A Visit from the Green Grinch Himself

"Summer's Souvenir"

by Blackbird Designs

30 ct Dye Pot linen

GAST

Sunday my furry cuddle bug, Jibby, and I snuggled most of the afternoon watching old black and white movies from the 50's and I started a new project.  It was a great way to spend an afternoon after I washed sweaters and did some general cleaning.  This is yet another "patriotic" stitch that I have been wanting to do, so I was happy to pull everything I needed for it from my overwhelming stash of "to-do's".  But, like I said, no pressure here, I am going to enjoy the journey.  Well, I did until this little fellow showed up......

Yup, I know some of you have been unfortunate to receive a visit by Mr Frog himself, too.  As you see that purple border, well it was suppose to be separated into two lines not one big bulky one....ugh!!!!!!  I wish the tooth fairy or Peter Cottontail showed up instead, but I guess it was my turn for the grinch of frogs to visit me. At least I caught my mistake before it became a monsterous disaster and had most of it done.  I need to rip out the star, too. 

Onto other things, here is a not so perfect photo of an old quilt I happened along on a visit to one of my favorite thrift stores. A steal of a deal for only $6.99.  You can't even buy a yard of fabric for that today.  I love the red baskets and this was a treasure find for me.  It had never been washed by the looks of it.  Not that it was dirty because it wasn't but it wasn't puckered as cotton tends to do once it is washed.  So as soon as I got it home I threw it into the washer and here it is.  Love it!!! Pretty and simple.

Here is my favorite son, or young man, Brayden.  He is my near perfect boy, he is awesome at everything he does.  He amazes me everyday.  He gets straight A's in all of his classes, and they aren't easy classes.  Which makes me glad he is getting some college credit for his hard work. 

Here are a few samples of his artwork.  He loves being crafty, too, just not with needle and thread!  Maybe someday.......one never knows!

Siberian Tiger

Leopard

Not sure who this is, but most likely an athlete, he absolutely loves the game of basketball and he is a go getter at this sport, too.

Hope you are staying warm and healthy.  Until next time......


Smiles,


Jolene

2012

Blackbird Designs

"Union Forever"

designed by Maggie Bonanomi

In 2012, I have decided to concentrate on this:

"Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity, but in doing it."  So, I am going to enjoy my stitching time and not make it a "job" but a "hobby"; something that relaxes me and calms me from the daily stesses of everyday life.  I am not pushing the limits on how many projects I have to do and finish in 2012.   I just want to enjoy the feel of the fibers, threads and textures along with the beautiful flavors as I stitch with my needle.  Simple, and doable with "no strings attached".

So, with this in mind, I started something new for the new year, something that would sing to my heart when the skies are bleak and gray.  Something simple, yet subtle and delivers a punch......so I turned to our nations colors, the red, white and blue.  I am "focusing" on patriotism this month and the brave hearts that give us these freedoms, the freedoms that are not free, but come with a high price.  Sometimes that price is life.

May I introduce you to my first finish for 2012.

Smiles....

Jolene

AS PROMISED......

A Friend is one that that helps you bridge the gaps

Between Loneliness and Fellowship,

Frustration and Confidence,
Despair and Hope,

Setbacks and Success.

Love yourself, but love others more.

Side by side or miles apart,

Friendship doesn't count miles,

It's measured by the heart.

A friend is one who knows you as you are,

Understands where you've been,

Accepts who you've become.

And still gently invites you to grow.

Good friends are like stars,

You can't always see them,

But you know they're always there.

 

This was truly a fun stitch and finish.  The colors were so fun to work with, I had a hard time giving this one away.  But......I made this as a gift to give my sweet friend Loraine for part of her 40th Birthday.  She is such an inspiring, cheerful, bursting with energy kind of girl.  She is an amazing stitcher, quilter, decorator, gardener, Mom and friend.  I am so glad I can call her "my friend".

P.S.  Happy "late night" Mother's Day to all you awesome mothers!  I hope you were all treated like Queens and received lots of pampering!  You are all worth it.

May you always find a reason to smile.....

Jolene

Strawberries, Blossoms......& Chocolate!

I'm getting closer.......yippee!!!!

Since I have been stitching strawberries and seeing pink. I decided tonight I would make a frozen treat for the guys for dessert.  This recipe is a big hit at our home.  It is light, fluffy and refreshing. 

