Jam & Geneology

Spent the weekend with my sister and some aunts, pouring through suitcases full of old photographs, letters and pedigree charts. These handsome folks are my Great-Great-Grandfather, Charles and his lovely wife, Edith; the picture is circa 1900 (awesome!). The smaller picture is their two children, Gerrit and Virginia, circa 1920. How cool are those? I am totally enamored with them. It is so amazing to learn about your family - don't know much about your family history? Call a relative! Or check out FamilySearch - its free.

And amidst all this we squeezed in some time to make some apricot jam, of course.

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend as much as we did ours!

Jam & Jelly

I can not describe how much I love to make homemade jam. It is so sinfully delicious and there are so many recipes to be tested. Our first batch: Ginger Honey Rhubarb.

We then proceeded with Orange Jelly and Strawberry Basil (this one is from a Better Homes & Gardens magazine). We have yet to taste them and I'm slightly concerned the Orange Jelly won't set up properly, but I'll leave it for a full two weeks before I consider it a complete disaster. I can't wait to try the Lavender Jelly from the same article. Since I've never made true jelly, I'll let you know how it turns out.

Free Wooden Blocks!

Well, that's a little misleading, you can get an awesome catalog for free, and at the same time enter a contest to win the free blocks at Eames as seen here at Happiness Is...

I looked up the blocks (way cute, by the way) on the Eames website and the set is $175! So, wouldn't it be awesome if you won?

Deadlines

I have a love/hate relationship with deadlines. On the one hand they require me to complete a project or assignment and then I am...happy with myself for getting it done and if all goes well, the end project is fabulous. Speaking of fabulous, isn't that stack of fabric fabulous?!

On the other hand, deadlines generally require stress, late nights (sometimes all night), shuffling of the many other activiies and lots of slack to be picked up by our Daddy - and he did a great job, I might add.

I love this reversible art apron! I modified it to include a pocket, but the pattern is free!

And so was the case this past week. I have been working on a variety of items to be sold at Blue Sage Frame Shop & Gallery. Today is the opening night, so all of my stuff needed to be done yesterday. And it was a good thing too, because I am exhausted! Most nights this week I was up until 12 or 1 and Thursday night (crunch time!) I was up until almost 3. Ugh. But, it is finished! And looks lovely. If you are in the neighborhood, please stop by!

And So it Begins...

Apparently the time has come for a blog dedicated soley to my sewing and crafting and this time of year, lots of food preserving! While this will be constantly changing, I am excited for a place to ramble about all the many things I am doing. And also, to write about all the things I want to do - which get lost in the jumble of thoughts running through my head.
Pictures to come!

Have a wonderful time weekending!