Homegrown Hospitality

Here is a look at some things I did yesterday in between this, that and the other...I will explain a little more about later..right now, I am off to the soccer fields for what may be our last games of the season....

  

Happy Saturday!
 
 
 

Today  I am thankful for HOPE.

I want to start off with a big thank you for your comments and prayers for Joshua, one of my best"non-scrappy" but getting better Bon Jovi loving friend) Michele's nephew.  

I need you to PUSH for him, and his family...RIGHT NOW...and PLEASE, pray HARD.

This new "PUSH" doodle is being laminated and will be placed over his incubator.  I have to be honest, as I was doing the doodle last night (and watching Grey's. which was REALLY SAD) I was very weepy. I can not imagine how rough it is for little Joshua's family and I feel like in times like these, it is OUR JOB to PROMOTE HOPE.  (I think that will be another title of a book I will write someday)

We need to do our best to PROMOTE HOPE for others when they can not find it, have for gotten about it or do not have it themselves. I guess it is very similar to Random Acts of Kindness....(RAK) which would mean that Random Acts of Hope would be (RAH) which is EXACTLY what I am trying to say through all of this babble....

We ALL need to try and be cheerleaders for HOPE....(get it?? RAH?) so today, in the regular things you do, try to promote HOPE (and you do not have to wear skimpy-mid-drift-showing-spandex-shiny uniforms with pom-poms, that is, unless you want to.

have a great day...I am off to the Red Bee all afternoon and evening to hang out with Teresa & Ty and all of the fun girls..so if you are in the area...please come by and say hello...and wear your cheerleader uniform and we will do a cheer! 
 

for TODAY because these go ON SALE today

for Folgers Coffee(with Hazelnut cream, duh!) to kick-start my day (I am NOT a fancy coffee drinker!)

for these chopped vegetables that are simmering in a BIG POT of homemade Chicken broth and is making my house smell soooo goood.....

for long arms and black and white photos so that I can take a picture of Deena & I in downtown LA yesterday (you really do not want to hand your camera to someone and ask them to take a photo because chances are if you did, they would run away with the camera (and for b&w photos so that you do not see the "roots and grey hair, ugh!!!)

 

for Teresa  because not only is she one of my closest friends, but also because GOD has given her amazing inspiration to create beautiful lines of products that I am able to embellish with "Little Lovely Things" that I get when we do go to downtown LA

  and I am thankful for these..because, "Sometimes you feel like a nut..sometimes you don't" (even though most of the time I do, feel like a nut!

okay..so again, I want to remind you to reflect on what you are thankful for..even if they are not HUGE things, because sometimes, like I have said a million times before...it's the little things!

Have a great day...I am off to create!

oh, p.s....I am thankful for your patience....

 
It dawned on me this past weekend, that in my attempt to get ready for the "Remember December" classes I have coming up and the kits that I have still to make, I had completely disregarded November, all in one day.  Just like that, BAM...November..GONE!  It was almost as if once Halloween was over on Saturday, Sunday was all about Christmas and I REFUSE to tell you that we have our Christmas lights up on the house (even though we do! It is a little manly competitiveness we have brewing on our street...)

Anyways, I sent myself directly out to the ol shead-teau to create something (pictured above) to get myself into focus and to be the home for the many "thankfulness-es" & "Great-Full-Ness-ess" I have in my life.  I will be adding things to this book through the month and will be sharing them right here on my blog (lucky you!)

Now, do not get the wrong idea, ooohhh no....I am already listening to holiday music (occasionally) but I am going to respect November all month long and at the same time, will also focus on Christmas and my love for all things holiday-ish. Part of my "Thank-ful-ness" stems from the fact that there would be no "Remember December" classes or special blog, no scrapbook paper covered in holly and berry leaves, no die cut dancing snowman throwing glitter in the air, no chestnuts roasting on the open fire....nor any holiday excitement had it not been for one thing...

Jesus.

