The Fruit of her Hands

HOT HOT HOT

2011-06-13T18:59:00.000-07:00

Hope this post finds u all well.........woooooo wee is ever hot here in Ky. We have had 90 degree weather for quite some time. This heat keeps me indoors where its cool and I can create :) I have listed some goodies on ebay if you get a chance take a peek!

Been 2 the Auction & Sunday Pot Roast

2011-03-06T11:27:00.001-08:00

This recipe is soooooooo easy I'm almost embarrassed to post it! But its super yummy and filling!

~SUNDAY POT ROAST~

1 4-5 lb. beef roast (trimmed of fat)

carrots

1 onion

potatoes

I used my large crock pot for this, not sure how many quarts it is. But if you are using a small crock pot only use half the roast. Trim the fat off your roast and cut it against the grain into nice sized pieces. Larger than bite size. Add the pieces of meat to the crock pot and season liberally with salt and pepper. Cut up your onions, carrots and potatoes and add those as well to the pot. Add about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of water to the bottom of the crock pot; re season again. Cover and cook on high for about 8 hours or until tender. If you are using a smaller crock pot it will not take 8 hours!!! ENJOY!

I hope this post finds you all well! I've been busy that's for sure........the weather has been teasing us with the promise of spring around the corner. Me and my significant other have been hitting the local auction and boy can you ever tell! I have some wonderful treasures I found that I will be listing on Ebay. Lots and Lots of nice pieces! Pictured above is one of the items, I just love it! It's an old pot of sorts that I added some faux sage to. Come check out my listings to see all my finds!

May God Bless & Keep you all,

Jill

Dreaming of Spring

2011-02-12T18:45:00.000-08:00

We are expecting a warm up over the next few days which leaves dreaming of green sprouting grass and March winds! I've been busy creating new items and here is one of them. Many Blessings to You all!

Jill

Welcome to the World

2011-01-16T11:22:00.001-08:00

Welcome to the world my little nephew Chandler Scott, he was born January 12th at 8:28 and weighed 8.8 What a blessing to his mommy and daddy and the rest of our family :)

~Chicken Pot Pie~

2011-01-09T10:33:00.001-08:00

This is one of my favorite dishes. It's simple and easy and allows you to get supper on the table quick. Enjoy!

~Chicken Pot Pie~

4 boneless skinless chicken breast

2 cans of cream of chicken soup

1 cup evaporated milk

1 can mixed vegetables

1 can whole kernal corn

2 cups Bisquik

1/2 c. cooking liquid

Boil chicken until tender; reserve cooking liquid. Shred chicken and place in a large bowl; add cream of chicken, vegetables and 1/2 c. reserved cooking liquid. Mix and put into a casserole dish. In a seperate bowl mix bisquik and milk; spread over chicken mixture and dot with butter. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for approx. 30 min or until biscuit top is cooked and brown.

Enjoy

Jill

Reduce, Reuse & Recycle

2010-12-30T16:56:00.000-08:00

OK, so here's the deal. I'm sitting at home bored since the office was closed today. All my Christmas decorations are up, laundry's done so what's left to do? Well, I know everyone is probably so stinking sick of Christmas but this is the perfect time for this project. So when you are taking down your Christmas cards instead of trashing them reuse them. Odds are your coworkers, family & friends spent some good money on these why not recycle them so they can live again next year? For 2011 I am not going to bother making a resolution to lose weight......lol I always fail. Instead I resolve to be more frugal and to try to recycle and re purpose as much as possible.
You will need for this project: A straight edge and mat, rotary cutter, scissors, glue, old Christmas cards or other cards, blank cards and colored paper, ribbon, decorative edge scissors and a hole punch

Another reason that this is the perfect time for this craft is that all the Christmas ribbons and decor is 50% off at most stores. I found this awesome ribbon at the dollar store for .50! You can't beat that. This is so super easy you can make cards or hang tags. For the hang tags I just cut out the image from the card I wanted and glued it onto some colored paper. Then I just hole punched it and added a ribbon. Easy!

The cards are equally simple, cards nowadays are outrageous. A nice one can run you three to five bucks easy. I don't remember where I got these blank cards but I am pretty sure Walmart carries them. They come with a brown paper envelope. Same goes for them, just cut the image you want and glue it on, you can even cut the inside message out and use it. I just had to share this idea with you guys, now maybe you will think twice about throwing those old cards away ;)

Jill

Dog Dayz

2010-12-17T15:05:00.001-08:00

I wanted to share so pics of my kids :) Hope you enjoy these......may God Bless,

Jill

December Update

2010-12-04T14:36:00.000-08:00

Greetings my blog friends, I hope this post finds you all well. Tucked in somewhere in your homes across the country nice and snug and warm. Time has yet again got away from me. I so miss the days when I could stay home and craft all day till my fingers bleed (lol and I mean this literally). But God had different plans for me and blessed me with a full time job to provide for myself. So alas this limits my time these days, what time I do have is spent working on orders and with the new special someone in my life ;)

For those of my dear customers wishing to place orders for the holidays please do so before December 15th so we can get everything there safely for Christmas. I have been receiving several calls about PET DOLLS, and YES I am still taking orders on them up until the 15th. The above doll I just completed for a customer was a Sphinx Kitty. I will also be updating the website this weekend............not much too do here in eastern Ky besides sew and eat as we are snowed in :) Which is a state of being which I LOVE to be in Lol, but at any rate please stay tuned to my blog this week for new offering and such. May God Bless and keep you All,

Jill

Fall is in the Air

2010-08-29T19:27:00.001-07:00

It's still pretty hot here in Kentucky......but every morning and late night we get a little taste of what is to come. A cool breeze and a crisp sweet smell in the air; fall is right around the corner. I surely will not miss the dog days of summer, we have had a very hot summer that's for sure. I have busied myself all weekend stitching up fall goodies for an upcoming show. I will also be listing lots of pumpkins in old containers on the website this week. I have so many ideas buzzing around..........makes me wish I had more time to actually create :/ Wishing you all a blessed week!
Jill

Fall Ebay Listings

2010-07-19T09:33:00.000-07:00

Just a head's up to let everyone know I listed some new Fall Items on Ebay :)

http://shop.ebay.com/gigi69/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686

Been Busy

2010-07-14T15:58:00.001-07:00

I have been super busy..........got the crafting bug this week and have been working away! Just finished this sweet bag holder made using a Sweet Meadows Farm Pattern. Lots of New items are in the works as well. I have listed tons more on Ebay if you guys have an interest :) Hope you are all having a blessed week.

Jill

http://shop.ebay.com/gigi69/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686

Summer Happenings

2010-07-10T20:51:00.000-07:00

The heat has been almost unbearable the last week here in Ky. As soon as you walk outside the heat overwhelms you and all you are worried about is finding the next place with AC. Lol, but even with this heat there is still lots to be done. I have got a lot of work done to my little homestead, and yet there is still more work to be done. I have also been working on some new items and clearing out some of my patterns and things un-needed. If you have an interest I have listed several pattern lots on ebay as well as two of my old composition dolls from my collection. The one pictured above is one of them listed. I hope you are all staying cool & lots more will be listed on ebay in the upcoming days, here is the link to my auctions.

http://shop.ebay.com/gigi69/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686

May God Bless You All,

Jill

Twinkie Cake

2010-05-24T18:34:00.000-07:00

We are sure warming up here in Kentucky! Thank you all your your comments on my previous post! I wanted to share this awesome recipe with you guys..........I don't recall where I got the recipe from but I tweaked it and made it extra special. Hope you guys try this one......it's so worth it!

Twinkie Cake

Cake

1 box yellow cake mix

1 box instant vanilla pudding

4 eggs

3/4 c. water

3/4 c. oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees; mix all ingredients with mixer. Grease and flour a 13 x 9 cake pan; bake cake until toothpick comes out clean. Let cake cool completely. When cake is cool cut it in half lengthwise....making it two layers.

Filling

1/2 c. sugar

2/3 c. shortening

1 t. vanilla

1/3 c. milk

1/4 t. salt

1 t. water

1 c. powdered sugar

Mix all ingredients and beat with mixer until smooth and fluffy, approx. 5-7 min depending on mixer speed

Spread filling between cake layers and dust top with powdered sugar; ENJOY!

Finished Kitchen

2010-05-03T14:16:00.000-07:00

I have finally completed my kitchen! Wanted to share with you guys the pics.............I am so happy with how it all turned out. For those of you that may not know my life has taken some crazy twist and turns lately. I have went from being a full time stay at home business owner to being divorced and working full time at a law office. Lol, it has been a lot to process, but through the grace of God and good friends and family I am happy and settled. As for my business, I am still debating as to whether or not to continue on with it. I hope to keep my retail site open, as for the wholesale it will most likely be closed in the future. I want to thank all my loyal customers and net friends for their friendship and business throughout the years. It has been a pleasure! May God Bless U all!

Jill

This and That

2010-03-01T18:18:00.001-08:00

Basket
Strawberries

Island Front

Island Back

Kitchen Table

The weather here in Kentucky is still cold and wintry. We are expecting a warm up soon :) Things have been busy here as usual. The basket I made at our home makers meeting. It was my first attempt at a basket. Lol, it turned out a little mis-shapen but pretty good for a first try. The strawberries are for a wholesale order..........I love making them. My daddy has been busy making my furniture. He made my kitchen island and made me a harvest table. I loved how they turned out. He is working on my kitchen cabinets now. I am blessed to have a daddy whom is so talented.

