December Recap

Happy Thursday and last day of 2015. It feels like the year flew by. Overall it was a pretty good year. I look forward to seeing what 2016 brings though.
It has been freezing here since Christmas. I know it is winter but am hoping it warms up at least a little bit soon. Those of you in the east have been really lucky. Send some of that warm weather here. Emilia got sick a few weeks ago and with a bad cold virus she is doing better now but is still coughing some. I finally made a decision about health insurance. We decided to go with Cigna. I hope we made the right choice and I can find a good doctor this time.
My sister had Emilia make Christmas Gifts for her friends this year.  Lots of pillows and blankets. She did a great job and everyone loved them.

 My Etsy shop was pretty quiet but I added a few new items to my farm theme.The hat and the bunting.

I also got this great photo from a buyer of her daughter wearing one of  my winter onederland hats. Isn't she adorable?

I failed Hanukkah this year. My menorah broke and we forgot to light night 7 so we gave up. I think next year we are getting an electric one. The burning candles make me really nervous. At least Hanukkah will be during Christmas next year so hopefully that will make it more exciting.
Emilia and I have found a new show that we love. Gilmore Girls. We have been watching for a few months and are obsessed now. We are almost done with season 5 thankfully we have a few more seasons to go. I just love Stars Hallow and the people there. I wish there was a real place like that here.
 I also wanted to share this recipe. I love this granola. It is grain free and so good. I eat it over a bowl of chopped apples. You can get the recipe here.

That's all for now. I hope 2016 will be a great year for you filled with peace. good health and happiness. I will be back next month with more to share then.

November Recap

Happy Tuesday and first day of December. I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving. It was a snowy and cold one here. It has been awhile since we had weather like that on Thanksgiving. Thankfully my family still made it over for dinner. It continued to be below freezing and snowed more for days after that but after today it is suppose to be warmer and dryer.
I spent most of the month dealing with more health related issues and am still searching for new health insurance which has all been very stressful. I am praying that I get this things resolved soon. It should not be this difficult.  My sister also ended up in the ER twice, she was in a lot of pain and barely able to move. They finally found a pain med that helps and allows her to function but are still trying to figure out the cause for all her pain and what to do about it. Right now it is either her back or hip.
One a brighter note last month the nursing home celebrated Mickey Mouse's birthday. Emilia made these for them. Everyone loved them.

It was also my niece Alexandra's 20th birthday on the 21st. We made her dinner and Emilia made her these. She loved them!

I had a return buyer that was having a tea party for her daughter and asked if I could make my tea house in the blue floral theme This is what I came up with.

I really like how it looks in these colors and patterns and it goes perfectly with the other things in this collection.
I also received this great photo from another buyer of her little Yorkie wearing one of my mini dog crowns. Isn't she adorable?

Finally I know I already posted a recipe for pumpkin bars in another post but I found these and like them even better. They also have less sugar in them and no oats.

That's all for now. Happy Holidays and I hope your December is a good one.

October Recap

Happy Monday and 2nd day of November. It is hard to believe we only have 2 more months to go until this year is over.  So far we have not seen any snow which I am very happy about. Today is it going to be around 70. Snow is in the forecast for the end of the week. Hopefully it won't be too much though.
Once again I am dealing with health problems and bad doctors, What does it take to find a good doctor that really wants to help their patients? I am done with Kaiser and I am on the hunt for new health insurance. If you have any recommendations please let me know.  
Emilia is taking a Fashion Design Class through Keystone and made this skirt for an assignment. She was able to do it all on her own. The waistband was a little tricky but she found a way around it. The private sewing lessons she is taking are really paying off.

She is also made these treats for the nursing homes Halloween Party.

Things in my Etsy shop are still a bit slow but I did have a custom order for a twin baby shower. The theme was Twice Blessed. This is what I came up with.

I also received these great photos from a buyer of her dogs birthday celebration. I loved the photos especially the one where they are sharing the cake.

We made this Coconut Curry Chicken Soup for lunch the other day and it was great. It is also gluten free.

That's all for now I hope the rest of November is a good one for you and you have a Happy Thanksgiving.

