking for a new teacup and saucer.  I was actually looking for a teapot--the perfect teapot with fruit on it to be exact.  However while at a flea market a few weeks back and while looking for that teapot (which I never did find, by the way), my eye immediately noticed this beautiful teacup and saucer.  Isn't it pretty?  The price was right, and I bought it. 

It is "Tapestry Rose" by Paragon.  While I was checking it over for cracks and chips, the man thunked the edge of the teacup with his finger and it "rang".  He said that that is the way one checks for hidden cracks.  If it does not "ring" and instead "thuds" it has a crack or chip somewhere.  I didn't know that!  So not only did I have a pretty teacup and saucer, but I learned something new too.

A Blizzard is Coming

We really can't complain.  It IS the middle of December, and winter has to arrive sometime...and today and tonight and tomorrow is the time!  We're supposed to get up to 16".  Yikes!  It snowed a little yesterday, and it WAS pretty with big "snow globe" flakes falling coating the trees with a heavy coating of frosting snow. 

I did an Etsy treasury (thanks, Craft Cult for the widget below) to celebrate the snow coming.  Remember snow days?  Those were glorious days when school was cancelled.  There would be a dull sound outside...a muffling of all sound.  My brother and I would peak out behind the curtains to a heavy layer of snow...with perhaps more falling.  We'd listen to the radio and hear that school was cancelled.  Hooray! We got to sleep in...maybe have a hot breakfast...play outside.  No quizzes or tests that day.  What a great thing a snow day was for a kid!

Musical Themed Things

Guess I've had a song on my mind lately!  Finished these finally and have posted them to my shop. 

This one is a jewelry embellished ornament...complete with a shrink paper music score. 

Then, I just finished this music stand today.  It is made of felt and embroidered to look ornate.  This also has a shrink paper music score of "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee" on it.  I made the paper into a bead for stitching onto the music stand.  Hope you like these!

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name:  For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations." Psalm 100: 4-5 KJV

Giving thanks to God today for all of His blessings and most importantly for His salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ, my Redeemer (see very bottom of blog for this) for the peace in my heart regarding eternity.  I'm thankful for this country and the freedoms we still do have.  I'm thankful for my wonderful husband (thanks, Honey, for the beautiful flowers here!) and two children and the rest of my family. 

"Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation."  Psalm 68:19 KJV

 

Our Montana Sapphires Arrived

What a delight to go to the mailbox...and to realize....it's them!  They came!  Remember many posts ago my post about finding sapphires in Montana on our trip last June.  We had such a great time.  Well, we paid for and parted with our daughter's big beauty and four of our own pretties.  They were sent overseas to be heat treated and cut.  You sort of "never know" when you do such things for the first time.  Will they really do it?  Will we ever see them again?  Will they switch these raw sapphires for pieces of glass?  Well, thankfully we dealt with a trustworthy company, Gem Mountain, and they did indeed arrive.

What do you think?  Our daughter's is the gorgeous beauty in the middle (just shy of 1 ct. at 0.9 ct. for perspective).  We will have it put into a ring when she is older and can truly appreciate it.  The other four are mine--two round and two princess cut.  They all differ a bit in color, but I don't care!  I'm just thrilled that they turned out so well and that they are here.  What a great memory!  Now...it's up to my dear husband to design something with a jeweler for me with these. ; )

Thank you, Troops, Past and Present

Happy Veteran's Day to all of our vets! 

Just where would we be...what freedoms would we have...if it weren't for dear men and women who have given their time...and even their lives...for us.  We were at the big state veteran's parade in Milwaukee yesterday.  It was good to shake hands with some vets and thank them for their service.  We encouraged the kids to as well (especially our oldest).  They need to learn at a young age to respect and appreciate our military.  Today in church we honored the one veteran who attends as well.  How great to have a day to honor our military...an often overlooked and unappreciated group in our society.  Thank you for serving, dear Vets!
(Thank you, Graphicsfairy, for your picture)

Little Mitten Earrings

Just added these to my shop. 

They are little--1 inch or less in size--and are made of felt and pearly white glass beads. 

They are fun to make, and I can do custom colors if I have the materials to do so.  These could certainly be worn from now until the beginning of March around here--the snow can last that long.  Hope you like them!

