Quiltingmemoriesfortomorrow

((Thank You and some quilt inspiration))

2012-01-21T20:12:00.001-06:00

Thank you to all you ladies that left sweet comments about our sweet Penny. Meant so much to me.

The next couple of weeks I will be busy quilting and sewing. I may be scarce on the blog while I am having fun quilting.

I did want to leave you with a little inspiration though. I have seen a few "plus quilts" lately. Quilts that look like they have plus signs in them. Check out the quilt below.

photo and quilt by Amy Rosenthal of Prairie Grass Patterns.

April Rosenthal from Prairie Grass Patterns has this over at

http://www.modabakeshop.com/2012/01/positively-perfect-nap-quilt.html#more

She has broken down in easy step-by-step directions with lovely photos how to put this lovely quilt together. I am so excited to shop for fabrics for this and get started as when it is finished it will be a quilt for my sweet daughter for her birthday.

Hop on over to http://www.modabakeshop.com/p/recipes.html and check out their other recipes they offer.

Have a great weekend!

((LOSS...How do you cope??))

2012-01-16T22:40:00.000-06:00

Our sweet Penny enjoying her favorite spot in the house....The corner of the couch.

I have been away from the blog for a bit and have delayed posting what my word for 2012 would be because we lost someone very dear to us.

We had to put down our family dog, Penny, the first weekend in the new year. It was really hard for me. Growing up I never had a dog. Our sweet Penny was a well loved friend to both our children as well as my husband and myself. Our children had the privilege having her since she was a puppy. We have taken her on many travels with us across these great United States. We have moved to many different states and she always moved with us.

We will miss her......
- getting excited every time she saw suitcases getting zipped up because it meant she was going to go in her travel crate and go on an adventure with us.

- we will miss her soft, velveety ears and those caramel paws.

- we will miss her guard dog qualities. She was always so protective of us.

- I will miss the way you loved to snug up to us and get showered with love and fall asleep on a lazy afternoon on the couch.

We will miss you being a part of our family sweet Penny.

2012-01-02T08:56:00.003-06:00

Happy New Year! I hope your Christmas was merry and filled with good food and family.

December was a busy month for us. We had family visit the first week of the month and then I took a vacation the last week of the month.

We've lived here in Louisiana for a year and a half now. We are always learning new things about this state. Over the holidays we were watching PBS and they had a special on the little town of Natchitoches. Yeah, it's a mouthful to pronounce and not the way you would think. It's pronounced (Nack i tish) with the "i" being short.

It's a quaint town. One of the oldest that was established in 1714. It also was the backdrop to the movie Steel Magnolias. They have a lovely historic downtown district full of shops, dining and antique stores. But that is not why we packed up the kids and the dog and drove two hours to see this place. You see, they have something called the Festival of Lights each year. Last year we missed it, so this year my sweet husband took as all up there to see it. It starts the first weekend in December and goes all the way until the December 30th. Except this year they extended it into New Year.

The town is full of old charm. I love architecture and had to get a picture of this old bank building to share with you. Look at all the details with the dental molding and the shutters and the beautiful iron railing on the balconies.

They had horse drawn carriage rides

We walked into a few boutique shops and a toystore and a general merchandise store. That store was cool. It had a little bit of everything in it. Here is my family taking it all in and "chiefing it" as we like to call it. Other wise known as walking ahead and leaving other family members in the dust. (insert loving snicker here)

It was just starting to get dark when we were heading to a restroom. We had been walking all afternoon and had eaten lunch and that wonderful glass or two of sweet tea was starting to kick in. I love the old fashioned style street sign and the way the lights twinkled in the background. I took the picture in hopes of maybe getting some of the that magic "bokeh" in the background, but I wasn't successful. Still need to practice.

Here is the same area at night.

Down on the riverbank is where the rest of the lights are. Nothing extravagant, but simple and sweet. I loved it. This year marks their 85th year celebrating the Festival of Lights. Here are just a few pictures of the lights at night.

Even amidst all the twinkling of the lights they still managed to share the "true reason for the season."

I enjoyed our trip there. The hubs took the scenic route. He knows I love that stuff. I enjoyed time with family and I enjoyed the lights!

The younger generation in our family even indulged me in a phot op. I LOVE those sweet faces.

Tomorrow I will be sharing my word for the new year.

Have a blessed day!

::JOIN ME::

2011-11-24T22:23:00.001-06:00

I finally joined pinterest. Lotsa fun and a great way to have all my fave inspirational pics in one place.

I have only made three boards so far, but check it out.

::HANDMADE HOLIDAYS:::

2011-11-22T21:07:00.000-06:00

Have you checked out all the great links for handmade holiday ideas? I am sure pinterest has a ton of them. I don't pin, so I wouldn't know. I am still old school.

This year I am trying go handmade on the wrapping. I also wanted to make some new ornaments for our tree as well as make some for family that will be visiting soon.

This year I am choosing to use brown kraft paper as the wrapping and embelish with some simple ribbon or yarn. I have been finding some really cool tags to add to these gifts. Here are a few links to some lovely tags that these bloggers have made as a freebie.

http://www.kindovermatter.com/2010/12/free-printable-holiday-wine-gift-tags.html

http://www.belvederedesignsblog.com/2010/12/free-printable-holiday-gift-tags.html

Also, check out Emily over at http://jonesdesigncompany.com/
Here is the link for her lovely gift tags:
http://jonesdesigncompany.com/holiday/christmas-goodies-week-gift-tags/

I have fallen in love with all the lovely clay tags I have seen on etsy. So many pretty and unique tags. My all time faves are from Jami over at http://www.freckledlaundry.com/
Check out this post and you will know what I mean.
http://www.freckledlaundry.com/2011/11/e.html Are they not fabulous. Simple, yet elegant. That's me all over.

If you would like to make some of your own this year as well pop on over to Craft Snob blog. Allison of http://www.littleloveliesbyallison.com/ shares a step-by-step tutorial with pictures.

Here is a sample of her tags.

photo by Allison of http://www.littleloveliesbyallison.com/

I will be back over the weekend to share some handmade holiday gifts and hopefully my version of the clay tags I will be putting on my tree this year.

Until then, have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

LIINKY LOVE

2011-10-22T08:33:00.000-05:00

Hi there!
sorry I have been scarce lately. I have been working a littlle extra at work. By the time I come home from running errands and doing housework, I am too tired to do a project, document it and post about it. I do however, find time to surf.

I have some more linky love for you. There are truly some talented folks out there that DIY their home beautiful. Like Pottery Barn beautiful. Go check out Shannon and Dean at AKA Design. They are participating in Crafting with Stars challenge. There most recent post caught my eye. This round they were supposed to create something with pallets. I fell in love with this......it's an ottoman they created. Guess what??? They even show you how they made it.

Shannon and Dean at http://akadesign.ca/

They have a great tutorial for the Pottery Barn inspired number canvas. Don't fear if you don't have a silhouette or cricut. They show you how to achieve it and on a dollar store budget! You can't beat that.

http://akadesign.ca/?p=4633

Lotsa bloggers are doing the 31 day thing....you know, 31 days to a handmade Christmas, 31 days to better photography....well, you get the idea. Kelly over at Imperfect Homemaking is doing 31 days to an organized home. Yep, I was all over that. I have been perusing her posts and she has some great ideas. If you are looking to get your home organized before the holidays, you will need to pop on over there and check it out. Here is the link:
http://www.imperfecthomemaking.com/2011/10/day-two-organized-coat-closet.html

Enjoy your weekend!

:::SOME INSPIRATION FOR YOU:::

2011-09-21T14:15:00.001-05:00

I am always amazed by the creativity I see on etsy. So many talented people out there and so many unique things to use for your home that are decorative or practical.

Check out this chalkboards. I think they are totally cool and have never seen anything like it before. They are chalkboard tablets.

source: Peg and Awl on etsy

No more searching for scrap paper or buying writing tablets or post-its. I think these are really unique and functional.

You can purchase them from Peg and Awl on etsy at the link below.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/73939756/trio-of-chalkboard-tablets

Go check out Lil Boo Blue's chalkboard tags tutorial. She is doing a great series on getting organized.
http://www.lilblueboo.com/2011/08/chalkboard-tags-a-tutorial.html

Christmas will be here before we know it and I am getting ready to make my own cards this year. I love to stamp and have a wonderful Christmas set I intend to use. I also will be making some clay tags as well. I just love the simplicity of these and all the wonderful creative ways to use them. Pop on over to
B & B's nest and check out her tutorial on how to make clay tags. Here is a sample of some of her clay tags

http://www.bandbsnestinteriors.com/2011/08/transformation-tuesday-clay-tags.html

I will be back on Friday with a giveaway so be sure to come back.

::CABBAGES AND ROSES::

2011-09-19T20:51:00.001-05:00

I am beyond excited that Cabbages and Roses have collaborated with MODA and will be selling a quilting line of fabric here in the good ole US of A ! What's even more exciting is that the Fat Quarter Shop already has it in stock. You can check it out at the link below. The new line is called Northcote Range.

http://www.fatquartershop.com/Northcote-Range-Cabbages-and-Roses-Moda-Fabrics.asp?Store_Id=499&T=1

I have adored their fabrics for a couple of years now, but never have been able to purchase any yardage. I love the beautiful, airy flower prints and the lovely striped fabrics. Their fabrics caught my eye because they have a wonderful cottage feel to them.

This blue and white collection is just lovely. I love how they mix it with the stripes on this bedding. So pretty.

Cabbages and Roses

Their photographic styling is just as yummy as their fabrics.

Cabbages and Roses

check the MODA website, or call 800-527-9447 or send an email to service@unitednotions.com for stockists.

:::READ ANY GOOD LITERATURE LATELY???::::

2011-09-12T07:00:00.002-05:00

When I was younger I was an avid reader. I read everything and always had a book in my hand. I was even known to be so engrossed in a book that I would try and read at the dinner table...or worse yet ..the bathroom! Ha, I know, it sounds silly.

As I grew older and married and had children, magazines became my reading source. I only had short spans of time to read and novels weren't it. Now that my children are older, I make it a habit to read at least one novel a year. The novel I pick usually gets read when we are on vacation.

This year were traveling to PA to help a friend celebrate her 50th birthday and I asked the hubs to pick me up a magazine before we got on the plane. Yeah, I know, some reading habits are hard to break. Anyhow, he came back with a book. A book that had 527 pages. I was like, "What's this? I asked you to get me a magazine." He said, " I saw this and remembered you said you wanted to see it, but I thought you might like to read the book first." Know what book I am talking about?

If you guessed......

You were right if you guessed THE HELP. The hubs picked a winner of a book. It was just like being a teenager all over again. I took this book every where. I read it all the way to PA. Two planes and a layover. I read it on my free time while we were in PA and then I read it all week and two planes and a layover on the way back. Great book! Did you know that the the woman who wrote the book is a first time author?

An added bonus for me was actually being able to meet someone from the movie. On my second leg back to New Orleans, I sat by a woman and her husband. She saw that I was reading the book and asked if I was enjoying it. I said, "Yes, I am. I am half way through the book. I want to read it all before I see the movie." She shared with me that she actually worked on the movie in the costuming department and said that they used vintage clothing and that some of the stuff was so old, that it was falling apart. She said the movie was pretty true to the book...and she was right for the most part.

So, if you are looking for a good read or a good movie to see check out THE HELP! I am giving the book and the movie two thumbs up.

:::MAY WE NEVER FORGET::::

2011-09-11T16:17:00.001-05:00

09/11/01

May we never forget those men and women who lost their lives on that terrible day.

::WHAT I HAVE BEEN UP TO::

2011-08-30T14:50:00.000-05:00

Hi All! Hope everyone has had a wonderful summer. I have been busy here pretty much taking the summer off. My posts were scarce.

I decided to take the summer off. I visited with our extended family and spent time with my immediate family an spent some time in the yard.

School started here for my son. He is a senior this year and is playing football again. It will be a busy year for him and us. We also sent our daughter off to college. (insert teary eyed mama here.) We enjoyed spending some time together at the local antique stores this summer. Sharing sewing ideas and just sitting around watching movies and stuffing our faces with ice cream or some other type of sweet.

I also started back to work. I work part time with preschool age children. I enjoy working with them and the flexibility of my schedule.

I am going to be doing a little changing around of things. I may makeover the blog page and give it a little spice. I also will only be posting on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. This will allow me time to think up blog posts, complete projects, etc.

Stay tuned because I will be having a giveaway next week!

Have a great day!

::BACK TO BASICS::

2011-07-14T07:00:00.003-05:00

As you may have read from the previous post we have lots to care for in the way or produce right in our own backyard.

I noticed a few weeks ago when I was grocery shopping that bread was incredibly expensive. I had mentioned to the hubby that I will have to start baking bread again. He was happy to hear that. Homemade bread is so much better for you. No preservatives and it's FRESH! Only down side is that it gets eaten a lot faster.

When our children were younger we had to watch the budget very closely. We didn't have a lot to just willy nilly spend on anything frivleous. I did what I could to save money where I could. I shopped thrift stores and sewed. One area I noticed where there was a great opportunity to save money was the grocery bill. I had the most fun coming up with meals that were inexpensive and filling and nutritous. I tried to shop stores like Aldi's when I could. I also found out that Wal Mart is by far the best place to shop for sundries. They have the best price. Fast forward about ten or more years and while we are in a better place financially, I still find myself going back to the basics.

All this to say that in the past few weeks we have started baking bread again. Our daughter came home from work last week and the first thing out of her mouth was, "MMM, the house smells just like it did when we were little, are you baking bread?"

Here is a little peek into what I was doing in the kitchen this morning.

I love my glass pinch bowls. I a foodnetwork junkie and when I saw these at Kohl's a while back, I just had to have them....only because I have a bad habit of talking when I am measuring things out for a recipe and can't remember what all I measured. These nifty little bowls help me out. I premeasure everything that way if anyone is talking to me, I don't mismeasure anything.

I wasn't able to get a picture of it when it was done cooking. I will be baking another loaf or two today, so hopefully I can show you the bread in all it's yummy goodness. Don't you just love the smell of baking bread? We do!

::THE BACKYARD FARM::

2011-07-12T09:50:00.012-05:00

We decided to plant a garden... again. The first one we ever planted was when we lived in Illinois. I can't tell you how excited I was to see and eat all the tomatoes and cucumbers and peppers we grew that year.

Today I want to share with you our garden here in Louisiana. We are learning about gardening in here. For one thing, it's very HOT here in LA and there is lots of watering that needs to be done. We also learned that we need to plant the garden a little earlier than we did. We started planting late May early June. When really, we should of started probably in March or April.

