PLUM STREET SAMPLERS

An Early Celebration

I have a friend who has been getting me into trouble lately, and her initials are Miss Katrina. She's got me hooked on these:

They're Cadbury Mini Eggs, and I've eaten them for breakfast and dessert for the past three days. (What, you don't have dessert after breakfast?) I've never been a big chocolate addict, but for some reason I can't stop eating them.

Katrina, you are a very bad influence, but I think you already knew that.

Which brings me to my next topic: Easter. I found myself humming an old hymn today, called He Lives, and I thought that a few of the lyrics would fit perfectly into a little Easter sampler. Feel free to download this by clicking on the link below, and not the actual image. (Keep in mind that the image colors you see on your monitor are not true to the actual DMC colors used.. they're similar, but not exact.)

Download Rejoice

If this is something you plan on stitching for Easter, then I so hope you enjoy your time spent with it. But whatever you choose to work on, don't forget to have these by your stitching spot:

ETA: For the lyrics to He Lives and to read a bit about the composer, Alfred Ackley, please visit http://www.popularhymns.com/he_lives.php. And Happy early Easter!

Secret Samplers

Each year, Mom and I exchange stitched samplers during the Christmas season, and it's one of our most favorite times of the year. Last year was the one exception bc we were both very, very busy and never got around to getting samplers picked out for each other. It was disappointing, to say the least, but it really couldn't be helped.

The samplers we exchange are always a secret, but keeping it a secret from each other is often the year's biggest challenge. We love to laugh at the ways we've goofed in the past, accidentally letting too much information slip so that the recipient correctly guesses what she's getting. It's still really fun and exciting though, and the laughter over the indiscretions is what makes the exchange even more memorable!

We decided to get a little dangerous this year, and we allowed each other one hint: the answer to Where will it be hung? My mother told me I'd hang mine in my hallway, and I told her she'd hang hers in her office. If I'm not mistaken, my telling her that she'd hang hers up in her office strongly suggested that the sampler was red. ;)  In contrast, her answer ("the hallway") to my question was a vague answer indeed, considering I have samplers of every sort in my hallway. (Don't think I didn't catch that, Mom.)

Anyway, we had our Holiday Sampler Exchange yesterday, and what a wonderful time it was, as usual! I went over to Mom's house and we had brunch before unwrapping our packages at the same time.  (We both try to look at our new samplers and the other's reaction at the same time, which is quite comical.)

I have to say, I think I got the better end of the deal (Mom does too, no doubt).. here's what I stitched for Mom:

It's a reproduction sampler by Threads of Gold, and it's called "M.A. Dutch Sampler." These aren't the original colors though; I decided to switch out all of the called-for threads to some red AVAS, with exception to the horse and rider. (It was this sampler that led me to start searching for horse-and-rider samplers, which then led me to hunting down Colonial Couples samplers.)

And here's the absolutely stunning, jaw-dropping sampler Mom stitched for me!

It's Dames Boarding School by Examplar Dames! She couldn't remember the silks she used on it, but trust me when I tell you they are so delicate and lovely and perfect for this piece. I just can't get over how beautiful it is!

Jill Rensel framed both of our pieces to perfection. Here's a close-up of the moulding on Dames Boarding School...

I also stitched these for Mom, and put them in this bowl that I found at my favorite country store, Weathered and Worn...

It's one of my favorite Christmas carols, and I love how Bing Crosby sings it. :)

One of my very favorite things about visiting my parents' home is the way my mom decorates for the seasons. She has such a way with the little touches here and there, and my girls love visiting just as much, for this very reason. I decided to take a few photos while I was there yesterday...

I love how she took some greenery from her back yard and put it in a jar...

You may have seen this on her blog recently.. it's a tiny little stocking by Hands to Work...

Btw, this absolutely cracks me up, every time I see it. My parents have a cozy fireplace in their basement, but since my mom isn't down there very often, she decided to download a "live" fireplace app on her iPad...

I think I caught her trying to warm her hands in front of it yesterday, when she thought I wasn't looking.

One of Sophie's favorite things at my parents' house is the Department 56 Dickens Village, set on top of a very high china cabinet. (Actually, there are many more pieces to her collection but these particular ones are the ones on the main level of the house.) My dad has them arranged in the most charming way, and at night all of the tiny windows light up...

Please excuse the blurriness in the photos. I actually was not looking through the camera to take these bc they were so far above my head. Instead, I was standing on a chair and holding the camera way above me and snapping away at who-knows-what! (Btw, notice the samplers behind the village...)

One day, I'd love to get up on a ladder and get some decent photos of all the village pieces together.

