Happy New Year!

Just checking in for a bit, hoping this finds you all well and happy! I'm so thankful and grateful for your friendship and care. Wishing you a lovely New Year's Eve, spent with all your dear ones, saying goodbye to 2009 and welcoming in 2010. Wishes for robust health, peace of mind and happy and contented hearts for all of you.

Still weak as a kitten over here, still on the road to recovery. I get blue sometimes but then I remember how far I've come from those overwhelming days of recent past. So all is good, it will just take a bit more time.

And ... good grief, I'm a slow learner ... I only just realized that I could visit your blogs on my iPhone! Hurray hurrah! I've enjoyed catching up a wee bit with all of your goings on and holiday-ifying.

I also discovered some game app's for my phone ... I know, I'm so very behind in this techno world ... these were life savers for me, keeping my mind off of myself during the darkest days and sleepless nights. Do you have any fave's?



Hey! Do you watch PBS? They had some wonderful shows on recently ... American Masters on Louisa May Alcott, Independent Lens about Origami artists, the wonderful dancer/choreographer/citizen of the world, Bill T. Jones on Bill Moyers Journal (I'm heartbroken that he's going off the air!). And of course, the repeat of "Cranford", can't get enough of English period dramas.





Oh! I read Coraline over the weekend - good gosh, I don't know how kids read that book?! It scared the bejeezus out of me and I'm old as dirt!!! shiver shiver shake. Now I'm reading his "The Graveyard Book" - there was an excerpt in my issue of "Coraline" and it looked really good. I'm enjoying it very much so far.



The husband was sent on an errand of mercy the other day - his mission was to pick me up the December issue of Marie Claire Idees. Success! Someday I hope to locate a copy before the Christmas holiday - is that possible??? Worth the wait though, beautiful as always! (But is it me? There is always this off-gassing stinkiness to the magazine. p-u-zah! Please dear MCI, please cease with the oh so smelly chemicals!)

Goodness me, sorry to have bent you ear so much, I guess I really needed to blather on huh?!

Have a fun New Year's Eve and much joy in 2010!

Merry Christmas!

Just poking my head in for a moment to wish everyone the most wonderful and merriest of holidays! Thank you all so much for your very kind words and care and concern. I so appreciate it, it means so very much to me!

My oral surgeon said that the surgery went like clockwork - everything went perfectly. I was able to go home before eleven in the morning and didn't feel too badly. Wednesday and Thursday unfortunately I got walloped by the residual anesthesia and felt like I had the worlds worst flu. Every muscle, every joint, cried out when I moved. WAH!

Thankfully today the aches are gone ... now I have just come down with a cold. I can't win for losing as the saying goes.

Christmas is a very wee one this year for us, spent healing and regaining strength. We're watching old Christmas movies on TV that we've never seen before and eating lots of ice cream. (Alas, my jaw is still locked, so no big meals of indulgence for me.)

Thinking of you all and hoping your day today is delightful and full of all those dear to you!

Sally

P.S. I was looking in my mom's things for a vintage christmas card image to post and I found this drawing. I thought for sure it was mine, but it turned out to be even older - the drawing was folded and inside of it was this note, from my mom's little sister to my mom. So cute!

One very sick puppy

Hi you guys!

SOB! Coming to you from day 13 of Living Dental Hell. This is the first time since I posted last that I felt like I could sit down for awhile at the computer.

Last time I posted I thought I was experiencing a TMJ problem. Well ... not so.

About five or six days into Living Dental Hell (henceforward to be known as LDH teehee!), I developed a swelling, which felt like the size of a baseball under my chin.

YIKES! I went to the ER at UCLA and the initial consulting doctor agreed with me that it seemed to be TMJ - I wasn't in pain in a particular tooth, I had vague (believe me, not so vague!!!) pain in my teeth - but tremendous pain in my jaw - which was now locking.

But thank heavens, the senior doctor was more concerned about the swelling and directed me to get a panoramic xray to rule out an infected tooth. Problem was, it was too late in the day - I would have to wait until the next day. WAH!

So they gave me penicillin, prescription ibuprofen and vicodin (spelling?), and sent me on my way.

