Sewing Love

I spent the better part of Sunday working on two dresses - one for my sweet Miss S and one for her niece...I'm making the one pictured in yellow here.


I have the tops done and just have to do the skirt. The purple one is for Miss S and the white is my niece. The fabric is a beautiful satin with silver sparkles which don't show up here. I'm really excited at how nice they are turning out so far. My niece has requested a matching wrap and crown for both of them though I don't know if I'll have time for that:) They both have to be done by next Tuesday when Miss S and I leave for San Diego for a few days. I can't wait. I really need a vacation and to spend some time with my family. My mom, Granny, Dad and Stepmom and my sister's family will all be there:) I have plans to hit Ikea and the San Diego zoo. Does anyone know if there are any Japanese book stores in San Diego? I need to do a little research on that.

Sweet Treats

The crud has hit out household big time! Miss S was sick last week and this week hubby and I have been sick. Unfortunately, what little patience I do have goes out the window when I am not feeling good....I'm afraid I have yelled too much at both Miss S and hubby this week as a result. I hope this next week will be better. My beaner, Tammy, and her friend will be here for a short visit on Friday and then next Tuesday Miss S and I fly to San Diego to visit for a few days with my mom, my granny, and my sister and her family. I cannot wait!!

So here's the sweet part of my week - Miss S and I participated in mommycoddle's mini swap and Miss S's package arrived this week from the fabulous George:

Just look at all these lovely treats!! A felt doll kit, paper dolls, stickers, cards, books, crayons, colored pencils, milk chocolate hot fudge sauce (we can't wait to use that!), hair clips, artwork by George, pom pom animal kit, and a bracelet kit for me. Such wonderful and thoughtful goodies! Thank you so much George (and Dawn:)).


And I won Monica's giveaway for her new blog location...a gorgeous little Japanese quilting book. She figured it was destined to come live with me...notice the little Dutch girl on the bottom right corner - my hubby's family is Dutch and we are completely enamored with all things "Dutch". Thank you Monica! I was even miraculously paired with a Dutch partner in Monica's Potholder swap:):)


And a new blog friend sent me this surprise - a little photo album just right for postcards as it shows BOTH sides:) She even filled it with several postcards for me. She also included a little pincushion she made. Thank you Miss Tola!


Lastly - this little bundle arrived just before Valentine's Day - my goodies from Amy's Valetine's ATC swap. I received atcs and goodies from Regina, MaryAnn, Dawn, Deborah and Susan. Thank you ladies for these wonderful treasures!!


So....heres

A Marvelous Mini-Meme

I'm participating in the current What's Cookin apron swap...this round is an apron for your little one. All participants have been tagged with this cute little meme.

1. What is your first food memory? Hamburger Helper and jello - a very common dinner when growing up:)
2. What was your favorite dish/food as a child? I love jello....jello with fruit cocktail....jello with sliced bananas...jello with shredded carrots and raisin. Yes, I'm weird.
3. Name one of your mini's favorite foods: Pizza
4. What was your mini's first solid food? Did they love it or hate it? I would say her real first solid food (that was not baby food) were McDonald's french fries and she LOVED them
5. What was something you were excited to make for your mini for the first time? Sugar cookies - or as Miss S calls them - cookie cutter cookies
6. What is your favorite food memory? Oh this is a hard one....family dinners at Golden Corral. With 8 of us, buffet was the way to go! Everyone got whatever they wanted and however much of it they wanted too.
7. Your mini's birthday party : All out theme with perfect kid food ala Martha? or Quiet family home party with scrumptious cupcakes? Something in-between? Something in-between, with heavy leanings towards ala Martha.
8. Name one thing you absolutely love to make and eat when you are feeling like a kid again: macaroni and cheese - the classic Kraft one in the blue box.
9. Name something you ate as a kid that you now look back on and wonder "what were my childhood taste buds thinking??" : See #2 - the jello with shredded carrots and raisins.
10. Name 3 things your mini loves (doesn't have to be food related): She loves Disney princesses, Hello Kitty and candy:)

Love is in the air....and some snow too!

