Merry Monday Everyone!

We got the O.K. from Elaine over at STITCHED WITH LOVE EXCHANGES last week to post pictures and comments about what we sent/received for the Spring Exchange. I was a little naughty in this department because I posted pictures of what I had received back in early June when I wasn't supposed too... Being my first time doing an exchange I was bound to make a boo boo somewhere!!! I quickly removed my pictures when alerted to my error and have since put them back in their original post since being given the OK. However, I want to do a little recap for those of you who didn't see it and to show what I gave to my exchange partner :)

This is what I received from Christina over at Whilst Iris Naps:

The theme of this exchange was My Favourite Things. No joke, to say I LOVE the package I received is a tremendous understatement. You can tell this package was lovingly put together! And all the goodies... well I nearly fell over when I kept pulling things out the package. On all counts you can certainly tell that Christina puts pride into quality. 

As for what I sent to Lisa over at Blackflies and Snowflies here's my package to her! Pictures kindly provided by Lisa - in my rush to send off the package I completely forgot to take a good picture of my finish and everything I sent! *Note to self - manage time correctly next time round***

May Wordplay Doorbell - With Thy Needle and Thread
Stitched on 18ct Oatmeal Aida

I so enjoyed putting this package together. I made some dyed floss to go along with the package and then felt a blue/brown theme emerging. SO I added some blue fabric and some ribbon. Tossed in some extra jingle bells, memory trim and a wonderful little magazine with some cute patterns .

As for my stitched piece. Knowing that Lisa enjoys the wordplays by With Thy Needle and Thread, I set to stitching up the May Wordplay. I did most of the stitching work up to my cabin and thought that the spring feeling of it certainly was fitting. Birds chripping and the leaves had started to make their way back onto the trees at that point. It was fantastic to stitch! I took considerable liberty in the floss colours as the chart called for special hand dyed floss which I had not ordered when purchasing the chart originally. So I tried my best to convert to DMC using the picture provided with the chart as a guide. I finished it with some brown ribbon and chose to add just two bells as I didn't want the 'jingling' to be overwhelming. All in all, I was VERY happy with the result. 


I have to say, for my first exchange I had a total blast! In fact, I have signed up for 2 more exchanges, with one to be sent off VERY soon. There's something so exciting and satisfying about exchanges. Perhaps it's the giving aspect, or perhaps the mystery. Who knows! All I know is that I don't think I'll stop doing exchanges any time soooooon!!!


Happy Stitching!


Melissa

Hello again folks!

I would not qualify myself as an uber Lizzie Kate Designs lover... while I do like some of their stuff. It just so happens that I simply like other charts better and want to complete them first. But recently I picked up this chart by LK because I love the message that it brings. 

Eventually I'll work toward stitching the whole set but for now this message is perfect for me.

Anyway, in purchasing this chart I've opened myself up a little more to LK. Gotta have an open mind right? Well I think I've just gone crazy... I've just splurged BIG TIME on this:

I've been completely and utterly sucked into the idea of a MYSTERY SAMPLER CLUB. *SLURP*

Thankfully ABC Stitch is offering this club online, I didn't have a LNS to turn to you see. So THANK YOU ABC Stitch! Not only will I get the mystery sampler chart in 3 parts, 3 additional designs will be included, All the floss and fibres required, AND I'll be getting the appropriate weeks dye works fabric. YEY! 

Now all I have to do is hurry up and wait hehe.

One last quick thing - here's my June TUSAL report.

... nada! I've been merrily stitching away at my friendship sampler and not one of my ORTs have made it into the jar. Not that I've had many ORTs because I've been conserving my thread like a maniac because I'm terrified to run out of the floss I'm using... for fear of having to wait weeks to get more. 

Ciao for now!

Melissa 

SORRY FOR THE DELAY!

First off, thank you all for participating in my giveaway :)  While I wish I could give something away to each and everyone one of you only one can be the lucky winner of this...

AND THE WINNER IS... butterfly :) Congratulations on your win, I hope you enjoy the biscornu as much as I enjoyed stitching it!!! 
















BUT WAIT! There's more :) ... you knew this was coming


Last night I was hard at work dying some floss for some other lucky winners! I couldn't giveaway just one thing could I?!


In keeping with the Purple theme of this giveaway, I've entitled this Series of Floss 'Dusk Purple' and it ranges from one light to one dark colour and includes a variegated colour as well.

