opinions please

OK, so I finished the Frappuccino the other day and right before it was done I remembered some little cupcake buttons a friend had given me and was thinking, hey, those might be cute on the sides, but after searching high and low for them with no luck, gave up and posted the finish.

Here it is again:




And here it is with the found cupcake buttons perched on it. I haven't sewn them on yet, because I'm just not sure....




Too much? Better without? Maybe better with just one? What do you think?



Help me out here if you will and give me your honest opinion :) I'd be ever so grateful!

make muffins, not resolutions

With 2008 bearing down upon everyone, once again the question of the day seems to be "make any New Year's resolutions"? Well, after thinking it over so hard that I actually lost a little sleep over the whole thing, I decided NO. I'm not makin' any. Going to make muffins instead. Banana muffins, for the second time this week.



This is them before they went into the oven. The first time I made them, I tried to fit them into 10 cups like the recipe states. Big mistake because they overflowed and were not too purty to look at, but they did taste divine.

And here they are in 12 cups...they still puffed up a little too much, not sure what I'm doing wrong!



But you should try them, they're GOOD!! You can find the recipe here: Banana Crumb Muffins. It's really that topping that makes these yummy, no matter if they turn out pretty.

So anyhow, I lie. I did make a couple of decisions about 2008. But they're not so much resolutions as they are promises to myself. And here are a couple of them:

** Make more cupcakes!
2007 did not see as many as 2006 (Year of the Cupcake in case you don't remember). I'm pretty well stocked up in cupcake books thanks to some wonderful friends, so there's NO EXCUSE!

** Stitch only from my stash.
I just know you all are rollin' your eyes, especially Patti because she's heard this before. What stitcher hasn't made this same statement? But other than the one thing I'm on a list for, the Blackbird Designs Loose Feathers series, I make this promise to myself, right here with GOD AS MY WITNESS (and Patti too)...the only stitching things I will purchase this year will be threads or fabrics needed for things I already have in my stash. Because DANG, I have enough already!

** Keep a "Gratitude Journal".

Read about this concept somewhere a few months ago and it's basically a journal but it can be just one word, or one picture, but you make an entry every day of something you're grateful for.


** Take more naps

self explanatory, no? naps are yummy.

And that's IT. I think I can do it :)

How about you? Make any promises to yourself for 2008?

sleepy frap finish

One of my most favorite things in the world are Caramel Frappucinos from Starbucks. Love them! I try to be "good" when I get them and get the light version with no whip and non fat milk, but pretty sure the venti size does me in anyway, hee!

Anyhoo, this cute design is from Little House Needlework's and Crescent Colors, there's a whole series, which are all adorable, but I knew when seeing this one, it was a must stitch for me!



It was the first time I'd stitched with the CC Belle Soie Silks. Oh my goodness, they are just heavenly!



I could use one of these right about now, with a double or triple shot of espresso. Yep, that would get me going I bet.

Christmastime is here

Oh my. That last post was written days ago and then was promptly forgotten about. I think I was considering adding something to it but got carried away with holiday preparations and forgot what that something was. Pretty much the whole state of my life right now.

The other day, I had a whole list of stuff to get done. For whatever reason I was rushing myself along...no one standing over me saying "hurry A, hurry"...just me, myself and I, happily buzzing along. Putting on a coat of face paint, then go to brush my hair real quick and JAB!! Right below my eyebrow with my thumbnail. Yes, I almost poked my own eye out. It hurt, but since I was in a rush, didn't pay that much attention to it, and par for the course, forgot about doing it. Ran a bunch of errands, talked with people, etc. Then, later on as I was driving, noticed this throbbing pain over my left eye. pull the visor down and look...imagine my surprise to see part of my skin hanging off and blood! Hmm...maybe people were too scared to ask me what happened...anyway, cleaned it off and then had a lovely scab there for days. I decided right then and there to slow myself down...getting everything done... definitely not worth poking your eye out!

and with that, some images from the tree and around the house:










Merry Christmas to my sweet friends out there. Thank you all so much for your presence in my life. Peace to you. And love too.

sugar rush

These little beauties from Sprinkles made their way into our home today:



Just in time! We need more sugar around here, that's for sure!