Ordained

"For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God." Romans 13:1b 

The word "ordain" according to the Encarta College Dictionary means "to order or establish something formally...especially by another authority".  So many decisions were made yesterday on the local, state, and federal levels.  Some were good decisions, and others were very unwise...even wicked according to the Bible.  Oh, yes, the Bible.  Who cares about what the Bible says?  Many people obviously don't...but I do.  We can be puffed full of pride convinced that we've won victories because of what we somehow did or didn't do or down in the dumps mourning decisions that have been made.  BUT...thankfully we can rest in God's Word, the Bible, and know that no one is in any position in this entire country on any level without God's knowing it and allowing it.  I believe in God who is the highest authority in every situation and know that He allows things to happen in order to accomplish His purposes whatever they may be.  I'm thankful to serve a God who is above all and is in control of everything.  I'm so thankful for the above verse...it is comforting and empowering. 

Published? A Gasp Moment

I'm behind...I admit it.  I'm behind in mending, in sorting, in cleaning out things...and in reading all of my magazines.  I subscribe to Tea Time, Romantic Homes, Victoria, and Romantic Country...and I just love every one of them.  They are inspiring, beautiful, and a delight to read and look at.  Life happens, and I've just gotten behind in reading these. In receipt order from oldest on top to most recent on the bottom, they are in a nice neat stack on the corner of our bathtub.  I love to read them when I take a bath, and let's face it....it was an awful hot summer to be lingering in a hot bathtub reading these (but that's beside the fact).  Well, today....TODAY...I picked up my August 2012 issue of Romantic Homes and had a total **GASP** moment when I turned a page and saw this...

These are my vintage jewelry thumbtacks!  I was shocked...stunned.  I SO wish I had seen this months ago when it arrived in my mailbox.  But better late than never, and I'm very, very thankful for Jacqueline putting these in a beautiful picture in the magazine with a shout to my Etsy shop. 

What a blessing! The funny thing is that I had originally sent these to a previous address of Romantic Homes, and I was really disappointed when they were returned in the mail.  So, I did more homework and found their current address and sent these again.  I'm so glad I did!

Shabby, Chippy Pink Miniature Furniture

Aren't these adorable? 

I found them at an antique mall and just thought they were the cutest.  They have shabby chic charm.  I just got done reading an article (was it in Romantic Homes?) about a lady who collects vintage miniature furniture and has pieces around her home.  Anyway, they have been listed in my shop if you'd like to see them in more detail.

They have a lot of potential, and I can see them on a wreath or hanging on a door knob or just sitting on a bedside table. 

Vintage Jewelry Embellished Spoons (and a Fork!)

I admit to being inspired by a pin on Pinterest...and have gone with the idea.  I've embellished some very pretty spoons (both demitasse and regular) and even a fork with vintage jewelry bits.  They really look pretty just sitting there, but I've included thin satin ribbon on each so that they may be used as an ornament of some kind to hang somewhere in your house.  The ribbons aren't on these yet in this picture, but when I listed them in my Etsy shop I showed what they would look like with the ribbon on.  What do you think?  I really like them and have listed them all in my SHOP (including a pink one that isn't shown here).  I call them spoonfuls of sparkle!

Thank you, Lee!

I received my altered Altoid tin full of buttons--all with a fall theme--as part of the 2012 Fall in Love with Buttons Swap hosted by Laurie at Button Floozies. 

Lee was my partner, and she sent a beautifully embellished tin full of pretty fall themed buttons. 

I just love the porcelain one on the top and the large shell one inside not to mention the many others she included.  I'm delighted that she was able to find so many with a fall theme. 

Needless to say, I'm delighted!  Thank you, Lee!

Fall Button Swap

Here are pictures of what I made and gave to my partner, Lee, in the Button Floozies fall button swap.  I am assuming Lee has received her package by now, so I decided it was time to post.  We were supposed to decorate a standard-sized Altoid tin and include at least 40 buttons--all with a fall theme of some sort.

It was fun finding the buttons...and it certainly helped discovering a huge bin of buttons at a flea market last month to paw through.  I bought the pretty paper and owl sticker (couldn't resist the sparkle!) at Hobby Lobby and otherwise used bits and pieces of things that I had around the house.

I ended up putting over 50 buttons in the tin and tied the tin together just to make sure it didn't open in transit.  Hope Lee liked it.  Thank you, Laurie, for hostessing this.  It was a great deal of fun.

Pretty Mums

Despite some very cool mornings we've had lately, these mums are still alive and flourishing.  These are my favorite colors of mums...I love the rich berry color and deep pink.  They go well with the grays and berry reds of our house.  Most of my blooms have died out, and I know the season of pretty colors will come to an end shortly.  So...I will enjoy these while they last!