We went to UCLA Dental School for my xray the next day (a little late out of the gate, after the vicodin had made me barfie, terrific!) - I had the xray - and found out that I had an infected tooth. ARGH! This dentist prescribed a different and stronger antibiotic.

Thankfully the UCLA dentist sent me to an Endodontist I had previously been to - thank heavens he was in on a Friday and so we ran over to see that dentist. He has these witch doctor-y methods he uses to determine if a tooth is still viable - the final one is liquid nitrogen (I think I'm remembering that correctly???) and it freezes your tooth. If the tooth is alive, it hurts ... if it's dead, you don't feel anything in the tooth. I didn't feel anything in the back molar. WAH!!! To make matters worse, he says I have such a deep pocket and so much bone loss, that he recommends extraction.

So now we go off to the third dentist that day, an oral surgeon, all the while I feel like I'm dying. The third dentist doubles the UCLA dentist's dosage of the (second) antibiotic.

I have had to keep going back to the oral surgeon and follow the infection, as these kinds of infections are possibly "life threatening". sniffle sniffle SOB

At one of these evaluations, it's deemed that I'm getting worse!!! So they give me two new antibiotics, stating they are bringing out THE BIG GUNS. Sheesh. Sure would have been nice if you had done that a week earlier. :(

All of this is compounded by the fact that I am dental phobic. The dentist office is the last place that I want to be. So because I'm phobic, I can't have the stinkin' tooth just pulled. I have to be knocked out. I can't just be knocked out because I have apnea. I have to be knocked out at the hospital, so that my airway will be protected.



So ... I have to go to the hospital and be knocked out with general anesthesia. Crikey. I'm going on Tuesday morning, bright and early. Have to be there at five am.



Oh good grief, I've written a book, haven't I?! If you've made it this far, thank you so much for your care and concern, I greatly appreciate it (and you)! I miss you all and hope you are having a very lovely holiday season!

Sally

Giving gifties to myself!

I've had a rough go with my dental work and now, the resulting aftermath. The past three days have brought excruciating TMJ pain. OUCHERS! The dentist tells me I need to relax, take loads of ibuprofen and use warm compresses. I don't think I've had a relaxed day in my entire life. I'm not built that way. Ay yi yi. So I'm pampering myself with a little holiday shopping for moi. ;)

Yesterday I had fun buying some online holiday craft patterns!

I got darlin' Jenny, of Allsorts, adorable Christmas Elfies!

I got darlin' Betz White's adorable gingerbread boy and dog!

I got darlin' Alicia, of Posie Gets Cozy, adorable Walk in the Woods patterns!

I got darlin' Anna, of twelve22, winter-time paper village!
Anna has a free printable of one of her winter-time houses available here.

I got the prepublication, online version of Fa La La La Felt from Zinnio, featuring so many designers work that I love! Be ready to fall in love - they let you preview quite a few pages of this wonderful book, so be sure and check it out.

And I also recently got Laurraine, of Patchwork Pottery, Bird pattern, her Pumpkin Coasters pattern and Quilters Connection Magazine (which Laurraine sweetly autographed) featuring her Partridge in a Pear Tree!
Bird Ornament
Pumpkin Coasters
Quilters Connection Magazine

Another great pattern set I got recently, Crafty Tree Trimmings, which features six well known bloggers adorable patterns, from Crafty Pod! 15 % of purchase will benefit Project Linus!

I've mentioned the first three delightful ornament sets I received from Stephanie before and I want to add that I went back for three more sets teehee! Could not resist! ... I got six sets of the most adorable ornaments from dear Stephanie of Old World Primitives at her Etsy Store! I'm linking to Stephanie's main Etsy Store addy for you to see all of her wonderful things. I bought her doggies, kitties, angels, snowmen and two different Santa sets, all charming!

