Whoa...where did this past week go?

WHOOSH! This week flew right by me. I didn't realize that I hadn't updated here in over a week so here's my update. :)

For those of you who didn't know, I had this past week off as Fall Break. Yeah, I know...a vacation this early. Eh, I won't deny that I've appreciated the time off but I would have easily traded this week for one long weekend between Spring Break in April and the last week of May which is the end of the school year.

I spent the first part of the week happily crafting. One bit of crafty evidence is below. Work had left me drained. I just decided to let my craft clear my head which it did. I love letting myself just create without any deadlines or restrictions. I'm now into a swap on Craftster called Shop the Swap (STS) which is set up very differently from other traditional swaps. In STS, you create the item, put it in your virtual shop with a "price" ranging from 1-3 points, and hopefully someone claims it hence you earn points from the "sell". From their claim, you can use those newly earned points to shop in another STS member's shop. It's loads of fun and leaves your creative muse to run rampant! :D

This is 2 examples of my latest creations. More pin cushions! The purple with pink flowers is more traditional TT, but the light blue Live! cushion has become my favorite. Along the outside edge it says "live, love, sew".








Who knows what I'll create next? Christmas ornaments maybe? It's almost that time of year again! YAY!

And this is the truth...

I'm in the Embroidery Hoopla swap over on Craftster. You were partnered up with someone and you were to embroider only one 6-8" hoop based on one of their themes. My partner has been battling Non Hodgkins so I came up with a design that was inspiring yet not the typical awareness ribbon. The lime green is the color for NH awareness. The heart represents strength and to me, the spikes represent the warrior attitude of a cancer survivor. The heart is filled with french knots (3 skeins of floss worth!) and each knot is filled with healthy and happy wishes for my partner.

As I worked on this piece, I thought of friends and family who have battled cancer in its various forms. I spent a couple of hours with a tissue in one hand and an embroidery hoop in the other. It was a moving experience for me. :)

Mmmm....more jelly!

Today, I made another batch of the candy apple jelly. (I sold all of the first batch in the STS swap on Craftster! :) )

I also tried a new pepper jelly recipe. This is actually a Paula Deen recipe that does NOT require BUTTER! ;)





For those of you who don't know what pepper jelly is...it's sort of sweet, sort of sour, sort of spicy from jalapenos. It's not a breakfast jelly. Rather, we use it as either a glaze over pork or as an appetizer eaten with crackers smeared with a dab of cream cheese. YUM!

Just a little something...

I made these sachets for a friend in a birthday swap. They were quick and easy to do. I filled them with dried lavender and only used materials that I had on hand which is always a wonderful thing!



I think I'll make some more for holiday gifts. :)

How'd you spend your weekend?

With the dropping temperatures and 3 days of FREEDOM!, I've been a busy bee! I've managed to do the normal weekend chores as well as...making jelly and preserves! :D

This is candy apple jelly that lives up to its name. YUM!




This is my experiment, mulled cider jelly. I basically took a traditional apple jelly recipe and added cinnamon sticks, cloves and orange. My house smelled divine while this was simmering!



This last is ye old peach preserves. I make a batch every year for my dad since my mom doesn't make it anymore. :)

Little bunny Foo Foo hoppin' through the forest...

I made this little fellow for the FOC swap on Craftster. I was surprised at how fast he went together. I love making amigurumi! :)