Making Cards and Welcoming a New Blogger

Hello friends! I hope this post finds you all doing well. Since the open house is over, I've been busy putting the house back together, packing things up and setting them up at my booth in Oxford. I've been spending my crafting time working on some Thanksgiving and Christmas cards (another craft love of mine). This is a short post with just some pictures of the cards I've been making. I've also been working on a couple of stitcheries that were a special order. I can't wait to share them with you when they're done. I've still got more Christmas cards to make but this is what I have done for now. I generally make 6-8 of each design when I make them. It's easier for me to mass produce them than make a whole bunch of different designs. With that being said, here's the pictures of my Thanksgiving and Christmas cards.







Now for the other part of my post. My good friend Betty is trying her hand at blogging. She makes the cutest prim dolls and she does her open house on the same weekend I do mine. Please stop by her blog Lizzie's Ragg's Primitivesand say hello and give her a warm welcome. Tell her I sent ya! Guess that's it for today. Like I said, a quick and easy post. Have a great night everyone. Blessings~ Birgit

Meeting Friends & A Successful Open House

Good morning bloggers! I'm finally back after a long few weeks of preparation, setting up and taking down our annual Holiday Open House. I spent the beginning of this week taking down all the merchandise and slowly putting my house back in order. The open house went great and I was blessed to meet several blogging friends over the weekend. Who would have thought that a simple act of blogging can bring friends together who would never otherwise meet.

I had my camera at the ready so I could take pictures of everyone that came that I've met through blogging, but in the excitement and business of the day on Saturday, I forgot to use it!! Oh well, at least I have the memories of this special day when I met Julie from Dog Trot Farm. Julie is incredibly sweet and friendly and so easy to talk to. She's another "Mainah" who's blog I found a few months ago. I don't like to miss a single one of her posts about her comical dog Winslow Homer and the "ladies", Willa and her chicken friends. She came baring a gift of a dozen fresh eggs from her gals tied up in a pretty ribbon and a couple of chicken feathers. So SWEET!! Thanks Julie, we will so enjoy those fresh eggs.

I also met Tiffany from Folded Gingham. She is such a sweetie and you must check out her wonderful blog and beautiful home! She came with a few of her friends from here in Maine as well. I'm working up an e-mail to you Tiff, so be watching for it! It was such a pleasure meeting you!!

I met Jill, who's a good friend of Lynda from Behind My Red Door. I can see why Lynda and she are such good friends, Jill is so sweet and friendly and very talented in her crafts. Jill doesn't have a blog but she's a member of APP and has pictures of her beautiful home there as well as on webshots. I really enjoyed meeting and talking with you Jill!

There were also some other gals that I met from Maine as well as one from Massachusetts. They just happened to find my blog and e-mailed me for directions. If any of you are reading this, please send me an e-mail. I enjoyed meeting you all!

On Sunday I got to meet Colleen from And Baby Makes Five. She is so incredibly sweet and thoughtful and a very talented crafter as well. She is just as sweet in person as she is on her blog! It was such a pleasure meeting her and her mom. I did happen to remember my camera on Sunday so I asked her if she minded if we got a picture of her and I together. Being a blogger, how could she say no? LOL! Here's Colleen and I and her mom is in the background.


Isn't she sweet? She's a true soft spoken angel! I mentioned that Colleen is a talented crafter, look at what she brought me. A gift for me at my open house!?!

I've always admired Colleen's stitcheries and I just love how she colors hers in to give it that added finishing touch. I will think of her every time I look at them and remember that wonderful day! Thank you Colleen, I enjoyed meeting you and your mom and will enjoy your truly thoughtful gift!

Now here's some pictures of this years open house. I took them the night before and I forgot to turn on all the twinkle lights but you'll get the idea. Enjoy the pictures and I hope I get to meet up with all you wonderful ladies again sometime soon. Thanks also to all of you who left me comments and well wishes for this open house. It was the most memorable one yet! Hugs to you all~ Birgit

Don't forget you can click on the pictures to get a better view.































I also wanted to add my thankfulness to this post as I think it's a wonderful idea to always be thankful in everything. I'm so thankful to the friends that I've met while blogging and have recently met in person. Never did I think I would have such a group of friends that care so much and take the time out of their busy days to share their thoughts with me. It's so comforting knowing that I'm never alone, even when I'm sitting here at my computer desk. There's always someone on here ready to share a recipe, decorating tips or crafting ideas. May God bless you all!

Preparations & Past Open Houses

Happy Monday to all my blogging friends! I'm still going straight with preparations for this years open house which is coming up this Saturday & Sunday, November 7 & 8th from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. I'm getting very excited to meet all of you who are planning to come. Each day I get an e-mail requesting directions and I'm so looking forward to finally getting to see you in person.

