Sunshine

We are having a beautiful day here in Mississippi. I am really going to miss all this sunshine  and warmth when we move.

These next two gifts are my final presents for this years Birthday Give Away. I love how happy they are, all sunny and yellow. The first bag is Flower Sac with a zipper pocket on the inside and the second is a Library Tote with the straps sewn to the outside and an outside pocket on both the front and the back between them.

 I hope you love them.

****

Tomorrow is the big day. I am getting so excited!!. If you would like to be in the drawing for any of the items in my birthday give away, comment on any or all of my April 2013 posts. You will receive one entry for each post commented on. I will close comments tomorrow around 12:00pm and choose and announce winners as soon as I can after that. I ended up having some time this morning and  so I closed the comments so I could get started. Hooray!!!

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Two More Pouches

Two more pouches are done.

These both measure 9x5x1.5

I hope you like them.

 

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Winding Down

 

I am always surprised at how fast April flies by each year. I don’t think I have ever finished all of the projects I planned to do. This year, I suspect will be no different. So, prioritizing is a must at this point.

Some pouches made the cut. I’ve got one complete and two others prepped and ready to sew.

 

These are one of my favorite handmade items. I use them to organize the diaper bag, to carry pens or pencils around, feminine supplies, any thing really. This one is 8x5x1.5

I have one other must sew project for the month but am waiting for some supplies to get delivered before I can get started. Crossing my fingers it gets here today.

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One More

I had plans to make 3 Tunnel Vision pillows but didn’t plan very well when I purchased my supplies. I only had enough to barely make 2. I’m actually pretty glad it worked out this way. I am so happy with this next present. The colors and prints are so happy and cheerful. If I make pillows for my couch, mine will look like this.

Again, this pillow is 18×18 inches with a zipper in the back for easy cleaning.

I hope you love it.

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Pillows

Hooray, I have finished presents to show you.

Pillows!

When I got my hands on my copy of the book Modern Quilting I fell in love right away with both the Tunnel Visions Quilt (you can see a pic on this post) and the pebble quilting on the cover. So glad I got to try them both out. I didn’t follow any specifics from the book but used it as inspiration. I love love love these. I think the family did too. Each voiced their disappointment when they realized that they wouldn’t be on our couch. I might have to make a couple for us.

But these are for you!

They both are 18×18 with a zipper in the back for easy cleaning.

 I hope you like them.

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Halfway

Happy Monday! We are halfway through the month. Crazy!

Hope you all had a good weekend. I spent Saturday cleaning and sewing. Sunday was church all day. Regular services in the morning, a session of General Conference in the afternoon, break the fast at 3:00 and then another session of conference from 5:00-7:00.
Since we were out of town last week we have been playing catch up with General Conference. Just two more sessions to go.

The second quilt is finished and is just awaiting a photo shoot. I also started my next project, a small version of this quilt.

I’m excited to get going on my other projects. Hopefully some time opens up in my scheduled week so I can work on them.

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Fun Colors

Hi everyone.

I’m happy to back here in this space and am getting very excited for this years, my very last, birthday give away.

Today I headed out to Gautier, MS to visit a new to me quilt shop, Block Therapy. After walking around a  few minutes I came across a beautiful wall of colorful solids. After inquiry, I found out that this little gem of a shop carries the entire collection of Kona solids.

All of them!

Needless to say, I was thrilled. I may or may not have hugged the shop owner.

I picked out this pretty stack to coordinate with some of the prints I’ll be using this year. Isn’t it pretty?

So, don’t go too far, April is just around the corner. I’ll have my official announcement on April 1st about how things are going to work this year.

If your new to this blog check out last years April 1st post to see what this is all about.

P.S. Everything in the Etsy Shop is half off for the month of March and all income will be used to support this years birthday give away. On April 1st the shop will closed for a while and will reopen with a new project to support. 

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A Deadline

I guess I need one of those, don’t I?

Since I want to do my Birthday Give Away this year, I’ve got to get going. It wont just fund its self. Reluctantly I decide to sign up for this years Craft Fair on the base here at Keesler  in November. I say reluctantly because I haven’t finished a singe sewing project since May. (I still need to show you this one) So, I guess I better get going, right? Right.

Not sure what all I’ll make this year but I do have one thing started. Camera straps.

