Latest French Ribbon Work

I hope you all are enjoying this beautiful fall weather!! I have been working on ribbon work and have not set foot outside....but I am going to get out and look at all of the pretty fall scenery tomorrow!

This is all for a custom order. Here is the lace cuff in progress.

Here is the matching necklace, it isn't finished yet either! LOL

Here is the brass bangle , it is finished...but I really need a new arm model! LOL

Have a wonderful week and I will show you the finished pieces.

Dana

Purple Ballet Shoes, Marie Antoinette Cuff and Ribbon Work

Good Afternoon everyone! I am really a one track mind kind of person, and this week I have been making some new items to fill my shop. I will try to get better about creating and posting!

Marie Antoinette inspired lace cuff

This last tea dyed lace cuff was inspired by fall. This reminds me of the old Sesame Street Song..."one of these things doesn't belong here"! I always tend to work in blues and pinks and purples, but here is a copper colored rose for fall!

Do you have a favorite color pallet? Which one is your favorite?


Have a wonderful day where ever you are!

Ribbon Work Barrette

Good Morning,
Here is  a barrette I have been working on . This is for a very sweet customer in France. We had had to communicate thru online translators!
  ( Apparently my sister's college major in French will only enable her to curse and find the bathrooms!!)

My customer is wonderfully sweet and I hope she likes this...in fact I hope this is even what she ordered!!

Fashion doll designs

Here is what I have been working on today. This is for a Barbie doll sized fashion doll. The customer wanted an assortment of lavender and purple roses. They were so hard to capture in photos. They seem much more delicate and smaller in person. That is a miniature gold safety pin in the picture.

What are you working on?

Southern Cornbread recipe

This is how we make corn bread in our family. Cornbread is super easy and nothing is better hot from the oven. Try it, especially if you have only had greasy little corn muffins from Cracker Barrel.

Now I like yellow cornmeal and my mother and grandmother would only eat white. The result was that somebody was always unhappy with the cornbread on Sunday night! The recipe is the same either way.

3/4 cup cornmeal mix----Martha White yellow self rising cornmeal mix with hot rise
1/2 cup self rising flour
1 cup buttermilk (you can add 1 tab vinegar to plain milk if you don't have buttermilk)
1/4 cup water
2 eggs
bacon grease and sugar are optional

Heat your oven to 450 degrees, put your iron skillet in the oven.(this skillet was my great grandmother's) The skillet needs to be hot so you get a good crunchy crust. Add 1 scant tablespoon  of bacon grease to your skillet.

 When your skillet is good and hot swirl your skillet around to coat the bottom then pour the remaining grease in your batter. (very important for a good taste) You can use oil, but it really, really loses something.
When frying bacon just pour your grease into a container and keep ine the fridge. Just a tiny bit will really flavor your dishes.

Whisk your drys together add the eggs and liquid, don't forget the grease and put in the hot oven. About 15 minutes or until golden brown.

When you pour in the batter it will start cooking along the edge of the pan before you get it in the oven.

Bake 15 minutes or until golden brown, flip out of pan and leave it upside down so your crust stays crunchy.

Now, I know people say real southern cornbread doesn't have sugar...well, we usually add just a tablespoon. It does not taste sweet at all but it does make it better. I think a lot of southern cooks sneak in a little sugar and don't tell anyone.
One other thing, if you like your cornbread super dense and crunchy only add 1 egg and use a little less flour. If you wanty it fluffier and softer inside keep the above recipe.

I thought when I had my own home the cornbread debate would be over..but no, my husband likes it flat and crunchy and I like it fluffy and soft inside. So I only fix it flat and crunchy if I want something! LOL

Tell me how you like your cornbread; yellow, white, sweet, flat, or crunchy?

Victorian bears lend a helping hand to others

I would like to introduce you to a wonderful etsy store called Teddy Bear and Gift Shop.
I found Kathy when I inquired about some vintage wedding dresses she had listed.Kathy soon became a dear friend.
 She is an amazing person who uses her God given talents to help many people. Kathy dresses the bears in beautifully created dresses made from vintage wedding gowns.

You make such amazing bears, how did you get started?

It was years ago and I've made hundreds of dressed teddy bears since
then.
I always liked the pillow doll. I loved the femininity and the laces
and soft layered fabrics. So I strived for that look. My dressed teddies still look
their very best on a bed or a chair. Somehow they have evolved into a victorian teddy bear.

I know you do a lot of hand sewing on your bears. How long does it take to finish a bear?

I have always hand sewn my teddy bear dresses but recently started using a machine for
much of my regular fabric. I still hand sew the beaded fabrics and hats.
It takes a day or two for a simple teddy bear outfit or a week for a more elaborate bear from
beginning to boxing them.

Please tell us how your shop helps those around the world

The Lord spoke to my heart many years ago that the poor and needy
had cried for water and that there was none, but He had heard.

The Water He has given us to give is His Love, through Jesus, for the world.
One of the doors He opened to us to share His love was in Kenya.
We have had a food outreach every week for six years now.
It feeds about 35-45 people, mostly children, every week.

We've simply learned to trust the Lord as He does it all.
We see so many miracles. He so loves.
He has added wonderful people to the work
and we continue to see people and children and families added to the outreach.
Kenya, Mexico, or locally, .whatever we commit to in His love, the Lord is faithful
and we see the need come, often through
miracles and very often through the dressed Victorian teddy bears.

Thank you, Dana, for the time to share

If you need a gift or are a bear collector then contact Kathy. Buying a bear from Kathy is truly the gift that keeps on giving!

She also sells painted candles, bookmarks, signs and other wonderful things! Visit Kathy and add her to your favorites and circles.

teddybearandgiftshop.etsy.com

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