Not a Sparkle in Sight

Unless you count my button jars.

I have been seeing some serious sparkle and festive goings on out there in blogland. Alas, the festooning and bedecking has not come to the little green cottage yet. The main room, the place that gets dressed up for all occasions, is decidedly bare of holiday cheer. However, it is full up with the tools and trimmings of the "studio". My making space from the deep dark basement has moved camp into our living room for the last few months whilst I toil away on the giant project that must not be spoken of; not just yet anyway.

I was looking with a bit of envy at those of you who seem to have it all together when it comes to embracing the Fa la la la la of decorating for the festive season. I on the other hand, have made a banana cake. Oh it's quite good I assure you, but hardly sparkle worthy.

So, I need some inspiration, at the very least I need to move a lot of stuff out of the living room so I can gaze upon the empty canvas so to speak, and hope for an Aha! moment where it all comes together.

In the spirit of this search for my sparkle, I think I might go a-looking for inspiration out in blogland and share what I find for a wee DIY Friday!

So, how about you? Are you bedecked and sparkling, or are you still imagining your masterpiece?


P.S. I got so many comments on the fabric from my last post, I thought I would tell you what it is. It is a gorgeous voile from the Heirloom collection by Joel Dewberry for Free Spirit. The color is "Amber" I believe. I picked it up earlier this year, but I have seen it still available online if you do a search.

Thankful

We had a lovely holiday with friends and family, it was such a gift to spend precious time together. I am incredibly thankful for this, and for so many things.

While this life of mine may have not been entirely enchanted, so much of it is so very good. I do believe that I am able to better appreciate the good things having gone through the bad. I am blessed with the love of family and friends, with kindness and sweetness of grand proportion, I am indeed a lucky woman. I am full of gratitude for all the abundance I have received.

I am also especially thankful for you, yes you! Those of you who come to visit my shiny place here, you make my heart sing!

Thank you.

Her head has no room

It is a dark and stormy day, it's raining hammers, it's raining nails, we might soon get washed away. I was sitting at my table printing red twigs on a beautiful sand beach of linen, thinking of holidays.

It has been a busy time, my head is so full of things to do. Are you busy too? Tomorrow the folks are on their way to visit for Thanksgiving Holiday. I have pumpkins to roast for pie, cranberry sauce to simmer with orange and ginger, rolls to bake and something else I can't remember just now. Family time will be good and we will eat lots of food. I don't know why I am rhyming.

For those of you in the States, I wish you a beautiful, happy, and safe holiday. For those of you abroad, I still wish you beautiful, happy and safe.

I'll be taking this week off from my shiny place here and I will see you next week. Take care my friends!

Winners!

My goodness! I am overwhelmed by the response to my little wallet give away! It was so much fun to read what you all had to say about winter. Thank you for sharing with me.

Now, I was trying to come up with a clever way to pick a winner, but to be honest, I was up a little late last night with The Engineer playing a benefit concert and my brain is not at it's most clever today. So, I put in a call for help to The Engineer at work. Fortunately, he and his partner were very clever indeed and even offered to take care of the whole business and to provide photos! What luck!

Many Thanks to The Engineer and The Mad Drafter!

Each entry was given a number.

Here is the Engineer, what is he going to do?

Ooh, a rubber band pencil shooter!

Oh my, he's blindfolded too! I suggest standing a safe distance away. And he shoots!

#39 is a winner!

He shoots again!

#24 is a winner!

# 39 is Jamboree of Whitley Bay who said : "Winter, for all it brings the cold and dark nights, love to think something magical is waiting to happen. The first snowfall, the hope of an adventure with James and the Snowman. Christmas, a time with family and reminiscing about childhood, reading a good book all snuggly inside and sipping hot chocy."

and #24 is Andrea Creates who said: "i looove these wallets :)
i also love the holidays~ my favorite part of winter"

Please send your mailing info to me at lolanovainfo@gmail.com and I will pop those in the post first thing next week.

A big thank you to everyone for playing along it was a blast!

Also, I wonder how much actual work is getting done at the Engineer's office today...

Have a fantastic weekend all!

Winter Wren

Winter has arrived. It is cold and wet, blustery winds are stripping the trees of their gold and flame colored leaves. Rain boots and warm coats, hats and gloves have come out of hiding. I am eyeing that new tin of cocoa brought to us from Switzerland. Did we stack enough firewood? Next week preparing for a family visit, time spent together talking, laughing, cooking and playing. Time for yarn and hook and bed time books and a feather duvet on the bed.

