HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Wanted to wish all of you a happy and blessed New Year! I hope all your dreams come true and you have a happy and prosperous New Year. I am hoping to have a good one too. :) I am planning on doing lots more quilting if I can get the time in between all the sewing for the local shows. LOL! Thanks to all of you that follow my blog. I appreciate it and hope you like my posts. 

Have a great year!

Colleen :)  

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Just wanted to wish each and everyone of you a Merry Christmas! Enjoy your time with family and friends and have a wonderful time. :)

Colleen :)

Still Time To Bake

I know that the Christmas festivities are in high gear about now, but there is always time to do a little bit more baking. I was looking for new "simple" ideas for some different Christmas baking and I found this recipe at Diethood I thought I would share with you. They look absolutely delicious don't they! I make little mini cheesecakes that are a lot like these and those are really good so I thought I would try these. Oh my no wonder we put on those few extra pounds during the holidays.....all this great eating! :)

Happy Eating!

Colleen :)

Whew....Done!

My oh my!! It has been a long time since I have posted hasn't it. Well I am finally done with all the local Christmas shows and bazaars and what a great season we had! The local people are just amazing in supporting the local shops and fairs. I wish I could thank each and everyone of them. 

We had some new items that just flew off the shelves. This year I made some placemats using fabric that shows one of our favorite flowers up here and of course my coiled bowls that did really well. Still have a few of these in my Etsy shop. 

Then my husband did really well with his woodworking. He had aspen candle holders that were new this year and everyone really liked them. Only have a few of those left. His birch bowls did really well too. Now he has to get busy and get more stuff made so we can fill his Etsy shop back up. LOL! :)

All in all we had a terrific year. From the summer visitors to the local people we did really well. I thank God everyday that we are able to have our little business and create things for everyone to see. It is so much fun and fulfilling. :)

Hope everyone's Christmas season is going well and you are all getting everything done. This time of year is so much fun...hectic but fun. :) Which reminds me.....I still need to get the baking done! Yikes better get going and do that. 

Have a great week!

Colleen :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Sorry I haven't been posting lately, but the local shows have been keeping me hopping which is a good thing. :) I just wanted to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy the day with your family and friends. EAT LOTS OF TURKEY! And for all of you that will be shopping this weekend please shop Small Business Saturday. :)

Colleen :)

Time To Celebrate

I said I would send you the link to the Old Farmhouse Gathering Team Winter Celebration and I almost forgot!! I got so busy this morning with running out of the house to meetings that I didn't get it done....so with that being said.....here is the link to celebration. The artists on this team have been busy creating some wonderful things for all of you to take a peek and purchase if you would like. :)

Just click on here to go over to Etsy to see everything or if you would prefer you can search on Etsy by typing in WWOFG in the search bar. Hope to see you there.....:)

Happy shopping!

Colleen :)

Wintery Wonderland

So I just got back from visiting my daughter down in the Lower 48 and it was 70 degrees...and then I come home and look at what greeted me! YIKES! It is winter. :(

With that said.....it is time to celebrate with the Old Farmhouse Gathering team!

Come join us with for the Wintery Wonderland Celebration. The artists from this team have been busy making all those wonderful gifts for your shopping including me. :)  Here are a couple of items that I will have available. 

The celebration starts Monday and goes through November 22nd so get those fingers ready and come join me on Monday. I will be posting the link on Monday!

Get ready to shop!

Colleen :)

Thanksgiving Placemats

I was looking the other day for patterns for Thanksgiving placemats and I came across these really cute turkey placemats from U Create with a great tutorial for making them. I thought you guys might like to see it and maybe some of you might want to make them. I think they are so cute. You still have time to make them. :)

Happy Sewing!

Colleen :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Hope everyone has a Happy Halloween! Have fun trick or treating! Drive safe if you are traveling!

Colleen :)

Halloween Crafts

Time to get busy finishing up those Halloween crafts. I saw this posting the other day on my FB feed and thought I would share it with you. There are lots of different things to make for Halloween. There are several different links so you can pick what interests you. :)


Here is the link to the posting....The Country Chic Cottage. I follow her and she has some wonderful craft ideas and recipes! :)

Get busy with those crafts and happy crafting!

Colleen :)

New Fabrics

Well I have been busy adding new fabrics to the shop and I thought I would show you some of what I have found. I just love looking for fabics with all the wonderful colors they have now. I have been on the hunt for different Fall and Christmas fabrics. I think I have a good selection of pumpkins and fall themed fabric and of course Halloween. Also, some beautiful Christmas fabrics with of course..snowmen! Just love those snowmen!

So if you have a chance come on over and look when you have a chance. You can find me right here.

I just love all the pumpkins on this one. It makes it so whimsical. 

Definitely have to have scarecrows in the fall!

