When Life Gives You Lemons (and hurricanes), Make Lemonade!

That's exactly what I intend to do after these little babies ripen a bit! I hated picking them before their time but I was afraid Ike would not be kind to my lemon tree with all the extra weight. The little tree is only 3 years old but she was very kind to me this year. I will miss her when I leave this place. Speaking of Ike, he was a nasty terrible old man! He was a massive storm with a nasty attitude leaving destruction all the way to Ohio. I am grateful my family and I came through unscathed with only a few minor inconveniences...cough cough, no electric for 2 weeks!

The first week of roughing it was actually pleasantly peaceful; the weather was perfect and the kids and I found a myriad of things to do. We made these...




and I practiced painting to make these...



Plus I got to catch up on my reading which never happens. So, all in all week one was interesting and week two (not going to sugarcoat it) was HELL! I have a new appreciation for modern conveniences; particularly air conditioning as Texas decided to grace our presence toward the end of week one with its usual hot weather and 85% humidity. I am now catching up on housework and laundry and have a few projects up my sleeve which I will save for another blogging day. Until then...

Peace,
Ann

Happy September!

I am so excited because September officially marks the beginning of Fall for me; even though it is still miserably hot in Texas and I miss home so much! The kids and I enjoyed a long weekend and I am sad that it's over and back to work tomorrow. I finished re-organizing our craft room and managed to get some cork boards hung for their school papers. I also made it to Michaels today to put to use the labor day 50% coupon. I could not think of one thing to use it for but it was burning a hole in my purse so I bought another painting book. This book is geared a little more toward Tole Painting and I figure I will try my hand at it. The designs are so endearing.



I also happened to find this little gem of a magazine at the check out stand and couldn't resist. I'm glad I picked it up but now my head is spinning because I want to make everything in it! I especially love the altered wood frame and star on the front cover. There are some very cute paper Christmas trees in it as well. I highly recommend to get it now!



To celebrate September I had leftover pumpkin from pumpkin pancakes this morning and fresh blueberries so I made pumpkin bread and blueberry muffins. As if I needed anything else to go straight to my hips! They are so good and I've been baking more and more lately with egg replacers by Ener-G and soy milk. So much healthier, cruelty free and I have to say everything turns out so much moister. I also need to go to Philly now; I've been reading about all the cool Vegan/Vegetarian friendly places to eat there. ROAD TRIP!!!! Ha Ha!



Last but not least I was in Target Saturday and saw this cute little tote bag; why on earth I didn't buy it is beyond me but it is worth posting a picture of.



Have a fabulous week and until next time!
Peace,
Ann

Farewell Summer...

The school supplies have been bought, the teachers have been greeted, and the kids are ready for school. I suppose this means that summer is drawing to a close. Although I look forward to Autumn with open arms I can't help wonder; where did summer go so fast? Even more so I can't say I really did anything "summery". Oh how I miss the beaches back home!



1. Heirloom Tomatoes, 2. a little summer ..., 3. Untitled, 4. the last day of summer..., 5. Indian Summer Sunflower And Sky Cropped, 6. Summer Wanes, 7. Summer the Starfish, 8. Last summer at the beach, 9. More summer thoughts, 10. Cool Kites OCMD, 11. Summer Fun, 12. Summer Goodness, 13. Sand Castle, 14. Americana on The Veranda, 15. summer goodness, 16. Let the Summer Fun Begin

Inspiration

I've been in a very crafty mood lately and scouring the internet for new inspiration. I think with summer winding down and the kids heading back to school soon the creative part of my brain is in full gear. I am constantly looking for new ideas to organize my small craft space and recently bought this magazine for ideas. Oh how envious I get when I see the studios some of these artists have! I keep thinking one day I too will have my own space; my little oasis away from curious little hands and the constant sounds of television background noise!



I've also been looking for ways to store my knitting and crochet needles and even though I did find a roll-up at Michaels for them It was plain and just not shabby enough. I did however find something to make on Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion website! These can be stitched up in no time!