Cranberries, ICE Resin, and a Hike

It has certainly been a busy weekend.  It started early with us having Friday off, and we got going at a good time to go to the Cranberry Festival located a little over an hour north of us in Warrens, Wisconsin.  It is full of crafters, flea market booths, food, and, of course, cranberries in every way imaginable from a huge cranberry whoopie pie to cranberry and apple pie to celebrate the cranberry harvest.  Unfortunately I didn't bring our camera, or I'd show you a picture or two.  It was a beautiful fall day, and this little town of less than 400 was bursting at the seams with thousands of people.  We had a great time, and I found a few things at the flea market booths. (The cranberry apple pie was delicious, too!)

On Saturday Mom and I took an ICE Resin class at the local bead shop.  I had always wanted to "play" with resin but also wanted to know what I was doing and what sort of techniques were available.  We learned a great deal and had fun. I tried to do different things (in the time allotted) regarding what the teacher discussed.  I wasn't impressed with what the resin did to my little feathers, but it was worth trying just to know.  It's pretty amazing stuff, and I'll probably do some more in the future. 

After church on Sunday we did some hiking.  Again...no camera.  There is a state park that has a nice trail that goes back into a gorge.  It has a rippling brook, deep sides to the gorge...and the trees were luminous!  It was gorgeous and was a wonderful hike.  This picture is from a news site (click here for the CREDIT), and, no, this is not us...but this gives you an idea of how pretty it is. 
It was a busy weekend.  I'm glad we took advantage of the nice weather and got out and did things...while we still can since winter is around the corner. 

Wee Black Purse Necklace

Well, this little project is finally done!

It took me a while to finish, and, yes, I needed to pray a couple of times for extra help as there were some frustrating areas...but it is done and has been listed in my Etsy shop.

I embroidered some pink roses and buds on black felt (as well as some black beads for "fringe") and sewed it into a purse shape.

Tucked inside the purse is a little love note.  The purse is actually a pendant, and I thought it looked best on a gunmetal chain.  Enjoy...and happy weekend!

Pinterest Inspiration

Tobi at the The Pink Pixie Forest has encouraged us to write a post with what we've created as a result of a Pinterest inspiration...a "pin-spiration".  Pinterest offers a wealth of inspiration...and I really love looking around on there.  Well, here is a picture of the the pin I applied to one of my boards...

The link to it on my Pinterest board can be found HERE.  Then, the creation I made from it was this brooch made out of felt, embroidery thread and pretty rose beads.

 I just LOVE a round topped door...and climbing roses around it is the cherry on top.  This brooch was in my shop and has sold, but I have a white round-topped door with a pink flowered wreath on it in my shop (click HERE to see, if you'd like) and plans on making another "wooden" French door in the future...if only I had time!   

Enough Apples for Pie

Well, despite their tenderness of age and small size, our apple trees actually produced apples this year.  It's amazing how resilient trees and plants can be.  It was such a strange year...warm spring...then a real cold snap...then our very hot, dry summer.  This is not to mention the pests like caterpillers and ants that were a constant problem.  It's amazing we had any apples at all, but this year we actually had enough for one apple pie.  Last year I think we had only a few apples.  They were quite tart and looked sort of strange, but they made up wonderfully in a pie.  We had lost one tree over the last winter due to wind, and another looks poorly after a storm recently.  We're thankful for the healthy trees we DO have though and will always remember the dear people who gave them to us.  I put extra brown sugar in (the secret to a great apple pie instead of using white sugar) due to their tartness, and the pie was quite yummy.  Hooray for apples!

Stitching

I've been having a grand time stitching lately.  Unfortunately I can't stitch fast enough to keep up with the ideas that keep coming. 

Most of my stitching time is when we are driving somewhere.  Well, we've been driving around a lot less, and it is getting darker earlier now.  Anyway, I've been able to complete a few things.  They are made of felt, and I've embellished them with embroidery stitches, felt pieces, and beads.  I like how the beads add extra sparkle.  Here is an example of something recently finished and is listed in my Etsy shop. 

Prize Ribbon from Marian

Just a follow-up on the prize ribbon swap hosted by Creative Wings Boutique...my swap partner was Marian of Maid Marian Made.  This was the ribbon she made for me. 

