Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Merry Christmas to all!!!

cheers,
~The Bella Modiste~

Yikes!

It has been nearly a month since my last post....I'm still alive and kickin' but trying to catch a few things up. Finished nearly all presents, except for about two, which, (sorry cuz)...will be getting there last....due to my forgetfulness.
I'll have a few pictures to post fairly soon, of different projects I've completed, like the Civil War dresses, baby outfit for sewing class, gourd, 50s dress, mini aprons, and a stuffed donkey.
most of which was completed in the past three weeks.
So, just letting what few readers I have know that I'm still here! Maybe one of my New Years resolutions will be to post at least once a week on here...who knows...haha
cheers,
~The Bella Modiste~

*Groan* Ugh..I ate too much!!

First off..Hello and welcome to the new people! Three comments from people that I've never seen on my blog before!! Sweeeeet!

And now...

Thanksgiving was AWESOME!

So much good food....ooh gosh...sooo much food...

ham, turkey, green beans and thyme, sweet potatoes topped with brown sugar and pecans, pecan and orange pie, pumpkin pie(2), white potatoes mashed, and mixed with various dairy products, sprinkled with something and baked, sausage stuffing, AND turkey stuffing.......

so much yummy food! we still have leftovers, and we have 5 people in our family!

We were so lucky to get to skip the cooking this year...grandma brought everything but the salad, which we ended up eating the next day for lunch....ha ha

So I'm a bit late but I'll go ahead with what I am Thankful for....

I'm Thankful for...

family

friends

a warm home

Air conditioning!!(and heat)

warm clothing(it got cold here!)

and the "silly" things I'm Thankful for...

Sewing machines

fabric

fabric stores

The Little Pilgrim
Cranberries dripping down my chin

Have stained my pilgrim suit.

I ate too much Thanksgiving day

But I don't give a hoot.
I slurped a pile of dressing,

Gobbled down a turkey thigh,

Dribbled messy cranberries

Devoured some pumpkin pie.
Within me on this special day

It's a thankful heart that beats.

For all the things that I enjoy

But mainly for the eats.

--------

So yeah...A week ago.....the door bell rings.....Its Channel 7 news....asking my father to say a few things about.....the meth lab they busted 4 doors down!

Dad declined the ladies request, as he'd just woken up, and wasn't about to show his face on the local news...ha ha

here is what the local paper had to say about the whole deal....

----

Three people, including a chemist with ------ Base, face drug charges after deputies said they found a “large, professionally equipped” meth operation that used chemicals and equipment taken from the base. Deputies arrested Hubert ----, 31, Jacqueline -----, 25, and Brent -----, 26, at their residence Wednesday night after authorities served a search warrant and found about 3,000 pounds of meth oil worth about $300,000, according to a ----- Sheriff’s Office news release. All three were charged with trafficking in methamphetamine of more than 200 grams and manufacture of meth. ---- and ----- also were charged with possession of listed chemicals, the release stated. ----, who has a Ph.D. in chemistry, told investigators he was employed at ------ as part of a cooperative partnership with North Carolina State University, where he is listed as an assistant research professor in textile engineering, chemistry and science. Deputies said he headed up the meth operation. ---- was not on the property when the search began, but he arrived while the Sheriff’s Office Methamphetamine Drug Unit was searching the property and removing a vehicle listed as stolen from ------- County, deputies reported. Investigators said they found $20,000 worth of chemicals and professional lab equipment in ----’s vehicle that are believed to have been stolen from -------, including a triple-neck glass beaker valued at $1,200. Civil authorities contacted the -------Office of Special Investigations, who also responded to the scene. “The true laboratory-grade professional chemistry stuff. The same kind of stuff you’d expect a Ph.D. to have,” said Ruth -----, of the ------ Sheriff’s Office. ------ said it does not appear the high quality and quantity of production indicates heavy or specialized distribution and that it appears most of the drug was consumed as it was made. First appearance is scheduled for 2 p.m. today.
------- officials declined to comment, saying the affair is a civil matter.

---------------------

So wow...now I can't say our street is boring...

And last night there was some domestic dispute, the guy was just cussing away at the woman, and then suddenly he has a shovel in his hands...we hear clanging and banging, mom decides to call the cops...first off...hes out there yelling at the woman...cussing loudly, you could hear him half a block away "F--- this, F--- that", he's just thrown a shovel in the back of his truck, pacing around, up and down under the street light, around his truck, she's threatening to call the cops, hes yelling something about the cops, all at...midnight...so 3-4 cop cars ended up coming out, a civilian vehicle came and got the guy and then the cops left....between the time we called the cops to the time they left, only a half hour had gone by..must not have been a huge big deal......but they'd been out there yelling for a good half hour before...