How to make it:
NOTE: Knitting Roll-Up measurements are in parentheses.
1. Place the two 5” x 20” (8” x 21”) rectangles of checked fabric wrong sides together. Baste or pin to keep in place.
2. To make the binding, fold the 3” x 20” (3” x 21”) strip of floral fabric in half, wrong sides together; press. Open the folded strip, fold the raw edges in to the center; press. Fold the strip in half again; press.
3. Wrap the folded and pressed binding around one long edge of the checked fabric rectangle. Pin to hold in place. Edgestitch along the bottom folded edge of the binding, making sure that you are catching both sides of the binding in the stitching.
4. Place the two 10” x 20” (17” x 21”) rectangles of floral fabric wrong sides together. Baste or pin to keep in place.
5. Place the bound checked rectangle on top of the floral rectangle, matching the raw edges at the sides and lower edge. Baste or pin the sides and lower edge in place.
6. Using an erasable or washable fabric marker and a ruler, mark the pocket divisions on the checked fabric. Starting at the left edge, markings are at 3”, 5”, 7”, 8”, 9”, 10”, 11”, 12”, 13”, 15” and 17” (1-1/2”, 2-1/2”, 4-1/2”, 6-1/2”, 8-1/2”, 10-1/2”, 12-1/2”, 14-1/2”, 16-1/2”, 18-1/2”, 19-1/2”). To make the individual pouches, stitch along the marked lines, backstitching at the upper (bound) edge of the pocket to secure.
7. Add the side binding. Fold and press the two 3” x 10” (3” x 17”) checked fabric strips in the same way as in Step 2. Bind the side edges (all layers) of the roll-up as described in Step 3.
8. For the upper and lower edges, use the two 3” by 21” (3” x 22”) strips. Before folding and pressing the strips lengthwise, turn under 1/2” at each end of the strip; press. Then fold and press in the same way as in Step 2. The turned under ends of the strip create a neat finish at the corners of the roll-up. Attach binding following the instructions in Step 3.
9. Make the straps from the two 3” x 33” (3” x 26”) strips of checked fabric. Fold under the short ends of the strips 1/2”; press. Fold the strips as for the binding, but edgestitch the long end open. Mark a spot 8” (12 1/2”) from the end of each strip. Pin in place along one short outside edge of the roll-up, about 3” in from the top and bottom edges. Stitch in place along the lower edge of the binding. Stitch button in place (or affix with French knots) between the straps, about an inch from the short edge.
10. To close up the roll-up, roll from one end; wrap the straps around the rolled tube and tie loosely to secure.



I hope you have a wonderful week ahead and leave you with this cute little wooden sign.



Peace,
Ann

JOY

joy (joi) pronunciation
n.
1. Intense and especially ecstatic or exultant happiness.
2. The expression or manifestation of such feeling.
2. A source or an object of pleasure or satisfaction: their only child, their pride and joy.


In this delightfully crazy world we sometimes struggle to appreciate and find the JOY in our daily lives. As a society we look for JOY in material objects; when in reality the simplest everyday things can bring us JOY if we are only able to stop for a fleeting moment and allow JOY into our hearts. Today I am sharing with you my version of JOY; just random Flickr photographs representing JOY whether it be a child's laughter, a flower or a puppy; it is complete JOY.



1. Real Joy, 2. This joy is for you, 3. share the joy, 4. Joy and happiness, 5. Full of Joy, 6. love, joy, peace,unity, 7. The Earth is God's Canvas., 8. It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away..., 9. Nature's tears of joy...

Forward Progress

I have to admit I completely forgot how much I love this craft and so glad I picked it up again. I am making pretty good progress on my USA piece considering there are a gazillion stitches!



I've also been browsing ebay lately for some new patterns and this is what I have won so far. I am especially excited about the Country Christmas sampler; I love to do samplers and can't wait to start on this one! I better hurry up and finish the current project before my new patterns arrive in the mail!



A few more goodies in keeping with my patriotic theme...



I hope everyone in blogland is having a fabulous week!

Peace,
Ann

Tranquility & Nature's Miracles

It's funny how one can drink a cup of coffee late in the day and never have issues falling asleep BUT no coffee and I am up half the night! After much tossing and turning last night I decided to give into my insomnia and start a cross stitch project. Crazy huh? Out of all my books and magazines I decided to go with the Patriotic cover design out of Cross Country Stitching. I've had the magazine since 1993 so better late than never!



As you can see from the photos I still have a long way to go!



By this posting I am almost done with the entire USA lettering. The weather was not too smoldering this morning in Texas so I decided to take a chance of not becoming mosquito food and sit on my front porch to do some of my stitching. There was a gentle breeze and it was so peaceful; I could hear the birds singing, the wind chimes chiming and the insects humming. In the midst I received a visitor; the largest, most beautiful dragonfly I had ever seen. This little creature could have easily been king or queen of the dragonfly kingdom! I was in awe and wish I would have had my camera! I managed to snap a photo with the camera on my phone but very hard to see since the dragonfly was relaxing inside my bushes. He stayed there for what seemed an eternity until my children interrupted his presence. It is so funny because I felt something magical and very calm while he/she was there. Perhaps it was a loved one in another form paying me a visit...




Peace....
Ann