holiday orders

Just a quick post today-I'm using this blog to help keep track of things I am making. This is part of an order I am working on to stock some of the shops and galleries for the upcoming Holiday sales.
These are lavender filled sachets all neatly packaged and ready to go. I have been buying the lavender from an organic source and the scent is heady and long lasting.
If I have time I plan on putting these up on etsy, too.
These are so much fun to make, work up quickly and can look so different with just a change of color.
A sweet smelling array of blooms!
Back to work- so much more to make!

lovely gifts from Liz

What a wonderful surprise today to go out to the mail box and find a nice fat package from Liz. I so enjoy her blog and was very excited to see what goodies lied within!
I knew it would be beautifully wrapped- a lovely vintage lace piece and one of Liz' pretty handmade tags. I do admire her tags! The lace is hand crocheted so I can really appreciate the workmanship- such a pretty pattern.
I must confess I knew lavender was included because the package smelled divine even before I opened it! It is my absolute favorite! I was delighted to see these beautiful hand sewn sachets:
There are 4 of them! Even the ribbons are wonderful- I carefully wound them up and saved them for a future project. Just my colors!
Each one has such pretty seed packet pictures on them. As you can see from my last post I love the graphics on seed packets. This is such a special gift and came at just the right time. I think we all could use a lovely Springtime boost like this. While I am doing spring cleaning I will pop a sachet here and there and enjoy the scent of lavender. Thank you so much, Liz! Not only for these gifts, but also your friendship!

holiday odds and ends

Very busy lately trying to get ready for the Holidays while also getting orders shipped. I put the tree up this weekend and dug out all the ornaments. The snow really came down on Friday night so it looked very festive. I had visions of a tree full of colorful old fashioned birds- the kind with the feathery tails- but this is not what I have been seeing in the shops. If only I had stocked up a couple of years ago when that was all I saw! I have also been doing a little baking- trying out recipes. First up is one of my all time favorites:
Gingerbread. I thought I might try a maple butter sauce on it, or a lemon sauce.
I froze a lot of fruit this summer and fall including blackberries. On a recipe search I found this blackberry bread pudding using a Challah loaf. It was delicious! This I will definitely make again.
What really turned out nicely and which I served at Thanksgiving (along with a pumpkin pie, of course) is this cranberry pecan bundt cake. The sour cream in it made it very moist.

As for projects, my pound of lavender from Mountain Rose Herbs has arrived and I will be making sachets. These I have sold on etsy and will relist. I'm also planning to do some embroidered ones. The next two weeks will be a bit more shopping, wrapping, and then baking. Can't wait to be done!

This post is linked to Metamorphosis Monday/Deck the Halls,www.betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com, or click on the icon on the sidebar. Enjoy the Holiday decorations!

Garden Flower Lavender Sachets

I love the scent of lavender.I've made these 4" sachets in a variety of colors and crocheted them for a vintage feel. These are listed in my Artfire and Lollishop shops.
As the retail business continues to be challenging in our brick and mortar shop we have decided to move the whole thing online. Our current,unused website will go away as a new one is constructed. Everything in our shop will be available, not just our own handmade items. This will allow us to highlight our other artists work- pottery, jewelry,wood turned bowls,handbags, blown glass,handmade cards, and much more! There will also be lots of other gift items including kitchen items, books, puzzles,and children's things. I will update here and link to the new site when it is ready.

crocheted gifts and cookbooks

I have spent the last few days replenishing my supply of crocheted soap bags. I had a young woman in the shop who dislikes the feel of a bar of soap against her skin and was thrilled to
see the bags. An average size bar of soap(or scraps) fit nicely inside and then use it as a washcloth. The little crocheted sachets are lined and filled with lavender- smell wonderful!

We also got our restock of retro cookbooks in. These are full of recipes and helpful hints compiled from Barbara Swell's extensive collection. Since I am attempting my first jam making session with my mother and sister this weekend these have been fun to look at.Unfortunately we are experiencing the hottest week of the summer right now after what has been a very cool season. Oh well.

I think I might do thumbprint cookies using my jam. If I do raspberry jam I would do lemon flavored cookies with the raspberry center. Even with the heat I am looking forward to this!