I have this cute Halloween fabric in fat quarters. Several people have bought these to make trick or treat bags. :)

This fabric makes me think of an old fashioned Christmas. I have several fabrics that look old fashioned and Victorian. 

Then of course what is Christmas without snowmen! I just love snowmen. I have a couple of snowmen fabrics.

So if you need some holiday fabric please come visit My Store and see what I have. Thanks!

Have fun sewing!

Colleen :)

Old Farmhouse Gathering Team Interview

I belong to the Old Farmhouse Gathering Team on Etsy and our team Captain is Lucy Galgano of The Farmer's Attic. Recently she did an interview about our team and all the great artisans on this team and what this team is all about. I would like to share this interview with you as I feel this team is the best team on Etsy and I am so proud to be a moderator and member of this team. We have so much fun with all the celebrations and going ons with this team. You can read the interview here from Creative Stew. 

Thanks for stopping by and I really am going to try and get back to posting on a more regular basis. Just have so much going on all the time. :(

Have a great day!

Colleen :)

Quilting Poem

I read this article the other day in The Country Register of Colorado and thought that many of you quilters(along with me) could relate to it. :)

Quilting

by Marlyn Hasart

About forty years ago

I was bitten by a bug.

I wasn't sick or feverish

Or drinking from a jug.

With paper and pencils, cloth and scissors

My "Artistic Juices" began to flow.

Cut and measure, snip and sew, rip and tear

This pile did grow.

Squares and sashing from fabric so smooth,

My feverish brow, it began to sooth.

Right sides together, seams to meet,

Sit and sew, press seams so neat.

Lay the block on the bed

All these ideas in my head.

Move blocks again till they seam right,

Alleluia, What a pleasing sight.

Back to the machine, I just had to buy,

And sew and sew-My how time flies.

Where's my dinner, my hubby did cry.

What are you doing? Up the stairs I did fly.

I'm making a "quilt" for our bed so warm

It will keep us cozy through the night's storm!

And now the years have so quickly passed,

The piles of quilts have grown so fast.

So now I give them to family and friends

And hope this bug lasts till my stash ends. 

Now I don't know about you quilter's, but I can soooooooooooooooooo relate to this poem. The stash just keeps growing and growing. :)

Have a great week!

Colleen :)

Preserving Your Harvest

Well harvest time is upon us and all of you that have those gardens need to start preserving those veggies and fruits. So get out those canning jars and crank over the freezer. I was reading this article the other day and thought I would share with you some guidelines on what fruits and veggies can be canned, frozen or dried......:)

Canning: Tomatoes and most fruit may all be canned in a water bath. Veggies that should be canned in a pressure canner are: asparagus, beans, beets, carrots, corn, peas, potatoes, pumpkin, squash and spinach. Be sure you have good lids and wash and boil them before using. I have lids sit in a pot of boiled water while I am getting the veggies ready. Follow directions in your canning guide.

Freezing: Asparagus, beans, beets, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, corn, herbs, peas, peppers, pumpkins, squash, zucchini and tomatoes can all be frozen. They must be blanched before freezing to eliminate enzyme activity. Fruits are: apples, berries, peaches, pears and rhubarb. I personally prefer to freeze my veggies and fruits over canning. 

Drying: This is the oldest method of preserving food and removes the moisture so bacteria and mold cannot grow and spoil the food. Some veggies should be blanched to eliminate enzyme activity during dehydration. Hang thin slices of fruit, peppers, and herbs on a string and dry at room temperature. If you live in a dry climate you can sun dry these. The faster you dehydrate these foods the more flavor they will retain. Again follow your dehydration guides for best results. 

                                                   Reprinted by permission from The Country Register of Minnesota




So if you are one of the lucky ones that have gardens and orchards, time to get them harvested. Or if you happen to live where there are those wonderful farmers markets where you can buy fruits and veggies by the bushel baskets get them bought and start canning. :)

Have fun!

Colleen :)

New Shop :)

Well is everyone back into the swing of things after the whirlwind summer you had? We certainly had a busy summer as usual. They just seem to go by so fast. :(  Over the summer we opened another Etsy shop that I wanted to tell you about. Actually it is for my husbands woodworking. He makes some wonderful items (if I do say so myself!) and does really well selling locally at the fairs and markets, but after those are done for the year we really don't have a local market for him so I thought.....hey.....open him an Etsy shop. :)

So I did and I must tell you I didn't remember how much work it was to open a shop with all the pictures and details you have to do. Whew....wore me out! LOL! :) As you all remember it takes a while to get off the ground and get some activity going, but the shop isn't doing too bad. We also have listed driftwood from our beach by our house up here in Alaska. We thought maybe some of the people out there that like driftwood, have beach decor's or work with driftwood would like some Alaskan driftwood and that gives us another reason to walk on the beach and look for unusual pieces. :)

So here are a few of the products that he carries. You can find him at The Woodworking Shop. I hope you can stop by and see what we have available. 