September Recap

Happy Sunday and beginning of October. Today we woke up to much cooler temperatures. It is definitely feeling more like fall.
In September Rich went to the Sand Dunes and to visit his brother in New Mexico. Before he left her got into a car accident, Thankfully no one was hurt except for the cars. While he was gone I was taking the trash out and in the process disturbed a wasp next under our air conditioner.  They were swarming around the trash cans so I was not able to get them to the curb for pick up the next day. I finally was able to spray them with the hose to get them to leave long enough for Emilia to grab the trash cans and get them to the curb. It was quite the ordeal though. Rich is usually the one to take the trash out and had ever had that problem. Why do those things always have to happened when he is out of town?
Emilia finally finished the dress she was working on and wore it to the musical Matilda that she went to with her friend Tabitha and cousin Alexandra.

Emilia is also continuing to bake and came up with an idea to take some of it to our local nursing home since we are not able to eat it all.  This month she made petite fours and cupcakes for a tea they were having. They were a big hit and she is suppose to bake again for them next month.

Things in my Etsy shop have been kind of slow but I did have a big order for teddy bear party and added some more items to my girl teddy bear theme.

I got another appreciation photo of a little girl dog name Chloe wearing the hat I  made her. Isn't she cute?

Lastly here is another gluten free recipe for you to try Crustless Pumpkin Pie 

 

It does have oats and honey in it so it is not  Candida or Paleo but would be acceptable on the Mediterranean Diet. I am now eating a combination of all three.
That's all for now. I hope the month of October is a good one for you and I will be back to share more next month.

August Recap

Happy Monday and last day of August. Why does summer always seem to go so fast? It still feels like summer is here though.
The month started with our 21st wedding anniversary on the 3rd. Rich surprised me with these.

Emilia is still making cakes, this month was a rainbow theme. It was inspired by  I am Baker. She did an amazing job and got over 100 likes on Instagram,

Emilia started 12th grade with Keystone on the 18th . I can't believe she only has one more year of high school to go. She also decided to make a big change by cutting 10 inches off of her hair and highlighting it red. I think we are finally getting use to it.

I had a return buyer request some sports theme party decor for a baby shower. This is what I came up with.

 I also received this great photo from another buyer showing her son wearing my nautical birthday hat.

I am not a big fan of coconut flour because it has a weird texture and makes things dry but I finally found a recipe  that I like.

These are very moist and flavorful. You can get the recipe here.
That's all for now. I hope your September will be a good one. I will be back with more to share then.

July Recap

Happy Friday and last day of July. I hope your month has been a good one. The rain finally stopped here and it has been in the 90's so summer is finally here. Not much new to report it has been a pretty quiet month. Emilia has been cake decorating again. This month she made a watermelon cake

Which matched perfectly with my new watermelon themed party line in my Etsy shop

Things have been slow in my Etsy shop this month but I received these cute appreciation photos from a buyer I wanted to share.

Another candida/gluten free recipe I found that I like is this one.

I didn't add the blueberries. I put strawberries on the top instead. You can get the recipe here.
Rich's birthday was on the 24th. He hates his birthday but Emilia still made him this key lime pie which is his favorite and he enjoyed it.

That's all for now. I hope August will be a good month for you. I will be back to share more then.

June Recap

Happy Tuesday and last day of June. It feels like the month flew by, summer is definitely here though We finally had a few days without rain but last week we had a surprise storm that turned into a tornado  right around the block from where we live. That is something that does not usually happen here and was very scary. It happened very suddenly too. It has been a pretty normal day but all of a sudden we looked outside noticed it was very dark then big hail and rain started falling and the power went out. It came back on a few seconds later but then the tornado siren went off so we headed to the basement. All of a sudden the wind started gusting like crazy and it looked like a hurricane. At that point Sophie and I were under a desk but Emilia was not scared at all. She was more worried about changing out of her exercise clothes! That must have been about the time it hit. Thankfully it missed our house but the neighbors were not so lucky. They lost some big trees. Fortunately they didn't fall into their houses though. Here is a link to an article about it if you want to read more about it.The last time I remember a tornado here was when I was in grade school. Hopefully we won't experience that again but when it comes to weather not much we can do to control it. We are just so thankful it was not worse.
The nautical party theme is still keeping me busy in my Etsy shop  but the other day a buyer sent me some photos of her son's cake smash session and he is wearing the hat I made him. I think the pictures came out great and he is a cutie too!  She is also the one who took the photos and is a professional  photographer. You can see more of her work here,

