Warm Welcome

It's still all about the wool here with my crafty ventures.  I guess it's not hard to fathom as this is what it looks like outside at the moment:

This weekend I again dug into my felted sweater stash to make a new wreath for the door.  My little heart shaped rag wreath does not do well outside, so it was time for new one.

Two sweater sleeves to cover the styrofoam base and selected pink and red sweater parts for the flowers.  I just pinned the flowers on so I can take them off later.  Quick, and easy-peasy.

More home comforts in the form of French madeleines.

I have had these pans for years and years: bought in France too. I have not made them before because the fact that the batter has to 'rest' for so long has always put me off.  Cathy from The House With The Blue Door made some a few weeks ago with this recipe, where the batter only has to rest for 20 minutes.  I tried it and loved it.  Perhaps Proust wouldn't be so proud, but everybody here gobbled them up. I will definitely be making these again.

Stay warm!
Jenn

Nesting

The weather here has been cold, rainy, damp and grey, grey, grey. Not much fun for walking in the woods or raking leaves, but perfect for feathering my nest.  Probably my most favourite thing to do in the world!

I've been baking:

Mini cupcakes for our church coffee hour:  a great excuse to use up those fall sprinkles and pumpkin doilies I found while cleaning!

Black Bottom cupcakes from my Grammie's recipe box.  Apparently this recipe came from my Mum, but I don't ever remember having these growing up.

A bit of sewing to warm things up a bit.  These have been a big hit with the family:

I used sweaters from the charity shop.  I want to make one more and have the perfect sweater to use, but the only problem is that it's my flumpy sweater.  You know, the one that's one or two sizes two big for you that you grab when you're sick; or it's raining outside; or to go over your pyjamas on the weekends.  At this point it still looks decent enough to wear in front of non-family members, so really I shouldn't cut it up just yet.

Decorating for Halloween:

The mantle is where the bulk of my decorations are.  There are a few spots around the house with some other things, but it makes it easier to pack it all up later on when I have less things out.  Of course there are pumpkins on the front porch too:)

And lastly I have been stitching and finishing:

Pumpkin and Pins from my last post turned into a pinkeep with one of my Fimo pumpkin pins at the top.
The oak leaves design was a freebie, but I cannot find who the designer was.  I finished it as a biscournou last night and backed it with a mustard coloured fabric.  Love the look of the biscournou: do not like making biscournous!  I can never get them lined up just right so I think next time I will try the mattress pincushion finish.

The chilly weather also delivered me a nasty cold.  Yesterday I planned to do absolutely nothing and just rest.  What a tonic that was!  I watched a chick flick and Midsomer Murders on Netflix, and sorted through all my cross stitch magazines.  At the end of the day I felt so much better, and have my magazine collection culled by half.

Today the sun is shining and it's so nice to see it after all that grey.  Despite being productive during the dark days, it's nice to admire my things in the sunlight:)

Thanks for visiting!

Time Fillers

I will  never understand the fact that when I have lots of time to work on the things I love to do, I don't.  Last week I was so busy with so many little things, and yet I managed to accomplish an insane amount of crafty nesting projects, decluttering, baking, and cross stitching in addition to my normal domestic bits and outside obligations.  So weird.  I think the lesson here is to just stay busy, and the creative bits will follow!

So first up, I made a new bed for Libby.  This was fun, mostly because I used a thrifted sheet and too small duvet.  The best part was I started and finished it in the same evening.

I love the fabric - I think if this sheet was on my bed I would be too happy to sleep.  So far no problems with the dog.  We keep this bed inside her crate where she sleeps at night.

On Thanksgiving weekend I stitched up this cute freebie from My Happy Memories blog.  I am still deciding how to finish it, but so far pin-keep is holding in at number one.

The lettering isn't really crooked, I just have to stretch the fabric out.

In other stitchy news I received my Halloween Ornament exchange from my swap partner.
This is what Julianne from California sent me:

Of course the treats are looong gone!  Actually she sent four lollipops and only two made it into the picture:O  Thanks so much Julianne!