Wow!  I love the colors and using the vintage gelatin mould was a great idea.  Thank you, Marian!

Fall Button Swap

Laurie at Button Floozies is hostessing a fall themed button swap.  Head on over for all the details!

Prize Ribbon Swap

I participated in the Creative Wings Boutique prize ribbon swap.  My swap partner was Marian of Maid Marian Made.  This is the prize ribbon that I made for Marian.  I tried to give it a shabby chic/Parisian look...with plenty of sparkle, of course, in the colors of ivory, light pink, and light blue. It's hard to make anything without sparkle! 

 

I have never made a prize ribbon before, so this was a new venture for me.  I wired the pink rhinestone brooch on with a loop on the back so that Marian may hang it up if she wishes.  Hope you like it! Also, thank you to Tabitha for being the hostess for this swap.

Simple Cream Scone Recipe

We had a ladies tea at our church today, and I made these yummy, simple scones for the event.  The recipe was in a book from a friend.  It is a simple recipe to make up, and the scones are best warm, right out of the oven.  They are good both with homemade strawberry jam AND lemon curd.   Enjoy!

2 cups flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
4 Tbsp. sugar
6 Tbsp. butter
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup cream, milk, or half and half

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.  With a pastry blender cut in butter.  In a separate bowl combine eggs and cream until well blended.  Stir cream mixture into dry ingredients until they are moistened.  Gently pat down dough on floured surface and cut out with flower cookie cutters.  Brush tops with cream and sprinkle on sugar.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes or until just browned. 

Slowly Progressing

It's amazing how some things can slow down so much and other things speed up at the same time.  Sales at my shop, flea markets and sales, working on projects....these have slowed down considerably lately.  Homeschooling, sorting, time...these have definitely sped up.  We started school last week.  My husband has next week off (and a busy one it will be!), so I wanted to get a jump start on the kids, work so that we didn't get behind.  That takes up a good deal of time.  My sales have slowed down considerably lately, no doubt because of the time of year.  I had purchased things over the summer but had not gone through everything, so I am taking the time while the kids work on school to sort, organize, and rearrange.  I HAVE worked on a few things like this pretty bottle but not on many.

I've been to only a few sales lately and have tried to go to some flea markets only to find out that they didn't really exist or something else came up unexpectedly so that I was not able to go.  As fall approaches I know that sales and flea markets will be coming to a close pretty soon.  Not looking forward to that! 
I have also been working on a swap--it is for a prize ribbon.  I was to create a prize ribbon in colors to my swap partner's liking.  I finished it yesterday and will be mailing it off today.  Pictures will be in another post once my partner receives her ribbon. 

Handmade Artists' Shop Selling Venue

Well, several years ago I was a member of Lollishops.  Remember that?  It was a very sweet and fun selling venue.  I met some wonderful people through it....sold some things.  Their advertising and networking ideas were great, and with co-op ads I was able to have my site link in a number of big magazines.  Unfortunately Lollishops closed after just a short time.  I've been selling through Etsy for quite awhile now, and it has gone well.  However, I thought I'd branch out a little and try another selling venue again just for a few of my things.  It had to be economical.  I love the idea of Make Mine Pink and Shabby Shops and others, but I just can't afford their monthly prices.  

Then I read about the Handmade Artists' Shop though an Etsy forum.  They don't take any fees other than $5 per month, and all the products on there have to be hand made.  I like the attitude of the owners....so I'm giving it a try with my hand stitched felt things.  I may keep a few felt things on Etsy...haven't decided on that though.  Check out my SHOP if you'd like as well as some of the OTHER SHOPS there.  It's a small but growing community and could use other vendors if you want to join.  No sales yet...but I've only been there a week.  What do you think?

New Camera

Unfortunately...I think unfortunately...our old camera...well, got too old to use.  It started with pictures that looked like Venetian blinds had been pulled across them.  Then...occasionally the pictures would turn out totally white.  Then we started to get pictures that were totally black.  What took the cake was at our children's baptism...we only got one picture!  Thankfully there were, of course, others there, and my mother-in-law sent us pictures of what we missed.  I think our camera was just plain worn out.  I HAD taken thousands and thousands of pictures with it....and thankfully it didn't decide to do its funny tricks on a mountain in Montana or in the back of beyond somewhere on our vacation.  So, we researched and *ouch* bought a new one--a Kodak Easyshare.  I realllllly didn't like the idea of forking out money for a new one, but you have to do what you have to do, right?  No pictures, no listing things in my shop.  I'd take a picture of the camera, but that would be a little difficult.  Thankfully it was on clearance and thus $75 was raked off the price.  It IS better than our other camera, and I do believe it takes better pictures.  I'm still trying to figure out the editing tools which aren't as good as on the software of our previous camera.

