hippity, hoppity, happity . . .

Happy Monday!  Todd and I enjoyed a great weekend.  Early Friday we headed south for a weekend-long conference in Shocco Springs, a Southern Baptist retreat center.  We attended the annual training and retreat event for Mission Service Corps missionaries in Alabama.  It was a lovely weekend of fellowship, inspiration, and encouragement.  

This week kicks off a flurry of activity in our family.  Joc's birthday was last Thursday, Kim's is today, and Sawyer's is tomorrow.  Plus, Kim and James are celebrating FIVE years of wedded bliss on Friday.  *And* my folks are headed down for a visit tomorrow afternoon!  Whew!  I need to get busy!

I took a little time to get out some Easter things.  These eggs are what are left of the more than dozen I created many, many years ago . . .

I blew them, dyed them, and then used puff paints to decorate them.  Aren't they cute?  The white one should give you a clue as to how long ago it was.  That was my sweet Joc's offering!  

And I've always loved this little sachet of violets.  It was an easy-to-put-together craft and always looks sweet and springish.

I used our travel time this weekend to do a little stitching . . .

I hope to finish this up and fashioned into a little mug rug before my mom arrives tomorrow!  I love to have little stitcheries to work on while we're traveling.  It passes the time very satisfactorily! 

And when we got home, I found the silk ribbon I'd ordered (thank you Thearica!!!) in the mailbox.  Yay!!  So I was able to finish up the last of the embellishing required in my CQ course.  I was *so* afraid of the prospect of the ribbon embroidery, but in reality, I loved it!  The first task was to stitch iris on the needlebook:

Oh goodness.  I could really, seriously get into some silk ribbon embroidery, I think!  And then we were to attach a satin ribbon bow onto our blocks:

Now all I've got left is to assemble all my pieces . . .

Into the thread roll-up, pin cushion and needlebook!  What a pretty set this will make!!  I think I'll be able to sneak in a little more stitching time today and tomorrow to get this wrapped up.  Essentially, finishing up this coursework and the "C" mug rug make up my design wall this week -- I don't believe there's time for more!

I had NO fabric added this week, so this is an easy stash report week:

Used/donated this week: 0.0 yards

Used/donated year-to-date: 10.5 yards

Purchased/added this week: 0.0 yards

Purchased/added year-to-date: 37.0 yards

Net used/donated for 2013: -27.5 yards

Of course, I also had none go out.  C'est la stash guerre!  

Linking this post up to the Week #10 Stash Report and the Design Wall Monday posts at Patchwork Times and Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts!

Like I said earlier, I need to get busy ... lot's of cleaning and organizing to do ... and I'm watching Sawyer and June for a bit this afternoon, plus doing some grocery shopping.  Hitting the ground running this morning!

:)

paisleys and stripes and flowers...oh MY!

So. Waaaaay back in March, Monday the twenty-second, to be exact, I showed you a bunch of lovely ties I purchased to make tie-dyed eggs. Remember? And then, on a roll, the very NEXT day, I pictured the process of cutting up the tie and wrapping the egg! Only I couldn't go any further, because I didn't have any white vinegar. So into the fridge went the tie-wrapped egg. And it sat there. For a while. Because I kept forgetting to get vinegar, and life was happening!

Yesterday, when we went to Hunter Road to put things in order, guess what I had there? WHITE VINEGAR! So guess what I came home and did?!?!?

I didn't take the care in unpiecing the ties this time. Snap, pull, and rip. Fast and easy.

Glad I re-read the directions; wrapping them in the white cloth after they're tie-wrapped is crucial to the process!

Into the saucepan for you, my lovelies!

Draining and cooling . . .

Aren't they beautiful?? Remember that ugly old green and orange tie? It made the most splendiferous egg!

Pastels are not as vivid on the hard-boiled eggs as bolder colors, but they're still quite pretty and delicate. I *love* the way the flowers turned out! Pretty nifty, huh? If you want to try them for yourself, check out the directions HERE at Our Best Bites. Ummm. I won't want to eat these! I'll want to gaze at them for longer than I should!

Here was our happy Easter dinner! This was the first time in fourteen years that I've not done a full blown Easter dinner. I had to scale way back. But I think we did good! Lamb chops grilled with garlic & rosemary, au gratin potatoes, green beans, yeast rolls, deviled eggs (NOT made with my designer eggs--I boiled two extra for our dinner. LOL!), and I made us each a Jell-O jiggler egg, with sugar-free jello. Then I cut them in half and topped them with whipped topping, so they looked like deviled eggs (sorta)! It was fun!

After our Sunday afternoon nap, we had cheesecake and coffee. All in all, a lovely celebratory day!

Again, Happy Easter!

:)