Hope you all had a blessed Monday!

Jill

January Greeting

2010-01-23T15:39:00.001-08:00

I know, I know, It's been a long time since my last post! So much has been going on I haven't had time to think! For starters my family and I had a wonderful holiday, hope you all did as well. I have been all of January working on orders. My daddy is working on my kitchen cabinets and island, which I am elated about. I torn about the paint color however :( But at any rate on my day off I have been working away, on many different things. One of which are the wax dipped carrots in the photo above. They are real dried carrots dipped in beeswax. I also added a old crow label to this awesome old bottle (which I will be offering on the site).

I have been dreaming on weeds and seeds and so on all day. I can't wait to start landscaping around my new home, as I don't even have much grass yet. Lol, I know from past mishaps that I will not be planting Ivy at the new homestead. Lol, this stuff takes over! From the kitchen there's hot dogs and home made sauce and oatmeal cookies. Hope you all had a productive fun Saturday!

Blessings,

Jill

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas

2009-12-05T12:07:00.000-08:00

Tree

A Snowy Day
Kids trying to stay warm

I woke this morning to the first snow of the season! I always look forward to that first snow every year. This year I have a new home and a new view and it is marvelous. The kids are all cuddled up on the couch and I have been cleaning and going through some of my things. I have added lots of primitives from my collection on my website for sale. They are under the Old Stuff Category. I have added Christmas things and everyday things and still going through my items. If you get a moment please take a look and I hope you will find something to add to your collection!

Blessings,

Jill

Here is the Link........

http://www.thefruitofherhands.com/shop/index.php?act=viewCat&catId=18

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T05:43:00.000-08:00

Ahhhh, Thanksgiving sure snuck up on me this year. Nevertheless, I am responsible for the turkey to take to mom and dads this year. He is in the oven working his magic and I am praying he will be moist and tender. After all the turkey is the star of the show. I hope you all have a blessed fun filled Thanksgiving. I am most thankful this year for having such a wonderful family who have helped me through a difficult time.

God Bless,

Jill

New Offerings

2009-11-11T16:53:00.001-08:00

The olde saying that time waits for no one is oh so true......I can't believe that Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner. Where has the year gone? I am sure you all know that my designs have become few and far between ever since I started working a full time job but lately I have been itching to get creative. I am so pleased with this wonderful soap my sister, my mom and I made. It's pure GOAT'S MILK SOAP. It's all natural and unscented. I made this soap with the intention of using it other than just decorating with it. I use this soap all over including my face and it makes my skin feel so soft without irritating my eyes. I am offering small bars for $2.00 ea. plus shipping

My other offering is this sweet little mouse tucked in an olde baby shoe. His face has been hand stitched and he has little bead eyes. He is $16.95 plus shipping. I hope to have some more new creations now that the weather is turning cool and I am settling in for the winter. I hope you all are having a wonderful week.

Blessings,

Jill

Preparing for Halloween

2009-10-29T19:26:00.001-07:00

Halloween has finally arrived..........I so love this holiday and all it entails. I am preparing for our Halloween party this weekend. I have trays of appetizers prepped and some not so appetizing props ready to scare some folks. Tomorrow we our dressing up at work as the local schools bring the kiddies on buses to trick or treat at the business's in town. I hope you all have a ghoulish good time this weekend!

Pumpkin Cheese Ball

2009-10-04T12:09:00.000-07:00

I have so enjoyed this Sunday..........the weather has been divine. I made this cute little pumpkin shaped cheese ball for a church service today. I got the recipe from Taste of Home. Hope you all are enjoying this blessed day. Thank you to everyone who commented on my house photos..............you are all too kind!

20 Servings
Prep: 20 min. + chilling
Ingredients
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 carton (8 ounces) spreadable chive and onion cream cheese
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 celery rib or broccoli stalk
Sliced apples and assorted crackers
Directions
In a small bowl, beat cream cheeses until smooth. Stir in the cheddar cheese, paprika and cayenne. Shape into a ball; wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 4 hours or until firm.
With a knife, add vertical lines to the cheese ball to resemble a pumpkin; insert a celery rib or broccoli stalk for the stem. Serve with apples and crackers. Yield: 2-1/2 cups.

Note: I changed the recipe and added 2 t. of Bacon Salt instead of the Paprika and I added 1/2 t. of Paprika instead of the cayenne.............It was yummy!

My Humble Abode

2009-09-28T16:41:00.000-07:00

I finally took some photos of my humble little house. It's less than 1,000 square feet and filled to the brim with treasured antiques. I am slowly as my pocketbook allows completing my home. I am still lacking my kitchen cabinets, a front porch and some of my trim. The good Lord has blessed me to come as far as I have with it.
I apologize for my random postings, work has been hectic. I wish I could comment back to each and every person that post but my schedule does not allow it. Hope you all enjoy these photos of my home.
Blessings,
Jill

The Bedroom
My antique dresser and some treasures finds

Little Hutch in the hallway filled with laundry goods

My kitchen sink that I restored Click on link to see it's original state http://thefruitofherhandstudio.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-04-20T21%3A34%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=7

My make do island.................until my daddy makes mine

Kitchen Table

Items Added to Website

2009-09-03T15:17:00.001-07:00

Greetings everyone, I have added these two wonderful old dresses to my website for sale. They were part of my collection and I just haven't been able to find a place for them. I am still getting my house in order and even sat down to the sewing machine last night to sew. It's been awhile since I have actually had time. I want to wish you all a wonderful safe Labor Day weekend. I am off work Fri-Mon and I am really looking forward to having some time to create.

Blessings,

Jill

A Sneak Peek

2009-08-19T15:34:00.001-07:00

I am in the process of moving in the house and getting everything situated. It is a difficult process trying to move and work full time. Needless to say I never realized that I had so much stuff! Sadly, I still have boxes of things that haven't been unpacked. I also have more things to move.............Lordy will I ever get done? I am very pleased at how the place is shaping up........it's everything I hoped for and more. May you all have a blessed evening.

Jill

Primitive Spice Jars

2009-08-01T20:49:00.000-07:00

I just finished these new prim spice jars. I will be offering these on my website. I am selling them in a set of 4. They are for decorative purposes only.
Set of 4 Parsley, Thyme, Oregano and Rosemary $12.00
Hope you are all having a blessed Monday,
Jill

Moving...................

2009-07-29T13:26:00.000-07:00

Wow, I didn't realize how long it had been since my last post! I was smack in the middle of moving into the new home when I came down with a nasty stomach virus. Needless to say it stopped me in my tracks. I missed work yesterday and was only able to stay a half of a day today. I will have some updated pics of the house very soon.................everything is coming together and I just like the finishing touches. Such as the front porch, trim, cabinets and so on. Hope you all have a blessed day.
Jill

A Bountiful Harvest

2009-07-07T17:41:00.001-07:00

Giving Thanks to God Almighty for a Bountiful Harvest.

A Bee's Life

2009-06-27T07:28:00.000-07:00

Here are some updated pics of the Bees and the work they have done!

Filling up their feeder with syrup
Preparing the smoker

I was the smoker/ photographer .......lol

The bees already have comb on 4 frames!

These guys are hard workers!

In the right hand corner you can see some honey they have capped!

Well folks, it's been another busy hectic work week. I am putting the finishing touches on a large wholesale order and hope to begin making some new creations. As for this weekend their is lots to do......I plan on doing some major cleaning and packing up some stuff not used very often in plastic totes. Wow I never realized how many kitchen gadgets and appliances I have! For those of you whom asked about the walls in my new house this is what we did. We used pine 3/4" thick sheeting boards. We nailed them up and stained it Early American. We did the same thing on the ceiling. This wood is very inexpensive and you don't even have to sand it. The best thing of all is we have the cistern complete and we got lots of rain yesterday from a storm. So we now have running water in the house!

Hope you all enjoyed the pics of the bees and hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Blessings,

Jill

Long Over Due House Update

2009-06-20T20:41:00.000-07:00

Well folks it's sure been awhile since my last update. Life has been so hectic between work and the house. I took several pics of the progress we have made..........hope you enjoy them. Blessings to all & a Happy Father's Day to all the Daddy's. We are celebrating for our daddy by getting his fav.......KFC.
Jill

The beginnings of the cistern, when complete it will hold approx. 2,000 gallons of water!

The bedroom

Bedroom

Bedroom ceiling

Pedestal Sink (a giveaway from a cousin)

Bathroom

Bathroom window and tub

Hallway

Where has the time gone?

