Valentine Snow Day

We are in the middle of another winter storm here in Iowa - inches of snow, bitter cold temperatures, and extreme winds - a great day to stay inside and be creative...in fact, I only ventured outside today to walk try to walk Simba (and that was quite an adventure, as my neighbors didn't feel it was important to clean their sidewalks and driveways). I have spent the last couple days catching up on paperwork, doing my year-end business reporting, my sales taxes, and cleaning/rearranging and inventorying my warehouse...and I must say, I am thrilled to have those "not-so-fun" tasks done. Today I decided to spend my snow day playing in my studio...the theme for today was Valentine's Day!

I decided to finish up another batch of machine embroidered lace hearts for my Etsy shop...I had some color requests and some custom orders, so I got all those finished and shipped...and I managed to get an assortment of 34 hearts listed. In my digitized machine embroidery library I found my favorite tiny lace heart, so I started making a small batch...I also played with some wools and made another one of my heart/flower embellished zippered pouches...and I got fabrics cut for several more sewing projects. It was a wonderful afternoon/evening and I enjoyed every minute...

Machine embroidered lace hearts for my Etsy Shop...

Tiny machine embroidered FSL hearts in progress...

Heart/flower embellished zippered wool pouch...

A Valentine project in progress...

I have one more fun thing to share with you today - last weekend my husband took me out for an afternoon...after all, it had been weeks since I had been out and about - the flu had kept me cooped up for WAY too long. We had a delightful lunch, then headed to our favorite coffee shop...then I twisted his arm (it wasn't hard) to take me to the new cupcake shop that just opened up in our neighborhood - it is called Scratch Cupcakery...and it was AMAZING! I have never seen so many beautifully decorated cupcakes in one place - and that is a good thing, as they were packed with people - we had to wait in line and I think we watched about 50 cupcakes walk out the door in the few minutes we were there. Their cupcake menu is extensive and we had a terrible time trying to narrow down our choices. We decided to pick-up four cupcakes - 2 for each...one for then and one for later...we both wanted to try Toffee...and I wanted to try White Chocolate Raspberry, but since they were sold out, I was "forced" to try Raspberry Love...and my husband tried Coconut. I must tell you - they tasted as good as they looked...the cake was rich and moist and they use real heavenly buttercream frosting - they were sinful. I am actually surprised a got a couple photos before they were devoured. For some reason, I see another trip to this scrumptious cupcake place in the near future...

Thanks for visiting me today friends! I am now headed to my cozy stitching nest to finish up the needlework small for part two of the mystery sampler...and since I have a chill, I may just have to make a hot cup of tea or coffee to warm up...enjoy your evening - and if you are experiencing winter weather, stay safe and warm...