We decided to grow cucumbers, squash, zucchini , watermelon and cantalopes. We have yielded some nice yellow crook neck squash and cucumbers. We just started seeing a couple of tomatoes and we have a couple of big cantalopes out there. By the way, cantalopes and watermelon take a lot of space to grow. I know we read that on the back of the seed packet, but seriously, I didn't think it would be like wildfire. They are all over the place. Haven't seen any zucchini yet.

Okay, enough of my blabbering on. Here are some shots of the backyard farm.

see how big the tomato plant got? We saw blooms, but no totmatoes. This pic was taken a couple of weeks ago.

Here is a pic of the zuccinin (far right), then the squash (middle) and on the left of the pic is the cantalope. To the right of this raised bed is a fig tree and a satsuma orange tree.

Doesn't that fig look delicious? We still aren't sure what kind of fig tree it is.

Can you see them? They are grapes. Muscadine grapes to be exact. They grow over the swing wooden porch swing area that the previous owner built.

Here are some Satsuma oranges. We also have meyer lemons too, but I can't differentiate them in the pics. They are both green now. They won't harvest until fall sometime. I will be sure to share more pics then.

Satsuma oranges.

Well, there is a gracious plenty to take care of out there. I need to get off this computer and go pull some of those weeds you saw in the picture and water, water, water.

I will leave you with the picture below. The only good light in our kitchen area was on the window ledge.

Enjoy!

::COTTAGE DREAMING::

2011-06-27T21:48:00.001-05:00

I am wanting to sprinkle a little Americana around the house for the July 4th weekend. I have some ideas in mind that I am hoping to show you all later in the week.

In the meantime, I have been wanting to make my family room a little more cottagey. I have been playing over at http://www.polyvore.com/

Here is a board I came up with.

I have been talking about slipcovering my wing chair and english chair forever! I am thinking maybe in denim. Not sure. We'll see if I can find some on sale. I also would like to change out my side tables. We have square ones that are pretty functional and unique, but I think there is too much squareness going on in this room and I think that round rattan table would work so much better. Not to mention bring in some texture. Next up I think we are in need of a console table behind the sofa. Right now we have a really nice Woolrich coffee table behind that has shelving; but I am looking for something a little more sofa height. I really like the style of the one above as it has drawers and a shelf. I like the shelf so that I can put some baskets on it. I desperately need some storage baskets to house everyones junk that they leave lying around. One for each family member. I am constantly finding myself cleaning up everyones junk before I house clean and this would be great to have to just throw everything in it's respective container and clean away. I also like the top surface for lamps and as a decorative space. What do you think of those white dipped baskets up there? They are different. Love that.

Hope everyone has a great day!

OUTDOOR SUMMER ENTERTAINING

2011-06-22T23:57:00.003-05:00

Wouldn't you love to host an outdoor summer soiree with some close friends?

If it wasn't so oprressively hot here in Louisiana, I would love to host an outdoor summer soiree. The hubs and I like easy entertaining. To us, that means, a laid back casual atmosphere. We want folks to come in and feel right at home and kick their shoes off and enjoy the food, fun and the fellowship.

So, the first thing I would think of would be the menu. We typically like to provide the drinks and the main dish and let our guests bring the side dishes or desserts. This way everyone feels they have contributed; not to mention it's a great way to share recipes.

So what do you think about outdoor summer entertaining? Would you be more apt to do it if you had everthing ready to go and didn't have to shop? I know I would.   I would like to introduce you to
Diane of http://inmyownstyle.com/   She recently wrote a post on how to be "party ready."

Click the link below to get the low down on the picture below. Diane shares with you what she stocks in her party basket, improptu tips and some printables.
http://inmyownstyle.com/2011/06/are-you-party-ready.html

                                    photo by: Diane of http://inmyownstyle.com/

Once you are done reading about being party ready, you will have to check out her tutorial on her outdoor candle lanterns. I am telling you , this gal is clever . Take a look at this outdoor lantern.

                                               photo by: Diane of http://inmyownstyle.com/

Isn't it chic? Doesn't it look high end? It's so much more attractive than those tiki torches with the citronella candles that we all tend to use. Click the link below to see how she made it.  You won't believe it.
http://inmyownstyle.com/2011/06/trash-and-thrift-store-treasure-outdoor-candle-lantern.html

You can't leave Diane's blog without taking her home tour. She has a lovely home.  The photos she shares are pure eye candy and you will be inspired. As a matter of fact, as I was looking at her home tour, I fell in love with these french enameled numbered tags.

If you have been coming to my blog any length of time you know I love typography and anything with numbers. Lately, I also have been drawn to anything french related. I have adored  the french enameled tags I have been seeing all over the blogosphere, but just knew I couldn't afford them. So , imagine my surprise when I was perusing her side bar and saw she had a tutorial on how to make those numbered tags.    I plan on making some of these. If you would like the tutorial here is the link.
http://inmyownstyle.com/2010/07/how-to-make-french-enameled-numbered-tags.html

                                                                       photo by Diane of http://inmyownstyle.com/

Grab a cuppa ice cold sweet tea and pop on over to Diane's blog and tell her Cheryl sent ya.

Now go out and get PARTY READY for your next summer soiree!

:::LINKY LOVE:::

2011-06-09T20:11:00.001-05:00

Just sharing a little linky love with you all. I have been surfing blogs the past couple of days to get inspired and have come across some very cool stuff.

Check out how to make your own DIY matchbox over at
http://www.craftaholicsanonymous.net/2011/06/baby-food-container-matchbox-tutorial.html

I thought this was so clever. This would make a great gift with other grilling accessories for Dad on Father's Day.

Then, stop by Stephanie Lynn's
http://www.bystephanielynn.com/2011/06/make-your-own-printed-fabric-photo.html
She will share a step-by-step tutorial on how to make your own DIY canvas. Another great idea for a Fgather's Day gift. Be sure to check out her sidebar for tutorials for all the other cool projects she has done.

Lastly, I love totes and purses and generally any kind of bag or bin that you can store things in. I fell in love with the details of this bag. below.

photo by Megan at

http://craftycpa.blogspot.com/

I also love anything with ticking on it. Doesn't matter what color ticking. If you like this bag, she gives a step-by-step tutorial on how to make it. Isn't she sweet?
click the link below to take you to the tutorial for the bag.
http://craftycpa.blogspot.com/2011/05/return-on-creativity-squatty-tote-bag.html

Heading out to visit family so I will be out of pocket next week.
Enjoy your weekend!

::SWEET SHOT TUESDAY::

2011-06-07T09:33:00.000-05:00

I have sort of a trip tych of sorts for you.

The first photo is of our an orange growing on our orange tree just after a morning rain. The next shot is of a zinnia in our garden and the very last shot is a pic of our birdbath in our backyard. I was looking for insteresting things that had good composition.

I loved the orange with the drops of water on it and was trying my hardest to capture the drops so that they were crisp. The zinnia I loved for its intense color and beauty. I liked the birdbath for the way the leaf was lying in there and all the texture in that photo.

I hope you enjoy my sweet shots and when you are done looking, please hop on over to Darcy's and check out the others. I amazed by all the sweet shots each week. Just click on the box below.

Have a great day!

::SWEET SHOT TUESDAY::

2011-05-29T22:46:00.002-05:00

I have been enjoying participating at Darcy's sweet shot Tuesday's for teh past month. Last week a fellow participant took some great shots of clouds. She inspired me last week to do the same. We had a great sunset with a beautiful orange reflecting on the clouds and it looked so beautiful, I wanted to capture that very moment.

Unfortunately, I don't think I captured that deep orange glow reflection. But I did capture the full, billowiness (is that even a word?)the cloud.

Enjoy your Memorial Day and stay safe and don't forget to stop by Darcy's to check out all the other sweet shots.

::EWENIQUE MEMORIES:: Masterbedroom makeover across the miles::

2011-05-26T15:56:00.001-05:00

Here is the first installment of my hand at helping a friend redecorate a master bedroom.

Gen and I have been blog buddies for a long time now and thought it would be fun to share her makeover on my blog. Make sure you stop by her blog and say "HI" after you read this post.
http://eweniquetreasures.blogspot.com/
Gen was wanting to redo her bedroom a few months back and asked me if I would help her with the redecorating. Here is the kicker though. It would be a long distance makeover as she lives in VA and I live in LA.

We started with her sending me some pics of the room she had to work with. Then we talked about what style or direction she wanted to move into to achieve the look she was going for.

Gen had one big piece of furniture that would be staying. A sleigh bed that had good bones, but the color just wasn't right. We did a storyboard over at Polyvore to get an idea of what she wanted the room to look like. Here it is:

Doesn't that look comfy and inviting? I thought so and was eager to help her achieve it.

The bedroom was pretty juvenille to start with. Wide pink stripes on the walls and some tired berber carpet.

No questions asked about the pink stripes. We both agreed they had to go. Below is a picture of what the room looked like after she painted.

As you can see in the pic above this room has slanted ceilings on each side. She also had too much furniture in this room. So we talked deleting some of the furnitue pieces and placing them into a sitting room. We also talked about painting out her sleigh bed and doing drop cloth curtains on the window. I have read that a decorating no no is to NOT place a bed in front of a window, but in Gen's case I think it really did a lot for this room.

Stay tuned tomorrow to see some of the ideas she put into place and a cool transformation on the bed.

::SWEET SHOT TUESDAY::

2011-05-24T19:45:00.001-05:00

Hi there!
Hope everyone is doing well. I have been enjoying participating in Darcy's Sweet Shot Tuesday for the past three weeks. So much fun to see what other folks are capturing and even more fun sharing what I have captured.

This past November we went to my husbands cousins wedding in Florida. They had the numptials on the beach. It was chilly, but beautiful nonetheless. For my sweet shot I captured his cousins nieces enjoying the tide and sand. I hadn't ventured out into manual mode at this point yet. If I had, I would of had a better ISO on this shot.

They do look darling though with the bows and dresses. Loved the blue color with the dark contrasting sash. So pretty.

Let me know what you think of my sweet shot and then hop on over to Darcy's to check all the others out. Just click on the button below.

:::SWEET SHOT TUESDAY:::

2011-05-17T13:58:00.003-05:00

I am participating in Darcy's sweet shot Tuesdays again over at:

I have so many different rose bushes that vary in color, I thought I would share yet another beautiful rose.

Check out the intensity of the scarlett red color. I believe this is one of our Knockout Roses. Isn't that a great name? The color just knocks you out.

Don't forget, if you have time, stop by Darcy's and check out all the other sweet shots.

http://my3boybarians.com/2011/05/sweet-shot-tuesday-55/

Have a blessed day!

::SWEET SHOT TUESDAY...A Rose is but a Rose::

2011-05-10T22:56:00.000-05:00

For those that frequent my blog you know that I love photography. I have been taken lots of pics this past year to get the hang of using my camera. I have been venturing out into manual mode and have been enjoying playing with the aperture and shutter speeds, etc.

Today is the first time I am participating in

Here is my first picture I am sharing with:

I love roses and our new home has tons of rose bushes around here and I love taking pics of them. So many different varieties and colors. Of course, pink is my favorite. Not sure what variety this is. If anyone knows, please share.

Go check out some of the sweet shots over at Darcy's. There are some great amateur photographer's out there. Just regular folks like you and me.

Have a great day!

::HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY::

2011-05-08T18:34:00.000-05:00

photo by: http://canadiancottage.blogspot.com/

Hope all my blogger buddies are having a wonderful Mother's Day!

::EWENIQUE MEMORIES::

2011-05-01T22:22:00.001-05:00

You are probably wondering what I am talking about. Well, my friend Gen and I have decided to do a makeover. That's right, a long distance makeover. She has a master bedroom that she has been wanting to make over so that it's comfy, inviting and a great place to sleep and relax. She asked me to help her out. We bounced some ideas off of one another and she put them into place. I will be chroniciling her master bedroom makeover from start to finish here on my blog. So stay tuned.

Have a great day!
Cheryl

::HAPPY SPRING::

2011-04-27T15:05:00.000-05:00

Hello!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter with their families!

Sorry for the long blog break. A good part of March I was sick. Had a bad upper respiratory infection and then got and ear infection. Couple all that with bad allergies (it's our first spring in Louisiana) . Through the whole thing I ended up losing my sense of taste and smell. That was the worst of it all. I really didn't enjoy eating because everything I ate didn't taste like anything at all. All is well now though.

I will for sure be sharing my new sewing machine cover with you and a couple of other projects as well....really.

Have a great day!

;;ARE YOU TIRED OF LINEN YET?::

2011-02-23T19:33:00.000-06:00

So, I still have some linen left. A very little bit.

I am not sure if I ever mentioned how I acquired it. Long story short I had an 84 inch linen curtain panel I bought at Target on clearance. Ended up never using it because our windows here were much longer.

So far, I have made the crochet case holder and the ruler holder that you saw in the previous post and I also made a baby blanket for a new momma at church. Unfortunately, I wasn't able get a pic of that. But rest assured it was lovely. I had backed it with some baby blue chenille. I loved the feel of the linen and the chenille together. Hoping to make one for myself to drape over our couch.

If you haven't noticed yet, all my linen projects have been instant gratification projects. Small projects that I can finish in about an hour. With the last piece of linen and some scrap fabric I hope to make this.

photo:

http://bloomandblossom.blogspot.com/search/label/Australian%20Homespun%20projects

She used some lovely fabric scraps and I love the measuring tape fabric on there and the button. But what really makes it sahweet is the word "stitch." She actually had written this pattern and it was in Australian Homespun magazine.

Hope everyone is having a great week.

:: LINEN, LINKY LOVE::

2011-02-15T23:40:00.002-06:00

LINEN......

I shared in a previous post I was at my sewing machine recently and have enjoyed making a few things with some linen. Finally, some pics to share with you. I have been wanting to make a crochet needle case for a long while now. I found an awesome tutoroial a while back and thought I would give it a whirl. Christina at http://www.sometimescrafter.blogspot.com/ did a great job with the tutorial. I am happy with my crochet case. I used linen for the outer fabric and a Glacee paisely print on the inside. I just love it. LOL, don't look too close. I need to practice sewing a straight line some more.

Next project I worked on was a sleeve for my 24 inch quilting ruler. I am really loving how this turned out a lot. So much so that I plan to make one for my 45 degree quilting ruler. I have been wanting to mix media and textiles for sometime now and finally did it. I am happy with the outcome of this project and plan to do more mixed media projects in the future.

LINKS.........

Lastly, I have some links to share with you. I have been surfing and have been inspired. So, thought I would pass on the inspiration.

First up is Christina from http://sometimescrafter.blogspot.com/2008/12/tutorial-rachels-crochet-hook-case.html
This gal can quilt and sew up some awesome projects. As a matter of fact, Christina is the one responsible for the awesome tutorial for the crochet hook case. Pop buy her blog and be inspired. If you would like the link for the crochet hook case, click here
http://sometimescrafter.blogspot.com/2008/12/tutorial-rachels-crochet-hook-case.html and click the link provided in the post.