Hello, duh!  and when I think of Jesus, I stop and in my own nerdy, "can-not-pray-out-loud" way and I thank him, for him,

and 

for my family that loves me unconditionally

for my friends that support me through thick and thin

for my bible study that teaches, reminds and strengthens my faith

for my blog family, so that when there is a need, I can call out and I know that you will be there

for my feet, so that I can run, focus and pray

for my mind & hands, so that I can create

for my church that gives me so much comfort

for my battles

for ...

for my battles????

yes, for my battles. 

Here is the good news of the day...

"You do not have to be perfect to help others" whew! In fact, the worse the battle, the better the helper you will become...that is, after the fact.

Are you picking up what I am putting down????

My battles and my weaknesses may make absolute no sense while they are happening, may be direct result of poor choices and /or circumstances, BUT...they are what I learn from, what I share with you and what I am able to reflect on when I need to be there for someone.  I learned this past weekend at church that my greatest ministry will flow out of my pain. 

Isn't that strange??

Up until this last Sunday, I truly thought that it was my strong points that were what I was to reflect on when helping others, ya know, like learning and then teaching others how to make a paper flower, or being able to doodle...when really, it is not about a paper flower or the doodle at all...those things are just bonus parting gifts.

So, here are things to remind yourself EVEN WHEN IT IS DARKER THAN YOU EVER THOUGHT POSSIBLE....

when YOU are in the midst of a battle, feel like you are underwater, feel like you just can not go on, want to crawl up in a ball, etc...PLEASE try to remember this verse because it APPLIES to every single on of us REGARDLESS of faith or religion...

and just in case you should want to print this out and color it yourself...here is the link. 

I know that it will sound completely absurd, but the BATTLE that you are facing, struggling with or will deal with in the future will help you help someone else and that,my friends, is a BLESSING!

First, a big fat hug from me to every one of you (remember I have LONG arms) who have shared so many personal stories of hope, love and most of all, prayers, for Joshua.  I mean, I know how amazing my readers are, so I should not surprised, but still, it just is so overwhelming to know that no matter the reason, I  know I can reach out to you via this ol' blog to ask for something and that it makes a difference.

Joshua's mommy and daddy send their thanks and to quote them, they are "touched and overwhelmed" (me, too!).  As many, or most of you know, this is not a day to day fight for Joshua, but an hour to hour struggle, with LOTS of ups and downs, so please, I ask that you continually keep this lil one, Joshua, in your daily prayers.  I will be continually printing out all of the comments you post so that I can arrange them in a special book that I am going to put together, so please comment when you can...

and well, can you believe it is , um...NOVEMBER???? I do not want to have to say this, but remember when it was the 4th of July, and I reminded you that time wears wings and will really begin to fly??? YIKES, it really is...but it is okay, we have lots of time to, um, do what we need to do for the holidays.

Speaking of holidays, we started celebrating on Friday with our annual carving party.  The strange thing is, the older the kids get, the less they want to participate and the more they would rather just eat the orange snacks.  This year, it was almost all about the mom carvers.....sad, but true.  Our kids are growing up...but I had fun, in fact, we all had fun...

Here is my , I mean "the boy's " pumpkins, (I used a paper pattern...I do not have carving skills!)

Have a great night...I will probably be back on Tuesday..maybe Monday, with more halloween festivities...for now, it is off to bed, this "daylight savings time really makes me fussy!"

Today marks ONE MONTH of Little Joshua's Life....

I am calling out to all of you and I am asking you to pray, pray with all of your might,  for baby Joshua. 

Pray for strength for Joshua's mommy & daddy, Anne & Brian. 

Pray for his "big" brother A.J, that he finds a little peace and understanding in all of the confusion .  

Pray for wisdom for all of the Dr.'s and nurses that give this little one round the clock care...

WE need to P.U.S.H for Joshua and his entire family and I know that YOU can do it....

I believe that Joshua's daddy will be visiting the blog so any comments and prayers that you could leave here would be much appreciated....