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day!! We woke up to this scene on Wednesday morning...another winter storm! I took this at about 6:15 am and it continued to snow until about 1 pm - 4 to 9 inches fell throughout town. School was cancelled so Miss S enjoyed her snow day with some friends. Her fever finally broke Wednesday morning. But today hubby got a call from the school nurse right as he was heading out to work - the fever was back. I think hubby was happy to finally get to call in:)


Anyhoo....this is the apron I made for Miss S for Valentine's Day - I was inspired by this lovely apron. I just made it a little smaller, and added only three ruffles. Miss S was thrilled:) Hubby got an extra large bag of dark chocolate M&Ms and we're going out for a fancy dinner tomorrow night sans child.


And a parting shot of me...taken by Miss S - please excuse the crazy Kramer-ish hair. I am in serious need of a haircut!!! I'm wearing the awesome flower pin Vallen made for me:)


Did you know it's Random Acts of Kindness week??? I've already been blessed with several this week:) I challenge you to RAK at least one person before the 19th.

Sick Days and Swaps

Miss S is sick - nothing too serious, but an inexplicable temperature over 100 the last two days. It has been nice to call in to work yesterday and today:) I've been able to get a few crafty things done, some packages ready to mail, and some much needed cleaning around the house. I made Miss S the CUTEST apron for Valentine's Day last night - I'll take a picture of her in it tomorrow.

I went to check the mail yesterday and my box was filled to the brim with goodies! I received some fabulous lip gloss from this sweet woman that I am testing for her:)
Also - my Sweet Pea Valentine's package arrived from Meg, and a wonderful surprise from K8tykat arrived too.


A beautiful chocolate box filled with all sorts of bits and bobbles - and tiles that spell my name! What a wonderful and thoughtful gift - thank you Kerry!!



And look at all these goodies from Meg! The CD is of all Beatles love songs - so cool!!! Lots of candy, vintage Valentine's, candles, handmade goodies and more! Thank you Meg!!

Have a great day!!

Good Mail

Let me first apologize for these horrible, dark pictures. It has been cloudy today but I was so anxious to post about these that I just couldn't wait until the sun cooperated:)

I received a sweet Valentine's day package from Miss Vallen - it included some lovely zippers, a vintage "R" postcard, a sweet card that was made by Mary Ann and one of Vallen's beautiful sweater flowers. I love it! Thank you so much! I am going to wear the flower to church tomorrow:)


And my Pink and Brown swap package arrived from Angie in Canada. We mailed our packages the exact same day - hers made it to me on Tue or Wed I think, but the one from me to her is still in transit. Clearly Canadian postal service is superior to USPS:) I have long admired Angie - she has a beautiful way with fabric and paper crafts. She absoutely SPOILED me:) So much lovely goodness that I couldn't even fit it in one picture!

Fabric, a whole bag full of buttons, trim, zippers and a few other notions, a ribbon embroidery kit (I LOVE ribbon embroidery and haven't done it in ages so I'm excited for this project), pink and brown ephemera and envelopes, a pink and cream lace doily, tissue holder, vintage linens...

a cute pattern, apron, more vintage linens, two craft magazines, a cheery chick pin cushion (would you believe this is my FIRST pincushion! I'm so excited) and a FABULOUS altered clipboard filled with beautiful tags. I love it all Angie - thank you so much! I hope you are as pleased with your package: )


I joined a new Craft Magazine swap on Flickr that one of the members of my Fat Quarter swap group started. From Mac Villiku I received an issue of Country Living and Memory Makers, and she also made me this beautiful heart card and brown floral pouch. I love the pouch - the fabric just totally screams "Raesha" to me:):) Thank you so much!

And lastly, this beautiful thank you note arrived. Back in December I was inspired by this post
and put together a package for the Any Soldier program - I sent a package to the ladies of C & 15th companies. This thank you card so took me surprise that I started crying as soon as I saw who it was from.


Hubby is closing, Miss S is watching a movie and I have a PILE of stuff to put away/work on/organize....so I better get cracking!

Want One?

I just returned home from my monthly ATC group - we have a fabulous group of ladies that always leave me energized and inspired:) I have 4 atcs left - our theme was "Resolutions". If you would like one, please leave me a comment. I have lots more pictures to post after I clean them up a little - I've had a FABULOUS mail week:):)

My child is a goofball

How on earth did I birth a child that is so goofy? I am NEVER goofy, so I'm not quite sure where she got that gene from:) I came into my bedroom after washing the dinner dishes and found her all snuggled up in the laundry basket - yes, the laundry basket. At least she does have her pajamas on:):)

OOHH - And check out this beautiful baby:):) Introducing Miss River Elise - born this morning at 2:00 am. My brother, Ian, is on R&R from Iraq for two weeks. Tracy picked him up at the airport at 10:00 pm last night and just four hours later River arrived! I am so glad that Ian made it in time.