Second, if you haven't heard of Miss Mustard Seed you are in for a treat. Marian is a sweet, talented gal. She shares all her wisdom on refinishing furniture that she has found curbside or Goodwill finds, etc. She also sews. She has said she doesn't enjoy it much, but she is pretty good at it. You have to check out her dining room here.
http://missmustardseed.blogspot.com/2010/12/new-dining-table.html

She recently shared part I of her video slipcover series. Part I is all about piping and how to make it. Here is the link
http://missmustardseed.blogspot.com/2011/02/video-slipcover-series-part-1-custom.html

Pop over and say "hello" to Marian and grab a cuppa and surf around her blog a bit.

Okay, that's it for a couple of days. Gonna be a busy week this with normal day to day duties and I am hoping to sew some more. Later in the week I will share with you a spot I am hoping to carve out for my creative space. The mini sewing studio if you will. Would love to hear your ideas on how I can make the most of this possible space with what I have.

Enjoy your week!

:::SEWING:::

2011-02-07T22:16:00.001-06:00

I had the pleasure of sewing this weekend. I had some fun making a couple of practical projects with linen. It's my new fave fabric of choice. Pair it with a lovely quilting cotton and you got a sweet project.

I had to work later than usual today. By the time I got home I had to move into mom/wife mode. We have one down with the flu; one recovering from the flu and two of us still healthy. Woo hoo! Let's hope the last two of us stay healthy and don't get the flu.

Long story short by the time I took care of the family there wasn't good light to take pics of my projects. Hoping to get home on time tomorrow and take some pics of new linen projects to share with you all.

Hope everyone had a great day!

::WHAT I HAVE BEEN UP TO::

2011-02-03T17:58:00.002-06:00

My camera lense has been on the fritz of late and that's why you haven't seen any posts with my pics. I do have some projects that I have jotted down on paper that I have dreamed up. I would love to sit down and sew them up and make them come to life, but I have been doing a bit of this. Can you guess what it is???

If you guessed a guitar you are right. I signed up to take some lessons. So, in my spare time I have been practicing.

I have also been doing some reading. I splurged on myself at Christmas and bought myself this book.

I did a review of this book a while back based on flipping through it at Barnes and Noble. Well, now I have this baby in my hot little hands and I gotta tell ya hands down this is the best sewing book I have in my sewing library. Deborah has step-by-step photos of what she is explaining and it also comes with a CD as well which has patterns on it. Very well done. If you don't have this one in your sewing library, you should.
We are due for some icy type rain this way....maybe even possibly snow.
Stay safe and warm wherever you are .
I will be back later this weekend hopefully to share something I have been dreaming up in my head.

::THE WHITE STUFF::

2011-02-01T21:24:00.000-06:00

More commonly referred to as SNOW seems to be on it's way inundating my family and friends. Everyone out in the midwest and northeast stay safe and warm.

Hugs,
Cheryl

::AFTERS::

2011-01-23T21:45:00.002-06:00

When we first moved into this house the drapes here weren't that bad. The previous owners had denim furniture so these curtains went well with their furniture. Our furniture is a little darker and my accent colors are red, so these curtains weren't exactly matching. I looked high and low; on the interent and in stores, but didn't find anything I liked that was reasonably priced. I have six windows that I needed to cover, so didn't want to break the bank covering them.

curtains before

One day I had been blog surfing and saw some really nice curtains on room makeover that someone was posting about . I emailed her and asked her where she got her curtains and she said, "IKEA." I was determined to head out to IKEA and buy some curtains. You see, these particular curtains are only $14.99 per package. ...and yes, you get two panels in a package! I was so excited ! Until I found out the nearest IKEA was about four and a half hours away. : ( So, I went back to their website to see if I could order them online and I couldn't. : ( Long story short, I realized, I would probably have to make them myself and would save up the money to purchase some fabric to make them.

Well, the hubs surprised me and the kids with a trip to Texas and yes, we swung by the IKEA to pick up the curtains and here they are on my windows. I love them.

after

I bought the 98 inch long ones even though my windows are only 95 inches. I like how they puddle and how the light filters in through them during the day.

Another after I worked on was my pantry. I shared a few months back that I loved how House of Hepworths transformed her pantry and how neat and tidy it looked. Well, mine looks neat and tidy, but I didn't have extra cash to by those fancy vinyl labels to label all the jars. Lucky for me, we know what everything is. The shelving was painted white. I gave it a good cleaning and then I laid down some red gingham shelf paper to give the shelving a little pick me up. I also bought a few of the glass jars from Target to store things like rice, oatmeal and crackers. I am pleased with how it turned out.

Now to keep it that way.

::GIVEAWAY TIME AGAIN::

2011-01-11T13:08:00.000-06:00

Hop on over to

http://thenestuk.blogspot.com/2011/01/time-for-giveaway.html

Sweet Samantha is having a giveaway.

She is having a generous giveaway. The lucky winner will receive one of her many lovely pillows like these below:

and

a set of of these heart shaped slate coasters

and a little sumpin' else just because.

You can check out her etsy to see what other kinds of pillows she makes.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/samantha2818

Good luck!

::::GIVEAWAY WINNER!::::

2011-01-07T21:01:00.001-06:00

Meredith from

http://welcometoheardmont.com/

is my giveaway winner!

Congratulations Meredith!

I will be sending this book out to you this weekend!

If you haven't stopped by Meredith's blog, you need to. She has some great DIY projects. So, stop by and tell her "hello."

Have a great weekend eveveryone!

::HAPPY NEW YEAR AND A BLOGIVERSARY GIVEAWAY!!!::

2011-01-02T14:47:00.007-06:00

I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas. I frequent many of your blogs and I see many of you had the privilege of having a "white Christmas." We missed the snow this year....well, just maybe I did. I really wanted to see some white...but it wasn't in the cards here in Louisiana. We had rain and it was pretty balmy.

As we roll into the new year, I find myself as always trying to be better....you know, a fresh start. Most of us say this is the year we are taking over our health and we will exercise more; this is the year I will read my bible more and so on.

All this to say that my hubby gave me a wonderful gift this year. He gave me hope. I received this book from him.

I am here to tell you that I don't want to be a slave to debt. I want to be able to send my children to college debt free! No student loans! I want to be able to have a savings account for those times when the water heater goes up or the car needs major repairs. I want to be able to have money saved up for retirement. I want to be able to have my house paid off. I want to be able to give and bless others....just because; and in that spirit I will be giving away a copy of this book to celebrate my three year blogiversary.

I can't believe that I have been blogging for three years. When I started this blog I think I was writing to myself and slowly, I have had some followers who actually read my little ole blog. To all you who read, I thank you. It's nice to read comments, they make me smile.

I am passing on the blessing of hope. If you would like to have the opportunity to win a copy of this book, leave me a comment telling me one thing you would like to be able to do if money were no object.

Dave's tag line in the book is
"Live like noone else so you can live noone else."

Well, this is the year that we start living like noone else so we can live like noone else. It won't be easy, but it will be so worth it in the end.

Have a blessed day!
*****THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED****

::MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A THANK YOU::

2010-12-24T07:56:00.003-06:00

A little thank you to all who follow my little ole blog. Your comments make me smile. Your blogs make me smile. So, from our home to yours we wish you a blessed Christmas this holiday season. May your time with family and friends be sweet and your New Year be a joyous one!

image by Kim Klassen

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a saviour who is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:11

::CHRISTMAS DECORATING CONTINUED::

2010-12-12T15:50:00.002-06:00

I will be continuing on with our home decorated for the holidays.

Below is our tree. I am so excited about our tree. It is real. The hubs gave in again. He really wanted to pull out the ole artificial tree from the attic, but I was really wanting a real tree again this year. We weren't able to go to a tree farm and cut it down in 20 degree weather, but it was fun looking for it just the same.

We decorated it with a box of sentimental ornaments that I have collected over the years. This tree is the first very full and tall real tree we have ever had. So, I am thinking about making some more ornaments to hang on it. I recently was surfing a linky party and saw a tutorial where someone shared how to make dove ornaments. Don't you just love my tree skirt??? HAHA, yeah, it's a white sheet. LOL, nothing fancy here. I haven't had a chance to sit at the sewing machine. Maybe next year we will have a proper tree skirt.

Here is a closer look of the tree. It's a Nobel Fur...or is it Fir?? Ha, I am not sure how to spell it , but that is what kind it is.

Here is the mantle. I decided to leave my Joshua 24:15 up. I had wanted to do another piece of art that Luke 2:11 on it, but just didn't have the time before we had company or in between before we had our holiday party. I just kept it simple. Some garland and some pinecones and our stocking holders and my mason jars.

To the right of the tree in the breakfast nook I chose to hang my barn star. I also decided to place the piece that my hubby made me here. As you can see, I have only got as far as priming it. Sad, isn't it? It was too hot to paint it during the summer and by the time I had a chance to get to it again, the temps had gotten cold. Hopefully in the spring, I can put a coat of cottage white on it.

I chose to put our Christmas music here. We have a tradition of buying on Christmas CD every year and around Thanksgiving we start to play the Christmas music. I also chose to put our nativity on this piece as well as a red quilt to give warm to the lower shelf.

Here is our dining room. See that big empty wall behind it? I have a couple of ideas for it that I will share with you . Maybe y'all can help me decide which ideas to use there. I purchased that dining table cover at Target. Love it! It was only $16.00! I think that is a pretty good price as it is a big one. I think it's 6ft. by 120 ft.

I chose to keep the center piece simple. You know, so there is room for plenty of food and the plates. : ) I just used these glass candle holders and some cranberries. Love the red. I also used some cream round candles I had to place inside.

And this, well, this is my kitchen. pretty blah for now. Haven't done much in here. I just wanted to show you where I blog from. I usually am on the end there blogging and making sure that I am not burning dinner while I blog.

Well, hope you enjoyed the tour.
Have a great evening.

::: I AM BACK....:::

2010-12-08T15:07:00.001-06:00

I sure hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I can't believe it's been that long since I posted.
Sue, thanks for asking if I am all better. That was sweet. I am indeed feeling better. I got over the pink eye ........and would you believe five days before Thanksgiving and a house full of guests I got strep throat???? Oh my, I hope I am done with being sick for the winter season. I was able to get antibiotics and am all better now. We had my husbands family vising for a couple of weeks and then I had a house full of guests from work for a Christmas Party. So, that meant that I had to decorate the house for the holidays. Our house here isn't as big as our old house, so I didn't put out too much, but just enough to get us in the holiday spirit and have it be cheery. Enjoy the pics below.

Welcome to our home for the holidays!
We've kept things simple outside. Just a simple red wreath on the door. I purchased this at Target for a pretty reasonable price. Of course if I had time I probably could of made one. I have seen Martha Stewart make these before. But I was on a time crunch to get things decorated.

As you come in the front door the first thing you will see is our living room. We have an open floor plan which we love. It's great for entertaining.

This is our living room and it's the first thing you will see as you come in. I am standing by the french doors taking this picture. The opposite side of the front door. To cozy up this area for the hoidays I added some red checked pillows to the sofa. I also have a quilt that I want to lay on the back of the sofa. Behind the sofa is our kitchen and to the right of it is our kitchen dining nook. Between the french doors and the kitchen nook is a small wall and this is where we chose to put our tree this year.

Later this afternoon I will post the rest of the decorating pics. Blogger is being grumpy with me and not allowing me to add pics at this time.

So be sure to stop by later on.

::SICK::

2010-11-16T10:16:00.000-06:00

Down sick with pink eye in not just one eye, but two. Blech!! So, while I am recooperating and getting ready for some holiday company I want to share some linky love with you.

I was blog hopping last week and found this blog. She has a sweet idea on making your own gift tags for the holiday.
Take a look at

http://gettingmycrafton.blogspot.com/2010/11/simple-homemade-christmas-gift-tags.html

Check out this one for some nontraditional way of wrapping gifts. Very clever ideas and yet they are simply elegant.
http://craftberrybush.blogspot.com/2010/11/simplicity-saturday.html

Love it!

I will be back after the holidays.
Happy Thanksgiving!

::WINNER OF CSN GIVEAWAY!!::

2010-11-08T20:00:00.001-06:00

Hi all!

I am sorry I wasn't able to post earlier this morning who won the giveaway. I work a part-time job and had to fill in for someone and didn't get home till late.

Thank you to everyone that stopped by to participate in the CSN giveaway! Since there was only a handlfull of entries I chose not to use random number generator. I put everyones name on a slip of paper in a bowl and mixed them up and picked one out.......and the WINNER IS.......

Tracie from
http://flutterbygones.blogspot.com/

Tracie, drop me an email so I can get your info to get your gift certificate to you.

Have a great evening everyone!

::CSN GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

2010-10-27T13:51:00.015-05:00

Hey everyone!

I am so excited to share with you that I am hosting a CSN giveaway!

If you haven't heard of CSN stores, you are missing out. They have a variety of things to sell. They have everything you need to accessorize your table for the holidays, home decor, cookware and more. With Christmas just around the corner you will want to be sure that you have a beautifully set table. Take a look at this beautiful drop leaf table they offer.

I love the finish and the styling of the legs. Nice clean lines. A great funcitonal piece of furniture that you can use anywhere in your home.

The folks at CSN have graceiously offered a $35 gift certificate for your shopping pleasure. If you would like to enter for a chance to win, all you have to do is leave me a comment telling me what you would buy if you won.

I will accept entries until midnight November 2nd, Central time. I will announce the winner on November 3rd in the afternoon.

NOTE: I am extending the time to enter. I will accept entries until midnight on November 7th Central time. I will announce the winner Monday, November 8th

That's it!
Good luck!

::A BOOK REVIEW::

2010-10-26T14:32:00.001-05:00

Hi there!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful day wherever you are. A big shout out to anyone living out in the midwest. Hear they are having some awful storms out that way. Y'all stay safe.

If you have never sewed before or have minimal experience and would love to learn more. Than Deborah Moebes book is for you. Sorry, the pick is not clickable. It is the only pic I could find of the cover from Amazon.

This is the best well done begining sewer book I have ever seen hands down. She covers everything from the basics of sewing to why we should prewash our fabric before we sew. Each of the projects in the book is photographed every step of the way with welll written clear directions. Ladies, this is a first for me to see in a sewig book with this many projects in it. She starts with very small beginning projects and has you work up to harder things like sewing zippers, etc.

This is a must have for your sewing library if you don't already own it. I am planning on buying the book next week. I have also contacted Deborah in hopes of her possibly giving a signed copy away here on my blog. So, hopefully that will pan out. So keep your eyes peeled for that.

