Handmade Christmas 2016 - Crochet and Baking

Good morning! I hope you are enjoying the holiday today. I wanted to show what I made my friends and family for Christmas.

For my friends, Constance and Jim, I made a kitty doll for their baby girl, Arwen. I hope Arwen will like it when she gets old enough to play with it.

For Amanda, I made a short watermelon scarf. I found the pattern/video on YouTube and thought it would be a great way to brighten up a dreary winter day and light enough for weather in California. I love the added embellishment of black Pony beads to use as watermelon seeds.

For my uncle, I made orange brownies as part of his presents. They are his favorites.

In my mother's stash of containers, I found this cute reindeer plastic tub. Perfect for 'wrapping' his brownies.

For my friends, I made those kawaii cross stitch ornaments that I posted about last week :)

I hope you had fun crafting for friends and family too!

Until next time >___<

A CA Christmas Package and a Crazy Kitten

Hi, everyone! As you know from my previous post, I received a package from Amanda on Thursday!! She sent me an assortment of goodies from her travels to Taiwan and Singapore along with some book memorabilia and candy. Not pictured is the fun Taiwanese keychain that she got me; it is currently on my craft bag :)

She was able to get a signed copy of Gail Carriger's novella, Poison or Protect along with a 'Be Polite' button from her Custard series which goes great with the cute Union Jack beanie.

She sent me a few Kit kats, a bag of yummy strawberry marshmallows, and Brazilian orange Pocky (she found it at her local Daiso!!!)

While in Singapore, she bought me the Starbucks 'You Are Here' ornament cup! I'll add it to the ones she has gotten me from Taiwan, England, and CA Disney. I'm convinced that my side of the country is devoid of these cups unless you are in New England or New York!

The Starbucks in Taiwan had these adorable bunny bowl/cup sets!!! I'm so glad she got them for me. Though I don't know whether I should actually use them or keep them as knick knacks. Decisions, decisions! (Don't judge me by my bookshelf full of Japanese themed books!)

While taking photos of my gifts, our kitten, Lily, decided to join me i.e. be nosy! Trying to take a photo of her is hard work. She was constantly trying to jump on me, claw me, or bite me. She isn't a mean cat, just a kitten who doesn't understand that she doesn't need to do all that to get my attention.

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She finally settled down underneath the Christmas tree, but kept looking at me as if to say 'why do you get to play in the tree. You always yell at me if I get in the tree.' 

I'll be glad when Christmas is over. We have tree needles all over the place from Lily playing with them. We've had to take up all the ornaments, lights, and beads from the bottom branches because our adorable Lily can be an absolute kraken when she gets excited and rambunctious.

Ah, the joys of owning a kitten. Note to self: adopt an older cat with a peaceful disposition next time!!

Until next time >___<

~ A Sweet Christmas Finish ~

Pattern: Sweet Christmas by Cuore e Batticuore
Fabric: 32ct lambswool by Wichelt-Permin
Threads: recommended DMC and B5200
Start/Finish: 9/18-12/22/2016

Hi, everyone! It's a happy dance day for three reasons.

1) I have tomorrow, the weekend, and Monday off for holidays!!!
2) I came home to see a package from Amanda waiting for me.
3) I finished my Sweet Christmas pattern!

Definitely worth a million happy dances if you ask me :)

I was hoping to get some more detail photos of my stitching, but our kitten, Lily, is too curious for her own good and she has claws. I'd rather be safe than sorry when it comes to my stitching. (O_o")

After stitching my first Cuore e Batticuore pattern, I am smitten with their designs. They are fun to stitch and I love their motifs! How can you go wrong with sweet desserts for Christmas?!

Until next time >___<

Kawaii Christmas Glass Ornaments 2016 - Friends Gifts

This year I was racking my brains trying to figure out what designs I wanted to stitch for my friends for our annual Christmas party. Looking through my stash of Christmas cross stitch magazines and patterns, I finally decided on Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery's Kawaii Winterland pattern, which is a collection of 25 small designs for Christmas.