2009-06-13T09:47:00.001-07:00

Is it just me or is this year flying by? I have had so much going on this week I haven't had time to sit down. I miss checking up on all your alls wonderful blogs. It felt so good to be out in the workshop today with the sun shining in and working away on orders. Especially after being in a office all week. Working an office job has really made me miss being at home and creating and working on my terms and my time. But with today's economy lots of folks are working two jobs to make ends meet.
The house is coming along wonderfully, we are currently still working on the cistern. I am hoping for a August or September move. Keep your fingers crossed for me :) I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.............it's back to sewing for me!
Blessings,
Jill

Man's Second Best Friend

2009-05-26T15:40:00.000-07:00

For the longest time I have wanted a goat. I have admired them on blogs, neigbors farms and magazines. Then I got to hankering to make goat's milk soap. A neighbor gave me this wonderful Nubian cross goat named Licorice. She is a delight! I never knew a goat could be such a loving companion. Licorice is so clever and nosy. I plan on getting her a companion soon.

I enjoyed the weekend and had three days off. We grilled out and celebrated my mom's 60th birthday.

I hope you all had a wonderful Tuesday.

Blessings,

Jill

The Bee Finale

2009-05-17T18:23:00.000-07:00

Here are the photos from the bee finale. After the flooding went down I took the bees to the new homestead. Unfortunately I was at work when the bees got put in the box. However my sister took these photos. The bees are now in their box and working away. My daddy is their beekeeper. He loves to sit and watch them in the morning. They sure are fascinating little creatures and best of all no one got stung! Now all we have to do is wait for the sweet honey we will be able to collect next year.

The new job is going well, I have been there two weeks and have adjusted to the early morning schedule. Lol, I don't feel as zapped in the evening as I did when I first started. We have the bedroom and bathroom almost done in the house and will be moving on to getting water. We will be installing an old fashioned off the grid water source called a Cistern. If you are not familiar with this it's pretty simple. Rain water runs from the house gutters underground and into a water tank. It's runs through a filter so everything is nice and clean. I hope to eventually drill a well (I can't get city water where I am building) but for now this will be my water source. I will be taking photos this week of all the house progress. Blessings, Jill

A Bee Dilemma

2009-05-09T12:38:00.001-07:00

The Bees
Some curious bees from the neighborhood
The bees arrived this morning, they were late getting here for some odd reason. I was expecting them yesterday. We have had severe flooding in our area. The problem is that I cannot get to the new homestead where the bee boxes are! So I have to try to keep them here and feed them until the water goes down. As soon as I got them this morning I sprayed them with water and the sugar syrup. I checked and made sure the queen was alive and she is. They are fascinating to watch. The neighborhood bees are wanting to join the party and are swarming around the box. I hope you are all having a great weekend and I will keep you guys updated on the bees.
Blessings,
Jill

Updates & Crock Pot Hamburger Steak Recipe

2009-05-07T15:30:00.000-07:00

There's been so much going on in my crazy life I don't know where to start! For starters the bees are coming tomorrow! Too bad it is giving rain, so we will probably hold off putting them in the hive until Sat. I hope to get lots of pics. The house is coming along great.
I now have a great deal of empathy for you working moms and women. Monday I started a new full time job at a local law office as a file clerk. It has been a huge system shock for me as I am not a morning person and have been getting up at 6:20 am for work. When I get home I am so tired that I don't want to do anything let alone sew. I am hoping work will get easier because it is stressing me out learning their filing system. I hope it works out and I am going to try to at least commit a month to it. I managed to go to Curves today as I haven't been all week. I was naughty last month and gained a few pounds...........lol
Several of you requested the recipe to my hamburger crock pot steak I mentioned in a previous post. Below are the directions. Keep in mind it's not an exact recipe.
Blessings,
Jill

Crock pot Hamburger Steak

I take about 2 to 2 1/2 pounds of ground beef, I mix with it salt, pepper, 1 egg, worshtershire sauce and enough bread crumbs to bind it. Form the mixture into relatively close sized hamburger patties. Roll each patty in flour and brown on both sides in a skillet. Place the hamburgers in a crock pot and set aside. To make the gravy I use two packages of brown gravy mix and follow the directions. Pour the gravy over the steaks and turn on low for about 6 to 8 hours or until the hamburgers are tender. If you gravy gets too thick just add a little water or broth, if its to thin for your liking add a cornstarch thickener. I hope you enjoy these, they are one of my family favorites.

A Welcome Surprise

2009-04-24T09:52:00.000-07:00

I went to the barn to discover my stray chicken is sitting on eggs! What a welcome surprise. For some odd reason she prefers the comforts of my barn and the companionship of Clover my pig to her former home (my neighbors). I hope she has lots of little baby chicks.

Kissy went today to be spayed, she is out of surgery and all went well. I will be going to pick her up soon. I will keep you all updated on the bees! I am nervous and excited at the same time. The bee box still has not arrived. Which is making me worried the bees will arrive before the box. I am hoping that is not the case.

The house is coming along nicely and I will have new pics very soon. There's hamburger steak and gravy simmering in the crock pot and buttermilk biscuits and potatoes to come later. The freshly laundered quilts are flapping in the breeze, it's truly a lovely "summerish" day.

Blessings to all!

Jill

The Bees are Coming!

2009-04-20T21:34:00.000-07:00

For a long while now I have been toying with the idea of keeping bees. After watching the movie Secret Life of Bees, then I really wanted to give it a try. So today I finally took the plunge and ordered all the necessary equipment and the bees. They will be arriving May 6 th. I have no idea how to begin the new hive so we enlisted a local bee keeper who we know. We need all the help we can get! I have also been told we will not get any honey the first year because the bees need it to survive the winter. Which is a little disappointing, but good things comes to those who wait. Hope you all are having a blessed week.
Jill

House Updates and Easter

2009-04-13T21:15:00.001-07:00

Old sink I found at a antique shop
Pics of the bedroom and bedroom closet

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter! We sure did, we had church service on the family cemetery. The weather was spectacular and we had a huge dinner afterwards. The above pic is of the bunny cakes I made. We had so many different and yummy foods it was overwhelming!

Now on to house updates............we have electricity and have been working away. I am so excited to see how its turning. Above are a few pics..... I found the old sink and paid $25 bucks for it! I will be using the sink part not the old metal cabinet in my kitchen. It will most likely need a new faucet but other than that its in perfect condition. Hope you all had a wonderful day.

Blessings,

Jill

Tuesday Morning Blues

2009-04-07T10:28:00.000-07:00

What do you do when it's cold and dreary out? Take a nap of coarse! My doggies have sleep all day while I have went to and fro through the house sewing, cleaning, painting, and stuffing. Lol, I usually have ten different things going on at once. My mom has a picture of me when I was young, I had fell asleep in the floor with about 20 story books scattered around me. That is me to a tee, I can never be satisfied with one task at a time. I love to multi task. Hope you are having a productive day :)
Blessings,
Jill

Odee
Kissy (lol I have no idea why her eye looks deformed in this pic, it's really not)

And last but not least Daisy!

Spring is Just around the Corner

2009-03-31T15:02:00.001-07:00

And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.Genesis 1:10-12

It continues to rain here in Ky. The grass is springing from the ground and is lush and green. The little birdies are working hard building their nest. The tansy and lilies are stretching their necks toward the sun after a long rest. Spring is by far my favorite season. How can one go outside in the spring and not be instantly uplifted and happy?

Things are busy here, my mom and dad's living room ceiling fell through after all the rain and high winds we have had. My sister and I have been helping with the cleanup. I have been working on new creations for spring as well as some old favorites. I will be listing one Ebay for the next several days. I will be offering some new designs as well as patterns and maybe some fabric. If you would like to see what I have to offer the link to my Ebay items is at the bottom of this page. Wishing you all a wonderful evening!

Jill

New Offerings for March & a Great Find

2009-03-25T16:58:00.001-07:00

Bunny Made by a Sweet Pea's Primitives Pattern
New Original Design Carrots w/ Sweet Annie Tops

Little Black Hutch

Thank you all so much again for your wonderful comments left on my previous post about the pattern. I received several emails from fellow artist who went through the same ordeal with the same designer, I am glad to know that I am not alone in this....................Onto a happier topic! I will be offering the above gathering on ebay. I made the rabbit using a wonderful Sweet Pea's Primitives Pattern. The carrots are a original design and have been needle sculpted with sweet annie tops. I will also be offering the carrots in sets of three along with the rabbit on my website. I found this wonderful little hutch at a antique shop. Not sure where it will go in the new house, so I am temporarily storing it in the workshop. I think it will wonderful in the new house! Hope you all are having a great day. It's raining here in Kentucky :)

Blessings,

Jill

Update on Pattern Mess

2009-03-24T11:15:00.000-07:00

Many of you suggested that I contact Netty herself, I hadn't gotten around to it but she emailed me today. Below is a copy of the email I received from her today and my reply to it. She felt I did not tell the whole truth in the matter. I disagree. She says as many items can be made as you'd like from her patterns, however that is not what the gentleman stated that contacted me. As for the santa pattern she is referring to, a couple santa face images are included. How could one make mutiple santas with only a couple faces? At any rate this is not a matter of whom is right and whom is wrong. Like I said before it would have been a common courtesy from artist to artist if she'd simply spoken to me on this matter. Here are the emails and you may decide for yourselves.
Blessings,
Jill

jill, for a girl of faith, one of Gods commandments is that one should not take thy neighbors goods. I never said that all anyone can make is one doll, thousands of them have been made and sold, all i ever said is that people do not sell my patterns on ebay and do not copy the photos of the paper faces from the kits and resell them. you forgot to mention that you were making the santa faces from the originals,if i had emailed everybody and aked them if they were doing this , do you think that they would tell me? look at google and you will see how many people use my name, and i don't get paid for it,regards netty

I certainly understand NOW that the Santa faces were not to be copied........even though I mentioned your name when I copied them. I know for a fact several of my customers ordered your Santa pattern after seeing how I made them into ornaments. Nevertheless I would have certainly appreciated to have received an email from you personally asking me to remove the infringing items. Like I said I had no idea this was not allowed. I did not appreciate being "tricked". A simple please remove the infringing items would have done the trick. I do consider myself "a person of the faith" and would never knowingly take someone's goods. But the bible also says if you have alt against your brother to talk it over with them first. In conclusion, I sincerely do apologize if I violated your copyright, you will be happy to know I will no longer be making or buying your patterns. And the man whom emailed did state the patterns were sold with the intention that one was only going to be made. In the future you may want to consider speaking with folks in person rather than going through another party. Here is his exact quote from the email "Her patterns are designed for use by a doll maker. One time. "

Thank you for your time and I will be posting a copy of your email on my blog for my readers to decide for themselves.
Blessings,
Jill

It's One of Those Days

2009-03-23T12:58:00.001-07:00

My sister's cow Chance!

