New free pattern!

I have a new summer pattern to download for FREE on my website! This is a stitchery pattern--you can frame it, make it into a pillow, or even paint the design if you want. What about stitching it on some fabric and making a purse out of it? Or painting it on a t-shirt? All I ask is that you not SELL the pattern and always give me credit for the design. Click here to go to my site and download the pattern. I'd love to hear what you think about it and see what you make from it! Send me your pics and I'll post them here if you want....

I wanted to thank everyone for their kind words about Sweet Pea. Thanks for the comments, emails, cards and donations made in his name. It means so much to me--it is so hard to say good-bye to him, he was such a part of my life and still is! I will try not to dwell on the sadness of it, but on the happy times...

Have any of you started your gardens yet? It's too wet to do any gardening yet. We did plant some bushes at the edge of our yards, but that's about it. I ordered 2 cherry trees that I am so excited about! And I have tons of stuff started and sitting in the bathtub and all over the bathroom. We can't even use that bathroom now, it has turned into a temporary greenhouse. ha! Last year we had so much squash, I was tired of it about halfway through the summer. I found a good recipe for squash relish. My husband eats it on his beans--he's nearly eaten it all, so I'll be making more this summer! If you don't already have an onion chopper, run to wal-mart and get one before you try this recipe. They're on clearance for $14 and it is definitely worth it. Slice your squash into about 1" slices and when you chop them, they all be in little tiny pieces. And if you don't like celery, it is good without the celery seed. I hate celery, so I left it out.

Squash Relish

 

6-7 large squash

2 large green peppers

1 red bell pepper

4 large onions

1/4 c. salt

3 c. sugar

3 c. white vinegar

3 t. turmeric

2 t. celery seeds

 

1. Chop or grind vegetables.

2. Sprinkle salt all over and cover with ice. Let stand 1 hour.

3. Drain

4. Mix other ingredients together and bring to a boil. (Make sure sugar is melted.)

5. Add vegetables to mixture and cook about 5 minutes.

6. When it is bubbling, it is ready.

7. Put into prepared jars & seal.

8. Process for 10 minutes.

 

 

 

 

Goodbye, Sweet Pea

  Yesterday we had to say good bye to Sweet Pea--it was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Last Thursday he was fine, started to get sick Friday evening and by early Thursday morning, we knew we had to let him go. As hard as this is, I wouldn't trade my time with him for anything. He was our family, our friend. There are so many things about him I will miss and my heart breaks everytime I go into a room and he isn't there to greet me. He came to me on July 5, 2003 when he was one day old. I have always done anything for him and loved him with all my heart. He knew he was well-loved and my husband and I got to be with him until the very end. It may take me a while before I can be back online full-time while I try to deal with losing him. Although it was a shock and he was still young, I don't think I could have ever been prepared for this.

Where do I start?

 I can't believe I haven't  blogged  in a month! I have been meaning to  do it every day,then every day I get busy   and another day has gone by. And so much can happen in a month! I had the roof for my studio delivered last Friday. Of course it rained all weekend and even SNOWED. (All  I had to do was  buy a roof to get snow!) Its warm this week,  but supposed to rain  again all weekend so I  don't know  if  we'll get it put on, but at least I am one step closer! CJ (the pretty blue-eyed kitty above) has started staying on the porch of my studio all day. I guess he noticed how I spend more time here now, so he moved  over  here  with me.  Then  he walks  me home at  night when I get ready to go home.

Such a gentleman!

Little Bit is starting to come around....she has eaten snacks from my hand and I can pet  her if she has her back turned. (I think she does it on purpose!  ha!) She is still  tiny--she hasn't grown much taller but she's filled out and looks really healthy. I guess she'll always be tiny--I didn't know that when I named  her Little Bit, but the name fits!