Hopefully next week, these will be all sewn up with another project in the works. Along with the craft show deadline I’ve got to make a decision on a carrier for Hollis. My back is all out of sorts and so the only way I can carry him is on my back. I do have a carrier for just that purpose but Hollis isn’t old enough for it yet. I’ve been borrowing a Mai Tai with a high back from a friend, and it works great, but she will be moving soon. So, I’ve got to decide if I’m going to try to recreate the one she has or just purchase one. I’m leaning towards making one but I don’t have a very good streak right now with working on projects.

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Two Final Presents

These are my final two presents for this month.

First up…

Library Tote with a zipper. It took a few tries but I figured out how to put in a zipper on top. Not in a way I previously imagined but functional and cute none the less. In the process I had to give up the idea of having piping on the top as well but I still love it and will have to make one like this for my own.

Next up…

Another set of Fabric Notecards. Again with Amy Butler fabric but this time with two decor weight Lark prints. With this heavier weight fabric attached to the cards they feel even more glorious than the last bunch of cards.

Well, I hope you’ll enjoy these last two gifts. Now it is time for me to squeeze in one last camping trip before it gets too hot. This time just the moms in charge. I can’t wait.

***Just a heads up, incase I don’t get in another post before Monday. I will be closing comments on all April 2012 posts as soon as I wake up on my birthday. (Monday morning if you haven’t been keeping track)***

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Only One

I am grateful and relieved that time is moving fast as I move though this pregnancy but sheesh, I didn’t expect April to fly by so fast. Only one more week!

I have a couple of projects that I’m hoping to get finished so, I hope things slow down a bit, at least for this week.

Today, I have the second set of linen hand towels and pot holder to show you. For these I actually remembered to attach a little hanging piece of fabric thingy.

I don’t know for sure what it is for but some of my hand towels have them and I suspect you use it to hang your towels on a peg or something.  I personally don’t have any pegs for hanging towels but maybe someone else might appreciate  it.

I hope you like it.

 

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Another Bag

I didn’t intend of having things so slow around here this week but that’s just how my days have played out. Gratefully today my schedule was clear and I had time to get to work on one of the bags I had all cut out and ready to go.

I’ve made totes similar to this one for a few of my Birthday Give Aways now. The plan for this one and the other that I have cut out was to add in a recess zipper along the top. I’ve wanted to try this for a while but sadly my first attempt failed. Gratefully, with a ton of seam ripping, and patience as I pull out all those little strings,  I was able to salvage the bag and make it using the same technics and pattern as used in this tote last year.

Tonight I hope to do some research and find out the correct technic for adding a recess zipper. Hopefully I will have better success with the next one.

As things are I really do love this bag and hope you like to too.

FYI – I have updated this post with information about my technics and the pattern used on the Joel Dewberry bag. Thanks for all your interest. 

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Joel Dewberry

Anyone interested in some Joel Dewberry? I know I would be.

In my younger years I was never drawn to pink. Over the years, however, with two girls that have loved the color, I find myself grabbing for it on the fabric shelves more and more. So, I guess I’m not surprised that I reached for the Berry version of this Joel Dewberry line.  I sure love it.

So how many gifts do we have so far? I think these two will bring us to five.

First up I have a fully reversible market tote with a zipper pocket both on the inside and the outside. . This bag was reinforced with heavy duty interfacing so it feels pretty heavy duty.

*** Update April 20 – Thanks for the bag love. In answer to questions or comments about a pattern, this bag was made following this pattern. I pretty much followed the instructions adding interfacing to both the outside fabric and the lining. I also added a zippered pocket both inside and out using a method similar to this. Finally, to give the bag a more finished look, I topstitched around the inside and outside of the handles. Thanks for your interest. 

Next up I have a covered spiral bound notebook.

Both of these items were made prior to this month but I am happy to be adding them as gifts for my Birthday Give Away.

I hope you like them.

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Present Number One

Today I had grand plans; just me and my machine (maybe a friend too) busy working. Sadly I had a very late start and only had a couple of hours. I took full advantage of those two hours and finished up the first present for the month. I also prepped a set very similar to this one for another day.

Here you are. Present number one.

Two linen hand towels and a hot pad.