I'm off to enjoy my holiday patterns and magazines and hopefully, relax and UNCLENCH, and happily dream of sugarplums! :)

Monday blog love

a studio with a view
Andrea Walford
art = love = life
Cloth and Clay Dolls
Create With Me
D'Blogala
Flea Market Fancy Freaks
Food People Want
Froken Skicklig
Handmade by Jenni
handmade love
Lost in Paper Scraps
Marges8's Blog
My Black Book
nest full of eggs
Peets Scrapalbum
Pip Notes
Poetic Home
rose hip
Scrapping og skrytebilder
small bird
Stamping Matilda
Sugared Songbird
Tangarang
The Creative Type
This is love forever
Veggie Belly
Vintage Flair
waltzingmouse makes
With thy needle and thread

It's A Wonderful Life

We went Downtown yesterday to the amazing Million Dollar Theater to see the classic and much beloved by us, "It's A Wonderful Life" for a much needed jump start to some holiday spirit. The Million Dollar theater was built in 1918 and had long since seen it's glory days. Thankfully the wonderful Los Angeles Conservancy is restoring it and it is already quite something grand to behold.

Now Dasher! Now Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen!

On, Comet! On, Cupid!
On, Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch!
To the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away!
Dash away all!

Make a sock reindeer ala Martha
Sock Reindeer inspiration



Get beautiful reindeer clipart from The Graphics Fairy
Reindeer Clipart



Make a herd of reindeer from Cheeky Magpie (I made these last year, so cute!)
Reindeer pattern



Reindeer Embroidery pattern from Andrea Zuill
Reindeer Embroidery pattern



Reindeer Gingersnaps from Little Birdie Secrets
Reindeer Gingersnaps



Charming Twig Reindeer from Pretty Ditty
Twig Reindeer


Make Birch Branch Reindeer from Womans Day
Birch Branch Reindeer



Reindeer knitting pattern from Lulu
Knitted Reindeer


Printable Reindeer gift tags from Kristina for Creature Comforts
Reindeer Tags



Make a paperless origami reindeer from Craftstylish
Paperless origami reindeer

Ho Ho Ho

I give up. UNCLE. I can't deny that Christmas is approaching at the speed of light any longer. Good gosh, time is flying, isn't it?!

Time to roll out some fun stuff ...


Santa Claus paper craft printable from Family Fun
Santa Claus paper craft decoration




Oh my gosh, this is the cutest!
Make a miniature Santa, with sleigh and reindeer from Dollmaker
Mini Felt Santa Claus



Cute Santa to print out from Ziggity Zoom
Santa Printable



Make Santa and his helpers from Melodies Plus
Santa, Mrs. Claus and Elf dolls



Santa Claus tea cozy from Santa's Postbag
Santa Claus tea cozy knitting pattern


Mr. and Mrs. Santa Clothespin dolls from Martha
Mr. and Mrs. Santa Clothespin dolls


Christmas Santa Box at Craft Ideas
Santa Gift Box

Doin' the happy dance over here!

Thanks again everyone for all of your care and concern and sweet comments, it means so much to me!

WHEW! The Vet called yesterday afternoon and began by saying "I have some good news for you". Hurray hurrah!!! He said that it was a benign overgrowth of the epi-something or other.

Yippie!

And our Miss Precious Poochie Pie began to feel better yesterday and perk up and today she seems to have even more ooomph. So all is well in this little corner of the world again.

Thank you again so much for your kindness and friendship.

Let the holiday merry making begin!

My doggie is having surgery

EDITED TO ADD December 2nd: Thanks everyone so much for your kind words and good thoughts for my doggie! I so appreciate your kindness.

The vet told us our doggie made it through the anesthesia and the surgery with flying colors. He said he thinks it's just "exuberant" tissue growth (common in older dogs) but then added, "But you never know". He also found a second area of concern, on the corresponding upper tooth area. We will hopefully receive the biopsy results tomorrow afternoon. If not, then it will be Friday.

Our doggie patient was very bouncy and so happy to be home last night, you'd never guess she had surgery. But today she is all forelorn looking and very much the sad sack. I think she must feel really awful. We shared a lot of cuddles and rubbie-do's on the couch this morning and since then, she's just been flat out, mostly sleeping, sometimes lifting a bleary eyelid and looking around.

Thank you all again for your care and concern! You are very dear souls and it means a lot to me!


Original post:

WAH! When our doggie had her teeth cleaned, they found a lump by one of her back molars. It could just be an overgrowth of gum tissue but the vet said there are two kinds of cancer that it could be too. He said although it could be an overgrowth of gum tissue, it was odd/suspicious because it was just in the one area ... and he kept talking about the two cancers it could be. One of them tends not to spread but the other one is bad, spreads quickly. He said Golden Retrievers are prone to both.

