It's been a bit since I've posted, so I hope everyone had a lovely holiday season! I find myself having a hard time putting away my favorite Christmas things. I've slowly been un-decorating, removing goodies a bit at a time. Sadly, they are piled downstairs, awaiting the "final removal" so I can orderly pack everything away. (At least that's my excuse for not putting everything away yet.)
Just today I removed my "favorite things" from my kitchen countertops. I brought back this darling little rolling pin and the red/white ceramic ornaments when we were in Germany at the Christmas markets in December (it's not Christmas unless you have mushrooms on your tree!). This display just makes me smile.
But the real reason for this post....
I just wanted to drop in and remind everyone about our L*K "fan page" on Facebook.
It's called I Love Stitching Lizzie Kate Designs. It's a "closed group", so you need to request membership. It's easy - just click and wait to be added.
Why should you join the group?
It's just SO MUCH FUN! There are daily posts from stitchers all over the world with their L*K projects in progress and finished. SO. MANY. CREATIVE stitchers out there, doing their own thing with L*K designs.
One fun part of this FB group is the variety. There are newer L*K designs as well as 20 year old "golden oldie" designs. Stitchers are posting projects they're doing for themselves, as well as lots of beautiful finishes purposed for giving. I often see finishes I wish I had created for my models and cover photographs. So much inspiration.
I also love the sense of COMMUNITY on the I Love Stitching Lizzie Kate Designs Facebook page. Everyone is encouraging and helpful - it's just a delight to do a daily browse.
This Facebook page was began many years ago by a shopowner - we didn't even know it was out there for a while. Wilma faithfully moderated the page and nurtured the community of L*K stitchers.
After Wilma requested a well-deserved break, we asked a stitcher friend to be the page moderator. Again, Carla was fantastic at attending to the daily monitoring of the fan page. We remain so grateful for the time and energy that Wilma and Carla both generously gave to the Admin role.
And now it's Alan's turn! When we announced our retirement in 2018, Alan took over as Admin for the Facebook page. Several time a day he checks in, looking for member requests. Then he gleefully reports to me "I approved some new members!". It's so interesting to see where everyone lives - literally all over the US and around the world.
PLEASE consider joining our little Facebook community. Lots of enthusiastic stitchers with fabulous finishes are waiting to welcome you...and so are we! And really...let's keep Alan busy with his admin duties.
***On another note...wanted to share a picture of our holiday culinary experiment. We made a BUCHE De NOEL or Yule Log Cake!
Our New Year's Eve Buche de Noel (with meringue mushrooms, not boiled eggs!)
What is a Buche de Noel?
It's a traditional cake for Christmas or New Year. The cake is French in origin and it's name means Christmas log. It's derived from the age-old practice of burning yule logs during the holiday season.
Tasty meringue mushrooms - so sweet and fun to make
Basically you bake a thin sheet cake, roll it up with filling, and frost to resemble a log! Alan and I watched a few you tube videos, then got to work on our "buche experiment". For extra credit we made some meringue mushrooms to add to our woodsy cake presentation.
We surprised our friends on New Year's Even with our "edible log" dessert. Everyone enjoyed having their slice of the decadent chocolate dessert. The airy meringue mushrooms were a big hit, too.
After the party - a demolished log
After the party, the log was considerably smaller. But no worries...we finished off the tasty project ourselves the next day. Chocolate cake, chocolate filling, and chocolate icing...just the right amount of chocolate for us!
Wishing you all a wonderful new year with all the things that make you happy...friends, family, and loads of stitches!