Everyday Cookies

Mark's Valentine Gift to Me

2012-02-11T19:00:00.000-08:00

You must just know my Mark, he's the sweetest person on earth. When Valentine's Day comes around I can always count on him to bring me Haagen Dazs Rocky Road Ice Cream. (He's precious---he picks it up on the way home from work, then I eat it right away!) He's never sent flower to me. Well, except the ONE time he did: It just didn't work out---the florist was SO busy, they delivered the roses the DAY AFTER Valentine's Day! It was supposed to be a surprise; it was! But being the person I am, I refused the flowers, and made sure the florist credited Mark. We both agreed after that experience, that the only way to be sure I was happy was to stop and buy the chocolate ("any chocolate", I told him) on the way home.

But this year is different. You see, today he bought this for me:

Because we love adventure, he bought one for himself as well! We'll take them when we go camping. Plus there are a number of great trails around here for us to explore. Now isn't this the Valentine's Day gift you always wanted? I love my Mark!

I told him it needs some pink and he sent me the link to this eBay item:

"I am a grandma,", I said! He said, "Age doesn't matter!" He has so much confidence in me, I'm honored. So, OF COURSE, I took it out for a few test rides on our road. I did fine, luckily our old Lab Sarge MOVED out of the way at the last second, but that was a close call!

My question for you all: What unusual gift has your loved one given you for Valentine's Day?

Hugs, Hearts, Love and Blessings,

~Heidi

I heart you!

2012-02-07T10:57:00.000-08:00

Some Pinterest Interest here...
In looking for some Sunday School kids crafts via Pinterest I found this paper heart. I've seen this around, probably for years, but never have tried myself to make one. They are called "Swedish Hearts".

I cut the paper a few times and sure did feel like a dummy...it's not as easy as it looks. Maybe I needed better instructions than the site gave. I'll keep working on that.

But through this I found a lovely new-to-me blog called "Three Pixie Lane". I just love the home decor photos she blogs about. I'll be spending more time on Christie's blog for sure! Here is her header photo:

If you like to blog-surf I think the best time of the year to do that is February, there are SO MANY yummy Valentine's photos and ideas posted this month! I'm inspired now to decorated for Valentine's Day. (Yes, I'm way behind so many of you!) I just stacked a bunch of red and/or romantic books in a corner. And I'm hanging my vintage sheet music hearts together as my window banners.

I *heart* you all! Here's a heart you can cut out for a card:

(Directions: Copy to computer and enlarge as desired.

Only cut the SOLID lines, fold dotted lines.

Can be sandwiched in a solid paper to make the

pop out "I *love* you" show up even better.)

And you all know, "Love is Sweet"...

Now to get my hands on some chocolate!

Hearts and Hugs, Heidi

(the Google search I did for hearts and cuts outs was very helpful, too!)

What? Monthly? Not good!

2012-02-01T20:19:00.000-08:00

I realized the pace I'm blogging is monthly now. I don't like that, but until I can get blogging back to top priority on my daily lists I guess monthly it'll have to be! Anyone out there struggling with this too? Throw in way too much time on Pinterest....don't get me started on that distraction,...err...wonderful place!

So, a few photos of signs I painted in January:

For a precious baby girl on the way.....a princess, for sure!

"Our Little Princes...." with custom name.

This is a must for all couples.....and for children and babies, too!

"Always Kiss Me Goodnight" (shown in black lettering)

Home is....

where your horses are!

(A sign for a horse lover!)

This sign was given as a gift. I paint a lot of this type of sign.

You can add any words, names, dates, etc.

"Love is Sweet".....this continues to now be my top selling sign.

I can paint it in any color and any font!

Ice Cream Parlor.....an event coordinator ordered a few of these

signs for her event. I loved painting this....wanted ice cream that night!

What else? How about "Cupcakes"....can you think of a sign for a cupcake table?

Welcome to Our Home, layered over the family name, with the date.

I loved painting this sign, I've done a few and enjoy seeing the color

combinations the buyers select.

Snips & Snails and Puppy Dog Tails...perfect for a baby boy shower!

Both the girl and boy signs in this set have been very popular lately!

Those sayings are making a come-back, I guess!

To The Beach......I have so many "beach" signs to paint,

but just not enough time!

Sugar & Spice and Everything Nice......

perfect for a baby girl shower gift!

A dream is a wish your heart makes. A Disney sign?

See the three reasons I love being a grandmother?

Blessings, Heidi

So much fun at Sweet Woodruff Acres

2012-01-05T21:13:00.000-08:00

I had the grand kids a few hours early on Christmas Eve-Eve (we celebrated Christmas Eve two nights in a row!). While we were in the kitchen baking, we somehow got way off track when I taught them how to make a blow up balloon squeal loudly! Then we three got rowdy and ended up rolling on the kitchen floor in laughter. I think we were all super excited about Christmas (and maybe had too many sweet by then, too!)

Jessica & Craig had wrapped all their gifts in brown craft paper. For the tags they had sepia photos of the recipients. The kids absolutely loved this, they didn't have to look for names, but their own faces. These gifts were so pretty!

I made plates of gingerbread cookies, Tex-Mex Snack Mix, bags of candies, mini-gingerbread houses and more to give out to neighbors and friends.

This is one of the small wood cutting boards I made to give out as gifts. I took my Scottie Dog cookie cutter and enlarged the pattern. I cut them out of wood from myrtlewood trees that grow on our property. Did you know myrtlewood only grows in two places on earth? Yes, here in Oregon and in Israel. How cool is that? I wanted to make more of these, but ran out of time, as well our wood wasn't dry enough yet. It takes at least 6 months to really season it well.

This Oregon state shape cutting board was made the same way as the Scottie Dog one above. I have an Oregon state shape cookie cutter that I traced and just enlarged the pattern to the size I wanted. These cutting boards were one of my favorite crafts this year, right up there with my gingerbread house decorating party! More on that next post!

Have a great weekend.

May you have 2012 blessing this year!

Hugs, Heidi

(Linked with Cindy's My Romantic Home Show & Tell Friday here.)

No Rhyme or Reason--Review of the Season!

2012-01-02T18:47:00.000-08:00

Just some photo reviews of the past month or two! Life was moving at a fast pace-->
Grandchildren; cookies; Thanksgiving; gratitude; family; friends; Bible; outdoor adventures; food; chocolate; meals; gifts; creating; painting; cutting and pasting (my favorite!); photography; warm fires in the wood stove; gingerbread house making party; and SO MUCH MORE!

Mark has been cutting little wood crafts for the children's church.

These were wood star ornaments the kids decorated with a verse and glitter.

Mark and I spent many evenings trying to photograph the moon. It was a ton of fun wandering out in the dark nights! This is what the front of our home looked like dressed in the Christmas lights Mark put out. He loves doing this, and I so enjoy the lights.

My cookie angel watching over the making of Russian Tea Cakes.

She (my cookie angel) reminded me to roll the cookies in powdered sugar! I made so many cookies this year, for various events, etc. I loved and sampled every single one. I need to run...I slacked on that durring the freeze, and need to not let this rain stop me now!

The Christmas dish is from a set my mother-in-law gave me the first year we were marred (31 years ago this year! I'm always on the lookout for these at the thrift stores, to increase my set from a set for 4 to a set for 10 or 12, to fit our family now! I have found 3 plates so far, and a few bowls!)

For the last two years I've held a Gingerbread House Decorating party here at our home. I invite our grandchildren, of course!, and other children with their moms. This year our daughter, Melissa, did the same at her house with friends and family from her town. I went over early to help her finish up her assembly of 21 houses! Can you imagine how much work she put into making that many gingerbread houses from scratch? It's a labor of love. The photo above are a collection of just some of the houses they decorated. I held my party here the next week. I'll post photos of that soon.

Melissa and I, after the gingerbread decorating party. The moms/children bring all the candy, sharing everything they bring. Melissa made all the frosting tubes for them to use to attach and decorate the gingerbread houses. She made all the houses with a pattern I drew out a few years ago.

I have a real estate salesperson friend who, every time she closes on a home sale, orders a custom sign for her client! How cool is that? The date of the "est." is the date of the home closing. This is just one of the many signs I've painted.

Guess that's enough photos for this round...more soon, hope!

May you have 2012 reasons this year to be thankful!

Hugs, Heidi

Fall Seasonal Photos

2011-11-18T13:18:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to clean out, arrange, rename, save, delete and use some of my older photos. So it's your lucky day, you'll get a hdge-podge of photos for your inspiration! These photos were from fall of 2009!

(I used a vintage chippy plate, added embellishments, stamped the letters

and hung on my kitchen wall!)

(I made kitchen tea towels out of a bolt of muslin, then added the lace,

then stamped the Fruit of the Spirit on them. Gave out as gifts.)

(A little vintage gift set! Tea cup and saucer-though not an exact match!- and a set of

children's spoon and fork tied up with tulle. Don't forget to add the mini-rose!)

(Our McIntosh apple tree in front of our home. This year-2009-it was loaded.

Some years are better than others! We did have enough this year for

some applesauce, apple pie, apple butter, apple cookies, apple bread, apple bobbler...

so far that's what I've made!)

(Mile High Apple Pie......slice and serve with vanilla ice cream

and everyone will be very happy!)

(Apple Prayer Bread ready to go into the hot oven!)

(I saw this idea a few years back online, and it is about the funnest thing

I've ever done with gingerbread houses! Miniature ones to

top your mugs! Do make time to make these!)

(Simple to make, you'll need to experiment with your "door" size to fit on the

coffee cup or mug "rim".)

(These are my full size gingerbread houses. This is just a tip...

when you "glue" them together {with icing} use long stick pins to hold them

together just until dry enough to stand on their own. I don't have to do this

on all of them, but when I have ones that give me a hard time, this is what I do!)

(The grandchildren love grilled cheese sandwiches cut out with cookie cutters.

It makes lunchtime so much fun!)

(No crusts! All fun! Just use your cookie cutters!)

And one last photo....both our girls make excellent cheesecake!

Here's a photo of one that Jessica made Christmas of 2009...

Have a blessed weekend!

Hugs, Heidi

(Linked to Cindy's My Romantic Home Show and Tell Friday here, Blissful and Domestic Bliss Linky Party here, Friday Flair at Whipperberry here, and Women Living Well Link Up Party here.)

Mary Kay $25 Giveaway

2011-11-10T08:50:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note to let you all in on a Mary Kay giveaway! It's for $25 of Mary Kay product, which you can pick out from her Mary Kay online store.

She's made it easy, just go to her Mary Kay Facebook page and "LIKE" her page, then leave a comment!

You can place Mary Kay product orders directly on her store site and the projects will be shipped directly to you. Their products a all wonderful, great make up and facial products (my two favorites). Everything is guaranteed, so if you didn't like a color or product they will exchange it, with no problems.

Thank you for reading this, as I "toot" my daughter's Mary Kay horn here on my blog! This is what mothers do! :)

*Drawing will be on November 18, 2011*

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Now, because you've been so sweet to go "LIKE" her Facebook page, I'll give you a great little chocolate cookie recipe! I make these fairly small, so I can eat a bunch and not feel guilty! The combined flavors of chocolate and almond are delightful!

Recipe:

Chocolate Butter Cookies
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp. almond extract
... MIX until light and fluffy, then add..
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Shape into 1" balls and place on Silpat matt on a cookie sheet, (or buttered cookie sheet). Bake 7 to 9 minutes.
Cool then if desired, top with powdered sugar, melted chocolate, etc.
Very easy and yummy!

