And the rockets red glare...

Howdy! And Happy 4th of July! :)

I went outside for a little bit to enjoy the neighbors
firework displays, but came in soon after to get back
to work on some more of my stitching. My goodness!!
It sounded like a reenactment of WWII out there!!! I
don't know about you... but I'm not fond of the sound
of bombs exploding...even at the best of times! Yikes!

I guess it is fitting though... as it is in rememberance
of a war and the freedom that came to us because of it.
What an amazing gift those men and women gave us
through their sacrafice! Thank you veterans! And thank
you God! :) We still need to fight for that freedom,
because there are evil people out there who wish to take
it away from us bit by bit. We cannot let that happen!

It was a nice day spent at home. We had a lovely meal
of Orange Chicken, & I was almost tempted to have some
lemon cheesecake, but I was a good girl. ;) I hope
the scale reflects my self-control in the morning. ha!

I'm busy trying to get some of my wips finished up this
week, as I will be expecting a model to arrive in the
mail pretty soon. It will have to be a pretty quick
stitch, so I need my calender free of other projects.
It should be fun though. My first model-stitch. :)

I hope you all have a lovely Summer!!

What a great start to July!.... *rolls eyes*

Okay... so this just made my day!

I woke up today... checked email... visited my fav.
stitching board, & within 2 hours, my computer was
completely useless.. having been taken over by a worm!!!
The only explanation for the worm is visiting boards.

So... I am now unable to visit the board!

So... I am devestated!! *sobs*

The irony of it is I was just thinking about shutting
down this blog as I was spending so little time here.
But now I will have plenty of time to blog due to my
lack of board visits. So, this blog will officially
remain open. :)

For those of you who know me from the board.. I'm sorry
for my abrupt departure. I hope to keep in contact with
some of you if possible. If any of you would like to
write me.. you can contact me here: StitchingCafe@yahoo.com

True, I'm a little depressed about it, but it's not the
end of the world, and it certainly won't be the end of
my stiching! I love it... and will continue to love it! :)

---------------------------------------------------------

On a more 'happy' note... here is an update on my Cindy:




And here is my semi-finish of Poppy.. minus embellishments:

Happy June!

Goodness! I really must remind myself to update this blog
more often.

I hope everyone had a lovely Memorial Day Weekend! I
spent the weekend at home... enjoying my quiet time...
& of course stitching! What weekend would be complete
without it? We were going to have a BBQ, but the grill
is not working right now. SOOO.... I made chicken salad
with Yam Fries. Yum! For desert, I made brownies for
the fam... and a small batch of cookies for me. (From
dough I froze the last time I made them) They turned
out just as delish as ever! :)
I'm glad that I settled on Chicken Salad...because it
got to be so muggy in the evening! *whew!* It's the
kind of night that begs for an ice-cream treat!

_______________________________________

I was able to get some more of Cinderella stitched up:




Joanns just had a sale on floss, so I bought myself
enough to start of "Poppy". I feel a little silly
though, because after I just bought the floss and
wound it on bobbins, I've decided to change up the
colors. So the new floss was just an extra expense.
*rolls eyes* Oh well. Only a few dollars, and there
are always other pictures that may need them later on.
I will post a picture of her as soon as I make a little
more progress. Hopefully my choice of colors will be
just as dramatic as the originals..... but avoid the
reddish orangey tones. (That is just not my thing)

The thing that frustrates me is that I am so slow
at stitching! It's not sloth-pace by any means,
but my Mom seems to fairly fly in comparison. I
think I am just paranoid about how the stitches
will lay, and aware that I will have to look at
it for years to come. My eyes will always be the
most critical, I know, but I want to be pleased
with how it looks upon completion. Does anyone
else find themselves picking apart their stitches?
or is it only me?

Well... that's all for now. Happy June everyone!

My Week in Picture....

This post is long past due, so I will just give a little update of
my week in pictures. :)

First... I came upon my kitties cuddling, and had to capture it!!
Aren't they cute?




I also made a cake using my gluten free book. It is called
"Zuccini Cake w/ Cream Cheese Frosting & Fresh Fruit" It's
pretty yummy... though I may tweak the recipe slightly for
future use. I generally don't eat dairy, but I have been
able to tolerate it a bit better with some supplements.
(sorry that the picture is so 'loud'!! lol)



A couple nights before I tried the cake, I made another
batch of those wonderful Peanut Butter Cookies I wrote
about before. They even LOOK good! :)




I came across a new hair accessory while grocery shopping,
and I just HAD to try it! I have waist-length hair, & have
such a hard time finding hair clips that actually hold my
hair in place. Well... these work!!! They are called Goody
"Spin Pins". I thought about posting a picture of my hair
clipped up with then, but decided to just show the clips by
themselves. They are great! They hold tight, & don't hurt.





My favorite picture update is of Cinderella. I have worked a
good deal on her this week.. & have made some good progress.
I am tweaking a bunch on this lady, along with stitching the
skin 1 over 1, so check back to see how it goes! :)






And for those interested.... This is the picture I am stitching
for my Mom. I was unable to get it finished for Mothers Day, so
will be finishing it up in the next couple weeks. I ran out of
some floss..and must pick out the beads. :) FYI: She loves it!!!

Success...!!...At last!!

Okay... so I have had a lot of ups and downs the last
few months, searching for a good cookie recipe. I've
been craving a yummy batch of cookies for what seems
like forEVER! I've tried numerous books... word of
mouth... & I've searched online. Nothing satisfied. So,
I finally invested in a book that had amazing reviews on
Amazon.com. Let me tell you...it is a winner!!