Here is what I sent to her:

The lollipop isn't really Halloween themed, but is made from maple syrup and that's the Canadian component!
It was a really fun exchange and I want to thank Kim from Wisdom With Needle and Thread again for organizing it.

Someone gave us a box of miniature chocolate bars at Thanksgiving; I used most of them to make Candy Shortbread Bars from Martha Stewart and they are fantastic.  This time I put some peanuts on top to cut down on all the chocolate a bit:  I will definitely do that again!

I think what I'm most excited about is may latest Pinterest inspiration project.  I have been looking at all sorts of organizational ideas lately, and the idea to organize the console of my car seemed like genius.

I know it doesn't really look like much, and I didn't take a 'before' photo (who would do that anyway?)  I will say how much nicer it is to retrieve my sunglasses or find the hand sanitizer than it was before.  I made the organizer out of an aluminum foil box and some black duct tape.  You can't get much more thrifty than that!  Putting the CD's in a fabric case freed up the most space, and it just happens to fit perfectly next to the organizer.  I love it when Pinterest works for me!

Thanks for visiting!

Falling In

This year I felt like I came into autumn kicking and screaming.  I did not want summer to be over, and I was so resistant to getting back into any kind of routine.  I have been slap-dashing it ever since September, but I think I'm finally ready to get back into the hum of my everyday life.

When I get overwhelmed with this, that and the other I always find it therapeutic to clean.  Yes, I said clean.  When I can get a small corner of my world in order, I feel in order.  That one cleared out drawer or sparkly bathroom motivates me to take charge and organize my days.  Unfortunately I don't have an immaculate house yet, but at least I am feeling the urge to make a start!

Getting things in order and the turn of the weather have made me want to nest like crazy.  Anything with warm colours is my new favourite, so I have been adding little touches here and there when I can.  I made some new cushion covers for the couch and changed the stuff on my mantle.

I have been thinking about making a wooden box for my mantle to put seasonal frou-frous in.  Yesterday I just happened to notice the two French wine boxes we have in the basement.  So, voila, a wooden box for the mantle that has meaning to us (from our trips to St. Emilion) and did not cost me any time or money to make.  Now I can just fiddle faddle on a decision of whether or not to stain them.  The kids and Libby and I went for a walk in the woods yesterday to gather some maple branches, and I have them stuck in floral foam in little jars inside the boxes.  I was hoping for some orange or red ones, but those branches were too high.  I settled on little orange pumpkins instead.
I got the printer's tray this summer when we visited the McKenzie Printery museum.  Some cross stitching; my retro pheasant Avon bottle and burlap banner make it autumnal enough for me.

I have been baking too:  oatmeal cookies with orange and brown Smarties; caramel popcorn with pretzels and Reese's Pieces:

...and these little morsels of awesome-ness:

Mrs. Smythe posted a recipe for Cider Doughnut Muffins the other day.  I thought they sounded pretty tasty, even though I have never tried a Cider Doughnut.  I thought it would be cute to bake up a batch in my cake pop maker and have them be like fall flavoured Timbits.  Well, let me just tell you that this tin was full when I baked these last night, and this is what is left less than 24 hours later.

About two weeks ago I was thinking of the creative projects I want to complete this fall.  Of course there are many, but I was absolutely possessed to crochet something new with new yarn.  Off to my LYS I went and came home with these pretty colours from the clearance rack:

Five of the six skeins are a cotton-wool blend and feel so good to work with .  The light brown is the same, but with a bit of silk in it.  It is a rarity for me to bring home the materials for a project and start right away, but I felt driven to get this going.

I love how it matches my mug!

Not much longer and my shawl is finished!  This is the Nordic Shawl from Annette of My Rose Valley.  This pattern was so easy to follow and truly a delight to stitch.  My only problem was that I didn't have enough yarn so I had to fudge the coloured band a bit and I was not able to complete the gorgeous lace border.  Despite all that, I am in love with it and would love to stitch another one sometime.

