It's Here Once More!

To all my dear family and friends...I wish for you a wonderful 2012, good health and happiness...

Christmas 2011

It has now come and gone but Christmas was lovely and full of family time.
I am blessed that we are all healthy and happy this year and so very grateful for the love of my Savior Jesus Christ in my life. It is so easy to forget these things with all the hoop-la of what we think would make a good Christmas and allow stress and impatience rule our lives.
God Bless Us, Everyone!
Above me with the lovely arrangement my sister sent as a welcome Christmas gift. It brought the smells of Christmas into my home I miss with the fake tree!

Mr Creative, Belle and I just home from church Christmas morning...as you see I made sure I had my Christmas quilt in the background! LOL

Me and my grkiddos Christmas even in our new Christmas jammies!

A Change is as Good...

Mr. Creative and I took the chance for a quick get away to Midway, Utah just over the mountains from our home.
With all the stress of work for him and getting ready for Christmas for me it was a welcome 3 days in a lovely condo and setting.

If you remember the X-Country skiing at the Salt Lake Olympics in 2002, then you saw Midway, or at least the area around Midway. Usually this time of year they are enjoying snow and skiing but as you see there is NO snow! I have to admit that I was kind of glad but it did make the ambiance a bit flat.
I enjoyed doing some sewing and reading and Mr C watched some DVD's and carved a bit on the balcony. Our unit was on the second floor to the right in the picture on the top row right above. Just in time for us to leave on Wed it started snowing but didn't follow us home. LOL

Christmas Trees and Grilled Cheese

OK, so when you eat low carb and or gluten free anything that would normally require bread us usually not allowed, right?
Well one of my online friends Jennifer Eloff has come up with recipes to make subs for usually forbidden foods. I make her Low Carb-Gluten Free Artisan Buns which are not only healthy for me but tastes incredible! So now it's time to see what I can make with them and first up was grilled cheese! As you see it worked very well.
They aren't low fat by any means but I just love the crunch of the outside and melt-y cheese on the inside. YUMMO as Rachel Ray would say!

OK the tree is all decorated with as many weeds as I am going to gather. They have been getting damp from the inversion fog each day and it is hard to snap the stems without a pair of scissors or pruners and I am not taking them on my walk where the weeds grow
I like my simple tree this year but I have to admit I miss all the flashing, talking and colorful ornaments we have collected over the years. Next year I have a plan so hope I can work it out so that I get the best of both worlds.

A Few Morning Pictures

Got up this morning early and thought it looked "white" outside and sure enough some surprise snow! As of about 9:30am it is still snowing. Bummer this is a day I have things to do in the car and I HATE to drive in the snow.

Here are a couple of pics of my tree showing the "weeds" I added. As you see they look like dried baby's breath and I like the softness and fill it gives the plain tree. First is without the flash and second with the flash

Christmas Helpers

I usually try to get my house ready for Christmas right after Thanksgiving but because I was sick for a couple of weeks I spent last week doing it all!
I have to admit to often "redecorating" my home with holiday stuff but for this year I decided it didn't have to be quite that elaborate and have gone more simple. Since my grandson I is there and now enjoys helping me we went to work.
Pic 1 shows his new 2011 ornament and it is the only collectibles on the tree this year. That is one of my simplifications. All the Hallmark, Star Trek Ships, trains, Frosty Friends, Barbies and on and on are being left in their boxes. I still plan to try and collect the ones we love but not have them on the tree.
Pic 2 (rt top) is my kitty helper in her hat. As usual once all the decorating was done made herself at home under the tree and often is found sleeping there. I tried to get a pic of her in the Build A Bear hat but she wasn't very interested LOL
Pic 3 (lower left) Grson I helps me plant an Amaryllis bulb. I love that everything is in the box and it is happily growing on the counter right now.
Pic 4 Another thing I did put out is my Jim Shore nativity. My dd and dh gave it to me several years ago and I always enjoy looking at it each year. Grson I helped me put the pieces in place and he loved that I added a hidden light .
I will try and get a picture of my tree with the addition of weeds...now aren't you curious?

