Spreading Light – A Words Crush Wednesday Quote

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Words of the Wise – Top Ten Tuesday

For my Top Ten Tuesday list this week, I can’t resist having a bit of irreverent fun with some word usage errors that appeared on published posts in the blogging world. This is not to suggest that I am perfect and have not made mistakes–far from it.  Rather,  I happen to think it is a great personal characteristic to be able to laugh at ourselves and some of our foibles.

I did follow a few self-imposed rules in coming up with the list:

• I excluded any posts that were full of angst and raw emotion.  Those posts are frequently overloaded with errors but I understand that language correctness may suffer while in an emotional state.
• I excluded any posts that were clearly written by people who do not have English as their first language.  Although non-native speakers sometimes have the best command of grammar and word usage, it is completely understandable that they might fumble.
• All examples came from blogs but I tried to edit the examples so as not to identify a specific blog.  We deserve some anonymity when we are less than stellar.
• I did not use more than one error from any single blog.

The Quest for Wall Art

My home is the place to where I escape at the end of the day. After putting in my allotted time at a job that keeps me overly busy, I relish coming to the place like no other where I can recover from the stress and mentally regroup.

Our style of decor is somewhat eclectic, not at all showy.  Our home feels clean but lived in.  The varying items that grace our walls result from a blend of two separate homes. After my husband passed away I invited my sister, who had become disabled, to move across country to live with me.  She happily obliged. Her decorating tastes are very modern while mine are quite traditional so it was interesting exercise for us to agree on what would be displayed on our walls.  She had sold or given away much of her possessions prior to the move, so I knew the things that she brought with her were extremely important to her and they would be displayed.  Bit by bit some of my things disappeared from the walls to make way for her items.  That was not a problem because none of the items I gave up were of a personal nature.

My Take on Blogging Awards

I published the first post on my blog on January 7, 2015.  I received my first blogging award nomination on January 22.  I appreciated the nomination for the affirmation that my blog had been noticed,  but it did not make me think that I have a superior or exceptionally special blog. There is no voting process so at most it is one person who thinks my blog is deserving.  I was grateful for the nomination because the award process is an excellent way to build blog traffic for myself, for the person who nominated me and for the blogs I chose to nominate.

Hearts A Plenty – A Cross Stitch Project

Today I share a heart themed cross stitch that I made in 2011.  It is one of many pieces that I completed stitching, but never made into a project.  This one I intend to finish as a pillow. I love stitching and seeing a design emerge as it is translated on fabric.  When I put the last stitch in one project I always have a million ideas in my head for the next project I will do.  I also have several WIP’s (Works in Progress) that I could pick up.   I have a drawer full of projects that are completely stitched but that I have not framed or otherwise finished.  At one time I felt guilty about that, but then I think of all the people who write and never publish, or who paint and never display their paintings, or undertake some other creative process and enjoy the act of creating but don’t ever share their hard work with the masses.  The benefits of the actual creative process can be greater than the finished product.  I have plans for every piece that is finished.  And someday the plans will be implemented.

In the Cross Stitch & Country Crafts magazine that published this design, the finished chart had been framed in a wooden tray with glass over it.  It was referred to as a tic-tac-toe board. Individual heart designs were also featured in a greeting card and on the top of a wooden box. Some individual hearts were stuffed and framed in lace and ribbon for decor pieces. Another option used a four heart section of the design to make a smaller pillow.

I have stitched for 30 years and have subscribed to many different cross stitch magazines during this time. I generally find my next project by searching through the magazines and charts that I have accumulated. Although I wish I could purchase more to support the struggling designers out there, I cannot justify it when I know that I already have just the designs I need.  The one chart that was a recent purchase was Dawn’s Break by Mystic Stitch featured in my post 93,100 Stitches of Love.

Project Details:  Medley of Hearts from Cross Stitch & Country Crafts, Jan/Feb 1991.  Stitched on rose 28 count even weave  over 2 with 2 strands of DMC floss.  Finished size 9 1/2 ” by 9″.  Design by Linda Gillum.

Casual Friday 2/13/2015

I join Amie from the blog Amie Writes to celebrate Casual Fridays. As Amie explains:

Casual Fridays is going to be my (hopefully) weekly post and it is just that: casual. It is just a way for me to catch up from the week and chat about whatever is going on in my life. No daily posts, no fiction, no poetry, no structure or stress.  It will probably be pretty random and I’m okay with that.  I hope that you will join in too.  Chat me up in the comments or write your own post with a ping back to this post.  Here we go…

This is the week that was.