I'm taking a quick brake because my feet and back need a rest, so I thought I'd share with you some pictures of my messy kitchen table. This is one of the crafting stations in my home. The others are in the garage and the table in our bedroom. (I really need a craft room.) I thank God that He gave me a very patient and supportive husband as we've not been able to see the top of our tables in over a month now. :) My sweet hubby is responsible for the mess in the garage as that's where he's been building me some wonderful pieces for this open house. Since this is to be a quick post, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.





If there's a flat surface, you can be sure it's covered with lots of prim stuff just waiting to be set out.

Here's some pictures of the finished painted floorcloths I've mentioned in past posts. As I said before, they're a lot of work so it took me some time to finish the them in between all the other projects I've been working on. You can see in the middle picture above, some more painted canvases I've been working on.

The long awaited Shaker Tree of Life.

A Willow Tree Table Runner
Sorry this is so short. I had planned on adding pictures of some past open houses, but my computer is going crazy on me and I have to shut it down. I'll try to get back to finish adding open house pictures. Blessings~ BirgitI'm back with pictures! Sorry for the delay. :)

Weekend at Mt. Monadnock

Hello friends~ I can't believe how quickly time is passing by. This past weekend was the weekend I went on the ladies retreat at Mt. Monadnock in Jaffrey, New Hampshire. My plan was to post on Monday, all about our weekend and here it is Wednesday and I still haven't gotten to it... until now, that is. Everyday I've been crafting from morning until night. I've been able to check some projects off the list but there are still many that I hope to get to before our Annual Open House. I'd love to mention it again as it's coming up on Saturday and Sunday, November 7th & 8th. If you're near Maine and would like to come, please send me an e-mail. I've already heard from some blogger friends who said they'd like to come and I can't wait to meet them!! You know who you are!! I'm so excited and blessed to have the opportunity to welcome you into my home and meet you in person.

That all being said, let me share with you some pictures of our weekend at Mt. Monadnock.

We left early Friday morning and did some shopping along the way. We arrived that evening and got settled into our room. There were seven of us in our group so we all got to room together. We had such a great time! We stayed in The Ark at the Monadnock Bible Conference Center. The original building, known as The Ark, was built in 1808. They have another house on the property with many rooms for their conferences.





They offer conferences for men, women, teen girls, singles, couples, mother~daughter, holiday for family and snow camp for kids. My kids went last year to snow camp and had a great time. My friend Tiffany, who went with me this year, and I are hoping to bring our teen daughters to the "Authentic Beauty" conference in April or May.

Our plan was to hike up the mountain on Saturday, but it rained all day Friday and Saturday so sadly, no hike for us. There is an indoor pool so there was swimming as well as laser tag and many other classes. A few of us took a dance class which turned out to be super fun and funny! Imagine a room full of out of shape, middle aged and older women trying to learn two dances in the course of an hour and a half. It was hilarious and a great workout. Most of us realized just how much we should still be practicing our Kegals.

The speaker this weekend was Maggie Rowe. She was engaging, funny and at times had us in tears. If you ever have the opportunity to go see her speak, I would highly recommend it. On Sunday, the rain finally stopped and the sun came out so we were able to go on a nice walk through the trails in the woods.
















We stumbled across this old, long forgotten bench. It just screamed, "notice me and take my picture".










The rest of these pictures are of a festive, fall display they had on the front porch of The Ark. I got a little snap~happy with the camera. I can't help myself when it comes to gourds and pumpkins and the warm colors of fall.








Anyone know if these turban looking gourds are edible??


Loved this hollowed out log filled with little pumpkins!






So that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by for a visit. I guess it's back to crafting for me. Hope you all have a blessed week! Hugs ~ Birgit

Slow Cookin'

Hello friends~ I'm writing this post tonight because I'm leaving tomorrow for a weekend getaway! Some ladies from our church go every year to Mt. Monadnok, NH for a women's retreat and I'm so excited to be joining them this year. We are planning to hike up the mountain, so you can be sure I'll be taking lots of pictures. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and the foliage will be beautiful.

Since I've been so busy lately getting things ready for our open house, I've been cooking dinner in the slow cooker a lot! I am such a big fan of slow cookers. I throw everything together in the morning and let it cook all day. Come evening, when I'm getting tired of being on my feet all day, I don't have to think about cooking supper because it's already done! There's nothing better for my hubby, than coming home from a long days work and smelling the warm scent of something yummy that's been cooking all day.

Yesterday, I made pea soup in the crock pot but since that's not everyone's favorite (although, my kids love pea soup) I thought I'd share the recipe for my homemade spaghetti sauce that I made today.

Spaghetti Sauce
1 lb. ground sausage (we like hot)
1 lg. can Tomato Puree + equal amt. water
2 sm. cans Tomato Paste + 1 can water
2 sm. cans Tomato Sauce + equal amt. water
1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese
Oregano, Basil, Garlic, Red Pepper, Salt, Pepper and 2 tsp. Sugar

Meatballs~ 1 lb. Ground Beef, 2 Eggs, Bread Crumbs, Parmesan Cheese, Parsley and Garlic Powder
Mix all ingredients together, shape into balls, add to sauce.