Additionally, I have been chatting with someone from CSN and I will definitley be doing a giveaway here. Just not sure when. Hopefully soon though as it sure would come in handy to a lucky winner for Christmas gifts, wouldn't it?

I am working on a tutorial to share with you all. It is of a sewing/quilty nature.

Enjoy your evening!

::Handmade::

2010-10-25T17:36:00.000-05:00

With having moved this year and done a bit of traveling with vacations and what not; the holidays will be lowkey this year.

I am planning on giving handmade gifts this year. I have done this in the past and the family for the most part enjoys their gift. If you too are planning on making it a handmade holiday season this year be sure she stop by http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/

During the month of November they will have 30 days of
handmade holidays.

So, if you are looking for inspiration I am sure they won't disappoint. They will be having giveaways as well, so go and be inspired!

Another giveaway!!

2010-10-23T16:49:00.003-05:00

Can you stand it? Lots of generous blog gals out there in blogland.

Have you been to
http://thepaintedhive.blogspot.com/

Kristine is a sweetie and she shares so many wonderful projects that she has done for her home. She has shared everything from redoing furniture to creating art to hang in your home. If you haven't been by her blog you will have to stop by and enter her giveaway and tell her "hello."

Hope on over to get the details of how you can enter to win this

Photo by Kristine of The Painted Hive

She made this beautiful linen faux grain sack pillow. Click the link to read about her linen throw that she made for her masterbedroom redo.

http://thepaintedhive.blogspot.com/2010/10/diy-linen-throwand-grainsack-style.html

She got such a great deal on this linen that she had some leftover to share in the form of this beautiful pillow as a giveaway.

In other news, I have had a busy week so wasn't able to post much this week. I have lots to share and hope to post something for you all each day. That will be a first. I dont' ever do that.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

A gracious giveaway.....

2010-10-18T22:02:00.000-05:00

Head on over to

She won a $150.00 gift card from Lowes due to winning with her patio project at
Oneprojectcloser.com

She is so grateful to her readers for voting for her that she wanted to share her winnings.

Here are the ways you can be entered in this giveaway for a $75.00 gift card to Lowe’s:

1. Leave a comment telling her what you would use your gift card for…DIY project, Christmas gift to hubby. etc.

2. Tweet about this giveaway and go back and tell her in a separate comment. (leave your twitter name or link)

3. Share this giveaway on your facebook page and go tell her about it in a separate comment.

4. Mention this giveaway on your blog and go tell her about it in a separate comment.

That’s four chances to win!!!

The giveaway ends Friday. October 22nd at midnight EST.

She will announce the winner on Saturday from the Relevant 10 Conference in Harrisburg, PA.

Good luck!

P.S. You don’t have to follow her or subscribe to her blog to be entered in the giveaway, but she sure would love it if you would anyway. :)

FALL CLEANING AND DECLUTTERING

2010-10-06T23:52:00.000-05:00

So, I mentioned in my last post that fall has me decluttering and deep cleaning so everything is ready to go before we head into winter.

I am so happy that my local Wal-Mart is finally selling these.

Ever since Andrea (over at http://fadedplains.blogspot.com/ ) shared what she uses to clean her house. I had been on the look out for the product ever since. I chose the lavender scent and love the scent it leaves behind after I am finished cleaning.

I also have been inspired by http://houseofsmiths.blogspot.com/2010/07/pantry-remix.html
Y'all have to click the link to see her pantry redo if you haven't already done so. I am in the middle of organizing mine and will share it with you all later this week.

What do you like to do to your home during the autumn season?

Autumn.....

2010-10-04T20:53:00.002-05:00

Does it make you want to declutter and clean things out? Does it make you want to curl up by the fire with a warm cup of hot cocoa? Does it make you want to whip out your recipes of soups?

For me, it's all of the above. One of our very favorite things about fall is looking forward to these.

They are Honeycrisp apples and we only get the chance to enjoy these in the Fall. I plan on making some applesauce, rustic tarts and some apple fritters with Honeycrisp this season. They have a wonderful texture and flavor and my most favorite thing to do is slice one up and eat it raw. The best thing about them is that if you slice them up and decide to eat them later, they won't have that brownish look on them when you eat them. They flesh stays looking as if you just sliced it.

Below I am sharing my apple fritter batter with you. I hope you take some time out and enjoy some apples this Autumn season.

APPLE FRITTER BATTER

3 to 4 large apples, peeled and chopped

1 C. flour

1 T. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

2 eggs

1/2 C. milk

1 T. melted fat

Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in milk and eggs. Drop your chopped apples into the batter and combine so that all the apples are coated with the batter. Then drop your a few spoonfulls of the batter in the fat and let it fry up and then turn. They should be golden brown. I like to place them on paper towels to drain them and cool slightly and then serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top or not.

Enjoy!

Tomorrow I will share some soup recipes I like to make during the Autumn season.

WRAPPED IN LOVE.....

2010-09-30T14:36:00.000-05:00

Remember a long while back I was given the opportunity to make a quilt for my friend who lost her mom to cancer???

She gathered some clothes...shirts,etc. that were her moms and some shirts that were her father's and asked me to make her a lap quilt to give her father.

Well, after looking at all the many clothes and shirts she had given to me I came up with a pattern. Her mom was a teacher for over 25 years. She taught in the public school system; as well as at church. So, to me it was important to put her T-shirt that represented most of her life as a teacher in the middle of the quilt. She was also a grandmom and alumni of Perdue. Go Boilermakers! My friend tells me she was a wonderful woman that loved the Lord, teaching and her family.

I recently sent off this quilt to my friend. I titled the label "Wrapped in Love." I sure hope her Daddy likes the quilt and finds comfort in it not only by warmth, but by the memory of his lovely wife.

Here is the finished quilt which my daughter so graciously held up for me so I could snap a pic of it to share on the blog.

Mini reveal of the masterbedroom...

2010-09-27T14:28:00.002-05:00

Hi there!

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. We did.

Sorry to have postponed the bedroom reveal a couple of times. I didn't want to reveal until it was TOTALLY done. Unfortunately, I have come to realize it will be a work in progress. So, I will share what I have so far.

So far I have only spent $74.74 My greatest find that was at the most phenomenal price you wouldn't believe were these lamps. Here is a view of it on my hubby's nightstand. I really wanted new lamps for this room and I was looking for glass based lamps. I found these at Target.

Look at that glass. Don't you just love it? It's the kind that has a crackle look to it. If you click on the picture you may be able to see it better. And are you ready for this??? Doesn't this lamp look like it could be pretty pricey??? I thought so too until I picked up the lamp base and looked at the price tag. They were $8.74 a piece!! Can you believe that? I thought y'all might not, so I took a picture of the clearance price tag.

Next up is the bed. I was looking all over for a white ruffled bedskirt. I have to tell you though I was not about to pay $89.00 for a bedskirt! That is how much they were for a queen sized bed. I already had this natural linen tailored one so I used this. I also already at this alternative comforter as well. So, no money spent there. FREE!! Love it.

Not sure if you can see the shams too well in this pic, but they are Battenburg Lace shams. I also have a bed skirt to match it, but it doesn't quite go all the way to the floor, so I didn't use it. Since I already had these, they were free as well. Don't you love when you are able to use what you have already?

Here is a better view of the bed with the linens on it.

Here is a closeup of our cedar waterfall chest. It is one of the few pieces of furniture we bought when we were first married. It has served us well. It is a very deep chest and I store lots and lots of blankets in it. That blanket on it is the most soft blanket. It is my fave and I occassionally curl up with it on the sofa next to hubby to watch movies.

One thing I didn't take a pic of is the one splurge I made....and that was on the sheets. Y'all, I have never had 400 + thread count sheets before. They are the softest, most comfortable sheets I have ever slept on before. They even have a tag at the bottom of the sheet to let you know that that end goes at the foot of the bed. So fancy. I love them. They seem to get softer each time I wash them.

So, the grand total spent so far is:

Sheet set          44.00
Lamps             16.74
Shades            14.00
       Total         74.74

Not bad, eh? Tomorrow I will show you the seating area and hopefully my version of the Bonne Nuit pillow.

Let me know what you think so far. Do the glass lamps look okay with our furniture? Do you like the bedding? Is there anything you can suggest to add to the bedding?

Enjoy your day!

Update on the masterbedroom

2010-09-23T00:19:00.000-05:00

My back is feeling much better and I am hoping to do a mini reveal on Friday. I have been having the hardest time finding drapes for our room. I have been looking for white ones and long ones at that. We have odd sized windows that either require custom drapes or spending the extra money to purchase the length we need. I found some beautiful Shabby Chic ones at Target, but they weren't the correct length. Been looking online and it seems I may have found some at IKEA. Only thing is that this room redo is on a major budget and I will need to save up to purchase these drapes. I think they will finish of the room and give it the softness and airiness that I am going for. Until then, I will share with you what I have so far and you all can give me tips of what I can change or add or whatever.

In the meantime, you must go take a look at Tina's blog. She posted recently about some hemstitch pillows she made for her bed and I gotta tell ya, I was just in awe of them. So beautiful....and all done by hand. You must go take a look see.
http://therubieplace.blogspot.com/2010/09/spring-fever-some-diy-linen-pillow.html

She has inspired me with her beautiful handwork to make a runner for my dresser. I am going to give this project a go and if I am successful I will share with you all.

Summer has drawn to an end and Fall is upon us ...well, not here in Louisiana cause it's still stinking hot, but in other parts of the states crisp cool days are ahead. I love them and will miss the changing of the leaves and the crisp, coolness in the air. This time of year always had me reaching for a warm cup of hot chocolate or tea and making lots of hearty soups to warm our bellies. It has also gotten me thinking that Christmas is not too far off. I like to give handmade to our family around the holidays and I am in need of some inspiration. Are you making handmade for the holidays this year? If so, please share.

Have a great day!

Master bedroom update..

2010-09-18T16:04:00.000-05:00

Hey there.
I wasn't able to do the masterbedroom reveal on Friday as you probably already noticed. I ran into several glitches. I also threw out my back. Been taking advil and taking it easy.

I was able to acquire some new things for the room at prices you wouldn't believe. Can't wait to share and give you a breakdown of the items. You won't believe it.

Enjoy your weekend and hopefully I will be able to do the reveal next weekend.

Masterbedroom makeover in process...

2010-09-12T23:32:00.000-05:00

Hi all!

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! We did.

I can't believe it's the middle of September already. I have been working on my masterbedroom and hope to reveal it Friday. You might remember me talking about how much I disliked the UGLY green wall color in their. Well, I have come to terms with the fact that the hubs isn't going to paint and as much as I would like to tackle doing it myself, I don't think I could do it well with those twelve foot ceilings.

I have decided to go with all white bedding with some natural linen thrown in there. If I can get my hands on some taupe and white ticking this week I will throw some of that in as well. I am also looking for some new lamps for the bedside tables. I have some glass based ones in mind, but we will see. I am doing this room on a budget. I have looked all over for a decent white ruffled bedskirt that won't cost me a fortune and I wasn't able to find one so I am going with something I already have. I also have been looking for some white curtains to hang on the windows. Twill ones in particular, but every time I find a pair for a good price I read the reviews and it seems that all the twill curtain panels out there seem to shrink when washed. So, I have come to the conclusion that I am doing drop cloth drapes. I just hope that I am happy with the end product when I am done with them. I am also hoping to do one large art piece above the bed.

Big reveal day is Friday....or Thursday if I finish it earlier.
Have a great week.

SUBWAY ART TUTORIAL

2010-08-25T14:12:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I said I would share how I made my subway art.

Well, here goes my first tutorial. I hope my pictures and written directions are clear. If you have any questions feel free to email me.

SUBWAY ART TUTORIAL

What you will need:

your canvas/wood or surface of your choice
stylus, pen or pencil whichever you like to work with
your printed wording or saying
mat board
paint
paintbrush
graphite paper

I have chosen to use the scripture reference to show you how I did this . Here are my materials.

I use my mat board so that I don't ruin the table top I am working on. First, I printed out my wording then I took my canvas and my graphite paper and my printed wording and started tracing away. Here is how it looked before I started tracing. I placed my graphite paper down and then placed my wording on top of that where I wanted it . Then I started tracing the outline of the letters and numbers with my pen.

The next step makes me giddy...cause I am an instant gratifaction gal when it comes to projects. Once you finish tracing and pick up your graphite paper and your wording here is what you are left with.

There is my wording that is now transferred on to the canvas. Pretty cool, huh?

All that is left to do now is fill in your traced letters with some paint.

Then sit back and admire your handiwork.

YOU'RE DONE!

Please share if you decide to make your version of subway art with my tutorial. I would love to see what you come up with.

Come take a peek at my SUBWAY ART

2010-08-24T08:04:00.003-05:00

Last week I wanted to share a project with you that I was working on, but life got busy and I wasn't able to share it on Friday like I had planned.

I worked on it some on Saturday and Sunday we were gone all day so I didn't have a dedicated block of time to work on it. Yesterday I was determined to get it done and hang it up.

In our new home it's important to me to decorate with things that have meaning....like faith and family. So, to start off my first piece of artwork here, I chose to have a scriputre verse on my subway art. I plan on making more to put throughout the house. I chose Joshua 24:15 to use. Here it is. Let me know what you think.

and here is a close up. I had a little paint mishap, so there is a smudge I need to fix and I also need to paint in the scripture reference.

I am pleased with how it turned out. I am not sure if I will lean it up against the wall like that on the mantel or actually hang it up a little higher. What do you think? Lean or hang?

Now I have my very own piece of subway art that is meaningful to me and my family....and do you want to know what the best part is???? It only cost me the price of the canvas...which was $18.99!

Stop by tomorrow and I will share how I made my subway art.

Have a great day!

A GIVEAWAY you won't want to miss

2010-08-23T07:52:00.002-05:00

Have you seen one of these?

If you have, then you know this sweet little machine can create lots of neat things to make your home look wonderful and much more...

If you haven't, hop on over to the
http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/2010/08/super-fantabulous-product-giveaway_23.html

She talks all about it and tells you how you can enter her giveaway to win one!
Hurry!
Good luck!

I have been inspired...

2010-08-19T08:13:00.005-05:00

Since moving into our new home recently I have been blog hopping lots of blogs that have home dec ideas/tutorials. You know, the we can make it ourself without having to pay and arm and leg for it. So, I am on a quest to redo the bedding and add some window treatments in our master bedroom. You can scroll down below to see what the room looks like. I so dread this ugly green on the wall. The hubs likes it and absolutely has NO desire to paint. I would love to paint it a steeley blue color or even a gray...or is it grey??? Anyhow, here is my inspiration for a pillow that I will be making to put on the bed. I absolutely love the font they used and the simple elegance of this pillow.

photo: Pottery Barn

I also plan on making my own shams. I am looking for some fabric that will lighten and brighten this space since I can't paint. : (

I am thinking of making some shams like these. What do you all think? Maybe with the right fabric it will go nicely with the french lumbar pillow?

photo: Pottery Barn

I plan on using white bedding for the quilt part of it and possibly a white bedskirt. They only place there will be color will be on the shams, the lumbar pillow and maybe some euro pillows. We'll see. In any case, here are some sad pics of the room below. Look past the mess please as we are on the last few boxes of finding a home for all our stuff.

