Attack of the pumpkin

  Ok, so I decided to finally cut and cook my FairyTale pumpkin. It was so heavy and huge that I thought we were going to have to get out the chainsaw(no joke). It is going to be a long night of cooking these dark orange wedges. I hope next year to actually grow my own. 

Operation Birthday Cake

  Today is day one of operation birthday cake...I sure hope it turns out they way I imagine it in my head. I think I will post a picture when I am done. Here it is..........

How to Make Jawbreakers: 8 steps - wikiHow

How to Make Jawbreakers: 8 steps - wikiHow

How to Make Rock Candy: 12 steps - wikiHow

How to Make Rock Candy: 12 steps - wikiHow

Mini teapot

IMG_3248
Originally uploaded by Heather Garwood

Tea anyone????

Priceless...

 Last night after I cut out a ton more patterns and put some handles on some mugs my nine year old daughter and I watched Narnia. We also drank some hot spiced cider and had almond cookies.

October brings fall to California, almost..

 Well the days are beginning to cool off a bit, yeah!! So I went to my favorite food store Trader Joe's and saw that they had some Gingerbread mix this week and I thought I would try it. Well, it was so good and spicy that I decided I would buy a box every time I need something from there(so I always have some on hand). Well I guess I have been to Trader Joe's 4 times now in the past week because that is how many boxes I have collected:). They will be gone before they know it. Well enough about food, I have been very busy cutting out a ton of fabric to make a bunch of stuff. I decided that cutting everything out over a few days was more efficient. I have so many ideas that I can't wait to see come together.

School Starts!

Well, it has been awhile since my last entry. I had a productive summer getting most of my crafts done. I am now starting school and life has just got even more busy! I hope to get my website up in the next few months. Stay tuned..............

Summer 2009

 I am a huge fan of Paper Source and there do-it-yourself scrapbooks. They are an incredible deal and now I can finally catch up on 7 years of pictures. Oh is it going to be a busy summer with crafting, pottery, and scrapbooking!!!!

 It's hot here today in sunny California but my creative juices are flowing........ I am looking forward to the kids being off this summer so I can turn those juices into reality. However tomorrow I hope to throw the Terra Cotta I picked up at pottery class to make some or rather copy some old French bowls I saw in a book. Maybe I will even post pictures if they turn out the way I want. Stay tuned more to come...........

Paris 2009

 The girls and I enjoyed a few days in Paris scouring the markets in search of some vintage fabric. After a few subways and some crepes we found our shop in the Vernaison, Saint-Ouen. I was able to purchase three prints. Here is a picture of one of them.

 Today I finally got to use my little jam pot. I made this pot for jam and I was pretty happy with the way it came out. I even made the spoon. As you can see it got a little messy.

Christmas

  I thought of an interesting idea for my aunt whom loves cactus. A cactus wind chime for her porch. I think I will use some Terra Cotta and a little paint and see what becomes of it!!

I am busy working on some fun stuff for the holidays coming up! Coming soon www.TheStitchedHeart.com........

Europe 2009

I am in the beginning stages of my trip planning. So far I have got a great deal on a car rental from Alamo. Two weeks in England for 332 dollars!!!! Also we just put our deposit down on our narrow boat. We will be cruising around in a canal boat for a week enjoying the slower paced life in the beautiful U.K. I am also looking into visiting some castles in Wales. Of course my trip would not be complete without a visit to Harrods for a scone and clotted cream,yummy!! Hope to find some more travel bargains in the near future.

Raku Night!!!

I am really looking forward to my pottery class tonight. We always do a raku firing the last night of class. It's not my favorite look for my pottery but it's so much fun to be part of the whole process. I am also excited about painting all the pieces that were fired last week!! I especially want to see how the cherry blossom vase turned out. This was my first hand built piece that I really loved doing. I just received some more vintage fabric this week. I can't wait to start doing something with it. 

Ahhhh the smell of lavender is in the air.....

It was a beautiful day here in Southern California. It was the kind of day that you want to go in your backyard and do a little trimming on those bushes that are growing so nicely after all the rain we got:). Well I started to trim my lavender back and kept trimming and trimming. I can't think of a more relaxing  event. The smell reminds me being in the South of France and exploring around the countryside. I feel the need to make some sachets with all these trimmings. Its been awhile since all of the home renovations but I hope to blog a bit more since we are done with that. My door which we worked so hard on is finally up and looking so old and beautiful. I will post a picture soon. 

Rest for the weary......

Still peeling paint off the pantry door. Remodel going well. Just plastered the kids bathroom to give it that old world kind of feel. I look forward to seeing it completed.  Also looking forward to my little get away to honolulu this weekend for some rest with my sister. My husband gets to stay and finish some of the house projects:)....

Is it worth it?

We are once again updating our home. This time we are focusing on all the doors and the bathroom. I was at my favorite little antique store last week and came across the perfect pantry door. At $25.00 it was a real bargain!! However I am on day 3 of removing with what feels like a million layers of paint but I feel the end is in sight. I was able to throw on my wheel yesterday. I made a bowl for Valentines Day and a little cake platter and so all in all it was succesful!