~Blessings! Heidi

(Linked to Nifty Thrifty Sunday here, and Joy of Dessert Linky Party here.)

Another Really Good Cookie and Another Really Fun Sign

2011-11-04T10:16:00.000-07:00

"Another really good cookie" means trouble here. It means Mark and I can't stop eating them! I do love to share cookies, but sometimes I'm not fast enough to get them out of the house. A couple days ago I made the "Spiced Apple Cookie", which I found via Pinterest. I loved them.

Then Mark said, could you make an Oatmeal Raisin Cookie but replace the raisins with diced apples? Sure can!

Here's the cookie recipe. I don't give instructions on how to actually "mix the ingredients", such as the order, you can follow any cookie recipe or just start mixing as the ingredients are listed:

HEIDI'S SPICED APPLE OATMEAL COOKIE
1 cup butter (2 cubes)
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla flavoring (or extract)
2 large eggs
2 cups quick cook oatmeal (uncooked)
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup diced apples (peeled, cored first)
*if desired: 1 cup chopped walnuts

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the ingredients as a cookie dough. Drop by rounded tablespoons, spacing evenly. (On Silpat matt, or greased cookie sheet.) Bake for 10-13 minutes or until golden brown. Cool cookies, then enjoy!

I use a Silpat baking matt--you must get! I have four, so I can make lots of cookies quickly, if I need to. Also, when I make gingerbread houses for a Gingerbread House Making Party here, the Silpat matts make the baking so much easier. I bought mine at our local Fred Meyer store, when they had a BOGOF (buy one get one free) sale. You can find them online as well, such as here at Amazon.

We've working on making rustic layered board signs. Here's a couple examples.

"GRATITUDE: turns what we have into enough."

"House Rules: 1. Be KIND 2. Always follow rule #1."

These are listed in my Etsy shop here (GRATITUDE) and here (House Rules).

Today I'm going to make and can applesauce and apple butter. I'm still all about apples right now!

Don't forget to change your clocks tomorrow night: Fall Back!

Have a blessed weekend,
Hugs, Heidi

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(Linked to Blissful and Domestic Feature Friday Link Up Party here, Cindy's Romantic Home Show and Tell Friday here, Whipperberry Friday Link Party here, Simply Sweet Home Friday link party here, and Nifty Thrifty Sunday here.)

Pinterest Pins I Used -- and a few wins!

2011-11-01T22:04:00.000-07:00

A few wins, first! I was just notified I won a copy of the new Stampinton & Company publication called "Mingle". I'm excited to get to read this when it arrives. We don't have stores around here that would ever carry this!

At at recent Home Based Business Fair and show I won a set of Tupperware bowls from my consultant! It's the 3-PC Wonderlier Bowls. You know you will win when you put your name in drawings, right? It just takes a few minutes! I had a Tupperware Party (Linda is my consultant) last year and we had fun making lots of foods with Tupperware products.

One of the first fellow bloggers I connected with years ago is Natelea of Kandeland. She is one of the most generous bloggers out there! Very crafty and artsy, and an all around genuine girl. Her daughter is a Mini-Me to her! Natalea had a "700th Posting" giveaway a while back and guess who one? :) I don't have a photo of what she sent me, but here's a photo that I "borrowed" from her blog:

I have the kit right here on my craft table.........I often save "good stuff" a little too long, thinking I need to do it justice! I really need to just open it and have fun, not worrying if I will live up to Natalea's artsy craftsy skills! Thank you, Natalea, you rock girl!

Now to the subject of Pinterest. I do pin. I do pin a lot. Okay, I'm an image lover! Also, pictures inspire me! I don't subscribe to magazines anymore, at least at this very moment! So my pinning on Pinterest is my magazine time! And I do use what I pin! Here's a few examples:

I made this pearl nest necklace today:

I learned how to make it after seeing and going to this Pinterest link:

And...let's see....I made these Two Ingredient muffins from a Pinterest link:

Very good. Very easy. Very Pinterest.

I'll just post one more....Gorp! I found the Pinterest picture right before our camping vacation (which was a blast!). I made it and we loved it! Great for hiking, boating, bike riding and snack by the campfire:

The Pinterest photo:

My done-deal-Pinterest:

Thanks for visiting today!

Apple Dumplings and Tea -- Camp Grandma!

2011-10-29T18:16:00.000-07:00

We've got a nice productive McIntosh apple tree, but in addition to that our kind neighbors have given me permission to pick apples from their many trees! I've got apple sauce and apple butter lined up to make, but couldn't wait to get something sweet going so I made apple dumplings. Apple dumplings have always been one of my favorite desserts.

Most apple dumpling recipes have you put a whole (skinned and cored) apple in each dumpling. But I have always preferred smaller chunks of apples. I pretty much just make what would be an apple pie filling and pie crust recipe. The only thing I need then is a syrup to pour on top.

I love apple dumplings served with vanilla ice cream, but didn't have any, so I used whipped topping. Still super good!

My sister's son and daughter-in-law are expecting what will be my sister's first grandchild! We are so excited for them and I couldn't wait to give her a special sign I painted:

She visited with Ellie (our second of three grandchildren) her at my "Camp Grandma, Coos Bay Unit" and taught her how to "have tea". She'll be a perfect grandma and she'll love the new title!

Here's my sign, painted 5 years ago (I used to make my signs way smaller then, and on old wood:

Hope you all have a safe and fun weekend!
Hugs, Heidi

Here's a basic APPLE DUMPLING recipe, it's the one I use:
THE SYRUP:
1 3/4 cups water
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
2 Tblspn. butter

THE DUMPLING CRUST:
2 1/4 cups four
1/4 TSP. salt
2/3 cup butter
6 to 8 Tblspn iced cold water

FILLING:
6 apples (skinned, cored, and cut in small bite size pieces)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1. Mix the syrup (EXCEPT the butter) ingredients in a medium saucepan and simmer, covered for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter.
2. Meanwhile mix the crust ingredients and roll out into an 18X12-inch rectangle, then cut into six 6" squares. (Or get close, like I do!)
3. Mix the apple filling ingredients and divide evenly on the 6 cut squares.
4. Pull up the four corners of each square into a pocket, or dumpling. Pitch the edge to keep them closed. Place in a baking pan.
5. Pour the hot syrup over the dumplings.
6. Bake in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for about 45 minutes or until the apples are tender and the crust is lightly browned.
7. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream, or whipped topping.

Makes 6 servings.
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(Linked to Cindy's My Romantic Home Show and Tell here. , Six Sisters Struf Your Stuff Saturday here, Be Different and Act Normal Show and Tell Saturday here, Tator Tots and Jello Weekend Wrap Up Party here, Blissful and Domestic Feature Friday Link Up Party here, Niffty Thrifty Sunday #29 here, Totally Tasty Tuesday at Mandy's Recipe Box here, Joy of Desserts here,and Frugal Girls Craft Linky Party here.)

Falling Leaves

2011-10-12T13:57:00.000-07:00

Just As much as I love to be outside in nature, you must know I always dread the end of summer. Yet a few weeks later, as in today, I always realize, "HEY, Heidi! Fall is wonderful, too, for it's own reasons!"

Colorful falling leaves are one of the top reasons! The crisp smell of the air early in the morning. The scent in the evening of the wood stoves warming the homes in the area. So yesterday when I had Ellie and Claira for a couple hours (Melissa was doing a Mary Kay consultation) I decided to try out the craft Heather Bullard blogged about here.

I took an old dictionary I use for crafting and pulled out a bunch of pages. Ellie (3 going on 6) helped pick out fall color to paint the pages. We watered down our paint and used old kitchen cookie sheets for easy clean-up.

Painted pages...pages drying...

Pages ready to be cut...

Pages cut out in leaf shapes (I stacked them to cut as many as I could at once, as well as used different scissors).

In the midst of our leaf project Ellie wanted to set up the Barbie pool. Only by the sink I said. (She still had a POOL of water on my kitchen floor!).

She brought as many Barbies (these are old ones left behind by my grown-up-girls; she even plays with the headless ones, she "pretends" they had head...really.) as she could carry to the pool.

She'd say, "Come to the BARBIE WORLD POOL!" as she'd drop them in.

Then she'd say, "Dreams really do come true!" (She loves Disney videos, I guess.)

Then back to the leaf project. We finished up, using hot glue for a fast project. I tied up an orange ribbon and quickly glued the sets on that.

Ellie is a wonderful crafting partner! Claira was napping or I'm sure she would have been all over the pool and the paint!

Ellie decided to work on her sticker book as they waited for Mommy Melissa to pick them up and take them to their cousin's birthday party.....waiting to go to a birthday party is hard for a little girl!

Mommy's here..........

...........Heidi's going straight to the couch now....LOL
What a fun fall day! I do miss having John Mark here on days like this, but he's a big boy now, in kindergarten!

Blessings and hugs,
~Heidi

(Linked to Cindy's My Romantic Home Friday Show and Tell here, At the Picket Fence Inspiration Friday here and Nifty Thrifty Things Sunday here, and Under the Table and Dreaming Sunday Showcase Party here.)

Mr. and Mrs. Wedding Craft Idea

2011-10-09T17:39:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine needed some creative crafting help with a wedding basket she was putting together. She saw an Etsy item on my "Favorites" and thought I had made it. I told her no, but I probably could! Then I did! It was a set of "Mr" and "Mrs" ink stamped eggs in a nest. She needed it the next day, so there was no way she had time to order.

I experimented on wooden eggs as well as various stones and rocks. For the wooden eggs I first painted them Robin's Egg Blue, then stamped them. I used "StazOn" ink pad for the letter stamping. Then I just put them in a small next filled with shredded paper. Oh, and added a couple little white feathers. It was such a fun and fast project, and would be cute on wedding reception tables, or as a gift to the new Mr. and Mrs.

Another fun thing I've been playing with this week is Crayola brand "Window Markers". They come in various tips and sizes. I found a set at WalMart for about $4. K-Mart had them, too, in the thicker sizes. What fun we've had writing on our windows! I wrote a Bible verse out on the window above my kitchen sink, an easy way to memorize.

Ellie was over the other day and she had fun playing with them, too.

Now a word about Pinterest...found this Pumpkin Pound Cake:

(as pictured on Pinterest)

It really is like having a new magazine daily. I found this recipe a week ago on Pinterest and made it. It was delicious! Try it out. It's one of those cakes that taste better great right out the oven and even better the next day or two!

(my cake)

Needless to say...Pinterest continues to rock!

Blessings, Heidi

Linked to Cindy's My Romantic Home Show and Tell Friday,
and Nifty Thrifty Sunday #26, and the DIY Show Off Blog Project Parade.

Final Days of September

2011-09-27T09:45:00.000-07:00

.......ah, the final days of September........

Melissa (oldest of our two daughters) is now a Mary Kay Beauty Consultant! If you need or want to order anything from her (help support her family!) you can order directly from her website and it can be shipped directly to your home. Here she is setting up for a party last night:

Here's she is during the presentation (with one of guests):

Jessica (younger of our two daughters) is officially the Cupcake Queen! She's just got the talent it takes to make cupcakes both taste yummy and look great! Here's a photo of a batch she's taking into her work today for a surprise shower:

Here's a photo of Jessica on Saturday when she was able to stop by home on her way to an event (with her new camera from her husband!):

Now....hang on to your seats....Mark and I went salmon fishing on Saturday...

(the Coast Guard cutter came in right next to us)

(the seaplane took off next to us)

(the bay was calm)

... and guess who caught her very first salmon?

