Best Brownie Recipe Ever

These are such yummy treats!

You will need:

1 box of Ghirardelli Ultimate Fudge brownie mix.

Water.

Oil.

Egg.

Creation effort: minimal.

Preparation time: approximately 3 months.

Instructions: Purchase ingredients. Place box of brownie mix into the cupboard. Now, it's a little iffy. You need to wait until husband (or significant other) gets tired of looking at said box of mix languishing in the cupboard and bakes them. Mine took three months, your wait time might be shorter or longer, depending. See? I said they were easy! Almost effortless! Yummy too. Just wait & see.

I'm teasing, these brownies were actually made by me as a surprise for Dash when he gets home tonight. But every time we make them I do remember our very first box!

Just a little fun to tide you over until I can gather all the info needed to draw a winner for the giveaway. It might take a couple of days. I will try to hurry!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Freedom Isn't Free

Spc. Jordan Morris of Stillwater, Oklahoma paid the ultimate price on Aug 11, 2011. Although I never had the honor to know him, I thank him for my freedom. May God bless his family and friends.

My husband, Rick (aka Dash) is the Patriot Guard Ride Captain for Stillwater. He had the responsibility of leading the PGR yesterday, August 20, 2011 as they honored Spc. Morris and his family. A big job but he loved doing it. Dash had 257 motorcycles, trikes and their riders to guide. (The unofficial count was 288.) That is my husband saluting the family with his fellow riders behind him. 

The PGR in the funeral procession to the cemetery. That's Dash, on the first bike. You can't see it but bikes are still turning the corner waaay back. Wow, the Patriot Guard turned out en masse!



This video shows the riders traveling to the funeral site after being briefed on the mission. Many, many people volunteered efforts to keep the riders fed and hydrated during a long, long hot day. Thank you! Another big thank you to all the other Ride Captains and riders that assisted Dash yesterday.

Why does Rick use the road name Dash? Click here.

What are The Patriot Guard Riders? Click here.

Obituary for Spc. Jordan Morris. Click here.

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

From My Gnome To Yours

An end-of-summer giveaway! Stitched items and Stitching stash are neck and neck in my poll.

I stitched up this little scissor fob and magnetic needleminder using parts of Bent Creek's Gnomes in the Garden Row. Isn't it precious? ABCD on the front and WXYZ on the back with Mr. Gnomes' lady wife on the needleminder. Stitched over one thread ~ these guys are tiny. I stuffed the fob with crushed walnut shells for weight. Pretty red scissors are included.

Design ~ Gnomes in the Garden Row

Designer ~ Bent Creek

Fabric ~ 28 count Monaco

Fiber ~ DMC 



To have a chance to win:

1. Leave a comment on this post. Everyone is welcome ~ I can mail anywhere.

2. You must be a follower! I only need another 26 followers to reach 800. Can you help?

3. Please leave your email address if it isn't available on your profile.

4. Those of you posting a link to my giveaway on your blog will receive an extra entry, indicate this in comments.

5. I will draw a winner sometime on Tuesday, August 23rd.

Good luck to all!

This giveaway is now closed.

The Winner will be announced as soon as possible!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

From the WIP Bin

After finishing the stitching on a couple of small projects last week, I couldn't decide what to do next. There wasn't anything seriously calling to me so I dug around in the WIP bin and came up with Peacock Cypher. This one keeps getting shunted aside even though it is fantastically fun to stitch and this (.) close to completion.

I was having such a great time with it! After work on Monday, I was really excited to get home so I could stitch. Life called. The kids (Jessie and her BF Matt) needed a ride home from the auto repair shop and ended up staying for dinner. Cooking, cleaning up, laundry started and I finally sit down to stitch when I hear a bit of a ruckus outside. Oh my, a thunderstorm and a doozy of one, at that! A few minutes later the electricity goes off. So much for stitching! Stillwater (and other places) had quite a bit of damage. The power was still off the next morning and I showered for work by flashlight! Have you ever tried to neatly arrange wet hair in a very dark room? Well, at least I was clean!

Crooked. Wrinkly. You will forgive me. You know the very second I finish posting here I'm going to be stitching, don't you? No, don't you ask me what the verse says! You must figure it out by yourself!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

A Pillow Finish

I did a little bit of finishing today. After choosing a simple checkered border on my little crow-on-a-pumpkin design I got busy with another project and set it aside! I got it back out before the weekend and finished it off and decided if I didn't finish-finish it soon it might go undone. Can't have that. THAT pile is already big enough, let me tell you.

Design ~ Gather A Harvest (portion)

Designer ~ Lizzie*Kate

Fabric ~ 28 count Monaco

 Fiber ~ DMC

Try as I might I could not get decent photos today. 

I love my new Autumn pillow. This summer has been dreadful with heat and little rain. I am definitely ready for fall!

I had a question recently about how I get such neat corners. Are they? I suppose my sewing skills are improving, as this finish went together without a hitch. I am still no sewing expert! So, my inexpert tips are: I always use iron-on interfacing, if for no other reason but to stop fiber-fill from squiggling out. I sew each side straight up, not turning corners, overlapping to make a + at each corner. I trim the points off the corners, careful not to cut through the seams. On larger things like this I sew the bottom leaving a gap and use a blind stitch to close after stuffing. On smaller items I will leave the entire bottom open for easier turning and stuffing. Some things I over-stuff until it's rock-hard, others I will lightly stuff. This Autumn pillow was lightly stuffed.

Who likes giveaways? I'm thinking of having one soon. If you would answer my poll at the top right...