And the Lucky WINNERS of 3, 10metre skeins of floss are...


Lisa @ Needles and Threads

AND


Ruth @ Ruth's Little Leprechauns




That's all for now folks! Again thank you for entering! I'm sure this will not be the first or last of my giveaways. I'm already planning my next. How could I not?! What with such a wonderful online stitch community!!!!!


Congratulations again to the winners :)




Until next time,


Melissa

Hi Folks! 


Just wanted to send a quick reminder that my giveaway is now closed! 


I'll be posting the winners / various goodies tonight!!!


See ya later :)


Melissa

Welcome to another Monday everyone :)

While I wish the weekend was just a tad longer, I'm not a Monday hater. I love starting off the week on Monday, generally feeling refreshed and ready for another week of work and hobbies. 

First things first, MY GIVEAWAY ends TOMORROW! So if you haven't entered yourself already get over to the post and pop your name into the draw. While I only have one biscornu up for grabs I'll be having a couple more 'runner-up' winners.

So what's on the menu this week you ask? Gardening for one! Vegetable Gardening to be precise. It may seem kinda late for those of you blessed with a more hospitable climate, but here... well let's just say Saturday night we had a frost warning. I'm beginning to forget what a normal Summer actually feels like. We're heading into July soon enough and have only just begun reaching days of 15+ degrees but the weekends still remain 'shitty' for the lack of a better word. Cold, rain, drizzle, fog, etc. The only good days we seem to have (like today) are spent inside at work, typing away at my desk. It's down right infuriating, especially given that all I want is a real summer to make up for last summer! June of 2011 was dubbed June-uary, you can just guess what that entailed... You can even buy shirts that say 'I survived June-uary 2011'. YES, it was that bad!

I'm particularly anxious for some good weather because I'll be house sitting for the next couple of weeks starting Wednesday for a friend of mine who actually has a pool... heated... in Newfoundland! This is a true rarity. I've only known 2 other people (by association) to have had a pool here. I want to be able to take advantage of the glistening water just outside the door, but have to have some sun or I might come out an icicle. So here's my wish and prayer that Mother Nature might give us old Newfs a few good days!

Back to Gardening. Myself and the BF have been preparing the two veggie beds over the last couple of weeks to make ready for their 2nd year. The last stage... BUNNY proofing! I used to love bunnies, I really did. But what few veggies that survived last year's awful summer, were gobbled up by slugs and those menacing bunny rabbits. I snapped this picture last week... I'm sorry, but 'it' looks down right scary! Those are the eyes of the devil I swear! YIKES. Getting the creeps just looking at it.

The Devil Incarnate 

So Bunny Proofing is in full swing and now our beds are ready to welcome some seeds and some squash plants, without the fear of being eaten prematurely.

butternut squash plant

The low hanging branches of the evergreen trees just love my hair!

While out shopping for Bunny Proofing Supplies we also took the opportunity to pick up a bird house and seeds. We have a few chickadees that frequent our little koy pond to splash around so I hope they will enjoy a bit of food too :) Hopefully I'll have some bird photo's to share soon with any luck. I also hope the devil bunnies will be more attracted to the bird seed that falls to the ground than my garden beds. 

In Stitching news - IHSW was not as successful as I had hoped but I did get a far bit done and am now in the HOME STRETCH! Only 3.5 blocks left to complete and I'll have the Friendship Sampler completed!!!! YEY. A Happy Dance is on the horizon. 

I also have to complete my stitched piece for my exchange this week so Friendship Sampler may take a back seat. 

That's all for now folks!

Melissa

Happy Sunday Everyone :)

Thanks for all the well wishes for Leia yesterday! She's at home now and resting comfortably!

Is it just me or has it seemed that every time I turn around this month that there is another giveaway to be had??? Certainly the giving spirit is alive and well in our stitching community this month for sure! SO, just so everyone can have a go at these wonderful giveaways I've listed them below. Normally their home is in my sidebar only but there's just so many and I want to make sure EVERYONE knows about them.

(1) MY FIRST GIVEAWAY! 

Please remember to enter yourself into my giveaway by posting a comment in the blog entry link above! Time is running out - Tuesday June 19, 2012 is the deadline!!!

(2) At Willow Tree Pond 300 Follower GIVEAWAY

Lots of charts up for grabs! Ends June 23, 2012.