These birch burl bowls are made from birch trees in our local forest. We love to hike around and look for the burls. When we get them home he cleans out the middle of the burl and sands them down to make amazing bowls. What is really nice about these is that it is nature at her best and the bowls are the actually shape of the burl. 

He has several different types of candle holders. These are all made from local dead standing aspen. He cuts them to size then sands them and finishes them. He drills the opening for the candle. Some are votives and some are tea light candles. 

He has been making these cutting boards for a few years now. I asked him one day when I was trying to come up with some new items for the local shows if he could make cutting boards and he whipped up these. Everyone is different and most of the woods are hardwoods that are recycled from our local furniture making shop so nothing goes to waste. :)

Then like I was saying about the driftwood this is a single piece that I found. You can use it for a beach decor. We also have lots of several pieces that I put together in groups for the crafters out there. Driftwood is great for aquariums too! :)

So that is our new Etsy shop. I say "our" because he makes the product....I manage the shop...LOL! :) Thanks for letting me show you our new shop and hope you come and visit us soon at The Woodworking Shop :)  

Thanks for visiting!

Colleen :)

HAPPY LABOR DAY!

Wishing everyone a Happy Labor Day! Enjoy the day with friends and family! :)

Colleen :)

FALLING INTO FALL CELEBRATION!!

It's here!!!!! Time for the Old Farmhouse Gathering fall celebration!! This team has geared up and made so many wonderful new fall items for you to take a look at and go shopping. Join me in this celebration by clicking here to see everything in this celebration. Or if you would rather you can go to Etsy and type in FFFOFG in the search bar. :)  So.....let's go shopping!

Colleen :)

Celebration Coming!

The Celebration starts tomorrow!! Here is a preview of some of the wonderful things you will be able to shop for from this great team! Prepare to shop! :)

Colleen :)

FALL CELEBRATION!!

Getting that time of year again. My favorite time of the year....Autumn!! Just want to let you know that the Old Farmhouse Gathering Team is kicking off our Fall celebration with lots of new items from the wonderful artisans on this team. Mark your calendar...it starts August 31st and runs through September 13th. Hope you join us! :)

Have a great day! 

Colleen :)

Back From Vacation

Can't believe it has been this long since I posted here. YIKES! Well I do have a little bit of an excuse......VACATION! We were gone on vacation for several days! We took a camping and fishing trip up north and I mean wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy up north. We drove what we call the "Haul Rd" which is the Dalton Highway here in Alaska. It is the road that all the truckers that service the oil fields in Prudoe Bay and the Alaskan pipeline. It is the furthermost road that can be driven in this state. It is literally at the end of the world. Goes all the way to the Arctic Ocean! Man what a trip! It has been on our "bucket list" and we finally got it done. 

We spent several days of fishing which was absolutely awesome and seeing all the country and what an amazing sight that country is. The road was pretty rough and stressful driving at times, but we just kept bumping along. 

Here are a few pictures of our trip....


This is one of our camping spots. The weather for the first few days was gorgeous. Blue sky and warm. I love camping in the trees like this. It was by a nice creek that we fished for two days and caught an unbelievable amount of fish. We catch and release the fish as that keeps the fish population going strong. 

The Haul Rd is 414 miles of gravel and some paved roads. This is Atigun Pass which is the pass that goes over the Continental Divide and then you drive 170 miles to Deadhorse which is the industrial camp that services all the oil fields. That is where the road stops. In the winter Atigun Pass is terribly treacherous for the truckers. It wasn't really steep, but the gravel road was pretty beat up. We had to drive 20 mph for 170 miles because of the road. Took us 8 hours to get to Deadhorse, but now I can say.....been there!

On the was back over the pass we saw this grizzly bear foraging along the side of the road. He was really a nice looking bear. Probably about 4 years old we thought. 

On our last day up there it rained all night the night before so we thought we better get out while the getting is good because the road really gets muddy. There are parts of the road that they call the "roller coasters" and those are hills that go wayyyyyyyyyyy up and then wayyyyyyyyyyyy down!. Here is one of those hills. I called it "the road to nowhere".

And then we made it to the end of the road and back to civilization and our truck showed the mud we had to travel in. It was slick and muddy, but we did ok. 

It was an amazing trip and we had so much fun. Now we are hoping to get one more camping trip in before the snow flies which will be soon because the trees are already turning up here!! AHHHHHH!!!!!! We think we will take our 4 wheelers out a camping trip in a couple of weeks. 

Now...back to work. Have a great week!

