Holiday Treats

This has been a super busy month with graduating from WCTC with my Associate degree in Hotel & Restaurant Management and searching for jobs in my field.

Being so busy, I didn't have much time to think about Christmas cookies as much as I wanted to make some. I was fortunate to receive a care package from my mom about a week before school finished. It was a variety of homemade cookies. YUM!!!!! Needless to say those cookies didn't last long and since I still had a taste for Christmas cookies I wanted to make some cookies. I started by making Mint Moments, which are a version of Melting Moments that are rolled in powdered sugar and crushed candy canes. They are so delicious and melt in your mouth (hence the name of the cookie). Unfortunately the recipe only makes about 2 dozen. So much for sharing these with others. I guess I'll keep these to myself. Well, I did share some with my friend, Susha. She totally loved them and refers to them as 'Cornstarch Balls' because the recipe uses 3/4 c. cornstarch. She is so cute.

I was invited to a friends house for a holiday get together last night and was asked to bring a small dessert since there was only going to be a few of us. I thought I would try my hand at Cake Balls. I've heard about them, but have not had any or made them before. I found a recipe on one of my favorite recipe website: http://www.allrecipes.com/ I attempted to make these the night before the get together. Unfortunately the balls were not holding their form when I tried to dip them in chocolate. Therefore, I thought I'd freeze the balls and then dip them in the chocolate. That was the trick. Here is a picture of my holiday cake balls. Unfortunately I didn't get them finished for the get together last night, but they are delicious. They look like truffles, but have a soft inside. And the batch makes so many, I have some to share if anyone wants some.

Oh How Projects Grow

About a month ago I found a wall cling at Goodwill that reads "Life is too short, to drink bad wine." As some of you may know I have a wine theme in my kitchen, and not a lot of wall space. The price of $3.99 was very appealing to me. After I got home I located the perfect place to put the wall cling. But then started to think..... the current wall color (dark brown) which I like, had been patched from the previous owners when I bought the house and it didn't match exactly so you could see their patch job. And since wall clings are removeable but not reuseable, I thought I had better paint the kitchen before installing the wall cling.

Off to my favorite paint store (Sherwin Williams) I go. I had picked out a paint color for my kitchen when I first moved here but the painting wasn't high on my priority list. Now, that I had the lovely wine wall cling I wanted to repaint the kitchen and I debated about repainting the pretty dark brown color or going for my previously selected "Rare Wine" color. (Don't you love the name of that paint color???? It fits so perfectly with my wine theme.) Well, I decided since there are splashes of purple throughout my house, I'd take the plunge and paint the kitchen "Rare Wine", which is a pretty plum color. In prepping the room, I thought I'd paint a small spot on the wall to see how I liked the color. OMG!!!! It was really dark compared to the dark brown. What have I done??? Oh well, I'm going to paint the kitchen Rare Wine, because I bought the paint.

Here are before and after pictures. Tell me what you think.

After having the entire kitchen painted and everything back in its place I really like the color and am so glad I finally decided to get this project off my to-do list. However, a $3.99 item turned into over $50 and a weekend project. Oh well... I love it. Hope you do too.

Cooking and Knitting, Oh My

Last weekend I put together a Christmas Sale in an attempt to sell the many Christmas decorations I don't put up each year. Plus I was hoping to make a little money. In preparation for the sale, I made homemade Chili and my grandma's / mom's recipe for Apple Squares. YUM!!! I made these two recipes because I knew I would have enough food for whoever was here when it was time to eat. My friends; Jackie, CJ and Phil enjoyed the food and we each enjoyed each other's company.

Since the traffic at the sale was SO slow, I thought I would use my time wisely and do some knitting. The sweater I'm working on has a very complicated pattern that I need to follow closely so I wouldn't be able to work on this and chat with my friends. Therefore I decided to start making another Itty-Bitty Hat. I was going to make another simple hat like the last three, but saw this cute striped pattern on front of the book. So I did a little shopping at my own garage sale and picked out three skeins of yarn from the sale trunk and started working on this hat. Oops. I'm supposed to be trying to sell myself. Ha!!!