(3) Bunny GIVEAWAY @ Milly's Stitches

Milly has a CHARMING hand stitched Bunny for her Giveaway! Ends June 26, 2012.

(4) Blogoversary GIVEAWAY @ Kitten Stitching

Kaye has a beautiful design (finish a mystery for the time being) up for grabs to honour her first year of blogging!!! Congrats to Kaye :)    Ends June 18, 2012.

(5) Chart and Floss GIVEAWAY @ Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe

I LOVE Nancy's hand dyed floss :)  Ends June 30, 2012!

(6) 25$ Gift Certificate GIVEAWAY @ Vistorian Motto Sampler Shoppe

How could anyone pass this up????? Ends June 30, 2012.

(7) Grand GIVEAWAY @ Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe

TONS of stuff up for grabs and multiple winners as well!!! Ends July 1, 2012.

Holy cow! That certainly a lot of giveaways - and there's more out there folks I just haven't participated in them all. 

On another stitchy note its also IHSW this weekend! Update tomorrow on my progress :)

I hope everyone had a Fantastic Stitchy Weekend :)

Ciao for now!

Melissa

Hi Folks!

Welcome to all my new followers and thank you all for your kind comments :) I seemed to have gained quite a few new followers in the last couple of weeks so if I'm not following your blog currently please drop a comment here with the url to your blog! I try my best to follow you all but sometimes blogger doesn't co-operate with me when I click on your pic looking for your blog!!! 

I just wanted to give you all a quick update today on the progress I've been making with my Friendship Sampler. 

Most recent section completed!

I'm now more than halfway done!!! I hope to get this piece completed over the next couple of weeks and then off to the framer she'll go. In the mean time I do have to complete my next exchange!!! YIKES I'm such a procrastinator!!!! But I've really been putting all my spare time into my Friendship Sampler so stitching time for other projects has been rather sparse. Even my Papillon SAL (which I love dearly) has gone untouched and soon enough the 3rd part will be revealed!!!! 

Hopefully I'll get some more stitching time in on other things soon, just so you all won't be bored with just seeing the Friendship Sampler allllllll the time. We all need a bit of variety in life to spice things up every once in a while.

Before I sign off for the day here's a pic of my lovely Leia! She's been doing alright since here buddy Blue left us... just a little depressed a times I think. She misses her play buddy. Tomorrow she goes in to get spayed!!! I remember this from when we had our last dog and I'm worried for her. Such a big operation :( So tonight is 'Smother Leia with Love Night'!

Ciao for now and Happy Stitching Everyone!!!!

Melissa 

Merry Monday All!

Welcome to another week and the second week of June already! Crazzzzzy!!! Time certainly flies and the weekend even more so. My weekend was pretty quite, but this post is not entitled 'FOOD' for nothing.... so you can guess what I was up to all weekend ;) I figured I put my culinary skills to use for the first time in a while, and really enjoy being back in the kitchen. First things first, cookies!!! My ULTIMATE Peanut Butter cookies to be precise. 

First one MUST make as big a mess as possible on the counter.

Then fend off the puppies who are addicted to PB... Blue decided to visit at the right time hehe

Rolling the the little drops of deliciousness in your hand and press with a fork. 

Bake the critters off for 10 mins and you get the most golden and moist PB cookies ever!

... a tragedy occurred in the transfer to the cooling rack. One poor cookie didn't make it...

Now didn't those look absolutely divine????! If only they had Nutella in them...  I'll list the recipe at the end of my post if anyone is interested in having a go at them :) 

Next up on the menu - Beer Can BBQ'd Chicken. Now this is something I LOVE sinking my teeth in. The profanity of having a beer can shoved up into the poor chicken's insides is all worth it when you get to have a taste of this baby. In fact, the chicken doesn't really retain the flavour of the beer so much as the moisture. On the other hand, the chicken does hold on to the flavour of the herbs and garlic that is used. I promise you'll start to drool as soon as the scent hits your nose... I know I am right now just looking at the picture lol.

Good ol' Nova Soctian Alexander Keiths going to work!

A shot of the Chives, Rosemary and Garlic.

Whewwww, making meals is no easy task!  But the results are soooooo rewarding. 


While I'm on the subject of food - check out my friend Dawn's blog "The Scoff." She's new to blogging but judging by her last couple of posts she definitely knows her food. And for those of you who do not know what the word 'Scoff' means here's a little explanation. It's primarily an old Newfie word (perhaps English in origin... but I really have no idea) that means to have a big old party and a feed of food. Basically a scoff entails good times and lots of good food. 