What? so my room has a good view of a couple neighborhood houses....I know...I've got a good start at being the old maid that has a dozen cats, lives by herself and runs the neighborhood watch campaign by herself, keeps a pair of binoculars by every street facing window, and has holes cut in her blinds so she can peek out ever 10 minutes to see what everyone is doing....and keeps the cops on speed dial so she can quickly report the least little offence.....hahahaha

But besides Thanksgiving....the meth lab, and the neighbors fighting...there isn't much new....I'll have pictures to add of some dolls I made, soon, as well as my Civil War day dress, dads Christmas present...and whatever else I think of or make during now and the next time I post....hehe

The Bella Modiste~

A.K.A. The nosy lady next door :P

Easy Three Ingredient Layered Biscuits

Yours Truly in the "required" apron..:P

Alrighty...So here is the promised recipe with pictures...Now I'll give you the recipe and instructions all at once, instead of spread out with all the pictures, makes for an easier read I think.....
Three Ingredient Flaky Biscuits
1 stick butter
2 cups self-rising flour
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350*F. Melt 1/2 tablespoons
butter, and mix with the flour and milk.
If dough is dry and crumbly, add more milk until it holds together, but is not sticky when touched. Flour your surface(here I suggest using a large cookie sheet(it speeds clean up time) and tip your dough out onto it. press your dough to about 1/2in thick and butter one half. repeat this step until your butter is all gone. One final time press out to a thickness of about 3/4in (or the height of your biscuit cutter)
and press out your biscuits. Place 2in apart on a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 18 minutes or until golden.

Alrighty, so this is too narrow to post pictures side by side..I apologize for the REALLY long post, but I wanted to show step-by-step pictures...

cheers,

~The Bella Modiste~

HOW COOL!!!

(WOW! Look at the dewflap on him! (not my photo, did a random search for "brown anole" if I used a copyrighted photo, please don't be mad, its a compliment, and if you like, I will change it)

So a few days ago, while moving some plants around with mom, I happened to be digging around in some pots, and I found two small eggs, hummingbird size(or smaller, I've never really seen a hummingbird egg, but..whatever) one was about 1/2in, the other about 3/8in. So tonight i was checking up on the eggs as usual, and I happened to take the top off, to add a bit of moisture, because they have to be kept humid(I did about ten minutes of research and found out some things about what I figured they were). then, before I put the thin fabric back over the top, I decided to remove the label of the jar I was keeping them in, and all of a sudden...*plop*....into the sink jumps a tiny barely 3in long freshly hatched brown lizard, I'm fairly certain her/she is a brown Cuban anole, being as, s/he is brown(duh), I saw several pregnant looking brown Cuban anoles out about a week- week and a half before...and well..it doesn't look as *sleek* as the green anoles.....So now I am eagerly awaiting the hatching of the second egg, provided it does hatch, and next week I will have to start feeding. The info I found says they go a week on their yolk, so I'm good there...lets hope my parents don't mind the sound of crickets....hahaha....

here is some information about them...

Brown Anole (exotic)
Anolis sagrei sagrei
Description: maximum length to 8.5 inches; gray, black, brown to very dark brown and sometimes speckled coloration which may vary in hue; males turn almost black during territorial displays; females have diamond-shaped patterns down back (second photo at left); males may display patterns, but never diamond shapes; dewlaps are red to red-orange with a yellow border (photo left top); mature males will also have crest-like ridge along back;
Food: mostly insects but occasionally Green Anole hatchlings when they come to the ground
Habitat: ground dweller but will venture up several feet into trees and shrubs; prefers drier areas
Range: most of peninsular Florida and the Keys; not cold tolerant
Lifespan: around 3 years
Breeding: mates late spring to early summer; 2 eggs per clutch and several clutches each summer; eggs laid under decaying vegetation on ground; 60-90 days to hatch; an exotic that has probably spread when eggs distributed in tropical landscape plants originating in nurseries around Miami and the Keys

A few things I've made lately

Made this little purse from a small pair of little girls shorts...picture doesn't look like much, but it very cute...