Yep, I did! It was so exiting. It measured at 31 inches but we forgot to weight it. We had fresh salmon for dinner Saturday night, then froze the rest in packages.

Another September event, I ran my first "official" race! It was our local Prefontaine Run, a 10K race (6.2 miles). My goal was to place in the top 5 of MY age group, and I did! I placed 5th. I ran 8:48 minute miles on a somewhat difficult course, it has several "agony" hills!

I am really loving these early autumn days. A few of then were "Indian Summer" days, and now today the rain has returned! And I am spending a little too much time "pinning"...LOL Here's one I found, you can print out and frame:

And another:

Fall Blessings to you all! Hugs, Heidi

Pinterest and my flop!

2011-09-21T13:38:00.000-07:00

Just keeping it real here, girls. I love Pinterest. I've made several recipes from Pinterest links, with great results. Until this one, Strawberry Lemonade Bars. This one took a couple weeks to make, as each time I set out to make it I would be short an ingredient. So finally this week I got my act together and made it, carefully following the "test kitchen" recipe.

(these were not mine, but from the K&K Test Kitchen blog)

I had made these to take to my ladies Bible study, but had to leave them home! Yep, not even sprinkled powder sugar was going to make a save:

I'm not sure if I should try again or not? Have any of you made this recipe yet? Maybe I should just stick to lemon bars! And eat my strawberries with plenty of whipped cream on the side!

If you'd like to take a look at my "Baking Corner" board on Pinterest, you can see my collection here:

Heidi's Baking Corner

I really want to make the Texas Roadhouse Copy Cat Rolls next......hope my yeast doesn't let me down!

Back to work now....I'm painting sign orders, and also packaging up "Vintage Scrap Packs" for Jenn's event next month, "Once Upon a Dream", which I am a sponsor. I'm sure the girls there will have fun, Jenn's got lots lined up and she throws an event like no other!

Blessings, Heidi

Natural Love

2011-09-15T09:53:00.000-07:00

When you live on the Oregon coast, where we get so much rain, you MUST not miss any opportunities to enjoy nature when it doesn't rain! Hence the reason I have not posted a blog in a month! Lakes, mountains, rivers, oceans, runs, biking, swimming and more have filled my days (when not working!). I have a million pictures to share....(seems like a million).

Today is a very special day. It's the 10 year anniversary of our oldest daughter's wedding to her high school sweetheart. They met in junior high, and were married in September, the year she graduated from high school. Kris is the hardest worker you'd ever meet, always the first one to help anyone in need--he's perfect for our Melissa! They have gone through tragedies (the death of Kris's brother and cousin), crisis, times of joy and so much more, but have always kept their eyes on God, both focused on Him, therefore always having their heads and hearts in the same place. They now have three children and live on just under 20 acres out in the country. They'll celebrate with a weekend trip to Newport, to take the kids to see the Newport Aquarium!

Kris and Melissa on September 15, 2001

On Sunday, September 18, our younger daughter and her husband (we have two) are celebrating their 1 year wedding anniversary! They met while in college, Corban College, and had the love of God, sports and movies in common! Craig is the most easy going guy you'd ever met---perfect for our Jessica. They also have already experience great sadness in their first year of marriage, the death of Craig's sister, as well as the joy of new family members (Craig's sister's baby, and Melissa's baby). We wish they lived across the road, but are thankful they at least live on the west coast just 4 hours from us. They'll celebrate this weekend with a trip to Seattle, where Craig had proposed to her!

Craig and Jessica on September 18, 2010

Jessica and Craig's reception was held under a big canopy on our front pasture, the evening was magical:

(magical, with soft rain pattering on the top...)

Now a quick photo of our recent vacation...

Sunset....our canoe awaits us....this is just the cove of the beautiful Waldo Lake.

Waldo Lake is worth finding!

Hugs, Heidi

Save the Date - Save the Day - Save the Recipe

2011-08-16T17:06:00.000-07:00

Summer doesn't mean slower days, I guess, as it seems we're busy as ever. The only difference is we are adding into our days so many more outdoor activities. So every weekend we try to "play" one day, and "work" the other, with Sunday as our resting day (although there's still plenty we do on Sundays!) We are so fortunate my Mark has Friday's off, and I am usually able to sneak away from work as well.

Last Friday we drove through the Rogue Wilderness, on U.S. Forest Service logging roads. What a blast that was with the top off our Jeep. I couldn't stop looking UP at the beautiful tall trees, so majestic. We did make our way down at one point to the Rogue River, and got a chance to talk to some of the people rafting and camping the river. Also, it was...mighty hot! We got to go through the Rogue River Ranch, which has a museum and more. Oh, it was...mighty hot!

We sat under a huge old black walnut tree and ate our lunch.

Our lunch included tuna sandwiches, made with home canned tuna. Melissa and I had spent a day or so earlier canning tuna, after Mark cut and filleted about ten large tuna fish. We can buy them right off the boats here on the coast.

Back to the Rogue River Ranch...

I loved the table and bench set inside, I think it was made of madrome wood....

I also loved the shade of red they had painted the main house, with the white trim....

Back home....I realized how much cooler we are here on the coast, even on our "hot" days! The next day we were splitting firewood, after an hour or two (with me at the wood splitter), I said, "I need to stop and go play in the kitchen!" Off to the kitchen to make something! I made a yummy sour cream pound cake, and then a batch of cream puffs.

When it came time to fill the cream puffs I whipped up the whipping cream in my KitchenAid, as I always have, but it just would NOT whip. That was a first for me. As a quick stand in we filled a few of them with canned whipped cream---I know, not very Martha-Stewartly. Have I ever mentioned we don't live close to grocery stores?

The sour cream coffee cake recipe I use is included in my "Taste of Oregon" cookbook. I *highly* recommend this cookbook.

Here's the recipe for you to try out. I made mine in a round bundt cake pan, but you can use any cake pan you have.

SOUR CREAM COFFEE CAKE
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups butter
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder.
    TOPPING:
    1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
    3 Tablespoons brown sugar
    1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

Cream together the sugar, butter, and eggs. Add the sour cream, vanilla, flour, salt, and baking power; mix together. Combine topping ingredients. Pour half the batter into a greased tube pan. Cover with half the topping. Add the rest of the batter and top with the remainder of the topping. Bake at 350F degrees for 1 hour. Cover with foil for the last 15-20 minutes to prevent the top from getting too brown.

Serve warm or cooled---great either way...

I've been having fun painting some "SAVE THE DATE" signs for Etsy buyers. I needed a photo of a couple holding my sign, to show as an example, but only had Mark and I to use. I laugh everytime I see this photo, as we're holding the SAVE THE DATE sign and we've now been married over 30 years. We still save OUR date as one VERY SPECIAL DAY!

Blessings! ~Heidi

(EDITED to change the recipe name. It was sour cream coffee cake, not pound cake as I originally had written in error!)

Summer Days

2011-08-06T21:49:00.000-07:00

Summer days are the best...

Early morning just outside our front door...the swing just waits for the grand kids to come over...

My clothes can be hung on the line...

Watering the berry garden, tasting the raspberries. Unfortunately we are still working with the deer--they also want to taste the raspberries...

My parents and other family members were here visiting...

Playing around Pinterest way too much, but getting some great ideas, such as this wonderful dessert (chocolate chip cook dough cheesecake bars)....

(this is the pan before baking, they were really-really-really good!)

This is the photo I saw on Pinterest...

Hiking the wilderness...

Painting signs daily....thank you all for the order!.....

Hope you are also enjoying your summer!

Hugs, Heidi

Love is sweet.... forever and ever....

2011-07-13T13:27:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness there must be a lot of sweet stuff happening at weddings these days. I continue to sell more "Love is Sweet" signs than any other sign currently. Some of the girls tell me they are buying it for their wedding reception candy bars. I have to admit, I wish I could follow along with the sign straight to the candy bar, I'm a candy lover.

Some of the brides are buying them for their cake tables, or cupcake tables. Some for other areas of their wedding.

Last week I painted a custom rustic "Love is Sweet" sign with the wedding date and last name. This is really getting fun now:

I just wish I had more hours in the day to paint all the wonderful ideas regarding "love is sweet". I do love to paint these custom signs!

Wedding and Pinwheels

2011-07-11T22:15:00.000-07:00

We had a great time at the lake over the long 4th of July weekend. I'll have to share pictures soon of the biggest trout I ever caught! We caught a lot of other trout, too, enough to freeze for meals later. That's a treat. The big plus was we had sun all 5 days!

The wedding I helped out with on Saturday turned out beautiful. It was park-like setting and a gorgeous day. The details I helped with were the pinwheels. We had pinwheels up and down the main isle the wedding party used. (There was an isle runner added after this photo.)

Then we placed various heights of pinwheels around the reception tables. We tried to set them up in groups of three, with the three main colors: pink, purple and orange.

The center pieces for the 20 tables were vases filled sand and then the pinwheels.

Just a few days before the wedding I said, "Let's make pinwheel straws for the kids to use!" Funny thing was, the adults were using them too, and at the end several kids came up to me asking for more pinwheel straws.

The friend who made the cake for the couple used more pinwheels we made as the cake decoration. It was really cute. The cake was yummy, too. I always taste wedding cakes!

I made a bunch of felt pinwheels for the flower girls and bridesmaids to wear in their hair. After making the pinwheel I just used the end of the thread to tie them on the clips. For extra security I added a dab or two of hot glue.

This was a colorful wedding and it was a treat to make the pinwheels.

I also made a few rustic signs which we staked out in front of the facility. The bride asked the date be painted on the back of "WEDDING", so that she could hang their names and the wedding date in their new apartment.

Blessings, Heidi

(linked to Between Naps on the Porch Met. Monday)

red white & blue

2011-06-29T16:53:00.000-07:00

How in the world can a month pass by so quickly? Where'd June go? Why can't JUNE be as long as January? Now it's almost JULY!

(from a project I made several years ago....it was a "bits and pieces" board)

It's time to celebrate our country! Happy Birthday America!!!!! All things red, white and blue! Our flag flies high and proud, we are a free country. Thank you to those who serve to keep our freedom.

Here's some clipart you can use in any projects. Just "Save as" on your computer:

We'll be spending time at the lake this weekend.

Can you relax? Can you eat fun foods? Can you just enjoy summer? Can you just read a book?
Yes, I can do all that!

Breakfast on the deck?

Fishing?

Fireworks over the lake, watching from a boat....so fun!....

Watching the ducks and sailboats go by....

Happy 4th of July!

Hugs, Heidi

Linked to "Red Wednesday" here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PS For more 4th of July inspiration (crafts, food, decorating and more) go to Pinterest.com and type 4th of July in the search bar. Oh, you'd better have some time on your hands, the picures are endles!

(july.tipjunkie.com via Pinterest)

Pinwheels (Pin Wheels) for a wedding!

2011-06-27T11:21:00.000-07:00

A sweet friend of ours is getting married in a couple weeks. Her wedding will be in a beautiful park setting. This sweet girl loves color and selected pinwheels as a way to bring color into her wedding. The challenge was to figure out how to make these colorful pinwheel in all sizes, and how to get them pinned onto dowels (or sticks).

I played around the ideas for a days. I tried pins, push-pins, tacks, nails and more, but just couldn't make them stick without the fear of them popping off in an outdoor setting. Then one morning as I was running the light bulb in my head went off. (It seems my best thoughts and ideas come when I'm on my run!) Use my nail gun!

I used the smallest finish nail my nail-gun would shoot. Then I stuck the dowel, or sticks (we're using both), on the crack of our deck boards, shooting the nail into the top, so that it goes through the other side, but doesn't actually get nailed to anything! Perfect. Now just make the paper pinwheels!

