Kissin' Kate

We have yet another new addition. We have the cutest little girl here now. Kissin' Kate has come to live with us. She is a 2 day old Shetland ewe lamb. Her mama had never had twins and refused to have anything to do with her. I haven't had a bottle fed baby in a few months....my youngest is 16 months already.

Today we get to spend the day making a better home for our little goat. He has been living in what is our normal brooder house, but we have chickens and turkeys coming in this week. So he gets a room of his own...as soon as we can figure out where to put it. He is the sweetest animal. I've been very blessed with the tempermant of the livestock I've acquired the past few months. We get a lot of funny looks walking the goat down the road on a lead rope for him to get his exercise.

We've also had the "neighbors" visiting us more often now. (Neighbors being a mama moose with her baby) They like to come to eat and usually run afterwards. This morning I woke up to them bedded down under the trees in the backyard. The kids went out to tend to the animals and they never budged. I'm wondering if they were waiting to be served as well. Living in the area that I do you never know what is going to be visiting. We have more wildlife visit our farm then we do people.

I can definitely say that living in Alaska is a very different experience. It is one of the most beautiful states I've lived in...if not the most beautiful. The wildlife is everywhere. I love never knowing what you are going to see. I love having my farm in the middle of it. I need to learn more about how to really garden here. If I can master that I would have my complete farm....well maybe not complete, but a lot closer. I still plan on bees, pigs, and possibly a dairy cow. I would love to have a meat cow and a few more goats as well. After this season I only need 2 more ewes to have my complete flock. Oh and my 11 year old has informed us she wants a pony...since the other 2 girls have horses.

It's crazy how time flies and plans change. We had just celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary. When we were first married I never would have dreamed we would be in Alaska, have 6 children, or have a farm. I'm a very different lady then I was. I hope that I'm a better person than I was then as well. This year has really started on bumpy ground and spring is bringing hope that we haven't had in a while. We have definitely learned to be grateful for all that we have, because things can change so quickly. We were very blessed to have had an aneurysm found before it burst. Having to go through the surgery...not me but hubby....and the recovery has been very difficult. We are definitely thankful for all that we have, always have been, but now more aware.

I've learned that I'm one that tries to run from problems. I try to run from difficult times. I've got the flight instead of fight tendancy. I've been forced to stop and stand ground which has been something very new to me. I have high hopes that there will be great things in our future for sticking it out....and with the blessings that have already started to roll in...I believe it to be so.

This is one season I'm looking forward to....spring is just part of it.

Long Break

It's been a long beginning of the year. Things are finally starting to become normal again....or at least my sense of normal. There has been so much happening.

We've added 3 mini rex rabbits to our farm family...hopefully 2 of them are pregnant. Our doe Bonnie had a litter unexpectedly...I'm hoping that they survive. We are also trying to get our Jersey Wooly bred. Hopefully by May we will be having a lot of baby bunnies around here.

We've also added a baby goat...his name is Casper..the friendly goat. I would love to find him a friend.

We have turkeys and chickens coming in at the beginning of next week...so spring has definitely sprung here at the farm.

Speaking of spring there is nothing like a ton of snow melting and pooling all around the house. We spent the evening digging trenches to send it away from the house. Hopefully we will stop it from making it in.

My girls and I have started seedlings in 20 oz drink bottles and lined the windows with them. We have our own mini greenhouses all around the dining room. I'm looking forward to the snow melting off and being able to be outside.

My Valentine

This week we were asked to make a Vintage type valentine. I love the vintage look, and am working on trying to make it more often. I still have trouble with the layers at times...but will only get better with practice.

I started with a 5 1/2 by 6 in base for my card...in natural (looks like cardboard) paper. I used paper from color bok that looked like old fashioned wall paper.

The first layer is a basic rectangle cut from George & Basic shapes. The second layer is a square also cut with George, then I used scalloped scissors to go around the edges. There is also tags this way on different cartridges...I was just in a mood to play with my "toys". The third layer is a large scallopped flower cut from Paisley...then a lace doily on top of that. On top of the doily is another flower cut from Paisley with a cardboard center cut from my 1 in. punch.
I topped off the card with corrogated cardboard and a wooden button with some shiny thread...used a "With Love" stamp...and called it a Valentine.