I had been thinking about making linen hand towels since Christmas after receiving some from my mother. I had the linen and  plenty of cute fabric but it wasn’t until I saw some cute hand towels on Pink Chalk Fabrics’ Facebook page, made with basically the same vision I had in my head, that I committed to doing it. And lucky for you (if you like them) this all came about right as I was approaching my Birthday Give Away.

Along with having the linen and fabric on hand I also have plenty of batting and some Insul-Bright to make a pot holder to go along with them.

I hope you like them.

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I need to bottle this.

Today was great. Well, I guess the day isn’t over but “my day” was fabulous.

8:00 – The kids are out the door. I get some quiet scripture study in. Brainstorm for a new daily routine list and then head out the door to walk the dog.

9:30 – Decide to get dinner started and do daily chores prior to shower.

10:45 – Remember that my new shoes are ready for pick up. Change plans of going to craft store and decide to take my latest read to lunch and pick up shoes instead.

11:00 Have a quiet lunch with my book. ( and a piece of chocolate cake for dessert)

12:30 Head home with new shoes on my feet.

1 ish – Cross the street for a nice visit with a friend

3:00 – At home and decide 30 minutes is just enough time to get the machine out and piece my next quilt top minus ironing.

Since I need to do some pressing before I continue I call it done for now.

Here it is all spread out.

3:30 – Thisbe walks in. Time to clean up and get ready for the evening.

I love days like this.

 

 

 

 

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Crafting these days

I’m not sure exactly when the shift happened or why but I am definitely sure there has been a shift.

For as long as I can remember, it seems, I have always been in a hurry. In a hurry to see the finished product. In a hurry to be finished. Then ready to do it all again. Sometimes exactly the same, sometimes with a new spin, always wanting to improve this skill or that.

Now this applies to almost everything I create: baking, sewing, knitting, spinning, quilting…. any time I get an idea or inspiration and set out to try it, the process is usually hurried through and repeated again and again.

In recent years I’ve tried to make a conscious effort to slow down and enjoy the process but  I always seemed in the end to be pushing through (even late into the night) to finish, only to find the next morning a strong desire to do it all again. Sometimes I have everything I need, and let myself do it, other times it had to wait until supplies could be purchased and time to be found.

The Shift

Again, I don’t really know what has happened. If I analyze it a bit I think of the fact that I noticed a definite difference when Bron started school. This change may have triggered my mind to realize that our daily home life had defiantly shifted, placing a greater burden on me to be in charge of daily chores and  evening preparations so that things can run somewhat smoothly when the kids get home. I also think about the fact that I’m starting to feel older. Not old like my body is aging (though I do notice that) but maybe my needs are changing and with that creating has taken on a new purpose.

Boy I seem to be rambling.

I’m still processing it all and feeling a little lost. I know I love to make things but I am not in a hurry at all. Projects have been terribly slow. With no real desire to even finish them but yet a desire to work on them. Maybe this is a good thing. Maybe I’m finally relaxing and enjoying the process of making things but not letting this area of my life impede and direct my daily life as much as before.

I don’t like to think that making things was the center of my life but I suspect that it was a bit of an escape. Or maybe a way to claim something as my own when feeling overwhelmed by duties of motherhood.

Now that the kids are older and much more independent and I have large chunks of time to myself. I seem to be crafting much less than when I had very little time to spare.

With all that said I have a few projects I’m working on right now. That stack of cut and partially sewn fabric constitutes the beginnings of 16 camera straps, two totes, and some notecards. It is funny how I am working now a days. Today I only felt like sewing. Not turning, and only tolerated the pressing. Last time I had no desire to sew at all. But I did have a desire to cut things out and use my brain to practice math as I calculated the size of things and how to best use my fabric. Next time, I’m hoping I’ll have a desire to get out my iron and apply interfacing to everything. Or maybe I’ll decide to pull out my knitting project and sew up a few body parts or items of clothing. Or maybe I’ll start a new project. I’ve been hoarding fabrics to make a few quilts for babies on their way. Or maybe I’ll start sketching a blanket for my own summer baby.

I don’t think this change is a bad thing, it’s just a change.

 

 

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Shop Update

Thank you for your warm wishes. I am getting more and more excited as the days go by. It seems that I caught a stomach bug over the holiday weekend and am not feeling so desperate today. I’m hoping that how I’m feeling today will be the norm for this early trimester. Nothing like getting sent to the ER to make you appreciate the what a normal early pregnancy feels like. I feel so much better today that I was actually motivated to get something done. (this hasn’t happened for at least a week)

A few weeks ago I participated in a craft show here on base in Mississippi and so I had quite a few leftover items to add to the shop. Today: Added (note – this also included taking all the pictures need to said Adding)

And just in time for cyber monday no less.