To make the paper pinwheels we used various sizes, 12" squares down to 4" squares. I fold them corner to corner, and open them back up. This gives me a line to use for my cutting. I cut down to about an inch or two from the center.

Then fold one of each tip into the center. Set this on top of the nail and push through. Now on the nail I put a pearl or bead, then take a pair of pliers and bend the nail back down onto the bead. This holds it all in place.

Because we used so many kinds of papers we often doubled up the thinner papers, which also gave contrasting colors and patterns. To make sure the papers didn't separate I just dabbed some glue on the corners of the papers. For the smaller ones we used straight pins, with white heads. Using a pliers I cut off the ends and curled them so a skewer stick could be used. Then a dab of hot glue to make sure they stay attached.

The bride will line the isle of the ceremony chairs with pinwheels. She'll also use them all around the reception. Then as centerpieces on the tables, we'll have vases filled with sand and 5 pinwheels in each vase. The pinwheels will be used on the cake and food tables, too. Should be colorful and fun!

Have a great day! Blessings, Heidi

(Linked to Between Nap's Metamorphosis Monday here,and Tip Junkie Homemade Projects Tuesday here.)

The Delightful, Cheerful and Talented Susan (s)

2011-06-15T16:50:00.000-07:00

Do you know Susan?

Yes, I have have five sisters and three sisters-in-law, and one of them is named Susan! Susan is the oldest of our siblings, the first child, the top of the totem pole, the one who probably changed more diapers then any of us put together! (We always helped my mom change diapers of whoever was younger than us!) When I was in junior high Susan went away to college. I didn't see her any less than I did when she was at home, as she was always in her room studying! LOL She was top of her high school class and top of her graduating college class. Talk about talent, my sister Sue (guess her name changed somewhere along the line) has more musical talent than I could ever dream of! Sue is now the MOB. Yes, the honored position called "The Mother of the Bride". And, if ever her smarty-pants needs to come in it has been for this wedding. Her daughter, the bride, is just finishing up a school year of teaching in Africa! So they have been planning and organizing the wedding long distance. They use emails and Skype and that's all, they haven't seen each other since Heather became engaged! My niece Heather, is going to be boarding a plane in just a couple days to fly back to the states.

(photo taken at a distance by a close friend)

Her wedding date is July 29, so she'll have just weeks to prepare in person. Just one favor, could you please pray for Heather and her groom, Mr. Q., that all goes well in travels? Oh, to make the love story even sweeter, Mr. Q. proposed to Heather in Africa! Whew, they'll have a story to tell their children!

Next up on our Susan list is Susan Branch. Guess who has a new blog? Guess whose book you can win? Guess which artist I've loved, admired and been cheered by for many, many years? Yes, Susan Branch. I have several of her books, and her wall calendar hangs beautifully in my kitchen. So cheery! I once wrote to Susan and asked her to write a "Spring" season book. She was missing that season in her line up. I didn't hear back from her, she's so busy drawing and all, but if she comes out with a "Spring Book", you can thank me! ;)

You can shop her store for her wonderful, cheerful and art-filled books here. I think "Girlfriends Forever" is my favorite!

(all the Susan Branch images used on this post are via SusanBranch.com)

Be sure to check out her Recipes page on her website, too!

I love my sister, Susan! And I adore Susan Branch's artwork! How's that for a Wednesday double love?

Hugs, Heidi

Scrapwood Bench

2011-06-13T10:51:00.000-07:00

A scrap-wood bench....I have many in our home! If I ask Mark to make anything, he will---I just need to draw out what I want, or give him an "inspiration" picture. The picture below is about 3 years old, but it's the only one I could find quickly of the bench without spending hours on my computer searching! (NOTE TO SELF: Please try harder to tag your photos!!! This makes it so much easier when looking for a particular photo!)

(This was in 2008-my mother meeting my granddaughter, Ellie,

her great-granddaughter for the first time!)

What I really wanted in this bench was a sort of scalloped bench "skirt". I love how Mark made it. I painted it antique white, then simply wiped a blue shade of paint on all the edges. Although this is a bench, I'm always used it for books. Right now it's in our guest room with my Bible study books. It gets moved around our home once or twice a year.

(John Mark was so little...and so blond!)

We bought (cheap) a bundle of scrapwood from a little sawmill down the road. I've got so many ideas of things to make with this wood. I've made totes and my rustic signs already, but have more things planned. I never turn down wood!

Then of course I'll mention our headboard benches now. We've made at least five of these, using the headboard and footboard (cut in half) of old twin beds. This is the only picture I could find quickly, agian without a full-scale computer search! I have one bench that I always use to when I photograph signs I've made.

Here's one of our outdoor benches, (photo from last year). We didn't make this one! It's made of redwood and is about 13 years old. The children love to play on it.

(from 2010)

Have a wonderful and day, even if it's raining as it is here!

Blessings, Heidi

Linked to Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphis Monday here.

Pinterest: Better than Flickr, or a magazine or Google image search!

2011-06-09T14:36:00.000-07:00

My Pinterest page...

I had read about this a while back, but yesterday I jumped in and joined thanks to Between Naps on the Porch's personal invitation....I joined and I'm hooked! It took me a little bit to figure the whole thing out, but I'm slowly getting there!

For an image-graphic-picture-thinking sort of girl like me, (I think I am even a image-hoarder) this site fits me to a "t"! Now, instead of saving anything I find online to my "favorites", OR even worse yet, printing out pictures using all my printer ink, I can just click "PinIt" to pin to one my Pinterest boards. I tell you....you can find some fun photos here...

(from Pinterest)

Oh, another bonus is by using this site, I don't have to feel so guilty for being so inspired by all the creative people out there! You can pin any photo, image, graphic, etc., from any website. This is as good as the invention of sliced bread. Almost. My daily breakfast is one slice of bread and enough butter to know it's real butter....which led me to laugh at this one (orignally from Etsy):

(from Pinterest)

So, if you want to join, and be a follower of me (you don't have to), just give me your email address on a comment here, and I'll "invite" you to join. If you want to go through the Pinterest site and ask to join I hear it takes a little longer. Also, please let me know if you're already there, then we can follow each other!

(from Pinterest)

Let's see, now I'll make a board for our two daughters; "Ideas to show Melissa", "Stuff to show Jessica"...oh I love this site! (Both empty, for now....watch how fast I can fill them up!)

This is my first pin for Melissa:

(from Pinterest)

This is my first pin for Jessica:

(from Pinterest)

Okay, now, are you in for it or what?
~Heidi

Sisters and Friends

2011-06-07T12:23:00.000-07:00

" A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost. "

(six sisters=six friends)

"Help one another, is part of the religion of sisterhood."

~Louisa May Alcott

(six sisters=six friends)

(I saved a few of these vintage photos but didn't note where they came from.

I think on Flickr...if they belong to you, let me know and I'll give credit due!)

"A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life."

(My five sisters and me....I'm second from the left.)

"Children of the same family, the same blood, with the same first associations and habits, have some means of enjoyment in their power, which no subsequent connections can supply..." ~Jane Austen

(My precious Mother and all her girls...my sisters and sisters-in-law,

and Claira!.)

"Sisters function as safety nets in a chaotic world simply by being there for each other."

(I was so blessed to be asked to paint this sign for one of my

Etsy buyers. I will now offer this in my shop!)

I was blessed to be born in a large family, with five sisters and three brothers, there were nine children. We moved quite a bit while growing up, but no matter where we lived on the West Coast, I my friends always moved with me! Then when my brothers got married, one by one, three more precious and special sisters were added to my life. In addition to my family, I count so many other girls/ladies as my "sisters", my "sisters in Christ". You know who you are, right? I love you all!

A friend can be a "sista", too, you know!

Blessings, and hug a sister today! ~Heidi

Some of the quotes I used came from The Quote Garden.

Linked to "Get Your Craft on Tuesday" here.

Oh Ya Oh Ya!

2011-06-03T11:26:00.000-07:00

Oh ya, oh ya.....

Ellie and I giggling together....the sound of heaven on earth!

It's Friday and the SUN made it's appearance...finally! Lots to do around here-gardening, painting, wedding preparations (for a couple weddings I'm helping with) and family to love on. Maybe the grand-kids will come by today, we'll see if they surprise us!

Monday, May 30, was me and Mark's 30th wedding anniversary. And it was Memorial Day, too! We spent a few days up at our little cabin on the lake. Mark caught a huge trout and a huge bass, as well as regular sized trout. Can you say fish for breakfast? And lunch? ...and dinner? Good think I like fish! Oh, and have you tried fish tacos yet? So good, too.

So, I'll show a few pictures from the lake now...

One of the little signs I painted for our cabin years ago:

I want to start painting custom cabin signs now! Our little cabin sits on a small cove, so as I was trying to come up with a name to name our cabin I decided to use the word cove. The sign I'm painting for our cabin will read, "Sweet Woodruff Cove Cabin". Or something like that!

Summer is the most popular time for weddings, and boy have I been painting a lot of wedding signs lately! The most popular sign is the "Love is Sweet" sign. This is being used for reception candy bar, or candy buffets, as well as on cake tables. Wish I could sample all that sweet stuff!

Have a blessed weekend! ~Heidi

(Linked to Cindy's Romantic Home Show and Tell Friday here.)

White Chocolate Weddings ~~ Oh, sweet love!

2011-05-25T09:52:00.000-07:00

Today I'm participating in Faded Charm's White Wednesday!

So....moving right along.... Weddings! There's several special weddings written on our calendar this summer. One of them, my niece, will have a reception filled with Sweets. Yes, Desserts with a capital "D"! Won't a ddessert rreception just be perfect?

So...lucky Mark and everyone who comes near....I am experimenting with sweet desserts! One of my first experiments I made was White Chocolate Cream Puffs. I just made a batch of cream puffs (easy to make, they are in every cookbook, or look on All Recipes), then made a box of instant white chocolate pudding (yes, they make that now!), and topped them off with melted white chocolate chips. They were so yummy!

But I didn't like how heavy the pudding felt, and the white chocolate on the top became hard, and yummy as they tasted, I didn't like how the combined effect. I'll experiment with a white chocolate mouse type filling, then maybe even leave off the topping. What do you think?

All this white chocolate reminds me of the cake that our friend made for Jessica's wedding. I have a picture of this on my refrigerator. I don't think a day goes by that I don't dream of that delicious cake.

Gorgeous, too! Jessica had found a photo of this cake online (don't remember where) and gave the photo to our friend to make. The cake was a gift, and oh what a gift Jessica and Craig received!

The pieces all around the perimeter of the cakes was rolled and cut white chocolate. I can't even imagine how many hours she spent working on this gorgeous cake. There were three different flavors, but the piece I had was white chocolate---ah----TDF!!!! (to-die-for).

Here's one of the pictures of the cake from our photographer:

Speaking of weddings, this was my favorite wedding picture of Craig and Jessica, in black and WHITE:

...can't stop there....here's a few more favorites of mine...

Thanks for visiting today! Blessings, Heidi

Linked to Cinday's Show & Tell Friday here.

Tool Box * Tote Box * Carpenter Box * Tulle Box * Tool Box Wedding Card Tote

2011-05-17T16:27:00.000-07:00

(made from driftwood from our beach!)

I don't care what people call these, but I call them a "tote". For years I have purchased every old tote I could find at garage sales. Hint: These are usually found in the garage, with rusty and junky "man" stuff! I bring the home and paint them white and store all my "girl" stuff in them, such as tulle, tags and trims!

