Another Finish!

I finally finished "Season of Love" by CCN. 

It is a pillow finish with a deep green fabric backing with holly designs.

"Season of Love"

Country Cottage Designs

(from 2010 JCS Ornament Preview issue)

stitched over 2 threads

on an unknow piece of ivory/off-white linen

using the recommended GAST and DMC threads

I will be posting a new start (or restart of a WIP) soon.

It was outrageously hot today with a heat index of 100 (temperature is 95, but with humidity it feels like 100), but I turned on the oven anyway to make these German chocolate cupcake.

(Did You Know - German chocolate has nothing to do with the country.  It was developed by Samuel German of Baker's Chocolates.)

I will post this semi-homemade recipe on my cooking blog Joie of Cooking.

A k-new finish

My first attempt at knitting!

It is not perfect, I did have some trouble with the brim stitches and I actually think I have the hat upside down because I closed the wrong end, but I really enjoyed doing it.  I used one of those round looms and it came together really quickly.  It only took one episode of Miss Marple and about 15 minutes this morning to finish it off.  After seeing the stitches come together on the loom, I think I will have a better grasp of needle knitting/crocheting.  I hope to try my hand at those in the future.  My goal is to make a few hats and scarves so the round loom will work great for now.

I am so full of ideas for projects at the moment -

thanks to all you crafty bloggers who have provided the inspiration!

I have gone through all my crafting materials and thrown out the dried out paints and markers, passed on the materials I do plan to use and organized what is left.  I gave my sewing machine and Cricut semi-permanent homes so I can use them more easily.

DS has picked a few projects he would like to do and will be

making handmade Christmas gifts for all his grandparents.

I have also been doing some sewing,

no finishes to show yet, but soon!

I am hoping to finish CCN's "Season of Love" by the end of the week.

I like the flat finish and have some cording to use on the edge,

but I cannot cut a straight line on cardboard or foam-core. 

Any one have any tips? or suggestions for another type of finish?

It is the first week of school here so I will have some stitching time

during afternoon pick-up and should be getting back into a regular routine

(which totally fell to the wayside this summer).

WEIRD or WONDERFUL??

The fluorescent tube lights in the kitchen have burned out.

They have been in use for 10 years!

Is that normal?

Hope you are enjoying the rest of your summer!

A Winner and a Heat Wave

Sorry for the delay in posting my giveaway winner, we spent the weekend on our "honey do" list and I was too tired to even think about the blog.  While cleaning out my crafting stash, I found a few items to add to the giveaway.

GIVEAWAY
Okay, everyone in the pool!

The tension mounts . . . (thanks to DS for drawing)

. . . and the winner is . . .

Congratulations Mary of Stitches and More!

Mary, please e-mail your snail mail address to me at

joiedebayou@gmail.com so you can recieve your goodies.

STITCHING

Since we spent the entire weekend on the "honey do" list, I did not get any new stitching done.  Here is an update on "Season of Love" by CCN.  I messed up on this one, but I am not going to fix it.  Can you  find it?

WEATHER

We will be watching the Gulf this week to see if Tropical Depression 4 will impact the first week of school.  DS is hoping for a hurricane day to extend his summer.  (Can you believe school starts next week?)  We still have 119 days left to hurricane season, so I am hoping the busy year predictions are wrong.

We are having record temps this week.  The heat index (temp plus humidity) has been in the 110 - 115 degree range with heat advisories lasting until 8pm.  Yesterday was the hottest day so far this summer.  A/C repairmen are working non-stop, we are breaking record temps daily and under nearly constant heat advisories -- IT IS HOT!  We usually don't see any real fall-like temperatures until November.  It is going to be a long August (and September and October).

Hope you are having cooler temperatures and enjoying what remains of the summer.

Looking to add to your stash, check out my stash swap blog.

Busy, Busy, Busy . . .

Took a trip to Hancock Fabrics today, the McCall's patterns were 99 cents.  I also picked up some fabrics for a couple of Christmas presents (I'll show you when they are done) and some fabrics pictured below for DS's room "redo" (he chose lime and neon orange).

I am cleaning out the office/hobby room and reorganizing it so I can set up a semi-permanent sewing space.

I did a  little stitching on "Season of Love". 

Since this is our last full week of summer, I have been focusing on trying to finish the closet cleaning, organizing and setting up for the school year.  I will have plenty of time for stitching after school starts on the 9th.

The oil spill situation has improved and the Atlantic is quiet -- it is good news all around.

Gotta go, DH needs help hanging curtain rods.  After that, I have to start dinner for our family movie night, we are watching "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs".

Tomorrow is the last day for my giveaway.

New Stash and My 100th Post

Doing school shoe shopping (oh joy) put me near my LNSs.  I picked up a little something in each, just doing my bit to support the local economy ; )

From Acadian Corner - threads and fabric (28 count Country French Linen in Latte) for The Sampler Girl's "At Home with Jane Austen"

From Accents, Inc - a new chart - "French Country Fleur-de-Lis" by JBW Designs - I have some definite ideas for this little beauty.

BTW, the models for this chart were stitched by the customers of Accent's, Inc.

In between stops, we stopped for lunch at Byblos (Lebanese) - budget busting, but yummy.  I will have to dedicate a weekend to making homemade kibby and meat/spinach pies to stock the freezer! (I will be sure to put it on my cooking blog, they are really delicious.)

Did some in-the-car stitching on "Season of Love" since DH had the day off and did the driving.  Lots of bumpy roads in these parts, so not alot of progress, but at least I did not stick my finger with the needle.

Stitching this is giving me a craving for some ginger-y baked goods, maybe the rain from Bonnie will cool the temperatures enough to do some baking this weekend, but first, we will be battening down the hatches and trying to cut the grass before the winds and rain begin.  Hoping Bonnie keeps moving quickly so she does not have time to strengthen over the warm Gulf waters or dump too much rain in one place.

This was my 100th post, so check back tomorrow for my giveaway.

A Giveaway, A New Start and A Gift

Lots of  quick updates today . . .

GIVEAWAY
at 52 Flea to celebrate Laura's 500th post, if you love all things vintage you will love 52 Flea.

STITCHING UPDATE
I started my first ornament from the 2010 JCS Ornament Preview issue, "Season of Love" by Nikki Leeman of Country Cottage Needleworks  {Thanks for the correction, Patty : ) }

I am stitching this charming little gingerbread couple as a gift for a friend who gave me my new stitching bag. It is so cheerful and I filled it with stitching goodies for me to take my stitching "on the road".  It will be the second thing I grab (photos are first) if we have an evacu-cation this hurricane season.

OIL SPILL UPDATE

The winds and waves keep the oil on the move, the spread is much larger than my update from last week.  It has also moved closer to the coast -- I do not think this will ever end!

HURRICANE SEASON UPDATE

Well looks like Tropical Depression # 3 (Bonnie if she becomes a TS or hurricane) is going to give us a rainy weekend and put a stop to oil spill clean-up.