A skirt I made myself, red with a wrap slip underneath to be worn with other future skirts

White blouse that will go under a black velvet bodice top I have...forgot to take a picture with it on over it. It does look cute...with the velvet bodice over it...ha ha

And pillows I made for my bed a while back using 12in fabric squares mom entered a swap for last year before Christmas, and then gifted me with, and the bottom pillow was made from a corduroy jumper, and is not stitched closed after stuffing, but instead buttoned....he he

So who else loves this time change? I mean, wow! you can sleep til what feels like 11:00 and in reality, its only 10! sweeet!
Yes, yes I know..I stayed up late last night working on mini aprons and also making mom another curtain...
that's all for now...but I'll have more pictures hopefully soon...
cheers,
~The Bella Modiste~

Peanut butter cookies!!!

And easy ones at that...Three Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies!....And..photos to go with it....

Believe it or not, this is all it takes. Don't add anything else!

1 cup smooth peanut butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 whole egg

In a medium bowl with a wooden spoon, beat peanut butter until it becomes slightly creamier.

Add sugar and mix well.

Finally, add the whole egg and mix.

When well blended, drop by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet or spray with cooking spray to prevent from sticking. press each cookie with a fork first one way, then again at a 90 degree angle to the first fork press.

Bake at 350°F degrees for about 12-15 minutes or until you see them golden brown at the bottom.

Makes about 2 dozen small cookies(this is if you use a teaspoon to spoon them onto the tray). You can double the recipe easily.

Enjoy!

Cheers,

~The Bella Modiste~

Todays Garage sale finds

Here we have the purse made from three upholstery fabric samples....is it just me or did it turn out perfect!?...btw..in the picture..the purse is a bit lopsided, this is not a construction fault, just how the purse was laid out and the angle of the photo

Here is my finally finished rug(I started it about..5 years ago...then a few weeks ago took apart the whole thing and started fresh)...although it is acrylic yarn, I do like how it turned out....

And here are today's finds..this batch was $5....

This is also part of the $5 batch, the white is bunches and bunches of pre-cut muslin blocks..I'd say about 8.5in squares..perfect for embroidery....

This huge lot of 11 books was only $1....yes...one dollar....which includes numerous Sewing with Nancy books, most of which ran about $20 new....and several quilting books...

This lovely is from 1941 and cost only a $1...and is a Learn How Book, with instructions for crochet, knitting, embroidery...and....shuttle tatting.....which..I WILL learn one day....ha ha

And here we have three books from 1940-1950 all acquired for 25 cents....yes..all three for a quarter....not each....for all....someone had tied them up with ribbon and some kind of ugly fall decor on the top....it was ugly and dusty..the spines on two are rather....messed up..one missing all together and the top missing from one, the back cover of the middle book is missing, but the Shirley Temple book and the Eight Cousins are in OK condition...for a quarter I figured why not? least I can get some enjoyment from them..I have read Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott..just last week in fact..its a pretty good book....And I cant wait to read Rose in Bloom, which comes right after it.

Also bought from the sale I got the three older books from was this adorable marionette....for....oh my gosh....a quarter....what were they thinking!? the only thing wrong with him was one of his strings had slipped out of the little cross piece at the top..a problem I fixed in about 15 minutes, along with shortening the string connected to his head.... So..those were today's wonderfully fun finds.....next I will give you the recipe for the yummy yummy easy as pie cookies...

cheers,

~The Bella Modiste~

Oh gosh!

It has been a while since I said I would get pictures "tomorrow".....so lets see...I have even more to share today, plus a fun and easy recipe.....

So here we have the photos from...two weeks ago...

The wonderful book from Emily at MJF, along with a ton of zippers....Emily, I have not forgotten you, in fact, every place I've gone the past while I've searched for those durn number beads..I will find them!...I hope....worst come to worst...I can look for them online....

Here we have the goodies from Bonnie at MJF, everything from zippers, to piping, tailors chalk,patterns, hem binding, elastic, and fabric...

here is the lovely fabric from Bonnie...I've only used three of the pieces so far..the red stars, along with the two striped pieces you see on either side of it in the picture....the purse turned out sooo cute..photo of it in the next post..I promise!...

These are the doilies I found...I love the smallest one best of all...and have set it aside with a few really tiny ones that are similar too it...

And...here we have the beautiful Belgian lace...

These are the two uncut circles of it....

And here we have the smaller pieces, some of which are cut, and one is complete...it is really beautiful stuff...just not sure i want to use it on yet....something very nice of course...