I chose the yeti, Christmas pickle, snowman, and the hot chocolate cup to stitch up.

The great part about these designs are the fact that they are small enough to 'finish' on glass ornaments. I had bought some flat glass ornaments at Hobby Lobby.

After ironing the linen, I adhered fabric interfacing paper on the back of each stitched design, which helped to keep glue from ruining the stitching when I glued them to the glass ornaments. I used my Sizzix machine to cut a circle around each design.

I used cording around the edges of each design. For the inside of each ornament, I took Christmas wrapping ribbons, cut them into small pieces, and ran my scissors across them to make curls before putting them in the ornaments. I forgot to take a photo of the backs of the ornaments, but I used red, green, silver, and red/white striped ribbons.

To make sure that the ornament tops stayed on, I put a small bit of glue on the inside of the cap before putting them on the ornament.

I hope my friends like them! (I was tempted to keep them for myself!!!)

Until next time >___<

Sweet Christmas Progress ♡

Here is my progress on Sweet Christmas so far. I apologize for my less than stellar photograph; the lighting in our house is low.

I'm hoping I can work more on it this week and maybe get a better photograph of it :)

Until next time >____<

Literary Irony and a Kitten

Good morning, everyone! It's been a busy last couple of days with the usual buying and wrapping of gifts, 'finishing' of gifts, not to mention cross stitching and reading thrown into the mix.

While at the library on Saturday, I noticed a bit of librarian humor. Can you see the connection between those three books?

I immediately took a photo and sent it to my sister who brought up Roosevelt being in the same 'boat' as I only noticed Casanova and Bill Clinton since American history wasn't something I studied in depth in college.

Now, it is possible that the librarians weren't trying to be ironic with their book placement and were just trying to put as many new titles out on the table as possible. Personally, I'd like to think that a snarky librarian was giggling to themselves as he or she placed those books!

Onto to other news, I'm still working on Sweet Christmas. I'm at the top of the design stitching on the border. Hopefully by the end of the week, I'll be around the corner and on the right side of the design :)

As you know our kitty Bella passed away in the summer. For a while my sister and mom have been pestering me about getting another kitty. (As if I was the deciding factor! *snort*) So on Saturday afternoon, we went by Pet Smart and adopted a three month old kitten which we named Lily.

She is a short haired black kitten. On one hand she is cute, cuddly, and a purr-box, while on the other hand she is a terror of the high seas. We were so used to our kitty Bella who was 6 years old when we got her......we didn't take into account that a kitten would be completely different.

Since our household is almost always a calm environment, we are hoping it will influence Lily to be a calm kitty as she grows up.

If I ever get Lily to sit still for a minute, I'll be sure to take a photo of her for you!

This is the first day that Lily will be home alone..................please pray for our Christmas tree and other trinkets around the house!

Until next time ^___^

Black Friday - Antique Brooch Finds!

Good evening everyone! My family and I went by the Mobile Rock and Gem show today. I came away with a few brooches to add to my collection.....okay, seven isn't a few, but you know what I mean, right?

I found several Edwardian filigree brooches. The trumpet flower brooch might be Czech made as it has a safety pin backing. (I need to research that a bit though.)

I wish the photo came out better, but my camera didn't pick up the details as the brooches are made in darker metals.

I found a lovely floral brooch with a trombone clasp. That sort of clasp dates anywhere between 1850s to the 1940s. I think perhaps the brooch is from the 1940s as the back looks new compared to the others.

The faux pearl brooch has a modern safety clasp. I thought it was an interesting piece. The main part is in a crescent moon shape from which the five 'arrows' of pearls hang.

Another modern brooch with a beautiful lady carrying fruit. Definitely a fun brooch to wear in the spring and summer, very cheery.