Thanks for the Love

Thank you all so much for your awesome comments on my last post. I agree, that as long as I keep their memories alive, both Michael and John will be here with me forever.

My sadness finally started to lift at the end of this week and I had a very productive weekend. I finished up some goodies for our partner in the Mini Swap, some atcs and some Valentine's cards. I'll post pics of the package we sent Mr. G. after it has arrived. It was hard putting a package together for a little boy! But, it was really fun:) Oh I finished our taxes...I had to check them three times, cause our refund is unusually large, to make sure I didn't mess anything up
:) So I'm happy to report we are looking forward to a nice big check from the feds in a few weeks. I am also happy to report that are getting a whopping $54 refund from the State of New Mexico too!! We usually owe money to the state so ANY size refund from the state makes me happy:)

Here's the Valentine's Day card I made - easy peasy - I think I made about 10 so I better start getting them mailed out! I'm sending five out for the Red Velvet Art swap I participated in.

A little dark, and a little blurry - but it's two layers of purple patterned pattern, some stamped hearts from a conversation heart stamp set, a purple ribbon....and they're done! I haven't made card in a while so it was fun playing:)

I hope your weekend was productive!

January is a hard month....

Today I mourned the passing of my sweet friend, Michael. We went to junior high and high school together in Silverdale, Washington. We met when I was in 7th grade - he was in 8th. After he graduated he joined the Marines and married before heading off to boot camp. His unit was deployed to Saudi Arabia and we all wrote him letters and sent pictures and packages. In late January of 1991 I received a call from my best friend to let me know know that Michael had been killed in action in Desert Storm. It's been 16 years and I cry every January for him. I cry for his wife - we have no idea what happened to her as she did not want to keep in touch with his friends - I cry for his young life that ended at age 19, I cry for a dear friend that was lost. I pray that I will NEVER see a resolution again like this with the name of a loved one in it.

So today - this is for Michael - I love you and I miss you.

SENATE RESOLUTION

1991-8608

By Senators Craswell, Owen, Oke, Rasmussen, Johnson and Skratek

WHEREAS, Marine Lance Corporal Michael E. Linderman, Jr., formerly of Silverdale, Washington, died an American hero on the sands of Saudi Arabia on January 29, 1991; and

WHEREAS, Michael fell in battle, fighting to achieve the universal aspirations of mankind: Peace and security, freedom, and the rule of law; and

WHEREAS, Michael believed that America has a unique responsibility to do the hard work of freedom, and that he, in turn, had a duty to do that work on behalf of his country; and

WHEREAS, Michael lived a short, rich life, that ended at age nineteen. He loved books, he loved the rain, and he loved his friends and family;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Washington State Senate hereby honors Michael E. Linderman, Jr. and prays that his family will find some solace in his heroism and sacrifice in the service of his country; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Senate hereby expresses its unequivocal support for United States military personnel in the Middle East and prays for their personal safety and their families' peace of mind; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the family of Michael Linderman, Jr. and to the President of the United States, The Honorable George Bush.

I, Gordon A. Golob, Secretary of the Senate, do hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of Senate Resolution 1991-8608, adopted by the Senate February 1, 1991.

GORDON A. GOLOB

Secretary of the Senate

And for another dear one - to my sweet John - my high school sweetheart - who died on January 22, 1992. Your death still affects me so much. I wonder who I would be today if you had lived. John loved Metallica, though he learned to also love Paul McCartney after we met:)

So, John, this one's for you -

A Few Observations and a Few Thank Yous

I've made these observations today:
1. If I have known you for five years and you still don't know my name, you are a putz.
2. If you have one big dog and two little dogs, but there seems to be shortage of little dog poo in the backyard, you have a problem...note to self - do not kiss the big dog on the lips for a while.
3. I do not think Crocs (and you know I love them) are appropriate footwear for a grown man to wear to church.

And now for the good stuff:
Tomorrow (January 29) is my brother, Ian's, birthday. He will be 29 - so pop on over to his blog and wish him happy birthday:) He also has some fabulous pictures posted of Iraq and the people there.
Miss S's after school class made these cards for Ian - they are on there way to Iraq as we speak:)

I received my Valentine Altered CD from the swap I did with Swap-Bot - look at this beauty that I received:)


This is from the talented Miss Beth - I love that she decorated both sides - I've never even thought to do that. It is hanging in the front room as my first official Valentine's decoration for this year.