And...the books I got..actually, I got one other too.but on arriving home, I discovered it had a lot of water damage and was very very musty, so that sucker is airing out in the garage until I can actually mess with it without sneezing every time I turn a page....So these are all the goodies I got Sept. 29th...next I'll show everything I got today..plus I'll share an awesome peanut butter cookie recipe....

cheers,

~The Bella Modiste~

Goodies!!

fun fun stuff...
Wednesday I think it was I got an awesome box full of everything from fabric to lace from dear sweet Bonne over at MJF...there were zippers, books, lace, fabric, and patterns all stuffed into an itty bitty box..I tell you..that woman can pack a box to over flowing...I couldn't fit everything back in to the box when I had slowly looked at everything! ha ha
Then today I got in my patchwork purses book from Emily at MJF along with a ton of zippers....I bartered with her for those goodies....
Also today mom and I went garage saling..I got bunches of fun stuff...4 quilting book, a think Daisy Kingdom iron on transfers book, a few doilies to use as pockets on aprons, and the best bit...several uncut pieces of Belgian lace..it is beautiful....and great quality..you can feel it....ha ha
and wouldn't ya know it..I haven't taken pictures yet...haha...but..I'll try to do that tomorrow when it is light out..so I can open my window and not have to use the flash....well....I probably oughta get my bed made...and clean up my room some and start a sewing...heheh
cheers,
~The Bella Modiste~

I'm wore out!

And plum tired!
This week has been wild! Business has been booming, dad is down with the flu, and I've been running back and forth from bedroom to office, transferring files, printing large graphics, saving files, sending files...yeesh...
And...fun news..I've invited to give a talk to about 15 girl scouts, all in about 1st grade....exciting huh? So I'll get a little packet of info together for each girl, make up a couple posters on butterflies and type up what I want to talk to the girls about...I'll probably talk about the life cycle, and the difference between butterflies and moths. The group leader said she could order in some butterflies for the girls to release, I'll probably suggest a craft for the girls to do as well...and I may even join up...I can be a girl scout until I'm 18...I'm thinking it could be fun....I'm told they have a sock-hop coming up soon...I have a poodle skirt...haha...and the black and white shoes...:P

So tonight I have a bunch of kitchen towels to make up for grandma, she asked for them about a month or so ago...I'm so ashamed..sure she said "take your time" but I'm not sure she meant 1-2 months!

ooh and I could take my butterfly books along, let the girls look through them...maybe..that could be a bit much and I don't know what my time limit is...I'm actually very excited about this...though I dislike talking to large groups of people...I think I can handle a bunch of first graders...hopefully they will stay interested, and I won't bore them....ha ha I'm going to try and make it really interesting, fun and informative...if I do it right..they'll learn more in one evening about butterflies then the average person knows...:P

anyways...not that much up with me....I've been running, doing this and that for dad and mom...but that's about it....I've gt some sewing projects to get done...plus X-mas presents, plus a Thank-you present and another present...yeesh....I need to get to work...I have to make 72 12.5in squares....which will be enough for 2 6x6foot quilts..which I will then need to quilt...which I'll probably do by hand....yikes...I need to hurry.....

cheers,
~The Bella Modiste~

Rambling thoughts on college education....