 

I’ve got some covered planners and a bunch of new camera straps along with a few sets of button magnets. And just so you know… All items are in my shop are 25% off thru December.

Hurray for productive days!

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Camera Straps

It was last year about this time that I started my plans for making a camera strap for my DSLR. I also started my plans of adding them to my give away in April. Black backed vinyl, nylon webbing, slides and keepers were all purchased but just sat and sat and sat. My birthday month came and went and still no straps were made. Summer came and went and still no straps.

I think I was scared. (Or maybe just lazy)

However, finally, I started making them. And making them and making them. These are very rewarding and addicting to make.

Here a few I’ve made so far.

 Need to add some cuteness to your camera? Some of these are available in my Etsy Shop.

It is so nice to have my shop up and running again. I am excited to start adding to Gift of Giving again and scheming for next years Birthday Give Away.

 

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Present Number Two

Last night I shifted gears again and sewed this up. These are my favorite prints from the collection and love how well they work together. This one was made up in the same way as present number one.

Wishing I had time to make one just like for me to tote around in Hawaii next week.

I hope you like it.

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Shifting Projects

I set the quilts aside for a today and had a go at another project. I wanted to make a bag or two for my give away but wasn’t sure about what style. A few days ago I saw this post and was reminded of this tutorial. Something clicked last night and I knew that I wanted to apply the straps, front pocket, and piping to my Library Tote.

My straps are 1 1/2 inches wide made from fabric instead of the belting and I made my own piping following the instructions for piping in this tutorial decreasing the width of fabric to 1 1/2 inch. I just applied Jill’s technic for these and the outside pockets (one is on the back too) to my Library Tote tutorial.

And here you go… Present Number 1

I hope you like it.

(Recognise the fabric? I don’t think I’ll ever tire of that line.)

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Another one

Dress number 2 from this pattern. I used the bodice and sleeves from the Round Apron dress but this time I used the skirt from the Peasant Dress. I again added a panel at the bottom to add to the length but am wishing that I add the ruffle from the Peasant dress instead.

This second dress came together very quickly and easily. I guess the most labours part is tracing and cutting out the pattern pieces.

I want to make another one but I think I will wait a bit. I have quite a few projects in mind for my Birthday Give Away this year and I cant wait to get started on those tomorrow.

Be sure to stop by tomorrow and for the whole month of April to see and maybe win what I’ll be making.

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A dress for Bronwyn

I finally did it!

After years of saying “I’m just going to make her one,” I finally did it. Does anyone else have trouble finding dresses for your little girl with a modest cut and length for a decent price each season?  Bron loves to wear dresses everyday and does not like to put a t-shirt under those cute sleeveless dresses that are everywhere.

I made this one using this pattern. I found mine locally but you can also buy them here. It ranges in sizes from 6 months to 8 years. I kinda combined sizes and dresses. I used the dress from the Round Apron Dress leaving off the apron and the ties and shirred up the waist using the technic from the peasant dress.  Elastic thread was not painful at all, why was I so scared of it? I also added some extra fabric to the length, I really want this to fit as a dress next year as well instead of a shirt. The extra length also makes her feel more like a princess. Perfect, guaranteed to be worn regularly.  Crossing my fingers just in case.

To try the pattern I just used what I had in the stash but today I went out and purchased some pink fabrics to make another one. The plan is to get the second one finished before thursday so I can focus all of April on my Birthday Give Away.

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Napkins and Placemats

We finished them. All 18!

Here are the ones that were clean.

(I prewashed my batting and my fabric before cutting into it.)

Mats – 12 x 16 inches

Fabric – 2 of each print cut to 12.5 x 18

Batting – 1 cut for each mat – 12 x 16

To make these we simply sewed up the long ends with 1/4 inch seams, turned right side out, slipped in batting until it was centered and smoothed out, tucked in ends, pressed, and topstitched around at  1/8 inch and 3/8 inches from edge.

These have two different prints. One for each side. The ones that Thisbe had ironed have a bit of each print on both sides. For hers we also topstitched in the ditch of where the two prints met on each side.

