New Papers -- Gorgeous Florals!

 I just got the prettiest new papers!!  The most lush and colorful florals you can imagine...such a joy to work with in this dreary January weather.

Check your face...are you smiling?? :o)

 
  (this is my favorite...the colors are all kinda blended together and there is a bunch of glitter involved!!) 

There now....doesn't that feel good!!

Valentines!

Valentines Day!  I've got a lot of cute ideas in my shop for giving to your Sweeties---my favorite are these little mini banner cards.  I started with a sweet little (they are 3" sq.) handmade envelope  with an intriquing little ring on a string sticking out of it......

Open the envelope and slowly pull the ring on the string.......

 and a sweet message appears!  A little keepsake for your sweety that they can hang anywhere as a little reminder of how you feel about them!! 

 I've done these up in a few different designs....something for everyone! 

 AND...of course, there are some pretty new bird tags in Valentine theme to dress up your packages.  Wrap a colorful bit of paper around a box of chocolate...tie on a big pretty ribbon and add a cheerful tag--happy gift!!

 Last, but not least for today...I had to show you Dotty...she turned out so sweet and so warm, don't you think?? 

Health update:   I am right now on the tail end of recovering from the last bout of chemo, it's been a pretty rough series, but the doc is giving me a break after this!!  Yeah!  I am looking forward to it and getting my strength back (and maybe some hair, lol...I'm as bald as an eagle and lost all my eyelashes and eyebrows too, so I"m looking pretty scary! )  Keep on praying for me, my friends....God is my Strength  and you are my warriors!  ♥♥♥

New Toy...New Ornaments

I splurged and bought myself one of Martha Stewart's new score boards...and have been happily testing it out!  It's pretty fun and I'm enjoying a new craft.

I've tried to make these sort of ornaments before, but was never that successful at it....found the cardstock to difficult to manipulate  and time-consuming to score at each crease--too much work for a not-so-good outcome.  Working with thinner paper turned out to tear a lot and make a not-so-sturdy end product.  Like Goldilocks....these turned out "just right"! 

I have made them in 3 colors so far....Pink Peace

Green Holly

Rustic Red

They measure about 5" across--so they would work nicely on the tree or also hanging on a mantle or doorway!

Available to ship immediately--from my Etsy shop!

Shipping Specials in my Shops!

I don't usually run specials in my shops.  I think my prices are very reasonable for the time I put into each item and I don't EVER overcharge for shipping....BUT, in the spirit of the Christmas season I am feeling the LOVE this year!! 

I've decided that you, my bloggy friends and lovely customers, might just like to save a couple bucks when ordering your goodies from either my Etsy shop or my Artfire shop---sound good??  Basically, I'm putting all my gift tags, bookmarks, cards, and Christmas goodies in the special. 

Details for Etsy Shop:

Purchase any 2 items or more from my "Tags, Bookmarks, Cards" Section http://www.etsy.com/shop/misseskwittys?section_id=5006269

and/or my "Seasonal and Stuffies" Section
http://www.etsy.com/shop/misseskwittys?section_id=5006275

and when I receive your order and payment, I will refund the shipping fees back into your Paypal account before mailing out your purchase (usually same day or right away the following morning).

Sorry, but this special only applies to US/CANADIAN shipping.

If you have any questions at all, please feel free to shoot me a convo (contact link under my avatar) or use this link

http://www.etsy.com/convo_new.php?to_username=misseskwittys

Details for my ARTFIRE shop:

Spend $10.00 or more on anything in the shop and get Free Shipping in the US/CANADA.  Use the coupon code KWITTYCOUPON when making your payment.  Easy as Pie!  This special is running for one week:  Dec. 1 - Dec. 8. 

My New Hair!!

Hello Friends :o)  I hope you all had a beautiful Thanksgiving.  Ours was very nice.  Mark made his usual juicy and delish turkeybird and stuffing and all the fixings--mmmmmmmm!   I was happy to be feeling good pretty much all week and was able to stuff myself pretty full, lol.

                                                                 (Cancer is Blechy)

I'm on a new chemo now, and my hair fell out again!   Dang it!  Just in time for winter again. but at least you don't look out of place wearing hats in the winter, right? 

                     BUT---my "hair" looks mahvelous, thanks to LoisStifel (aka Foxy G)  who sent me this this fab hat that her Dear Mother knit.  Isn't it fun...when I get bummed about being bald, I can just put this on and                                                                  SMILE!

By the way---Lois herself makes some fantastic hand-knits too---some of the very best I've seen--stop by her shop for some really great , quality gift ideas  FoxyGKnits

Please don't look to closely at these pics--not only has my hair fallen out, so has most of my eyelashes and eyebrows, so I can't wear any makeup--hence the zombieish appearance! LOL.