(my tulle tote)

Mark and I made a bunch of these to sell at the Home Based Business Fair, where I primarily sold my hand painted custom signs. I had a couple left over and when my daughter's friend needed some sort of "box" for her wedding for cards I knew the RUSTIC tote I made would be perfect.

(One of the totes I was selling at the Fair;

this was after a long day, I was about to tear down)

Back to the sewing room....

(tote for glues on back of sewing table)

On all the totes I made for the Fair I painted a strip of chalkboard paint on the front, and included some chalk for the buyers. For the rustic wedding tote I'm giving to the bride she can hand write whatever she wishes, "Cards", "Best Wishes for the Mr. and Mrs.", "Love Notes",etc. It will be a lovely addition to her rustic style wedding.

Then just today I saw on Funky Junk Interior's blog a post about making totes! So guess what? Now I don't have to show and tell you how I make totes! Funky Junk has a guest poster, Julie from "Follow Your Heart Woodworking", who tells how to make the tool boxes (totes--whatever!) Her method is pretty much the same as mine! The only thing is I'm pretty lazy in the shop, taking short-cuts when I can, so I use a nail gun with small sized nails to speed up the process. Also, I use wood glue when I put them together, before nailing.

But check it out here, "Let's build a tool box!". Or, if you wait long enough, someday I may add totes (tool boxes) to my Etsy store!

Happy building!
~Heidi

Always showing and telling over at Cindy's "MY ROMANTIC HOME Friday Show & Tell. If you have a couple DAYS go check out all the wonderful links!

Linked to Common Ground's Summer Blog Block PARTY!

Birthday Issue

2011-05-11T07:54:00.000-07:00

Hurry now....jump on over to Amy Power's blog to sign up for the next issue of "Inspired Ideas". This wonderful "Birthday" issue will go live late this afternoon! Amy and her girls have worked their candles off getting this issue together!

I'm exited to have something in this issue as well. Here's a sneak peak at my project:

More soon! Hugs, Heidi

(Linked to Cindy's "Romantic Show & Tell Friday" here.)

May I show you a few pictures?

2011-05-04T15:01:00.000-07:00

May I? After all it's already May! It's a been a while since I've posted so I'll just play catch up today. My nephew's wedding was fabulous. It was really a weekend-long celebration. We caravaned down in trucks, vans, and cars, helping to make the long (10 hour) drive fun for the grandkids. I had a number of surprises for the kids, and every hour or so (when they were in our truck) I'd try to pull out something new.

But you can't keep a princess from her sleep...

The wedding candy bar that my neice and sister set up was a hit, as any candy bar will be. I painted the signs to match the wedding invitation colors. ("Love is Sweet" has been selling fast in my Etsy store!).

Young and old alike enjoyed selecting their favorite candy:

Last Saturday I had a table at our local Home Based Business Fair. What a blast to meet so many people and be able to show my hand-painted signs in person! A lot of people asked me if I stenciled the signs--no! I hand-paint each and every letter! I also had made up some wood totes (carpenter totes, garden totes) to fill with things for Mother's Day or Father's Day. I had painted a strip of chalkboard paint on the side, and included chalk. I even sold some of my dress pattern kits, altered nest spoons and clothespins, as well as sets of Brown Paper Bag Scrapbooks. I also took orders for custom family signs and other custom signs.

I finished the Passion Week booklet-study guides and gave them out to a lot of ladies (about 45). I shared the study with our Ladies Bible study, as well as gave them to my family and even mailed a few out. It was a study of Jesus' final week before dying on the cross and was ressurected from the dead (Easter Sunday). It was encouraging to see so many ladies really get into the Bible that week and become passionate about Jesus' final days. They learned so much, we shared and encouraged each other and were all affected in so many ways. I really would like to offer it as a download, so let me know if you have any interest. After I printed them out (4 small pages per page) I could them down and secured the pages together with binder rings. I may offer it as a (free) download on Issuu.com or Mediafire.com, if I can get one of those to work for me.

Speaking of Issuu, Amy Power's previous issues of "Inspired Ideas", such as the Christmas issue, are still available to view for free. Check her blog to purchase the "Spring Inspired" issue ($3.30). So many of the projects can be used other times of the year as well. Soon, though, Amy will be releasing her lasteest issue. I can't wait, I'll let you know when it's out!

Mother's Day is Sunday, whoo-hoo! That means breakfast in bed for me (my Mark is the best!). Just today I saw on the blog, One Pretty Thing, a wonderful collection of Mother's Day ideas. They are good for adults and children, go look and get ideas now. I love that blog. Here's a card she gives us link for:

On to more sign painting now. I hope by now you are getting a little more sunshine daily!

Blessings, Heidi

{{Linked to: "Whatever Goes Wednesday #64 at Someday Crafts

and "What I Whipped Up Wednesday at Sugar and Dots.}}

Love is Sweet

2011-04-08T12:21:00.000-07:00

So much going on here, but through it all we are still looking for spring! We've had another cold spell, I even saw snow at 7 AM yesterday. Though the ground is soaking wet, too wet yet to even begin pulling weeds, the grass is so green! I am optimistic that we'll see some spring temperatures this week, as I'd sure love to be outside working in the gardens a little.

Here's John Mark looking for Spring (wearing my Mark's hat):

My friend Christina, who is ubber talented, coordinated a Home Based Business Fair (North Bend, April 30) and I will have a table there. I'll be showing and selling my signs and various other craft items for sale. That is if I can get a supply made up in time! I painted a few new ones this last week:

{{Love is Sweet, sign. 24 inches long.}}

{{Home Sweet Home sign, 24 inches long}}

{{Yes, yet another "Sweet Dreams" sign! 24 inches long}}

{{Love is Sweet, sign.

Many people are using these for wedding Candy Bar signs!

This one is 16 inches long.}}

Another big project I've been working on is a Passion Week Bible Study booklet for the ladies in my Bible study group. I started out with a week long Bible study for Passion week, for the ladies to "find" where Jesus was each day on His last week on earth before dying on the cross. I did this study on my own last year, but this year I wrote it all out in a booklet form to share. I am very excited about this booklet and am hoping it helps the ladies develop a fierce passion for getting closer to Jesus!

Finally, next weekend is our nephew's wedding! So we'll all be in a caravan traveling down to California for the wedding and celebrations! Jessica will be joining us in the long drive down, so it will be fun to spend some time with her (Craig, sadly, has to work).

Easter is just a few weeks away and although I don't put a lot of decorations up, I do always do some. So far...unless you count the Beanie Baby chick-in-an-egg set out. We've had the grand- kids over a number of days too, and I will always set everything aside to play with them! Here's a few recent pictures of them.
So you can see why I haven't been able to post lately. But thank you for visiting and I always appreciate your comments!

{{Playing on the kids' table with some homemade playdough.

This batch was a little dry, but as long it was blue they were happy!

Ellie sings and talks...non-stop!

These kids are sweet! Love is sweet!}}

{{Baby Claira. She is sweet! Love is sweet!}}

Blessings! ~Heidi

(linked to Cindy's My Romantic Home Show & Tell Friday here;
and linked to Women Living Well Wednesday Linky set. )

Making Birthdays Happen

2011-03-28T11:37:00.000-07:00

signThe first thing is this: Birthdays happen! Birthdays will come and go...yearly, whether we want them or not!

Birthdays happen!

(me on my birthday last year!)

Let's kick up our heels and make them happen with happiness. With style. With fun. With a bang! It takes just a little planning to help someone celebrate their own special day, but it will be remembered always! Do it! Even if it's just sending a card or making a phone call! It's still March and we born in March need to support each other. It's still feeling like a wet winter month here on the Oregon coast, and I know many others in the country are also feeling winter may not ever end. But a March birthday brings reason to make a party out of winter. My birthday was March 2, and I think I've been celebrating the whole month so far. I have other family members with March birthdays, too. My oldest sister, Sue, celebrated her birthday Friday. And our oldest grandchild, John Mark turned 5 last week.

I made up some party favor bags for the kids that included a set of water-color paints. The kids used those right at the pizza parlor! We all helped John Mark celebrate at a local pizza parlor on Saturday night. It was so much fun! He wanted a Thomas the Train party so Melissa made Thomas the Train cake! It was cute, and very yummy (homemade cake always is!).

After researching online the best toy for a 5 year old boy we ordered the "Stomp Rocket Junior Kit" (glows in the dark).

Afterr he opened it we tried it out right there in the pizza parlor. This was an immediate hit with the kids, I highly recommend it! Did I mention that parlor was wild and super busy that night? There were several other birthdays going on and our table was close to the door. Every time someone walked in with a present John Mark thought they were bringing them for him! It was cute!

A week ago Monday was sweet Amy Power's birthday! Her blog, InspireCo is the very first blog I ever read! And what an uncoming online publication do you think she's about to publish? Yes, birthday issue! Can't wait for the day she announces it's ready for viewing!

I think I'm about finished painting signs for Jessica's friend's wedding, this is the final "Thank You" sign:

I've run out of pre-painted old blue barn boards! Does anyone near me have any old boards like that--I'll take them off your hands, pick them up, too! Thanks!

Have a beautiful SPRING day! ~Heidi

(Linked to Between Naps on the Porch's Metamorphosis Monday)

Seeing Red ~ Redensday

2011-03-24T11:10:00.000-07:00

Today I'm venturing out in our truck, with the trailer attached. On that trailer is our 4-wheeler. This is going to be a first for me, I've never driven the truck with the trailer attached....by myself! I need to take the ATV to the shop, the clutch needs some fixing! This ATV is used almost daily here.

In the picture there is a RED ice chest which usually holds....nope, not food, but my tools! (Mole trapping stuff, cutters, my chainsaw oil, etc.) During the recent storms we actually had two big trees blow down. We had barely cleaned up the first one, when the second, even larger, went down across one of our creeks. If you've ever cleared a down tree on a creek you now what I'm talking about when I say: this is hard work!

Anyway, we need the ATV to pull the branches and logs out. So off to the repair shop I go, hoping to only drive straight (no backups, or weird turns)...wish me luck!

Red-venture? Adventure? It's all fun....it's a wonderful life, rain or shine!

Blessings, Heidi

LINKED to Rednesday at "It's a Cherry World"

Doggie Chips and Salsa

2011-03-20T17:28:00.000-07:00

This is Project Number 5 in my "Scottie Dog Cookie Cutter" series. I'm using my cute little vintage Scottie Dog cookie cutter because he's just so dog-gone cute. But you can use your favorite cookie cutter, or a variety of cutters for any of my projects.

Scottie Dog Baked Corn Chips

I love chips and salsa but often run out of chips before salsa. So I decided to make a batch of my own. Luckily we usually buy the large quantity of corn tortillas, so I had those on hand.

Just cut out as many chips as you'd like to eat:

Experiment some by cutting a stack at once, trimming around your cookie cutter to cut a large batch at once.

Coat with a little olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 375 degrees for about 5 minutes. Turn them over and bake an additional 3 minutes or until crunchy just the way you like them.

Serve on a vintage glass snack {dessert} plate, adding a good heaping of guacamole sauce and your favorite salsa.

A fun and yummy snack, kids and adults both will enjoy!

Happy Spring!

~Heidi

(Linked to Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday here, and

Cindy's Friday Show & Tell here, and Niffy Thrifty Things Sunday #28 here.)

