Back In Business!!

Over the past week and a half I have come to appreciate a little something that I have regularly been taking for granted...the Internet. After several visits by service people from our lovely local cable company and a new modem...it seams that I once again have the ever beloved Internet connection. Yes, all the green dots on the modem are flashing which is such a wonderful feeling. For the past year we have battled a horrible Internet connection. However, you know how it goes...the minute you pick up the phone to call and complain and demand better service, "lows and behold" as my grandma would say...it starts working again. It is like the annoying fax machine at work...it malfunctions, you call the tech guy, he gets there and the machine works perfectly fine. Oh, and just like that pesky computer that freezes over and over again and you once again call the tech guy to come fix it and sure enough...it works just fine for him. I think you see my point. Machines have a mind of their own and will take every opportunity possible to make you look like a fool. Or, at least that has been my experience anyway. But this time I beat the machine and we got our Internet speed upgraded for free. :-) Oh how I have missed reading all my favorite blogs! I have so much catching up to do.

So, during this time of not having Internet I have been pretty busy! First of all on Wednesday Jeff and I celebrated Valentine's day because I was going to be out of town visiting my sister, brother-in-law, and niece for the annual February birthdays. Jeff and I went out and had a nice dinner and then we went to see Coraline!It was great and I want to see it again! Stop motion is absolutely amazing.

After our Valentines date we came home and I started packing (for my 5:30 am roll out on Thursday) and finishing up last minute birthday and Valentine's day gifts. I FINALLY made marshmallows! For years I have wanted to do this but just never got around to it. So, for Valentine's day I decided that marshmallows would be the perfect gift. For my first try, they turned out pretty well and they are fantastic dipped in chocolate fondue...more on that later.

Oh, as for the p.j's I have been working on...did I ever mention that I sewed the button holes on the back side of the pants? Ugh. Lesson learned...never ever sew after a long day at work. EVERYTHING ends up wonky. I think that they are salvageable though, whew!

I also made soaps for my sister and mother for Valentine's day. I ordered a ton of fancy glycerin from From Nature With Love and also a dark chocolate fragrance oil. The order I placed arrived on Tuesday in just enough time to whip out some soap! The soap smells yummy. I thought chocolate and marshmallows would make a lovely Valentine's day gift. :-) I added cocoa powder to the soap for the speckled look.

For my mother and sister's birthday, I made them mason jar pin cushions. Every sewer needs a mason jar pin cushion. They are so happy and cute! I have some of the cutest dress form and thread print fabric. I have been looking for the perfect excuse to use it and I think this little project was it. I found this fabric with my sister in Batesville, Arkansas at the ol' Marshall Dry Goods last year.

For my mom, I needle felted a scarf which was project inspired by this book. There are so many great projects in this book!






















For my sister I took the same design concept and applied it to a different project in the book.

I was able to wrap up the "great felt food project" for Violet just in time to leave for the trip. I really love the way it turned out and it was so much fun to make. It is very time consuming but there is something very satisfying about it too. So, here are ALL the pictures, hang with me here for a sec. Ok, you saw the posting of the bread. Here is the rest of it:

Organic Turkey and American Cheese:


Swiss Cheese and Lettuce:


Pickles and Tomatoes:


Mustard, Ketchup, and Mayo and The Finished Product:

Oh and I made P.B.&J. too!

So, that is it for now. Stay tuned tomorrow for the blog on my vacation!

Cheers!

Freshly Crafted Whole Wheat Bread, Yum-o

I got way carried away today! My goal was to make one felt sandwich for Violet's birthday. After I made 2 slices of bread for one sandwich, I HAD to make more. One little sandwich just did not seem like enough. I pictured her making one sandwich and then wanting to make more. I mean, what fun is it to just make one sandwich? Perhaps she would want to make 4! So, now I have a whole wheat loaf of bread for her birthday consisting of 8 slices of whole wheat bread. Now, I just gotta make the fixin's.

I was super simple. I just traced a real slice of bread on to a file folder I had and cut it out. I used this for my pattern and started cutting. I also cut one inch strips of brown felt for the crust:

Then for the stuffing I cut 4 layers of batting for each slice:

I started to sew the crust to one side of the bread:

Then sewed on the other side:

I left a hole for turning in side out:

Pressed it, stuffed the bread with batting, hand stitched up the hole and then...voila:

I am going to give my sore fingers the rest of the night off and then start tomorrow on making the condiments. If this works out like I hope, I am going to sell this little sandwich in the shop! Woo Hoo!

Cheers!