Emilia is really into cake decorating right now and made this hamburger cake last week.She did an amazing job. It looked even better in real life and Rich said it tasted great too.She is working on another cake this week. I will share photos of it next month.

I was not able to eat the cake because I  have been trying the candida diet for the last few months to see if it would help with my VV that I talked about in my last post and I think it has been helping. I did not start with phase 1 though, I started but phase 2 and am still eating a little raw honey. So far the savory recipes have been better than the sweet ones but I am still trying them. So far this is one of my favorites. You can get this recipe on the website. I will continue to share the good ones as I try them. If you have any suggestions for good candida recipes in the meantime let me know.

That's it for now. I hope your July is a good one.

May Recap

Happy Sunday and last day of May. This month the weather has been terrible. I have lived here all my life and can only remember 1 other May like this. On Mother's Day it snowed. As you can see in the photo below our little tree was severely damaged by the snow but thankfully we were able to save it so far though.

The snow didn't last long but it rained almost everyday since then with highs only in the 60's and low 70's. We definitely needed the rain but not that much. The only good thing about all that rain is everything is really green right now and we have not had to use the AC yet. I think that is going to change today with high's in the 80's. At least it is starting to feel more like summer today though.
This month I have been dealing with some past health problem's that have flared up again. We went back to Kaiser for our health insurance after Obama Care came into effect mainly because it was the most affordable option but also because we had been there when Rich was not self-employed and wanted our old doctors back. Unfortunately it looks like we made the wrong decision.  I was originally diagnosed with vulvar vestibulitis when we were with Kaiser. I had not been back to see the doctor that diagnosed me with it yet because I was not having problems until a few weeks ago when they started again. I emailed my primary care doctor to see if she could fill the scripts I usually take when I have these kind of problems since I had not seen the old doctor that had diagnosed me with it yet but she refused. I finally got the old gyno to fill them without seeing me but it took another 3 days to get the meds because of a mix up with the pharmacy so by the time I got them I was in a full flare and have been pretty miserable every since. The thing that makes me the maddest is I was not asking for narcotics I was asking for yeast pills/cream! My primary has also made it very hard to get refills on my other meds for my migraines and chronic pain as well. I am not one of those people that likes taking meds and only take what is necessary so I don't understand why she is making this so hard. I was going to switch health insurance companies and find a new doctor but found you can't switch for a year with Obama Care. Healthcare really sucks in this country! If any of you know a way around this or a good doctor here in Denver let me know.
Even though it has been hard to sit I have still been working. Now that summer is almost here my nautical party line is getting popular again. I also have a buyer who has 11 rescue dogs mainly Chihuahuas. I have made birthday hats for almost all of them now. The hats below were for 3 of them that had birthdays around the same time this month  so since I have already shared most of my Nautical theme items before here are some of the hats I made for her.

Emilia is almost done with 11th grade. She only has 1 course left, English 3. Hopefully she will be done with that by the middle of the summer and then will take some time off. She finally finished her skirt. Below is a photo of it. Now is is working on a dress. Hopefully that one will not take as long to finish as the skirt did. She is really enjoying her sewing lessons though. I also hired someone to give her driving lessons. Neither Rich or I were being a good teacher. The lessons went well and she is driving with more confidence now. I am still a nervous wreck when I ride with her but am hoping in time that will get better.

That's it for now, I hope your last day of May is a good one and the start to summer will be warm and sunny where you are. 