The Ten Year Christmas...

Quilt!
I bought this pattern 10 years ago intending to finish it up for Christmas that year...
Yeah, right!
As the years went by I would work on it a bit at a time and then finally I determined that I could finish it for this year's display.
I put the last stitches in on Friday night after machine quilting it. I love the fussy cut cardinals and subed out a block I didn't really like and put in one I have wanted to do forever called Dove in the Window.
So my Quilt's name is Cardinals in My Christmas Window

From Me to Y"All

This digital greeting card customized with Smilebox

Sneak Peak

From the design wall yesterday, OK really from today but it was supposed to happen yesterday LOL
I don't want to show it all until I get it finished but thought I would give you a sneak peak!

Something In Progress

This project probably is a 10 year work in progress. I got this pattern at least 10 years ago and probably began tracing the designs to embroider. It sat and sat in the "piles" for a few years then I would stitch a few blocks and back in the piles it would go. LOL
Sound familiar anyone?
I hope to have it put together into a top this week and then maybe find the time to quilt it before December!
Hey, I can dream right?

About the Boys in My Life

I couldn't resist this one especially for my DD and my DS and their boys!
Hammie holds the qualities of a true boy!

It's Fall Y'all

This is the wall hanging that has been needing to be finished in October however it took until this week to finish it up...good thing it's still Fall LOL
Our group did this as a mystery and had I known a bit more I would have added a couple other colors to add a bit of zing...maybe some purple and green?
Anyway it's off to it's new home in New York for my DD's family to enjoy.

What Are They?

OK, I guess my children have been influenced by their "nurture" because they are always asking me for some help to make real their creations from their mind. Youngest DS Big A bought himself some fleece mittens that had a flap to reveal his fingers. I am sure everyone has seen this type of thing everywhere.
He comes to me with this idea he got from an Anime show How about making them into puppets! LOL
Son: Mom to you have any black fleece?
Me: Sure, somewhere in the sewing room
Son: Where? LOL
Anyway as you can see he found it and started creating. Using some cotton and fleece pieces and fusible Heat and Bond and a whole bunch of hand sewing Here they are. He also had me make him some pinkie covers to make the other hands of the puppets.
All in a day's work

Good Enough to Eat

Most of you know I am diabetic and have been for years now. This is the reason I am a Low Carb eater...it helps keep me healthy with very little or no meds.
But just like anyone else I love baked goods And for some reason in the fall my mind turns to all kinds of baked goodies and this year I have been lucky to find a Low Carb baker and recipe creator who has a blog with many amazing recipes for baked goods. Jenifer Eloff is her name and you can link to her blog by clicking on her name.
If you didn't know better I bet you would think these are all regular Pumpkin Muffin Mini Loaves, right? Nope low carb and gluten free as well!

It is pretty expensive to bake low carb and gluten free but I think this shows it is worth it. I might just send a little loaf or two out to my Dad and see if he can tell they are low carb! LOL

Can You Guess Where?

Yep I am heading to see the Mouse and Harry...I will check in while I am gone. (or at least that is my plan)

It's His Birthday!

My youngest turned 22 on Monday. Our big guy is very sweet inside that gruff exterior and I am so glad that we have had him in our family for the past 22 years.
Oh, bye the way don't adjust your screen as he decided to wear his "costume" contacts...one white eyed and one black eyed and yes he has some blue hair for the summer...there are worse things to deal with! LOL

Design Wall Friday 8-12-11

Finally I have something to share from the quilt world.
It has been a rather non productive summer for quilt stuff for me. My local bee's night group and I have started a new project...a mystery quilt lead by my friend CM. She has promised a small project and it will be small in total size (a table topper) as well as scale.
The Double 9 Patch finishes as 9 inches and the little leaves are 3 inches finished.
Last meeting we traded fat eighths in Fall colors and got the first two parts. I decided to add a neutral print with my 9 patches so crossing my fingers it will all blend in the end. That's half the "fun" of a mystery project LOL
I won't get the next steps as I will be out of town for the next two meetings but hopefully they will be as quick and easy as these parts!