Its kinda funny the guy at the Post Office has been going on the past two trips up there about my not going to college and having been taught by my mom, who had no education beyond highschool...so today I wrote up the Forbes.com list of "Five Reasons to Skip College"....gave it to him, and told him he had to read it, I got him to read about half of it before we left...least it made him shut his trap about me being un-educated...hahaha...turns out....he went to college for Telecommunications.....and now he is a government slav---worker? huh? hello!....
Just thought it was kinda funny...*begin rant* people can't leave well enough alone, they have to go sticking their noses into other peoples business, like their education...and you know...look at Thomas Edison...home schooled, no college education...absolute genius! John D. Rockefeller, long dead, but a high school drop out, oil tycoon, and possibly richest man in history thus far! It is interesting that so many people think that college is some requirement, a sign of intelligence, "if you don't go to college, you are not smart". What!? Sure, alot of really smart people go to college, thats all great and wonderful...but what about us? The young entrepreneurs, who know what they want? And believe they can reach their dreams if they just keep at it? Why do the older generations think that all the kids should go on to college after highschool? Take a look at this list...
1. You'll be losing four working years.
There's an opportunity cost associated with going to college: Not only will you lose the money you'll have spent on tuition, you'll also be out the amount of money that you could have made if you'd worked during those four years. And if your family isn't wealthy enough to pay for your education on their own, you'll also owe a hefty amount in interest payments for your student loans. Perhaps more importantly, with four years of experience on your resume, you’ll be far better off when looking for work than the average 22-year-old college graduate.
2. You won't necessarily earn less money.
College grads earn an average 62% more over the course of their careers than high school grads. But economist Robert Reischauer of the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., argues that those numbers are skewed by the fact that smarter kids are more likely to go to college in the first place. In other words, the profitability of higher education is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
3. In fact, you could probably make more money if you invested your tuition.
Put $160,000--the approximate cost of a Harvard education--into municipal bonds that pay a conservative 5%, and you'll have saved more than $500,000 in 30 years. That's far more than the average college grad will accumulate in the same amount of time.
4. You don't need to be in a classroom in order to learn something.
Truly motivated learners can teach themselves almost anything with a couple of books and an Internet connection. Want to learn a hands-on skill or trade? Consider an apprenticeship.
5. Plenty of other people did fine...
Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Quentin Tarantino, David Geffen, and Thomas Edison, among others, never graduated from college. Peter Jennings and John D. Rockefeller never finished high school.
------------
Another great article, by Forbes....
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12409530/
------------
But think about, really think about it....did *your* parents ever discuss with you "Why" *you* should go to college? Did you go to college? Better yet, are you doing what you went to college for? What did you actually learn? Could you have figured that out yourself? *end rant*
Leave me a comment..tell me *your* opinion, though be forewarned, any comments containing obcenities, that are rude, mean, etc , WILL be deleted.

Oy...I got up soo early...7:30!!!

So let's see what'd I do today?....I got up early today...WOW!!! good for me!!!...took care of our lonely Daffy duck...

He has really chilled out since Daisy was killed, he no longer attacks my feet(ouch!)...well..least not as much...mostly because before he was acting as protector to her and the eggs she was laying...

So after taking care of Daffy I did this and that, helped mom clean house...the usual...then today since dad wasn't feeling well, I helped him out with his business applied transfer tape to various jobs, and packaged up another job...and applied small pieces to cover up an old slogan on another job he had done a while back, the people decided that their previous slogan didn't work...so back to us they brought it.....ha ha

So I've been doing a fair amount of sewing....Friday I said I made two more marbelized handbags, way cute...also the one I made the beginning of the week that sold within 24 hrs of posting it to Etsy...
the one I sold:

and the other two(which I hope to list tomorrow):

Also Saturday I made two aprons... there are two seahorses on each bottom corner of the apron, just stitched around the seahorse, edges left raw...

Also last week I made an artful apron...good thing the design is unwashable..cause if it was washed that muslin would shrink up and ruin the whole look...hahaha....

I wont be having a sewing lesson tomorrow because dad has some how gotten the flu...*ack...* don't give it to me!!! And we'd rather not get my sewing teacher sick...and then next lesson is off too, as she is going out of town...So..I have an extra month to finish the assignment..though really she said I have until the end of all the lessons, but I'd much rather get it done now....so far I've prepped the pattern pieces, cut all the pieces I need, dry ironed the pieces, and today I washed and ironed the fabric, which this time is just a plain muslin, but I plan to buy my own copy of the pattern, and make some of the little outfits out of linen and other nice fabrics.

Oh..and I made mom a rag quilt for her birthday(early present, I got impatient, couldn't wait til the 17th....haha...it ended up measuring like 5 foot and a few inches by 5 foot and a few inches(obviously it is square) there are 64 little squares in the center...but...because of the type of quilt...I have to cut 3 times that...64 for the backing, 64 for the flannel inside, and 64 for the top cloth...yeesh! than the 20 squares around the 64..then the 4 squares and 4 rectangles...took time, but was it worth it? oh yeah! she loves it and it totally goes with her whole "farm girl" theme she has going in the living room right now....the picture is actually sideways..the quilt is not lopsided...honest it isn't...ha ha

so anyways...that's what all I have been up to...I'm gonna do a quick spell check here, and then read a bit of the book I have to study for my learners permit..yup...you heard right.....I'm actually going to get it(well, I was anyways..but I was stalling)...I'm going to study the book a bit more..take the online 4 hour(ugh) thing on drugs and alcohol, and then, I have two other tests to take for it, then I guess I get my permit..then after 80(or 50) hours of driving time and( and/or..cant remember) 1 year....I get that little piece of plastic that says I can drive...as long as I don't fail....hahaha

cheers,

~The Bella Modiste~