Some of the details of the layers....I used a light brown ink to distress the doily so that it aged the appearance. I also used a dark brown ink on the edges of the large scallop flower, the small flower and on the creases of the cardboard. I stamped the sentiment in black.

I love the look of all of the papers together. I am a creature of habit that uses a plain with a matching print...so to mix and match this way is always a challenge. I hope that you like this one.

*ingredients*
plain cardboard brown cardstock, colorbock paper
paper lace doily
cardboard
wooden button
embordiery thread
a With Love stamp
distress ink, rich cocoa brown ink, black ink
George and Paisley cartridges

Hidden Sentiment Card

This week on Sweetsassydiva we were asked to create a card or a layout using a hidden sentiment. This is my first craft back in over a month it seems. I have chosen a "Thank You" card to start...I have a ton of them that need to be made and sent. I do want to thank all of you who had us in thoughts and prayers this month as we went through hubby's surgery and now starting recovery. He still has a long road ahead of him, but he's getting there, he wants to plow the driveway...NOT HAPPENING!!!!

So here I go....

First I used my gypsy to weld a coffee mug from Gypsy Wanderings to it's shadow. Then cut it out on cardstock from DCWV Old World stack. I folded it in half and used small pieces of velcro to hold the top down.

I used my cuttlebug swirls embossing folder to emboss the purple layer of the card which the cup sits.

I added some self stick gems, and stamped a sentiment on the inside of the cup as well as inside the card. (I used a coffee cup because everyone I know except me drinks coffee.)
It's simple and to the point...but filled with a heartfelt thanks. I couldn't have made it through this time without everyone.
*recipe*
jewel toned cardstock except for the coffee cup (because my friends have been real gems...in the best way lately)
cuttlebug embossing folder and sizzix boutique embosser
self stick gems
studio g sentiment

Winter Days

Most of our winter days are filled with schoolwork and indoor activities. Being from the South we really haven't gotten into much for the outdoors here. We still have our farm chores that need to be taken care of...and added chores of hauling in wood and shoveling (plowing) snow. This place is absolutely beautiful in the winter. I find myself wanting to learn to cross country ski, or ice skating, just because I could still be outside. I honestly don't know what keeps us from doing these things, but we just haven't.
Today our morning adventure was a bit more than usual. It's really windy...which is typical. However today hit the fence to the sheeps pen just right and sent it flying...allowing Annie and Oakley to make a run for it. They didn't go far, but they did visit with the horses and give the kids and dogs a good run trying to get them back in. Since we are depending on the wood stove for the majority of our heat there was an extra load to bring in. Oh and the wind took a trash bag out, which the dogs then thought was an open buffet. It makes for happy kids.
I do get a lot of time to think, plan, wish, dream, and so on when stuck inside. That is both good and bad. I've decided that no matter where I end up I want to have a farm. This is the life that I want. I enjoy having the animals, the fresh eggs, the fresh meat, wool and so on. I know that I truly do want a dairy cow...I'm thinking a Jersey...with a calf to raise for meat. I also then want pigs...at least 2 to go along with the turkeys, chickens and sheep. I know that a goat would be smaller, and maybe a better answer, but you can do so much with cow's milk...especially ice cream!!!!!
From there then my thoughts wonder to my garden. This is actually when my mind switches back and forth to moving to a warmer location. I want to be able to have a full garden in order to can, as well as be able to enjoy fresh through the season. Here there is only one season. There is no spring cool weather crop, summer warm weather crop, and fall cool weather crop....just one season of cool weather crops. I'm learning what to grow and how. I haven't mastered it by any means. I think the peppers and tomatoes are the biggest things that I want to grow that I haven't been able to. I would also like fruit trees, and melons....but those would be for another time and place. I hope to at least double my garden beds, install an outdoor sink, and maybe an actual greenhouse in the near future. Then I can fence it all in to keep the moose from eating it. (Guess no different than deer.)
The more I read the more this seems right. The more it challenges me to want to make from scratch...everything from our food to our clothing and everything in between. The phrase I read today that has stuck in my head from "Folks This Ain't Normal" (Joel Saltin...excellent book) is something like this....Coke cola is considered safe for you but raw milk is not. Crazy thought...don't get me wrong coke is one of my down falls, but I can understand the thought behind it. There is nothing in coke that is good for you...it has no benefits whatsoever....only calories and junk to put in your body for flavor. Whereas milk....well you get the picture. There are just some things that don't make a lot of sense. I made bread today...I used flour, salt, yeast and sugar...(and a sourdough starter) I know exactly what is in it. I don't have preservatives in it...it needs to be eaten within a few days...or frozen....never gets there anyhow. It hasn't sat on shelves for 2 weeks and been shipped across country from bakery to store. I know how clean or unclean my kitchen is...and all that is included in the process. I am thinking that I like that feeling and I would like to know that about more of what we eat...and what I feed my children. I look forward still to the day when we sit down to a meal and everything is from scratch...from our farm....that will be a day of accomplishment. The only thing that probably won't be is the sweet tea. (I'm southern just some things I can't give up)
So as another short day passes by (the light is out longer) I'm getting closer and closer to a full spring/summer/fall of increasing the life on this farm. I've also come to the conclusion that it may not be an exact farm that I'm building...but a homestead. I can only pray that someday the rest of my family will catch onto my dreams and help me to put us into a place where hubby don't have to work, and this is a lifestyle that we would enjoy. I don't know how....I'm so used to a "normal" life that it would be completely different. I do know that it takes a lot of work....and a family to help make it work.