Done wrapping, except for those two Butter Bells there. Now to start on the holiday baking. Oh boy. Haven't started yet, so no pics....a coworker is coming over tomorrow evening so I can show her how to make some stuff. I love that....that she wants me to help her!

So meanwhile, some more random shots from around the house.

Remember when I promised pics of the new tables? Well, here's one for ya.



And a close up:



I'm never really sure what exactly I'm supposed to be displaying, or how, really. Had it all worked out alright but then needed to decorate for Christmas, so whatever.

One of my favorite ornaments of all time. More on that later :)

hugs

Today I felt like hugging a total stranger in Hobby Lobby. My friend and I were standing there waiting to check out, the lines were long so they opened another checkout. One lady offered to let another go before her but the second woman declined and said she was just as happy to stand there and wait as anything.....she was just so nice, everything about her. So they started talking a little and the whole thing made me well up inside.

Cause I've been having a big ol' pity party for myself and down in the dumps because my back is hurting worse than ever with the weather being all crazy and all and then work has been hairy too, which is always the case this time of year.

Last week was particularly interesting because two grown people got into a HUGE screaming match over a chair.

Yes, a chair. A man asked if he could have it since no one was sitting in it and the woman who was asked said no, take that one over there. And so it began. LOUD yelling. LOUD cursing. Everyone in the building stopping to watch them. The man then running up to tell me about it, like I could make the grown woman behave, like I'm the "mommy" of them all. I thought the man was going to haul off and hit her and so did she, she even said, "don't you touch me, I'll call the cops". But of course, our off duty officer (who is very highly paid by our organization) didn't show up that night.

Anyway, all that to say...sometimes our customers are real stinkers.

And my back hurts so bad I feel the need to cry and cry hard over it. Such a whiny baby...

And then you see people being kind to each other in a store and it makes you want to hug them and praise them for being so nice to each other.

I seriously debated asking the one gal if I could hug her.

But I didn't.

Should have though, don't you think? I really needed a hug anyway.


So anyway, here are some random pictures. I was too tired to get up off the couch to take these, so the views you see are from there.

Our totally 80's Christmas stockings, although I think a couple of them were done in the early 90s'. I can vividly remember being in the craft store, buying these kits, picking each one out as I thought they matched the person they were to be stitched for. Pretty sure they weren't all bought at once though, we were too poor at the time, for that.



You can see in that pic that our house is still a jumbled up mess. Look at that stack of Christmas books on the right that I pulled out. Most of them are Mary Engelbreit.

And here's a shot of the tree, again from the couch, excuse the lamp:



And another:



must've gotten up for this one, (I promise to try and get better pics of the whole thing before Christmas is over).



And my little elf pug:



when those velvet ears are upon you, you're not too inclined to move around much ;)
Plus, he's got Pug Hugs. And kisses.

misc.

Just a bunch of random things.

I made these sausage balls (just like every year at Christmas time):



1 pkg Jimmy Dean hot sausage
8 oz shredded smoked cheddar cheese
2 cups Bisquick

Mash it all together with hands shape into balls and bake at 325 degrees for about 30 minutes.

And finished this:



Star Bright Snowman by Ewe & Eye & Friends
Stitched over two on 32 ct. Tapestry Teal by Lakeside with one strand Anchor.



And we had the sinful dessert, which was really good, according to my family. But I don't eat many things containing pumpkin, so I can't vouch for it. I gave some of it to my friend Patti, for her and her hubby to eat later that day, didn't hear anything back about it, so who knows if it's good or not.



Here's the recipe anyway:

1 16 oz can pumpkin
1 12 oz can evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3 eggs
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup chopped pecans
2 sticks melted butter
8 oz softened cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
2 cups Cool Whip

Mix together can of pumpkin and evaporated milk; add sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and eggs. Pour into greased 9 x 13 inch dish. Top with cake mix (crumble dry mix over it all) and pecans. Pour butter over top. Bake at 350 for 50 to 60 minutes.

While it cools, mix together in medium bowl, the cream cheese and powdered sugar until combined. Fold in Cool Whip. Smooth over cooled cake, top with more pecans if you want.

