::TO BLOG OR NOT TO BLOG::

Yes, that question has been pondering my mind the past couple of months.  It's been that long since I have posted.

A few weeks prior to the new year I got a part-time job.  I have told my husband it's my dream job.  I work in a quilt shop.  I am around fabric all day , everyday and I love it.  Different people bring in their projects and ask us to help them find something to finish it off.  Often we get ladies that come in with show and tell.  Which I have to say is our absolute favorite time.  Some of the talent out there in the quilting world is extraordinary. 

Getting back into the groove of working took a little longer than I thought.  I needed to get the house chores on a different schedule and fit it into my working schedule.  I didn't really get any sewing time in up until a month ago.

I have made a few things.  Unfortunately, I am having trouble uploading pics.  I have made handwarmers from old shirts and charms squares.  I also made a sweet chenille bunny that was part of an Easter package I sent to my sweet nieces.  I finished my daughters quilt and sent it to her for her birthday.  I also learned how to make  a  pillowcase.  Oh my, it's the most fun to sew a pillowcase and the fabric combos are endless!  I have already decided that everyone in our family will be getting a pillowcase, pajamas and slippers all handmade for Christmas this year.  I have a friend that is having a baby VERY SOON.  As in a week!  I have made her some burp cloths, receiving blankets and under the needle as I type a baby quilt.  While I haven't been blogging, I have had time to sew.  : )

I have several other projects on the list I want to accomplish in the next month or so.  Here they are:

 - Piece, quilt and bind a quilt for my son.  I already have the fabrics cut out.

- Make pillow shams for the master bedroom.  I already have the fabric.

- table runner for buffet and coffee table

- make quilts for OUR HOME!!  One to snuggle with and one to display.

Yep, that's right.  I am doing a lot of quilting and making for others and I have yet to make a quilt for our home.  So that is one BIG thing on my list I would like to get done before December rolls around.  Wish me luck on that.

I hope you are having a blessed day in your little corner of the world.

Cheryl

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::A NEW YEAR...A FRESH START:::

Happy New Year!

I know it's belated, but just the same I hope you and yours have a wonderful 2013!

Our holiday with family was wonderful.  For the first time in many years, we went back "home"...where we grew up to be with family for the holidays.  We have lived so very far away from family for many years.  Traveling back for a family of four by plane was always too expensive.  We decided to drive this year.  Man, was it a long drive, but worth it.  We got to see my husbands family and my family and some old friends.

As the children head back to college I find myself taking down the all the holiday decorations.  Everything is bare again.  We have had so much rain here of late as well.  So everything is all gray.  I am dreaming  up ideas of what to do with our mantel now that Christmas is over.  I am craving pops of bright, summery colors.

Now that we are midway through the new year, I have come up with a "word' for the year.  I want to not only have this word applied to my decorating life, but my personal life as well.  My word for the new year is

SIMPLICITY

I have already been applying it.  I have cleaned out our pantry and am in the process of redoing the guest room/sewing room.  I have been throwing things out and have done a couple of trips to the local thrift store to make donations of "stuff."  It's a good feeling. 

As I am getting older, I find beauty in the simple things. I am content with things we have and feel blessed to have them.  Don't get me wrong, I love to decorate and shop, but so many people don't have that luxury.  Much less a roof over their head or clothes or shoes for their feet.  So, looking at the year ahead, I will be intentional about simplicity in my life.  This will apply to the blog as well.  Look for a face lift on the header and the blog as well.  I will be streamlining it to give it a simple, clean look and I also we be only blogging two three days a week.  I have recently got a job and will share more about that later on.

Thank you for stopping by.

Have a blessed day in your little corner of the world.

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::HAPPY FALL and where I have been::

Hey all!

I know , it's been a month since I have posted.  I had been  busy filling in for a gal at work that was on maternity leave.  Long days made for a tired me during the week and on the weekends I usually spent half the morning cleaning and too tired to do projects to post.  On top of that, I got bronchitis and have been having a hard time getting rid of it with allergies to boot.  So, just trying to rest and get back to 100%.

Since I last posted fall has finally arrived.   While the trees don't change colors here in Louisiana until late December I have enjoyed the fall like weather we have been having.  So much so that it inspired me to fluff the nest with some "fall touches."  I finally changed up my  mantle that still had 4th of July stuff on it!  Yeah, I know, that is so sad that I still had July stuff up.  Cool thing is  that when I decided to fluff the nest for fall Hobby Lobby was having a 40% off  sale going on .  I ended up lucking out on getting a few things at a pretty good price.

I will be back later today with a sneak peak post of the "fall fluffing" around the house and a recipe that we have come to enjoy on a weekly basis that is perfect for a fall weeknight dinner.  It's a fast meal and tasty to boot!

Enjoy your day in your little part of the world!

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:::MAY WE NEVER FORGET::::

09/11/01

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

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::WHAT I HAVE BEEN UP TO::

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.Pin It Now!

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

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****Pin It Now!

Another giveaway!!

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!

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A few thoughts...

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.Pin It Now!

I am still here...

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!Pin It Now!

MOVING....

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.Pin It Now!

Give HOPE to the HAITIANS

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.

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Good things come in small packages

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!

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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!

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Feeling loads better

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.

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A retreat....

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!
CherylPin It Now!

Tomatoes.....

Ah, the canning of tomatoes didn't work out. Too many ripe tomatoes and not enough time in my busy schedule to can. : ( So, I shared three bags with neighbors and my daughter and I made spaghetti sauce with the rest of it to freeze. Maybe next year I will have better luck with trying to do that.