I celebrated another birthday.  At this age I would prefer that they not come around so quickly but I can’t control that.  It is ok with me if the day passes quietly.  However, people in my life have other ideas.  I got flowers, gifts, phone calls from family, a birthday cake, and many birthday messages on Facebook.  My birthday dinner was a shrimp and linguine stir fry that my sister makes for me every year.

The Attack Rooster

In an old photo album that my mother started for me 50 years ago, there is a grainy, dark, black and white photo of a rooster perched on the corner of a roof. I cringe when I see that picture.

I grew up on a Wisconsin farm as the sixth child  in the family.  Our farm was primarily a dairy farm, although in my earliest years we also had pigs, chickens, geese and ducks. I remember the bantam roosters. They were a beautiful rich coppery red, with shimmers of blue and green in their  dark tail feathers when the light hit in the right way.  They were also vicious, mean and unpredictable especially when children were around.

Spreading Love – A Words Crush Wednesday Quote

Spread love everywhere you go.  Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.

Mother Teresa

A good quote needs no explanation.

Click here for information about the Word Crush Wednesday Favorite Quote Challenge offered by Rebirth of Lisa

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Valentine Hand-made Craft Ideas – A Top Ten Tuesday List

Tuesday’s Top Ten

For today’s Top Ten List I honor Valentine’s day by sharing some home-made craft and food ideas dedicated to the day of love.  I am a pushover for hand-crafted, made with love, home-made gifts and decorations, the kind that takes time and thought.  There are many other ideas available and I am not implying that these are automatically the best.  These are 10 that caught my eye but there are many others deserving of mention.  I would love to see this list be increased by having additional sites and ideas added in Comments.

1.  A Valentine’s Tea Party.   A mom and her daughter have a valentine’s tea party including crafting.  Check out Eileen B. Jennings website.
2. Handmade Valentines.  Who does not love getting home- made valentine cards specially created by a much loved child? Bean & Bantam offers great cards using the outline of the child’s hand.  And Off the Waller shares another idea.
3. A Valentine’s Wreath.  In the blog A Wandaful Thing, a crafty idea for a Valentine’s Wreath is presented.
4. Bay Rose Sugar Scrub.  Having been a recipient of some home made sugar scrub this past Christmas, and absolutely loving it, this crafty idea from My Glamour Temptation seems so neat.  Of course, maybe it can’t be made until after the Valentine rose bouquet has run its course, but it is still a great Valentine’s DYI idea.
5. Knitted Hearts.  If your special talent is knitting, a cute idea for knitting little hearts is presented in Knits by Sachi.
6. Crocheted Hearts.  If I include a knitted heart, I must also include a crocheted heart.  The Agrarian Artisan shares a valentine heart.
7. Valentine Garlands.  Aixie’s Space presents a heart garland as valentine decor.
8. Cross stitched hearts.  Because I am a stitcher, I have to include at least one link to a cross-stitched design.  Stitcheroo My Darling provides a link to a pretty freebie.
9. Love Posts.  Callie & Chef presents a ribbon of daily post-its for the month of February.
10. Homemade Valentines Food/Gifts.   There are great food ideas among the blogs so I am going to list some of the great ideas I found which are all links to the site and recipe.
    • Honey Lemon Suckers using essential oils for a sweet treat presented by The Oil Spiel
    • Stuffed French Toast for a special valentine’s breakfast presented by The Okie Mom.
    • Valentine Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies  (who doesn’t love a cookie?) presented by A. Greene’s Adventures.
    • Valentine’s Chocolate Covered Strawberry Smoothie for a healthy dessert smoothie presented by Whippersnappers
    • Red Velvet Cupcakes for a vegan sweet food offered by Vegan Baking Up High
    • Chocolate Fondue and Ice Cream offered by Food & Fearless

Once I started to compile my list of 10 sites I realized how impossible it is to say these are the greatest. There are a lot of great ideas to choose from.  I would love to see other ideas or sites added in comments.

Growing Up with Betty Crocker

I did not actually grow up with a person named Betty Crocker.   I did not jump rope with Betty Crocker.  It was not Betty Crocker who bested me in anything that required coordination including that new-fangled hula hoop.  I didn’t play paper dolls with Betty Crocker and I did not beat her in a spelling bee.  She is not the girl who had a crush on the same boy that I did in 6th grade.   Betty was none of those things, but she played an important part in my formative years.