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox 

Another July ORT Report

Even though there were two New Moons in July I was able to create a massive pile of ORTs in my jar. It didn't even matter that I've been doing quite a bit of over-one stitching, which usually results in spindly ORTs. Just look at all these thread ends! I am thinking the unbearably hot weather has a lot to do with more stitching time. It's nice to sit and stitch inside with air conditioning!

My ORT jar is pictured here with a little project I started on a short road trip to Kansas City. You know how much I like Autumn/Halloween designs. I cannot resist crows and pumpkins! It's not finished but it is close. I'm still trying to decide if I want to stitch a little border around the design. Your thoughts?

Next up, we have had some Totally Useless Stitch A Long donations for the giveaway!

Bronny, of Bronny's Bits, sent us a sweet little scissor fob, two quilted coasters and a few skeins of DMC. Notice that woolly bit to strap the sheepie to your scissors? Cute! Thanks Bronny!

Then Maria, of Between The Stitches, sent a Lizzie*Kate Snippet and some nice fabric to stitch it on. I hope nobody minds if I end up stitching this design real quick before it goes on to the winner, if I can squeeze it in? I promise to use my own fabric! LOL Thank you, Queenie!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Surprising Someone Soon

Presenting the rest of my drunken Sunday finishing orgy fun. Here is a little ornament I've stitched just because. Cutest kitty cat ever! I adore Bent Creek. I stuffed with poly-fil so it wouldn't weigh too much.

Design ~ Flair "Smile"

Designer ~ Bent Creek

Fabric ~ 28 count Daffycat-dyed purple scrap*

Fiber ~ DMC 

*Scrap meaning, "I'm too lazy to try and figure out what the heck I stitched this on!"

Best of all, this little cutie is going to be sent to someone that reads this blog! I will be mailing this out as soon as I can ~ so be watching that mailbox ~ it might be you!

This RAK went to Parsley of Seasons Of My Mind!

You all seemed to like my ladybug scissors, and I had many questions about them. They came as a set pictured here. The scissors, very handy tweezers and the little plastic ladybug is a thread cutter you can attach with self-adhesive pad. I've done a little searching and The Nordic Needle looks to have a good price.

TUSAL'ers don't forget the 2nd July New Moon is this Saturday, the 30th! Speaking of the TUSAL, I have a few donations to post about. I haven't forgotten. Maybe this Saturday!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Christmas in July

As promised in my last post, some of my finishing results. Lisa, of Hockey Mom Stitchin' Hobby, has let me know she has received my offering for our Ornament Swap. I stitched this little cutie one over one!

Design ~ The Holly Berry Sampler

Designer ~ Bent Creek

Fabric ~ 28 count tea-dyed Monaco

Fiber ~ DMC 

I was caught out right after I kitted this one up. I thought I had until the end of August! No, I'd only just started stitching when I realized it was due the end of July. *mild panic* Starting a one over one project with less than a month to finish was quite scary for me, the Queen of Slow Stitching. Thank goodness, I made it.  

I just love finishing edges with ribbon and beads. The wine I guzzled that day really helped me loosen up and be random with the spacing. I'm prescribing wine every time from now on! This edging is super easy, just tack the ribbon in place with a bead. Curl and loop and go crazy with it. The ribbon hides the seam and the bead hides the tacking stitch. Don't be even and precise ~ you want it to look wild!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Mayhem

I made a mess on Sunday! I had two small ornaments to finish. This involved pulling out the bins of fabric, trim, stuffing and interfacing.

I took over the kitchen table with sewing stuff. 

I took over the counter top with the ironing stuff. I like to iron craft things on my washable white craft towels instead of the ironing board.

It was glorious mayhem! I was having so much fun I opened a bottle of sweet red wine, poured it in a pitcher, added a can of tropical fruit and some ginger ale. This is tasty over ice in a fancy wineglass.

In fact, it was so tasty I drank the whole pitcher all by myself! Whoops! No, the ornaments came out just fine. All that alcohol only helped me loosen up my creativity! The ornaments are being mailed to their new owners so I will show them to you very soon.

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

A Happy 4th ~ Ort Report

I am a little late with my TUSAL this time around. Rick & I have been on a mini-holiday from home and work. It was so nice to get away even if only for very a short time. We saw a movie (Transformers) at Warren Theatre in Moore, Oklahoma. It was lovely ~ we had the balcony seats where waiters come to your seats to serve food and drinks. Nice! In addition to beer & popcorn, I had a "yoda" which was slightly green and tasted like liquid Jolly Ranchers & vodka ~ LOL! We spent the night in Bricktown in Oklahoma City. Our room had a big whirlpool tub and a wonderful view of the baseball park. Dinner was at Crabtown, across the street from our hotel. Their catfish was heavenly. I even got to do a little stitching and stashing. Here is my ORT jar with my pretty new ladybug scissors: 

As you can see from the ORT Report photo, I didn't have much left to stitch on my WIP. I finished it up when we got home and sewed it into a cute pillow, just in time for the 4th of July holiday. The alphabet was charted with random letters in the darker brown. I changed them around to my initials, SDB. I was able to find the perfect fabric in my stash ~ always a plus!

Design ~ Happy Flag Flag Day

Designer ~ The Trilogy

Fabric ~ 32 count tea dyed Jobelan scrap

Fiber ~ DMC

Today I am kitting up for the next exchange in the Ornament Swap. This is going to be a really fun design to stitch. Will stitching Christmas stuff will make me feel cooler? I hope so. It's still sweltering hot. Blech.

TUSALer's don't forget ~ July has two New Moons! The next one is Saturday, July 30th.

 Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox