I HAVE THE BEST SURPRISE TODAY EVER!

Today there was a ring at my door I was not expecting anyone we are having bad weather freezing rain and just a big mess out there right now.  Everything that I can remember that I had ordered as been delivered as far as I can remember lol you know I just had a birthday so umm I am entitled to have short spurts of memory lost.  Any who I went to see who was at the door no one there that only meant that the mail carrier has left a package outside.  Sure enough there it was a box not just any box but a box just for me all the way from Austrailia from one of my best blogging buddies Sandi http://bearlysaneaust.blogspot.com/  Sandi had a giveaway and I was the Winner!  Look at my goodies eat your hearts out ladies lol

 Beautiful Hat I just love it!

 Who in this world doesn't love BUTTONS!

 Now if you could ever describe me in fabric this would be it!  I love this fabric it has my style and all of my favorite colors!  Hmmm I might be making a pillow for my bed from this. 

 Now this is what is really surprising also this is not only my favorite flower but my favorite scents Peonie and Rose gosh I'm such a Lucky Woman

 Anyone who knows me knows how much I love love note cards.  I feel as though people have become so impersonal these days no one hardly ever writes a letter or even send out cards but I do lol

 A Bear Pattern yes a Bear Pattern I have made only two bears in my life  and they both were large jointed bears, we made in doll class about 12 years ago lol.  Sandi I am up for the challenge.  I am going to do my best in making this bear.  I love bears and rabbits and have been wanting for so long to make a rabbit doll.  I have rabbits here and there throughout my house but not one rabbit have I ever made.  My muse has awakened lol

Have a great day all
Peace and Blessings
Cheryl...Snatch JOY~!

Monday Monday

Hello Everyone I have a one busy busy weekend. My Birthday was fantastic and I know everyone was looking forward to see who won my appreciation box well I am not going to hold out any longer the winner is

CARLA!!!  http://dancingmoon-carla.blogspot.com/ congratulations my friend.  I am excited for you please email your info so that I can send your good box out to you.



Next I want to thank all my new followers and I am only 5 followers from my 100th follower give away!  Now that one I had be leaving little clues in past post.  Which I thought was fun I can't wait to show off what will be in the package!  Have a great day all I'm off to finish up a doll. 

Peace and Blessings
Cheryl....Snatch JOY~!

Running A Little Behind

Hello Everyone I had some personal things here at home to tend to and so I am a little late posting the box of goodies, on Saturday I will be drawing a name.

 I had fun putting together this little token of my appreciation and I wish that I could give everyone who has been here with me since the beginning but trust me there will be more giveaways. Have a wonderful day all
Peace and Blessings
Cheryl...Snatch JOY~!

Happy Saturday

Hello Everyone I stopped to say hello and let you know what I have been up to lately.  I am getting together my giveaway box to my lucky follower on next Saturday I will post pictures on Monday of what I will be giving away.  Your going to just love it!  I know I do because it is some of my favorite things. 

I also have my new Rag muffin listed today in my Etsy shop.  I am offering free shipping within the US.  Drop me a line if your interested.  Today is going to be a very productive day for me besides sewing I have to do my hair ugh!  Takes forever lol have a fun day all and I want to give a big shout out to all my new followers so happy to have you here with me. 

Peace and Blessings
Cheryl......Snatch JOY~!

HAPPY NEW YEAR AND ALL THAT JAZZ

I know I know it's been a few since I last posted.  I have been busy with this and that and a lot of Blog surfing.  It is bad of me I know please forgive me.  A brand new year and soon my birthday will be here, I am a little excited about it for some reason *shrugs* So much has happened over the past year I truly look forward to a new and better year.

I don't bother making new year promises I don't feel like beating myself up if I don't live up to them.  I just strive to make each day better than the one before.  I had a wonderful holiday how about you?  Well I have been trying for a few months to have a giveaway for my 100th follower and so far that hasn't happened but my plans are still there to have one when it does happen.  Sewwwww as Madame Samm would say this month is my Blog anniversary  along with my Birthday so for that I am going to have a Celebration on my blog.  Sew I guess your sitting there saying okay now what is Cheryl up to.  Well to answer your question I am going to Celebrate by giving away some of my favorite things   wow I just had a Oprah moment lol.  No I am not going to give away a car, trip, furs, or send a decorator to your house for a makeover but instead I am going to give away some of things that make me smile you know like I always say "Snatch Joy".  So on my Birthday January 15th I will be drawing a name from my list of followers as of right now I have 89 it will only be those 89 people who have been following me for sometime now. 

Okay some might be saying well that is not fair but hey all the new followers can join in on my 100th giveaway.  I have become blogging friends with some really cool Ladies over the past year I want each of you to know how much I appreciate having you there for me.  Also, I am thinking about having a selling blog and trying my hand at selling a doll on Ebay "which I said I would never do again" but oh well never say never lol.