It's sure a lovely day here in Kentucky! However seems I just feel all "blah" today. Or maybe I just have the "lazies" as I call it. The grass is popping up at the new house, which is a good sign. The dirt is very poor so I was afraid that it would not sprout. We are still patiently awaiting the electric company's arrival. I am so anxious to get the electric on, hardly anything can be done until then. From the kitchen there is hamburger steak and gravy with mashed potatoes and buttermilk biscuits. Hope you are all being more productive than I today.

Blessings,

Jill

Thanks for the Comments & a CURVES update!

2009-03-19T14:29:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much everyone for the comments and advice. I would like to say I don't in any way hold this against N.LaCroix as a person. It's nothing personal at all. If this were the first time I would have probably contacted her. But honestly it's just not worth all the hassle. A couple years ago I had something similar happen with another one of her patterns. However I was asked to remove the item, not tricked and I do so. But this is just the last straw, fake or not making and selling her items are just not worth it to me. There are too many awesome pattern designers that don't have so many strings attached. AGAIN It's NOTHING PERSONAL AGAINST HER!
On another happier note I have been going to CURVES for a month now and today was weigh in and measure time. I had only lost one pound but I lost .75 inches from my bust, 1 inch from my hips, 2 inches from my thighs and 1 inch from my arms. For a total of 4.75 inches and my body fat went down 2.75 percent. Pretty cool when I haven't changed my diet really at all. Actually I have been very bad on my eating. Wow, if I actually watched what I ate I may could lose some serious weight.
Blessings to you all,
Jill

BEWARE if You Purchase THESE PATTERNS!

2009-03-19T10:35:00.000-07:00

I debated about whether or not to post this but I decided everyone should know and I wanted to warn you guys before you purchase a N.LaCroix pattern. For starters I have purchased her patterns for years and I made the items and sold them on my website for profit. Did you know her patterns are supposedly copyrighted to only produce one item?? WHO BUYS A PATTERN TO ONLY MAKE ONE TIME?? Well, I didn't know that either and her patterns do not say so. I was under the impression as long as I gave her credit and didn't mass produce it was fine. Apparently I was wrong. Here is a copy of the email I received and a copy of my response. I will explain afterwards............
Hello,My name is David Cole and I manage an extensive inventory of Netty Lacroix products. I have recently found your website and decided to enquire regarding your production capabilities. I am particularly interested in the SANTA ORNIES and wanted to know if they are available in quantity.Thank you very much.

Hi, Thank you for your interest. I don't have any in stock at this time. However anything small such as ornaments I can produce rather quickly. Items such as my dolls with clothing take a little longer. I have attached a link to my wholesale site. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Blessings,
Jill

As you can see I received an email which I thought was someone interested in purchasing my items wholesale. Boy was I wrong! Here is his response........

Hello,This is formal legal notice to cease using Netty Lacroix's name and/or any derivations of her name.I see that you have several products associated with her name. It is also apparent that you are infringing on her copyright by making multiple copies of her images. Cease copying, advertizing and selling the N.Lacroix santa images. Remove her name from the website until you can compensate her for the use. Her patterns are designed for use by a doll maker. One time. What is happening is they are being duplicated, electronically, so that others make an unintended profit. Thank you for your cooperation.David Cole

If I was violating any copyright I totally did not do it intentionally. Why not just email me and ASK me to remove the infringing merchandise?? Instead I was tricked into thinking this person was interested in ordering. At any rate I removed ALL merchandise from both of my websites that are in any ways associated with the N.LaCroix name. And any one interested in buying my patterns I would be happy to sell them, just leave me a comment if you are interested. In conclusion, I have had no contact with N.LaCroix herself this all happened through the person apparently working for her.
Blessings,
Jill

Where did the warm weather go?

2009-03-14T17:04:00.000-07:00

New Green Tomato Jam Can
Mom's Dried Parsnips

Fabric Covered Journals

Unfortunately the warm weather left and we got about 5 inches of snow Thursday night. It melted very fast however and I was able to go to Curves. After Curves my sister and I went to the movies to watch The Last House on the Left. Boy did it ever keep you on the edge of your seat! Today it's raining cats and dogs. I have been out in the workshop organizing and working on a few things. My mom made these awesome dried parsnips, I added the green tops and the tag. I will be offering them on Simply Primitives. I also made these fabric covered journals for a wholesale order. Lastly I made this new can. I just loved the size of the can and thought the shape suited the label well! From the kitchen there is Paula Deen's goulash and Pioneer Woman's awesome cheese bread. What a yummy fare for this rainy day.

For a house update, the inspection went well. We were approved and the electricity will be turned on hopefully this coming week :) Thanks so much to EVERYONE whom commented on my house...........I sure do appreciate the support!

Blessings to you all,

Jill

New Bottle Dolls

2009-03-10T18:23:00.001-07:00

Things are moving along smoothly on wiring the house. We are hoping that we will be able to call Thursday for an inspection! I have to get my butt to Curves tomorrow because I haven't been any this week. I have been so busy running back and forth and today I had a hair app. I managed to actually craft something new the other night, I made two bottle dolls. These were fun to make and pretty easy. I will be offering them on Simply Primitives and I will be offering them wholesale as well. Hope you all had a wonderful day.

Long Over Due House Update

2009-03-08T16:23:00.000-07:00

With the warm weather and abundant sunshine Dad and I have been back to work on the house. We worked Friday and Saturday on getting it wired and ready to be inspected for the electricity to be turned on. This is the front of my house which will eventually have a porch across the entire length of the front and the door will be red to match the roof. Today after church I sowed some grass seed, however it was so windy I think most of it blew away! Tomorrow we will be working again on the wiring. I am so excited to get the electric on! Hope you all had a wonderful Sunday.

Blessings,

Jill

Old Fashioned Chocolate Pies

2009-03-05T19:01:00.001-08:00

Today was a glorious day! Temps were in the upper 60's and it felt so good for the warm sun to wash over my skin. I spent the day running errands when I had rather been scrathing around in the dirt or spring cleaning. But these ordinary dull things must be done as we all know. This evening I made one of my favorite pies. This recipe is one of those that I don't know where it came from orginally. Before I left my parent's home I copied down several of my mom's recipes and this is one of them. This pie is simple and delicious. Here is the link to the pie crust recipe I love http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/12/p-p-p-pie_crust_and_its_p-p-p-perfect/

Old Fashioned Chocolate Pies

4 egg yolks (reserve whites for meringue)

4 cups whole milk

2 cups sugar

4 T. cocoa

9 T. Flour

2 t. vanilla

Combine dry ingredients, beat yolks with milk. Combine dry ingredients with wet in a heavy cooker. Cook over med. high heat until thick, and until it coats the back of the spoon. Turn heat off and add vanilla. Pour into two baked crust. Add meringue and bake at 350 until golden.

Can you believe it's March already?

2009-03-01T10:56:00.000-08:00

Is it just me or is this year flying by? What happened to January and February? March came to Kentucky here today bringing a little ice and snow. I am so ready for spring and it seems this winter has been the longest ever. I guess because I am so excited about getting the electric on at the house and finishing the inside. I have purchased several lights for the inside and I am so ready to start decorating. What a blessing it would be to be able to move in this summer and spend the winter in my cozy little home on the hill. Lol, a girl can dream right?
Curves went great last week. I am slightly sore because I was in a hurry Friday and didn't stretch afterwards. I am feeling it now. So far I really like it. Hope you all had a wonderful week!
Blessings,
Jill

New Sheep

2009-02-23T10:01:00.001-08:00

We are back to chilly temps here in Kentucky! I have been busy filling a few orders. I made this sheep using a wonderful Kentucky Primitives pattern.
On another note I joined CURVES this past Friday. Boy was I shocked to see the weight I had put on. Lol, I had no idea I weighed that much. I never weigh myself and rarely ever look in the mirror unless its to put my makeup on. But at any rate I have really packed on the pounds. I am not going on a diet, I am hoping that the exercise three times a week and cutting back on mountain dew will help me to shed some pounds. Wish me luck............has anyone else ever done Curves?
Wishing everyone a blessed Monday,
Jill

A Relaxing Sunday

2009-02-15T13:44:00.001-08:00

Old Jar Full of Dried Beans
Old Tin Can with Label

Hand-Sewn Sock Doll

Today started out on a bum note, I overslept and missed church. As I am sure you all know that really puts a damper on a Sunday. However I have made the most of the day and tided up the house. Here are the new items I am offering on Simply Primitives, there are lots of wonderful artist on here. The sock doll was made when the lights were out, it had been a really long time since I had hand-sewn a doll's dress. Actually when I first started sewing dolls I did them all by hand. Lol, that is until I discovered my mom's sewing machine. Hope you all had a blessed Sunday.

