Purse Giveaway

It has been about two months since I did my first giveaway and I am ready to do another, good news, right? Bold bags and boots and a few other girl needs all in bright blue, stripes and flowers. Fresh tote that is casual and fun.

How do you enter my giveaway: easy and I have a few bonus ways to gain entries

1. Join my mailing list
   
2. Follow my blog
   
3. Blog about my giveaway (feel free to use pics and link back) and receive 3 entries
4. Tweet about it - 2 entries
   
5. Make a purchase from my etsy shop and receive 10 entries - just include in note to seller
   

Be sure to post a comment below and include a way to find you and let me know how you are entering, only one comment is necessary. I will gather all the info and use Random.org to choose a winner, at random.

Contest Deadline: I will close entries and commenting 11/15/09 around midnight EST, and choose a winner on 11/16/09, and will contact winner via email provided.

Who can enter, anyone I will ship this tote worldwide!

About this purse: Original price $23.00
12.5" wide laid flat side to side at top measurement
9" tall
9" wide at side measurement
3.5" deep
21" straps with a 10" drop from shoulder, great for carrying alongside, or tuck under arm. Straps are lined with interfacing and topstitched in teal for detail and durability.

Interior of bag has two fully lined and interfaced pockets will keep all those items in place. Pockets are 6" across, both are 5" deep. Bag closes with a strong magnetic snap.

This tote is super cute and is also available in pink in my shop, I have a special section right now of 10.00 totes, and have included the pink in this section, original price of these totes is 22.00 and up, all marked down to $10.00. I try to do this a few times a year to offer my items to those on a tighter budget, many have thanked me for this and do return to buy special items for themselves or for friends and families, or as part of a donation item around the holidays.


Thanks for looking!

Lovely Fall Day

No doubt fall is WELL underway, I know this because all the leaves have pretty much fallen and MANY still need to be raked. But before raking we have to have sufficient jumping and playing time and Saturday was so beautiful nearly 70 degrees we did that instead of raking.

We also headed to the zoo for some warm weather fun. In this visit we went to the butterfly house, and the Amphibian house and the Aviary.

To continue the warm weather activities we grilled out, it was dark as my husband tended the flame this was at 6pm a reminder in spite of the unusually warm weather summer is a distant memory.

Pumpkin Two-fer

One 15 ounce can of pumpkin and a fall Saturday equals two great recipes. First recipe pumpkin pancakes, you only use 1/3 of a cup of the pumpkin which leaves the rest for the cookies.

Pumpkin Pancakes:

• 2 1/3 cups Bisquick
• 1/3 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1/4 vegetable oil
• 2 TBLS Sugar
• 1 teas pumpkin pie spice
• 2 eggs
  

Mix above in large bowl, pour in 1/4 cup amounts into heated griddle/pan, cook, turn, eat. This made about 12 medium sized pancakes. Now to use the remaining pumpkin make these cookies.

Pumpkin Cookies:

• 8 ounces butter softened - 2 sticks
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup pumpkin puree - I just used the remainder in the can
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 ts ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2-1 cup raisins, nuts or whatever mix ins you like
• 2 1/2 cups flour

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees
2. Cream butter, sugar and brown sugar, beat in egg, vanilla and pumpkin
3. In separate bow, mix oats, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and mix ins. Stir in pumpkin
4. Drop cookies in a heaping teaspoon on to cookie sheets.
   
5. Bake 12-15 minutes or until slightly browned, cool on racks.

Give to eager little hands with milk...yum!

New Quilt on the Horizon

Soon we will be putting our little one into a twin bed, out of the toddler bed and onto bigger and better things. I am excited I have settled on a quilt pattern to make for this event. The colors were obvious and only pink and purple will do, I will throw just a splash of aqua and orange just to give a bit of a break from all purple and all pink.

I have a few months to get this ready, I am pleased I am starting before the bed arrives and not months later sewing for deadlines can be stressful even if it is just staying at home. This is the first quilt I have made for my daughter since she was born, when we first did the room we did not know what were were having so I went with a neutral color scheme in jeweled tones of navy, purple, chartreuse, kiwi and royal blue.

I had imagined I would be pouring of books and patterns for a while before I found the perfect pattern, but I saw it at a glance at a local shop and knew instantly she and I would both love it. And that I could work in lots of bold pinks and purples and fresh daisies makes it the PERFECT choice.

I have 9 different fabrics for the blocks and right now only 4 for the petals, I need a few more petal fabrics and still need a sashing fabric, but I figure the petals and the blocsk will take a while so I have some time to get all the components. I will also add a border but will do that when the top is pieced to see what works best, though I am sure I will use leftovers in the borders.