At about the time I was finished taking pictures, the man of the house came home for lunch...

I adore you, Dad. Even though you don't like the way I park my car in your driveway so that you can't pull into the garage. I can't help it if you don't have the skills to drive around me.

And Mom, I love you. Yesterday was so much fun, and I can't wait to do it again in 2012! Merry Christmas, and go pick out my next sampler. :)

P.S. It may look like she stitched a bigger sampler than I did, but that's bc she stitched hers on 11 count, and mine is on 50 count.

P.P.S. For those of you who may not know how I love to tease my mother, please know I'm only kidding.

Love Presents, Part 2

Here are just a few photos from Thanksgiving... we went to my parents' house again this year, and my mom gave the girls the sweetest love presents! The idea was that the presents had to be something having to do with decorating for the Christmas season, so she gave what she thought was the most personality-fitting gift to each of the girls. I do believe she pulled it off! :)

Sabrina's sweet tooth has every dentist in Omaha exhausted from night-terrors, so her gift was easy: a candy tree, made by my mom! Each kiss had to be painstakingly glued onto the tree - a process that takes the better part of an afternoon.

In addition to the tree, Sabrina got the coolest Santa that looks like it's made from pure milk chocolate, but in fact it is non-edible. Mom said she licked it just to be sure.

Bre's taste in decorating is positively hodgepodge-chic, which makes it really fun to spot things that would go well in her apartment. Mom put together this darling wreath stand (sorry, the top was cut off in the photo), wreath, and Christmas ornament.. Noel is Breanna's middle name, so it was perfect!

Remember when Sophie wanted a bathroom overhaul as soon as Sabrina moved out? Sophie takes her bathroom very seriously, and pretty much breaks out in hives if something doesn't quite look right in there. She also insists on decorating it for the seasons, so Mom gave her one of Bath and Body Works' new soap sleeves, along with some new handsoap and hand towels. I don't have a better picture than this one, I'm afraid, but you get the idea...

It was a lot of fun watching the girls open their gifts - and moreso bc they weren't expecting them. :)

As far as the actual Thanksgiving day went, Mom had a gorgeous table display, as usual...

After the meal, Mike and Dad retired to the basement for the Dallas Cowboys game, while Sabrina tried staying awake, resting against her Meems' lap...

Sophie sat pleasantly and conversed with anyone who was lucky enough to be sitting near her...

And Bre did what Bre does best, when she thinks no one is looking...

I hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving, whether with your family, your friends, or just the cozy quiet of your home.

P.S. My mom didn't really lick the fake chocolate Santa.

Love Presents

Mom and I started what the girls hope to be a new tradition this Thanksgiving: we got each of them what we like to call a "love present," which is a present for absolutely no reason other than the fact that you're loved.

When I've got the photos uploaded and ready to go, I'll show you the ones of the gifts my mom got for them, but for now here are the photos of the ornaments I chose to stitch that accompanied each of their presents...

This one was Breanna's, and it's from the 2011 Just Cross Stitch Ornament Issue. The designer is Brittercup, and as soon as I saw the kitty and the tree, I knew it must be Bre's! (I swapped out the colors for darker ones by Gentle Art, however.)

I loved the trim on it, which I got in Archiver's, a scrapbook store...

This one is Sophie's, bc her signature colors this season are turqoise, green, and pink. I thought she'd love this ornament, but I had to laugh when she saw it and said, "Who's the dude?"

Btw, Sophie's is by Country Cottage Needleworks, and I think it's the most precious design! It's from the 2009 Just Cross Stitch Ornament Issue, and I switched out these colors to slightly different ones from Gentle Art. :) (The only reason I switched was bc I didn't have on hand what was called for, so I made the best substitutions I could.)

Finally, I stitched Mosey 'N Me's Rejoice ornament (also from the JCS 2009 issue) for Sabrina bc she is always so happy...I thought the little leaping sheep fit her personality perfectly. Again, I switched out the original floss colors for different ones by Gentle Art, but this time it was their wool. I'd never stitched with wool before, and I loved the effect.

The chenille trim is from Victorian Motto, which I discovered when I was in Myrtle Beach at the Pals Retreat...

It's hard to see in the photos, but I sprayed each of the ornaments with some glitter spray (also purchased at the scrapbook store).

Btw, while I was at it, I stitched Mom one as well! This one came from the Joyeux Noel book by Blackbird Designs..If memory serves me correctly, I believe the strawberry design is by Niki's Creations, whose work is featured in the book.

I have no idea which colors I used, bc I just grabbed some from my DMC box and got to work!