Now! Moving on...

When I wasn't in the kitchen this weekend, I was stitching and gardening (which I'll have photo's of a little later when things look a little more presentable). I'm happily stitching away at the Friendship Sampler I've been at for the past month. It's certainly coming along and soon I'll be half way there when the empty block you see below is filled. The only complaint I have at this stage is that I have had to correct numerous mistakes in the chart. They're not a big deal and easily corrected... but if I wasn't paying attention then I would have added a whole unnecessary row to the chart that would have made all the blocks on the right side uneven. I feel like I have to be constantly on the look out while stitching and I hate it... but I had inconsistency even more so I'll deal with adding/subtracting a stitch here and there. However, I want to you all to know I do LOVE this piece and the small errors would not prevent me from purchasing the chart if I had known about them in hindsight. The design is just to beautiful to give up on that easily :) AND, like I've been saying in just about every post this has been in, I am LOVING stitching this peace.   

Sorry for the poor lighting...

Anyways, folks - that's it for me today! I hope you all have a grand week!

Ciao!

Melissa

Recipes 

Ultimate Peanut Butter Cookies

1/2 cup of Butter (room temp.)

1/2 cup of Brown Sugar (packed)

1/2 cup of Sugar

1 egg

1 cup of Peanut Butter

1/2 tsp of salt (if using unsalted butter)

1/2 tsp of baking soda

1/2 tsp of vanilla

1 1/2 cups of flour 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.


(1) Beat butter until light and fluffy.
(2) Gradually add sugar and brown sugar - continue beating.
(3) Beat in egg.
(4) Add peanut butter, salt, baking soda and vanilla. Cream these ingredients together in the mixture with a wooden spoon or spatula.
(5) Gradually mix in the flour.
(6) Once the dough has come together, spoon a drop of the dough onto the palm of your hand and roll into a ball. Place onto greased cookie sheet or parchment paper (also on a cookie sheet).
(7) Press a fork onto the top of each ball of dough to flatten the cookie slightly.
(8) Bake for 10-12 mins, or until lightly golden brown. Be careful to not overcook them or the cookies will dry out. 

Beer Can Chicken

1 Full Chicken (small) -  make sure the inside cavity is empty. 
1 tablespoon of fresh or dried chives
2 tablespoons of butter (room temp)
3-4 Sprigs of Rosemary
5 Cloves of Garlic
1 Can of Beer
Salt and Pepper


Start BBQ and preheat on medium heat, roughly 300-325 degrees F.

YES! You can make this even if you don't have the device in the pictures above to do this. I often make two chickens and just shove the chicken onto a beer can on a small baking sheet. This works perfectly fine, but you may have to balance the chicken a little. 


(1) Mix together butter and chives. Add a dash of salt and pepper if desired.
(2) Clean the chicken and pat dry. Insert your index finger inbetween the skin and the meat at the bottom of each chicken breast. Loosen the skin for the meat but do not tear. Only a small corridor is needed.
(3) Using your finger or a small spoon work the butter/chive mixture into the space between the skin and meat you have just created. THIS WILL BE A LITTLE MESSY but soooo worth  it I promise ;)
(4) Rinse off the can of beer with some water, and pour half of it's contents into a measuring cup.
(5) Place the beer can onto a small baking sheet (I use a 9'' round pie sheet). Then place the chicken over the beer can, inserting the can into the chicken's cavity. You may need to manipulate the legs of the chicken into such a way that the chicken is balanced. I usually put one leg in front and twist the other leg to the back. 
(6) Place some of the rosemary sprigs and garlic into the hole at the top of chicken, scatter the rest into the baking sheet. Pour the beer you set aside earlier into the baking sheet.
(7) Rub the remain butter onto the skin of the chicken and season with pepper.
(8) Transfer your bird on the baking sheet to the BBQ. 
(9) Roast for 45mins - 1hr or until juices run clear and meat is no longer pink. A meat thermometer will come in handy here if you have one, that way you will not have to puncture the meat too much as you would with a knife.


ENJOY! 


PS: If you have any questions drop me an email at k73mmf@mun.ca


Have a great foodie week :)
  

Happy Friday everyone :)

Last night was our last night with this little fella... Blue. He's off to live with his rightful owners - my brother and his girlfriend in a brand new house that they've just moved into. 

