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!