Progress On Victoria's Frienship Quilt Project

I have finally caught up on all the pieced blocks from the Victoria's Friendship quilt that have been presented so far from my group.
I do still have one applique block but as things go it will happen soon LOL
This lovely quilt is more challenging than I had anticipated when I picked it as my next long term project. There are many many small pieces in the blocks and they are sometimes difficult to be as precise as I wish to be. I thought I had done pretty well with the last block I completed (pieced block in the lower right hand corner) but once I had it all trimmed up I noticed that one "row" of seams don't match up very well. So note to self " no trimming until you make a very close up inspection of all seams and matching points"!
I am loving the fabrics I chose to use and it makes me excited to see it all together one day!

Catching Up , It's About Time

So, what have I been doing lately instead of blogging?
Plenty but I will admit I have just been a very lazy blogger so there haven't been any updates recently.
I am going to try my very best to do better and keep up!
So, for those of you who know me and my family you are not surprised to see this post I am sure. Of course I bought midnight show tickets for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt 2 and Mr Creative and son A and his friend W and I headed to Lehi, Utah for the show. I went ahead and did the whole 3-D thing. You can see us in our lovely Harry glasses.

Not that many of you will care but here is my kind of short review/report
First of all I am a book person and movies made from books often being a disappointment for me. I love all the details and specific events and it REALLY bugs me when those things are changed for what seems to be no reason at all!...One example will be the reaction of Hagrid as he brings Harry back to Hogwarts after Harry confronts Voldemort in the forest. Also Nagini slithering around Hogwarts chasing people while unprotected from the possibility of being killed and the scene in Hogsmead with Aberforth and the kids and a shortening or at least no explanation of the gathering of characters from former books in the Room of Requirement, and why it was surprising to see them there ...just annoying to me!
Having said that...I thought the movie was a wonderful ending to the series and I love it on the whole. I think the three main kid actors have matured in their roles and I am pleased with the way they brought together many of the characters from the earlier movies and books for the grand ending. The settings and backgrounds are wonderful but in seeing some of the previews and small sneak peeks they are mostly CG which they have done very very well.
I think that now I have a feeling of sadness that this is really the end of it all...no more books and no more movies to speculate about and wonder how it will be shown in the movies.
In my opinion the 3-D was a waste...not sure yet...but I will compare after seeing it in regular D. I didn't really notice anything in particular that stood out because of the use of 3-D.
OK, I seem to be knocking it more than showing love but I will say that I can't wait to see it again and have the DVD to watch over and over again when I want!

Is This May?

So...here in Utah we are having a different spring for sure. Mr Creative tracks weather and water for his job and this is going with the trend of every 30 years or so.
Very sad sight this morning where the bird bath is iced up and there is snow on the ground...very little but snow none the less!

On a happier note...I finally talked Mr Creative into buying a swing set for our Grkids to play on so that we can keep them under control in the back yard. So far grson I has enjoyed it a bit but he has been sick and we have had Seattle or Forks weather here so no playing in the rain! LOL Hopefully once the spring gives way to summer it will get lots of use!

Bye the way Happy Memorial Day and a big THANK YOU to all who have ever served and most especially now to those who wait!

OH Yum Icecream Cake

One more page for the mini. It is pretty simple with the one photo but I wanted to show the fun photos displayed with this Chocolate ice cream cake. Dad was in heaven as his favorite things are chocolate and ice cream! LOL
Sketch Nuts about Sketches
Supplies: pp Guy Stack DCWV and Luxury Stack, cardstock DCWV and Co'ordinations and stash, Twill and brads from stack, ribbon Martha Stewart. Cricut carts Graphically Speaking and From the Kitchen