Btw, it's sitting on top of one of Natalia's stitching wallets, which I gave to Mom. I also put the chart for Shakespeare's Peddler's A Part of Ann Dale inside, along with the latest Loose Feathers Blackbird Designs chart and some needles.

It was such a fun Thanksgiving, and I truly enjoyed stitching these ornaments. Ornaments aren't something I generally do bc I don't usually have a lot of "recreational stitching" time outside of models, but this year I decided it had to happen.

And now it's back to models. :)

 

Don't Look Now.

Everyone knows you're not supposed to make eye contact with Medusa.

Everyone except for Medusa's dad.

Oopsies.

I hope you had a marvelous Halloween!

The 4th

I hope you all had as much fun as we did, celebrating Independence Day this year! We got together at my parents' house for a barbeque and lots of other fixins (sans the potato salad), and then headed out front to the driveway to watch the fireworks.

Mom and I had a few different salsas this year, but we both agreed that the Trader Joe's corn salsa was the best...

Major was in the house - against his wishes - to save his sanity from the noise of the firecrackers, so Sabrina kept him company for a bit...

But not even a sweet, nervous puppy could keep Bean from racing her little sister to catch the parachuters that fell from the sky...

Sabrina and I thought this was really funny at the time, but now it's just kinda disturbing...

Bre was in Boston for the holiday (we missed her so much!), but her old friend Cody was in town, so he stopped by for a visit...

Mike was in his element...

Btw, I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of my dad, bc he was the Head Pyro Guy that night.. we won't mention to my mother how he almost set an entire load of mulch on fire. Or when something in the street was on fire, and he casually walked over and patiently poked it with a large stick until the flames died down. (He used to be a firefighter, so I suppose flaming mulch or unidentified burning objects don't bother him much.)

Anyway, I hope you all had a fantastic July 4th celebration!  Cody, if you're reading this, thank you for stopping by to visit the fam! :)  And Bre, if you're reading this, hurry up and come back home bc we miss you!

 

I am loved.

Our house can be a loud, crazy, and demanding one, but it is also one that is full with love. And I am so very blessed that my family doesn't choose to show their caring only on Mother's Day...but yesterday was a more pronounced version of how sweet they can be.

I mean, who wouldn't want to wake up to this? :)

It was a lovely day, and although I didn't get a picture of my sweet husband, he made it a special day as well.

I thank the Lord for my crazy, loving family.

Easter

It was such a pretty day this past Sunday, and I'm never in more of a mood to bake than on a bright Sunday morning, when the house is quiet.

I decided on monkey bread, bc one of the most heavenly aromas in the world is warm yeast bread baking, and hot coffee brewing. And bacon.

Just before it was time to shape the dough and set it in the oven, my littlest Easter chick came downstairs. (She's always the first one up on holidays.)

She was very excited to receive a much-longed-for fragrance in her basket. It's called Carried Away, by Bath & Body Works.

She smelled marvelous for church.

And Papa Bear looked marvelous for church.

(She wasn't quite ready for the picture, as she wasn't zipped up yet, but she was gracious about it.)

Bre wasn't home to get in on the picture, but Mike snapped a photo of me and my two other sweet girls...

Bre did make it home in time for this, however:

I hope you had a lovely Easter Sunday!

If you'd like the recipe for the monkey bread I made (which originally came from Martha Stewart, but with my slight changes), here it is:

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EASTER MORNING MONKEY BREAD

FOR THE BREAD:

1/4 c. water
3 1/4 c. flour
1 large egg
1 tsp salt
1/4 c. granulated sugar, plus a pinch for yeast
3/4 c. milk, warmed
2 T. shortening
1 pkg. yeast

1. Put the warm water and pinch of sugar in small bowl; sprinkle yeast over top. Stir; let the yeast soften and dissolve, about 5 minutes.

2. Place shortening, warm milk, sugar, salt, and egg in mixer bowl. Grease Bundt pan and a medium bowl.

3. Once yeast is dissolved and foamy, add it to mixer bowl; mix well. Slowly add flour. Knead by hand for 5 minutes or so. Place in the greased bowl; cover with plastic. Set dough in warm place and let rest 20 minutes.

FOR THE COATING:

1 stick butter, melted
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
3/4 c. light brown sugar

4. Put melted butter in a bowl. In another bowl, mix brown sugar and cinnamon.

5. Shape dough into 1/2" balls and then roll in butter and then brown sugar mixture. Place into prepared Bundt pan.

6. Cover with plastic wrap; let rise about 1 hour or until double in size.

7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes in pan.

