Thursday, April 28, 2011

A Royal Wedding!!!



Can't wait to see the Royal Wedding!!
I still remember watching 
the last royal wedding
when Princess Diana and Prince Charles 
married.

Kate Middleton & Prince William 
are such a cute couple.

Wow what a Fairy Tale Wedding!!!




Oh to be in London instead of Alaska!!


Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Special Thanks To Little House in Paradise!!


Sending Special Thanks to Little House In Paradise!!!

I can't believe I won such a wonderful giveaway!!!
It was extra special because the chickens
picked the winner!!
I have such a love for chickens...
I had several flocks of 
Bantams for 
a couple of years.
They were such special
ladies!

Please check out this wonderful blog site!



Monday, April 25, 2011

For the Love of Blue!


I like to use a lot of different colors in my
house and blue is one of my favorites.
So I have dedicated a blog to
this lovely color.

The photo above is a close up of one of my favorite appliqued quilts.
I love appliqued quilts, especially when they have a lot of extra embroidery 
on them.  
I'm always on the lookout for beautiful quilts!!
They are really hard to find in Alaska!


So I have to make them!
This is a photo of a miniature blue and white quilt that I made
several years ago for my Mother. 



A small blue embellishment!
This tiny little silk rose is 
snug tight around one of my chenille cat pillows.
Super sweet.


A very peaceful blue and white coverlet. 

That's the great thing about blue
it's a very
soothing color!



A small blue hand towel that has 
cute embroidered embellishments on its edge.



A very quick watercolor and ink sketch I made of some 
beautiful little Gentian bell flowers.



Blue Cameos...
so romantic.




Blue embellishments on white furniture...



And the  most beautiful enamelware tea kettle with
a very simple, but elegant aqua blue cake.


I just love soft blue colors...don't you?

Hope you all have a great week!

:o)




Sunday, April 24, 2011

A Cupcake Day!



Hope you all had a great Easter Weekend!!

I love fruit 
and this little cupcake recipe is a quick way
of making your own little strawberry cakes.
You can use many different types of fruits
like I did.
However you choose to make them
Have fun!

Fresh Fruit Cupcake

2 eggs
5 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
To decorate:
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 pint of fresh berries, like strawberries, blueberries
raspberries, and currants
confectioners sugar for dusting

preheat oven to 350 F

Put the eggs and sugar in a large bowl and beat for about 10 minutes until thick and pale.  Add the vanilla extract. Sift the flour into a separate bowl twice, then sift into the egg mixture and fold in.
Spoon the mixture in the liners and bake in the preheat oven for about 12 minutes until golden and a skewer comes out clean.  Transfer to a wire rack and cool.

To decorate,
 whip the cream until it stands in peaks, then swirl over the cupcakes and top 
with fresh berries, dust with confections sugar and serve immediately.
You can add a little sugar to the whip cream if you want it sweeter.

makes 12


Friday, April 22, 2011

Easter Blessings!


Wishing You All A Wonderful Easter Weekend
With Family And Loved Ones!

Love And Peace
To 
You All!!!

Chris   :o)



Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Some Egg-cellent Eggs!


Here are some wonderful egg photos
to give us inspiration!

I think some of these eggs are works of art!!

May they inspire us
when we 
make our own Easter Eggs this weekend!




Red and white redwork eggs!!!


 These three eggs below are
way beyond my ability, but aren't they beautiful?





and
for all us knitters...
some really cute little knitted eggs




We can't forget the
 child in each of us
so here are some
 funny little alien eggs!!


  

Do you remember hunting for eggs?

Hunting for eggs is such fun!!
I loved hunting for eggs when I was a kid!!
Now I like hiding them!!



Lovely hand painted eggs everywhere!!!!


And I absolutely love these painted wooden eggs.
Which one is your favorite?
I love the polka dot one!


And what about these?
 Don't they remind you of  beautiful delftware dishes?



Whatever your choice is...
remember to have fun
with your egg-cellent creations!!

There is a egg out there for everyone!!!







Monday, April 18, 2011

Weekend Reflections


I enjoyed a nice sunny weekend.
I hope you all had a great weekend as well!

Another embroidered kitchen towel was completed.
I really like the way this little sugar bowl turned out.

