Marcy’s Musings

St. Valentine’s Day is only fourteen days away! But  you still have time to make some cute and easy projects.

 Download the pattern for these Cupid Cups for free!

This Stuck on You pattern is from the same website. I love the heart. It looks so old-fashioned and sentimental.

For those of you who prefer needlepoint, you might want to give this Rose Romance pattern a try:

 Or how about this Here’s My Heart pattern:

I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!

Welcome!

Since lots of people get married around St. Valentine’s Day, I wanted to provide blog readers with some inspiration for winter wedding cakes. In addition, be sure and check out this article from The Knot on Winter Weddings.

Check out this cake from Perfect Wedding Day:

And, finally, check out this one from Wedding Wire:

Marcy’s Musings

Hi! It’s pretty cold and icky here on the coast of Oregon. If it’s that way where you are, I thought you might want to cheer up a friend (and yourself) by making an easy snowman greeting card to brighten up her day.

Take a washable fabric pen and trace a snowman design from a greeting card or other illustration. Or use two or three graduated sizes of circles (a glass, a soda can, and a bottle lid, for example) to trace the design onto your white fabric. Use either red or black embroidery floss to go over your design and to make your snowman’s facial features, scarf, or buttons.

When you’ve finished, take a damp sponge and “erase” the fabric pen markings. Allow the fabric to dry. Then place it in a card with a cut-out for your design. Voila! You’ve made a card for your friend, you’ve relaxed and gotten rid of some stress, and you’re happy imagining how pleased your friend will be when she gets your card.

For more stitching ideas, please see my Embroidery Patterns.

Marcy’s Musings

Hi, guys! Thanks for dropping by the Seven-Year Stitch!

Thankgiving is right around the corner, and I’ve been thinking of ways to help you keep kids busy and entertained while you’re working in the kitchen. Of course, there’s the big Macy’s Day parade on TV; but that can occupy little ones only for a while. If they’re old enough to help cook, then that’s great. But how about some kid-friendly crafts?

With some inexpensive felt sheets (plain or patterned), you can make some adorable 2″ x 8″ bookmarks. Children can decorate with glitter, fabric markers, or ribbon.

You could also use a piece of green felt to cut out a Christmas tree pattern and allow older kids to cut out ornaments, packages, and other decorations to put on the tree. If they number their decorations from 1-24, then they could use the tree as an advent calendar.

Cut a paper towel roll into 1″ to 1 1/2″ rings, and allow children to use felt, glue, ribbon, beads, and/or appliques to make napkin rings.

Below are some links to other easy felt craft projects:

Felt Ornaments

Felt Cherry Pie

Felt Corsage

Tin Can Turkey

Felt Snowmen

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

Welcome!

November is a food-lover’s month. So let’s get this issue of Killer Cakes started with a dessert recipe from Killer Sweet Tooth. This month on Fatal Foodies, I’m doing a series of dessert recipes from the latest Daphne Martin mystery. The first–Pat Tolbert’s Banana Pudding–was posted on Friday. Another recipe will be posted on November 11.

Spotlight: Pumpkin

Here are some yummy pumpkin recipes for you to enjoy!

Maple Pumpkin Pie

New York Pumpkin Creme Caramel

3-Step Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake

Amish Pumpkin Pancakes

Pumpkin Cake

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread

Easy Pumpkin Pie

Glazed Chocolate Pumpkin Bundt Cake

Pumpkin Coconut Tart

Pumpkin Crunch

If you try any of these, please let us know how you liked them! Happy baking!

Marcy’s Musings

First of all, Amanda Lee would like to thank readers for the fact that THREAD RECKONING is still (after nearly two months on the market) #38 on Amazon’s4-for-3 books/Mystery  best seller list! So, thank you so much!!!

We also have cover art for THE LONG STITCH GOODNIGHT, which releases on April 3, 2012. What do you think?

Project Spotlight: Thanksgiving Napkins

Halloween has just passed, and many stores have some of their orange napkins and hand towels on sale. If you can find plain orange napkins or placemats, here is a link to an acorn embroidery pattern you can use to make a border. I’m thinking the border in all brown or in brown and kelly green would be especially pretty. I’m off to look for orange napkins!

Welcome!

First of all, thanks to all of you for making Killer Cakes such a success! I appreciate all of your support and encouragement. But since Halloween is only a week away, you might need some inspiration for decorating some cakes for the occasion. Below are a list of links to Halloween cake designs and instructions. Good luck! Let me know what you come  up with!

Black Cat Cupcakes

Wilton’s Halloween Dessert Ideas

Country Living Halloween Cake and Cupcake Recipes - This site taught me that clean rubber stamps can be used with food color to create images on fondant!

Celebrations Halloween Cake Ideas

Delish Easy Halloween Cakes and Cupcakes

Have fun!

Marcy’s Musings

Week before last, I posted a jack-o-lantern pattern for you. If you’ll recall, my printer was acting weird, so my pumpkin came out looking rather varigated. Well, I made the pumpkin using a varigated orange thread, and here it is as part of a greeting card. What do you think? I haven’t written anything on the card yet because I’m not sure whether I’ll send it out or simply use the card as a decoration. I think having the card in front of the black cat letter holder is a nice touch, don’t you?

I made ribbon roses on this tote bag to the right to give you an idea of how I went about making Vera’s and my evening bags for the masquerade ball in THREAD RECKONING. The satin ribbon I used was on the large side, making it a little tough to work with, but I think the tote turned out okay. With the purses for the masquerade ball, the entire front of the fabric was covered with ribbon spider-web roses with a few leaves added here and there.

So have you started or completed any embroidery projects lately? If so, share them with me!

Site Spotlight: Halloween Candy Poll

What’s your favorite Halloween candy to either give or receive?

O  Hershey bars

O Reese’s cups

O Three Muskateers

O Snickers

O Starburst

O York Peppermint Patty

O Candy corn

O Milky Way

O Popcorn ball

O Other

Tell me your faves! I pretty much love all of the above! :p

Won’t you please join me for the Killer Sweet Tooth virtual launch party? The party takes place on Chatzy (in our own private chat room -http://us3.chatzy.com/75364142784498).  There will be two opportunities to chat: one from 12-1 p.m. ET and one from 6-7 p.m. ET in order to give more people the chance to win.

Prizes include:

* A Flirty Apron that totally matches the cover for Killer Sweet Tooth! Click on the link for a better photo and more information on the apron. See my comparison right.

* $25 gift cards from Restaurant.com

* $10 gift cards from Amazon.com

*Signed copies of Killer Sweet Tooth

Please join me, and we’ll have a blast!!!

Welcome!

Thanks to the incomparable Kerry Vincent, Killer Sweet Tooth debuted at the 2011 Oklahoma Sugar Art Show in Tulsa this past weekend. (Pictured is Karen Portaleo’s entry at last year’s show.)  Ms. Vincent was instrumental in getting some pre-publication buzz for Daphne’s third adventure among the premiere cake decorators in the country.  Both Gayle and I appreciate Ms. Vincent’s kindness and generosity!

Please note, we’ll be having a contest prior to Killer Sweet Tooth‘s release on October 11 (next Tuesday). So please stay tuned for details. There will be lots of great prizes to be won, including, of course, copies of Killer Sweet Tooth.