I put down the Heirloom Bride ornaments for now and have been working on a new project.
Girl in Lavendar Field is a design by Hanna Levchuk, who I found from Claire.
I have already made a large dent in stitching her in the last three weeks!
Here is a timeline of photos of my progress.
The skirt of her dress takes up almost the entire bottom half, so there is a ton more to stitch there. I was trying to stitch one 10×10 square at a time, but I messed up a couple of times and had to rip out, so I decided to stick with my normal style of stitching.
It’s Mother’s Day here in the US, so I am off to spend it with my son and Mama. Also, my condolences to Claire and her family. The sudden loss of her husband has been devastating for her.
Thank you, Avis, for organizing this Stitch-a-Long. Please visit the other blogs to see what other fabulous stitchy projects they are stitching.
The 7th ornament gave me a run for my money this time. I realized halfway through stitching that I was off a couple of stitches and had to rip it all out! That was painful. But I quickly got back on track and finished it this week.
Here is where I left off on #7:
And here it is completed:
I also began stitching #8. Here is where I am on this one:
I hope to get #6 and #7 sewn and completely finished by next update. Hey, any excuse to use my sewing machine right?
Thank you, Avis, for organizing this Stitch-a-Long.
It’s been almost a month since my last update and I don’t think I have accomplished much because I was sick for over two weeks and I have been so busy with St. Joseph’s bread and cake orders. Let’s see how far I have come since last update.
Home Repairs Professionally Done
New back door and cut down all sumac in the hedgerow.
Nothing more on this goal
Home Projects Done By Us
Paint everything in the kitchen and revamp some of said kitchen.
Nope nada.
Learn to Sew DONE!
Although I have learned to sew I am continuing to learn if you know what I mean. I have sewn five ornaments so far and a cute little bunny but with my time constraints as of late that’s all I have finished. I am signed up for a pillow making class on April 8th so I will report back on that. Any class I can take on sewing I will!
If you are local and would like more info on sewing classes, contact Sew Creative in Fairport. They offer a ton of great classes. Tell them I sent you!
Read all of the books I got from the Literary Bookclub
This is a subscription based service that sends you a box every quarter.
I am going to scrap this goal for this year. I am just not interested in reading these books right now.
Add my husband to all of our household bills and finally change my name to my new married name instead of my old married name (it’s only been 15 years lol)
I am going to call the Water Authority today to get this last bill updated and then I will be done!
Try 10 of my granny’s recipes from her stash
I need to get going on this one for sure!
Go to three cultured events this year like a concert, play, musical, etc
Last weekend, for my birthday, we went to see Cary Elwes from the Princess Bride at the University of Buffalo’s performing arts center and had a blast! I upgraded our tickets and added the Meet and Greet, so we actually got to see Cary and get our picture taken with him! We have never done anything like this before and thoroughly enjoyed it. After the Meet and Greet, we waited for about an hour and then saw the movie on the big screen sitting in the fourth row. They were excellent seats, and after the movie, Cary came on stage with a moderator and talked with us about some funny things that happened on the set and answered a few audience questions. It was a memorable experience, and I highly recommend this type of event to anyone.
Wear all 18 dresses I have at least once this year
I thought of wearing a dress to the Princess Bride event but it was forecasted to be a crummy day so I opted for pants.
Get my mom and son moved into their new homes and re-arrange our own home now that the kid will be on his own
It’s happening! My mom signed her lease and got the keys and we have been moving stuff in! All the big stuff (couches, tables, etc) were moved yesterday. My son is very eager to move into her house so pray for a speedy transition!
Try 10 recipes off the internet
I have barely cooked much in weeks!
Do some continuing education for cake decorating technique for myself
Still working on this.
Pay off $10,000 in credit card debt
Oof it’s been a rough couple of weeks in the credit card dept. We have had to fix a lot of issues with the Hubs truck so some got paid in cash and some had to go on the credit card. I hope to pay what we charged with our tax return but right now we have made no progress on this one.
Get that fruit garden installed this year that I wanted last year
Nothing on this goal yet
Watch Masterclass
I have been watching a Masterclass on brain health and truly am awed by it. Everyone needs to watch this class. We are putting way too much stress on our brains and in-turn our overall health. I am working to lessen my stress (which is very hard). The consequences of my stress levels are already showing up on my daily life. Not good!
That’s it for now. Have you ever done a Meet and Greet?
After the last few weeks and allll the cakes and orders I have had maybe I should do a weekly cake post? Why not right? Here are some of my cakes/cupcakes from the last 2 weeks.
My favorite cake this time was the retirement cake. I didn’t get a good shot of it, and the one pic I did get of it does not do it justice at all. The cake was a double layer half sheet, which is a huge cake, and I had an 8″ double layer clock cake with it that I didn’t get a shot of.
The one that gave me the most issue was the Jack Skellington cake. Let’s just say my best friend rushed right over when I said I had a cake emergency and she talked me off the ledge! Thanks Jenn!!
I just want to start off by saying I don’t usually do this many cakes in a weekend but there were so many events that I got called for that I ended up do five and two of those were new customers!
My favorite is definitely the Wizard of Oz cake. I have been doing the school’s musical cakes for a couple of years now and it’s always fun! My husband and I went to see the musical on Friday night and not only was the show outstanding, I was also inspired by one of the backdrops which I used for the cake design.
It was a busy weekend and I am glad everyone loved their cakes. The kitchen is cleaned up and I am now planning for this weekend’s cakes. 🙂 -MM
I am making huge progress in this series and I am happy to announce that I have learned to sew…on a real sewing machine so I can actually finish my own projects!
Last update I was stitching #4.