Anyway, I started to make this cute striped Paper Bag Hat. I knitted about 2/3 of the hat on Saturday (at the sale) and finally finished the hat tonight. It is so cute. It makes me want to make more in different colors. These would make cute gifts.

Well, I need to focus on my studies now and put the knitting aside. I have two exams on Friday.

Got a Facelift

Finally after 4 years, my house finally got a well needed facelift. When I bought my house in Sept 2006, the paint on the wood shutters on the front of the house was peeling badly and made the house look a bit shack-like.

The above picture is a before picture of what the house used to look like.


The two pictures below are what the house looks like today. I was fortunate to have my cousin's nephew install the new burgundy shutters and I painted the front and side doors to match. I really like the color, I think it pulls out that reddish color in the brick. So proud of getting this project off my to-do list.

Since the pictures on the blog are a bit small, if you click on each picture you can see a larger view and more detail in how bad it looked than and how much better it looks now.

Girlfriend Crafting Weekend

I had a wonderful weekend with my friend Kathy from Kenosha. She came to visit on Friday afternoon and stayed through Sunday afternoon. We spent the entire weekend crafting, eating, shopping and enjoying each other's company.

We began the weekend by visitng to Ruhama's Yarn shop in Whitefish Bay on Friday evening and enjoying dinner at El Guapo's Mexican restaurant.


On Saturday we drove to Brookfield and spent the afternoon at River Boutique and Yarn shop in the knitter's circle. They have cool looking comfy charis for us to sit and knit with the regulars. (Photo on left.) We both love this shop and the way it has a warm, comforting feel. Plus the staff is very welcoming too.




We also visited a couple of bead shop and a consignment shop. You'd think with all of that, we wouldn't get much knitting or beading done, but we did. This picture shows the two Itty-Bitty hats I knitted from Susan B. Anderson's book. Susan lives in Madison and I had the opportunity to meet her at a Knitting Guild meeting earlier in the year.

I also worked on a sweater that I had started probably 20 years ago. I only had the back and one sleeve done prior to the weekend. I finished the other sleeve and began the front. My goal is to finish this sweater by the end of the month, so that I can begin a new project. Pictures of the finished sweater to follow.

Sweet dreams Domino

I know this post is not about a creative project that I am working on, but I had to post something on my blog about my kitty, Domino. He passed away in my arms last Monday morning (Sept 20th) at 8am. He was such a special kitty and brought so much joy and love to my life. I will miss him dearly. He was 9 years and 3 months old on Sept 20, 2010.



Some of the cute things that my Domino did that I'll always remember.

• he chewed on plastic bags and scrapbook page protectors
• his goofy meow sounded like a pigeon
• he escorted me down the stairs in the morning to his food bowls
• he guarded the bathroom door while I took a shower
• all of his paws were white, with his left front paw had a black spot

• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• he chased his tail in circles like a kitten
• he loved to bat around craft pom poms
• nuzzling my face in his soft, white belly

• he would always come when I called his name
• snuggling with me on the couch
• he was my mouser

Sweet dreams Domino. You will always be in my heart. I will miss you so much!!!!

XOXO

Back to School Cookies

How many of you would come home from your first day school to warm chocolate chip cookies made by your mother? Today was my first day of school for fall semester 201o. And since my mother no longer lives with me, I decided to make my own chocolate chip cookies. Actually I tried a new recipe from the Midwest Living Magazine website called Awesome Chocolate Peanut Blowout Cookies. They are the first cookies I've ever made that were still soft after they cooled. I think I need to keep this recipe and make them again.

Since I don't have a sense of smell I forget that other people can smell when I'm cooking or baking. My roommate came downstairs and said 'was there a peanut butter explosion?" Ha!!! I'm going to call them Peanut Butter Explosion cookies from now on. For those of you interested in making the cookies yourself, here is a link to the recipe. Please note, I did not use peanuts and increased both the chocolate chips and peanut butter cups by 1/4 cup each.

Enjoy!!!!

A - Z (April - Zucchini)

WOW!!!! I can't believe my last blog post was back in April. That probably tells you a little bit about my summer. It has been super crazy.

Today was my first day to spend a few hours in the kitchen doing what I love. Cooking and Baking!!! It was so relaxing.