So, as you walk in the room, you will see our bed up against this wall. See how hideous that green is? Oh my ...our lamps are looking pitaful too. We haven't been able to locate the harps...thus no lampshades. Did I tell you I am looking for new lamps too?? LOL, I told the movers that if they accidentally were to drop those, I would totally be okay with it.

To the left of the bed we have an alcove area. The previous owners had a sofa in this area. We decided to put our two reading chairs here. I know, they are burgandy leather recliners....it just adds to the disjointedness of this room. If that wasn't enough, I couldn't get a good pic of this area to save my life. Sorry for the dark shot in this area. Again, please look past the mess. And doesn't that light fixture look weird there? We do have pot lights above that would probably be enough light, but it's always nice to have task lighting.

This is to the right of the bed. You first see this on the right as you come in the room. See the door there? The doors to the left of the dresser lead into our HUGE master bath and closet. More on that in another post. You can also see here in this picture why I think the hubs is okay with the green color. We have 12 foot ceilings. Yeah, it would take lotsa paint, a ladder of which we probably don't have one big enough. blah blah blah.

Then, to the left of the door is my dresser. We haven't attached the mirror to it yet. The movers broke off a screw that was used to attach it. So, we have to get that fixed. I actually didn't want to have him attach it. I wanted to be able to play with hanging some pics and doing some season vignettes on the dresser. So, we will see about that. Again, sorry for the dark pic.

Ewww, and can you see in this picture that the previous owners painted the curtain rods that same UGLY shade of green? YIKES!!

I know, I am complaining way too much about the color. Go ahead, tell me. It's not a color I like at all. Don't even own any clothing in that color. I don't think our black furniture shows well against it. But what I will tell you is that I LOVE all the windows that allow the light to come in when it's a sunny day. I also LOVE the triple crown molding, the beautiful, large master bath and closet and the carpet. So, with that being said I have another project in the wings as well. I am hoping to share that with you tomorrow. It involves a canvas from Hobby Lobby, some paint and some freezer paper. So stay tuned for that.

another GIVEAWAY!

2010-08-16T19:37:00.006-05:00

Thanks to Kelly and Traci for participating in my giveaway! Scroll down below to see who won.

Now Sam over at http://thenestuk.blogspot.com/ is having a CSN Giveaway! Hop on over to her blog and enter to win.
Click on the link below to head on over to Sam's blog

GIVEAWAY WINNER!

2010-08-16T10:19:00.004-05:00

Happy Monday to everyone!

The winner of the Inspirational Home giveaway is

Traci

A big thank you to you and Kelly for participating in my giveaway!. Because there was just two of you participating I don't want anyone going away empty handed. So Kelly, you will be getting a little something in the mail as well.

Please email me so I can send you both your little gifties.

GIVEAWAY!!

2010-08-13T11:11:00.002-05:00

In honor of all things home and family, I am having a GIVEAWAY today!

Have you heard of

If you haven't, then let me tell you a little bit about her. She is a wife, mom, artist and author of

I turned 43 a few weeks ago and treated myself to this book. I have been entering giveaways all over blogland to win a copy, but it never happened. Now, I am giving you the opportunity to win a copy of this lovely book.

Jeanne shares how to decorate your home with faith inspired art. She gives you clear directions and even has a page with copyright free graphics you can use in your projects.

Once you have entered for a chance to win, pop on over to Jeanne's site and check out her artwork and then you can head on over to her blog!

Have fun!

http://www.jeannewinters.com/

http://jeannewinters.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-07-20T16%3A13%3A00-06%3A00&max-results=30

To enter for a chance to win this book and an extra little surprise something tucked in the box, leave me a comment on how you decorate your home with faith inspired ideas.

Winner will be picked on Monday, August 16th , central time. So, hurry and enter. You have until midnight Sunday night.

Have a great weekend!

Sneaky peek of the new place...

2010-08-09T17:45:00.002-05:00

Welcome!
Here is our front door.

I love the style of it and tomorrow I will show you the unique architectural feature on the inside of this door that I love. Also, there is a unique lighting fixture on each side of this door that I think really makes the entrance to the front look so grand. I will share that tomorrow as well.

Would like to share some pics of the backyard garden with you first. First up is the lovely swing that the previous owner built. .

yard swing

The beautifully overgrown canopy is grape vine and wisteria. If you are sitting down on the swing and looking up you can see these

They are muscadine grapes. We haven't picked any yet, but I thought they would make for a cool photo op. Next up is my fave thing in the whole yard. Are you tired of me talking about it yet??? It's the fig tree.

figs

We missed the first round of harvest to make some fig jam. So hopefully there will be another bumper crop in the next couple of weeks or so. Hoping to get the stawberry fig jam recipe from my hubby's aunt so that I can make some to enjoy this winter.

Moving on to the herb area of the garden. Here you will see lemon basil and basil , rosemary and oregano(not shown)

lemon basil and basil

rosemary bush

Stop by tomorrow and I will share some more of the garden and a sneeky peek into the master suite. I need your help ladies. The wall colors in the whole house we just love. I unfortunately don't care for the color in the master bedroom,but hubs said no painting will be happening. : ( So, I have to make the best of what is there. So, need your ideas. HELP me out!!

Friday I will be posting a giveaway. So tell all your friends to stop by.

We are finally here....

2010-07-23T10:28:00.004-05:00

Hi there!
We made it to the new house a couple of weeks ago. After being engulfed in boxes and furniture for a week we decided to head out on vacation. We just recently returned and it's back to getting the house in order.

Once we have things bloggable I will post pictures. Lots to share.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer.

What do you enjoy about blogging.....

2010-06-21T14:13:00.010-05:00

For me, blogging is a way to share some of my ideas with others on quilting, sewing, cooking and family.

I am always grateful for those ladies out there who are willing to share tutorials on anything that has to do with sewing, quilting, home decor, cooking, etc. I am a very visual person and these gals that take the time to photograph each step and write the directions are just the best.

I have had the opportunity to befriend some sweet people out there who are generous, friendly and enjoy blogging just as much as I do.

So, for me to have had the opportunity to meet one of my bloggy friends was an absolute treat. I had the opportunity to meet Stacey ( and her sweet girls )at

http://theblessednest.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2010-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-05%3A00&updated-max=2011-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-05%3A00&max-results=50

She recently moved back to the Chicagoland area and I thought it would be nice if we had a chance to meet. I was hoping to go to the Eddie Ross event in Illinois with her, but because of our move and bad timing, I wasn't able to.

Instead, we met up in downtown Naperville. Beautiful town in the springtime. Lots to do and see. Stacey shared some of her favorite stores she likes to go into and I shared a couple of mine. Stacey is just as sweet in person as she appears on her blog. I enjoyed spending time with her and her daughters. It was like meeting up with a friend you hadn't seen in years.

What do you like about blogging? Have you had the opportunity to meet any blogging friends?

On a side note, we have a buyer for our house. God is so good. We are heading out this week and I will be off the grid for posting for at least a couple of weeks. Once we are settled, I will post all about the adventure.
Until then, here is a pic of Stacey and I . If you haven't been to her blog, do stop by and tell her who sent ya.

Things that make me smile..

2010-06-15T18:54:00.010-05:00

Daylilies

We are moving soon and I was upset that I might not get to see my hydrangea bushes bloom. Well, guess what? They both have bloomed and they are beautiful. I am so happy. They are the blueish ones. My absolute fave. I plan to take some cuttings tomorrow and put some in a vase for my window above my kitchen sink.

Did you know the ph level of the soil is what determines if they are blueish or pinkish? If the soil is acidic they are blue and if the soil is alkaline they are pink. I thought that was so fascinating. We didn't do a soil test when we planted these. We just planted them and I hoped for the best.

We have lived in this house for five years and this particular hydrangea below finally bloomed. It's and oak leaf hydrangea. When we first moved here we thought it was on it's way out, but we would prune it and water it when necessary and now look at it. It has such pretty white cone shaped flowers.

What is making you smile this week?

It's GIVEAWAY time again.....

2010-06-13T14:34:00.005-05:00

Hop on over to
http://dreamywhites.blogspot.com/

Read her interview with Christina Strutt and enter her giveaway to have a chance to win !

Giveaway information!!

Cabbages and Roses will be giving away a lovely Cabbages and Roses tablecloth and 6 napkins to one lucky reader.
Valued at $185.00

You get to choose from three different Cabbages and Roses patterns, Natural Raspberry, Tulip and Rose, and or Cerise Hatley.

All of their linens are beautiful!
The giveaway will end June 15th at midnight p.s.t.
The winner will be announced June 16th.
Random number will be used to pick the winner.
You must leave a separate comment for each entry to count

So hurry, head on over and enter!

Ideas for the new house

2010-06-04T20:11:00.006-05:00

Okay, so I got the unpacking and the laundry up to speed in one day. That in and of itself was unbelievable. Since that is all done and out of the way I thought I would share a little bit about the new house and ask for your ideas to help me decorate the guest room.

It's a four bedroom home. All on one floor. The guest bedroom is huge. Well, let's just say it's a lot bigger than the one we have now. I has space for a bed, dresser, end tables, reading chair with lighting and possibly a desk. You wouldn't believe the size of the closet if I told you. It's huge as well. I could probably do a jig in it for you (haha). What I like about it most is that it is has it's own private full size bath.

The backyard is big as well and one of the pluses that we are happy about is that it is fenced in. The previous owners have done a beautiful job landscaping it. There already is a veggie garden area established, an orange tree, a lime tree and a fig tree! So excited about that one. I have always wanted to make fig jam from my own figs. There is also a magnolia, rose bushes and rosemary bush. There is lots more, but I don't know all the names. It truly is a lovely home that they have taken care of.

Another plus with this house is we won't have to paint for the first time. The colors on the walls are lovely already. Well, except for the master bedroom. It is a tasteful green, but green is my least fave color. But I need to make it work somehow. So, that will also be a room I will need your help in. So send any pics or ideas my way.

Now, about the guest quarters. I am either going seaside retreat or farmhouse chic or maybe the B&B feel. I want your ideas to help me pull it off.

I like the idea of this first pic. I plan on placing something like this on the counter in the guest bath. I will have space in the bedroom to place a tray on a dresser with coffee and tea packets, cream and sugar and a coffee maker as well as mugs. You know, kinda like you would see at a hotel. Also toying with the idea of a mini fridge, but probably won't do that as the guest quarters are pretty close to the kitchen.

photo: Country Living

Here is one inspiration photo I like for the guest room. It's light pallate make it look fresh and welcoming.

Not sure the source of this one. If anyone knows please email so I can give credit for it. I love the light, tonal pallate going on here. Looks comfy and feels very welcoming.

This next one I really love and would like to incorporate this look into our master bedroom. Love the tonal tan bedding and the sign over the bed. Not too crazy about the pillows on the bed. I think verbage on those is overkill with the sign over the bed.

Okay, that's it for now.
Enjoy your weekend!

Sorry to take such a long blog break...

2010-06-03T15:12:00.003-05:00

We are back from house hunting. We have found a new home and hopefully will be heading out soon.

I have unpacking and laundry to do, so will be back to blogging on Monday.

Have a great weekend everyone!

A few thoughts...

2010-05-15T22:21:00.005-05:00

First, I hope you enjoyed seeing a few corners of my home. We have had some showings, but nothing promising yet.

Secondly, if you haven't noticed already, I have done a little house cleaning at this ole blog. My hubby recently spent quite some time fixing my computer. Seems my blog hopping and link clicking got me in a world of trouble with computer viruses. Not knowing where or how, I have decided to not have my blogroll anymore. Now this doesn't mean I won't stop your blogs anymore. That is so not the case. I still check in each morning to see what everyone is up to. I just won't be doing a lot of clicking and surfing around is all.

Lastly, I hope to share a few sewing things with you later this week. I have had some ideas rolling around, but didn't have the mojo to sew them up and share.

Hope everyone has a good week.

Come on in and take a tour of ....

2010-05-06T09:46:00.030-05:00

WELCOME TO MY HOME!

Come on in.

I am so glad y'all stopped by. If you frequent my blog, then you will know we are moving. We finally got our home on the market and I am so happy....for two reasons. One, because the house is always clean and tidy. LOVE THAT! ...and two because we are looking foward to heading out for a new adventure. So grab yourself a cup of sweet tea and stroll on through a few corners of my home.

First up is our bedroom. Not anything fancy, but it's comfy for us.

Here is another view

Before I learned how to quilt I became a collector of quilts. I have so many different ones to change out in this room along with bedskirts as well. My favorite quilt for this bed though is the toile quilt you see on the bed. I usually pair it up with a black and white gingham check bedskirt, but liked the looks of this against the furniture.

Next up is our master bath. One of the things that we loved about this house were the DOUBLE SINKS!! Oh yeah baby. We were excited about double sinks after having shared a sink for many years.

Another plus of this bathroom is the natural light that comes through the picture windows. There is also a stand up shower, loo with a door, and the soaker tub you see here. Sad to say, we hardly ever used the soaker tub.

Look at this score I got at a garage sale around the corner from our house. In keeping with the french country feel, I thought this would look lovely to hold our toiletries. It's a pedastal silver tray. See that sweet, white edged hankerchief on there??? I got the tray and six of those hankerchiefs for $4.00. The lady that sold them to me said she actually used them to you know, blow her nose. I said I couldn't dream of blowing my nose in them. They are too pretty.

I never shared my kitchen with you or our family room. Let's look at those next. Again, nothing fancy, but it does the job for me. I love red if you haven't noticed. I have little touches of it here and there all over the house. If you look there on the island, that is usually where I am blogging from.

To the left of the island, you will find the breakfast nook area as well as the french doors that lead out to the deck. Then keep going left and you will find our family room. Love this type of layout where the kitchen opens up to the family room. It makes for great entertaining and we love to entertain.

Moving on to the family room you will see more red and another quilt.

Here are a few more views.

Come back tomorrow and I will share the childrens rooms and the foyer. I am hoping to sometime today paint that piece my hubby made for me a few years ago. Maybe you all can help me with a vignette to display on it.

Enjoy your day!

A new blog and a house tour...

2010-05-04T07:09:00.006-05:00

Hi everyone!