I lucked out on this one! It's a Kirks Folly brooch. You know my love of fairy tales. This brooch is from the Frog Prince. I am adding it to my Cinderella and Hansel and Gretel brooches! (^_^)

I was asked by Stephanie at Blue Star Stitcher about my thoughts on the Fantastic Beasts movie. I thought it was wonderful. They captured 1920s America well and did a great job in blending the wizarding world into it.

If you are a history buff, you'll like the darker elements of the film and how they tie into America's Puritan era. And if you love magical creatures, there is no shortage of them in the film.

I will say unlike the other HP films, Fantastic Beasts isn't necessarily for children. I'm not sure if children will relate to the characters as they are all adults or the themes which are also exclusively adult.

If you go and see it, let me know what you thought of who they chose to cast as Grindelwald. I thought it was a poor choice. England isn't lacking in actors and I'm not sure why they felt the role needed to go to a Hollywood actor. When I envision Grindelwald, it isn't who they cast especially after seeing who played the younger version of him in the HP films.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!!

Until next time >___<

Sweet Christmas Progress

In stitching news, I worked on Sweet Christmas last week and by the end of Sunday I had finished the domed cake on the left and started the last cake.

Last night, I finished the last cake in the pattern. The decorative base took longer than anticipated because I kept stitching the wrong sections and had to frog and stitch again. I finally got it done! I blame tired eyes and a complicated section.

Today I plan on stitching the border around the cakes, lots of cookies, candy, and leaves. I would love to finish this design by the end of the year :)

Later today, my family and I are going to see the new Fantastic Beasts movie and have dinner! Can't wait to enter the world of HP again :)

Have a great Thanksgiving holiday!!! Until next time >___<

Baking - Pecan Pie Bundt Cake and Pecan Cookies Version 2!

On Sunday I tried a recipe from the Bake From Scratch magazine, a pecan pie bundt cake. I was at Williams-Sonoma the weekend before last and found the bundt pan that the recipe called for, the elegant party 10 cup pan by Nordicware.

The cake came out well, though I had to wrestle it out of the pan! I don't think it's the fault of the pan. The recipe called for greasing the pan with vegetable shortening. I think next time I bake this recipe, I will use Pam with flour spray and see if it makes a difference. It should work as I had no trouble with my fall Nordicware pan when using it :)

I bought a few slices of the cake for my aunt's family to try. She loved it so much she requested it for her birthday next year. Lol

My mom had a piece a few moments ago and said the cake was still moist. I think it might be due to the brown sugar drizzle on the cake.

This morning I baked some pecan cookies. Do you remember me trying this recipe earlier? Well, the recipe says that if you let the dough sit overnight in the fridge, the taste of the dough takes on a more toffee taste.

I'm not saying it doesn't taste different. I should have baked a few yesterday to compare with today's bake. Lol Either way, they are yummy!!

Luckily I don't have to bake for Thanksgiving. My sister always makes pumpkin pies for the holiday. I can't wait!!! I look forward to them every year. If I could skip dinner and just eat the pie, I would......though it wouldn't help family relations if I polished off the entire pie. Lol

Until next time >___<

Friendship Package from CA ♡

Good morning everyone :) I received a fun package from my friend Amanda last week.

She got to attend San Diego Comic-Con this year so she included a bunch of freebies like reading samples from different publishing companies, buttons, and postcards.

Her friends Tom and Angel were recently in Japan and they brought back different flavors of Kit kats. I am waiting until I go back to work next week so I can share them with my coworkers. She sent wasabi, red bean, Hokkaido melon, sakura matcha, and sake flavors!!! (I already opened a pack of the sakura matcha since there were more than one.....delicious!!)

She sent me a Caron Cakes macaron skein of yarn. I couldn't find the color here at our local Michael's store. She was kind enough to buy one for me :)

At her local Daiso store, she found a cute pair of bunny tabi socks and an adorable kitty book page holder. You can't have too many socks especially when you are always cold when sitting and cross stitching :)

I can't wait to try the page holder. It will be perfect for when I'm baking.

Thanks for the awesome package!