And speaking of my friend Patti, look at the ornament she made me for Christmas:



Isn't it adorable? And she also made this project bag, which I managed to talk her out of:



The little button has a snap underneath it, so you can change the card on the front that has your project info on it. Isn't it cool? I love it!

Got our Christmas cards addressed and mailed out. It took me almost 6 hours. We haven't received even ONE yet and I have to wonder, if we didn't mail any, would we even get any in the first place. Very time consuming and expensive these days.

Tree is up. This year it has mostly Mary Engelbreit ornaments on it and the ones that aren't are either red or have a whimsical feel. It had to be a shiny and bright tree. Oh, how I wish we had some of the old Shiny Brite ornaments for it! We're tired of most of the old stuff we have and just boxed it up for the kids to have someday when they're moved out or whatever.

My little blog has almost reached 100 posts. And in the past few months has had over 10,000 hits. Can anyone believe that? You'd never guess it, I think. Just who are all these people anyway? Surely whatever I'm posting about here is just not that interesting!

sing us a song...

...you're the Piano Man!



Due to a really amazing connection I have, my DH and I are going to see Billy Joel tonight, Here!!


Taking the DART Rail directly there, Platinum seating and did I mention, um, totally FREE?!

Merry Christmas to us! Yee-Haw!!

(I'm just a wee bit excited, can you tell)?

Alrighty then...another framed finish to share (sorry Trisha, girlfriend is right, I'm so, so pokey lately, dang that job, that family and definitely that PUG! But I really do still stitch, stay tuned!)



It's my Counting Magpies, by Birds of a Feather. I stitched it over 2 on 36 ct. Meadowlark, with one strand of WDW. It was a lot of fun to stitch :)

framed mermaid

Here's my framed Mermaid Sampler (design by Barrick Samplers):



This was a frame my LNS already had, so I saved a little on that part of the order. Originally it was supposed to have glass over it but somehow they forgot that, and since I'd waited so long for them to get it done, along with another one I'd taken in, I just went ahead and took it home. I like how it turned out.

And DH had a great time at the concert, just like I'd hoped!
A blurry picture of Todd Rundgren here:



DH was first in line. Too funny!

two more

Here are the last two finishes I received from the finisher last week.

This one is an old Ewe & Eye & Friends and for the life of me, I cannot recall the name of it. I think it was a scissor companion kit, but that's just a guess.



And here's the back of it:



This one is Bluebird's Message, by Blackbird Designs.

Here's the outside:



And the inside:





On a completely off topic side note, my hubby and son are at a Todd Rundgren event right now. Anyone know who he is? Remember the song, "hello, it's me"...that was him. Well, hubby LOVES him, and everything he's ever done, but had never seen him in person. Tonight he's playing at House of Blues in Dallas, and so it was an early Christmas present for him to go. I know he must be in Heaven right now...at least I hope so :)

more from the finisher

This little finish is from Twisted Threads. I finished it a couple of years ago, exactly as it was charted, but was not that happy with it and never could figure out how to finish it off. It was very labor intensive, all that solid over one stitching and all, so tossing it wasn't really an option, lol!

So I sent it to the finisher with the instructions to just "do whatever you want to with it".

And boy hidee, did she ever! (If you click on the photo, you can see a better close up view)



The silk ribbon she gathered around the edges (what's that called again?) was the perfect touch!

And just look at the back of it!



I really do love it now, more than I could have ever imagined :)

return of the queen bee

Back from the finisher....





And Llok what went into the oven awhile ago:



It's a recipe out of one of the Sweet Potato Queens books. When it gets cooled down it gets a bunch more fattening stuff piled on top of it :) If it's any good I'll post the finished dish and recipe so you can try it too!

redneck holidays

Sorry for the blog break, I was recovering from Thanksgiving! We really had a nice one, despite one particular relative driving me absolutely insane, the food was all good and my hubby and kids said it was the best Thanksgiving meal I'd ever cooked. Score!

So I thought I'd share my secret. I know it's a little late, but maybe you can keep it in mind for next year.
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Are you ready?
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Here it is:
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And just in case you can't figure out how to get it out of the can, it comes with instructions. Oh yes, it does!!




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Somehow I'm picturing you all with a face similar to this one:



LOL! Just kidding folks!