SOB! I'm a nervous nellie over here. She's our little (ten year old) nutball baby and we love her so.

If you can spare some get well doggie wishes today, I'd so appreciate it.

Monday blog love

A Heart Felt Living
anything goes here
Arine
Bird Nests & Paper
concrete and honey
cottage
Dandy Bread and Candy
Jaszmurkowe Krzywulce
Lantlif
latarnia morska
Nic Nac Maniac
Ola Smith
Salley Mavor
Tea for Joy
Vita Ranunkler
Wytwornia Mamuty

Pooped out with a side of culture

Whew! Made it through Thanksgiving. Good gosh, that was stressful. I'd like to go back to bed for a couple of days. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend filled with all the people and things you love!

After the insane lead up to Thanksgiving Day and the family dinner gathering, we didn't really do much of anything the rest of the holiday weekend except eat out at some of our favorite spots. And eat some more. And watch movies. And be lazy - with a brief but gallant, housecleaning effort hahahhahahaha.

We went to the charming Fowler Museum at UCLA yesterday and caught the closing day of an exhibit about Tea I had been wanting to see (procrastinating again!) and also one about basketry. Both exhibits were so lovely.



They included lots of wonderful quotes about tea throughout the exhibit - I wish I had written them all down. I remembered the gist of the title of two of them and found them on the internet:

The 10 Virtues of Tea

(When the Zen monk Eisai brought tea seeds from china to Japan in the twelfth century, he also imported the following ten virtues of tea.)

1. Tea has the blessing of all the Deities
2. Tea promotes filial piety
3. Tea drives away the devil
4. Tea banishes drowsiness
5. Tea keeps the Five Viscera (organs) in harmony
6. Tea wards off disease
7. Tea strengthens friendships
8. Tea disciplines body and mind
9. Tea destroys the passions
10. Tea gives a peaceful death

Seven Bowls of Tea

The first cup moistens my throat.
The second cup eases my loneliness.
The third cup searches out my withered entrails,
After the fourth cup, I break a light sweat,
After the fifth cup, my bones and sinews relax.
After the sixth cup, I entered the realm of the immortals.
After the seventh cup, a wind rises beneath my arms.

and an alternate translation - perhaps preferable to the withered entrails, huh?! ;)

Seven Bowls of Tea

The first bowl of tea moistens my throat,
the second breaks my loneliness, and
the third bowl racks my brains, bringing to light the texts of 5,000 volumes.
The fourth induces perspiration whereby all ills evaporate through my pores.
The fifth makes my muscles and bones feel light, and
the sixth links me to celestials.
Be careful when drinking the seventh bowl,
as it makes you feel as if a cool breeze were coming from your armpits.
~ Lu Tong, Tang Dynasty poet. ~

oh and also, the seven rules of tea ... cool!

The Seven Rules of Tea
Sen no Rikyu's Seven Rules of Tea

Arrange the flowers as they are in the fields.
Lay the charcoal so it boils the water.
Create a cool feeling in summer.
Make sure the guests are warm in winter.
Be sure everything is ready ahead of time and do not fall behind.
be prepared for rain even if it is not raining.
Always be mindful of the guests. They're your first, your last, your everything.




The baskets were so beautiful! There were several that were made by different generations of the same family - their artistry passed down, kept alive.

Afterward, we went to one of our favorite Indian restaurants for lunch. Then I briefly lost my mind and decided I wanted to go to Barnes & Noble since it was across the street - bad decision. I think the entire neighborhood was there at the mall. I lasted about five minutes and had to leave - so surprisingly, there is a limit to my book and magazine addiction after all! I thought it was surely boundless ... as I ponder the purchase of some of my absolute favorite authors new books: Barbara Kingsolver, Jonathan Safran Foer, Jon Krakauer, Michael Pollan and of course craft books!

I dreamed Michelle Obama ...

... came to help me out with my holiday prep last night! bwahahhahahah!

That's how stressed out I am, the wife of the Commander in Chief had to be called in. YIKES!

Oh goodness me.