My friend, Barb gave me some zucchini. At first I thought I'd make Zucchini Pie and then was reminded of Zucchini Cobbler that tastes like Apple.



But then I thought......I'd try a few new recipes that I found on the Taste of Home website. Click on the link to go directly to the recipes.





This afternoon I made Zucchini Pasta (pictured at left) and Zucchini Cupcakes (pictured below).



Of course both recipes were delicious, because they are Taste of Home recipes. My favorite place to find recipes.

Beading at Funky Hannah's

Yesterday my friend, Therese and I went to Funky Hannah's (a bead shop in downtown Racine) for our first official bead class. We've both been playing with beads and making our own creations for a while, but never 'officially' took a class.

At the class we were able to design our own necklace or bracelet. I think that was the most time consuming part for both of us..... coming up with the beads we wanted to use in our creation and what order to put them on our necklaces. All the other girls in the class found their beads right away, but Therese and I couldn't decide. We would pick beads, start stringing them and not like the layout. Then it was back to the overwhelming bead collection to find just the right bead for our creations.

Here is a picture of Therese and I modeling our newly created necklaces. We had a great time together.









When I got home, I also made a pair of earrings to match my necklace. Here they are. You can click on the photo to get a closer look.

I'm looking forward to Annual Bead & Button show held at the Midwest Center in June. Our friend, Sandy from TN will be coming up to attend the show. This is going to be a great time... hanging out with friends and looking at a gazillon beads all in one location. What more could three girls ask for? :)

Knit & Crochet

Since attending the Mt. Mary Knitting Guild Meeting last month I've been trying to do more knitting, eventhough the weather is getting nicer. I should be outside doing yardwork on the nice days, instead I'm inside knitting. :)

Here is a picture of my very first hand knit pair of socks. There were pretty easy considering they are socks and you have to pick up stitches, etc. The best part was the yarn. It is self-striping yarn so it is all one skein of yarn and it strips automatically. Love it!!!


I got together with my neighbor who knits and crochets to learn how to make the crocheted dish towel toppers. I"m not good at crocheting. I never know where to put the needle to make the stitch. With knitting, you knit the stitch off the needle.

This is my first crocheted dish towel topper. It went together pretty fast. I love that you just fold the towel in half, so you have double the thickness when using the towel.


Since they went together so quickly, I need to make more.

First I'm going to make an Itty Bitty Hat out of Susan B. Anderson's book. She was the guest speaker at the Knitting Guild Meeting last month and lives in Madison. She designs some very cute items. Check out her blog at http://www.susanbanderson.blogspot.com/

Spring has Sprung

Here is proof that spring has sprung. These little guys are peeking out of the ground in my front yard. It is so fun to have such pretty color greeting you at the front door.

My spring break from school was last week. We couldn't have had better weather last week for the month of March. It was in the 50's all week and I think one day we actually hit 60. Yes, I live in Wisconsin so it was heavenly.


I had the opportunity to spend my spring break week with lots of family and friends. I drove up to Arbor Vitae to visit a college friend. We haven't seen each other in 9 - 10 years. It was so nice to get caught up and see each other again. Nothing has changed, Kelly is still the great person I remember from school, just lives further away now. I miss her. She is the one that got me hooked on Goodwill shopping years ago. :)









In addition to the day I spent stamping with my mom and sister-in-law last week (see pictures below), I also got together with sister consultant Kristin and made these fun Easter cards.

In addition to all the cards I made last week, I also knitted several dishcloths and made some cloth napkins. My new favorite dishcloth pattern is the light blue dishcloth located in the lower left hand corner of the picture. It was a fun pattern to knit. It involved knit one, knit one in the stitch below and repeat across the row. It makes a very pretty pattern and worked up nicely in this fun variegated blue, green and cream yarn. I can't wait to knit up a few more.

The cloth napkins I made last week were made out of scrap fabric I had laying around the house. I have plenty more napkins cut and ready to be stitched. Just need to squeeze in some sewing time between studying time now.

Stamping Lots O' Cards

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all.

Today I spent the day with my mom and sister-in-law making cards. We had so much fun chatting and creating cards together. Here are pictures of the cards I made. Card designs were inspired by Lisa Stenz (sister CTMH consultant).