And here is what I made for the same swap:

As you can see I've made a few extras...which will be appearing in random mailboxes between now and Valentine's Day:)

MaryAnn sent me some really cool Japenese stationery and Seattle playing cards from her recent trip - she also sent me these beautiful JOY cards for Christmas - I can't remember if I've posted them yet. And the intial cards are from Kelli. Thank you ladies for making me feel so loved:)

Lastly - I received my embroidered patches from Faun's swap - the flower patch is from Kristin but the other two did not have names on them:( If you recognize them, please let me know. All three patches are so beautiful and I love the variety in styles. Faun sent me a little packet of iron on's as a thank you - I haven't decided what I will use them on yet.

Happy Saturday!

I had hoped to sleep in today, but Hubby had to be to work at 7:30 so I got up at about 6:45 with him. I had already completed a full day's worth of tasks by 10am!

MaryAnn and I did a pink/red themed swap for January and her box to me arrived yesterday - it was jam packed full of goodies! Miss S is modeling one of the matching aprons that she made for us:)

Here's the rest of the goodies:
A beautiful pink scarf, fun paper goods, heart stamps, rhinestone R, candy jar with suckers, ribbon, pink earrings, makeup goodies for Miss S and lots of other good stuff! Thank you MaryAnn! Your package will be on its way on Monday.

I finished my document duvets for the In Stitches Sew Along - the closures are supposed to be grommets and ribbon but I can't find my grommet tool so I chose to use button and twine enclosures instead. I like how they turned out. The fabric is decorator fabric from the $2 a yard table at Walmart. I have about 4 more yards left:)


I finished this baby blanket for my sister in law this morning. I started it last night during the commercial breaks during Monk and Psych and finished it up today. The top is random patchwork, with a chenille backing. Very warm and cuddly for Miss River who is due to arrive in about two weeks: )


I also finished this apron this morning - this is a close up of the pocket detail. This is for a swap-bot package that went missing so I'm sending another one out. Hopefully this one will make it to Oklahoma City this time!!

Belated Christmas Thank Yous

I have several belated thank yous that I am trying to catch up on...which I hope to do by the end of the month.

This awesome box of goodies is from my sweet friend, Nikki - cool Yellow Submarine pajama pants for me, a Yellow Submarine t-shirt for Sydney, a fun sign, and three awesome postcards - from left to right they read - "It's so involved being me" "...and then she realized: they WERE all alike!" "Let's ignore our mothers' well-meant advice" - Hilarious!!! All these goodies were packed in this Asian decoupaged box. Thank you Nikki! I love everything:):)

Have you seen this?

I fell in LOVE with this stamp today! Isn't it awesome???

Creativity strikes!!

You may recall that one of my goals for this year was to create an altered book. I've participated in now two "tip-in" swaps on Swap-Bot, where you create a page that will then be pasted into your altered book. The first one's theme was "red" and the most recent theme was "green" - here's my green page - I am quite happy with it:)

I thought this was hilarious - after hearing it on the radio yesterday, Miss S walked around all day singing Cat Scratch Fever by Ted Nugent. Please don't tell her what the rest of the lyrics are until she is at least 30:) They even make me blush:) (which actually is not hard to do at all)

Let's see, I had a fabulous lunchtime run today to Thrift Town. Here's the goodies I bought for $19.09. Yes, you do see more zippers. I am hopelessly addicted to those things:)

That big black blob in the corner is a pair of boots for Miss S, a bunch of Little Golden books for a craft project I have in mind:) , MS Food, a vintage gloves and mittens pattern book (hiding under the zippers)

An organdy apron for only .99!, two vintage patterns and a little pink pitcher - just right for a swap package I am working on :)

I actually made time to sew this weekend!! I finished 8 tissue holders, 8 coasters, two document duvets from In Stitches, and started on the baby quilt for my sister in law. Pictures of all coming soon - the light in the office at 11pm is horrible:) I also made some atcs and my green tip-in pages. It was so nice to have some time to be creative: )

Am I really that weird???