And here it is finished!
I also stitched #5
And here it is finished!
I am currently working on #6
I am having so much fun stitching and sewing all of these little ornaments!
Here are the five all done and ready to hang.
I used different patterns of fabric to finish the backs.
What do you all think?
Now off to see what the other ladies in the group are stitching! Links to their blogs below. Thank you, Avis, for organizing this Stitch-a-Long.
Happy Sunday! It’s been a fast 3 weeks, but I did manage to get quite a bit stitched on the 4th of this series.
Here is where I left off last update:
And here is where I am now:
It’s starting to look like the little garden it’s supposed to be. In the center will be a leaping hare. You can just start to see his ears up at the top.
Now off to see what the other ladies in the group are stitching! Links to their blogs below. Thank you, Avis, for organizing this Stitch-a-Long.
I sit here at my computer after a very long week and think what was my life like before I had a cell phone with apps on it?
I remember being creative. Almost every night I would keep myself from sleeping because my mind would not stop thinking of beautiful ideas. My own ideas. Not other people’s ideas. I would have to get out of bed and write all of these ideas down in a notebook just to calm my mind for the night.
My house was cleaner. Every week I cleaned my home. I had a schedule I followed. I had cleaning supplies waiting for me. A set time to start and a set time I ended. Then I would reward myself by watching a movie or special TV show.
I read a lot. I journaled a lot. I exercised every day. I loved to sing.
I talked to people on the phone, for hours at a time and I always answered when it rang.
My husband and I would dream and plan and talk for hours about our future.
I would start a painting or DIY project at 9:00 at night and go till after midnight. I did the same thing with canning and preserving. Night was the best time to can.
We went a lot of places. Visited a lot of people. Went to church. And we shopped! At a mall, or from a catalog which we combed through and marked with sticky notes.
I ran 4 hours of errands every single Saturday from 8 am till noon. I actually really miss that.
I gardened, still do, but boy did I obsess over it. Being outside was everything to me.
I cooked every single meal. Eating out was very special and fun.
I washed my dishes every night and got my clothes ready for the next day and packed our lunches.
I walked every night after dinner before and after my son was born.
I always had a project to work on, I always had a game to play at the ready, I always had a goal. I always had an idea.
I will tell you this, every single day now I roll out of bed and the very first thing I do is look at my phone. Not stretch and put my feet on the floor and open the shades to see what the day will bring.
Every day I look at my phone and I do not find what I am searching for. Never. What am I searching for?
Me. Every day I search for me.
Here’s to putting down your our phones and finding ourselves again.
It’s been a great two weeks in the goal department!
There is another goal I forgot to add and that goal is to watch Masterclass. Masterclass is its own network where people teach you stuff. You can watch a Masterclass on French cooking from Jacques Pepin or a class on Comedy with Steve Martin, etc. There are all types of classes to watch. It is a yearly subscription, so if next year I don’t want to learn anymore, I just cancel it. But I always want to learn something! These are the Masterclasses I have watched so far.
Home repairs professionally done – New back door and cut down all sumac in the hedgerow. Nothing yet on this one.
Home projects done by us – Paint everything in the kitchen and revamp some of said kitchen. Nothing yet.
Learn to sew – I took my first class yesterday and I had so much fun! There were about 7 of us in the class, and we all made pillowcases. We got to pick out our own fabric, and the class lasted about 2-1/2 hours. I haven’t sewn on a sewing machine since I was in high school, but I hand stitch and know how to use an iron, so I did really well. There are two more sessions where we will learn to sew a canvas bag and how to sew a zipper to make a zippered pouch.
If you are local and would like more info on sewing classes, contact Sew Creative in Fairport. They offer a ton of great classes. Tell them I sent you! 😊
Read all of the books I got from the Literary bookclub. This is a subscription based service that sends you a box every quarter.
I am reading Mansfield Park by Jane Austin. I got to open one of the bags that was in the subscription box because I made it to page 50. I can’t say this novel is grabbing me. It’s a classic, but just like all of the books of that age, the language can be difficult to read. Hopefully, it will pick up a bit, lol.
Add my husband to all of our household bills and finally change my name to my new married name instead of my old married name (it’s only been 15 years lol).
I got one of my accounts updated this week. Yay! It was actually easy. So easy that I am embarrassed I didn’t do it years ago. The Hubs is now added to the account and my last name has been updated on the electric bill.
Try 10 of my granny’s recipes from her stash. I picked out the 10 I want to try, so now I just need to try one!
Go to three cultured events this year like a concert, play, musical, etc.
Nothing done on this goal.
Wear all 18 dresses I have at least once this year. No dresses worn yet, but this goal seems to be my most asked about!
Get my mom and son moved into their new homes and re-arrange our own home now that the kid will be on his own. Absolutely no movement on this goal!
I didn’t roast the apple slices and I added chicken but otherwise everything else was the same.
There really is a difference between a side dish salad and a main course salad. I underestimated the amount of work it would take to prepare this salad, so my suggestion to you is to read the whole recipe first before you start. It was definitely worth all the work! Really filling and very flavorful! It’s a keeper.
Do some continuing education for cake decorating technique for myself. I looked into a class for rice paper flower making but am still on the lookout for more ideas.
Pay off $10,000 in credit card debt. I paid $1500 off in debt the last 2 weeks! I’ll write a post about it this week.
Get that fruit garden installed this year that I wanted last year. Excited to work on this. It’s definitely in the works!
That’s all for this update. What have you been up to? -MM
Join Mavis Butterfield for vegetable gardening and canning tips, easy recipes, and saving money strategies (Rug hooking, too!). Simple living at its best!
The Professional Domestic 