Books-Knitting and Crochet

Books, I love them....I have no hesitation to recommend these five books, they are fantastic reference books for your library. I am throughy enjoying them.  They are full of great photos and step-by-step instructions, will keep you busy for years!
Blessings, Michelle

Mini-Art Quilt/Doll Quilt

Adorable little mini art quilt was made using Joel Dewberry's Fabric line Modern Meadow.  The hand made crocheted chrysanthemum's give a 3-D texture to the quilt.  The quilt was machine quilted plums design on the longarm and machine stitched binding.  The quilt measures 13 1/2" by 13 1/2" square.  For sale in my etsy shop.

Quilt Gift Finished

Strip quilt using Joel Dewberry's Modern Meadow Line.  Just a quick quilt for my 17 year old son for Christmas.  Quilted with black thread using Kim Diamond Design {panto of a log cabin, bear, trees and a moose}.  I have one more to get done for xmas and two more to get done before new years day. 

Pink Saturday-Christmas song

http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/12/pink-saturday-december-18-2010.html
Silver Bells...when I was growing up we would all pile in the station wagon with another family and drive around town with thermos of hot cocoa and cookies baked by Mom and look at the houses decorated with lights.  My Dad had a wonderful singing voice, great memories.

This book I picked up at Barnes and Noble a couple of years ago and I love it.  It is so interesting to read the stories and hisotry behind the songs that were written. 

Some interesting tidbits about the song:  written and composed  by Jay Livington and Ray Evans, as they discussed the script, one of the men picked up a small silver bell and played with it the tiny noisemaker magically transported the writers to the sidewalks of New York,    When President John F. Kennedy declarred it his faviorite Chritmas song, "Silver-Bells" rang out loudly in the White House.  Bells were constantly chiming in the hands of men and women seeking donations to help the poor and needy.   In the city, bells, did much more than anything else, to signal the coming of the holiday season.  "Silver Bells" fully captured this experience in song.

Vintage Christmas Hanki's

Lovely, aren't they?  My Mom colllected these, I love them.    Trying to decide how to display them, any ideas for me? 

Vintage Christmas Crocheted Hotpads

These vintage crocheted Christmas hotpads were my Mom's, she didn't make them but she had collected them.  They are stunning, the detail, the vintage fiber, the holiday colors, reason enough to pick them up.  I didn't ask my Mom, but now I can't help but wonder if part of the reason she may have collected them is because her Mom, in remembrance {who died when she was only 20}I was told was excellent at crochet, she sold many items she made and they needed the money back then so I don't think my mom had only one item that I know of that she did crochet {an incredible pineapple table cloth, I'll share at some future post}.   I think part of the reason we collect items from the past is the connection to other women that we feel.  This just dawned on me right now as I am writing this, missing my mother at the holidays {she made each one so special}...all of the sudden these little hotpads are giving me a feeling of a bond between my mother, grandmother {who i never knew} and me.  Funny isn't it, that these were probably picked up at some garage sale or antique store my mom was shopping out and about and now all of a sudden something some other unknown woman made is something very special to me, something my mother saw thought was pretty and picked up, maybe thinking of some special memory of her mother.  How true someone else's" junk" becomes someones elses treasure. 

Candy Canes/Reindeer Poop/Santa Tag/Bird Cage

Here are a few items I'm giving along with the main gifts to my sisters', cousin and friends.

For anyone who uses Stampin-up, this is the "top note" die cut

I have a reindeer stamped on the back of this tag

This was made with a die cut from Tim Holtz collection

Created with Stampin-up pillow-box die cut, embossed with tinsel silver powder for tree and white for snowflakes, just got this die last week and this is the first time using it, wasn't sure from the catalog if I would like it, but is just the right size for filling with small treats and was easy to use, I know I'll be getting quite a bit of use out of this die.

This is a very large tag, I spayed it with a glimmer mist to star, then stamped the pine branch and MC and wrapped with layers of ribbon, used a brillance stamp pad on pearized paper and heat set the santa image, color with pencils and then added a heavy coat of lacquer, took quite some time to dry.

I always like to include a few hand made little goodies.  Also, will be a jar of salsa I canned in the fall and a platter of assorted cookies, yet to bake.  What ideas do you do?

One-Patch Christmas Quilt

Believe it or not I didn't have a Christmas Quilt, so I decided last weekend I needed one.  So being short on time and needing to fit something into one day, I decided on a one patch.  Kaffe and Kona, red and white, I used 12" squares.  I love this Kaffe print and it is red and and green, and I love roses, I realize it's not a traditional Christmas print, but I it's in the holiday color range.  So I used a favoirite One Song Needle Quilting Design in red thread.  I just machine stitched the binding and the backing is the Kaffe Print. 

Blessings,  have a wonderful day!

A Christmas M&M Story

Sorry, the phone photos are not the best today.

A Christmas M&M Story

As you hold these candies in your hand and turn them, you will see... The M
becomes a W, an E, and then a 3. They tell the Christmas story. It's one
I'm sure you know. It took place in a stable a long, long time ago. The E
is for the East, where the star shone so bright. The M is for the manager,
where baby Jesus slept that night. The 3 is for the wise men, who came
bearing gifts. W is for Worship. Hallelujah, praise His name! So as you
eat these candies or share them wit your friends, remember the meaning of
Christmas. It's a love story that never ends.
Merry Kissmas's
**EASY...and store great for a few weeks in air tight container.  Heat oven to 375, place pretzels on cookie sheet, unwrap {the hardest part of all} the kisses, place on pretzel, put in oven, watch closely {maybe a couple of minutes} do not burn chocolate, remove and place one red or green peanut M&M into the chocolate, cool {to harden quickly I place in fridge}, if you can save any to store you are doing well, it's hard to keep everyone from eating these tasty treats.  Enjoy!!
Blessings, Michelle

Hand Stamped Christmas Cards

I read this little bit from the book "101 Ways to Enjoy God" by Candy Paull.
Create Something Beautiful for God. God created you in his image.  Your creativity is a gift from God, and the way you use your creativity is your gift back to God.  Home crafts, fine art, beautiful music, useful objects that are well designed and well made are all expressions of the creative spirit .Whatever you make, create it for God's glory as well as humanity's use.  It can be as simple as an arrangement of flowers for your table, or as complex as an exquistely crafted piece of furniture.  Whatever you create, make it something that satisfiess your heart, takes your best effort, and becomes a worthy offering to God.

I will honor you as long as I live, lifting my hands up to you in prayer.  Psalm 63:4 NLT

So tell me, two things:  1.  Which is your favorite card I made up above?  and 2.  What do you like to create?