Here come the BERS!!!!

We have some wonderful friends who introduced me to the term "the BERS". Like myself, Mike and Sandi LOVE all the months that end in "b-e-r". Ever since the first time I heard them say it, I have thought about them every year on September 1st and smiled :) For me, these months embody all my favorite things: cooler weather, sweaters, family, yummy food, visiting the pumpkin patch with my grandsons, and of course, Christmas! I tend to give away most of my craft projects but one of the projects I finished for myself this year was the 12 month kitchen towels. Every month I change out the towel in my kitchen :) Today is a very good day indeed! I am feeling so much better and I went to the

fabric store this morning and purchased some fabric

for my next projects. This dinosaur pattern is one

that I bought and made for my son when he was

a boy. It was 1983. Last year I made 2 of the

dinosaurs for 2 of his sons and this year I will be

sewing one for my daughter's little boy :) The

other pattern is by Heather Bailey to make a set

of stacking rings for my youngest grandson. I can't

wait to get started! I'll post pics when I'm done!

I am blessed ...

I'm not going to lie....some days are rough. Today is one of those. Didn't sleep much last night and really struggling with pain today. It could alway be worse. I have a wonderful husband who gets up and goes to work everyday so that I can be home and take things easy on days like today. I have an amazing family who are a never ending source of joy! I know how blessed I am. Every minute of every day is a gift from God and we can choose what to make of it. There are things that I just can't do today, but I can sit on my couch in my jammies and do a bit of cross stitch. I am thankful...I am blessed....

It's all in the cards...

I don't really know when I started making cards. I guess I made my share as a child.You know the kind - a piece of notebook paper folded in half and a hand drawn picture for your mom :) I've always loved art in many forms. I've tried my hand at so many different things and although I can't say that I'm a master at any of them, the only thing that really stumped me was knitting. I was ready to stab myself in the eye with my knitting needles by the time I finally gave up on knitting. I admit defeat...I'll take the zero. Luckily for me there are alot of other crafty things to fill my time with and I'll leave knitting to the people who are good at it :) Card making is really just another opportunity for me to use my scrapbooking supplies in a fun way. I've learned alot of fun techniques from watching tutorials on YouTube. Believe it or not you can learn how to do just about anything on YouTube. Who knew? So here are a few of my cards (the ones I actually remembered to take pictures of )

Only 16 more Saturdays until Christmas!

Back in the days when I spent my days behind a desk, I used to count the Saturdays until Christmas because I knew that Saturdays were my only days to get things done. Monday - Friday were busy enough and Sunday was church and family day. I tried to get my projects done on Saturdays and for the most part, I did pretty well. I shopped online and had most things delivered to my office. I got to know the UPS driver by first name :) Since I'm a full time stay at home wifey these days, one day seems very much like the next and with my fibro, I can have the best of intentions to do something the next day and wake up feeling miserable, so those plans get nixed. I realized that making a list of crafts that need to be finished for Christmas wouldn't be a bad idea. I have 11 sewing projects and 10 birthday cards to make between now and Christmas. It's nice to have a list. I was able to check one item off my sewing list yesterday. I would love to post a picture, but I'm not really sure if my sweet daughter in law reads this blog or not and I don't want to spoil the suprise. I will post pictures of the orange dinosaur for David and the stacking rings for Gabriel as soon as I finish them. The 2 russian dolls that I am making for my mom are almost done too! So in the meantime and to get into the Christmas spirit I will share the Hazelnut Cake recipe I made for Christmas Eve last year. Super yummy and I got it from a calendar I bought for $1.00 at Michaels!

Hazelnut Cake

1/2 cup butter

2 pkgs (2 1/2 oz each) hazelnuts

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups all purpose flour

2 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Glaze

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 tsp vanilla

Heat oven to 350. Lightly grease bottom only of 10 inch springform pan. In 1 quart pan, melt butter over low heat. Allow to cool.

In food processor process hazelnuts until ground. Reserve 1 tblsp for garnish.

In large bowl beat eggs, sugar and 1 tsp vanilla on medium speed 2 to 3 minutes or until thick and lemon colored. On low speed, blend in flour, baking powder, salt and ground nuts. Continue beating, gradually adding cooled melted butter. Mixture will be thick. Spread batter evenly in pan.

Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 15 minutes. Remove sides of pan, run a long knife under cake to loosen from bottom of pan and place a heatproof serving plate upside down over cake. Turn plate with cake over. Remove pan bottom. Cover cake with cloth towel. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

In 2 quart pan, heat whipping cream just to boiling point. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips until melted and smooth. Stir in 1/2 tsp vanilla. Spread glaze over top of cake and allow some to run down the sides of the cake. Sprinkle reserved ground nuts over the top.

Stand back and admire your handiwork!

Stitched with love and prayers :)

I believe that God brings people in and out of lives at different times for a purpose. Sometimes we need help and sometimes we can offer help. In God's perfect plan for us, both people are blessed - the receiver of help, by the blessing of help they received and the giver of help, by the joy they receive in giving to someone else. This week God put someone on my heart that needed something that I was able to provide. This sweet young woman has had her share of trials in her life and you would almost expect her to be angry with God. But she doesn't lose her faith. She keeps on moving forward and what an amazing example to her children! I made this apron for her and prayed for her as I stitched it. I wanted her to know that when she wears it, that she is reminded that she has others who care for her and her situation. One of the verses that has really stayed with me recently is Proverbs 3:27 "Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act." Is there someone in your life today that could use your help?

Mug Apron :)

I've been trying my best to make things for these apron swaps that I am in, that my partner can actually use, not just something cute to include in the box. I came across this pattern and fell in love with it. I've always wanted to try my hand at quilting and in this pattern, you have the option to quilt the fabric, which was fun and I liked the way it came out. I know it's a far cry from making an actual quilt, but I'm taking baby steps :)

I used patriotic fabric again to keep the theme going that I started for this swap. Hope she likes it!

Some days are just like that....