Respite in AK…

I’ve been a little out-of-touch {literally} lately.  We are on an island {Prince of Wales} at my parent’s summer place in Alaska.  It’s beautiful here and they have carved out a nice little place on the bay.

This is the cabin where we are staying.

There is a plentiful variety of berries.

It’s so very quiet here too…with an occasional float plane…

…or kayak floating past…

What’s for breakfast?

I really do try to keep our eating at a healthier level than what my palette actually prefers.

{my palette screams for sugar…about 24 hours a day}

So, although I’ve wanted to make this cinnamon roll recipe for several months, I have restrained and refrained…until now.  I can see that I was truly doing myself a favor.  I have not been able to keep my hands off of them.

It’s a fun, easy recipe but as your friend this post must accompany a warning…

Don’t Make these Cinnamon Rolls Unless you can SHARE them with Friends!

…and make sure you enjoy them!

♥

As I promised  yesterday, I have updated  THIS POST and you can find better pictures and descriptions for the upcoming art retreat that I host at my place.  I love the excitement that I hear about this.  I have some spots that I would LOVE to get filled soon.  It’s YOUR time to jump in.  YOU won’t regret it.

click here:  Bσhσ Art Retreats • 2011

new*fresh*untouched*brand~new*spick&span*unused*

I love all that is implied with the beginning of a new year.

Enjoy YOURS!

the joys of snow and wee ones…

Oh, the joys of snow…it consistently makes my heart sing!

How fun it is to have our first {seemingly} real snow with the girls {nieces} visiting.

I think that my GrandmaC. made these mittens for us kids when we were little {my mom mentioned that these may have been made by my Gr.grandpa Hill}.

They patiently waited while I made up a small batch of hot cocoa {no instant here}.

Recently, when I visited Disneyland I bought Tiana’s Cookbook and have been anxious to try some of the recipes.  Last night they had the homemade mac & cheese and this morning, banana-stuffed French toast {i had a small taste of both and liked them A LOT}.

Since I have some things to accomplish today they decided to have their own little tea party.  These wee ones play so well together and I get such a kick out of listening to them {as they have now become Alyssa and Barbara}…

‘Oh, I think I just missed my flight…

“I just love your place…

“Ice skating was so much fun…

“I’ve been hosting tea parties for the past few days…

It sounds like they are off to Paris tomorrow…

TCC…part 3

There are so many hi-lights to share after attending The Creative Connection last week.  I feel like it’s hard to gather my thoughts {can you relate???} and share the things I think you would like to hear and I really didn’t take many pictures so I’m planning to unabashedly grovel {i.e. beg, borrow and steal from others} to get some pictures to share here.

I shared my favorite hi-light in my last post.  I think that receiving this charm necklace from Lisa Leonard was my 2nd hi-light.  I have admired her charms for a long time and now I am the proud owner of my very own.  This is kind of a big deal for me…since I specialize in customized charms myself, I tend to shy away from wearing someone else’s design but I’m having a hard time even taking this one off.    Thank you Lisa!

I really love the group shots.  We truly had so much fun together.  I was a blast to get to know more gals from WA and N.Idaho.  We do shows together but, let’s face it, when you are ‘doing a show’ there is NO time OR energy to ‘get to know each other’.

This group shot I borrowed from Rolane ~ she posted it  HERE.

TCC ~ continued…

What are some of the household names in your home?

I’m pretty sure that with a vast variety of interests at play each one of us would have a completely different list.

If I were to mention a couple of gals at the top of my list, some of you wouldn’t even know who they are.

As I’ve mentioned throughout this week, I am enjoying a wonderful time in Minneapolis.  It’s a week that is so packed with creativity it hits you {literally} at every turn.

This event peaked for me this evening as I enjoyed a marvelous meal, surrounded by some amazing and wonderful gals and I listened to two of my favorite {famous} people…MaryJane Butters & Amy Butler.  These are two women that I have admired greatly for many years…so please indulge me here.

As I listened to these two women tell their stories tonight, I became nearly overwhelmed.

Me, MaryJane, Meg...thanks MissA for the picture!