Let it Snow

Hi it's Angie again. It has been a CRAZY month. I think that the few days that I have taken a moment to watch the snow fall outside has been some of the most peaceful moments yet. I love the snow...I love snowmen...I love watching it and how it makes everything look so new. I do not like driving in it...or having to work outside in it. So when this project popped up I knew it was one I wanted to do. I've been working on stockings and gifts for Christmas, this one I can keep up a while longer.

So here we go....my let it snow wall plaque.

I started with a frame, that has 3 3x5 openings....I didn't like the gold trim around it, nor did I like the inside frame...typical white with a black trim. So I "fixed" it. I used my silver alcohol inks with some q-tips and "painted" the gold trim.

Ahhh much better...now onto the inside frame.

Again I took my silver alcohol ink, added some blue stream ink and went to work.

This looks so much better...not so stark white staring at you.
I used the winter frolic cartridge and cut 2 snowmen and the phrase "Let it Snow" I cut all of the pieces in white and used markers and embossing ink to bring them to life. I wanted them more of the blue so that they weren't just for Christmas.

All that was left was to place them and put it into the frame.

So this is my new wall hanging. I hope you like it...thanks for looking.
My recipe....
a frame
Tim Holtz alchol inks in silver and sailboat blue
Winter Frolic cricut cartridge
embossing powders ...winter wonderland for snowman, light blue for the shadow of "let it snow", clear for everything else

Homespun Stockings

This year I have decided I wanted matching stockings for my family. I also wanted them quilted, in a homespun fabric, and very simple. Since I haven't found any I liked I decided to make them myself. (This is going to be interesting since I'm really not a seamstress, quilter, or patient...and then multiply times 8)

So I was off to JoAnns...one of my favorite places and found all of my project materials. My pattern is from McCalls, a plain cotton fabric, with a flannel fabric for the cuff, an embordiery hoop and thread.

This I found perfect it says "EASY" just my type of project. It ends up that I only used the pattern as a template and made it my own way. It does have a good pattern though.

I wanted my stockings quilted, but I didn't want to buy more material to quilt the back....being that I also like to reuse what I have I used an old sheet for my backing. I cut out the socks, the batting, and the backing and pinned it all together.

I then quilted the material in squares.

I then sewed the two sides together.

The next part was making the cuff and putting the names on them. I printed out the names off the computer in the size to fit across the cuff. I then pinned it onto the material and backstitched the name in green thread.

After sewing the cuff on I added a loop made from a lacy, antique colored ribbon. That is it....nothing to it.

There really were easy to make. I've got 2 down and only 6 more to go. I am excited to see them all hanging across my wall this year. These also would be really easy to shrink to hang on the tree, or even to cut out appliques for further deocating. I just wanted the plain jane version to go with my style ;)

Materials
plaid/homespun material for the sock
plain sheet for the backing
quilt batting
sewing machine
embordiery thread/hoop
and I used my "cricut" scissors for cutting string