Bundle of Joy!

Hello Friends!  How very precious are babies and such a joy to their parents and families!

Psalms 127:3 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

This card I've made for my brother and sister-in-law who just had their first little baby, a girl! :)  She's so sweet and I'm so happy for them.   

For the card I've used some fun papers by Colorbok and some misc lace that I saved off of an outfit.  I used a clear stamp I had in my collection and then coloured in part of the rattle with a spectrum noir marker.  It's simple but I thought it didn't need anything more.  

Sharing with Word Art Wednesday.

Doilies and Growing Things

Hello Friends!  I have some lovely things I'd like to share with you!  I have been blessed with finding some beautiful doilies.  I have been learning to make my own slowly, but the ones that I have to share are not made by me.
The one above is so huge and nicely fits over my husband's grandmother's treadle sewing machine.  It covers up some of the scars and also protects it a bit better than what I had there before.

My daughter was given this lovely apron pattern and asked me to make it for her.  I love the old fashioned farm scene and I long for the time when I can hang my quilts and blankets out on the line again.  It won't be too much longer.

Here I added an old slightly chipped rose patterned plate and a peachy doily under my one spider plant pot.  I think it helps to nicely fill up that empty looking space. The antler is from my father and comes from one of the caribou he hunted when I was a child.  It tasted good and this antler helps to remember how my father provided for us.  It's always good to know where your food comes from. 

I love this smaller delicate doily that I have tucked under my tea light lamp.  It also helps keep the lamp from scratching the hutch.

Now I'd like to share with you some of my little efforts in starting plants for our garden.  I have six trays now and some extras up against the window.  Some seeds have come up and are doing well, and I planted more yesterday and I'm eager to see them sprout as well.  It's amazing how there's space there now, but soon....they'll be spread out all over the house looking for any good amount of sunshine they can get. :)  I was sitting out in my greenhouse yesterday, just thinking of where I'll put everything.  I'm going to change where I place the benches and I hope that'll make it a bit more navigable.  I have a 10x10 dog pen that we built a roof for and plasticed in. 

The tomatoes were doing well before, but I had a couple tomatoes in each cell and so I separated them and put them in bigger sections so they'll hopefully grow better. I always start more so that if they don't all germinate then I won't have to re-seed.  This year they all came up. :)   I have Early Girl, Siberian, and Yellow Pear tomatoes.

Here are my chives and chamomile.  The chamomile is so small, but looks like it will do well and I'll have lots of lovey chamomile tea for next winter. :)  It's so delicious and the flavour is so much better than store bought.  It's wonderful and soothing.

Sharing with The Art of Homemaking Monday.

The World Covered in Sunshine

 Hello Friends!  Today has been a world covered in sunshine and I am so very thankful!  To see the sun shining has cheered me and given me energy to help tackle the daily life.  Made some twisty bread instead of buns today.  No they're not pretty, but they were fluffy and delicious. :) 

My seedlings are starting to grow and more seeds are germinating also.  I'm sure the warmth of the sunshine is calling them out.  I don't have a grow light so they are in front of the window, all leaning toward the light.  I turn the trays regularly so that they don't grow too funny.  So nice to get a head start on the garden.
 I'll be planting more come April, but for now there is plenty to watch and keep tabs on.  I had some damping off going on with my chamomile and fennel so I sprayed some peroxide (watered down a bit) and that took care of that problem just fine. 

I was in my bedroom opening up the window and noticed how lovely it was to see the ground under the trees expanding.  Many times through the day the birds are down pecking around and then also helping themselves to our homemade feeder in the tree.   It's around freezing now and the air is so fresh.  Beautiful day!

Thanks for dropping by! I hope you are having a beautiful day to!
Sharing with The Art of Homemaking Mondays. 

Feelings of Spring

Hello!  As of late I've been having feelings of spring.  The weather has been very warm and above freezing many days.  It's led to open windows, organizing and long hours outside.    The Lord has greatly blessed and I am thankful for each new day!  Seeing the sunshine first thing in the morning definitely helps get me out of bed to care for my family easier.  I find myself humming more as I do my chores to, one of my favourite happy things. :)  Humming songs that I learned from hymns to little ones I've thought up on my own.  Those mixed with the sounds of birds, squirrels and dripping water from the eves makes for a delightful mood.   I love how the Lord Jesus pays such attention to detail.  Life is so full of wonderful simple things if we would only take the time to notice.

I finally got to organizing the yarn stash I have into the bottom of my hutch.  The top is all my acrylic yarns an then bottom left are stacked blankets that have been made, the bottom right is a bag of all my cotton yarn and behind it is a bag of wool blends.  It looks so pretty now.  Before it was just a collection of a ton of little bags of yarn as I collected them over many months from here and there.  The container on the ground in front of the cupboard is full of the little round bits and pieces that are still useful for somthing. 