The size is generous and will be perfect for our cooler early mornings. Of course Miss Libby has to get her photo taken too!

Thanks for visiting!

Cosy Things

The weather took a cool turn last week, leaving no doubt that fall has come.  The kids went back to school and I have been nesting; doing all sorts of laundry and clearing out and cleaning.  At night my creative time has been spent crocheting cozy things; thick and soft yarn have been the preferred choice on my hook.

I made two more neck warmers with a lovely variegated yarn.  Funny how the colours are almost the same as the hydrangeas I picked a couple of days ago.

These are still waiting for some buttons: going through my button box to find the right ones usually takes a fair bit of time. ( Pattern can be found here.)

I also made Fiber Flux's Vanilla Bean scarf using some really soft and chunky Country Loom yarn.

 It only took two nights to work up so was a really nice project to work on.  I liked it so much I am making another in Homespun.  The scarf uses two skeins, so has been great for helping me "de-stash" a little bit.

I have done a lot of baking too.  Plum cake and jam squares, lemon loaf and muffins.  I guess I'm making up for all those times in the summer we craved something sweet but didn't want to turn the oven on.

The weekend was chilly and rainy so I put away my summer clothes and brought out the fall-winter ones.  It took me a whole day, but I tried on everything and purged quite a bit of it.  I was rather disappointed to see how much grey and black make up this wardrobe though; seeing them all hung up together makes for a sombre effect.  I think I may have to add some colour to perk things up.

Of course now that I have done that I see the forecast for the week is temperatures in the high twenties.  Cosy things will no longer be on the agenda but will be replaced with things like cleaning out the car and removing the last of the old baseboards from the living and dining rooms.  Bring back the chilly weather please!

March Break

We are having a slow and lovely March break from school this week.  There have been sleep-overs, and swimming at the public pool, and crafts and lots of Playmobil and Lego creations being made.
Yesterday was the ultimate though:  it was cold and sunny so pyjamas were worn well until after lunch.  No one was planning on going outside if they didn't have to. The kids and I snuggled in my bed in the morning looking over the latest Playmobil catalogue and telling our favourites. I spontaneously decided to make a cake, much to everyone's delight.  Spontaneous baking really is the best.  Chocolate marble bundt cake - yum!

My Favourite Girl has been wanting some time just with me; for us to create or do something without little brother wanting to as well.  I suggested some easy soap making and bath fizzers and that fit the bill for her quite nicely.  

My Favourite Boy wanted to make some too, so I said he and I would make it after his big sister was finished hers.  No one had any problem with that so we set about making dinosaur soap too.

Later on I sat at the kitchen table in the sun and hooked away with some bright colours of yarn.  It was one of those moments when your heart gets all full-feeling: seeing the kids happy creations and hearing their little happy noises around the house; the smell of something good and homemade in the air and the bright sun making everyone feel so positive and hopeful for spring.

Today is a different sort of day.  There are errands to be run, and school projects to think about.  There has already been some friction between two people and the sun is not shining.  Workdays are again looming up and Things Need To Be Done.  I am always so grateful for days like yesterday; those ones that feel like they are encapsulated in a magic bubble of domestic and family happiness.  Those are the days to keep in our hearts until the next one comes along.

January 10, 2013: Vintage Baking

I got some great books for Christmas.  Rather, I ordered some great books for myself for Christmas.  Today the sun was shining and it felt like a great day to dig into one of them and bake.  Here's what I worked from:

It really is a lovely book.   I have a small collection of vintage cookbooks and I love reading the recipes for the old fashioned baked goodies.  There is hardly a chocolate chip or package of cream cheese mentioned in most of them; mostly just butter, sugar, flour and lots of dried fruit.  This book is basically a collection of the most popular of the oldies, but with lovely photographs.  After reading through it the first time I just had to make a round of the thrift stores to see if I could find any lovely vintage baking treasures.