Don't have any finished projects to share. I did pop over to Melissa's at http://theinspiredroom.net/ She had an interesting post titled, "What's your style?" with a link to a quiz that you can take to find your style.

I took it, here is my style.

Cheryl, you are a Country Casual
Your home expresses your open, easygoing approach to life. You love unique finds, and can turn a few mismatched garden chairs or floral teacups into a charming arrangement. You appreciate a pretty mix of relaxed pieces, like painted wood or weathered furniture, lovely florals and other patterns, lots of throws and pillows, mementos and bunches of fresh flowers that give your home a unique sense of breeziness and charm.
You value comfort. Your home is a warm and open friendly place, and you feel happiest when everyone is cared for and relaxed in your space. Elements like pillows, throws, overstuffed furniture, and good lighting set the mood. You may also enjoy layering different fabrics or mixing patterns to create a cozy effect.

So, what do you think? I have given you a home tour, is this quiz spot on, or way off? Speaking of the home tour, I still have two more rooms to show you. I will be posting those tomorrow.

Have a great day!Pin It Now!

Busy...

With a little of this. Trying to get child number one more independant so she can get her own wheels. Pray for us. She doesn't feel quite comfortable behind the wheel.



and I still am working on a little of this too. Man, I so don't like cutting out fabric squares, but love piecing. If I could only find some white charm squares, life would be so much better. Once pieced and quilted I have decided to give this to my sister for a Christmas gift this year.

I have a goal to finish four quilts before Christmas. Hopefully I can do it.

Pinwheel quilt for sister.

Beach quilt for in-laws

baby quilt for a friends daughter who I think is now about to turn four. Yikes, I know....better late than never. Lastly, one for our family. My darling son asked who the pinwheel quilt was for that I was working on and when I told him, his comment was, "Mom, you need to make one for us...for our home."

So, there you have it. I am on a mission. I'm outta here. Need to go sew!

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TV FREE....

Yes, you read that correctly. We are doing TV free month. We started this years ago with our kids. Each summer, for one month, we don't watch TV. Now, that means we don't turn it on to watch the news, our shows or anything of that nature. We do however, occassionally rent a couple of videos. That is permissable. It's been nice over the years doing this.

Now don't get me wrong, it's not all peaches and cream. As a matter of fact, the very first time we did this was back in 2003 the kids and I had withdrawals ....BAD! Being at home all day during the summer with the kids and no TV! It was torture, I tell ya. Now, I am a hardcore HGTV and FOODNETWORK watching fool. It was hard, but we managed. We found other things to do rather than sitting in front of the proverbial box. We played board games, cards, chess, backgammon or my favorite...."READ."

I never realized how much we watched TV. You know, we have it on while we cook for background noise. We have our favorite TV shows we like to tune into each week and then we just turn it on because it's habit.

Well, this summer we started TV free month the weekend leading up to Fourth of July. So, around the end of this month, TV free month will be over. However, we have done something different this time than we have done in the past. We've always had cable or satellite and this time, before we went TV the hubs cancelled the satellite services. So, no more HGTV or FOODNETWORK for this gal. It will be interesting to be abe to watch TV again when we are able to. There may be nothing on to watch with just regular ole TV with no cable or satellite services. Who knows, we may just keep it off all the time.

I will let you know how it all fairs when we are able to turn the "box" back on again.

Have you done TV free month, week, or day? Share your family experiences with me. I would love to hear them.Pin It Now!

HAPPY MONDAY!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.

I am still not able to share pics with you all yet. I mentioned in a previous post that I got my dad a digital photo frame for Father's Day and used my memory card to drop in the frame. Well, that was a BIG no no I found out. My dear husband informed me that was a pretty big memory card and a little pricey and I need to go out and get another small megabyte one and snap some pics of the kiddos to send to my dad. My dad was so sweet and understanding. He is sending back the memory card. So, hopefully soon I will have some pics to show you. I know I like seeing pics on other blogs. They make the writing come to life.

In other news, I am on a quest. A quest to lose weight. 35lbs. to be exact. So far I have lost seven. I feel good so far. Have lots more energy and clothes are starting to fit a little better. I am exercising six days a week. Lifting weights every other day and watching what I eat. Meaning no seconds, no matter how good the meal was. I am also finding out that my love of desserts may have to take a back seat to maybe once or twice a month.

Enjoy your day!Pin It Now!

Checking in....

Hey there!
checking in again. I am sorry I haven't been blogging regulary. Have tons to show you and no time to sit and blog. Well, any extended time. You know with the pics and all. I am going to be working on the Cathedral quilt block tutorial over the weekend. First, I have to get a new memory card. Got my Dad one of those digital frames for Father's Day and used my memory card to dump the pics onto the frame with...so, now I am needing a new one.

We've done a lot of landscaping...well, planting things. I have some of that to show you as well. I am sad we still haven't planted anything in the garden yet. I guess it's rather late to do that now, seeing it's July already. Bad timing I guess. We planted on Memorial weekend last year and this year around that time we were on vacation. Since then, we've had a whirlwind of stuff to take care of around the house, inside and out. We are tackling it all one day at a time as we have time.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer so far. I check everyone's blogs daily and seems as though we are all enjoying the sun, fun, family and for some of us, the beach.

Have a safe and wonderful 4th of July weekend.Pin It Now!