This is the approved color pallette

Pattern with petal fabrics

This quilt looks simple but the flower petals are all appliqued, so lots of cutting and I will be using a simple technique where you sew iron on fusible web right side to right side to the fabric, turn inside out, iron to hold in place, then machine stitch down. Simple right? Except each block has 20 petals, which also means 20 interfacing, so 40 petals per block times 15 blocks is 600 petals to cut. Luckily my husband has volunteered to help, and we can cut several at once so it shouldn't take that long - well that is what I told him anyway.

There is something special about making a quilt for a child, knowing she will be tucked in night after night for years is a great feeling. Quilts bring such color and personality to any room and I am hopeful even when she outgrows purple and pink the quilt will be with her for many years, and I will remember the excitement of "look mommy made it".

Butternut Squash Soup

Yesterday I felt like I was in the kitchen all day, and at least one great thing came out of it. Butternut squash soup, it is a recipe I had found on All Recipes, I have adapted it over the years to a yummy fall treat, here is the altered recipe and a few of my tips to make it a little easier.

• 6 TBLS Chopped Onion
• 4 TBLS Butter
• 6 Cups Peeled and cubed butternut squash
• 3 Cups of water
• 4 Cubes chicken bouillon
• 1/2 tsp dried majoram
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper, or few dashes hot sauce
• 1 - 8 ounce package of cream cheese

In a large sauce pan saute onions in butter until tender. Add squash, water, boullion (you can substitute chicken broth or stock for 3 cups of water and bouillion), and seasonings, bring to a boil cook about 20 minutes or until squash is tender.

• My note: Cutting and peeling squash can be difficult and dangerous as the skin is very thick and tough to cut. I found cuting the squash in half through the length about the spot I can scoop out the seads, then cut into rings. It is easier then to use a paring knife only peeling a ring that is about 1/2 - 3/4 in width. Cube from there.

Puree cooked squash and broth in batches with cream cheese in a food processor or blender. Return to saucepan and heat through.

• My note: I get a large bowl and puree in 3-4 batches, dividing the cream cheese into each batch, then return to the saucepan to heat through. Knowing this in advance will help.

This is a yummy almost decadent soup, for added richness use up to 8 ounces more cream cheese. I try and purchase the largest squash I can find and don't really measure, just use as much as I can. Great with bread or a green salad, this also would make an elegant first course to a fall dinner party, even those "who don't like squash" might find it tempting!

ENJOY!

Holiday Home Show Invitations Sent

It is for real, I am having my home show, invitation sent and RSVP's coming in now. I will be having my second annual home show on November 19th, I sent the invitation on November 2 giving about 2 weeks for guests to respond. I used evite, and find it very handy to keep track of my list and all responses, it gives guests a chance to include a friend or a comment both will be helpful in final preperations.

When drafting your invitation here are some things you may want to remember to include:

• Date, time, location
• Items cash and carry, made to order
• Will you ship items, have a shipping schedule available
• Types of payment you can have, ie checks, cash, credit cards
• Highlights of the show such as door prizes, giveaways, freebies
• Food and drink, appetizers, beer and wine
• Demonstrations, if relevant to your items
• Sneak peek to your items, include a link to your online shop
• Pictures of products in your invite
• Welcome guests to bring a friend
• Kids allowed, can or will you provide babysitting
• RSVP a good date is the weekend before the event so you have the weekend to do shopping
  

I also printed up paper invitations for those who do not have computers, or I have not seen but know would enjoy the event. This also gives you an opportunity to write a personal message to catch up if time has passed. I also keep a few on me if I am traveling about town and run into an acquaintance who might be interested. And lastly I walk around to a few neighbors whose email I don't have.

I am really ahead of the game as far as product goes, so I am now turning some attention to small details.

• Getting bags ready, last year I hit shops after Christmas and stocked up on Christmas gift bags for packaging, I think I have about 30-40 or more which should be plenty but the dollar store is a great source, get a variety of sizes and themes, everyone loves a pretty package. I would NOT use grocery bags, make it festive. Or upcycle bags from Christmas past or make and decorate your own, get the kids involved.
• Plates, napkins, cups, again I managed to grab some after Christmas last year, but rounding it up into one spot to make sure I have enough. Also if you are doing entertaining this holiday season think ahead, buying in bulk can save money, buy simple red and green as a bulk option.
• Planning food and drink, I have a few stand by easy appetizers and will be doing those and will be looking for a few new ones to mix in as well.
• Watch for sales on beverages if you are serving alcohol this is important, stick to a good low cost wine, remember for your guests it is nice to sip and shop, I don't think it needs to be super premium beer and wine, again you can stock up if you are entertaining later this season. Also this is good for soda, a variety of large packaging is a good idea too.
• Will you be doing door prizes, giveaways, freebies with purchase. If making or buying getting those together and wrapped or packaged.
  