Jill

Plenty to do and So Little Time

2009-02-13T12:20:00.000-08:00

Boy oh boy, mother nature sure has hit Kentucky hard. Yesterday we got some 75 mile an hour winds and tornado warnings. Some local buildings had their roofs torn off and some structural damage. Their were no serious injuries however. I am sure this is a busy time of year for everyone with TAXES coming up. I am excited to begin working on my house again very soon. The driveway has been so muddy we were unable to get to the house! Hopefully I will have a new update soon. Hope you all have a wonderful Valentines Day with your loved ones. The hubs and I are planning to go tonight to see Friday 13th at the movies. We both LOVE a good scary movie. Lol, neither of us are the romantic movie type!

Blessings,

Jill

I'm Back

2009-02-06T09:53:00.001-08:00

Ice on My Spring Wreath
My Corkscrew Willow Tree full of Ice

The Barn

I am sure everyone has heard about the massive storm that hit Kentucky, as well as other states. The ice started pour down on Monday night but I had no idea what would follow the next day. On Tuesday we lost power, I was prepared with lots of bottled water and canned foods. I stuck my head out the back door on Tuesday night, the sound of trees breaking and snapping was such an ominous sound. You could hear them from far distances as well as close by. The next morning almost no one had power and it looked literally like a tornado blew threw. Trees and lines and electric poles down everywhere. On day two with no electric my MIL was lucky enough to have her electric on. So I went to her house to get a hot shower. The worst part of this whole ordeal was having to heat with a kerosene heater. The fumes were almost unbearable, we had to open a window to let fresh air in, even though it was in the teens outside. On day three or so I was starting to run out things, I had fixed soup on top on my kerosene heater and most of the things had ruined in my fridge. So I had to eat out a few times at the few places that were serving food. They were packed with long lines. We were lucky with one thing and that was that we had county water, most people who had wells had no water with no electric. They had to get water from creeks and streams just to flush their toilets. The nights were the hardest because I am a night person, but with no electric their isn't much you can see to do. Not to mention I was home alone mostly the whole time. That made it even more boring! I tried to busy myself of the day with some hand sewing and so on. I actually made a little sock doll and some stitched pillows. By day four my mom and sister had electric, so I went for another hot shower and checked my email. FINALLY on day five our electric came back on, I jumped up with glee when it came back on! Geeeeez I guess I am a little addicted to it. I like making early primitives items but I don't think I am cut out to actually live in the time. There are still people as of today that do not have electric so we are the lucky ones. I have spent the whole week trying to restock the fridge and wash the huge mountain of laundry.

Hope you all have a blessed day.

Jill

Ice Storm

2009-01-31T14:04:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note to let everyone know we have had a huge ice storm here in Kentucky. Today makes day five with no power! I am using my sister's computer, whom just got power herself yesterday. I just wanted to let everyone know I will process all your orders and get started on them as soon as the power is restored. Many Blessings,
Jill

Garden Tea Cottage

2009-01-23T18:20:00.000-08:00

My mom, my three sisters, my niece and I had a day out at this wonderful place in our town. The name of it is the Garden Tea Cottage. I had a yummy bowl of chili and a slice of Oatmeal Cake. Everything was so yummy! If you are ever through Salyersville, Kentucky make sure you stop in and see Debbie. She also has a primitive shop right beside the Garden Tea Cottage. It's called The Keeping Room, she carries lots of primitives and handmades.

We had a wonderful warm sunny day here..........this kind of weather makes me long for spring. Hope you all had a blessed day.

Jill

Clearing out My Nest

2009-01-22T15:57:00.000-08:00

This time every year I get a yearning to clear out my nest, rearrange and get rid of no longer needed items. However I went about it a little different this year. I have been on a two day cleaning, reorganizing hiatus. I packed away most of my beloved treasures I have picked up over the years, placed them in boxes and stored them in the workshop. Hopefully I will be able to move into the new house this summer or fall. As I look around my home now I left only a few items and things that are used often. I was shocked at how easily and quickly I am able to clean house with less. I laughed out loud when baking bread because I actually had room to prepare the bread. Which is strange for me as I am usually forced to move things around before I can even begin cooking! AHhhhh I am beginning to enjoy this uncluttered life.

Blessings,

Jill

Home Made Doggie Treats

2009-01-15T16:51:00.001-08:00

Boy oh boy is it ever cold out! Temps got down to -2 last night and we are expecting -6 tonight. Hope you guys are staying warm. I wanted to share my recipe for home made dog treats. My oldest dog Daisy has food allergies. When she was little her paws would itch and get red, she would constantly lick them. She also got little knots all over body. I finally figured out it was food allergies. I tried virtually every dog food and nothing helped, I even bought the kind the vet sells. Nothing helped, and Daisy seemed miserable. Thank goodness I finally found a dog food that agrees with her. It's called Nutro Natural Choice, and it sure was a life saver. All three of my doggies eat it and they coats are nice and shiny. I started making these treats because my Daisy can't eat most commercial treats either. Here is my basic recipe!

Home Made Dog Treats

2 cups whole wheat flour

parsley

1 egg

chicken broth

Mix the flour with one egg and a good pinch of parsley (acts as a breath aid) Stir in enough broth to moisten the dough to where it will hold together but not be sticky. Roll dough out on a board sprinkled with cornmeal. Roll to 1/4" thick and cut with cutter. Bake at 350 until brown and crispy. Treats can be stored up to 2 weeks in a zip bag or frozen.

Wash Day

2009-01-14T11:45:00.000-08:00

Once a week I do laundry. Mind you laundry is the one household chore I do not enjoy. I have been reading Forgotten Household Crafts by John Seymour. While doing laundry today I was very surprised by the chapter on washing. Here are some laundry facts you may or may not know.

1. Well into the nineteenth century, linen was bleached using urine, which contains ammonia.

2. Potato grating and rice were boiled down to make starch.

3. The sun was a great bleacher. The linen was laid out on the village "bleaching green" where it was whitened by the sun.

4. The rich, who owned many clothes, employed washer women to come and do their washing once every six weeks in a mammoth washing session that usually lasted four days!

5. The poor whom had only the clothes on their backs washed their clothes before retiring to bed and could only hope they would be dry in the morning.

Lol, I may never complain about doing laundry again!!! Blessings,

Jill

(photo from Forgotten Household Crafts Book)

Rain Rain Go Away

2009-01-10T09:55:00.000-08:00

Spring Onions
Kissy hanging out on the couch

Ahhhhhh it's still raining here in Kentucky. Don't get me wrong I love rain........what I don't love is MUD. Lol, I slid down the hill to the barn and landed flat on my back the other day. No worries, I wasn't injured! I just got a sore back from the deal and I looked mighty goofy covered in mud all down back. I have been doing other things besides sliding around in the mud. I made these onions from a Sassafras Hill Primitives pattern for Simply Primitives this month. Also I tackled a very ambitious (for me) project. I made this reversible smock that Velcros in the back (didn't take a pic). It was challenging for me because I am not a ironing and hemming type of sewer. Over all I was pleased with how it turned out but not so sure I will make another. Unless maybe for gifts. From the kitchen I have a big pot of chicken soup going........some for now and some to freeze (hubby hates soup). Wishing you all a blessed day!

Jill

A Dreary January Day

2009-01-05T16:26:00.000-08:00

Beeswax Snowmen Bowl Fillers (made using a Homespun Heart mold)

Anna (made using a TFC Folk art Pattern)

Real Bird Nest on a Box with Hand-Sculpted Beeswax Eggs

Lard Can

Pickled Pigs Feet Can

It's a dreary, rainy day here today. The weather has turned much cooler and we are expecting up to two inches of rain. I have a big pot of veggie soup bubbling away on the stove. Over the last couple of days I have made many things to offer on the website. I don't know about you guys but in my workshop I have a old metal basket and all the bodies and projects that get pushed aside end up in this basket. When business is slow (like now) I like to finish things from this basket. It drives me nuts to have unfinished things lying around, but when orders come these things must wait. Have a blessed evening!

Jill

Country Fare

2009-01-03T16:40:00.000-08:00

I spent most of my Saturday in the kitchen preparing my contributions to the meal for today's church service. The recipe for the shepherd's pie and the bread came from my new favorite magazine, Hobby Farms. Lol, I don't have a farm but when I make the move to the house I would love to raise chickens and goats and be more self-sufficient! I have so many plans for that little homestead! I hope you enjoy these recipes and hope you all have a blessed Sunday.