So today I dusted off my Mix Master and made the Victoria Sandwich Cake, which is the cake you see on the front cover.  It's like a strawberry shortcake but with jam instead of strawberries in the filling.  I didn't want to use just any red jam though.  No, indeed, I wanted to use this:

It's rose petal jelly from Provence and it's gooo-ood!  It smells like roses; it tastes like roses; it even has rose petals in it.  I bought a jar before Christmas and loved it so much I bought another jar and wrapped it up and told Mr. Crafty he was to put it in my stocking.  I am a little stingy with it though.  Today  I thought it would bring an extra vintage touch to a vintage cake so I let up a little.  I like it , and it got three out of four thumbs up.  Only three because My Favourite Boy has not tried the cake yet.

My Favourite Girl and I did not even wait until the boys got home from school/work to try it; we just got out the forks and indulged.  I had it with a cup of Zhena's Gypsy Rose tea and I was in rose heaven. Next time - and there will be a next time - I will not sweeten the whipped cream because the jam is sweet enough.  The recipe did not call for sweetened whipped cream but I did it anyway.

I was hoping to get a little sewing done with some new vintage style fabric afterwards, but it didn't pan out.  However, the laundry room is cleaner than it has been in months and lots of washing and ironing got done, so I can't complain about the way the day went.  Perhaps tomorrow:)

September 23, 2012

A few fall things.

It's taking me much longer to get my stitched pieces finished off than I anticipated, so I only have two to show today.
The first design was a freebie by Nouveau Encore Designs.  I was just at the site and it appears it is no longer available, but there are still some lovely free charts there.  What I like about the designs are that they have a very French feel to them.  The designer, Stephanie, uses motifs from centuries old French samplers to make up her work.

My second finish is an excerpt from a design in a Cross Eyed Cricket booklet called 'Falling Leaves'.

My baking attempt the other day at pumpkin scones was a success.  I tweaked a recipe I found here to come up with my own version that has an apple cider glaze.  I had one (okay two) fresh from the oven with some maple spiced coffee and it was de-lish!  They certainly didn't last very long.

Enjoy your day!

August 3, 2012

Today was house cleaning day and that always puts my world to rights.  Despite my grumbling every time I vacuum (it must be the high pitched noise that makes me crabby), I do enjoy cleaning my house - mostly because I have such a lovely house to clean:)  Anyway it is a good cap to the week and I always feel good that things are clean and orderly for another few days at least!

(Libby on squirrel watch)

We have celebrated two birthdays here in the last two weeks.  Both of my babies are now one year older; the oldest having left behind single digits forever.  We didn't have any parties this year, which I am glad of, because I don't think I would have had the energy to make it fun or have fun myself.  Months ago we gave the kids a choice of a party and no gift; a family outing somewhere; or gifts and no party.  My Favourite Boy opted for the gifts, and chose the video game Skylanders.  He's been having a blast with it and we have gone through three sets of batteries for that darn wireless portal already!

My Favourite Girl opted for an outing to Canada's Wonderland, which we took early in June.  Her birthday was yesterday, but we thought it would be much more enjoyable to take the kids out of school near the end of the year and go when the crowds were smaller and the heat index lower.
Yesterday while I made her cake she organized a little crafting party for some neighbourhood friends and made everybody loot bags with some things she found in the craft cupboard.  She had three crafts to make and then they each had a cupcake from the freezer with buttercream and sprinkles.  So in the end she did get a party too, but I didn't do any of the work and I didn't spend a dime on it!

These are the cakes I made this year for them:

Skylanders cake for My Favourite Boy.  Really I could have tried a little harder but he was super happy with it and that's all that matters:)  If you don't know the game at all the top part of the cake is supposed to be the portal that the figures are placed on.

A kitty cake for My Favourite Girl:

I forgot to take a picture before I put the curly candles on.  Have I said before how much I love sheet cakes?