Sweet Dreams

2011-03-18T16:36:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had a nightmare that is vivid and seems real? The next morning you wake up and remember the colors, the sights, the sounds, the smells, the horror? The people in my dream were sort of mixed up, but I sure didn't like what happened! (It was an accident.) I usually attribute wild dreams to having eaten spicy food! I'm not sure if that's true for all people, but it's true for me. I think before I go to bed I need to read from my Bible...

"...He gives His beloved sleep..." Psalm 127:2

And then talk to the Shepherd before falling asleep! He is going to be up all night anyway. One of my favorite books is "God Works the Night Shift", by Ron Mehl.

Here's a sign I painted a couple years ago, "Sweet Dreams". I made it to go with a pretty soft baby blanket as a baby shower gift:

The recent tragedies in Japan and the people there weigh heavy on my mind. First a outrageous earthquake, then the tsunami, and now the nuclear plant meltdown. Mark and I are praying for the people in Japan.

In the wee hours of the morning (one week ago) the tsunami actually affected our coastal area as well. The tsunami warning sirens rang up and down the coast here in Oregon and the west coast. The great distance the tsunami traveled dispersed the waters enough that the damage here was minimal. But the scare was not minimal for many people living on the low lands near the ocean. They were all told to "move to higher ground". Many didn't sleep at all.

(I took this photo)

(I took this photo, it's hard to see but it says, "TSUNAMI WARNING")

Knowing God is still in control gives me comfort, and I should sleep in peace.

Sweet dreams, my friends, sweet dreams....

~Heidi

(Linked to Romantic Home's Show & Tell Friday)

3:16 is as easy as 1-2-3

2011-03-16T12:17:00.000-07:00

It's as easy as 1-2-3...

Let's mix up some similar numbers now....

The bug-chewed daffodils remind me of myself: imperfect. Yet, Jesus, who was the Perfect Lamb, died on the cross for me. His death, burial and resurrection (on Easter) and my acceptance to Him is the reason I have hope. Hope, as in a sure thing. Not, "I hope this chair doesn't break!"

The "hope" I'm talking about is this: "Hope= The absolute expectation of coming good!" That coming good is eternity with Christ Jesus! He made my bug-chewed life like new again!

This is clearly spelled out as today's date! 3:16

"For God so loved the world {you} that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16

Pretty simple to understand, right? Questions? Ask me! Or find your Bible and go to this verse and keep reading!

Here's a sign I recently painted:

If you die today, or tomorrow....do you know where you will spend eternity?

You have two choices, heaven or hell. By not choosing heaven, you've made your decision for hell.

Come to Jesus today!

~Heidi

Souvenier Spring 2011 FREE Online Publication by Heather Bullard

2011-03-10T20:52:00.000-08:00

A wonderful new online publication was just "published" yesterday! It's called "Souvenir" and is put out by the talented Heather Bullard. It is a seasonal lifestyle gazette loaded with outoutanding photography, arts, crafts, a recipe and so much more. You will love this, I am sure of that. Sign up here, and it will be delivered to your email address. I'm loving every pager, with many of our favorite blog friends included!

I've been working on a number of projects. My birthday (yes, I continue to draw out the celebrating!) and birthdays in general are at the top of the list. There sure are a lot of spring birthdays.
Birthdays: a good thing!

When I begin working on a project I love to just start piling up items to use...

I love to buy inexpensive bags of costume jewelry at our yearly flea market. Yes, we only have one flea market a year here! So I really appreciate birthday gifts like one I got, the magazine "Flea Market Style".

Just one more thing....the daffodils are blooming here!

Have a blessed weekend!

Heidi

(linked to Cindy's My Romantic Home's "Show and Tell Friday")

C-ing things: Claira, Cranberry COOKIES, Cheeseburgers & Chalkboards

2011-03-08T12:48:00.000-08:00

In my cake picture (in my last post) I see my photograph of Ellie, Claira and I was when Claira was in the middle of a outfit change! I wanted you to see her in her pretty party clothes. Here she is (held by Jessica):

Notice the cookies she's reaching for, which we didn't let her have! These are such yummy cookies, I'll share my recipe with you. When I made these, or regular chocolate chip cookies, I can't eat more than 3 even if I want to. If I do, I wake up with a bad headache, from the sugar I guess. Does that happen to any of you?

Here's the recipe:

Heidi’s Cranberry Oatmeal White Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup butter -- softened
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs -- beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups quick cooking oat meal
1 cup craisins
1 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375°. Blend together butter, sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Mix in 2 beaten eggs. Gradually add all remaining ingredients. Drop by rounded teaspoon 2" apart on to ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Makes about 5 dozen cookies.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our two girls planned the party, Melissa was in charge of grilling the cheeseburgers:
They were so good, in fact, so good I ate two! And I never eat more than one! Jessica made sweet potato oven french fries, and there was a macaroni salad. (Check out Allrecipes.com for sweet potato french fries.)

A few more things to say about chalkboards: Did you know you can make your own chalkboard paint? Neither did I until recently. One of my daily stops if CresendoH, and today one of the blogs Jenny Doh pointed out was The Idea Room Blog, which pointed me to Martha Stewarts craft website which told how to make homemade chalkboard paint! (Did you follow all that?)

Looks simple to me, watch for what I come up with! You know I love painting chalkboards, walls, tables, frames, menu boards, and anything that doesn't move! Here's a set I hung on our guest room wall:

(Still one more to add, I like sets of 3 or 5 better!)

Blessings, Heidi

(Linked to Today's Creative Blog's "Get Your Craft On", Sugar & Dot's "What I Whipped Up Wednesday, and Someday Craf's Whatever Goes Wednesday",

Sew Somerset Tweet Birthday Card

2011-03-07T17:05:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'll confess....I am a year older than when I last posted. Yes, I had a birthday. But, oh, was it a fantastic birthday, as it fell on a Wednesday. You do know the rule for a Wednesday birthday, right? It means celebrating both the weekend before and the weekend after, as well as the week of the birthday. That's exactly what I did. Loads of fun, lots of ice cream, Boston cream pie, ice cream cake, a wonderful White Chocolate cake (homemade by our daughter Jessica), and top all that off with more Rocky Road ice cream. Melissa cooked cheeseburgers for everyone, and I even ate two! (She made them taste so good!)Now I remember why I do, in fact, love birthdays. They make me feel special, no matter what the age, as if I were a little girl again.

One of the birthday gifts I received was the "Sew Somerset" pulication. It's "the art of creative sewing with mixed-media". (Any Somerset publication is always on my wish list!) I was inspired by the "Beloved Birds" project made by Colette Copland ( A Bird in Hand blog). I used her bird idea for birthday cards....

Here's a sweet little sign I painted for a special friend of mine...

My friend loves being a grandmother as much as I do! There's a special sort of love you feel in your heart for grandchildren. I'm so thankful for the joy our grandchildren bring....and plenty of laughter too!

(Linked to Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday.)

Blessings! Heidi

Chalkboard Friday!

2011-02-25T13:00:00.000-08:00

(Old photo from my files. I painted chalkboards out of old picture frames

for our grandchildren. They still love drawing on these!)

Please tell me you've painted with chalkboard paint as least one ti
me! If not, go buy a small can (not spray) and give it a try. Before long you'll be painting walls! Think of a section of wall in your child's room, then tape it off and paint it with chalkboard paint. You should paint on at least 2 coats, letting each coat dry completely before you add the next. Look for colorful chalk for your child to use. I think YOU will be the one writing and drawing art on the chalkboard.

For Jessica's wedding I painted one inside wall of the little barn that we used for the candy bar and gift table area. I loved this wall at the end of the night, so many sweet things were written, some funny things too!

(...how about the "tuck each other in at night"...so sweet!)

Most of this is still on the wall, after 5 months!

(Nathan and Thuy are getting married this April!)

Painting with chalkboard paint is one of my most favorite activities. How about you?

You can check out more fun things on Cindy's My Romantic Home Show & Tell Friday linky party!
And Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday!

Have a beautiful weekend! Blessings, Heidi

Seeing Red

2011-02-24T15:20:00.000-08:00

I've seen Joyce, Mimi and others often participate in REDNESDAY in the past, but today I went to check it out for myself. Sue of "It's a Very Cherry World" gives readers a chance to show off their red on Wednesdays, or "Rednesday" as she calls it. There's a long linky list to explore, go have some fun today!

My RED is Ellie's baby shoe. Ellie is one of our two granddaughters, in case you didn't know!

This has always been one of my favorite photographs because of the contrast of Ellie's bootie and Melissa's ragged but fashionable jeans!

In my craft studio today my red Annie doll pointed some red out as well:

What I've done (and you can too) is try to reuse ceral boxes for labels. I took a label enlarged and reduced to several sizes, then traced on cardboard (ceral box) to keep around for patterns. It's fun to cut them out of various papers!

(These labels are perfect for mailing labels, scrapbooking, journaling and many other crafts!)

Okay, I did see a little red today....when I found I had three large lacquer spots on a sign I had just finished painting! Grr.... The only thing I can do is repaint the entire sign, at least an hour of work and a wasted sign!

But other than seeing RED today we've also seen WHITE, as in snow!

Blessings! Heidi

Candy Bar Sign ~ Sweet Custom Wedding Signs

2011-02-23T14:36:00.000-08:00

Wedding receptions are so much fun for a bride (and groom) to plan. Lately candy bars have become popular, and no wonder as who could resist filling a bag of candy for a favor? I painted a candy bar sign for Jessica and Craig's candy bar in her "little barn". All the signs I painted for their wedding were on old blue barn boards. I told her that took care of the old saying, "Something old, something new, something borrowed and somethign blue!" Jessica's friend is getting married and asked for a set of signs, also rustic. So I used the same blue barn boards.

My nephew is getting married and they will have a candy bar, too! I'll paint a sign for them that also reads, "Love is Sweet". But I'll do it on a different background color as well as letter coloring. I can paint in any color in any font! All of this is because two people fell in love!

Do you have any good ideas for wedding signs for me to paint?

Have a happy and warm day!

Blessings, Heidi

Wheat Thins to Chipboard: Stamping Cardboard

2011-02-16T17:09:00.000-08:00

How: Eat a box of Wheat Thins, dipping each one into straight-up-cream-cheese. Wash down with "Pom" juice, pomegranate juice (counters for all the cream cheese!). Open up the box and start cutting shapes. (You know I'm kidding, right?)

This is Project Number 4:
Stamping Card Stock with Metal Alphabet Stamps

When I asked for, and received, the metal alphabet stamp set for Christmas my intention was to use it on metal, such as vintage silverware. I was inspired to try this method by Melody Ross in her video for our Brave Girls "Soul Restoration" online class. Yes, I'm a Brave Girl and I belong to the Brave Girl's Club. Don't you just love that? We are in week six, the final week, and this was included in one of her final art techniques videos. By the way, she will have a second online Soul Restoration class beginning soon; you can sign up on her website. So in her video she used her brand of metal stamps, both artistic designs and alphabet sets. As much as I'd love to go out and purchase her brand, I decided to try using what I already own. Oh am I thankful for this metal set I received from Mark. It works perfect. I don't have any card stock, so I just used cardboard packaging from kitchen foods. I've been saving every package now! I have to be careful no one sees my stash and thinks I'm turning into a hoarder!

I used my precious and favorite cookie cutter, my Scottie Dog. I traced it on cardboard, cut it out and then lightly wet it down. Confession about my dampening down process: I was drinking a mug of Stash Chocolate Hazelnut Decaf Tea (Jessica gave me---it's so good!), and had the wet tea bag nearby. I just used that to wipe down the cardboard to dampen.

I made a whole table full of these cutouts, but these are the only photos I have.