Our house is finally on the market. I will be sharing a house tour with you later this morning.... MINE! The house is so clean. I love it! Every room is looking lovely. You see we live in every room of our home, so they are usually LIVED IN. Only drawback is any time we go out of the house we need to make sure the beds are made and there are no dishes in the sink blah blah blah. Now, you probably think that is not a big deal, but when you are in a rush to head out somewhere you aren't thinking about that stuff. So be sure to check back later this morning to see.

In the meantime I want you to welcome Kristine to blogland. She just started up her blog....

Hop on over there and say G'day to her and give her blog a looksee. She has a beautiful home and you will be amazed at what she does with a small space.

Sharing.....

2010-04-18T21:27:00.009-05:00

Well, looks like the feature Friday post was a bust...or maybe folks were spending time with their families and not surfing blogs....if that's the case, then I am all for y'all missing. I'd rather ya'll be having fun with your families than being glued to the pc.

Very busy with getting things ready for putting the house on the market. Putting the FOR SALE sign out in a week. So, I have things to finish up sewing, painting and staging ....OH MY!! So, I will leave you with a few pics from our trip back in November. I didn't share all the pics with y'all back in November...just a few. Didn't want to bore y'all. But I think you will get a chuckle out of the story below along with the pics.

Well, this city/suburbs gal has never really seen a cotton field up close. So, I made the hubby stop so I could get the "KODAK" moment. I crossed over the ditch and then walked through some grass to get this pic. It didn't dawn on me until I was there getting this close up pic that there might be, oh, um, I don't know....SNAKES and who knows what other kinda critters!! Thankfully, I never saw any. But can I tell you I was petrified to walk back to the car after I took the pic. I sure was. The hubby was like, come on, it's fine. You walked out there. It's okay. I wanted to pic several pieces off of it to take home, but knew that wasn't right to do. Really, I was tresspassing and risking my life just to get this pic. Shouldn't that be enough? In the end it was.

Pic above is me standing pretty much right in front of the cotton. Close enough to touch it and zoning in to get a good pic.

This pic was taken from the "safe zone." As in at the side of the road with me zooming my camera in. I really wasn't wanting to crossover the ditch and what not, but as you read above I ended up doing that...cuz ya know, you have to do whatever needs to be done to get that KODAK moment. : )

The next photo I hope you can see. You may have to click on it to see it a little better. I didn't have a telephoto lens on my camera. Had I, this pic might have been even better. As we were on our trip we were always looking for deer. My husband had caught this group of deer out of the corner of his eye. They were way off in a field probably 200 yards from the road. Mind you we were going in one direction probably about 50 plus miles an hour and when he saw them out of the corner of his eye , he took the next available u turn area to whip us back around...cause yeah, you guessed it...it's all about the KODAK moment...again.Have a blessed day!

IT"S FEATURE FRIDAY!!

2010-04-16T00:00:00.001-05:00

Hello all!
Welcome to Feature Friday! Every Friday there will be a different feature and hopefully you will learn something new.

Earlier this week I received a Cath Kidston catalog and saw these in their catalog.

They are called "wellies" or Wellington boots. I wanted to know where they got their name from. Then I got an idea. I thought maybe other people are wondering like me and want to know as well. And that is how Feature Friday came about.

So, where did the name Wellington boots come from? Why do we call them Wellies? What do the original ones look like? Below is a pic of the Duke of Wellington with his boots on.

The first Duke of Wellington named Arthur Wellesly instructed his shoe maker to modify the 18th century Hessian boot after arriving back from defeating Naplolean . He found his boots to be uncomfortable and worn out. The shoe maker was instructed to make a simple modification. The original boot was made out of calfskin leather. The new boot that his shoe maker came up with was made out of rubber; hardwearing, comfy and perhaps lighter than the old Hessian boot. The boot was also treated with wax to make it waterproof. The Duke realized he had a high quality boot for his troops. Soon, these boots were widely used. They played a pivotal role in history. They worn at the Battle of Waterloo and both World Wars.

Today, fashion dictates and you can find wellies in a wonderful array of colors and patterns, but don't be fooled by the beautiful eye candy. A lot of these fashion forward wellies are made of plastic and don't stand the test of time like an original Wellington boot. If choose to buy these plastic ones you will have aching feet. When looking to purchase a Wellington boot. Look for good quality insoles and rubber heals.

Through the years the original Wellie as been updated. You can find the Wellie in fun and funky patterns and colors. Check these out. So, you don't have to sacrafice fashion to be comfy in your Wellies while you garden.
Hope you enjoyed todays Feature Friday. Sunday evening I will post about my giveaway. So check back then.
Enjoy your weekend!

Doing a little of this.....finally.....

2010-04-14T08:09:00.007-05:00

I have been busy doing a little of this and am here actually posting about it. I can't remember when I actually shared with you all about some actual quilting that had been going on. You know, it's only part of the title of my blog.

I shared several months back that a friend of mine lost her mom to cancer and had saved a few of her shirts, etc. to be turned into a quilt. It took me a while to figure out how to piece it. I wanted to use the shirts with the graphics on the best I could. So without further adieu...or is it ado???? LOL, I don't know. Here is a pic of the quilt in progress. Just a sneaky sneak peek. : )

On the home front. We had the appraisers, inspectors, realtors all here a week ago. The house looked fabulous. You know the kind of fabulous only we as moms can appreciate right then and then when noone is home to mess it up cause you know good and well as soon as every comes home they WILL LIVE in every room. You ladies can relate to that, right? I should of taken pics then...but I didn't. We have a few things to fix on our inpsect list and then I will post pics .

Spring is here in Illinois finally. I know spring is here when my daffodils come up and come up they did . Not too far behind them came the hyacinths. I love the fullness and deep coloring of the hyacinths. It's still not warm enough yet thought for my hydrangeas yet. Probably won't be till summer till they bloom. I will miss it as we are hoping to be moved by then : ( Ah well, I will have a new house to plant bulbs and shrubs and that is something to look forward to.

I also wanted to take this time to thank those of you that follow my wee li'l blog and welcome and thank the newcomers as well.

Come back later this week I will be hosting "my own" giveaway! I will also be starting a new feature. It will be called Feature Friday. I plan on featuring different things that make me wonder where they came from or how they came about. So, stay tuned for that. I think you will enjoy the first one this Friday.

Well, I have quilting to get done and that crazy dryer in the laundry is beeping . So, it's time to throw in another load.

Have a great day!

A home tour ..

2010-04-04T21:51:00.020-05:00

Hello there! I hope everyone had a blessed Easter! We did. It had been a busy week last week so it was nice to just relax today and enjoy time spent with family.

I would like to introduce you to the lovely Rie and her beautiful family.

of
http://homeandharmony.blogspot.com

Here is a pic of their lovely house from the outside.

Now, let's take a looksee inside.

First up is their kitchen. When they moved into their home the kitchen had 25 ft. ceilings. They felt the high ceilings made the home feel cold. So, they set out to bring the ceiling down and do away with the half wall and the pillars by the kitchen. In so doing, they created a more open and inviting space.

photo by Rie of Home and Harmony

kitchen before pic
and here is the

afer pic of the kitchenphoto by Rie of Home and Harmony

Can you see the ceiling. They brought it down and between the boards they installed beadboard and recessed lighting. Now that the pillars and the half wall are gone, the kitchen is really opened up to the living space.

Here is another view of the kitchen. Don't you just love that island? I do. Rie talks about how she and her husband acquired it and how they tranformed it into the beautiful island you see today. You can read about the tranformation of their kitchen as well as the island here:http://homeandharmony.blogspot.com/2010/02/before-and-after-kitchen.html

photo by Rie of Home and Harmony

I especially like the way she has decorated her childrens rooms. They are beautifully decorated, but not cluttered. Have color, but aren't overdone. Below is a picture of the girls room. Now what little girl wouldn't want to sleep in a dreamy bedroom like this?

photo by Rie of Home and Harmony

The room is light and airy and the pom poms suspended from the ceiling not only give the room a pop of color, but add texture. The white painted furniture and matching quilts at the foot of the bed tie everything together.

The boys room is equally well dressed. Again, we have painted furniture, but in black. Very masculine, but sophisticated so that this room will grow with the boys. No need to change out any themey accessories. Love those quilts on the bed. My son has the same one. In the boys room she uses red for the pop of color on the pillows and brings some texture in with the corduroy pillows and the basket at the foot of the bed.

photo by Rie of Home and Harmony

Next up is a pic of their living room. Rie is a big fan of slipcovers. Another thing that I would love to incorporate into my home. She really makes the room cozy with a few key pieces without making it cluttered.

There is lots more to see. Like the full redo of their kitchen in the link I provided above as well as a very creative idea Rie came up with for their dining room tablecloth which you can read about here:http://homeandharmony.blogspot.com/2010/02/signature-tablecloth.html

A big thank you to Rie for allowing me to showcase her beautiful home. Please hop on over and tell Rie "hello" and surf around her blog.
http://homeandharmony.blogspot.com/

Stop by later this week I will have a room tour fit for a cowboy. You won't want to miss this theme room.

HAPPY SPRING!!

2010-03-22T08:27:00.009-05:00

Morning everyone!

Well, the first day of spring was yesterday. I wasn't sure we would have a beautiful, sunny day because on Saturday it was actually snowing. Can you believe it, snowing in March??

Still busy getting things ready, but promise I will be back soon with some goodies for you. In the meantime, be sure to stop by Traci's blog later today she will be announcing who won the giveaway.

Also, she is hosting her first ever linky party on March 30th. Be sure to join in on the fun.

Have a blessed day!

It's GIVEAWAT time again....

2010-03-18T07:30:00.006-05:00

Hop on over to Traci's blog

She is having a fabulous giveaway (it's a $50 value). Leen the Graphics Queen is her sponosor for this giveaway. She has some lovely vinyl decals that you can decorate with. Here is just a sample of some of the things she offers.

She can make vinyl numbers. The one below was made for Layla .

Photo by Layla the Lettered Cottage

Here is another one she offers. Photo by Leen the Graphics Queen

Now head on over to Traci's blog to read about the details on how you can win!

Have a great day!

I am still here...

2010-03-17T09:22:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the lack of blog posting lately. We are earnestly working to get the house ready to put on the market.

Looks like most of the purging is done. Painting is next. just one room. Then, it's time to stage it! I will post pics by the end of the month as well as a new tutorial and some prototypes of ideas that have been rolling around in my head. On Friday I will share some recipes with you all.

Have a great day!

GIVEAWAY!!

2010-03-08T09:58:00.007-06:00

Be sure to read my latest home tour post . You will not be disappointed.

Then, hop on over to Vanessa's blog and enter her giveaway!
http://www.vanessachristenson.com/

She is highlighting one of her longtime sponsors...

Heres what they are giving away to the lucky winner: a rural jardin jelly cake (that's a layer cake and a jelly roll) PLUS a $25 GIFT CERTIFICATE so you can get whatever your little heart's desire may be that day.

Below is a pic of the fabric goodness.

Good luck everyone!

Another beautiful home tour...

2010-03-05T15:55:00.015-06:00

We are still busy prepping our house to put on the market. I will share pics sometime in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, enjoy another beautiful home tour.

Meet Andrea of

http://fadedplains.blogspot.com/

Andrea and her family live in an old farmhouse in the Midwest. They enjoy living a simple country life. As we tour her home you will see that idea of simple country living reflects how she decorates her home. Everything she uses has a function, but it's also decorative too.

First up on our tour his her bathroom. Unfortunatley, she doesn't have a before photo to share. Previously this bathroom was very dark and had broken tiles. Her hubby is pretty handy as you will see throughout this post. He laid the tile and put up the beadboard. He does most of the DIY and she pretties it up with her vignettes and eye for color and texture .

photo by Andrea of Faded Plains

Love the beautiful color on the wall. Great choice on the tile flooring. That pattern is timeless. Don't you just love the french feel with the chair and that burlap pillow?

Andrea will be the first to say she thinks she doesn't do well with vignettes, but I beg to differ. I think she does quite well. The accessories she added here on these shelves bring interest to this wall without being too overdone. Love the texture of the basket and the starfish leaning up against it. Y'all know I love me some mason jars, especially those old green/blue colored glass ones with the zinc lids. Flowers always add life to a room and it looks like that might be Lavender in there.

photo by Andrea of Faded plains

How many of us have a linen closet that is functional, but lovely too??? Not me, I would be embarrassed to show you mine. Andrea likes the idea of simple living. This linen closet showcases that. I love the use of the white pedastool dish holding soap and the baskets holding towels and extra toiletries for the bathroom. It's the right mix of function with purposeful decor.

photo by Andrea of Faded Plains

Next up is her guest room. She was inspired by Layla over at http://www.theletteredcottage.net/ to stripe her walls.

photo by Andrea of Faded Plains

Look at all that pillow love. I love the mix of fabrics on the pillows and the use of white on the quilt and bolsters. I am really into roman shades now. They do the job to cover the windows, but there is so much yummy fabric out there to make them in. They don't have to be boring. Andrea uses what looks like a bamboo or wood kind. The use of this really brings texture into the room. Once again, she balances function and decorating with fabrics, texture and color.

Well dearies, I hope you enjoyed a tour of Andrea's lovely farmhouse. If you want to be wowed by more rooms click on the links below and tell her "hello." She will be delighted you stopped by.

Here is a link to her guest bath. The use of an old dresser with a sink dropped in on top is beautiful. Do you love clawfoot tubs and old glass bottles? She uses some great accessories in here to hold things like cotton balls and q-tips.

http://fadedplains.blogspot.com/2009/12/guest-bathroomcheck.html

She has the most yummy office space to work in everyday. It gets lots of naturl light. Take a look here. All I can say is if I worked in a space like that, I would be so productive. You will have to click on the link to just be in awe.

http://fadedplains.blogspot.com/2010/02/my-office.html

Click on this link to see her dining room. She and her hubby really stepped up this room with their ideas and touches. Check out the before pic and all the work they put into it. Window seats are wonderful and they did a great job incorporting them into this room.

http://fadedplains.blogspot.com/2010/03/help-wanted.html

I saved the best for last. You are not going to believe that Andrea taught herself to sew three months ago after you take a look at this post. She took on a HUGE project and slipcovered her sectional sofa. I gotta tell you, it looks fabulous. I am so very impressed. Andrea, if you are reading this you so have gotten me motivated to do my slipcover for my wingchair. No more lollygagging here. I need to just do it!

Andrea also sells vintage inspired goods at her shop. She has really unique items. Give her shop a looksee.

http://www.fadedplains.com/

I hope you enjoyed the tour and you will stop by Andrea's blog .

Grab a cuppa, you will not be disappointed.

Have a great weekend!