• Rounding up baskets, buckets, plates or whatever I can use to display my items, I have a lot that can sit in baskets, however some need to be freed up, organizing now will save a big dumped mess around show time.
• Cleaning and getting ready, for me this means still moving summer toys and items out of the foyer into the basement and garage. You know things you have just left sitting around that need to go to their storage place. I also rearrange furniture so getting ready to do this and considering it all now.

These are some of the things I am doing right now for a show that is just over 2 weeks away. I will be writing next time about some of the stand by reciepes I use and timing to get those ready to be served. How is your home show coming, there is still time to plan. You can view my past posts on this under "Labels" left on my blog, look for "Home Show".

Elvis By The Side of the Road

I am sure there is a logical reason why this Elvis dummy is outside promoting an Amish furniture store, I just don't know what it is. I was recently visiting a friend in the southern part of Michigan when on my way home I spotted, and nearly drove off the road when I saw this on display.

Three U-turns later I got this picture, if it had not been raining and I not so exhausted I would have taken the time to check it out further.

So, it was just before Halloween, possibly that had something to do with it. Honestly I still cannot figure it out. Can you?

Happy Halloween

Are you ready? The big day is today, we are ready but mainly because we did not go all out this year decorating. We have attended a few local events and parties with our little one which was great fun but at home we did some crafting and costume embellishing and baking but really low key.

We have our candy and are ready for all the little ghosts and ghouls to come trick or treating, it is such fun to see all the variety of costumes that kids and their parents come up with each year.

We don't get a whole lot of trick or treaters, but the numbers have been improving the last few years as there have been more young kids in the neighborhood. I am very happy to get trick or treaters as when I first moved here I bought bags and bags of candy only to have about 20 kids come, I was sort of annoyed at the low attendence.

This year we will be handing out Kit Kat, Plain M&MS, Hersheys Cookies and Cream and Gummy Life Savers. I hope there will be a few left over for me to enjoy so I don't have to raid my daughters booty, just like my mom used to do : )

Turkey Swiss Melts

What is for lunch? Quick easy lunch, that uses ingredients many would already have on hand.

Turn on broiler

Bagels - I used minis
Sliced turkey
Swiss cheeses - shredded
Sliced apples
Gorgonzola - not needed but YUMMY if you have on hand.

Layer on bottom bagel, turkey, apples, swiss. Sprinkle Gorgonzola on top of swiss.

Place in over under broiler 3-5 minutes, watch as things like this can go from perfect to a scorched mess fast. I threw the tops of the bagels in for the last 45 seconds or so to warm them up.

Remove, and enjoy, complete your lunch with fresh veggies or fruits.

Working on a New Quilt for Me

I am working on a quilt for me, yes another project when many are still waiting completion. Sigh, such is a life of an obsessive sewer. Anyway I have some of the new fabric line Love by Amy Butler, have you seen it yet - it has grown on me lately like most of here collections seem to do and this time not after the line has been discontinued.

I am using the Paradise Garden in periwinkle, and I admit my pictures which were snapped late at night DO NOT do it justice but you can see what I am doing.

I am using a technique where you take 4 repeats and layer then on the repeat, it really helps to line up top to bottom as close to exact as possible so you have nearly identical blocks. I used the four repeats, cut the fabric on the fold and had two stacks of 4 repeats, then cut my blocks.

My repeat was about 13 inches, so I had a choice of 6 inch blocks or 4 inch blocks, I chose the large size and cut six 6 inch blocks from each stack, yielding enough cut blocks to make 12 4 patch blocks. The blocks finish to 11.5 inches, so 12 will give me enough for a small throw, and could be easily increased with sashings and borders, which I plan on doing.

This is six 6" cuts, the blocks are identical

Once your blocks are cut you will end up with 12 stacks of 4 pieces that should be exact, this is where the fun begins. You have 4 options per stack, just by rotating the pieces around, the blocks that emerge are different, and did I mention FUN? It was.

You can see what one set of 4 will yield, like I said the pics were snapped late at night, but you can still see the variation each turn gives.

These 4 blocks are made from the same block, each turned 1/4 turn, yielding very different looks. The final block I sewed was the first one.