The quote on the one dog says, "MY LITTLE DOG IS A HEARTBEAT AT MY FEET" The other dog pictured reads, "I AM A BRAVEGIRL". The flower reads, "WHERE FLOWERS BLOOM SO DOES HOPE". On the small scrap pieces I just stamped various words, such as BRAVE, LIGHT, COURAGE, JOY, FLY, PEACE, LOVE, SOUL HOUSE, QUEEN, etc. Stamping just one word was easier. Next I just inked up the edges.

News flash: ***it's snowing outside right now***

The pictures don't quite capture these as well as I had hoped, but they do turn out really cool! You can go on eBay or Stampington to search for Melody Ross's products. You'll see her sets right away.

Let me know if you try this technique, or if you have any other fun metal stamping suggestions.

Blessings, Heidi

(Linked to Between Naps on the Porch Metmorphois Monday here...lots more to see, too!)

Simple and Pretty Spoon Egg Holder (from "Just Something I Made" blog)

2011-02-15T13:32:00.000-08:00

Spoons....so smooth, make the sugar slide right down...always on the lookout for altered spoon inspirations...

Oh my goodness! I just found a wonderful Easter craft! Or can you see cute little chocolate eggs on these for your Easter center piece? It could be used any time of the year, too, to hold deviled eggs, etc. Once I start collecting things for a particular project it seems I never stop collecting! Such is the case with my vintage spoons. The older and more worn the better. So I'm always on the lookout for altered spoon projects. I will be making this project soon.

Today I found what may be the PERFECT altered spoon project. (Okay, second to my altered spoon refrigerator magnet!). Cathe, of "Just Something I Made" posted this on February 5, and it only took me ten days to find it! Check it out on her blog here: "Simple and Pretty Spoon Egg Holder"

(photo coutesy of Just Something I Made)

(photo courtesy of Just Something I Made)

Now, rush over to Cathe's website and read more about this WONDERFUL craft! And, while you are there check out everything else she's made. You will be inspired.

Hugs, Heidi

Precious hands...precious lambs

2011-02-13T13:27:00.000-08:00

Recently our grand-kids spent a day here, and what a full day we had!

We shopped at a thrift store for a few toys, went to the library, made lunch, read books, watched a few "Magic School Bus" videos (they loved!), played cars and trucks and so much more....

I wanted to draw some hands, holding hands, children's hands and more. Little Ellie let me use her hands. We traced her hands using a red crayon. Then I turned the photo into a cartoon...

After asking on my last post about other icons that say "love" one of my sisters gave me the idea of hands, or holding hands. I love that idea! I thought I could get Ellie and John Mark to hold hands, work with that somehow, taking a photo, or drawing But John Mark wasn't into my craft session, it was Ellie who continued to "play crafts" with me....

I folded a large sized brown paper bag several times, then traced Ellie's hands This way I had plenty of her hands to work with quickly!

Then I took them outside for a walk. We live on five acres so there's always plenty to explore. The neighbors on one side have new lambs so we headed that direction first.

It was a challenge for me to get two children and a couple lambs in the same photo!

Little lamb...so precious!

Ellie talked so sweetly to these little lambs.

One of these came up and let the kids pet them, nuzzling on their hands!

To our back pasture next....we found the tree stump with awesome display of mushrooms...

John Mark inspecting a little pile of firewood I made.

Ellie inspecing my mole trap

(I am very careful with the kids and my mole traps!)

The kids inspecting a piece of the neighbor's rusted farm equipment

Heading back up to the house

Checking out a whimsical garden stake Mark had made years ago

Back inside and time to make some puffy sugar cookies!

Cookies always look best on a pretty platter...

Always cookies...

Blessings, Heidi

Keeping it Moving....

2011-02-09T10:45:00.000-08:00

Moving right along.....
I wanted to share a few links, projects, comments, love and more today!

First is my friend Amy Power's latest "Inspired" magazine!

This is available only online, and though it has been free up to this point, she is now charging a tiny fee of $3.30 per issue. Go to Amy's blog, Inspireco, to get the details on where and how to get this issue. Again, I just love this online publication! (See my side bar for the Christmas 2010 issue, which included an article I wrote.) Amy sent out a challenge to make a cuff bracelet from cast-off shirts, which she's included in the Spring issue. Today she even has a drawing for one on her blog!

Here's the one I made after being inspired by the Spring Issue!

I first had to find a shirt Mark might not want to wear anymore (lucky guess-hope I'm right!) I cut off one cuff, left the other on just in case (LOL)...

The cuff was way too big and way too wide for my little wrist. So I cut it down in length and width, then sewed on a newer, bigger button, making the button hole wider, too. Thinking of Valentine's Day, I poured out some buttons for more embellishments. (I was so impressed last night when Mark told me when Valentine's Day is....Monday! Usually it's the other way around!)

In my white buttons I found a little Scottie Dog button, which I used by cutting off the shank on the back. I used a strip of my red statin pleated May Ribbon, sewing it down the center. I used three of my favorite words, which I had printed on muslin, and sewed them on with my sewing machine. In fact, everything I sewed I did by using my sewing machine (fast craft that way!). I even sewed on the Scottie Dog!

I ripped and gathered some contrasting red cotton fabric to spill out the sides. Then I placed the words so that I could read them easily, like reading a watch! I'm happy with my cuff bracelet!

(I stitched everything on the sewing machine on this one.)

Several years ago I was able to attend Teresa McFayden's Silver Bella. One of my classes was taught by Rebecca Sower and was on stitching and making a cuff bracelet. I enjoyed that class so much. Here is the cuff I made there:

(I stitched everything by hand on this one.)

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Next up... Melissa Runcie (Modabela blog) is on week two of her 4-week online devotional called "Planted". Last week (week 1) was "Sowing Seeds". This week is title "Firmly Planted". Melissa brings out new truths from these familiar Bible passages. Melissa has a down loadable study guide, beautiful inspiring background screens for your desktop, and offers an online discussion. Check it out, and join in!

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Using Christmas ideas for Valentine's Day!

(photo from Heidi's blog)

I've been meaning the share this blog post about the aricle I wrote in the Christmas Inpsired issue. Heidi, Vacuuming in High Heels & Pearls, wrote about how she used my methods and ideas about cookie cutters to make sparkly Christmas tree ornaments. I still have about 27 more Scottie Dog Cookie Cutter Projects to finish up, and this was one of them. You can still open up the Christmas issue, use the ideas for other holidays!

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Just a question for some of you out there. How do you manage to keep your blog post short? Once I start writing a post I seem to get so wordy, and add so many photos! I guess editing is not one of my skills! Next question, how many of you wanting to see more than hearts for Valentine's Day? I know-- Valentine's Day is all about love, but what other icons could we use for *love*? Inquiring minds...want to know! I'm looking for some inspiration! Give me some ideas....thanks! Another question I have right now: How does a pair of glasses just come apart right on your face, and the tiny-tiny-tiny screw is no where to be found? How does that happen?

If you've stuck with me this far, you deserve a {hug}, you are a true friend!

Blessings, Heidi

(linked to TODAY'S CREATIVE BLOG'S "Get Your Craft On","It's So Very Cheri Wednesday Blog Party", Sugar & Dots' "What I Whipped Up Wednesday" , "Beach Cottage's Good Life Wednesday", Beyond the Picket Fence's "Under 100 Linky Party", and Cindy's "Show and Tell Friday".)

Paper Dresses

2011-02-07T09:49:00.000-08:00

What to do with a pile of brown bags, scraps of wallpaper, scrapbooking paper, old sheet music and more?
Make dresses!

Cut out a dress pattern, (or use the one from my Dress Pattern Kit here):

Pile up some stuff to use:

Sew, cut, glue, stain, etc:

Hang on a line with miniature clothes pins:

These make wonderful birthday cards, if attached to a blank card. They also are sweet in journals, write about what's on your heart.

Here's one I made for Halloween last year:

When I was a little girl we always wore dresses. When we lived where it snowed we STILL wore dresses to school. Does this tell you my age?

Have a beautiful dress-y day! Hugs, Heidi

(linked with 107th Metamorphosis Monday-Naps on the Porch
and Tutorial Tuesday at Hope Studios)

Making Cookies

2011-02-02T16:27:00.000-08:00

Just like cookies, I can't get enough of these grand-kids! Last week I said, "Let's make cookies!" We had a blast, but after just one round of the two of them rolling the dough, I put the dough in the freezer (for another day). They had it rolled so thin it stuck to everything! I sent home the batch of cookies they made, I know how much their daddy loves a good child-made cookie in the middle of the night! (Translate: touched, rolled, hugged and possibly even pre-tasted cookies...)

I had to keep them separted....lol...

I don't remember what John Mark was laughing and dancing about, but we had fun!

Baby Claira is counting the days until she can get her hands on some cookie dough....

Melissa said she thought I was brave with those two kids and that cookie dough!

Poor Ellie, she takes after me with a sweet tooth that won't stop at anything!

Have you ever looked at a heart? Really looked at it? John Mark can say he has!

Ellie tried out three different rolling pins...

She liked the children's sized one the best!

Have you made any cookies lately?

Blessings, Heidi

(linked to Cindy's "Show & Tell Friday")

May I show you some ribbon?

2011-01-30T21:23:00.000-08:00

7 spools of fabulous ribbons! all mine!

Where Women Create had a fantastic giveaway back in December called the "Twelve Days Of Christmas". It was a fabulous twelve day run on artsy-craftsy ladies, with three giveaways a day. I won one of the days, which was a huge box filled with wonderful ribbon from May Arts. This is not your cheap 3 for $1 rolls of ribbon, no, no... These rolls are intended to be sold in fine arts and crafts stores. And if I had to pick a favorite I'd have to say the red satin pleat, which I'm using now for various Valentine's arts and crafts. It's so soft and pliable, perfect for small projects.

With such exclusive ribbon on hand I wanted to start a few special ribbon projects. I pulled out a cool ribbon book I have called "Ribbonrie", a Making Memories book. When I flip through this book I want to just run to my craft room to get started!

On my way to my craft room I tripped over a board I had set aside to paint. I'm painting a set of these for a wedding but had a few extra. I needed to go grocery shopping...so put all that together and you have, "GROCERIES". (I listed it in my blog store if you are interested.) I've seen so many "groceries" signs around the web, I wanted to try my hand at one!

Another wonderful win! I won Heidi's (Birds of a Feather) drawing for the new publication, "Where Women Create". Heidi sent it off to me so fast! I've been drooling over it all weekend. When Mark saw it he said, "wow, that looks like your kind of magazine!" So true. The publication's creator and editor-in-chief is Jo Packham. I don't personally know Jo, but I feel as though I do! I have several of her books and I always love any publication she works on.

Back to the ribbons.....my brown paper bag scrapbooks are the perfect place to start using my new ribbons!

Have fun creating! Hugs, Heidi

(linked to Between Naps on the Porch's 106 Metamorphosis Monday)

Altered Spoons {Vintage Silverware}

2011-01-24T10:06:00.000-08:00

Vintage spoons and forks are so fun to collect! I'm always on the lookout for them at thrift stores, garage sales and flea markets. But I won't pay more than 25 cents a piece, at the VERY most! I've made so many projects from them but my favorite continues to be the refrigerator magnet. This year for Christmas I asked for a metal alphabet stamp set (like this) , in hopes of starting a few new projects, like stamping words for jewerly on spoons, garden markers and more. So far I'm still trying to learn how to stamp with them. If I have hardened steel I'm finding they don't stamp well. Also, I just figured out I have a SMALL sized set, I might need a larger sized set! I'll let you know how that project goes, but it might be a while.

