ON the eve of an eve.....and an ALTOID request...( re-gift too)

Help yourself to the 2012 graphics..

I love a NEW YEAR for all the right reasons

I love the New Year because it's a new season

And remember

YOU is KIND, YOU is SMART

and YOU is Important to me!

p.s help yourself to my graphic

ATTENTION: P.S again...
By chance if any of you have any of these ALTOID TINS.
I have a wee project that needs your attention...send me one or two
and I will be re-gifting one  back to you...
Let me know --will send you my address...
Any shape or size btw...we don't get these around here.
HELPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!
( mints do not need to be included lol)

A quiet morning

I have always been a morning person.

I go to bed early and I wake early. 

I wouldn't have it any other way. 

I am sew grateful for the aroma that first

brew of coffee brings to my senses..

I am grateful for my breakfast nook and 

the view I had this morning..

ST-Nick here in the window displays

the morning waking up with me ...

The sky a soft blue, mirroring the coolness in the air...

I grab my IPAD, a couple of shortbreads and stir 

with anticipation what this day will unfold for me...

A week from now it will be Christmas EVE

and I will be participating fully in each moment 

as if they were my last...

AS I embrace this season of my life

I am thrilled to share it with you..

This morning and many more....

Thank you for sharing yours with me!

May you always have LOVE to share,

HEALTH to spare and FRIENDS that care...

Distracted not really....

I was warned about this....

I can tell you honestly I have been very busy behind

the scenes for 2012....for that other blog 

I also am working on 4 projects that I will soon 

be sharing..

Just wanted to drop you a quick note

to say...

A little smile, a word of cheer, 
A bit of love from someone near,
A little gift from one held dear, 
Best wishes for the coming year… 


Whatever your wishes
these are what I wish for you!

I loved you yesterday, I love you still, I always have, I always will.

This morning I was sipping my coffee 

( Green Mountain Breakfast Blend)

on my window bench, and I could 

not help but reflect on all the wonderful

memories that our ornaments on our kitchen

tree has brought to me...

Take this one..this was taken a couple years ago

while celebrating another grandchild...we were

sew excited to be grandparents... ( this was our 4th)

This one from a dear colleague-

we sipped over many  cups of coffee

 reading clinical papers through the years.

She gifted this to me as a reminder..

It sew fills my cup per say lol

This from a dear friend who was my 

illustrator for "our" nutrition book..

I think she thought I was a bit bossy

through the process..I laughed sew much

when I saw this, and still today...because

it is sewwwwwwwww true...

( the better ideas part) lol

This was from my husband who somehow

managed on his own to size our book on wee

Kermit here, a reminder of one of our most

successful journeys as authors...

OHHH this one I shall never forget, the year was 2007...

How Hallmark knew enough to design a toaster that year

is beyond me....HOWEVER it was perfect.

I got up this cold October morning, and placed

some english muffins in my toaster...when I heard

some movement....I looked inside the toaster

and there was an itty bitty mouse...I SCREAMED

as only a woman can do, David came rushing downstairs...

" GET that toaster out of the house NOW".....

That day we went out and purchased a 4 slicer....

I never wanted to be reminded of that morning again..

OK, now this brings a smile...cause David found

this toaster as an ornament that year...

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh this one I love

another one of my colleagues and I exchanged

gifts every year. She always thought I was 

such a girly girl, ( which of course I am..)

and gave this to me, said it reminded her of me...

Ahhhhhh 

Starting to see a theme here...coffee,

One of my very dear male friends owned a coffee

shop, Timothy's...my fav hang out before work.

He gifted this to me one year as I was obsessed with

snowman pins....I love this one, still brings a smile to this day...

When we moved from the big city to this very small town

and built ourselves a small bungalow in 2008, this Hallmark

ornament came out...A perfect reminder of the next chapter

of our life....How sweet it has been..

There are hundreds more, but I have some Christmas

stitching to do today, and I just wanted to share a little 

:ME: with you.....

What is your favorite ornament?

Do you get a new one every year?

Joy and Peace Tree Skirt Tutorial

close up..

On the 21st  day of Christmas my True Love

said to me..."Where is our Tree Skirt?"

"Well......I haven't made one yet?"

Sew with the help of Pellon ( the makers

of the magic in the middle)

I set out to do just that...

I called it Joy and PEACE...!

YOU will need the following Ingredients...

 #1 First the pattern piece...

YOU will need to cut out 8 of these...

#2  Then ....12-20 - 5 inch squares..* any Christmas flavor you like

I fused mine to pieces of Wonder Under paper backed fusible web

I have always used this for applique. I find it easier to draw on

the best for die cut pieces and the best to keep fabric soft...