Brown sausage, onion and garlic. Add all other ingredients. Bring this to a simmer. While it is simmering add meatballs. Simmer for 5-6 hours. The heat from simmering sauce will cook the meatballs.


This makes a large pot of sauce so I usually end up freezing enough sauce for another meal.
ENJOY!

Have a great weekend everyone! See you on Monday! Hugs~ Birgit

New Olde Cupboard & Projects

Good morning and Happy Monday friends! What a beautiful, sunny day today in my little corner of Maine. I'm hoping to get outside today to finish cleaning up gardens and planters. I'll still need to bundle up as it's quite cold today and I'm not a fan of cold weather, so you can be sure I'll have many warm layers on.

Last week I mentioned that my sweetie and I built a cupboard. He hung it up for me yesterday and I've been having fun playing around with what I'm going to put in it and how to decorate it. Keeping in mind that I'm also getting ready for our open house, so much of our own belongings get put away to make room for the goods that I'm selling, so it's all just temporary for now until after the open house, which by the way is Saturday & Sunday, November 7-8th from 9:00am - 4:00pm. If you're in the area of looking for a day trip, I'd absolutley love for you to come!! I would so love to meet some blogging friends and this craft open house is always worth the trip. There are 5 homes involved this year and we're all so excited because of the great response we had last year from our visitors. We are a group of several crafting friends who open our homes up for the weekend (on the same weekend) so you can go from one house to the next browsing everyone's homemade goods. We're all within 5 miles of each other, so the trip is not burdensome and we provide maps at each of our homes to all the locations for your convenience. If you're interested in coming, please leave a comment or send me an e-mail and I'll get you directions if you need them or you can simply enter 400 Morse Rd., New Gloucester, Me. on your GPS. I'll also be mailing out invitations so if you'd like to get one in the mail, I'll do that as well.

With that being said, are you ready to see the cupboard we made?? Well wait no longer, here it is in all it's glory.




I'd like to find a tea towel to drape over the cupboard door but for now I just used a scrap piece of stained fabric over the door which softens it up a bit.

The gameboard on the left is one that I made last week.

Well, what do you think? Did he do good?? I think he did. It took him less time to build it than it did for me to paint it and finish it. Yes, this is for the open house sale as well although, he promised me he'd build me another one if it sells.

******************************

I've also been working on making up some signs and gameboards for the open house. Here's some pictures of them.







This is a set of stacking boxes I painted up for the open house.

I've been working on many other projects for the open house too, but I need to have some surprises for my visitors, so you'll have to wait for me to take pictures of the house all set up to see more.

Well, sorry this is a short post today, but I've got lots to do and little time to accomplish it in. Have a great week! God Bless you all and thanks for stopping by for a visit. I do hope you'll leave me with a comment as I love to hear from you all! Hugs~ Birgit

Creamy Chicken and Rice

Hello fellow bloggers! I hope you're all doing well today. It's cold, cold, cold and there's possible snow in the forecast here in Maine. I'm snuggly and warm by the woodstove, as I sit here typing this. I started out participating in Colleens Recipe Pool and then missed a couple of weeks because of computer issues and life. Now I'm back with an easy, rich and hearty recipe to share with you that comes from a past issue of Quick Cooking. It won 2nd place in their monthly contest and it's a winner for sure in our family. Get out some chicken and get out some rice and enjoy this tasty dish!


Creamy Chicken And Rice

4 cups cooked rice
1/2 cup butter or margarine (divided)
1/4 cup flour
2 cups milk
2 tsp chicken bouillon
1/2 - 1 tsp seasoned salt (I used less than 1/2)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp pepper
4 - 5 cups cubed, cooked chicken
2 cups sour cream
1 1/4 cups crushed butter flavored crackers (I used Ritz)

Spread cooked rice into a greased 13"x9" baking dish, set aside. In a saucepan, melt 1/4 cup butter, stir in flour until smooth. Gradually add milk, bouillon, seasoned salt, garlic powder and pepper. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; add chicken, cheese and sour cream, stir until the cheese is melted. Pour over rice. melt the remaining butter; toss with cracker crumbs. Sprinkle over casserole. Bake uncoverd at 425 degreees for 10-15 minutes or until heated through. Serves 6-8.

I'll share some timesaving tips that I use when making this or any recipe that calls for cooked chicken. I buy a large family pack of boneless, skinless chicken breasts and boil them until they're cooked. I use what I need for the cooked chicken recipe and then cut and freeze the rest in freezer bags. I also strain the chicken broth and put that in the freezer as well in 2 cup portions. Then, when I have a chicken recipe I want to make, I have the cooked chicken all ready in the freezer and broth if needed as well.

If you try this recipe, let me know what you thought of it. It's a great, hearty dish on a cold day like today. Enjoy!


Hugs~ Birgit