I hope you will try it, it takes about 5 minutes, yes, that's only 5 minutes to make!!!  Can't go wrong with that now can ya?  The recipe calls for chocolate syrup drizzled over the top, but sometimes I like to add a little bit of sliced strawberries on top, also.  Makes for a perfect finishing touch, not to mention taste. 
Raspberry Lemonade Pie Recipe

Strawberry Lemonade Pie

• 1/3 cup sweetened strawberry lemonade drink mix (like CountryTime)
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cups vanilla ice cream, softened
• 1 carton (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1 chocolate crumb crust (9 inches)
• Chocolate syrup, optional

Directions

• In a large bowl, combine drink mix and water. Add ice cream; beat on low speed for 2 minutes or until blended. Fold in whipped topping. Spoon into crust.
• Freeze for 4 hours or until firm. Remove from the freezer 10 minutes before serving. Serve with chocolate syrup if desired. Yield: 8 servings.

A WRINKLED HEART

"wrinkled heart"

Before you speak,

Think and be smart.

It’s hard to fix

A wrinkled heart.

Here I sit, pondering about "the wrinkled heart".  It makes one think....but in a good and positive way.  Hmmm......

Anyway, here is a snapshot of my "wrinkled heart", aka, Truly Thine by Blackbird Designs.  I have changed a few of the colors here and there, but when she is all stitched up she will become a beautiful "cushion of love" to store some crimson pins. Also, a quaint little strawberry emery will adorn the heart to keep those needles sharp!

Stay tuned.....I will post again when she is stuffed and unwrinkled!  LOL

Wishing you a sunny, funny kind of day.

Smiles......

SNEEK PEEK...AND A "SUNDAE" DESSERT!

Good Morning!!!  Today is going to be another busy, busy day for me, but I wanted to give you a sneek peek at tomorrows post.  So what does this......

and This.....

have in common..... check back tomorrow and you'll see!!! 

In the meantime, here is a F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S dessert recipe.  It truly is a spectacular dessert and oh so worth the calories!

Layered Dulce de Leche Dessert

What you'll need:

40 NILLA Wafers, divided
2 pkg. (3.4 oz. each) JELL-O White Chocolate Flavor Instant Pudding (not sugar free)
1-1/4 cups cold milk
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed
1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping

Make It!


CHOP 4 wafers; set aside. Arrange 12 wafers on bottom of 9x5-inch loaf pan lined with foil.

BEAT pudding mixes and milk with whisk 2 min. Add COOL WHIP; spoon 1/3 over wafers in pan. Top with 12 wafers and  drizzle 2 Tbsp. caramel topping over wafers.  Repeat layers of pudding mixture, wafers and caramel topping. Cover with remaining pudding mixture. Sprinkle with chopped wafers; press gently into pudding mixture.

FREEZE 4 hours or until firm. Lift dessert from pan, using foil handles. Place on serving plate. Let stand 5 min. to soften slightly, remove foil before slicing. 

Enjoy!!!

10 WINNERS FOR THE TWENTY-TEN GIVEAWAY

Good morning my dear blogging buddies and friends. It is a cool 20 degrees here at the moment, quite a bit warmer than it has been (usually about 12 degrees) bbrrrrrrr!!!! I don't know about you but my body doesn't sense the difference between cold and colder, it just knows it is freezin' outside. I could sure go for some coffee with a bit of french vanilla right now to warm me up. Yum! As you can see from the picture above, Sunday was kind of a relaxing, don't want to do nothing, lay around and sleep kind of day. Tinkerbella sure knows how to take advantage of it to the extreme! lol

Isn't this such a pretty sight? I just love the beautiful white branches, they look so peaceful and serene at the same time, yet so bold. I know that sounds kind of strange but it's just how it makes me feel. My hubby and I went out to rent us a movie to watch last evening when I caught a glimpse of this tree and thought (wow!) how beautiful! Anywho, I can't even remember what it's called, wait.......hubby just said it is called "Extract". I have no idea what it's about or anything, he went in and got it, I just went along for the ride. For some reason he is not the best at choosing movies so I hope it will be entertaining. We didn't watch it Sunday night so we will probably get to it tonight. Keeping my fingers crossed for some stitching time. Haven't had too much of it lately.

I have been working on "Spring Fling" by none other than Black Bird Designs, I LOVE their patterns. Here is a not so perfect snapshop of where I am on it. I keep thinking "You need to put this down and start on 'I Thee Wed', but I keep plugging along thinking, no, if you start another project you won't finish this one". What's a girl to do????? I know the answer.......I will take this one to work and work on it at lunch time and I will start "I Thee Wed" to work on in the evenings at home. Yes, I can do this!!!



I came across this photo I took at my Aunt's house this past summer and when I saw the glass frogs I chuckled and thought I should share this photo with all of you. I am sure alot of you are familiar with Deb's passion for "scissor frogs" and how she so cleaverly displays her scissor collection in her many "scissor frogs". So seeing that my Aunt has a collection of antique marbles and she displays them in "frogs" too, made me think of Deb. I love that that they both chose to display their collections in the same manner. What fun ideas they came up with!!