April Recap

Happy Thursday and last day of April. Hope it has been a good one for you. The month started out with Emilia's 17th birthday on the 2nd. The day started off with a surprise delivery of a beautiful bouquet of flowers from her dad. This year she wanted to get the second hole in her ears re pierced. She had them done years ago at Claire's but they did not do a very good job and closed up. We were told that the best place to get them re pierced is a tattoo shop. My sister had found a really good one for my niece a few year ago so we took her there. I had never been to a tattoo shop before. It was an interesting place. They were able to re pierce them without a problem and she is very happy now. Later that evening we had a family dinner. This year she wanted burgers and fries and a special cake for desert. We got the cake from Le Bakery Sensual here in Denver. Her big present was this years American Girl Doll Grace who just happens to be a baker. Even though she is getting older she is still a collector of their dolls and this one was perfect for her. She makes number 21 now. Overall she said was a great birthday. Below is a photo collage of the day

A few months back I made some party decor for a return buyer using my cream floral pattern. She liked it so much she asked me to make some more items for a baby shower she was hosting for a friend. Below are the items I made for her in that theme. 

Emilia is still working on her skirt. It should be done next month but in the meantime she finally finished a quilted pillow she had been working on. You can get the pattern here, She hand embroidered the letter using a stencil that I made with my Silhouette.

I finally had some time to do a color comparison between PTI and MFT cardstock. I am starting with these 6 colors since they are almost a perfect match and the ones I use the most, The only one that is a little off is the Navy but I actually like MFT's navy better. If you click on the photo to make it bigger you should be able to see the color names.  I have added them below too. Another bonus is that the MFT cardstock cuts a lot better in the Silhouette, too.

From left to right:
MFT After Midnight compared to PTI Enchanted Evening.
MFT Blue Breeze compared to PTI Spring Rain
MFT Grout Grey compared to PTI Soft Stone
MFT Wild Cherry compared to PTI Pure Poppy
MFT Pink Lemonade compared to PTI Sweet Blush
MFT BLUE Raspberry compared to PTI Hawaiian Shores
I will try to do more color comparisons next month. Hopefully this will help those of you that are looking for similar colors in the future. I know it would have been great to have something like this  when I was looking.
Finally the  month ended with a pipe breaking in the upstairs bathroom of our rental house and water ran for over an hour leaving a lot of damage to the kitchen and basement below. A few days after that Emilia noticed the roof leaking in our family room which is also my work space but thankfully it is not over my work area.  What are the chances both houses would have problems in the same week? At least both are covered by insurance and are fixable though.
That's all for now. I hope May is good month for you. I will be back with more to share then.

March Recap

Happy Tuesday and last day of March. As I predicted it is going out like a lamb. It is in the 70's here today. That is all going to change by Thursday but I am still grateful for the nice weather as long as it lasts though.
The month started with a big order. The theme was lady bugs. I have done ladybugs before but this buyer requested the colors be changed to bright pink,  green and purple. She also ordered a few things that I had not made in that theme before which are included in the collage below.  All the dots on the ladybugs were pieced by hand and a lot of work but was worth in in the end. The buyer loved everything and I was happy with how it turned out too. 

I celebrated my 46th birthday on the 25th. I woke up to snow but by the afternoon thankfully the sun came out. Below are a few of my favorite things my family gave me to help celebrate

I finally found a good replacement for PTI's spring rain cardstock. MFT just started carrying a new color called Blue Breeze that is almost a perfect match! They finally got all the other colors I wanted in stock too so I was able to place a big order. Still hoping to do a color comparison soon.
Emilia's birthday is Thursday. I will post about that next month. Hopefully the weather will cooperate so we can still do what we planned,  Until then I hope your last day of March is a good one and it goes out like a lamb where you are too.

February Recap

Happy Saturday and last day of February. The month started out great weather wise. We were enjoying temperatures in the 60's but that that all changed last week when winter returned with a vengance. We have gotten so much snow since then that this has become the snowist February on record. It is sunny and dry today but more snow is expected next week. I guess March will be coming in like a lion. Hopefully it will leave like a lamb because I hate all this snow. It could be worse though, we could be in Boston.
I am very grateful for all the buyers I have had on Etsy so far but I ended up dealing with a very difficult one this month. After one unreasonable request after another I had enough and decided to cancel her order. This is something I have never done before but she left me no choice. The majority of my buyers are usually great to work with and understand the value of my time and how much work goes into my products but this one just didn't get that and brought me to my breaking point.
Before that I was asked to create a party package for a buyers 1 yr old son who loves trucks. Since it was Valentines Day the mom asked me to incorporate some hearts too. This is what I came up with.