Hope you got a laugh out of that one ;)

It was actually something my DH requested that I make for him on his birthday. I had to work that night, so his official birthday dinner wasn't until the following Sunday (at The Cheesecake Factory...YUM), so when I was getting ready to slice and fry for his sandwiches, the back of the can just cracked me up! I've been opening cans of Spam since I was a kid and have to admit, it's a skill! But now they have the instructions right on the can, so anyone can do it!!....it's just too funny.

Spam. People either love it or hate it. We have it about two or three times a year, always fried and in sandwich form and it usually makes my husband sing part of the old Monty Python Spam skit which is good for a laugh or two!

So anyway....I brined a turkey, best thing e.v.e.r. OMG, I'll never make a turkey any other way. So tender and juicy! We used the Williams Sonoma brand of brine mix, it was wonderful!

We had all the regular stuff to go with it, cornbread dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce (always from the can and after 30 years of slicing it, my mother tells me I'm doing it wrong!), pies, and then these:



the only thing I got a picture of during preparations because my camera battery died.
They were from the November issue (I think) of Everyday Food, shown here:



Super easy but they were HUGE when I baked them the next day, I'm not sure that we really liked them that much....they smelled and tasted great but eh. Nothing to write home about. Of course, everything else was to die for, but alas, no pics.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well and are gearing up for the holiday season now. I'm almost done with my shopping already! Yippee! Now I need to get my list ready for what all needs to be baked and what candies to make. Probably the same stuff as I always do, my peoples would probably kill me if I deviated any from the norm, lol! They wait all year, or at least that's what they say!

Stitching wise, working on a big sampler, will try to post of photo of that soon :)

all stashed up

The couch still stinks, as evidenced here:



Actually, I think Astro is pretty oblivious, but thought that face was funny anyway.

The Haverty's people didn't show. All day. Finally, at 4:45pm I got a call from the Service center that they needed to order a solution from the manufacturer to apply to the couch and they will call me when that comes in. Like they didn't know that ONE WEEK AGO when I first called them about the stink. I was not very pleased and told them I'd been waiting there ALL DAY, which got me a big sob story about how they'd tried to call me for FIFTEEN minutes but the line was busy so then they figured out they'd written down the wrong area code so once they figured it out they called me right away. Well just call me tickled pink, that accounted for 15 minutes of ALL DAY, whew! Needless to say, if this cupcake doesn't see some action PDQ, she's opening a can of "frosting" on their butts the likes of which have never been seen before.

So to calm my inner rage at the furniture people, I decided to take pictures of my recent stash. Nothing soothes the soul like S.E.X. And if it's not showing up in your mailbox or you can't drive to get it, just pull out what you have and fondle it. You'll feel better, trust me.

Here's some stuff I brought home from the quilt show:



Shepherd's Bush kit Pumpkin Hill and two punch needle patterns. Actually one is a pattern and one is a kit. I was feeling very "pumpkiny" when buying these.



A pattern for a yo-yo puppy and the Clover Yo-Yo maker in extra large to make him.




A new Mary Engelbreit book by Leisure Arts (and oh boy, I had fun in their booth, they had Debbie Mumm quilt books on sale for $5 each so I bought all four of them that were there, but forgot to get a picture) and a sampler I've been wanting for a while, Kind Fond Love by Brenda Keyes.



Some charm packs (which I'm addicted to) and the new Amy Butler book.



The quilt kit I'd mentioned earlier. They had one of these quilts done up at the Cabbage Rose booth and since I love this line of fabric I just had to get it.



The Wildflower chart I'm stitching for my daughter and the other two I've just wanted for awhile and waited for a month to get them from a certain online place I wont' mention the name of. And only the Dovo scissors in this picture came from the quilt show. DH bought me a new pair because the ones I had just like them he ruined a couple of years ago when he cut some fishing line with them. Oh yes, you read right. Fishing line.

With my DOVOS.

And he never told me he did it, mind you.
I just go to cut my thread one day and they wouldn't cut it.
Would. not. cut. one. thread.
I'm all **WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO MY SCISSORS????????????!!!!!!!!!!!**
And he's all *I think I might have used them to cut my fishing line. Was that wrong?*

Can you just imagine the can of "frosting" that was opened on him that day?

It wasn't pretty my friends, wasn't pretty.