I have to admit it was VERY sad to see him go and I'll tell ya I may be crying just a little bit right now. Oh how easy it is to get attached to animals... Luckily he'll be living just down the street and around the corner from us, no more than a 5 minute walk. This is a perfect excuse to visit... of course my brother will think I'm visiting him when in actual fact I'm visiting his little puppy!!! PERFECT hehe. Of course I'm joking (maybe...). I just hope my little pup, Leia, will not be too sad because she really is losing her brother - they've been together since birth pretty much. I see many a puppy date in the future!

OH IT'S JUST TOOOOO TRAGIC! :( :( :(

I have to move on to something else...

I was so VERY surprised to find the mail man had delivered this to the mail box yesterday evening!!!! 

So carefully and lovingly wrapped!

YUP! It's an exchange package all the way from my exchange partner in the UK!!! So crazy to received such love from all the way across the pond! YEY!!! I was so excited I could hardly wait to open it. 

And here's the stitched piece! Lovely isn't it! And very appropriate for the weather we have been having alllllll week... it's still raining now. Not only is the stitching perfectly divine, the fabric has hint of sparkles throughout and the bead work on the trim is amazing!!! I'll have to  give it a try. 

Front

Back

It was even personalized on the back! So I only have 2 clues as to who this person may be. Her initials CR and I know she's from the UK. Boy would I ever love to know who it is! It's just KILLING ME! I'd say thank you to my mystery partner right now but there's MORE!!!!!

A wack of gorgeous floss, a beautiful skein of green variegated floss,  2 packs of mill hill beads, a magazine (which I LOVE - I just subscribed digitally, but do not have this edition!!!), a beautiful birdie fridge magnet, needles and needlebook from Natelye's Needle Creations (spelling?), the chart for Earth Goddess by Joan Elliot that I've had my eye on forever!!!!, and THE most sweetest card ever!!! She had to do some wicked detective work, because I didn't put much down the the survey - it being my first one :) So koodo's and MANY thanks to my AMAZING exchange partner!!!!!  

Finally before I take leave - here's where I'm at with my friendship sampler.

Almost 1/3 of the way done!!!! I'm praying that I don't run out of floss....

I hope everyone has a fantabulous weekend! (frantabulous = fantastic and fabulous all mushed up... just in case my made-up words confuse anyone.)

CIAO!

Melissa

PS: Don't forget to sign up for my give-a-way here. Ends June 19th!!!

Hello from a VERY wet Newfoundland and welcome to the Merry Month of JUNE!!! 

Also, a warm welcome and thanks to all my followers, new and old :)

This past weekend I had my belated belated belated Graduation Party and BOY! was it ever a blast. I received my diploma in the mail just over two weeks ago so I thought it was about time I get to celebrate my graduation, despite not being able to attend the actual ceremony way back when. Having officially completed my program back in September 2011 (but really being finished back in April 2011), this day has been more than a year in the making. To say I was happy when I finally received it would be tremendous understatement. So I treated myself to a bit of a "par-tay" with my very best friends :) The morning after was hang-over free and I had a great time the night previous so I'd count my "graduation" as a success! Here's the happy girl... gonna have to get that framed pretty soon...

I also managed to make quite a bit of progress on my Friendship Sampler this weekend as well.

LOVIN' IT!

In other news, I've purchased a chart making program for my iPad which I've been experimenting with for a couple of hours. I do like it, but it's a little slow and prone to freezing, so I'm not in love with it at the moment. But I do like that it has the ability to show me the coloured version of the final product which I think is EXTREMELY useful. Here's a screen shot of what I'm working on...

All Rights Reserved

Remember my post back in April about the house in Tors Cove??? Well this is my inspiration ... 

I may add a few other Newfoundland inspired elements - a dory and maybe some birds off in the distance... I need to spruce it up a bit ;) 

Generally speaking though, I really think charts are more like guidelines rather than being something that is set in stone. I have no qualms with making changes when the real deals starts to come alive on the fabric. 

I hope one day to be able to produce a few charts inspired by the unique and funky houses that litter Newfoundland. As you can see below there are plenty out there!

Anyway, that's enough from me for today! I hope everyone had a great weekend and if you haven't done so already, sign up for my give-away here. Ends JUNE 19!!!!

Ciao for now.

Melissa