With Love,

Stephanie  

is brought to you by the letter "C"

I mean, how stinkin CUTE is this CUPCAKE???

I have been die CUTTING felt for hours upon hours, have "nitched" up a few CUTE samples of just what you can CREATE with a "Nitching Kit" of your very own and have got to tell you that today is the last day that you CAN order your own....

Your CAN read all about what a "nitching kit" is here and you can purchase one here

anyways, I had COCO keeping me COMPANY into the wee hours of last night, well, at least napping while I CUT and CUT and stiched and stiched

Here are a COUPLE more CUTE ways to use the felt that COMES in the "Nitching Kit" but remember, today is the last day to order one....

I CAN not COMMIT to CREATING anymore of these kits because I am working on some CLASSES coming up soon here,&  here. 

Speaking of "C"...I will be making a few BIG CHANGES to my CREATIVE life of which I will be at liberty to share at a later date...just not yet. (but it is really COOL and I am really really excited and I wish I COULD tell you more..but I CAN'T!)

dang it!

alright, enough teasing for today...I must go CREATE!

Have a wonderful day! 

that YOU love FELT as much as I do....and that motivates me to keep hand cutting, die cutting and packing up Nitching Kits....

this kit includes all the pieces that you see pictured here: cupcakes, flowers, large hanging tags, hearts, circles, squares, buttons, needles and embroidery floss. (plus some items not pictured: holly leaves, Christmas tree triangles and a few more large tags (I ran out of felt)

It will also include YOUR NAME to go on the top of the box that will go along with the "nitching kit' letters seen here....but, YOU have to do the stitching....

and a wooden cigar box (due to availability)

The price of this kit with the wooden cigar box is $35.00 plus shipping or $25.00 without box.

when ordering, please indicate the "NAME" you would like me to cut to come with your kit....

in other news and to go along with todays post title "I did not realize"...I made pancakes for Ben this morning and when I brought them out to him (in the gara-mah-hall) he told me to close my eyes....so I did, then before I could opened them, he asked me:

"Did you know I have a Food Network Show?" and told me to open my eyes and this is what I saw.

pretty much made my eyes "sweat"....so proud..

have a great day!

...you know the rest.

And what exactly is "Nitching" you ask???

well, you know me, I am either doodling, reading, napping or stitching during my "in-between" times of practice, pick-up, camping..whenever..so in July when we were camping, I taught Kamryn & Delaney how to "stitch" on felt...and well, it became "Nitching" 

All Kamryn wanted for her birthday (which was in JULY!) was a Nitching Kit, so that is what I delivered to her this past weekend while we were in Arizona. 

Tocreate a "Nitching Kit" , I picked up a "cigar" box at JoAnn's

(in the craft section) a bunch of felt, coordinating embroidery threads, a couple packs of needles, a piece of metal, and simply just put it all together in the box.  I adhered the metal to the inside top of the box lid and added a few magnets so that they could hold onto the needles.  
 
For the outside top of the box, I cut and stitched letters to read "Kam's Nitching Kit" in the colors she likes.  I used my Sizzix/Ellison Dies to cut out hearts, flowers and circles, pulled a bunch of the same color buttons from my jar and put all of the felt pieces in little bags.  It really was pretty cute and was a BIG HIT so of course, when we headed for the race this weekend, along with ice chests, chairs, tarps, etc, we brought our "Nitching Kit's" and in-between the swimming,  the cheering, the 56 mile bike ride-by's, more cheering and the 1/2 Marathon cheering, Kamryn, Delaney, Me, Ben...and the Valentine....Nitched!!! 

This next weekend, Halloween to be exact, is Delaney's birthday...and guess what she wants???

okay, so do you want your very own "Nitching Kit"?? I am going to make up a few extra "Nitching Kit's" TODAY ONLY (okay, and maybe tomorrow!) so if you are interested in purchasing one, email me at homegrownhospitality@cox.netand put "Nitching Kit" in the subject line and I will send you the details later this morning

 

p.s..all of the photos will be going in this