I ended up calling it Loads Of Love. The buyer was thrilled with it. I was really happy with how it come out as well and have added it to my shop for others to buy now too. Working with this buyer definitely made up for the other one. I wish all my buyers could be like this.
 In my last post I talked about finding a replacement for the PTI cardstock. Even though I did find some good matches I can't seem to find one place that has all the colors I want and in stock at the same time. This has caused a lot of frustration. I don't understand why it is so hard to keep cardstock in stock. I guess I am going to have to buy from a couple of different places but am hoping to eventually find one place that has everything I need. If you have any suggestions let me know.
Emilia's sewing lessons were postponed for a month because the teacher got sick so I found her some other projects to work on in the meantime. This is an apron that she made using this tutorial

Before I go I will leave you with another photo of a buyers dog wearing a hat I made to brighten your day.  His name is Sampson. Isn't he adorable? That's all for now. I will be back next month with more to share then.

January Recap

Happy Saturday. I hope the first month of 2015 has been a good one for you. It has been pretty quiet here. We got some snow this month but were also fortunate to have some nice weather in the 70's too. Today it is cold and dreary it is January though.
Emilia has decided she want's to learn to sew. After watching Project Runway Threads for kids this Fall she was inspired to design and make her own clothes. After a lot of searching, I finally found someone to come and give lessons to her and a friend and they are really enjoying it. She is starting with a skirt. I will post photos after it is done.
After complaining that things were slow in my Etsy shop in December, January brought a flood of sales so I have been busy working on orders again. I had a return buyer from last year who's theme was vintage, burlap and lace. After some discussion she decided to go with my cream floral theme. Here is a collage of the things I made for her that go with my other existing cream floral items.The pinwheels were made with this SVG file from The Cutting Cafe

                                           
Another request I had this month was to make a party hat for a bunny. The buyer sent me this photo of her wearing it, Isn't she cute? The buyer bought a crown for her sisters bunny too.

 I am still trying to find a good replacement for my PTI cardstock. So far the Pop Tones Brand seems to be a good match but I am having problems getting all the colors I need from one seller though.
My Favorite Things sells a big assortment of it but seems to always be out of stock of the colors I need. After buying the sample pack and receiving it in record time, my last order from them sat for days because of some Pay Pal glich. When I wrote to ask about the order they finally got it processed but then it took another week to get the order because they didn't send it priority mail even when I paid for shipping.
Avery Elle also sells the Pop tone brand and has many of the same colors but is also out of stock on some of the colors I want, especially the Sapphire. When I asked when it would be available again I was told they did not know. I thought that was an odd answer. I also asked if they could special order if for me but they said no. I did end up ordering some other colors from them and shipping was super fast. I just wish they could get all the other colors I want back in stock.
I also ended up ordering some cardstock from Gina K. That order took a week to ship. I think I may have ordered at a busy time but it was just one pack of cardstock.
I found a good replacement for PTI's Stampers Select White cardstock at Michaels, Recollections Heavy Weight It also comes in ivory too. I have a lead on Silver Shimmer thanks to a blog reader, I am not tried it yet though but will let you know how I like it when I do.
Someone on SCS contacted me after seeing a post I wrote over there. She owns her own scrap booking store called A Walk Down Memory Lane and she offered to help me. She also carries the Poptones brand but not as many colors as MFT. I am hoping she will be able to get me the other colors I need that she does not carry. I am really grateful for her reaching out to me. My hope is that I can eventually buy all my cardstock in one place again. I am still looking for a good replacement for PTI Spring Rain and Hibiscus. If anyone has any suggestions let me know. I am also still planning on posting a color comparison when I get some time.
That's all for now. I hope you last day of January is a good one. I will be back next month with more to share then.