I made pumpkin boxes yesterday to hold the cookies. I bought this template online. I guess paper crafting is not one of my talents. You really have to finesse the bottom so that it fits under the lid. WAH! And then they were too big for the cellophane bags I assumed they'd fit in. sniffle sniffle SOB. The pumpkin boxes are pretty cute but they're also rather flimsy (read extremely) and the lid doesn't attach in any way, so they need to be inside of something for presentation.

Thank heavens for rolls of cellophane that I kept buying, thinking I didn't have any! Don't let them tell you that shopping is a bad thing teehee. So I'm hoping they'll look okay wrapped up in cellophane. Oh please please please!

As I write this, I am still debating the cookie recipes I will be baking today. I wanted to make a pumpkin blossom one - you know, like the yummy peanut butter one with Hershey's Kisses on top, except this is a pumpkin cookie with a cream cheese blob on top. But that means they need to be refrigerated and then packed tomorrow, as close to departure time as possible ... which means I'd be scrambling before leaving. And I hate that. It makes me unpleasant. ;)

I decided I wanted pumpkin cookies because of the you know, pumpkin boxes. Oh me and my thematic excess. ARGH!

Anyway, I've got to go and tell Michelle what she can help me with. :)

Happy almost Thanksgiving to everyone!

Cards ... check. Bday ... check.

Two down.

A gazillion to go.

WAH! I have entered the land of the fried and frenzied. I was already plenty stressed and then ... last night at dinner for my dad's 91st birthday, my dad told me that four people are coming on Thanksgiving that I didn't know about!!! Huh? What?!

I am now a blithering and twitching idiot. Breathe in breath out.

Saturday we ran errands and also went to the so fab store, Traditions. Oh my gosh. Not only do they have wonderful Christmas decorations, they have decor for every holiday! They have an online store, check them out and be prepared to have a bad case of the "I wanna's"!

I bought a feather tree (and some vintage looking small ornaments) for the wonderful ornaments I bought from Stephanie at Old World Primitives. Stephanie has a wonderful blog and Etsy shop. These are the three darling sets I bought from Stephanie, aren't they charming?!

We had lunch at our favorite vegan restaurant, Madeleine Bistro.
A trip there must always include their Red beet tartare (with warm tofu cheese crouton, English cucumber, balsamic glace)! So delicious!!!

OH! I had an Apple Cider Cinnamon Caramel juice to drink. Tasty goodness! To die for. Some experimenting will be going on to replicate that. Wow.

Saturday night was a lot of fun. One my husbands students invited us to see her dance recital. Not only were there tiny children (so cute in their costumes!) on up to teenagers, the mother's of the students were also a part of the group. And to top it off, several of my husbands students from years past were there to see their sisters and mothers perform and they all wanted to talk to hubs. A very lovely evening, beautiful costumes, smiling faces, sweet memories of days gone by. Oh and conchas and hot chocolate! YUMMERS!



Sunday was the final push on completing my Thanksgiving cards - argh, I'm slow - and then Dad's 91st birthday dinner. I wished him a Happy 10th Birthday - nine + one = 10!

Today is errands and a return to square one and rethinking what I'm making for Thanksgiving. If you have any spare creative vibe mojo, please send it my way. WAH!

The best laid plans ...

... go awry! WAH! I'm a later tater. I got derailed last night. No work done on the cards. Boo hoo. Hubs came home and we had dinner and then he wanted to watch stuff we had on our DVR and time just went. Blink of an eye. Poof!

And then today - I went for my hair appointment earlier, to banish my gray hair and I heard such sad news. Another client of the salon, who I've talked to for years - we used to always have the same appointment time on Saturday and her stylist was next to mine in the shop ... my stylist told me that this other clients son had passed away from the Swine Flu this past weekend!!!

The son had had a cold, had gone to his doctor, was told he just had a cold, to go home and rest and take tylenol. My stylist wasn't quite sure of the passage of time inbetween the doctor visit and the son getting worse but the son ended up going to the hospital because he was having a hard time breathing. He had developed pneumonia and had a 105 temperature which they couldn't bring down and he passed away.

So heartbreakingly sad and so shocking. 35 years old, in excellent health and had gone to the doctor. How impossible to process this has got to be for his dear family.