We had another kitty show up on our front porch a few weeks ago.  I was sick and in bed when my husband went to work. He came back inside & woke me up to tell  me about a pitiful little cat on our front porch. He said, "you migth want to go check on it." I knew it  must be pretty bad if he woke me  to tell me about it...Before I went outside, I called the vet to see if she would take him in her shelter. I knew I'd want to keep him  if I didn't  see  him first. But I was  not prepared for what I saw...this was the skinniest  cat  I have  ever seen. His  ears were black (what I later learned  was  frostbite),  you could see every bone in  his body, his eyes looked terrible, he had a huge abscess on his foot and he was  dirty. What made it even sadder was how friendly he was. I thought he was a kitten, maybe a couple of months old. When I took him to  the vet and she examined him, she said  he was at  least  9 mo. old because he has all  his teeth. I couldn't believe he was nearly grown and still  the size of a kitten! She tested him for Feline Leukemia & FLV....we were surprised it was negative  because he was in such bad shape. She told me she'd never  seen a  cat in such condition that acted like he  felt so good. He wanted everyone that came into the room to pet him. The vet  said she'd give him a few days to see if he improved. She also told me that a cat would not get  that skinny unless it was trapped or locked up somewhere. Hopefully he just got stuck somewhere--I hate to think someone would leave one like that to starve. It appears he has been neutered at some time too, so its a mystery....I've been checking on him when I am there, or if I'm  close by, I just stop in for a visit. He's still skinny, but he is actually starting to improve! He shocked us all....and I hope to see  him healthy and a normal weight one day. I have to go tomorrow so I'll check on him again. Its been over a week  so he should be looking pretty good by now!

I have this little problem at work....

  This is my problem--Rusty likes to sleep right in front of my monitor! Luckily he gets tired of me and sleeps on the chair a while, but he makes frequent visits and doesn't like to be moved out of the way! But I can always take time out to pet him...Frasier had a scare today. I went out to check the mail and heard some dogs barking. When I went to check it  out, two dogs had him trapped under the vacant  house next  door! I had to run them off--hopefully they'll stay home. My poor kitties were scared to death! I think one was too chubby to get under the house with him, but the little rat  terrier was under there. Its not their first  visit here either....

 I joke about Rusty getting in the way while I'm working,  but really I don't mind. Most of the time he's sleeping anyway. But I'm glad to know he's safe and sound inside with me! It makes coming to work a little better too,  knowing he's happy to see  me when I  walk in the door. I didn't know how he'd adapt to living inside after being an outside cat all this time, but I really think he's settled into his role as studio cat pretty well! When anyone comes over, he runs to greet them. I was afraid he'd be scared, but I had no reason to worry.

 Remember me bragging about my $4 quilts? I finally got some pictures to share and I even got some surprises myself when I got them out.  I just put them on a shelf and never even unfolded them after I bought them. This one is nice--It seems to  be made of wool. That's the main reason I bought it, I liked the materials. And remember, I wasn't going to buy any of them until my husband found them....

 This one caught my eye because of the bright colors. It has a lot of different feedsack type fabrics in it. I looked at  it for a long time wishing I had a whole piece of so many of the fabrics. ("I like this one the best" "no, I like this one...." "look at this one!") This one is in pretty good shape too. What is this pattern called? I love old quilts, but I really don't know what any of the patterns  are except a wedding ring pattern! (My Mamma would be ashamed, lol!)

This is the last one....I grabbed it last  and didn't think much about it. When I started taking pictures of it, I starting noticing all the embroidery on it. I'm sure my husband got a kick  out of how excited I was over it, but he was impressed too. It's backed  with denim and looks like old jeans or overalls. You can see where they were worn as long as possible with patches all over them. The person who made it took off the pockets and used those too. And some pieces are almost white except where the pocket  was removed. I would LOVE to know more about this quilt....if anyone knows anything, or knows someone who could help me out, that would be wonderful! I'll include some closeups for you to enjoy....have a good weekend!!

             

Peek into my studio....

It seems like there's always a picture of my kitties to show how I feel....and this is how I'm feeling tonight. ha! After a long day of working, then running errands, then coming back to work again until 11 pm, that's what I want to do right now! I can't complain too much--my husband called me to come home and eat with him because he had made supper!!