I'll be selling these cards at the Milwaukee County Zoo vendor fair on Sunday, May 23rd between 9am - 3pm.

Mark your calendar to attend this event. I'll have discounted admission tickets to the zoo for sale soon. In the past admission tickets have been $5/per person and includes parking. Hope to see you there.

I'll have all occasion of cards for sale..... Birthday, Celebrate, Thank You, and much more.

Mother / Daughter Day

My mom and I spent the day together this past Thursday. It was our Mother / Daughter Day of spending quality time together.

We made cards together. This first card my mom made with the March Stamp of the Month "A Little Everything". She has inspired me to make many more cards using this cute stamp set.

We also spent the day knitting, went to lunch at Genghis Khan (Monogolian Barbecue Restaurant on Mayfair Rd.), watched a couple movies later and had homemade Spicy Tomato Soup for dinner. Yummy!!!

Here is a link to view all the stamps in this adorable "A Little Everything" stamp set and see more artwork. March Stamp of the Month.

The stamp set can be purchased for $22.95 or with a purchase you can receive the stamp set at a discounted price.

$25 purchase, receive 25% discount at $17.21

$5o purchase, receive 50% discount at $11.48

$75 purchase, receive 75% discount at $5.74

$100 purchase, receive the stamp set FREE

I made cards using the "Veranda" Kit of the Month. I made two of each card and still have about 7 sheets of background and texture paper and 2 sheets of cardstock that I didn't cut into. This is such a cute paper pack and the stamp set is adorable too. I see myself using both the stamp set and the paper packet a lot more.

Here is a close up of the cards and the stamp set. You will also see the embellishments included in the Basic Kit and additional embellishments you can purchase for the Best Options. Veranda Kit of the Month

The kit is offered at a discounted price of $29.95 and will make either 12 cards or 2 two-page layouts.

You can go directly to my website and place an order for these items or others. The order will be shipped directly to your home.

Valentine's Day Festivities

I hope you are spending this weekend with those that you love. And if you can't be together, perhaps give them a call to let them know how much you care about them.

I made Red Velvet Cupcakes this afternoon. It is a Kraft recipe with frosting inserted into the cupcakes and then frosted and decorated with white chocolate curls. (See below.)

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/red-velvet-cupcakes-114532.aspx

I'm taking the cupcakes to my parents on Sunday in celebration of my Mom's birthday and Valentine's Day.

Next I'm going to watch the movie The Proposal. I thought it was most fitting for this Valetine's weekend.

"Hearts for Haiti" Cardstock Promotion

Our hearts go out to the victims of the earthquakes in Haiti and like many of you, Close To My heart is excited to help. During the month of February, when you purchase a 12" x 12" textured cardstock combo pack you will receive one FREE. In addidition, Close To My Heart will donate $2 to Operation Smile's Haiti relief efforts.

To order your 12" x 12" textured cardstock combo packs, click on the highlighted links below:
Summer Celebration
Spring Harmony
Winter Cozy
Autumn Harvest
Basic Collection

Opertaion Smile is always a fantastic charitable partner - offering free facial reconstruction surgeries to needy children throughout the world. They've currently marshaled their medical teams and resources to provide emergency relief in Haiti and the donations given as part of "Hearts for Haiti" will be used exclusively for Operation Smile's efforts in Haiti. For more information about Operation Smile's efforts in Haiti go to www.operationsmile.org/haiti

Finally Finished and Hung

I finally finished the curtains for my roommates bedroom and have them hung. Just in time for her return from holiday break tomorrow. I created the pattern on my own and found fabric on clearance that worked nicely with the colors we were looking for.... purple and gray. Top picture is the window and bottom picture is the balcony door. Now onto the next project... which may be curtains for the other roommates bedroom. I'll find out tomorrow. If not, there are plenty of other projects I can finish up.