So please everyone take the most exceptional care of yourselves and your dear ones during this heightened cold and flu season.

Hugs all around.

PSA: Do not confuse the canned jalapenos

... with the canned mild green chilies!!! ARGH! Can you see the steam rising out of my head?!

I left you earlier to go to the market for the caramels for the apple cider cookies ... SUCCESS! wahoo! ... and then came home and made a soup recipe I had wanted to try.

I had seen this Brie and Green Chile Soup on the gorgeous, Once in a Blue Moon blog. So I searched for a recipe with ingredient amounts included (she seldom includes the amounts, she's such a great cook that I guess she can just wing it)on the internet and found one. So today was the day! Make the soup and then hit the ground running and begin my Thanksgiving cards.
Brie and Green Chili Soup at Once in a Blue Moon
Brie and Green Chili Soup at Big Oven (with ingredient amounts)

Well ... as I'm getting ready to dump the chilies into the soup, I see that I have picked up two cans of jalapenos, instead of two cans of mild green chilies. Okie dokie, so I decide to just add the one can to be on the safe side.

Well then ... I lost my mind and decided that maybe I should put half of the second can in after all.

MISTAKE!

Whoa! I nearly spontaneously combusted right there on the spot! I had to load my soup up with crackers and just take a teeny tiny bite.

My left ear even started pulsating from the heat of the jalapenos. bwahahhahahahaha!

Anyway, the good news is that my sinuses are no longer congested AND I've got the prototype for my cards made. YABBA DABBA DOO!

So I'm off to do some housework and then begin my assembly line of cards. :)

ACK! The list is too long!

I'm turning into a nervous wreck over here with all of the to-do's and gotta do's and wish I could do's. All of which means, I shouldn't even be on the computer, should I?!! So I may go silent for a bit ... or ... I may babble on nervously ... maybe a bit of both, in the days to come! ;)

WAH! whinnnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeeeee

Shop for caramels before "those" people (you know who are, gobsmackers and thwarters of dreams!) buy them all!
Make Thanksgiving Cards, so I can get them into the mail on time!
Find what I did with and wrap dad's 91st birthday gift!!!
Make dad's favorite ginger cookies for his bday.
Family dinner out with dad for his bday.
Make cookies and see if they are holiday wonderful enough.
Go insane and make something else if they turn out to be poopie.
Figure out and make whoopdidoo packaging of holiday cookies.
Make holiday tags for whoopdidoo cookie packages.
Figure out wrapping for holiday chocolates for everyone.
New dress for Thanksgiving???
Hair appointment.
I just know I'm leaving something out?!
Oh! Order wonderful vegan Thanksgiving for us from Real Food Daily for Wednesday night:

Testing out my new found marketing skills

I found this cookie recipe which requires Kraft caramels - I'm warning you now because judging by my keen eye on the "got to have" status of the Turkey Tablecloth - Kraft caramels are going to fly off the market shelf!

Ready. Set. Go. Go, I said. Now. Go buy your caramels before those Turkey Tablecloth buying people buy them all!!!

Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies from the Cooking Photographer!!!

And look at this wonderful Thanksgiving Garland from Rawbone Studio! Run on over at look at all the flickr images of this holiday delight! Can you hear me squealing, next year, next year, I'm going to make one like that! oooohhhh! So cute!
Rawbone Studio flickr



And for some goofy fun, check out the participants in last year's Turkey Shaped Jello Mold Contest at Danielle Spencer. It will have you wondering where are those 2009 creative people and their turkey mold entries! (I couldn't find anything for 2009 - perhaps it's early days for bringing out the jello mold?!) Oh! Please note you can see prior years entries as well - links at top of page.
Turkey-shaped Jell-O® Mold: 2008 Competition

Do you suppose I'm single handedly responsible for

... the complete sell out of the aforementioned darling (and coveted!) PBK Turkey tablecloth? Because it's all gone. No longer available. I have powers of persuasion unbeknownst to me. Apparently I am a mover and shaker. I think I deserve a commission, don't you?!

bwahahahhahahahha!

Look at this cute turkey to make!
At Smashed Peas and Carrots, found via one pretty thing



I made a turkey box like this one from Family Fun a couple of Thanksgivings ago to transport the little gifties I made for everyone to the restaurant. It was a lot of fun to make!