8. Turn bread out of pan; cool 20 minutes on rack or plate.

FOR THE ICING:

2 c. confectioners' sugar
1/4 c. milk

9. Make icing: In a small bowl, stir milk into confectioners' sugar. Drizzle over bread.

Enjoy! And be sure to have a fresh pot of coffee to go with it. :)

I Spy

I didn't think I was going to be posting again until I returned to Omaha, but I've decided to pre-blog and schedule this to be posted for this morning. It's actually 10:25 pm right now, and I'm almost finished packing. I spent most of the day answering emails and mailing orders and running errands, so I'm taking a break!

I'd like to show you a scene from our home on Christmas morning. The room is in complete disarray, furniture shoved everywhere but where it should be, yet I'm still going to post this photo. My mother will be horrified.

Let's play a game of I Spy, shall we?

I spy Sophie's plaid pajama pants, handed down to her by Sabrina.

I spy a girl hoping that another present will appear under the tree for her.

I spy a woman in a new Vera Bradley apron, in desperate need of caffeine and another present.

I spy a girl in a Nebraska hoodie, angry that she didn't get the new Vera Bradley apron.

I don't spy the father in this family, bc he's taking the photo.

Okay, now I'm done posting! See you soon!

I Resolve To...

I have really looked forward to 2011, bc I've been feeling completely overwhelmed with inspiration and lots of creative energy. One wouldn't know this, judging from the state of my house, but 'tis true: I am feeling fabulous!

Earlier today I tweeted that I want to experience the feeling of actually finishing something I started. So I gathered together all the lists I made (don't you just love lists?) on New Year's Eve and decided that if I read them enough throughout the year, surely everything on them will happen. :)

1. I will learn to knit dishrags.

Yes, dishrags. I love them. And after that, I shall knit baby hats. I want a whole collection of baby hats, and no one can talk me out of it.

2. I want to be nicer to the Yorkie.

I've been working on that lately, but no one around here seems to appreciate it. I heard Mike recently tell Sophie, "Don't tell Mom that there's pee on the carpet. It's better for everyone that way." So I got to thinking that maybe I shouldn't behave like Genghis Khan on crack every time it happens. Instead, I decided to sweet-talk her throughout the day, which prompted Sabrina to tell me that it's ridiculous when I talk to her like a baby. Go figure.

3. I will finish 3 of my cross stitch projects.

I came to the number 3 bc I have 6 total unfinished projects. I cut that number in half, bc if you could see the size of the things I have to finish... well, let's just say they're not ornaments.

Here's one of them... Frances Eden. It was started by my dear friend Kim before she passed it on to me, and I worked on it only a little. I'm very excited to see this finished!

The second one is Ruth Bacheler. I started this with  Samplermaker-Extraordinaire-Margaret, but we both grew sidetracked with other projects, and it never got finished. I find these colors to be extremely relaxing, and it's one of my favorite projects I have going.

Finally, there is Dutch Beauty. I've completed 13 of 21 pages so far, and desperately want this hanging over the back of the couch in my family room!

Did you know that the Yorkie and the Chen are stitched on it?

Oh, and look. The Yorkie is doing what she does best...

I still can't quite figure out why the original stitcher included that naughty dog in her masterpiece, unless she wanted to give her mother fits.

I do have a few other things on my list of resolutions, but none with accompanying pictures. For example, I'd love to live a healthier lifestyle; this is not defined by one thing like "I'd like to lose weight" or "I will go to the gym every day," but rather just learning to do what I can and be happy with that for the day. I learned some time last year to stop picking fights with myself over what I did or didn't get accomplished, bc it would leave me feeling very dissatisfied at the end of the day. And who wants to wake up the next morning with leftover dissatisfactions? It leads to an awful lot of negative thinking, and that's something that definitely prohibits creative energy!

One last thing I'm doing this year.. a 365-day blog. In case you've never heard of one, it's a way for people to document a year, one photo per day for each of the 365 days. If you enjoy taking photos, join in! Here's where my pictures will be posted:  focus on today.

Thank you for always taking the time to visit me. I hope this new year brings you all the joys that you deserve!

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BEFORE YOU LEAVE...

1. Heike, I've been trying to email you, but my emails keep getting bounced back to me! I'm not sure why this is happenening, so do you have an alternate email address I can send to?

2. Constantina, I still have your Christmas issue of Just Cross Stitch to send to you! I've tried emailing you, but the address doesn't appear to be valid. Can you email me your mailing address? I'd love for you to have your magazine - at least by next Christmas! :)

3. I want a huge collection of baby hats despite the fact that I am not pregnant, nor plan to be. Just in case you were wondering.