A beautiful home tour

2010-02-18T09:05:00.014-06:00

Today I want to share a beautiful home with you. It is the home of Maria at http://vintagesimplehome.blogspot.com/

You may have seen her home showcased if you have visited

http://www.designspongeonline.com/2010/02/sneak-peek-maria-garuti-of-vintage-simple.html

Or maybe you stop by her blog daily. In any case, she has wonderful style and uses white and wood tones wonderfully. The color, textures and her attention to detail make each room a serene and inviting place to be.

Here is a pic of her living room which is at the front of the home.

photo by Maria of Vintage Simple

I love the warm color she has on the walls and the beadboard at the entrace is just beautiful. Here is another photo of the living room from a different angle. Don't you just love the character of this house? Look at that lovely arch.

photo by Maria of Vintage Simple

Look a the wide moldings at the bottom and the beautiful wood floors. See that coffee table there? That was a curbside side find that she gave a little love to. I think it looks lovely. Love the white with the stained top.

Take at look at this bathroom remodel she and her hubby did. They gutted this bathroom so that they could update it. Previously it was pink and very dated.

photo by Maria of Vintage Simple

We see more beadboard again. Love it and look at that ceiling! The tin is so unexpected but looks right at home in this room. I have always been a fan of subway tile and tub area as well as the flooring look beautiful.

I will leave you with a pic of one of the most ingenious ideas for rehabbing their house below. Raise your hand if you can't stand those ugly builder grade bifold doors on closets.... Um , yeah, that would be me. Take a look at what they did with theirs so that they would be in keeping with the style they were going for in their home.

photo by Maria of Vintage Simple

I absolutely love it! She actually shares how they achieved this look on her blog.

I encourage you to stop by and say "hello" to Maria and read about the story of her home on her sidebar . Not many of us know the history of our homes, but she does.

Maria, you are a decorating inspiration for me. I will be moving this summer and this look you have in your home is something that I am going for. It says, "Come on in and stay a while." As I get older I am finding it's all about the "casual ease" of decorating and living. Simple, yet elegant.

A big thank you to Maria for letting me take you on a tour of her lovely home.

MOVING....

2010-02-15T19:57:00.005-06:00

We are moving and it's been a little crazy here.

Spent the whole weekend cleaning out, moving and throwing out stuff in our basement. It became our storage unit the past 4 years we lived here ,so needless to say it was looking a mess. LOL, that's an understatment. No need for a pic for that.

I have lots of projects I have talked about doing here that I seriously have to get on the stick and get them done. We really want to put the house on the market within the next two weeks. So, if I you don't see me posting this is why.

Immediate projects on the to do list are:

Drop cloth curtains for dining room and family room

roman shades for master bedroom and bath.

paint laundry room

paint wood foyer piece

staging the bedrooms and the rest of the house.

Keep us in prayer we will be able to sell. The housing market is still not doing well in our area.

Some Linky Love for you today

2010-02-09T06:06:00.008-06:00

Hi there!
It's snowing here. Yay! It's so beautiful.

I have some projects in the works, but in the meantime I have some linky love for you.

Go checkout

http://thediyshowoff.blogspot.com/2010/02/diy-beadboard-frames.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FpuSM+%28The+DIY+Show+Off%29

Ronda from

http://lesrondabatchelor.blogspot.com/

has a great tutorial that they are featuring.

You will also want to check out the fabulous DIY banquette over at

http://www.inmyownstyle.com/inmyownstyle/2010/02/howto-make-a-kitchen-banquette.html

and then head on over to

http://poshpieces.blogspot.com/2010/02/my-nest-pillow-pottery-barn-look-alike.html

for a PB pillow knockoff.

Have a great day!

It's National Pie Month....

2010-02-01T08:21:00.007-06:00

No, wait, it's National Soup month.....LOL, who thinks all of this stuff up???

In the spirit of both, I have a link for you to whet your appetite .

First up is a recipe for Chocolate Pie. I know, aren't you just salivating at reading that??? I love Chocolate Pie. When we lived in NC we ate Chocolate Pie at a local place in town and when we moved away I was never able to duplicate or find it anywhere. Until now! Y'all, have to check out Tina over at
http://www.mommyskitchen.net/2009/11/old-fashioned-chocolate-pie-for.html

She not only has this wonderful chocolate pie recipe, but many others.

Next up is Serena. You might of seen this book. I had the pleasure of reading through this book recently. Lots of great recipes and wonderful eye candy. She and Teri share their stories of growing up. There are a few ideas and directions for projects as well. My fave recipe in the whole book is the Turkey and Wild Rice soup recipe that Serena shared. You have to try it. It's a keeper. You will also have to to either check this book out at the library or purchase it to get the recipe. Sorry for the tease. I don't want to overstep any copyrights here. It truly is a delicious soup and it's a tried and true recipe. These kind of recipes happen to be my favorite because I know when I follow the recipe it will taste delicious.
So, there you have it! Now go make some soup and pie!

Home Decor Inspiration from blogland..

2010-01-24T22:54:00.007-06:00

When last years Pottery Barn catalog came out I fell in love with those subway wall art signs. They had different kinds with different names of streets of a certain town. There was another one that had a hand pointing on it with verbage. They were very cool. Here is one similiar from art style.I tried to think of a way I could make them myself cause there was no way the hubs was letting me spend that kind of money on something decorative...and rightfully so. Well, I ran ways to make it in my head, but they weren't efficient or even do able. I have since been surfing in the wonderful world of blogland and I am hear to tell you that two wonderfully creative ladies have been gracious enough to share how they did it. Each one gives step-by-step directions with great pics to go along with it. So, if you are wanting some DIY art to display in your home give their links a read.

Check out Ashley's version over at http://lilblueboo.blogspot.com/2010/01/resolutions-subway-art-tutorial.html

Here is Susie's version from http://susieharrisblog.com/2010/01/i-amdiy.html

Happy Decorating!

Inspiration for home decor

2010-01-22T15:28:00.010-06:00

I was taking a stroll through at Homegoods today to get "inspired." I came across some things that I liked, but couldn't buy. You know, just window shopping and getting inspired. I did see a very cool fabric basket that I would like to make and so hopefully I can share that with you next week.

One other thing I saw were these. I thought, "How cool!" Forget painting your own chalkboard. Look at this. It's peel and stick. You can't get anymore instantly gratified than that.

photos: Wallies

Right next to it was this.

I am all about instant gratification with a project. I might use these in the future.

Loving this light fixture from http://www.sturbridgeyankee.com/fort-hill-pendant/p/41968/ I would love to hang it over my sink in my kitchen.

They have some great linens too. I love the the simpleness of this star quilt with the pop of red on the white.

I have always liked white enamelware with the black on the rims as an accent. Loving this tissue, tp holder.

I finally acquired all the materials necessary to make the roman blinds in our master bath. Hopefully I can get to that in the next week or so. Once I do, I will post pics to share with you all.

Have a great weekend.

It's GIVEAWAT time again....

2010-01-19T10:06:00.007-06:00

Hop on over to Traci's blog

She is having a wonderful giveaway sponsored by Dee from

If you haven't seen any of her work, you must click on her link and check it out. It is beautiful !

The giveaway ends at midnight (EST) on Thursday, Jan. 21st.
The winner will announced on Friday, Jan. 22nd.

Good luck everyone!

Give HOPE to the HAITIANS

2010-01-15T08:04:00.033-06:00

Hi there!

Hope you are having a wonderful day so far.

I don't have much to post today because I have company coming in town this weekend. So, have to get groceries, clean, etc. Not much time for playing on the computer.

First off, I just wanted to touch on what has happened in Haiti this week with the earthquake. Such devastation. So many people without shelter, food, etc. We need to pray for these people and give them HOPE. I have been reading articles all over the web and listenening to the radio and it seems right now, the best way to help is by sending in donations to well known agencies that can provide for these folks in a quick manor. If you feel so led to donate monetarily to this cause, here is a link for you:

http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/helpicrc

Also, check with your local church. Our international mission board is collecting donations from Chicagoland area churches to help .

Keep the Haitian people in your prayers.

Traveling and photogrpaphy..

2010-01-10T18:50:00.015-06:00

Back in November we headed back east to attend a family wedding and visit with family. We drove through a lot of states and logged many miles. I have some photos to share with you and maybe a story or two.

We headed to Florida for the wedding where we enjoyed sunny, beautiful warm weather and got totally spoiled. You see after we attended the wedding We drove to the Eastern Shore of Maryland where it was quite chilly and then from there we headed to Baltimore where it was equally as chilly.

As we drove through North Carolina we were enjoying the tunes from our CD and the good driving weather when we saw this from the highway.

Now, just seeing this might not mean a thing to you. I should of taken a pic of the building to the right of this shot. There was a banner across the building reading "FREE FABRIC" and underneath that said "FABRIC OUTLET." Well, I jokingly said to the hubs, "We have to stop and check it out." To which my fellow partner in crime..(my daughter) said, "Yeah Dad, we have to stop." Mind you I was just kidding around because I knew he wasn't interested in stopping. Daughter on the other hand was serious. Well, imagine my surprise when he took the exit and we went in and scoped out the fabric. The hubs even came in and rummaged through the free fabric bin with the daughter and me too. I couldn't believe it. He was a total sweetheart for stopping and rummaging. Gott love it when they indulge us ladies. Unfortunately the free fabric bin was all dark upholstery weight fabrics. Nothing i was interested in. I did however find some gorgeous fabric to make the roman blinds for our master bath. So stay tuned for that. By the way, this store is in Burlington, NC. If anyone wants the address or phone number or website, drop me an email and I will be happy to share.

One of our other stops was the Billy Graham Museum and Library. Wow, is all I can say. If you live in driving distance of this or will be driving through Charlotte, NC this is a great place to stop. Growing up I knew Billy Graham's name, but never knew the impact he had on so many people or what a powerful speaker he was. It was an absolute privilege to tour the grounds and library to learn more about him and how he brought hope to so many people.

Their home resides here on this property. It wasn't originally built here. It actually was built a couple of miles away from this site. The docent shared with us that it also resided in another spot as well and that the house had been moved twice before it resided at this property.
I love old homes. They have so much character. The hardware , the moldings and you gotta love old kitchens. So simple. No frills. All functionality. I have to admit though, Ruth Graham's kitchen all the functional looks quite charming. Here is a pic of the hardware on the kitchen door. I love old glass door knobs as well as old porcelain ones.

Below you will see a rocker in one of the rooms. I also have a love for anything homemade. I love crocheted blankets and this pattern especially is one of my faves. I think it is called the ripple. It's one pattern I haven't been able to learn. It's on my list though. I hope to make one this winter.

Here is a pic of Ruth's charming kitchen.

and on the other side more cabinetry and the ice box.

Look at these. I love this staircase. I hope to live in an old home someday that has beautiful character and attention to detail in the moldings and hardware.

To the right of this was a barn, and it wasn't just any barn. Take a look. I thought this was so cool. Inside here is a walking tour and a gift shop. It was beautifully dressed for their upcoming Christmas tour with lights and tall Christmas trees. I couldn't get a good pic on the inside. The photos kept coming out dark.
We thoroughly enjoyed our visit here. Walking through the museum and looking at the different exhibits and reading about Billy's life led me to reflect on my own. In 2010, I hope to be a better disciple and better witness for the Lord.

I will leave you with one last photo.

Later in the week I will share with you another stop we made while in Maryland. Its' the B & O railroad museum in Ellicott City, Maryland.

Have a blessed day.

Good things come in small packages

2010-01-04T16:50:00.012-06:00

I had to show you this beautifully wrapped box I received for Christmas. Actually, there were lots of them wrapped just like this one wrapped in a big box wrapped just like this one. I love pineapples; so this little added touch made me squeal.

And here is the lovely pineapple that was added on.

Inside of all these boxes was this! Williams-Sonoma everyday dinnerware. They were having a sale and I have been wanting some white dishes that can go in the dishwasher, micro and oven for a while now. I hinted to the hubs and surprised me with them on Christmas.

Our meals look so much more appetizing on the white plates. We use them everday and I have washed them in the dishwasher and by hand and they are holding up great.

On a side note, I went thrifting today. Well, actually I had a trunk and backseat load of stuff to take to Goodwill. I thought while I was there I would look around and see if I could find a dress for an upcoming evening event we wil be going to. But, I didn't have any luck there.

I did however find a cream cardigan with Mother of Pearl buttons on it. Love that little detail. I also saw this handpump for lotion or soap and I thought to myself as I looked at it that it looked like a Longaberger piece. Sure enough, it was! I got the Longaberger lotion/soap pump for 99 cents! Can you believe that??? I had to casually scoop it up and walk quickly to the register. For $8.00 I was a happy camper.

We have a bigger Goodwill about 25 minutes north of us. I am hoping to go there later this week and see what goodies I can find there.

I will share more later in the week.
Have a blessed day!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2009-12-28T11:27:00.018-06:00

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year early.

Well, another year has gone by. I find that the older I get the faster time seems to go by. Do you ever feel that way?

We had a quiet Christmas this year. We did the last of our traveling visiting family in November, so it was just us for Christmas.

The hubs surprised me and the kids about a week and a half before Christmas by taking us to a tree farm! We were going to cut down our own tree. We were all excited. We hadn't had a real tree since 2000. That year we moved two days after Christmas and the hubs wasn't about to buy any more real trees....and we didn't. Until this year. Last year our tree stand broke and couldn't be fixed....so, the daughter and I wore him down it seems and off we headed to the tree farm.

It was a blustery, cold afternoon when we headed out to go look for the tree and after about a half an hour of looking and starting to get numb, we found what we thought was the PERFECT tree.

We stopped by the petting zoo area to warm up a bit by fire the fire and check out the different animals.

I couldn't believe my eyes, but they had two deer and they were so friendly. One of them came right up to the fence where I was taking a picture. This deer had the most beautiful, big brown eyes.

Then we went in for some hot chocolate to thaw out all the way. Not too long after that we headed home to set the tree up.

Here she is all decroated and lit on Christmas Day.

We have a two story foyer and this was the only spot on the first floor where it would fit without having to have a domino effect of rearranging furniture. I loved having it here. First thing we see when we walk down stairs and last thing we see when we head upstairs. I have lots of fave ornaments. Some sentimental because my kids made them and some just because they warm my heart to see them because they remind me of the person that gave them to us. Here is one of my many faves.

As the year comes to an end I look back and have to say we have been very blessed this year. Our lovely daughter graduated from high school and is embarking on a new chapter in her life...college! Our strapping young son turned 15 and is turning into a pretty good basketball player; and my sister has battled cancer and is a survivor! I am beyond blessed with a wonderful husband and two wonderful children.

Praying for God's continued blessings in 2010 and that you and yours are blessed as well.

To all my blog friends...