It is not rigid and never ever do I get edges that fray..

MY #1 reason to use this one...

Sew with my 20 fav colors in this case ivory, reds

and greens, I ironed them on directly to the Wonder Under..

If you have a Baby Go you will need these 2 dies.

or you can easily cut them out... Some trees, some 

holly and berries and some large circles

#3 arrange on scaled tree skirt...I took my one pattern

piece and cut out this circle from shipping paper from

the post office.

#4 After cutting out all the pieces I arranged them on my

pattern piece tree skirt...

# 5 I used the same pattern piece to cut out 8 pieces

from my white KONA for my background...

( will need at least 2 yards of white kona for 8 pieces)

#6 sew them all together leaving 2 end pieces open...

all 1/4 inch seam, press each seam to the side.

#7 All pieces are now sewed, now take a dessert plate,

mark your centre and cut out circle

#8 Place again, score with pin the backs of pieces,

iron on ...

#9 Blanket stitch all ironed pieces on your tree skirt

#10 I then slipped this between the topper

and batting by PELLON ( flleece full loft...nice and full for a tree skirt), 

pure white for me...

and traced JOY and PEACE between each tree and ball. 

I also just drew a wee bow and a wavy line over each ball

and using my FINCA Perle BLACK Presencia Threads

I stitched using a stem stitch...

( Jane has this thread)

#11 Sandwich back, Pellon Batting and topper..

now ready to cut out circle for Tree Skirt,

bind and Glue on some Down strips ( 2.5 pieces 1 metre long)

and voila...

On the 19th day of Christmas my -True love said to me--

"Sparky, we have a Tree Skirt, where are the presents?"

"ahhhhh I haven't done them yet....lol"

And you wonder what I do with my days....

..

( sew yes a few of you were indeed correct..a TREE SKIRT)

YOU all sew smart....

Checking off my list, checking it twice......

YES there is JOY in our home...and PEACE

and yes lot's of LOVE what there wasn't was....

this mystery project..

I am completing it today...still have a bit more

hand quilting..was thinking machine quilting...but 

I just couldn't do it....I am pretty quick with my stitches

sew for the last few days that is what I have been doing...

Today my plan is to add the binding, ( gotta make it first) 

this will be a tutorial for a company that requested it..

using some of their products of course...

I had one thought in mind when I first came up with it..

but like a snowball that takes on its own path..

I kept rolling with the movement...

And came up with this..

What is it? 

( look at the shape of my text

looks like a berry....you know holly berry... 

purely by accident no less lol)

Off to sip some coffee and get to stitching..

I have a deadline...

Traditions a la Madame Samm - shortbread and Christmas stories

The Value of Traditions...

I am a traditional person, what? define traditional?- -pertaining to or characteristic of older styles.

"You traditional, I can hear you shouting, nothing traditional about you?"

Well let me explain I love Traditions. Take for instance Christmas baking. Every year it is customary for me to purchase pounds of unsalted butter,

( it was on sale locally ( Foodland, my fav grocer) last week for 2.79 a pound that is much better than 

the regular cost of 5.29, purchased 20 pounds...( freezing some) 

fresh corn starch,  fresh flour, lot's of fresh lemons and I bake our traditional shortbread tarts filled with lemon curd. My family and friends depend on me to continue this burst of sunshine in their mouth as they tell me...Tradition.  I bet many of you also carry out traditions too. This one year I made a new shortbread with cranberries and chocolate..My family loved them, my friends did not complain, but cries of "where is your shortbread tarts with lemon curd, where are those? Albeit, never did that again, it has become known in this household we have traditions for a reason...they can count on them....they can count on me.

Sew this week, I baked my Shortbread lemon tarts, along with all of my traditional baking, and I am done, complete, all in the freezer, all in specialty tins, all ready to be shipped on Monday. I am ahead of schedule by one day, so another thing that is a tradition for me anyway, is gathering my collection of books by  Donna VanLiere every year she comes up with another and now with quick downloads to my ipad, I am in heaven. I am going to cuddle with my coffee, some shortbread and my IPAD and read these books, today it will be Christmas shoes and the Christmas NOTE...her new one this year... I still have them all in book form, can you imagine me just saying that...BOOKS in their original form...lol

Ohhhh  note my wee snowman I designed him I was a doll maker...that seems sew long ago.

He is a  tradition too...he will be sitting by me, near the fireplace ( not too close, in case he melts more

than my heart) and I will bask in the warmth of Donna's stories...ahhhh toodles...

Do you have a traditional moment or two that has become 

your seasonal favorite?