This chemo has been pretty rough, but I met with the Doc today and we are going to try a few new things to see if we can't make things a little easier to bear this time.  In the spirit of Thanksgiving.... I am thankful to have God, Family, Friends, a good Doc and Nurses, and Crafting to keep me smiling and positive through this.Thanks to you for the love and prayers and support---I appreciate it more than you could possibly know!  ♥♥♥

A Couple Old Favorite Recipes to Share

First of all---the lovely and sweet SouthernLady is sponsoring a Marketplace Monday--start your Christmas shopping now!! There are some really great things for those who love the cottage style!! Stop by :o)

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I often get asked for my Sloppy Joes for a Crowd recipe...and I figure that, with all the office/friend/family parties that are coming up, these make a really good dish to bring to a pot luck . 


Sloppy Joes for a Crowd
5 lbs. hamburger
1 med. onion- chopped
Brown hamburger and onion.  Drain off fat and put in crock pot.

Add in:
2 cans Chicken Gumbo soup
2 cans Tomato soup
1 sm. can Tomato Sauce
2 T. white vinegar
1/4 c. Ketchup
1 T. yellow mustard
3 T. brown sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook until heated through, in the crock pot. It's even better if prepared the day before.

  (Here's a new little Notepad-n-Pockets wallet that I just listed.  These would make great little co-worker/teacher/pal gifts!)  Aren't  those Scotty dogs the CUTEST?!)

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And for Dessert--an ice cream bucket of Dirt Cake.  I like to bring this in an ice cream bucket, that way I don't have to worry about my dish!

Dirt Cake for a Crowd

1 pkg. Oreo cookies--crushed ( I put them in a big ziplock bag and use a rolling pin to crush them)

2- 8 0z. cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
1 c. powdered sugar
18 oz. Cool Whip (1 lg container + 1/2 small one)
3 boxes of French Vanilla instant pudding mix
3 3/4 c. cold milk

2 t. vanilla

1)  In a large bowl:  Cream together butter and cream cheese.  Blend in powdered sugar.  Fold in Cool Whip.

2)  Make the 3 packs of pudding with only the 3 3/4 c. milk.   Fold the pudding into the cream cheese mixture.

3)  Layer the pudding mixture and the cookies in an ice cream bucket (or nice glass bowl if you're feeling fancy!) 

I usually try and do about 4 or 5  layers, that gives you a good pudding/cookie ratio per scoop!~

And here's a pretty tag that I just finished this moring--it's listed in my Etsy shop!

Christmas Spirit

So...anyone getting into the Christmas spirit??  It's finally hit me...kinda slow in coming this year, but I've been having a good time crafting some new goodies :o)

Wanna SEE? 

Just this morning I listed this new item---it's a pouch with pockets for holding a small notepad, a pen, and another little pocket for maybe coupons or receipts or a small scissor?  Thought these would be great for teacher gifts or stocking stuffers (or just one for yourself to keep in your purse!)

I've also been working on some 2011 Agenda/Planners -- here is one of them.  So far I've only done 2 different styles, but am working on more.  If you have a color combo that you love, let me know--I'm always up for suggestions, especially from you creative/talented readers!



Then a little something fun for Christmas---a sweet little red wool felt birdie (well, you KNEW I would make some stuff with birds, right?!  LOL)

 AND a Snowbird too!  I really like the royal blue with the white--what a striking color combo!

I guess that's good for now.  I'm thinking about doing a drawing very soon---it's been a while and I really enjoy doing them and giving away a nice little goody to my lovely blog friends. ♥♥♥

Taste Of Home Christmas 2010

Hey...guess who has a project in the new 2010 Taste of Home Christmas book?? 

Hey....I said GUESS....don't just go ahead and look before you make your guess...sheesh, how hard is it to play along?? huh? 



*wink*



Just got my copy--lots of yummy sounding recipes --of course!  But then there are also lots of cute decorating ideas and crafty projects too.

Here's a shot of the handmade reindeer project that I submitted:



It's always fun to see your stuff in print!

Pumpkin Soap Giveaway via the EtsyTwitter Blog

AquarianBath, one of my fellow EtsyTwitter team members, is giving away some of her yummy-sounding Pumpkin Soap (all natural!)

Stop by the BLOG and it will tell you all about it and how to enter!!  Good LUCK!

The Girls

The Girls
Originally uploaded by misseskwittys

Just had to share---My girls decided to share Rosie's basket! Aren't they just as cute as can be?! lol

I love how Rosie has her arm around Daisy.