Welcome to my Dye Candy Giveaway. If you are new to my blog, I welcome you and invite you to look around. You have at least two chances to win a prize. Leave a comment here and enter a second time on my other blog DyeCandy.blogspot.com. You are welcome to copy the top picture of my dye candy sample packs and use it if you are creating a link to this giveaway on your own blog. If you create a link please leave me a note in your comment and I will enter your name in the drawing two more times.

If you are a winner you will have your choice of one of these prizes:

1 Gift Certificate for $25.00 for my Dye Candy Shop or

2 Dye Candy Sample Packs or

1 yard of Hand Dyed one of a kind fabrics or

a half yard of Shibori Dyed Fabric or

6 step fat quarter gradation set.

or a hand dyed silk or velvet scarf.

Choose a piece of Quilt Block Jewelry or

a small Stained Glass Snowflake Sun Catcher Ornament from my Shady Grove Studios Etsy Shop.

Good Luck to you! Drawing closes at 6:00 pm on Sunday, November 22nd.

A Real Cut Up

I just found out one of my stained glass snowflakes is featured in an Etsy Treasury. Thanks Kaatirocketts! Click here before Tuesday at 8:00 am Eastern to see all the beautiful winter and summer inspired artworks listed in this Treasury.

This snowflake is one of many I have been working on for the last few weeks. By the end of the day today I hope to have 30 finished snowflakes and a few sun catchers ready to send to the Iowa Artisans Gallery for winter sales.

We have seen a few snow flurries around but nothing is sticking to the ground yet. Good news for me because I still have piles of leaves to clean up before the snow sets in. I hope you are having a wonderful weekend....Greetings from sunny and crisp, cool Wisconsin. - Chris

Bubble and Baubbles

It is rare that I make enough of a new item that I keep any for myself. This fall I spent more time than usual putting together "winter items" for sale at craft fairs and on Etsy. I am pleased to say I have a few snowflakes and glass ornaments to call my own at the end of the holiday season.

Our tree looks so lovely this winter that I do not want to take it down. I went a bit overboard on the lights this year. I used 600 miniature lights, a string of LCD lights shaped like snowflakes and 4 strings of bubble lights (a favorite at our house). Trust me this eclectic tree would never make the

pages of "Better Homes and Gardens". All I can hear when I look at the tree is my inner 10 year old child saying "Ooh, the colors are so pretty".

I wanted to show you the etched glass window hanging that I received as a Christmas gift from my mother and stepfather many years ago. The glass panel is recycled from the church I attended when I was a child and where my husband and I married. When our church was remodeling to modernize the building, the window panels from the 1920's teaching wing were saved for reuse. The church's Studio

Workshop and UM Women's group etched, framed and sold these at their fall "Harvest of the Hands" craft show.

Did you notice my cartoon self in the right margin? I saw this idea on Jude's Blog and just had to add my own. Right now I'm a couch potato, but wait and watch...I am forever thinking that I will lose all those pounds that have been sneaking into my life over the years. I'm determined this year is going to be the year I make it work.

Wishing you peace today and everyday where ever you may live in this world.

Favorite Bloggers and Beautiful Things

A few weeks ago I received this from Lynn & Linda, two new blogging friends. I have been remiss in passing this on. I read so many wonderful blogs and it is really hard to choose. You all deserve this award. I chose four blogging friends that I have not recognized before.

Here are the rules:- Five people are allowed to receive this award: four dedicated followers of your blog and one who is new to your blog and lives in another part of the world.- Please link back to the person who gave you this award.

Jude of Cariad in Crete
Bindu of Transient Lives
Embellisher of Million Little Stitches
Jackie of Jackie's Stitches

And a new blog I have recently found: Britt-Arnhild's House in the Woods in beautiful Norway.


I had a few minutes to shop at the craft fair this weekend. I purchased a few Christmas gifts for my family and bought this for myself. I have always loved glass paperweights and I couldn't resist this lampwork necklace made by Jamie of Uh-Oh Art Studio. All of my favorite colors! See more of her work at her Etsy store.
Monday night we had our guild party at Patsy's retreat. We had a gift exchange of something handmade. By chance Patsy and I each exchanged gifts with each other. This is the second year in a row that Patsy received my gift. This year Patsy received two of the Christmas ornaments I designed, last year it was one of my snowflakes. Here is what I received from Patsy:

It's perfect for me. I love hand embroidered linens and this hand towel in soooo lovely! I adore the little quilt basket ornaments. I will enjoy unpacking them each year and remembering her friendship. I also love the tissue paper she packed this gift in. Don't be surprised when you see me using pattern tissue paper if you order from my Etsy shop. I just purchased a ton of patterns left over from Jeanne's fabric sale to use for packing material. Patsy, you are a genius! Follow this link to see the party decorations. It was like walking in to a fairly tale, dazzling and so picturesque!

Tales from the Kitchen and Beyond

I love the rituals of baking a traditional Thanksgiving meal. The smells remind me of family far away. We have so many things to be grateful for this year. All we love are healthy and have a warm home.

There are so many friendships in my life that lift me up and inspire me. Thank you for your kind words and encouragement this year.

I finished my Christmas ornaments and hung them in the kitchen window to enjoy on Thanksgiving day. They looked so nice there that my husband asked me to leave some hanging in the window year round.

Here are some of my wares in progress. I finished my work late (as always) Friday night and packed for the craft fair. I was not sure what to expect as I am new to the craft show scene. We were in a small town and I had a reasonably good day despite the fact.

I am happy to say the mad rush is behind me. Next weekend will be spent at Patsy's Homestead Cabin Retreat. If you would like to join us, there are still four openings left for this discounted weekend. I am leaving my sewing machine at home and taking a tumbling blocks quilt that I have been hand piecing as well as a hand quilting project. I can't wait!

Making Every Minute Count - Updated Friday PM

Update***Patsy has a post about the fabric sale with photos. ***Click here***

A couple weeks ago I took a few evenings off to enjoy the last of nice weather. We had some glorious days. My husband and I took a couple of trips up the hill to watch the sunset.

Last weekend I finished putting together a jewelry shipment for the Iowa Artisans Gallery in Iowa City. It took a bit longer than I had planned. I ended up with a head cold that stole most of my energy. It took 16 hours of sleep to put me on the path to recovery.

I have also been working on some stained glass snowflakes and Christmas ornaments for the local art galleries and an upcoming craft show. Stained glass is the perfect cold weather project. I cut the glass after work in the last of the daylight and cover the edges with copper foil in the evening after dinner. I should be able to get some of these finished by the end of the weekend.

Speaking of this weekend, I will be helping with the fabric sale this Saturday in Blue River, WI. There is a link to the sale information in the upper right hand corner of my blog. Four dates are scheduled, spread out over the next week and a half. There is so much fabric to choose from. Volunteers have been sorting and organizing by color and theme for weeks. There are a few sewing machines available too. Tell all your friends. The prices are too good to pass up.

P.S. Don't miss your chance to enter my 100th blog post giveaway. Drawing will be this Sunday.