Jill

Shepherd's Pie

4 to 5 lg. potatoes, prepared as mashed potatoes

3/4 pound ground beef

1 med. onion, chopped

1/2 to 1 T. Olive Oil

3 lg. cloves of garlic, chopped

1 c. frozen whole kernel corn

paprika

Prepare mashed potatoes according to your favorite recipe.

Warm the olive oil in a large frying pan and saute' onions and garlic over med. heat until translucent, about 2-4 min. Add ground beef and cook until done. Turn meat into med. sized casserole dish. Spread mashed potatoes over all, to edges of the dish to seal. Sprinkle with paprika.

Bake at 350 for 25 to 30 min. until edges start to turn brown.

Serves 4

Hearty English Muffin Bread

Shaker Pound Cake

1/2 c. shortening

1 c. butter
3 c. granulated sugar

5 eggs, separated

3 c. all purpose flour

1 t. baking powder

1 c. milk

2 t. vanilla

With electric mixer cream butter, shortening and sugar until fluffy. Add egg yolks one at a time. Sift flour with baking powder and add alternately with milk to batter. Add vanilla. Beat egg whites stiff and fold into batter. Bake in a greased and floured bundt or angel food cake pan at 325 for one and one-half hours. Time may vary according to your oven.

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T15:21:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to wish everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR! We had church last night, we had a wonderful church service with guest preachers, lots of food and some new faces. We rang in the new year singing Precious Memories. Today my dad cooked us an old fashioned breakfast on his wood burning cook stove. We had gravy, biscuits, fried cured ham and fried eggs. It was sure a yummy meal. Hope you all had a wonderful day. I only made one New Year's Resolution and that was to start getting up earlier. Lol, I tend to stay up to the wee hours of the morning and then sleep half the day away the following day.

Blessings,

Jill

Clearance Shopping

2008-12-30T18:30:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to let everyone in on a wonderful sale Gooseberry Patch are having. They have pages and pages of markdowns. I stocked up wonderful items for gifts and 40 every occasion card set.
Blessings,
Jill
http://www2.gooseberrypatch.com/gooseberry/products.nsf/f.categorysearch?openform&definedsearch=sale::linkloc=epush&CMP=EMC-20081230

A Dog's Life

2008-12-29T15:17:00.001-08:00

Boston Terrier's are Like Potato Chips, You can Never have Just One!

From Left to Right.............Odee 4, Daisy 8 & Kissy 1

Hope you have all had a Blessed Day!

Jill

It Feels Like Spring

2008-12-28T15:46:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we had temps in the 70's here in eastern Kentucky! It felt so nice I opened my doors and did a little spring cleaning. I am hoping to tackle the "junk room" tomorrow. I was in such a springy mood I made this rabbit on a candle holder.
Today it's slightly cooler but still really nice out. I fixed a yummy supper of Turkey, mashed taters, fried corn, stuffing and gravy. I also made this yummy cake........hope you enjoy the recipe. Blessings,
Jill

Vanilla Wafer Cake

1 (12 ounce) box vanilla wafers, crushed

1 cup margarine, softened

1-1/2 cups chopped pecans

2 cups sugar

1/3 cup milk

6 eggs

1 (3 1/2 ounce can) flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 300. In a large bowl combine all ingredients, mix thoroughly. Spoon batter into a well greased 10 inch tube pan. Bake 1-1/2 hours or until done. Let cool 10 min. in the pan, invert onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. I served mine with fresh whipped cream.

Christmas Has Come and Gone

2008-12-26T17:46:00.001-08:00

Is it just me or did Thanksgiving and Christmas just seem to fly by. It was all gone before I knew it. All that is left today is the putting away of Christmas decorations, taking out the trash full of wrapping and doing laundry that accumulated during the festivities. Normally I leave my tree up until the first of the year. But it is so warm out today.....68 degrees......a Christmas tree light up and sparkly just feels off in this weather. We are supposed to reach the upper 70's tomorrow. I spent the day doing errands and packing up my special little ornaments I have collected over the years. I saved all my tissue from gift bags for packaging and I always save the gift bags that I receive gifts in.........well if they are really nice ones and I reuse them next year with a new name tag. We were blessed with good food and wonderful gifts this year...........sadly no snow though. My mom and dad gifted all of us with a platter of yummy candies of every kind. All home made! I just love those kinds of gifts. I made some more quilt candle mats to give to my family as gifts. I hope you all had a wonderful Merry Christmas........forgive me for not being able to tell each and every one of you in person.
Jill

A Busy Time

2008-12-23T14:33:00.001-08:00

It's so hard to believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I think I can finally relax, I am done Christmas shopping and I have all my orders out that were supposed to arrive by Christmas. I have a few more gifts to wrap and a few dishes to make for our holiday gatherings. Tomorrow we open gifts at Mom and Dad's and Christmas day we will have dinner at Mom and Dad's. I found a bag full of old quilt squares at a antique shop and I made several candle mats with them. I just love the colors in this one.

As you can see Kissy is adjusting well to her new home. Daisy and Odee have accepted her too!

Winter Time

2008-12-13T09:50:00.000-08:00

It's a cold Saturday morn here in Kentucky. We got about 4 inches of snow and it is beautiful outside. I have been busy working on new creations for Simply Primitives. I must say nothing gives me more pleasure than to be nestled inside my little warm home with my doggies while I sew away. I am looking forward to getting all my orders done this coming week and taking some time to do nothing...........which for me usually doesn't happen. Some extra time to clean out my "junk room" and to clean my workshop is much needed. Hmmmm Can you believe we need to start thinking of spring creations? My car has been mended thanks to my dad and brother in law.......whom are mechanically gifted. My wisdom tooth has ceased bothering me as much, I am hoping and praying I can wait until after the holidays to have it cut out. Especially because the hubby and I are both self employed and do not have dental insurance.......Ouch!

New Santa Orn............Don't you love his face? It was sculpted by Sharon of Homespun Heart Primitives.

New Mousie in a Old Shoe

A Quick Update

2008-12-10T11:35:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! I haven't fell off the face of the earth, I have just been super busy. On top of having lots of orders to get out for Christmas I have a impacted wisdom tooth...........yes it's ouchy! And my car is in the shop! Wow, what timing! Hope you are all enjoying this wonderful holiday season.
God Bless,
Jill

DRAwING WINNER IS...................

2008-12-02T10:21:00.000-08:00

CONGRATULATIONS TO Mary Isabella and Kiley too!
Blessings,
Jill

Just a Reminder!

2008-11-30T11:33:00.000-08:00

Did you guys have a nice Thanksgiving? We sure did, we all ate way too much and played Charades Thanksgiving night. Today we had a lovely church service. It's raining cats and dogs outside and I am going relax and watch a movie. Tonight I will be preparing everything for the ONLINE BLOG OPEN HOUSE. I have to take all the pics and so on. I hope you guys can all come, I can't wait to see who wins the door prize............and I can't wait to show it to you guys. Here's a couple of hints...........it was made from a Sweet Meadow's Farm pattern, it is wool and it hangs! Hope you all have a blessed Sunday. The open house will be tomorrow 6 pm - 12pm est.

Jill

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T20:26:00.001-08:00

I wanted to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all eat lots and are in good company with your loved ones. I will be eating Thanksgiving dinner at Mom and Dad's. I wanted to share this sweet picture of Daisy, Santa brought the kids a new bed early for Christmas. They like it but they don't like it near as good as the sofa!

I put the finishing touches on the tree. I decided to use popcorn garland that has been dipped in scented wax. I added all handmade ornaments that I have bought, made, or that a family member has made. I just love this time of year! May God Bless You All.

Jill

Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God:Psalm 147:6-8

An Award!

2008-11-25T08:55:00.000-08:00

Thanks so much to Crystal from http://eweandmecreations.blogspot.com/ from giving me this wonderful award. As for whom to award...............I have no idea! I love all you guys and your wonderful blogs! Have a blessed day! Jill

Colonial Peanut Butter Fudge

2008-11-24T09:31:00.001-08:00

Over the weekend I tried to do a little Christmas decorating. My new tree came that I purchased from QVC. Hubby asked if it was a live tree.............it sure looks live. The tree was pre lit so all I had to do was to fluff it up. Now I need to add my ornaments and garland. I am not sure what kind of garland I will do this year. I also made this yummy no cook fudge. The recipe is below and came from Cooks.com Hope you enjoy it! Blessings, Jill

Colonial Peanut Butter Fudge
4 c. Powdered Sugar, 1/4 t. salt, 1 c. peanut butter, 1/2 c. corn syrup, 1 stick butter, melted, 1 T, vanilla, 1 c. chopped nuts (optional) Mix together and press into a buttered dish; refrigerate.

Cold Winter Night Fare

2008-11-21T18:19:00.000-08:00

It has been snowing here in Kentucky. The weather is chilly and only 15 degrees. I love winter and I love cold weather. I love snuggling up inside with my doggies, a good movie and a bowl of hot soup. There's just something about this time of year that evokes such wonderful feelings. Last night I put lights on my little tree and it puts me in such a holiday mood when stitching. Tonight I made some yummy chicken and rice soup and some Shaker Pumpkin Muffins. The soup was from a mix I had purchased and the Pumpkin Muffins were from a Shaker Cookbook. They are more savory than sweet; they are a perfect bread to eat with soup and other main dishes. Hope you enjoy this recipe.