Anyway what are some of your favorite things?  Come on share them with me.  Have a wonderful day all

Peace and Blessings
Cheryl.....Snatch JOY~! 

Rag Muffins Need Love Too

Happy Holidays I thought I stop in to share with you my latest Rag Muffin with her well loved Dolly. 

She will be listed tomorrow in my Etsy shop.  Now for the next clue WARMTH  Also here is another great recipe I love making this cake

SOCK IT TO ME CAKE

A Sock-it-to-me-Cake is a type of coffee cake that has a pecan, cinnamon and brown sugar filling that is baked in a bundt or ring pan. It is moist and almost always made with a generous amount of sour cream. It is also almost always made with a yellow cake mix, preferably a Duncan Hines brand mix. With the cake mix, the recipe is very easy and fast to put together. As easy as it may be, I still like to have a from-scratch version of the recipe available to me, so I put one together that bakes a very similar Sock-it-to-Me cake without the mix.

Cake mix cakes are designed to be very tender and moist, and this cake is, too. I used cake flour, rather than all purpose, to give it an even lighter and more cake-mix-like texture than it might otherwise have. I also used a combination of butter and vegetable oil in the cake. The vegetable oil, along with a good portion of sour cream, gives it some extra moisture and helps to keep the cake tasting fresh even a few days after baking. The butter helps the tenderness of the cake, but more importantly, it lends a really nice flavor to everything. This cake has a good, light texture and a soft crumb. I baked it in a tube pan because it’s so easy to get a cake out of a pan with removable sides. That said, you could easily bake this in a bundt pan instead.

The filling for this coffee cake is not a streusel, which many coffee cakes have. Instead it is a mixture of cinnamon, toasted pecans and brown sugar. It is a bit dry on its own and may seem to be too strongly cinnamon flavored before you put it into the cake. Don’t worry too much about this because the cake is relatively plain and all of that cinnamon in the filling really balances out well with the rest of the cake when you’re eating it. Speaking of cinnamon, I also added some cinnamon to the glaze on top of this cake, which adds a little extra sugar and spice to each bite.

This cake is great in the morning with coffee and is equally good served with dessert. As coffee cakes go, it is very easy to throw together because you don’t need to fuss with streusel or any special fillings, just a simple and flavorful mix that comes together in a few seconds before going into the cake.

Sock-It-To-Me Cake
3 cups cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sour cream

1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 cup chopped, toasted pecans

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in vegetable oil and the eggs, adding one in at a time. Mix in vanilla extract.
Working in two or three alternating additions, stir in the flour mixture and the sour cream, making sure to end with an addition of the flour. Mix only until no streaks of dry ingredients remain visible.
In a small bowl, stir together cinnamon, brown sugar and toasted pecans.
Add half of the cake batter to the prepared pan and spread it into an even layer. Top evenly with cinnamon mixture, then spread the rest of the cake batter on top.
Bake for about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cool the cake completely in the pan, on a wire rack. When cool, drizzle with cinnamon glaze.

Serves 12

Cinnamon Glaze
2 tbsp milk
approx 1 cup confectioner sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Combine all glaze ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until smooth. If glaze is too thick to drizzle easily, add a bit more milk. If glaze is too thin, add an extra tablespoon or two of sugar.

Have a Great Day all

Peace and Blessings

Cheryl...Snatch JOY~!

RAG MUFFIN SITS AND WAIT

Happy Holidays Everyone we are getting closer to that date. Between working on holiday decorating and baking I am still doing dolls.  A Face Book friend told me it's never too late to make Christmas dolls and so I took her advice to continue to keep making them.  This doll is waiting for hair and her dolly, I am almost done.  I thought I share her with you without hair.  I somehow like how she looks without the hair with her worn face and body.  Will take pictures of her later with her dolly.

Now for the goodies here is the recipe for Orange Slice Cake it is so Yummy!  Thought I share this with you

FOR THE CAKE:

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 (12-ounce) box dried dates, chopped
1 pound orange slice candies, chopped
2 cups pecans, chopped
1/2 cup flour for dredging
2 cups sweetened coconut flakes

FOR THE GLAZE:

2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup orange juice 

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Grease and flour a tube pan.

For the cake: In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. In a separate bowl, dissolve baking soda in buttermilk. Add flour to butter mixture alternating with the buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with flour. In another bowl, toss dates, nuts and chopped orange slices in 1/2 cup flour until coated. Stir in coconut until well-combined. Add to batter and mix until well combined.
Bake in a prepared pan for about 2 hours or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

For the glaze: Meanwhile, combine powdered sugar and orange juice in a small bowl until smooth. Remove cake from pan and cool cake completely. Drizzle glaze over cake. Or, when cake comes out of the oven, use a toothpick to poke holes and pour glaze on cake. Let cake stand in tube pan overnight before inverting. 

Have Wonderful Day All
Peace and Blessings
Cheryl......Snatch JOY~!