They have a special blend of flours, which they
call their Artisan flour blend. It is unique, & far
more evolved than most flour blends I've tried.
They advise that you mix up a 6 or 12 cup batch
of flour, & just store it in the fridge so it's always
on hand. An idea which I think is brilliant.

I whipped up a batch of Peanut Butter Cookies
last night... (it was very simple), & I just added
a half cup of mini chocolate chips to the mix. They
are soft, thick ... & CHEWY! Yes, Actually chewy!!
I can pick one up & walk around with it, & it doesn't
fall apart! That was unheard of in my previous recipe
attempts! Best of all.. they don't taste Gluten-Free!
They are delicious!! :)

I'm not writing out the recipe, but I do recommend
buying the book if you are sensitive to gluten, if only
just for that recipe. I say this because it is the only
recipe I have tried thus far. ;)

I am one happy camper!

------------------------------------------------------------

In other news:

I have just started stitching on Mirabilia's "Cinderella".
I am using a simple but elegant fabric for her, since she
is already in a frantic pose, she really doesn't need to
have much of a pattern behind her. I prefer tame for her,
and I'm not sure why. (It could be that the fabric was
just sitting there being unused...?? lol) Still, I think
she will be lovely. I have quite a number of alterations
planned for her, which will be exciting to work out. :)

Here is a small beginning picture:




That's all for now. Have a great weekend! :)

A day of Flips & Flops

I thought it was about time I updated the followers in
my little world. First off...I am excited to announce
that I have finally finished up the DMC stitches on my
Mirabilia 'South Seas Mermaid'. I got a totally wild
piece of fabric for her... but somehow it works! :)

Have a look:




My new cook book arrived in the mail a couple of days
back. I was out of brown rice flour, so I had to wait
until today to try it out. I decided to grind up my
own, & it turned out great. Except for the flavor! :(
It was older rice, and I didn't realize that it can
turn rancid. Eek! I made soup for dinner, & thought
that a biscuit would be the perfect recipe to try.
(Buttermilk Biscuits sounded so good tonight, since
I've been feeling a little under the weather.) Well..
the powdered buttermilk had turned, the rice was old..
& the combination of the two was just plain nasty. My
dinner was a FLOP!

On days like this, I think a cup of Peppermint Ginger
tea would do a lot to console me. A batch of warm
Chocolate Chip Cookies wouldn't hurt either. :) I
do remember seeing a yummy looking recipe in my new
book. MMmm.. Maybe my brother will bring home some
fresh rice from the store tonight, & my craving can
be quelled. :)

Another fun tidbit: Thanks to Sue from HerBoudoir,
I just won a neat Mirabilia pattern drawing! Can't
wait for it to arrive. :) Sweet!

I am now off to pick out my next Cross stitch start!
This is always the best part! I would love to be a
serial starter, but I have to be practical! hehehe!

I tend to buy my Cross Stitch supplies on a whim, or
when I find them on sale. Patterns are the easiest
to buy, but getting the lovely fabrics is my favorite
part! My problem usually arrises when I go to kit
them up, as I don't often have all the supplies at
once! *lol* Does anyone else share this problem?

Happy, Happy!

Well, happy little me! I have 3 updates to note today.

First of all...due to a bad headache, I took a break from stitching
for a few days. As anyone very well acquainted with me knows,
I'm a rather restless person who can't sit still without something
to keep my hands busy. My solution? I pulled out an old Crochet
project that had been put away since last Summer. I finished it
after just a couple hours, and I am very pleased with it.

First, the pattern:


And now, the finished project!


Well... actually... it's not QUITE finished. I didn't put in the draw-
string or make the pompons yet... but that can wait until later. I
am still very pleased! The color is pretty... a very 'uni' shade, and
the feel is nice and soft. :) I love the look of a cape on a baby.. and
this will be put back for either my little one someday... or maybe
a gift. Not sure yet.
--------

My 2nd update is actually the most exciting of the three...because
I just received a wonderful prize in the mail!!! In the course of the
last year, I have spent many of my spare hours racking up points
online in order to redeem a prize. It was grueling, and it was alot
of hours taken from stitching, but it was very worth it!! I'm very
happy!! My prize is:


Drum roll please!


A KitchenAid Mixer!!!!


Call me excited! :D It is a great, useful tool for my future home.
I'm sure it will come in handy with my current food restrictions.
I doesn't hurt that it cost me all of nothing, either. ;) hehe!

Okay.. moving on!

--------

My 3rd update is the least 'monumental', but it still excites me.
I tried a new recipe for dinner. I was a little apprehensive while
making it, because it didn't seem like it would work... but it was
actually really Good!! :) It is gluten free, & has a little of cheese,
but the cheese could be easily ommited for someone sensitive to
dairy.

Here is the recipe:

"CHEESY BEEFY RICE BAKE"

1/1/2 lbs ground meat
1 clove garlic
1 cup long grain rice
2 Tbls butter or margarine
3 cups water
1 cup shredded carrot
2 tsp instant beef bouillon granules
1 tsp parsley flakes ( fresh if you can)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 cup shredded cheese
12 inch skillet
2 quart casserole dish

Heat oven to 375 degrees - Brown meat and garlic till brown.
Drain, and set meat aside. In same pan cook uncooked rice in
margarine or butter till golden brown, Careful not to burn rice.
Stir in water, carrot, bullion granules, parsley, salt, and basil.
Bring to a boil - Reduce heat - Cover and simmer for 5 min.
Water should be absorbed from mixture - Stir in meat mixture

Put everything into 2 quart Casserole dish - Cover and bake for
45 minutes. Stir once or twice while cooking. After 45 minutes
is up, take off lid. Sprinkle cheese on top - Bake uncovered for
5 minutes

Serve and enjoy