Shaker Pumpkin Muffins

3/4 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. molasses

1/2 c. soft butter

1 beaten egg

1/4 c. pecans, chopped

1 c. pumpkin (canned or cooked & mashed)

1 t. soda

1/4 t. salt

1 3/4 c. flour

Cream sugar, molasses and butter; add egg and pumpkin and blend well. Mix dry ingredients; beat into pumpkin batter. Fold in pecans. Fill well greased muffin pans about half full with batter; bake at 375 degrees for 20 min. Makes 1 1/4 dozen

(These muffins may be frozen and kept until company comes)

You are Invited!

2008-11-19T18:27:00.001-08:00

I would like to cordially invite you one and all to my very fist ever BLOG OPEN HOUSE! I am so excited about all the wonderful things I will be offering for sale. Their will also be a DRAWING for a door prize. Anyone who post a comment during the blog open house will have their name entered. I will be offering for sale handmade wares and wonderful antiques. The BLOG OPEN HOUSE will take place on December 1st at 6:00 pm - 12:00 pm eastern standard time. May God Bless You All! Jill

Brrrrrrrrrrrr It's Cold

2008-11-18T15:40:00.001-08:00

The weather has suddenly turned VERY cold here in Kentucky! I have been busy finishing up some orders and haven't had time to work on the house. I am amazed at how fast time is flying by. Seems there are never enough hours in the day. I find myself always trying to multi task to get everything done. At this moment I have snicker doodle cookies in the oven and laundry washing. I made this sweet little snow girl today. She is a original design and is made from osnaburg. Hope you are all staying warm and cozy with the ones you love.
Blessings,
Jill

Kissy hanging out in the workshop anxiously awaiting when she can come inside!

Farm-Sittin

2008-11-15T16:25:00.000-08:00

Today has been a cold, blustery, and rainy November day. My sister is gone on vacation this week and my mother and I have been feeding ALL her animals for her. Lol, it is quite a funny site when I drive up to feed them. Needless to say everything comes running ready to eat. Hope you all had a wonderful Saturday :)
Blessings,
Jill

I should have feed the animals then done there photo shoot because they were baaing, mooing, quacking, cackling, meowing, and barking the whole time! Lol, I must say the donkeys are the most patient of all!

A new Addition to the Family

2008-11-13T19:02:00.000-08:00

The opportunity arose out of the blue to adopt this sweet little one year old boston terrier named Kissy. Her owner was no longer able to care for her and we went and picked her up today. I was hesitate about getting another dog.........as you know we have two on the inside and three on the outside. I thought it would be a little hard with the house building going on and all. But hubby was persistent wanting to get her as a future mate to our Odee. To make a long story short we got her home and realized she was in heat! We took her straight to the vet and got all her shots and he told us we had to keep her up for three weeks. She has the sweetest temperament and has fit right in with our little family. She has to stay in my workshop for three weeks and then she will be in the house with us. We are sure blessed to be gifted such a sweet little girl :)

God Bless,

Jill

Open House

2008-11-10T20:58:00.001-08:00

My sister had her open house Saturday at her shop. We had a wonderful turn out and lots of yummy foods. I wanted to share some pics with you guys of the shop all decked out for the holidays. This weekend was a blur, I was so busy I didn't have time to blog. Today I sat around like a bum and did nothing! It felt pretty nice too. Hope you all had a wonderful Monday. God Bless, Jill

Christmas Time is a Comin

2008-11-03T21:45:00.000-08:00

As soon as the Halloween decor is put away and the weather turns cool I always get in the Christmas mood. Last night I turned on my Christmas music in the workshop to set the mood and I began crafting away. My sisters open house is this weekend and I need to get busy if I am going to have any new wares for sale. The top picture is fresh cedar with handmade candy canes. Don't you just love the Merry Christmas ribbon? I got it at my local Dollar General Store! The second picture is of some grubby snowballs I made and a painted wooden breadboard I will be offering. Hope you guys are starting to get in the Christmas mood.

Blessings,

Jill

I've Been Tagged

2008-11-03T07:30:00.000-08:00

Thanks so much to Julie for tagging me! As for seven people to tag back I have no idea...........If you are reading this and haven't already been tagged consider yourself tagged. The rules are to list 7 seven random facts about yourself and tag 7 people. Linking back to the person who tagged you. So here goes................
1. I am a bread addict......I could literally live on bread and mountain dew
2. I met my hubby when I was 15 and he was 19.....we dated all through my high school years and then got married as soon as I got out of school
3. I have been blessed, I couldn't have asked for better parents or a more perfect childhood.
4. My entire family go to the same church.......my mom, dad and three sisters.
5. Lol, I once took karate for about a month........I dropped out because the teacher had me sparring with kids!
6. I have a phobia about driving on high traffic four lane roads.......I avoid them like the plague.
7. Lastly I hate overnight trips............I'd rather be home with my dogs than anywhere in the world!

I will have some house pics hopefully tomorrow! We have the front complete and one end. I am getting ready to go work on it after a run to the post office. I have been so busy this past weekend I barely had time to sit down! Hope you all had a awesome Halloween and didn't eat toooooo much candy. Blessings,
Jill

A Autum Hike

2008-10-29T14:51:00.001-07:00

My sister Cyndi and I went on a hike this afternoon in the hills behind my new house. We spent the day looking for greens to decorate her shop with for open house. The weather was nice and chilly and the trees were magnificent. I can't remember the trees ever being prettier than they have been this year. Hope you guys enjoy these pics!

Carvings on an old oak tree done by my sisters and I over 20 years ago!

My sister's mule loaded down with pine boughs, wild holly and cedar

God Bless,

Jill

Mini Cinnamon Crescents

2008-10-28T17:18:00.001-07:00

The hubby was gone this evening helping a friend with a home project. Generally when I am home alone I feel lazy about cooking. I was craving something cinnamony and sweet so I whipped up a batch of these. They were soooooooo easy to make. Here is the link to the recipe http://www.pillsbury.com/Recipes/ShowRecipe.aspx?rid=15467
I make so many things with crescent rolls...........the possibilities are endless.
Thanks so much to everyone who responded to yesterday's post. I took the day off today as most of my orders are out. It felt nice to just sit around with the doggies. Although I did do some light housework :) We are having very cold weather, we even had some sleet yesterday. So needless to say it has been too cold to work on the house. Temps are fore casted to rise tomorrow so hopefully we will get back to work. Many Blessings to you all on this "winter like" night,
Jill

A Relaxing Sunday

2008-10-26T17:10:00.001-07:00

I wanted to share this pic of one of my favorite treasures. It's a old bible that I picked up on my travels. I actually have several but this is one of my favorites. This is what the inscription says on the tattered cover. "To: Minerva & Hatch From: Father & Mother. Christmas 1922." At the bottom is wrote "God is our refuge and strength. A very present help in trouble." I like to flip through these old bibles and see where the person underlined or turned down a page of that one verse that had a special meaning to them. I like to day dream about where this old book has been and how many lives these words have changed. Who did this book give comfort to when they felt hopeless? But it makes me sad that somewhere along the line this book was discarded and put aside. I would have surely treasured this book even more if it were a family members.
I am enjoying a relaxing Sunday. The hubby is on a ATV ride so I am relaxing watching some old scary movies on tv. My mind has been filled with worries this week........some due to the house building and some other personal things. This has just been one of those weeks where everything has went wrong. I leave you with a few verses from the bible I so need to memorize. Blessings,
Jill
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than the meat, and the body than the raiment? 26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, nethier do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
Matthew 6:25, 26, 27

A Rainy Day in the Workshop

2008-10-24T17:31:00.001-07:00

Today we finally got a good soaking rain that has lasted off and on all day and night. Which meant work on the house came to a halt. I took advantage of the opportunity and worked in the shop all day. I completed some orders and started some new things. Hope you all had a wonderful day! Blessings,
Jill

Odee relaxing in his favorite spot in the workshop

Daisy looking for something to chew on

My new source of heat for the workshop! Works pretty good so far :)

Faux Log Cabin How-To

2008-10-20T18:32:00.001-07:00

I have been getting lots of questions about my siding on the house. I wanted to share with you all how to do it. This is a picture of my workshop it was built about two years ago using the same technique. My genius daddy came up with this idea of how to make my workshop look like a log cabin using inexpensive pine sheeting boards. I have had several people stop and they get out of their vehicles to look and feel to make sure if the "logs" are real or not. Then they always ask "what did you use for the chinking?". I always giggle and say "it's just wood". This is what my daddy came up with; he used 3/4" thick pine sheeting boards. I think we paid like .50 per foot or something like that. He didn't do anything to the wide boards but for the chinking he cut a wide board into strips about 2 1/2 to 3 inches wide. We painted them white with exterior paint. You nail a board up and then a white strip and then a board and so on. I used a high quality outdoor wood stain on the wide boards. I discovered (or really sis and ma did) that if you stain over the white with your wood stain it looks better. Gives it a more aged look, I plan to go back and do this on the workshop. The key is to make sure you use galvanized nails......or your nails will rust and run down your siding! Hope this answered any questions any one may have had about the siding :)

We got the roof on the house today! And just in time as we are fore casted to get lots of rain this weekend. Hope you all had a wonderful day!