I have been blessed with finding this lovely striped towel and lovely cloth napkin. I have found that even though my family isn't ready to do the cloth napkin thing, I love having them around.  They are wonderful for covering rising/ cooling bread, for covering baskets of food and just to look lovely folded nicely in the drawer. :)

With the warmer weather I was inspired to pull out my gardening things and get some seeds started.  Actually it was a homeschool project done with all of my children.  We planted tomatoes (two varieties), basil, english thyme, parsley, lemon balm, spaghetti squash, pansies, fennel, & anise.  For now....there will be more to come.  Most of the seeds have germinated and are now a delight to check on.  I did have some damping off going on with my pansy seeds that have yet to sprout so I spritzed some chamomile tea over them.  If that doesn't help I'll be trying hydrogen peroxide....I've heard that works well to.  It'll be about three months until they can go outside, and then the windows of my home will be full of green plants! :)  Here in the Yukon it's important to start some things early so that they can be enjoyed before the summer is over. 

Do you start plants early?  What are your favorite plants to plant early for your garden? 

Thank you for dropping by my blog to see me!  Praying you have a blessed day!

Sharing with The Art of Homemaking Mondays.

A Delightful Week

Hello Friends!  Today I'd like to share some things with you from my delightful week!  The Lord has been so good to my family and I am so very thankful!

Above is a project that I'm beginning.  It's a baby blanket that I'm making with some very fine soft yarn that I came across.  I'm using the moss stitch and it's super easy and I love the effect it gives the blanket.  With using a small hook (4mm) it is going to take some time but it'll be worth it in the end.

A couple weeks ago the lady that we had been buying eggs from needed to find a new home for her chickens.  No I couldn't give the a home (but would have loved to!).  I was in need of finding someone that I could buy eggs locally from and the Lord provided my next door neighbour!  :)  She has lots of other egg customers but could take us on to!  When we got the eggs I opened them up, and to my delight there were these lovely green eggs in the cartons! How splendid!

Then as spring is coming in the next couple months.  For us in the Yukon the snow starts really melting in April.  Then the grass starts growing in May.  For those of you who love growing things, it helps to start plants to get through the rest of the winter.  So my boys have kicked off the growing things this year with a science project.  A dear friend of ours gave my son a kit with huge test tubes that he can watch the roots growing to! It's really cool and since planting a bit ago, the radish is up and it's inspiring!  He planted a carrot, a radish and then started an green onion from a scrap from the kitchen.  Next is the pot that my son planted lima beans and nasturtium in.  They've been placed in their sunny window in their room.  

Next I need to pull out my shelving and trays to begin my seedlings for the garden.  It is one of the things I really enjoy!  How amazing to see the little plants grow and how wonderful to see the plan of the Lord God in his creation!

So just a few little tidbits of my week. I pray that you are also finding pleasure in the simple things of life!

Sharing with The Art of Homemaking Mondays.

Homemaker-in-Training

I am delighted to share with you all some of the things that my homemakers in training are doing lately.  They have been busy this winter sewing and crocheting things for themselves and others.  

I found this sweet sentiment online and it's what my girls are striving for.  

Titus Chapter 2: 3-5

 "The aged women likewise, that [they be] in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;

That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,

To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed."

My oldest has said for a long time that she doesn't enjoy sewing AT ALL.  Then after looking through fabric she decided she'd like to try making a quilt.  WOW! So after making the beautiful lap quilt above she jumped into making this fun dog bed cover and learned how to sew an invisible zipper seam.  Now she has changed her mind about sewing. :)

My other daughter loves sewing and now has her own machine that she can work on anytime. She likes to make aprons and other things like it.   

Both of the girls love to crochet (grandma got them started).  I love it when younger women can learn skills from older women and not just on youtube.

They make lots of blankets and pillows and hats and mittens and other odd things like hearts. :)  It's fun to see the Lord teaching them through it all and creating opportunities to use these gifts to benefit others.

Thank you for dropping by!  May your day be blessed.

Sharing with The Art of Homemaking Monday.  

Lace Holders

Hello Friends!  Today I have a bunch of lace holders that I made.  My stash had gotten a bit messy so I wanted to tidy it up a bit.  I came across the above vintage boards from the Shabby Art Boutique where they're a freebie download.  I printed them off and then cut them out and inked the edges of them.  I stuck them to some old file folders with craft tape for added strength.  Then added the ribbon secured with a pin.

I love how these boards are beautiful and practical at the same time. :)

I also found these lace boards on Pinterest....yes I joined just so I could get these!  There are lots of interesting things on that place, but I am determined that I'm not going to loose my days there.   I've been warned. LOL
They are boards made by Un Boudoir Dans Un Tiroir.  I thought they were pretty.  My printer didn't cooperate and printed them out kinda pink instead of brown...so I inked around them with some extra pink ink.

I then took a ribbon holder from my stash and used it for a template to trace out on some patterned paper I had and then taped them with craft tape to the folder board like I did with the others. Some fun colours to add to the basket.  Now I have a delightful basket of lace on pretty boards that is much easier to use then what I had before. :)

Thank you for dropping by to see me!  I hope you liked the boards and you can click on the links if you'd like to try them to!
I love all the fun little things we can all do to beautify our working spaces.

Sharing with the Art of Homemaking Mondays.