I want to make one of these adorable turkey softies from Bella Dia!



Here's a cute turkey paper garland at Woman's Day for fast, festive decor!

Monday blog love

A bit of this ... a bit of that.
A Nest With A View
A Teacup of Scrapisms
A Work in Progress
Bella Dreams
capture the moment
Cat in the Moon
Create well ... Create often
destination unknown
Erratic Needle
Gribouille Bidule & Cie
Happy Loves Rosie
Hemidemisemiquaver Designs
JCasa Handmade
Le Cabane de Sylvie
Leanne's House
Love to Scrap
Marmalade Rose
marytoutoule
mcmaster and storm
moa ag kaffekoppen
My Cross Stitch
Notforgotten Farm
pine is here
retro mama
Roots and Wings
Samplings from a blue ribbon girl
Soul Humming
Stempelgal's Verden
sunshine and ravioli
Suzy's Vintage Attic
sweet william
Tattered Angels
The Copy and Paste Project
Two Hearts Together
ulrika's creative corner
Vintage Scraps by Meg
Whimsy Love

In the shape of a heart

(gosh, I love that old Jackson Browne song!)

A while ago I was invited to join a group (organized by the wonderful Jane of Wyldhare's Hollow) and celebrate a fellow blogger, darling Elizabeth of Creative Breathing. Individually, our love and friendship would take the shape of a heart. The work of our hands and heart would then form a chain, a garland of our esteem and admiration made visible. Heart to hands, hands to heart.

My gift has been received now so I thought I'd show it here also. (Elizabeth has taken much better photos of mine than I have!)




I haven't sewn anything in years and it has been such fun to dip in again. And it was also surprisingly moving emotionally, like going home again. I had forgotten how much I love fibers. Ideas are swirling around in my brain, wishes for more time going out into the universe.

& It was so much fun to dig around my stash and find heart paper and make a gift card also with the heart garland theme.

From me to you dear Elizabeth. Heart to heart!

Nah! Thanksgiving can't be in less than two weeks!

ACK! There are Thanksgiving cards to make and gifts for guests at Thanksgiving dinner - I'm rethinking the pie in a jar. I got so caught up in their cuteness but I forgot that everyone will have to reheat them at home - rather than I would be serving them these adorable little pies in person, all ready to eat. So putting the thinking cap back on and hoping to find something SOON!

I wish I had time to make this cute Thanksgiving banner at Holiday Crafts and Creations for us.

Pie in a jar and Show and Tell

I was blathering on here the other day about how I like to give everyone little gifts when we meet for holiday dinner. Well ... I think I may have found this years idea, I hope I hope! Look at how fun and cute these are - Pie in a jar!

I stumbled across this post at Our Best Bites.
Our Best Bites



Aren't those adorable?! Which reminded me of these ones at not martha from 2008 ... cute as can be!
not martha



From what I can glean, the adorable and wee pies in a jar, originated at Lloyd and Lauren.
Lloyd and Lauren



Onto the Show and Tell portion of this post teehee ... you may remember this post about the giveaway I won from the adorable Pam at yoborobo. Well Pam overwhelmed me with cute and wonderful stuff and I wanted to say Thank You back for her kindness. So I found this darling pumpkin pattern on the internet - it was a large sized pattern and I shrunk it into pumpkin ornament size and stitched it up for Pam, included a See's Candies Halloween Milk Chocolate Pumpkin, I made her a pumpkin card and I wrapped it in pumpkin paper. Pumpkin Extravaganza! (Yes, I am anal that way, you found me out bwahahahhahahaha)

Re the pattern I used for the ornament - my silly middle aged brain had remembered it as being a pillow pattern - well it turns out to be a woodcrafting pattern! It is a free pattern from Country Corner Crafts and was designed by Susan Luinge. (scroll down to the bottom of the page and it's on the right bottom - I made the small pumpkin head)
Country Corner Crafts

I also found the stitched pumpkin card pattern on the internet. You can find the pattern at Make and Takes. I only used two ply of embroidery floss because I thought the suggested six was too thick - now I wish I had used more. WAH!
Pumpkin Stitched Card Pattern