Jill

Buried Under a Pile of Work

2008-10-19T17:07:00.001-07:00

Someway or other I have gotten behind in my orders. I guess the long days of working on the house till dark have slowed me down. I came home from church and sewed some dresses while the washer and dryer were going.
The rain came before we got the roof on the house. It was a minimal amount of rain........the floor got wet but no damage was done. Everything is back bone dry today. Daddy did more work with the dozer over the weekend and made more of a backyard and changed the driveway. We will be putting the metal roof on first thing in the morning. Hope you have all had lovely Sunday's.

House Progress

2008-10-15T18:57:00.001-07:00

Boy am I ever tired! We put in some long hours today trying to get the roof ready before it rains. And it sure was HOT! The metal is supposed to be ready tomorrow..........hopefully! Here are some pics I took to update you on the progress.

This will be the bedroom
A work in progress

We got a few runs of siding up...........We did the faux log cabin look just like my workshop

This is a pic of the end of the house coming up the driveway

New Christmas Toy Horse

2008-10-14T20:48:00.001-07:00

I finally finished a new design for Christmas '08. Well it's not completely new........I have made a ornament very similar to this for years. But this is a 9 1/2" tall toy horse I will be offering. I am so excited to be working on Christmas designs.

The house is coming along great...........faster than I could have hoped for. We still have not gotten any rain. The forecast is giving a 50 percent chance Thursday. The very day we are supposed to put the metal on the roof. Hopefully we can get the roof on and then it will rain buckets and buckets!

Blessings,

Jill

Dried Turnips and So on

2008-10-11T19:17:00.000-07:00

Boy did we have a hot day today! Dad, hubby and I worked all day on the house. I can't believe how far along we have gotten.........considering it's pretty much Dad doing all the labor. We have all the inside walls up and the rafters up in the roof. Dad and hubby worked on the rafters in the roof today and it made me nervous just watching them. I hate heights and get weak in the knees if I get up high on a ladder. Hopefully we will get the roof on it next week if all goes well. Then we will have to take off for a few days for Dad to work.
Our county has been declared a state of emergency due to the drought. The newspaper said this is the worst drought since 1897 and the second worst ever in the state's history. Our county is buying water off a neighboring county but their are rumors going around that it is only temporary because they don't have much to spare for themselves. I am hoping for some rain very soon!
On a happy note I have been working on some new Christmas items. I wanted to share a pic of my Mom's dried turnips. I just love them! I will be offering them on Simply Primitives the 15th. I am so glad tomorrow is Sunday..........I have a birthday party to attend after church and then it will be a wonderful day of rest........hope you all have a lovely day tomorrow.
God Bless,
Jill

New Blog

2008-10-08T17:16:00.000-07:00

My sister Keeper of the Past finally took the leap and started a blog. If you get a chance come check it out. Blessings, Jill

A Quick House Update

2008-10-07T17:46:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share a pic with you guys with all the outside walls up. We have actually got a lot more done since this pic was taken Monday. Today we got all the inside walls up. You can really start to see the house coming together. We are expecting some rain tomorrow...........and I could really use a day off to work on some orders. It's so exciting to sit inside the bare walls and close my eyes and imagine it all finished. Hope you all had a wonderful day!

Jill

Pumpkin Spice Layer Cake

2008-10-04T19:05:00.000-07:00

Forgive me everyone for being such a bad blog buddy. I wish I had time to visit all your blogs every day. I can see it's going to be a struggle to keep up with my orders and the house building. But with the Lord's help I can do it. He has already blessed me with more energy than I normally have. I have been able to come home every night and work on my orders. Thanks to everyone for all your wonderful comments. We got ALL FOUR WALLS up today. Which I am so excited about ( I will post a pic Monday) you can really start to visualize what the house will actually look like. We laid out where all the rooms will be. I am so blessed to have a daddy that can build anything...........although he is pretty stubborn and wants to do things his way. He wanted to build a separate room for the washer and dryer, but I wanted them right in the bathroom behind doors. We finally agreed upon my way :) I made this yummy cake tonight for church tomorrow. The recipe came from a Taste of Home mag. Hope you enjoy it!

Pumpkin Spice Layer Cake
1 package yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1 c. water
1 c. canned pumpkin
1 3/4 t. cinnamon, divided
1/4 t. ginger
1/4 t. nutmeg
2 1/2 c. cream cheese frosting
1 1/4 c. chopped walnuts

In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, eggs, water, pumpkin, 1 t. cinnamon, ginger & nutmeg. Beat on low for 30 seconds; beat on medium for 2 minutes.
Pour into two well greased and floured nine inch baking pans. Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool ten minutes before removing from pans and onto wire racks to cool completely.
Combine frosting and remaining cinnamon; spread between layers and over the top and sides of the cake. Sprinkle top of the cake with walnuts.

A Solid Foundation

2008-10-02T20:55:00.001-07:00

Believe it or not the weather here has turned really cool. We are expecting a frost tonight. I love the cooler weather but we are so in need of rain. I haven't done much in the way of crafting all week other than doing some sewing on orders at night. I finally got the pics of the foundation...............it's really starting to come together!

The leaves are changing

The lumber was delivered today and we got a lot of the sub floor done

The mountain of lumber that's waiting to be used.

I Feel Like this Guy Today

2008-09-30T09:25:00.001-07:00

As I was doing the rounds this morning feeding all the animals I saw this guy. I thought he would make a good picture so I ran back to the house to grab my camera. Lol, he had barely moved an inch and it was a good little walk back to my house. I thought to myself he and I have a lot in common today. Seems I can't get anywhere very fast. When I was at mom and dad's yesterday I noticed I had ran over a metal thing, it was punched into my tire. Dad didn't have a plug kit so hubby had to come get me. So now I am sitting with no car waiting on my sister and mom to come get me. Dad and I are working on the house today and he's going to plug my tire this evening. Also my blackberry is still not adding my pics to the computer. Thanks goodness my digital camera is working fine. On a happy note the weather is awesome. We are really starting to feel the coolness in the air. We got a little rain last night but it didn't amount to much. They are handing out drinking water to everyone, so the situation must be pretty serious but I am sure the Lord will provide in due time. Hope you all are moving a little faster today than my friend Mr. Turtle and I.
Blessings,
Jill

Clover happily sharing breakfast with the neighbor's chicken

The Shows Over

2008-09-28T20:05:00.000-07:00

The shows over! I am having technical difficulties getting my photos from my black berry to the computer. Strange as I have never had any issues before? I had a bunch of pics to share of the completed foundation to show you guys............but looks like it will have to wait. We are under a boil water advisory. The river that supplies our county with water is dry, the pumps in the river are sucking up mud along with what water is left. There is talk that our county will have to buy water from a neighboring county. Yikes I sure hope it rains very soon!
Blessings to you all!
Jill

Morgan Co. Sorghum Festival

2008-09-26T19:24:00.000-07:00

My sister who runs Keeper of the Past and I set up yesterday at the Morgan Co. Sorghum Festival. So far we are having awesome weather! The show is on Friday-Sunday. Thought I would share some pics...........for some reason they are blurry. Sorry for the short post but I am exhausted! Hubby & Dad finished the foundation today. I got tired just watching them work so hard plus carrying them things up and down the hill! Hope you all have a great weekend!
Jill

Preparing for the Show

2008-09-23T20:38:00.000-07:00

Woweee I have had a long day! For starters this morning hubby and I went and picked up a awesome black bed I bought for $50 I wish I had thought to take a pic but I didn't. It has really high post and will be going in the new house. We don't have room for it in our now bedroom because it is a lot bigger. After we got that taken care of and stored at Mom's house me and Dad worked on the house foundation until 8:00. After I got home and took a shower I did laundry, cleaned house and made these two scarecrows for the show. They are a little more "cute" than items I usually make but "cute" sells here. In our area they like the mildly primitive look. I had fun making these though :) Hope you all had a wonderful day!
Jill

A Big Santa & Mom's Taste Like Chicken Chops

2008-09-21T16:52:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Sunday here and a pleasant weekend too. Friday and Saturday Dad and I worked on the foundation for the house. Lord willing we will have the foundation done next week and we will be ready to build! I am so excited! I started working on this Santa Saturday night and boy was he ever a challenge. He is huge and stands over three feet tall. I kept having issues with he wanting to lean forward instead of standing straight up. He wanted to be a lazy Santa and slump over. I finally corrected the problem by adding more weight to his feet by adding rags down in them. After church today I sewed on his beard and added his accessories. I used hubby's old belt on him and made him a toy sack. Seems like he still needs something? What do you guys think? I fixed my Mama's Taste Like Chicken Chops for supper tonight and they sure were yummy! Hope you enjoy the recipe.

Taste Like Chicken Chops

4-6 pork chops

1 can of cream of chicken

flour

oil

Wash your pork chops and pat dry. Roll in flour and shake off the excess. Place some oil in a skillet and fry your chops until brown on both sides. Place in a crock pot. Mix your can of cream of chicken with 1/3 cup of water and pour over chops. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or until pork chops are fall apart tender. It makes a yummy gravy :)