Meanwhile back to the spoon magnet. Just start with a spoon. First glue on heavy duty magnet with E6000 glue on the back. This is the only glue that I found was strong enough to hold the magnet and spoon. When you do this, just set the magnet on the table, dab some glue on, then set the spoon on top and let it dry. If you do it any other way the spoon slides. Decoupage a pretty bird or two, adding a phrase or word on top of that. Add some moss, which you just wrap around your thumb a few times to make a "nest". Then glue on a few pearls. Use pretty and soft seam binding to match and tie a bow to finish it off. Fast and easy and fun.

Here's one I made a while back...

Have a beautiful day! Blessings, Heidi

(Linked to Between Naps on the Porch 105th Metamorphosis Monday and Cindy's Show & Tell Friday and Beyond the Picket Fence Under $100 Linky Party)

Creating Birthday and Wedding Gifts

2011-01-21T08:52:00.000-08:00

One thing about being a crafter is I never am short of ideas for gifts. In fact, I usually have too many ideas, then take too long deciding, and am late with my gift. Can you relate? This year there are 4 weddings that are planned (so far) of friends and family. I'm going to stay on top of these by beginning to make gifts now! My favorite wedding gift to make and give is my custom wedding sign. I'm often not sure about the new couple's color plans but usually a black lettered wording on a cottage white background will fit in most homes. Here are some examples:

I have done various color combinations, as shown here, white on black, cream on brown, etc.:

(By the way, I offer these custom family signs for sale in my Etsy store here, or click on the "Always Kiss Me Goodnight" sign on the right side.)

For a birthday gift I'm working on I decided to make a small drawstring tote, to hold some special gifts inside. The sewing up of the tote was a cinch, but the CINCH (drawstring) was not. Let's just say, I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed! I didn't want the recipient to have to scrunch up the fabric, I wanted the ribbons ("draws") to actually draw! When you pull on both side, it cinches up (or draws up). It took me several tries until I got it to work. The secret is to cut two lengths, then feed them in on opposite sides of the cassing. I'd show pictures, but I'll spare you the details. Plus, I somehow messed up my camera card, as the camera is now not reading my card....grrr.

(image from BH&G)

Here's BH&G's site, explaining how to make one, "Easy Cotton Drawstring Bag".

I'll try to post drawstring totes when I get a pile made. They are wonderful to make ahead of time and stock up for gifts.

Have a HAPPY weekend! Hugs, Heidi

(Linked to Cindy's Romantic Home Friday Show & Tell)

Tuesday Tip for Painting Texture Tool

2011-01-18T15:05:00.000-08:00

When I was a little girl my grandma made me OH SO HAPPY:

(This is my big sister in the swing, but it's my grandma pushing her,

as she may have pushed me, I just don't have a photo of it!

Can you pretend this is me? Sallie, can I pretend this is me?)

(Now this is me, on the right, and my sister Sallie on the left.

We are standing in front of our grandparent's house;

I have so many good memories of our visit to grandma and grandpa's house.

In the online class I'm taking I've spent a little time going back in time...

to my childhood...)

As a student in Melody Ross's "Soul Restoration" I'm finding out there are some pretty cool things about myself that I didn't even realize. I'm also learning new art techniques. (You can't see any of the class projects or techniques, but you can go to the Brave Girl's blog here and see some fun artsy stuff!) I'm inspired to continue to create. I can't quite figure out how many "student" are in this online class, but there seems to be a lot. It's actually my first online class experience, and I'm really having fun. There are parts that actually bring me to tears, but it is part of the growing process. Before I began I asked God to lead, guide and direct me through this class. He's been awesome in showing me that the attitude I began with was right: give Him glory and honor what who I am and what He has made me. He's shown me some truths that have been in plan sight all my life, but I never SAW them! The Word opens up to me daily in new ways, with new Truths!

There are weekly projects, journaling, classes, lessons, encouragement and oh- so much more! I had almost all the tools and supplies needed for the projects, and if I didn't have anything I could have done without, as it's all sort of free that way. The teacher, Melody is the 6th of 9 children. I love that about her, as I am the 5th of 9 children. So when she talks about her childhood I can really relate! One thing she is is very resourceful. I think that comes from growing up with very little and having to MAKE DO with what you have. Necessity is the the mother of invention right?

In one of her classes about art techniques she shows a tool that painters use (I guess they use!) that is a small square with each of the four sides having a different edge to make various textures in paint. When I was in town yesterday I looked for this tool in a few stores without success in finding it. When I got home I had an "ah ha" moment. Duh, I could MAKE this tool!

(this is the first one I made, using a Cool Whip lid!)

I found a plastic lid and used my various shape edged scissors (like scallped, zig-zag, etc.) to cut the edges simple as that! For the fourth edge I just cut out little pieces to leave open spaces. Then I painted on my project and used one of the edges to "drag" back and forth through the paint.

Here's one of the pages I made:

So, how easy is this?

One other photo I wanted to post is the RED plate stand I painted on Friday. When I put my "Be Happy" plate on the red stand all the RED in the plate just popped out. (Look at my previous entry and see how the green in the plate popped out with the green stand.). Anyway, that was just a quick project...

Are you still happy? Can you find a blessing in your life? Count your blessings and name them!

Hugs, Heidi

(This is linked to Between Nap on the Porch's 104th Metamorphis Monday

and Hope Studio's Tutorial Tuesday.)

Be Happy Friday!

2011-01-14T09:01:00.000-08:00

Just for today...Be Happy!

Sitting in the center of our kitchen table is this pretty Mary Engelbreit plate. One of my sisters gave it to me years ago and whenever I look at it I smile. I think of my sister and how cheerful she always is. It is our choice to see things through *a smile*, so to speak, and that is one major thing this sister and I have in common: our outlook on daily life as seen through a *smile*. We choose to be happy, and this choice is easy because of the joy in our hearts.

Oh, the PRECIOUS baby is Claira, at age 3 months. What a doll! (She's our third grandchild!)

So the plate sits in a plate holder that I've painted a coordinating green to sort of match the plate. I love to use these plate holders, as well as small "easels" all around our home. I put plates in them, photos in them, homemade chalkboards in them, books and more. But when you buy them from the store you usually only have two choices, unfinished wood or white.

So just select a bottle of craft paint the color you like and paint away.

FAST and EASY craft!

I've got one out right now I'll paint RED today, for my Valentine's Day decor! I'll show that soon!

But for today, be happy... Blessings, Heidi

(Linked to Cindy's Show and Tell Friday, and French Country Cottage's Feathered Nest Friday)

Creating and Restoring

2011-01-10T10:22:00.000-08:00

Back in December on Where Women Create blog I won something. I won a scholarship to a Brave Girls Club online class! (The two sisters who created the Brave Girls Club come from a family of nine children, just like me--I have 8 siblings!) I had no idea what this club was, or what I actually really even won, but I was so busy with Christmas preparations I didn't have time to even out! Then about a week ago my mail lady drives up to my door and toots her horn: a package! (You'd come to love this toot, too, if you had a chance! Don't you love surprise packages?)

The package was the initial kit for the Brave Girls Club "Soul Restoration" online camp! "Oh ya", I thought, what was that? Well, this package is really nice! Starting off with a yummy chocolate mint (immediately eaten), to an office recipe (making today), to all the wonderful kit items, as you see in this photo.

Back to the internet to find out more... The "Soul Restoration" is a 6 week online workshop taught by Melody Ross. From what I read this is usually taught in actual "in person" camps! You can read all about it here. I think you can still register for the online class, even today, but you just don't receive a kit, but you can make your own kit, they have a great supply kit list here.

The online course starts tomorrow. I'll keep you posted how I'm doing. My objective is to use the creative tools Melody teaches to God's glory in my creative life. (That has been one of my 2011 themes, in all I do want to glorify and honor God). I know there are a lot of hurting girls out there, either the result of what you've done or of what someone has done to you. Sometimes choices we (or other's make "for or to" us) make have lifelong consequences that we can never erase. However we don't have to wear the hurt and pain on a chain daily. There is a way to restore your soul, and that is to go straight to the Maker of your life and soul: God. He is able and wanting to restore souls. He has already done something for you, and that is when He sent His son, Jesus, to die on the cross to bear your burden. All you do is accept the Gift.

I was created in God's image! He is the MASTER Creator, so I don't take it lightly to be created like Him! To know and understand this tidbit of information is going to make going through the online Brave Girls Camp, "Soul Restoration", a time of refreshing for me. To know "it is well" with my soul is a joy. I may not always be happy, but I always have joy in my heart. I am a child of God and anytime I need to restore my soul I go to Him.

Late yesterday afternoon Mark suddenly said, "Grab a coat, grab your camera, get in the Jeep!" Off to an adventure with Mark. He drove us out onto the beach to view the sunset on the ocean! I think I took a hundred photos. He was hoping we'd get to capture on camera a red-sky sunset, which didn't appear. But I do love the photos I took, there were so many shades and layers of blues, mixed with the shine of the sunset, it was beautiful. It reminded me that my soul was well with the my Master Creator.

(Please, please, please click to enlarge and see the full beauty of the sunset!...)

Psalm 49:15 says, "But God will redeem my soul from the power of death, for He will receive me." My prayer is that you know the power of God through His love. Blessings, Heidi

(Linked to "Between Naps on the Porch 103rd Metamorphosis Monday")

Everyday Cookies

Mark's Valentine Gift to Me

I *heart* you!

What? Monthly? Not good!

So much fun at Sweet Woodruff Acres

No Rhyme or Reason--Review of the Season!

Fall Seasonal Photos

Mary Kay $25 Giveaway

Another Really Good Cookie and Another Really Fun Sign

Pinterest Pins I Used -- and a few wins!

Apple Dumplings and Tea -- Camp Grandma!

Falling Leaves

Mr. and Mrs. Wedding Craft Idea

Final Days of September

Pinterest and my flop!

Natural Love

Save the Date - Save the Day - Save the Recipe

Summer Days

Love is sweet.... forever and ever....

Wedding and Pinwheels

red white & blue

Pinwheels (Pin Wheels) for a wedding!

The Delightful, Cheerful and Talented Susan (s)

Scrapwood Bench

Pinterest: Better than Flickr, or a magazine or Google image search!

Sisters and Friends

Oh Ya Oh Ya!

White Chocolate Weddings ~~ Oh, sweet love!

Tool Box * Tote Box * Carpenter Box * Tulle Box * Tool Box *Wedding Card Tote*

Birthday Issue

May I show you a few pictures?

Love is Sweet

Making Birthdays Happen

Seeing Red ~ Redensday

Doggie Chips and Salsa

Sweet Dreams

3:16 is as easy as 1-2-3

Souvenier Spring 2011 FREE Online Publication by Heather Bullard

C-ing things: Claira, Cranberry COOKIES, Cheeseburgers & Chalkboards

Sew Somerset Tweet Birthday Card

Chalkboard Friday!

Seeing Red

Candy Bar Sign ~ Sweet Custom Wedding Signs

Wheat Thins to Chipboard: Stamping Cardboard

Simple and Pretty Spoon Egg Holder (from "Just Something I Made" blog)

Precious hands...precious lambs

Keeping it Moving....

Paper Dresses

Making Cookies

May I show you some ribbon?

Altered Spoons {Vintage Silverware}

Creating Birthday and Wedding Gifts

Tuesday Tip for Painting Texture Tool

Be Happy Friday!

Creating and Restoring

I heart you!

Tool Box * Tote Box * Carpenter Box * Tulle Box * Tool Box Wedding Card Tote