Have a safe and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

ANOTHERhttp://makingahouseahome.blogspot.com/ GIVEAWAY.....

2009-12-20T17:04:00.006-06:00

gAnother giveaway is happening over at http://makingahouseahome.blogspot.com/
Mrs. U shares a wonderful recipe and then shares with you the wonderful giveaway she has going on. Click on over and tell her "hello" and enter her giveaway.

Also, be sure to scroll down and check out Sachiko's giveaway.

GIVEAWAY!!

2009-12-20T16:10:00.006-06:00

Hop on over to http://tearosehome.blogspot.com/

The very sweet Sachiko is having her first ever giveaway! Stop by and say "hello" to Sachiko and leave her a comment to enter her giveaway. Read her post for all the details.

Good luck everyone!

Recipes for you

2009-12-14T23:23:00.011-06:00

Linking up these recipes to Kimba's DIY DAY over at http://asoftplace.net/

I have two recipes to share with you. The first one is an oldie, but a goody. It's Pepeprmint Bark. Very easy to make and delish. The second one is White Chocolate Cherry Shortbread. I think these may be my new fave cookie.

I am officially making it a tradition to post this recipe each year as long as I blog. I have made this recipe before. Easy and very pretty when it's done.

Peppermint Bark

Cook Time10 min
Yield: about 2 pounds of candy

Ingredients:

Crushed candy canes, to yield 1 cup
2 pounds white chocolate

Directions:
Place candy canes in a plastic bag and hammer into 1/4-inch chunks or smaller. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Combine candy cane chunks with chocolate (add peppermint flavoring at this point if desired.) Pour mixture onto a cookie sheet layered with parchment or waxed paper and place in the refrigerator for 45 minutes or until firm. Remove from cookie sheet and break into pieces (like peanut brittle.)is several times and it is very good and looks festive. I posted this one last year, so here it is again.

Here is another recipe but this one is for a cookie. My hairdresser gave me the recipe. She says it's not Christmas in her house until these cookies are made. My daughter and I thought they sounded yummy so we will be cooking these this week.

White-Chocolate Cherry Shortbread

Prep: 40 min. Bake: 10 min. per batch Stand: 30 min

Ingredients
· 1/2 cup maraschino cherries, drained and finely chopped
· 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
· 1/2 cup sugar
· 1 cup cold butter
· 12 ounces white chocolate baking squares with cocoa butter, finely chopped
· 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
· 2 drops red food coloring (optional)
· 2 teaspoons shortening
· White nonpareils and/or red edible glitter (optional)
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spread cherries on paper towels to drain well.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour and sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in drained cherries and 4 ounces (2/3 cup) of the chopped chocolate. Stir in almond extract and, if desired, food coloring. Knead mixture until it forms a smooth ball.
3. Shape dough into 3/4-inch balls. Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Using the bottom of a drinking glass dipped in sugar, flatten balls to 1-1/2-inch rounds.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until centers are set. Cool for 1 minute on cookie sheet. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool.
5. In a small saucepan, combine remaining 8 ounces white chocolate and the shortening. Cook and stir over low heat until melted. Dip half of each cookie into chocolate, allowing excess to drip off. If desired, roll dipped edge in nonpareils and/or edible glitter. Place cookies on waxed paper until chocolate is set. Makes about 60.
6. To Store: Layer cookies between waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

I will let you know how the new cookie recipe works out and if it's a keeper. If anyone else makes them, let me know if you liked them.

Happybaking and enjoy!

Have a blessed day!

Feeling loads better

2009-12-09T19:34:00.006-06:00

Not sure what it was that hit me, but when it did, it hit hard. The hubs took care of me though and pumped me fool of liquids, vitamins and soup.

It's crazy weather here in Illinois. Temps are in the twenties and its supposed to get colder. It's also been snowing. Took waaay too long to get my son from school today and get home. Roads are a mess even though the salt trucks are trying their darndest to keep up. The wind is so fierce it's blowing the little bit of snow that fell everywhere and just causing a mess.

I will hopefully be downloading my camera tomorrow. I need a block of time to download and them write up a few posts to share with you all.

I also have a sweet new recipe to share with you so you can share with others for the holidays.

Have a great evening!

Down sick, but have a post for you

2009-12-07T09:09:00.004-06:00

Got a bad cold or maybe the flu bug. In any case, I will post later in the week when I am feeling a bit better. Click this link to read my current post. i started the draft for this before we headed out for vacation, so it posted with that date. So weird. In any case, enjoy the eye candy on burlap, linen, ticking and more.

http://quiltingmemoriesfortomorrow.blogspot.com/2009/11/burlap-osnaburg-linen-and-ticking.html

Have a great week!

I've been MIA....

2009-12-01T07:38:00.003-06:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends.

We did. We traveled back east to attend a family wedding and visited with family there and then headed up north to visit more family. We are back home now and exhausted. I am in wash the clothes mode and just getting back in the regular routine of things.

Will have lots to share...pics and all by the end of the week.

I am off to play catch up on you guys and see what everyone has been up to.

BURLAP, osnaburg, linen and ticking..

2009-11-15T18:20:00.022-06:00

It doesn't matter which one. Burlap, osnaburg or linen are all being used in decorating now. Take a look at these pillow shams that Etsy seller Simple Linens has made. I love the look of these.

Here is the front.

and here is the back. photos from Etsy: Simple Linens

Isn't it pretty? Simple Linens etsy seller says that this burlap look goes great with Toile. That's good to know as I change out the bedding in the spring/summer months to my black and creme Toile. I saw a blue ticking that had a little bit of yellow in it as well. Looks really pretty. I may have to make two sets. One set for the denim quilt I use on my bed during the year and one set for the Toile quilt.

I also love this idea of covering the box spring. Look at this box spring cover. It's blue ticking. Who would of thought to cover their boxspring? That can bring a whole new look to dressing your bed. Especially if you want to keep it simple. Wouldn't this covered boxspring idea look nice on a day bed?

photo:Garnet Hill

Look at the use of linen and burlap here. I am so loving this bedding and the architectural piece above the bed. Linen on the duvet cover and pillows and burlap on the stenciled pillow and burlap with the ruffle on the shams. Love this tone on tone look. Wonder what it would look like with black furniture???

photo by Laura Moss for Coastal Living

Here is another lovely use of linen. The look of upholstered headboards has bitten me. Linen or burlap headboards have such an elegant, clean look with the added punch of nailhead trim. By eliminating nailhead trim and dressing the bed with a less formal look you can have a more casual look. I love this look in the photo below.

What about this?? I have seen folks use this in some cool ways as well. It's jute webbing. This one has a black strip going through it. The webbing I have seen has red striping. Either way, you can't beat the price. At 99 cents a yard, I can think of some creative things to do with it. I love it. It's simple and textural.

Etsy seller Catnapcottage made this wreath for her door with it. I love the way it looks against the black door.

Last, Traci over at http://beneathmyheart.blogspot.com/search/label/burlap%20projects did a great tutorial on how to make a burlap table skirt. Loved the way it came out and it looks perfect in her guest house.

Down with the flu, so hope to post pics of our trip later in the week.

Have a great day!

GIVEAWAY!!

2009-11-09T09:59:00.007-06:00

Hey there!
It's giveaway day over at
http://tearosehome.blogspot.com/
Hop on over there and say "hello" to Sachiko and tell her what you are thankful for.

Also, head on over to http://j-a-girl.blogspot.com/ and say "hello" to Chris. She is having a party over there. Lotsa ladies have linked up to her party. Everyone is sharing some great homemade gift ideas for Christmas giving.

Have a great day!

A retreat....

2009-11-06T09:06:00.005-06:00

I am off to a Ladies conference with our church. I will be posting several projects next week to start off some handmade holiday gifties I will be making for family and friends.

Have a great weekend!
Cheryl

The gift revealed

2009-10-24T17:35:00.028-05:00

Blogland has some creative, talented women out there. The ones I have come in contact with are friendly to boot. They are willing to share how they did something and help you along the way if you have questions.

Although I have never personally met any of my bloggy buddies, I would call them friends. Susie over at http://www.susieharris.blogspot.com/ is the lucky bloggy friend to be the recipient of the gifty I made.

I am not quite sure how I found Susie's blog, but I am glad I did. She inspires me all the time with the projects she dreams up.

She recently revealed her cottage makeover where where she has created a wonderful place to paint. She mentioned in her post that she had a sad looking chair and that it needed something. I asked her if she would like a pillow and she said yes. So I set out to make her one. She also shared that in her post that her sad little chair is the very place where her children come home and plop on after school and share their day with her. I stenciled "LIVE LOVE LAUGH" on the canvas side of this pillow because it's where she will forever share memories of her kids telling her about theirday. Laughing with them and loving them.

Here it is Susie, I hope you like it.

I used canvas drop cloth on the front and for the piping. The piping is what gave me a fit. Not the actual making of it, but putting it on. Had to rip out seams once . I also had to recut the ticking fabric once as well. Black and creme ticking are on the flip side of the pillow. It still looks like it needs something though. Maybe buttons??

Here is a close up of the piping. I really enjoyed making it and now that I know how to put it on properly I plan on using it more in future projects.

Have a great evening and thanks for bearing with me on posting it.

Edited to say:

Sewing to gift

2009-10-22T07:03:00.009-05:00

Hello ladies!

I've been sewing to send a little gifty to a sweet bloggy friend.

I have a few things to get done in the morning, so will post my gifty for my bloggy friend mid afternoon.

No teaser pics. So stop by tomorrow.

edited: to say that I am doing something new in sewing that I have never done before and it looks like I may not be able to post the pic of the finished project until way late this evening. My apologies to my bloggy friend. I know she is excited to see the finished project. I will share all my woes in making this.
Have a great evening!

Pinwheels, soup, yarn and more....

2009-10-19T09:06:00.018-05:00

Good morning!

How is that for a blog title? This is a little bit of everything post.

Okay, first of all, be sure to scroll down to yesterdays post. I shared a great autumn soup recipe. I am actually baking the butternut squash now. I will be sure to let you all know how it tastes. Here is a teaser pic for you.

Photo: Taste of Home

Remember over the summer I should you how sad our deck looked? Here is a before pic. Not so pretty.
and here are the after pics.

We had to replace the old storm door, but didn't want to put one on both sides of the french doors on the outside. Too expensive. We have an odd size opening and it would of had to be cutsom done. So, we opted to replace the storm door with the screen and reapaint so it would look fresh. Here is the after pic for the deck.

What do you think of the two tone look? The seating was sealed with a clear coat for decks and the part you walk on was a hunter green deck stain. We originally said we were going to do the seating white, but after seeing the seating stripped, liked the look of the natural instead and went with that. Here is a back view.

You still with me.??? Sorry for the long post.

Next up is the progress on the pinwheels. I still have eighteen more to sew up! And what is up with four of those pinwheels looking larger than the rest of them?? LOL, I know why. I started the other ones before I caught a Fons and Porter quilting episode on PBS. She was showing how to get your pinwheels to lay nice and how to sew and iron them. I plan on having a white block between each pinwheel and then white border around the whole thing and then bind it.

Here is a close up. I really love this Glace line.

Sorry for the not so great pics. I took them early this morning. Not enough natural light or anywhere to lay them out either. I layed these out on the floor to take a pic.

I am starting my slipcover project for my wing chair in my living room this week and I have two winter projects I plan to work on. Crocheting up this blanket is one of them. I love the texture of it with all all the popcorn stitches on there. It will be a nice project to work on in my fave chair with a crackling fire nearby.

The other winter project is to make roman blinds. Oh yeah! I found the absolute best tutorial and she makes it look sooo easy. Go check out Jen's tutorial. You will want to make roman blinds for your whole house. She is a sweet lady to boot. I had a question for her and she was sweet enough to reply and be so very helpful.

http://jenduncan.typepad.com/whats_new/2008/11/roman-blind-tutorial-in-20-pictures-or-less.html
Don't forget to scroll down to the next post. I posted a recipe for the corn and squash soup.

Okay all, have a blessed day in your part of the country .

Quiltingmemoriesfortomorrow

((Thank You and some quilt inspiration))

((LOSS...How do you cope??))

{{HAPPY 2012!!}}

::JOIN ME::

::HANDMADE HOLIDAYS:::

LIINKY LOVE

:::SOME INSPIRATION FOR YOU:::

::CABBAGES AND ROSES::

:::READ ANY GOOD LITERATURE LATELY???::::

:::MAY WE NEVER FORGET::::

::WHAT I HAVE BEEN UP TO::

::BACK TO BASICS::

::THE BACKYARD FARM::

::COTTAGE DREAMING::

OUTDOOR SUMMER ENTERTAINING

:::LINKY LOVE:::

::SWEET SHOT TUESDAY::

::SWEET SHOT TUESDAY::

::EWENIQUE MEMORIES:: Masterbedroom makeover across the miles::

::SWEET SHOT TUESDAY::

:::SWEET SHOT TUESDAY:::

::SWEET SHOT TUESDAY...A Rose is but a Rose::

::HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY::

::EWENIQUE MEMORIES::

::HAPPY SPRING::

;;ARE YOU TIRED OF LINEN YET?::

:: LINEN, LINKY LOVE::

:::SEWING:::

::WHAT I HAVE BEEN UP TO::

::THE WHITE STUFF::

::AFTERS::

::GIVEAWAY TIME AGAIN::

::::GIVEAWAY WINNER!::::

::HAPPY NEW YEAR AND A BLOGIVERSARY GIVEAWAY!!!::

::MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A THANK YOU::

::CHRISTMAS DECORATING CONTINUED::

::: I AM BACK....:::

::SICK::

::WINNER OF CSN GIVEAWAY!!::

::CSN GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

::A BOOK REVIEW::

::Handmade::

Another giveaway!!

A gracious giveaway.....

FALL CLEANING AND DECLUTTERING

Autumn.....

WRAPPED IN LOVE.....

Mini reveal of the masterbedroom...

Update on the masterbedroom

Master bedroom update..

Masterbedroom makeover in process...

SUBWAY ART TUTORIAL

Come take a peek at my SUBWAY ART

A GIVEAWAY you won't want to miss

I have been inspired...

another GIVEAWAY!

GIVEAWAY WINNER!

GIVEAWAY!!

Sneaky peek of the new place...

We are finally here....

What do you enjoy about blogging.....

Things that make me smile..

It's GIVEAWAY time again.....

Ideas for the new house

Sorry to take such a long blog break...

A few thoughts...

Come on in and take a tour of ....

A new blog and a house tour...

Sharing.....

IT"S FEATURE FRIDAY!!

Doing a little of this.....finally.....

A home tour ..

HAPPY SPRING!!

It's GIVEAWAT time again....

I am still here...

GIVEAWAY!!

Another beautiful home tour...

A beautiful home tour

MOVING....