These are the cards I stitched for them:

My Favourite Girl picked out her design: she's on a little critter kick lately.

I have been experimenting in the kitchen with things other than cakes too.  I made some melon custard puddings with cantaloupe melon:

...And peach crumble pie, which I haven't even tried yet!

Both of these recipes came from a previous issue of Everyday Food magazine.

I also got some stash!  I put an order in with 1-2-3 Stitch and got these in the mail the other day:

The halloween magazine is great and I can't wait to get started on some of the pieces.  Never mind  my other works in progress:)  Tonight I just want to put my feet up and stitch something that does not have a deadline to it.  No more birthday cards for at least a month!

Here is a sneak peak at my next project:

I'll keep you posted:)

June 6, 2012

I had to show you the state of my kitchen at the moment.  I am hosting a coffee morning tomorrow for some of the women in the neighbourhood and of course today has been spent making preparations.  I am making a cranberry coffee cake, German brownies and lavender cookies.  The brownies and cookies are experiments; I got the recipe off the internet.  I know I really shouldn't try out new recipes on people unless I have tried them out first, but that just takes a lot of the fun out of experimenting doesn't it?  If all else fails, coffee cake and coffee will be just fine I'm sure.  I did make sure to make the coffee cake extra big, just in case:)  I will not be serving up portions of stuffed humpback whale you see in the foreground - ingeniously named "Humpy".  My Favourite Boy is always leaving things around as evidence he has been there.  It used to drive me nuts, but now I love to find little lego creations on the staircase (or in my plant pots) or stuffed animals in all the wrong places and poses around the house.  One day there will be no little things of his to pick up and I know I will be really sad.
For the first time in five years we managed to make our way to the street sale.  Once a year, for one day only there is a market for quite a distance on Yonge Street.  We almost saw the whole thing; we had to cut our visit short because we were expecting a playdate in the afternoon.  I had a really good time, and the kids enjoyed going to all the booths that offered free stuff.  I remember being a kid and going to the yearly trade show: all those pens and notepads and balloons and shiny brochures were really something to talk about at school.  Now they've had their turn at it and did not complain that we didn't buy anything because they did not come home empty-handed.  Because we got there early, and had the best part of the day weather-wise, they didn't have to stand in line long to go through the bouncy obstacle course or pony rides.
I guess I shouldn't say we came home empty handed: the library was having a fabulous book sale and we all got books.  Those free bags people were handing out came in really handy to lug them home.  This is what I'll be reading this summer - and it only cost me two dollars!

I was able to get some sewing in over the weekend as well.  I finished off 'Rose Cottage': a freebie by Le Chalet des Perelles.  I just love her work.

I used my own hand-dyed threads for this one.  I will either turn this one into a box top or a wall hanging on a hoop I think.

I made three crayon caddies for kids.  I have been wanting to try these for a while.  They turned out OK, but I need to tweek the pattern just a bit I think.

They each hold eight crayons and a small notepad.  They close with an elastic looping over a button sewn on the back side.  It was fun to use up some of my juvenile fabrics since I don't really sew with them any more. (sniff!)  Two of them are going to be given to some little people coming over with their mom tomorrow.

I also got it in my head that we need to have a party for Canada Day next month.  Usually I only decide this a few days before, but this year by gosh is going to be different!  I got out most of my red and white fabric and made some bunting to hang under our 'urban gazebo' canopy.

I can't show it all to you, but you get the idea!  I had to add that bandana fabric in there to pay homage to my western heritage:)
I bought the flowers for my centre piece yesterday (white and red and white striped petunias that will go in a red, wooden toolbox); hopefully I can keep them from going leggy until July 1.  I also have ideas for a wreath for the door and possibly a table runner.

Add those plans to my plans to re-do the raised planters on the side of the house, refinish the TV stand, shampoo the carpets and couches, seal the tile floors - all before June 28 mind you - and I will continue to be one busy girl.  If you don't hear from me for a while you'll know what I'm doing:)

Thanks for stopping by!