Bed & Breakfast Crafting Weekend - Green Lake, WI

I've reserved a weekend at Miller's Daughter Bed & Breakfast in Green Lake, WI for a girls craft weekend. Mark your calendars, April 9 - 11, 2010. This is a great time to get away with a sister, mother, aunt, friend, etc to spend some quality time together. There is a room in the lower level where you can set up your space for the weekend of stamping, scrapbooking, beading, quilting, stitching, etc. Or you can bring a book and enjoy the comforts of this Bed & Breakfast (B&B) or sit on their lovely front porch overlooking the beautiful front yard.

The cost is $75/per person per night. We would be staying two nights. This includes a full breakfast on Sat and Sun. We will also order pizza on Friday night. Saturday night will be dinner on your own, but we can order from a nearby restaurant and have it delivered. Please bring along a snack to share with everyone throughout the weekend.

All rooms have queen size beds and a private bath. Make sure you invite a friend that you'd like to share a bed with, as you won't have your own bed.

In addition, the B&B offers services from a massage therapist at an additional cost. If you are interested please let me know so we can reserve the therapist for you. Cost is $65 for 60 mins. or $45 for 30 mins.

Hope to see you in Green Lake. It is a beautiful area and not far from home. Please email or call me to ensure a spot is reserved for you.

To see more information about Miller's Daughter, check out their website. http://millersdaughter.com/index.php

ABC's about Me

There is no better way to start a new year, but with a list of ABC's about me. Thanks to Karen Pedersen's blog for this inspiration.


A - Age: must we share this? and why does it have to be the first item?
B - Bed size: Full
C - Chore you hate: Dusting, because if you do it regularly you can't tell that you've even dusted.
D - Dad's name: Kenneth
E - Essential start your day item: Eat breakfast
F - Favorite color: Too many to pick just one.... purple, sage green, buttery yellow
G - Gold or Silver: Silver
H - Height: 5' 7"
I - Instruments you play(ed): Flute
J - Job title: Close To My Heart Consultant and Full Time Student
K - Kid(s): None
L - Living Arrangements: Living with two wonderful roommates in my home
M - Mom's name: Betty
N - Nicknames: Dusk, Spiller, Feja (pronounced "Fay-ya")
O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: Tonsils
P - Pets Names: Kitties - Kiko & Domino
Q - Quote from a movie: "She thinks I'm cuteeeee" Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
R - Right or left handed: Right
S - Siblings: Randy and Vicki
T - Time you wake up: 8:30am
U - Underwear: yes
V - Vegetable you dislike: Brussel sprouts
W - Ways you drink your coffee: I don't
X - X-rays you've had: pinky finger
Y - Yummy food you make: Best Deviled Eggs
Z - Zoo favorite: Dippin' Dots Ice Cream

Happy New Year

We welcome a new year and a new decade..... 2010!!!

2010 is beginning in a very positive way. The year ahead holds so many opportunities. I'm excited about what the year will offer.

My first exciting accomplishment is creating a blog. This has been a learning experience and will be a great way for me to share with each of you all the creativity that is going on in my home. I'll begin with sharing some of my most recent projects that I've completed.

Rag quilt ---- made with fabric from a dear friend's mother. I will always cherish this quilt and the memories of Jackie Schroeder and her family.

Cloth napkins ---- I'm trying to go green and save some money. I made coordinating cloth napkins for the first weekend in December when my family came to visit. It was our winter family get together. Everyone brought an ingredient for "Bring An Ingredient Soup" Later we had Beer-garitas, played Kismet (similar to Yatzee) and ate fresh-out-of-oven Spice cookies. Yummy!!!!

Dishcloths ---- I was on a bit of a knitting spree this winter. I probably made a dozen different dishcloths and gave several as gifts. Some are still in need of homes.

Tile coasters ---- I'm so proud of little homemade holiday gifts. I used ceramic tiles and stamped on them with black Staz-on ink, adding a cork base. They were fun to make and fun to give at gifts. Hopefully everyone figured out they were coasters and that I made them! :)

Curtains ---- Currently, I'm working on curtain's for Clare's (roommates) room. The walls are gray and the woodwork is white. Clare likes purple. I was lucky to find a white fabric with light purple, dark purple, gray, and green wavy lines. I added a purple header and tabs to put more emphasis on the purple. She will see them for the first time when she returns from holiday break. I hope she likes them. I'll post pictures when I get them hung.