I had a wonderful evening with my gal pals for our monthly girls game night. We played the Pirates of the Caribbean (sp?) DVD which was very fun (especially after I figured out how to work the DVD remote). We do a little themed gift exchange each month too and this rubber stamp was part of my gift -


VERY appropriate for the rest of this post:)

I've been tagged by the fabulous Amy to post 6 Weird Things About Me. I have posted weird things about myself before so I wanted to come up with something other that what I've told you already. As I've been sitting here thinking, I've come up with A LOT more than 6:( Am I really that weird?? Quirky??? Unusual?? Dancing to the beat of my own drum??? I'm happy to report that I am a little bit of all these things:) So here goes....

1. I have at least 6 boxes (from dress shirt gift box size to grocery store produce box size) of almost every single note, card, letter ever written to me by anyone. Here's one bit of proof - a note from my beaner dated December 13, 1989!


2. I always have cold hands and cold feet. (I hope it's true that cold hands equal a warm heart:)) I wear socks to bed pretty much every single night.

3. I am a closet country music fan....I love Randy Travis, The Dixie Chicks (though they are borderline country), George Strait, Faith Hill and Kenny Chesney. However, I have a severely bizarre hatred of Shania Twain. I can't stand to listen to her, look at her, or hear about her. OH add Celine Dion and Rene Zellweger and occassionally Sandra Bullock to that bizarre hatred list.

4. I cut my dryer sheets in half. This was a tip I read about a long time ago in The Tightwad Gazette and is one of the few that I actually put into practice in my life after reading that book.

5. I am a cryer. I cry at sad movies, happy movies, action movies (well pretty much every kind of movie), songs on the radio make me cry, goodies I get in the mail make me cry, commercials make me cry, writing this post is making me cry...I cried this week at work because my boss is unimaginably cruel and belittling. I wear my emotions pinned to my shirt like a big flashing neon sign for all to see.

6. I secretly wish I could call in sick to work.....every day:)

I tag
MaryAnn
Mary Ann
Vallen
Monica
And anyone else who wants to participate:) - if you do, leave me a comment so I can read all about how weird you are too:)

Hello, Petunia!!

I found a new blog today that I fell in love with - Meet Miss Marilyn. And she's even in New Mexico so I'm hoping I can meet her in real person someday:) She had this cute little "what Flower Are You" questionnaire posted that I rushed to try:)

I am a Petunia What Flower Are You?

Where did this week go??

This week just flew by!! I have two trials coming up at work so I have been busy with trial prep - I really like that as it makes the days go by REALLY fast:)

I have been doing so well on my goals and working on my "organizing, reducing clutter" goal. Today I deep cleaned Miss S's room and took two and a half garbage bags to Goodwill, one garbage bag to the trash, and one and a half garbage bags to take to the resale shop next week. I'm going to tackle the computer room/office for a few hours tonight:) Do I dare show you a before picture??? I probably should:)

The little portion of clean desk is my husband's side:):) I have a full Dr. Pepper all ready and three hours until Hubby gets home from work....I hope to make some progress.

Some wonderful goodies arrived in the mail this week. I received a lovely thank you card from MaryAnn for some goodies that I sent her...it was one of those cards that just makes you want to send a thank you card thanking her for the thank you card:)

Miss Vallen sent me this lovely clutch made from a repurposed sweater with a lovely brooch on it, a cool article about a chocolate shop in Santa Fe, and a sweet card. What a lovely New Year's surprise!


Here's the inside - Vallen is so creative! I love everything she makes:)


My January Fat Quarter Swap package arrived (the flickr group I am part of - here's the link). My partner this month was Mac Villiku and all I can say is WOW!!! She included three fat quarters, and TONS of extra goodies. Here we have two tissue holders, a card holder, two hair clips for Miss S, green earrings, a watermelon key ring (the other side is a flower), some Hello Kitty ribbon and a beautiful floral pin that I already have on my brown jacket. I'm going to use the card holder to hold several gift cards I still have to spend from Christmas, Miss S wore the hair clips today and I can't wait to use the rest of these goodies:)


These are the three fat quarters and three extra pieces of fabric that she included. Thank you so much!! I am going to make a little baby quilt for my sister in law who is due next month and I think all six of these will be cut up into squares to go in that quilt since I wanted to make it mostly purple:)


These two atcs arrived from Miss Heather - her contribution for the Art Giveaway Meme. I am so completely addicted to atcs:):) Thank you Heather!


Hopefully I will have really nice "after" photos of the computer room to show you tomorrow:)