Here is a little "valentine" project I stitched up rather quickly. It is stitched on light pink aida, which I don't use hardly ever, but it was the only fabric I could find in that color. I used plain DMC thread, nothing fancy. I found this pattern in an old magazine I had and thought it would be a fast stitch and offer me something to do for a quick change of pace.

My obsession for stitching the word "Love" began when I stitched my first "Love" for a birthday present for my sister some 9 or so years ago. You see her last name is "Love" so I found it fitting to make her something that had a double meaning for her. It turned out so pretty that I have made several "beaded" stitcheries with the simple word "Love". Even though the word love is simple, it is elegant and the projects I have made are anything but simple. I have always loved the saying "Love wasn't put in your heart to stay, love isn't love til you give it away". Speaking of which (give it away) brings me to the results of the 2010 giveaway. I used the random generator (only because it was faster this time). I prefer to do it the old fashioned way "out of a hat", but either way here are the lucky winners:

Winning Numbers are:

63.....Blyn

Blyn said...
You are so kind with all of your giveaways. I love all of the signs that you have in your sidebar. There is a restaurant that we enjoy going to and they have these great big signs just like them. I love the sayings on them. Now for chocolates..I love chocolate covered cherries, the kicker is I hate the cherry. I eat them and (spit out) the cherry...bad I know.. :)

4 .....Brigitte

Brigitte said...
Oh Jolene, what a treat to be able to visit Shepherd's Bush whenever you want to. I visited once and it was a dream. If I lived near them my cc would be smoking all the time, lol. What a wonderful idea for a giveaway.
When it comes to chocolates my favourite ones are the ones filled with marzipan or with caramel. I don't know any American brand but what I like here is Lindt. Hmm, I have to stop thinking of chocolates, lol.

37.....Melissa

Melissa said...
Oh how fun, how generous of you, Jolene! My favourite chocolates are Belgian chocolates from a local chocolate shop called Daniel's. I especially love the Cointreau, Espresso, and a Strawberry Heart. There, now you know what's in my chocolate stash drawer!

Thank you for this giveaway!

60....Myra

Myra said...
I am happy you found the chart you wanted. I know how it is when you have the "itch" for that one special chart and as always it is OOP.

Another Happy Birthday to Kerry!

I would love to be entered in your generous giveaway.

Oops! I forgot to tell you that my favorite chocolate is always the dark chocolate with coconut in the center. Yum! (Sorry for the double post.)

13.....Heather

Heather said...
I love Ghardelli Dark chcocolate with carmel. We don't get them in Canada so such a treat when i do get them
Thanks for a great swap

65.....Katrina

Katrina said...
Happy birthday to your brother!

My favorite chocolate is the Cadbury eggs with the candy coating. You can only get them at Easter and Christmas so I stock up, LOL.

What a great contest, I hope I win ;-).

40.....Peg

Peg said...
Happy Birthday Kerry! I love alot of the Shepards Bush charts not sure why I own so few of them. I may have to rectify that real soon. LOL!

My favorite candies don't come in the box they are Brach's and they are a cream colored noughat with the little colored chewy pieces in them. My grandmother always had those in a dish and we could have them whenever we visited.

Now if I have to buy a box of candy I always get the turtles. Yummy carmel nuts and chocolate. :)

Your are so generous with your give aways. I would love to have a grab bag from SB.

68.....Tammy K

TammyK said...
You always have the coolest posts. I like the Hershey's rum caramel. Ate way too many of them this Christmas but they were delicious! Love the peacock on your header.

25.....Michelle

Michelle said...
Happy New Year to you and your family!

Wow - what a great giveaway - again!

I LOVE Lindt chocolate, especially the dark Lindor Balls, because they are just the most delicious and smooth chocolates ever!

79......Edgar

Barbeeque4 said...
My Favorite boxed Chocolates would have to be those from Angell and Phelps - made in Daytona Beach FL -

Throw my name into this super give away!!!

edgar

WooHoo!!!! Congrats to all of you! Thanks so much for visiting my little corner of the blogging world and taking the time to comment. I love to "get mail" so it is always refreshing to me when I open up my computer and find "I have mail".....it brings a smile to my face and heart.

Will the winners please send me their mailing address so I can get your Mystery Grab Bag in the mail for you. Have a wonderful week and I look forward to visiting your blogs for more inspiration.

Kindly,

Jolene

FROSTY PUMPKIN IN A MOONLIT GARDEN

"Autumn"

Pumpkins in the cornfields
Gold among the brown

Leaves of rust and scarlet
Trembling slowly down

Birds that travel southward
Lovely time to play

Nothing is as pleasant
As an autumn day!

by Blair Buell

Happy Columbus Day!! Today I thought I would share some photos of my "Moonlit Garden" by Blackbird Designs. I love the big pumpkin and the bright full moon. I am thinking about putting a bead on the door for a doorknob, just need to find the "right" one. A little squirrel (named Charlie) to add some mischief to the piece and maybe some little acorns. I don't know why, but I always seem to have a need to embellish my cross stitch projects. They don't feel right unless I do. I love the saying on this fall sampler, it is so true. I believe everything has a purpose whether it be for an hour, a day, a month, a year or a lifetime. You just never know.