Winter is not my favorite, but there are things about this season that I love.

This is the last day to enter my giveaway HERE! Winners will be announced tomorrow after I come up with a clever way of choosing!

Have a lovely day.

The WhipUp Calendar is Here!

That's right, the 2012 Whip Up calendar is now available! Full of lovely, crafty photos as always and ready to hang in your creative space. I am very honored and excited that Kathreen has chosen one of my photos to be included in the calendar. Hooray!

If you have never been over to visit WhipUp , go now, you are in for a treat! That place is full of inspiration and happy!

The Whip Up Calendar is available as a downloadable file you can print for only $5!
You can get all the info HERE!

While I am on the subject, Kathreen also puts out an incredible kids magazine called Action Pack. I love this magazine, seriously! The latest issue "Sticks and Stones" just came out.

The mag is full of great projects and ideas for kids for only $5! You can buy issue 7 and back issues by going HERE!

Thank you Kathreen for putting out such amazing stuff!

Oh, and Happy Monday!

Happy Friday Giveaway!

Happy Friday! I am having a hard time believing it is well into November now, what happened there? I am not ready for the end of the year just yet, what is a gal to do?

I am however, looking forward to the New Year, when the massive project I've been working on will be mostly over but for the clean up, and I can get back to a more normal routine.

To cheer myself up a bit I thought I would have a tiny give away today!
I'm giving away the two Flirty Fabric Wallets I made for Issue 5 of Mollie Makes Magazine. Think of it as an early holiday present.

There's this Deco one.

And this Rosy one.

That means there will be two winners! I will ship anywhere. All you need to do to have a chance to win is to leave me comment here on this post telling me what you love most about winter. Also, let me know your wallet preference. Easy Peasy!

The giveaway will be open until Thurs. November 17th midnight, and the winner will be announced next Friday!

Have a wonderful weekend all!

Thank you all for your wonderful comments, I so enjoyed reading them! The winners have been announced HERE!

Wordless Wednesday - It's all in your head

Blue Monday

The Little Green Cottage and the inhabitants therein, are experiencing a bit of the blues this Monday morning. The Sickness II, the sequel, in which everyone gets really, really sick and the laundry has revolted and formed its own sovereignty, has made its blockbuster debut! It isn't pretty folks.

Pony Girl is on her 4th day home from school, which in the entire Pony Girl history is absolutely unheard of. I am considering buying stock in Kleenex brand tissues, as my environmentally friendly hankies are just not up to the task. Oh dear, I'm afraid I am painting a rather too graphic picture for you folks.

So what does one do on the 6th or 7th day of cruddy illness induced malaise, when all of the herbal tea we can drink has been poured down our gullets, all the movies have been watched, all the puzzles put together, and the fidget starts to set in? Considering couch activities are all we can muster, it seems a dandy time to put my pretty blue vintage vanity case to some higher purpose.

What a perfectly perfect place to store all of my embroidery bits and bobs, floss and whatnots! With its top tray of just the right size compartments, not to mention a handy little mirror for checking my embroidery day up-do. Alas, I wont be looking into that little mirror today for I most certainly will not like what I see.

Then there is the bottom portion of the case which is roomy enough to accommodate a few small hoops, the floss that awaits winding, and some works in progress. How lovely!

I do hope that your Monday is healthy and happy. I'm thinking it might be time for a little giveaway later this week to bring some cheer, what do you think?

In The Kitchen with Lola

What's for breakfast?

'Tis the season for muffins and these little beauties make a lovely breakfast treat. Wholesome and chock full of goodness; with options, I love options. Not too sweet, but definitely tasty!

Applesauce Apricot and Berry Muffins

Makes 12-15 muffins

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup chopped nuts
3/4 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp canola oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper cases or spray with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt,cinnamon, nutmeg, apricots, nuts and berries. In a medium bowl combine applesauce, buttermilk, sugar, oil, egg and vanilla. Make a well in dry ingredients and add applesauce mixture. Stir until just moist. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full.

Bake for 16-18 minutes.

And now for those options I mentioned:

You can use all whole wheat flour if you desire.
Try substituting the apricots and berries for any of the following:
Dried Cranberries, Walnuts, and Orange Zest
Dried Dates and Almonds
Chopped Apples, Raisins and extra Cinnamon
Any other yummy dried fruit and nuts you have on hand!

Enjoy!