I’ve so enjoyed working with MaryJane over the past year with some of her splendid charm ideas and this week I feel like we’ve culminated this working relationship as I’ve been able to help her and her daughter, Meg, with their booth at The Creative Connection.  These are two dear ladies!!!  MaryJane did such an eloquent job delivering her speech tonight to 400+ women who were eager to hear some encouraging words from this grassroots entrepreneur.

Over the past several years I have grown to love {yes LOVE} Amy Butler as I’ve witnessed her amazing creative talent through fabric and pattern design.  This was my first opportunity to meet her so I gave in to that compelling notion to pose with her for a picture.  What a gracious gal she is…truly gracious.  As I listened to her speak tonight my admiration for her grew…and I even became a bit emotional a few times.  OK…I know…I shouldn’t reveal everything about myself.

My love for this weekend continues to grow as well…I can hardly wait for tomorrow!

A tad more Farm Chick fun~

In this post there is an eclectic variety of fun pictures of me and my booth taken by various gals at the {recent} Farm Chicks sale.  I’ve enjoyed seeing other photos because I took so few myself.

Oh…there’s that jacket {honestly, it is one of my favorite pieces of clothing…please don’t turn me in to ‘What Not To Wear’}

This picture was captured by the ever-so-sweet {& generous}, Auntie Joy.  thx. Joy for the goodies you shared and the {warm} visit at Chaps.

These two {above and below} were taken by the ever-so-darling Trisha of  the ever-so-popular, Wild Whimsy.

These two {above, with Timi & below} were taken by the ever-so-faithful, Amber.

Too bad Amber didn’t climb into this picture and we could have titled it “Watch Out Minneapolis…Here We Come”, as the three of us will be going to The Creative Connection together in September.

{and here is little Miss Charming herself}

This shot was ‘captured’ by the ever-so-sneaky, Teresa.  Thanks, Teresa, for those sweet words!

Tiffany took this great shot of these ever-so-popular, Farmgirl Style Market Shoppers.  So nice to meet you, Tiffany!…see you in Minneapolis~

These last several shots were taken by Erin Hudson who came and visited me in my booth.   So nice to meet you, Erin and thanks for sharing your photos with me.  🙂

Here is Erin’s little girl, Quincy, who got to go to the show with Mom!

I’ve got Peace!

As I watched the rain lightly drizzle over our pond this morning, my first thought brought a simple, sweet tune to my mind…”I’ve got peace like a river” ~you’ve got to admit that sounds way better than “I’ve got peace like a pond”.

I then wandered around my yard in my red, Mickey Mouse Crocs and wet toes, and my next thought was, “I am one lucky girl!”.

Father’s Day {which began in Spokane, WA and was celebrated for the 100th time this year} always causes me to be even more appreciative of my men…

I have a great husband who loves sharing this journey called LIFE with me!

And my dad…oh, how I love that guy! {I’m crazy about my mom, too!}

My kids are the BEST!

I live in a beautiful, country setting that faithfully consumes me with the feeling of HOME!

And, although our world doesn’t feel very peaceful and we can’t seem to move beyond RAIN in the Pacific Northwest, I still find that I generally have a smile on my face!  (maybe it’s because my teen just left for a week of camp) 😉

two custom charms for two sisters who just lost their mom ~she had a charm with these same birds

Warmth, pieced with love!

I love old quilts!

I grew up with hand-pieced quilts that covered our beds and offered warmth…nightly!

Most of them were pieced by my grandma.  Our clothes were mainly homemade so it was only natural to take the scraps from those clothes and make quilts with them.

When life gives you scraps…make quilts…right?  That’s just what you do! {not so much anymore}

As kids we loved looking at those quilts and with each scrap that was sewn within we would say, “I had a shirt made out of that” or, “I had a dress made out of that”…or….and it would go on and on.

I was at a garage sale last weekend, packing around this fun piece of blue fabric with the velvet red dots and the lady running the garage sale said, “I had a skirt made out of that that my mother made me”.

It made me smile and my mind flooded with memories!

I’ve been working on this quilt for…TOO LONG.  Each Dresden Plate block has been pieced with scraps that belonged to my great-grandma.  These are scraps that had been saved from the many garments {and a variety of other things} that she had made throughout her years.

It also makes me smile!

Do you have fun ‘quilt’ memories?