Don't you think the pictures are pretty clear?  I took this picture of a newly finished perfume bottle for my shop yesterday and am pleased with the clarity and light (the camera adjusts its own light). 

Natural Sapphires

While on our trip to Montana last month, one thing we really wanted to do was look for sapphires.  You buy a bucket of dirt, shake and rock scoops of dirt placed into a mesh box in water, flip the box over, and carefully look for colored bits that look like glass with a pair of tweezers.  What a ball we had!  I didn't know that spending $20 for a bucket could offer such grand entertainment for hours on end.  Forget the theme parks! 

This is a picture of what hubby and I found together.  The kids each had their own bucket (to cut down on any disagreements...and trying to find the best one first). 

Our young daughter found the biggest and best in her bucket--a 3 k round one. 

I thought that they would be, well, really blue like one thinks of with a sapphire.  The naturally blue out-of-the-mine ones are found more on the eastern side of the state, and we couldn't find a "buy a bucket of dirt" deal there.  Most are heat treated to enhance the mineral that is already present in the sapphire--so the pink ones get pinker; the blue ones bluer; etc.  Most of the ones we found were too small to have cut.  We were thrilled to find many different colors including one small bright pink one. 

Perhaps I'll put the natural sapphires into a bottle or something.  Otherwise, we sent away to have three cut and heat treated, and, of course, we sent our daughter's to be cut and treated as well.  We'll put it into a ring for her when she is older and will appreciate the fact that it is a stone she found herself.  I'll show pictures when they arrive...but it won't be for awhile. 

Blueberry Freezer Jam

I can't decide whether strawberries or blueberries are my favorite fruit...they are very close.  We had decided not to look for wild blueberries this year since it has been so dry here in the Midwest (we've had some rain the past two days...Praise the Lord for rain!).  We thought they would not be very good.  Then when we saw in the paper that a berry farm not too far away was offering pick-your-own berries, we jumped at the chance.  They are the cultured, high-bush variety and received plenty of irrigation during this long dry spell.  We all including my parents went last Saturday morning to get the job done early and in good time, and we picked a nice flat of them.  So far I've made blueberry pie, muffins, jam, and have frozen a great deal...not to mention the little dishes of blueberries and milk we've been having.  I grew up on blueberries--those sweet, tiny ones that grow wild everywhere in Maine.  These we picked were bigger and not quite as sweet, of course, but they are delicious nonetheless and so good for us. 

This blueberry freezer jam didn't set very well (the very humid day may have affected it), but it tastes fresh and good and will be wonderful on hot, crusty English muffins on a cold day this fall.  Mmmmmm!

Yard Sale Tresures and Still Hopping

First of all, I'm still working my way through the "Where Bloggers Create 2012" list.  Wow!  What a list!  It is huge.  I decided to start at the bottom of the list and work my way up.  There are still many more blogs to visit, so it will take me awhile to get to them all.  I'm amazed at the beautiful, inspiring places people have to create in.  Just lovely!  I've enjoyed hopping through the party...and am still going at it.

Mom and I decided to go to yard sales today.  I got the kids up earlier than usual, and off we went.  We couldn't find one in town...not one!  Since it was still too early to do much shopping (like at the local thrift store), we just decided to go home.  Mom decided to go the "back way" through the country to get home...and wallah!...a garage sale.  It was amazing.  Unfortunately they had started on Monday (we're trying not to think of what was there on Monday), but they were selling 25 years worth of things and were moving....and selling everything by the box full....*cheap*. 

I was able to snag a beautiful mirror for $4 and a few box fulls of things spending only about $15 total.  There is some nice new material to redo a chair and stool that need to be redone.

One box I saw two things on top I wanted...not knowing exactly what was in there until I got home and unwrapped everything.  There were many pieces of beautiful cut glass.

 How exciting!  I don't have a picture, but Mom found two big sections of an antique, hand-made crazy quilt with all of this beautiful hand embroidery on it.  One section had been stitched onto an old feed sack.  It was amazing.

What a blessing to find some great things at reasonable prices.  I guess...who needs many garage sales to go to if you can find some treasures at only one?