My Desert Cottage is having a Giveaway!!

Celebrating almost 550 followers in less than a year, the charming and talented Karen, at My Desert Cottage is having a giveaway!!

Get a load of these giveaway goodies she's offering!!

Pop over to her blog to enter!!

Mind Wide Open Challenge~February

Here is the image Gail over at Mind Wide Open provided for this month's challenge. She always comes up with the most amazing images!!

And here is my interpretation. I slipped the image into a vintage photo album sleeve and the purple tones of the image just popped out. So I went with that...scrounged around in my lace basket and found this lovely violet-hued lace with glimmers of gold.

Added sweet velvet purple pansies and green velvet leaves..embellished with buttons and pearls along with dewdrops of  'diamonds' on each flower.

'Twas a fun project!!

A little loop of tatting creates the hanger..

Pop over to Mind Wide Open to see other creations using this image and vote for your favorite!!

"Someday you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again"

C.S. Lewis

One World One Heart Giveaway WINNER!!

The time has come to announce the winner of the One World One Heart giveaway...I used the Random Generator and the winner picked was Lovey from Fabric Memories!!

Congratulations!!

Tablescape Thursday And French Cooking Lessons!

My sweet Sister-in-Love, Kathleen invited me to attend a French Cooking lesson at her house.

The theme (and menu) was a romantic Valentine dinner. And Kathleen decorated accordingly..with a beautiful Valentine Tablescape!

Even the chandelier over her dining table gets embellished!

Her dining table in the breakfast nook..

She created darling little notebooks for recipes for each of us..

And here is Chef Scott  Dean! What an amazing guy!

I've never taken a cooking class before, and thought I'd be intimidated, but he made you feel so comfortable. He was really encouraging..wanting to share his passion for cooking and show how easy it really can be!

We're watching Scott demonstrate melting chocolate and butter for the Flourless Chocolate Torte.

We started with dessert first.

The menu was:

Roasted Chicken with Herbed Veloute Sauce with Vermouth

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes with Garlicky Herbed Butter

Fresh Green Beans

Mixed Greens with Creamy Lemon Salad Dressing

and

Flourless Chocolate Torte with Fresh Whipped Cream with Cointreau and Culinary Lavendar

Working on the Torte!

Kathleen mincing garlic for the Garlic Herbed Butter...To die for!!

Schmeering the butter over the roasting chickens..

Scott explained the ways and hows of ingredients that work together, which took out so much of the mystery of French cooking.

Adding the Garlic Butter to the fingerling potatoes..

Ahhh, dessert's done! Adding fresh whipped cream to the top..

Scott demonstrating the proper way to carve a chicken..

Bon Appetit!!

It was Mag-ni-fic!!

Dessert! Oooh! La-La!!!

We all had a fabulous time. Scott is a wonderful teacher--so warm, friendly and FUNNY!!

I cannot WAIT to make this for Steve!!

Susan at Between Naps on the Porch is hosting Tablescape Thursday..be sure to check her blog for other wonderful Tablescapes!

Another Fabulous Giveaway!!

One of my very first blog-friends and huge encourager to me was Dawn from The Feathered Nest..

She is celebrating her 3rd Blogiversary with a fabulous giveaway! Here is just a sampling below;

Pop over to her blog and enter!!

Giveaway News..

Patina Soul is celebrating her one-year blog anniversary and is celebrating with giveaways ALL WEEK!!

Check out her lovely site and enter..she has fabulous prizes to offer!!

Notice Anything NEW???

I wanted to take a little time out from my domestic responsabilities to thank my new blog-friend Karen over at My Desert Cottage.  We 'met' during the One World, One Heart Giveaway. She emailed me, offering to help improve my blog layout. I hadn't looked at my email for a couple of days and she wrote again apologizing profusely, thinking maybe she'd offended me! When I finally saw that she had written (twice) I shot an email back telling her she absolutely did not offend me...on the contrary I was so touched and moved that she (not even knowing me) would extent such a kind and generous offer!!

So last night I called her and she patiently walked me through the process of changing my background, font, etc...she had even found the background ahead of time, and I just LOVED it!!  I feel like I've been on one of those makeover shows~I am just thrilled at the look! :-) Thank you, Karen!

I am sure many of you have already visited Karen's blog and if you haven't, be sure to pop over for a visit..She is a very talented artist and decorator! And after talking to her over the phone, she is just as warm and friendly, (and FUNNY) as you would imagine her to be from reading her blog.

I am amazed once again at this blogging community. From Karen's thoughtful (and much needed) gesture of help, to the comments you all leave~you have no idea how much you bless me and how much it means to me when you write a few words of encouragement.

Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to the other "What! You too? I thought I was the only one!"

C.S. Lewis