This weekend I spent a lot of my time outside in the garden.
I was busy cleaning out flower beds.
While I was outside working away,
I saw my first bee and a beautiful butterfly.

Every evening the wild rabbits came out of the woods to the edge of my lawn 
and ate their fill of grass.  
Their coats are now a mix of white and a very light shade of brown, and they
blend in perfectly with the grass which is still straw colored.



The pussy willows are now out in full swing,
and I'm so excited that
our long winter is 
finally over.


Inside Easter tree decorations
are a reminder
that Easter 
is fast approaching.


Paper bunnies and chicks
hang next to beautiful eggs.

I hope you all have a wonderful 
week!
Be Safe!!!


Friday, April 15, 2011

Yay, It's Random Friday!!!


My "Random Friday" post is my favorite post of the week!
I just randomly post things that appeal to me!
I find some of my favorite images and share them with all of you.

The flowers in the little vase above are cranberry flowers.  These flowers grow
wild around my house and they make the best jams in the fall.
I always freeze them for the winter holidays.  



These beautiful pink flowers are rhododendrons.
I took this photo last spring when I visited my daughter in Oregon.
The University that she's at has beautiful flowers, trees, and shrubbery.  


Lots and lots of beautiful Rhododendrons and Azaleas.  The colors
were really breathtaking!  
I felt like I was on a tropical island!



It's too soon for flowers in Alaska,
but the pussy willows are coming out of winter hibernation. 
We are still a couple of weeks away from seeing flowers in our gardens. 
I love this photo, because the pussy willows have some frozen water droplets on them.
They are Alaska's spring flowers.



And a random photo of a favorite pitcher! 
I love the soft colors!
Totally cute!


Lots of birds are migrating back to Alaska.
I spotted some seagulls and a few songbirds today. 
Our days are getting longer and its light now until about 9:30 p.m.
  Soon the birds will be singing late into the night.  
I have heard them sing until about 1:30 in the morning.

This bird house sits next to my bench by the front entrance.
I use it for an inside decoration.  Sadly it will never be a birds home.  
Maybe a good thing, because the entrance hole is a little large.  
Magpies and squirrels would have a field day.


Isn't this a sweet coin purse!
My Mom made it for me several years ago.  
Totally hand made with love!!!
I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful Mother!



"Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue"
Have any of you ever seen this series?
I bought it just for the cover.  
This children's book series was printed in 1916.



And here is a peek at some of the cards that I made during the long winter months.

I hope you enjoyed this weeks 
"Random Friday"
After a long week its nice to relax!

Wishing you all a peaceful and safe weekend!
Enjoy it with those you love!




Wednesday, April 13, 2011

What's Makes You Smile?



A smile can be a porcelain chicken

or

an embroidered basket of flowers.



Part of a
 crocheted blanket


Or 
 an afternoon time of tea


Maybe.......
a  cute little heart hanging on a door


Or.....
some red stitchery


My smile for today 
is
  this wild little  
bunny that came to visit me.
:o)




Monday, April 11, 2011

My Weekend!


I spent my weekend in the garden removing old growth from
the perennial beds.  I always dead head in the fall, 
but in the spring the garden gets a second cleaning. 

While I was outside it snowed and hailed on me...
that's Alaska for you!!

I didn't see any butterflies, but I did see a couple of moths.  
I know moths, snow, and hail...what a combination! 


Here is a view of my garden in July!!!



My Mother gave me this little biscuit tin that she found at a 
local thrift shop.   It's a little English 
Murray tin.  
I think its rather cute for a thrift store 
find!  It's very hard to find treasures 
in Alaska!


I did think about knitting, but didn't have time since I was too busy in 
the garden.  I did look at two of my favorite hand knit sweaters, (my
Mom made these beauties for me).  My Mom is a super talented knitter.
Maybe if I get some time I will make myself 
some socks!



My wicker foot stool became a quick weekend project.

 I covered it in fabric
and topped it with an old lace crocheted top and pillow.
I rather liked how it looked so I will 
keep it this way until I tire of it.


Ok...here are the new dishcloth embroideries to go
with the Friday one in the older post.
I think they turned out 
really cute.
No time for knitting when your stitching.

Enjoy your week!