Colleen :)

Pasta Salad Recipe

Hope everyone's summer is going good. Can't believe we are almost through July! I am always looking for new recipes and trying out new one's and I found this one for a pasta salad. I love pasta salads and in the summer we eat a lot of them.  When I think of pasta salads I think of hot summer nights and even though we don't get too hot up here (thank goodness...hate the heat!) we still eat pasta salads. :)

Jessica over at Mad In Crafts has this recipe for make ahead pasta salad. It looks really simple (Yeah!) and I think I am going to try it. 

Happy Eating!

Colleen :)

What Goes Around Comes Around

Whoa.....can't believe it has been so long since I have posted! The summers just go by so fast and we are all so busy. Hope everyone is having a great summer so far. :)

So, I have used a Lazy Susan for my spices for many years. My daughter gave me a really nice wooden one for Christmas one year. I recently read an article where someone used one in their refrigerator! I thought…hey….what a good idea! Instead having to empty your refrigerator to get to the item you need in the back, put them all on a turntable and you can swing it around to get the mayo, jelly, mustard , or whatever you need. The neat thing about using the turntable is that it is easy to take out and wash it and it keeps the shelves of your refrigerator clean and believe me this would be a HUGE improvement for my shelves. Ha!Ha! :) Now the thing I need to do is get a new Lazy Susan and then....clean that refrigerator out........AHHHHHHHHHHHH........that will be a major overhaul! LOL! :) 

Stock photo

Amazing what you learn everyday isn't it. So why not give this a try? 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend! 

Colleen :)

Did You Know??

Been a busy summer so far. We have had beautiful weather up here so far, but very dry and unfortunately we have lots and lots of forest fires in the state right now. So sad. I have been busy sewing for my upcoming local markets and festivals. I use to do these shows all summer long, but I decided this year to not spend all my weekends sitting at the markets and enjoy a little bit more of the summer so I am only doing 6 this summer. Then I will take a break and get ready for the Christmas shows. (Yikes...already saying that word!!!) :)  Spent a week visiting family and friends down in the lower 48 and had a party for my dad's 95th birthday. Yep...95 and he is still living at home, driving and very independent! Way to go Dad!! 



So I thought today I would bring you a few more........Did You Knows......:)

1. Budweiser beer conditions the hair

2. Pam cooking spray will dry finger nail polish

3. Cool whip will condition your hair in 15 minutes

4. Mayonnaise will KILL LICE, it will also condition your hair

5. Elmer's Glue - paint on your face, allow it to dry, peel off and see the dead skin and blackheads if any. (Holy smokes!!!! Ya....like I am going to put glue all over my face!!) LOL! 

6. Shiny Hair - use brewed Lipton Tea

7. Sunburn - empty a large jar of Nestea into your bath water

8. Minor burn - Colgate or Crest toothpaste

 9. Arthritis? WD-40 Spray and rub in, kill insect stings too (Ya...makes sense...your joints are stiff from arthritis so spray in the good ole WD-40!!) 

Some of these are pretty funny! You got Cool Whip and Mayo so why not turn yourself into a salad! Ha!Ha!Ha! :) Well thought you all could use a good laugh today. Have a great day and thanks for stopping by. :)

Colleen :)

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!

Just popping in here to wish all of my faithful followers a Happy Fourth of July!! Enjoy those picnics with your family and friends!!

Colleen :)

Oil Spray For Your Garden Pest Control

Can you believe it...June is already over. I can't believe how fast the summers go! Up here in the north country we have had our longest day with the most sun and now are heading back down into the dark of December. :( :(  For a few weeks we will only loose a few seconds a day, but then in a couple of months we will be loosing 5 minutes a day. Boo!Hoo!

Enough of that depressing stuff...your gardens should really be going good by now. My flowers are looking pretty good this year I may say so myself. Unfortunately, with gardens along comes the garden pest. Yuck.

So with that said...here is another recipe for a spray that is made from an oil to control those pesky garden pests.....

What you will need:

Neem oil - 1 ounce

Water - 1 gallon

Dish soap - 4 to 6 drops

How to make it:

Mix Neem oil, water and dish soap together in a spray container, stir or shake well. As a preventative, spray the Neem oil solution on the ground after you have planted the seeds, but once the plants have emerged and are growing spray the oil solution on and around the plants every month. To prevent leaf burns do not apply the solution to the plants until after sunset or while grown lights are on .

Sounds easy peasy to me. I don't have many garden pests up here....the biggest pests I have are all the little baby birds that just LOVEEEEEE my flowers and love to peck at them all the time. I can't have any small little flowers as the babies just peck them to death so I have to just have pansies and petunias. LOL! :)  That is ok because I love all my little baby birds. :)

So get that spray going for all those pests and happy gardening!

Have a great day!

Colleen :)