I wanted to share some pics of the progress in my studio.  Of course here's my fireplace which is waiting in its gas logs. I may try to wait it out and buy some on clearance this spring. I think my big heater in the other room will be good enough to hold me over if it means saving me a little money! These things are adding up in a hurry!!

And here is my $20 cabinet! I was so excited to find this at the thrift store! I'm thinking the shelves might be a good place to display some of my smaller paperclay pieces. I was thinking books, but I may find another  place for those. It now has some cloth dolls displayed on top and quilts on the bottom shelf. I use the bottom (where the doors are) to store my copier paper, etc. and the drawers for office supplies. Its a challenge trying to combine my office and a way to display things for  sale. But I want stuff for sale in every room, even the bathroom! No matter what you're doing here, you'll see something you can buy!!!

 

Here's the chair I slip covered. Its not perfect, but that's okay with me. I wanted it to look soft and comfortable. And Rusty definitely thinks its  comfy because he sleeps on it a lot! Although its not his favorite place to sleep....you can probably already guess where that is. Its right in front of my monitor! I'm lucky right now that he is lying down. A lot of time he sits  up and meows at me or takes a bath while I'm trying to see  around him!

  A couple of weeks ago, my nephew (Tyler) and I went thrift store shopping and  we found this oil painting at Salvation Army! I knew it would look great in my office and it was only $15 so I snatched it up! There aren't too many bare spots on the walls or anywhere else in my office  by now. Surely I can squeeze in a FEW more things, don't you think?

Working in my NEW OFFICE!!

  I'm really enjoying my new office! Its nice to have room to move around and have everything in its place. I spent a day organizing my supplies...check out how organized I am! I had a lot of these boxes already but I went and bought 46 more at Home Depot. lol....they must have thought I had a lot of shoes to go in these boxes. They never would have guessed I was putting doll hair in them!! I printed  labels and my hubby helped me get everything labeled & in its place. Its much easier when I get an order, now that all my supplies are in one place. We painted the trim today, still needs another coat, then we'll get the doors put back on. I have had  a looong day today, trying to get caught up on graphics  and working on my office in between. Tomorrow, I have more pictures to share. Even some of Rusty lounging around my office!!

Thrift Store finds

Thought I'd share some pictures of some goodies I got at some thrift stores. I found an old cigar box and several rusty old cans. It was kind of funny, in one store every single thing I put on the counter was rusty! I bought all these cans there and a rusty "no trespassing" sign that my husband confiscated! lol! Seems like I got more, but it was before Christmas so I can't remember now! I did get 3 old quilts for $4 each! That was a last minute thing--my husband was looking at an old chest and  he found them in there. I thought they'd be too expensive but when she said $4, I grabbed them up. I love them when they are all worn out! That's a good deal, but once I got one at a yard sale for a QUARTER!

  Don't know if you can tell much about the front of the cigar box here but it looks old. Who knows--I came home with some one day that looked old but when I opened them, I saw they were pretty new! While I was shopping I saw an old cigar display, a wire stand with a space for 4 cigar boxes and a sign on top. I didn't get it and kept thinking about it so I went back for it later. I saw a churn I wanted at another antique store that I had to go back for too. I thought it was just like one Momma has--it was a little different but I still got it.

  Kenyon found this old framed Jesus print....You can see some other old frames, mirrors, etc. I've collected. These are all in my studio waiting for the perfect spot!

Speaking of my studio....I now have internet over there so I'll probably move this weekend! I have a giant ugly heater in the other room now that will keep me warm for now, but I have to get some gas logs in my office and shelves in my closet and that room will be finished! I'll definitely take more pictures when I get closer to being done. I'll still work on my art in my studio in my house while we work on the rest of my studio.

Before I go....I wanted to share this sweet picture of Mr. Spock snuggling up to my husband. Mr. Spock has ALWAYS loved him the best! lol!