On a lighter note, I hope you had a wonderful, relaxing kind of weekend. My hubby and I went for a drive on our "Put Put", which is what I call our vintage 1972 Honda 90. I inherited it from my parents when they passed away. It is pumpkin orange and I love it!!! I told my husband we should name it "Harley". I remember when I was about 12 years old my Dad taught me how to drive this motorcycle when we were camping. I have a photo of me on it with an orange, yellow and blue "Chevron" striped coat.

It was an eery day, gray and overcast so it was the perfect setting for a spooky adventure. We went in this old house that had been abandoned so to speak. The windows were broken and the door was open. I was curious so I ventured inside for a peek, I just couldn't help myself. I normally would never do this, but since it had already been vandalized I felt a little more as ease so I crept in slowly, I didn't want to get in trouble for trespassing. Just inside the door there was a headstone on the floor. I thought that was really weird and freaky!!! I wonder where it came from??? Inside, there was a room just off the back porch that had an old freezer with it's door opened upward, it reminded me of a coffin and I knew I wasn't about to look in it. The house felt cold inside and I was a little nervous that I had actually went in it. I was drawn to the window on the upper level so I had my husband pose and look out the window so I could capture a "ghost in the window" shot. Kind of cool! Then I went in and took a photo looking out of that same window. The winding staircase leading up to that room was really narrow with tall steps.

On our ride, we stopped and played with a couple of miniature horses named Buttercup and Barney. They were so adorable!! There was also a goat, just not sure if it was a nanny goat or a billy goat. The rain sprinkled a little on us, but it wasn't too bad. Later on that evening we went to my brother-in-laws to deliver his birthday present. It was fun visiting family and playing with their two adorable cats. I love cats!!

I guess I will get my recipe out for some Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies this evening and make us a little treat after dinner. I keep thinking a cream cheese pumpkin roll would be really good, but it is time consuming to make so I will have to wait for the weekend. Which reminds me, it is Witches Night Out at Gardner Village this weekend so I will be meeting my cousin for a witches night out. I will take lots of photos and post some for you to see. It has become a tradition of mine to be a witch at least once a year!!

I am getting my crickety skeleton put together and I will show you some fun ideas for displaying him later this week. Until then I hear those cookies calling my name and if I'm lucky maybe I can stitch a little while they are baking. Have a lovely evening and don't forget to rsvp for the giveaway......it will be here soon!!!

Good Evening My Prettie's, Care For a Strawberry or Peach...

Good Evening my dearest ones, how have you been? Dreadful, I hear, that's wonderful!! (LOL) Me, too.....I took today and tomorrow off of work so I could work on my living room. Unfortunately the Big Bad Bug visited me and put a spell on me. I haven't felt well today so I took a long summers end nap with my three cats on my son's bed. Don't tell him though, I don't want to upset him. Hopefully the spell will be lifted by tomorrrow so I can continue as planned.

I'm sorry I haven't posted for a while, just too busy to blog lately, but I will try and catch up on everyone's updates. I made this Blackbird Designs Sampler, called Strawberry Garden, earlier this year so I thought I would share some glimpses of it with you now. This is one of my favorite parts of this design. A sweet, juicy, sun ripened, red strawberry.

This is my second favorite part. I just love birds, especially if they are black. Oops, looks like I forgot to stitch his bead on for his eye.

Random photo #1

Random Photo #2

Completed "Strawberry Garden"
By Blackbird Designs
Now off to the framer......

Okay, I finally got around to making my Mother-in-law a fresh peach pie. Here is a photo before it went into the oven. I used a Pillsbury Pie Crust and I sliced up about 9 fresh white peaches, added some white sugar, cinnamon and some tapiocca to thicken it. Poured the mixture into the unbaked pie crust and I topped it off with a crumb mixture of brown sugar, white sugar, flour and butter. Baked it at 375 degrees for 45 mintes.

And this is what it turned out like. The house smells of warm cinnamon, such a sweet, pleasant aroma. Reminds me of autumn and Halloween. Yikes, I can't wait I tell ya!!!

Until next time.....have a piece of pie and enjoy!

My first

Wow, I am creating my first blog! Wish me luck! I am posting a cross stitch I recently made for a contest entry from Blackbird Designs. It was really fun to create and personalize. I have never stitched my actual name on a design until now. The significance of number 143 I stitched after my name simply means "I Love You". It was my salutation on love letters to my boyfriend when I was young. It was a fun code that only the two of us knew. The word I has one letter, love four letters and you three letters.