Napkins – 18 x 18 inches

Cut fabric 20 x 20 inches.

For these we followed this tutorial. We ended up dropping a few of the markings, measuring/marking one inch from the edge and then trimming the corner triangle at the one inch markings.

These have been so much fun to have in our kitchen. I made a few simple napkin rings with elastic and covered buttons for the kids. They just slip their napkin into their own ring when they are finished and it is available for them throughout the day.

Washing

We wash them as needed. For some kids one napkin and mat will last all week for others we need to get a new one for almost every meal.  I simply wash them with our darks. If they have food in/on them I rinse them before putting them in the hamper. Before they go into the dryer I give the mats a good hard shake to straighten them out and for the napkins I quickly smooth out all the seams so that they don’t roll in the dryer. This is all they have needed. I have not needed to iron a single one.

Yay!

I really loved the one on one time with Thisbe. She lost interest in the project after the first day of sewing and so it took her a while to get motivated to want to work on them over the next few months. I really got to learn a lot about  how to help a frustrated student work through the early stages of learning a new skill. Each little step of this project had a learning curve. But I am glad to say that even though each little step started out tense by the time we had worked through all 18 it was all smiles.

After all the hours of hard work that went into these mats and napkins, she is glad to know that she is welcome to take them with her when she’s ready to leave our nest. Such a sad thought that that could be in as little as 6 years. Sigh…

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A Bit More Masculine

I had a special request from a kind young man, who is getting ready to serve a mission for our church. He wanted a covered notebook for a gift for his mother (see such a good guy) in pink and one in green for himself.

The one for the mother, no problem, I happened to have plenty of pink in my stash, but one for him. HIM. I had never tried to make one for a man before.

Luck was on his side. I’ve been looking into black vinyl lately, research for my give away next month, and a guy on etsy sent me some free samples. One was just big enough to make a notebook cover. Lucky guy. He’s such a great guy that he probably wouldn’t have minded the notebook in fabric a little more feminine but I was worried about it and so I guess it’s really me who lucked out.

So here is my first and probably the last notebook cover in black vinyl.

It didn’t turn out too bad, I even got a pocket sewn in on the front, but it was a pain to keep things from slipping around. I guess I’ll get some more practice next month, not with notebook covers in vinyl but another fun project I’ve wanted to do.

February and March have just flown by. I’m glad I’ve been stocking up on supplies for my Birthday Give Away because the rest of March promises to be busy with out many crafting windows of time. I do have another completed project to show you before we move into April but I will save that for another day.

10 more days ’til April!

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A Notebook for a Friend

I decided to delete the last post because I spoke up a little too soon about where and when we would be moving. Apparently everything is still up in the air. I’ll let you in when things are a bit more certain.

This notebook is made (with this tutorial) for a special young woman who I would be honored to call friend. Though she is only in her early teens she has been an example to me about selflessness, caring, and thoughtfulness. She, along with her equally lovely siblings, give me hope for our future.

Well, a little birdie told me that she loved my notebooks but was disappointed that they were so expensive. This was a problem that needed to be fixed. I stopped by her house, inviting her and her sister to come over and pick out some fabric for a notebook. Her sister politely declined not making me feel the least bit rejected. (see, I tell you, these kids are wonderful) I showed her my stash and she picked out the blue, yellow, and the delicate pink print. Definitely not something I would have picked but I’ve learned my lesson about prejudging creative decisions of youth. I am always so pleasantly surprised.  She said she wanted the blue with some leaves appliqued on but also liked the yellow and gave me creative freedom. She also said that she liked the linen I had been using in my notebooks lately.

I went with the sectioned yellow and blue because frankly there wasn’t enough blue to make the notebook without it. For the leaves and flower I used the pattern from this book adding a couple extra rounds of stitching. I did add a couple of prints and hope she doesn’t mind. Who am I kidding, I know she will love it, or at least make me feel like she does.

Do you have any young people in your life who are teaching and inspiring you?

P.S. there is still one notebook available at the gift of giving site. Stop by if you have someone in your life who needs a gift.  It has found a home.

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January Gift of Giving Update

I have just updated the Gift of Giving blog with some new gifts. Thanks to your support in my Etsy shop I was able to purchase some of the new Amy Butler line Soul Blossoms, I just love so many of her new prints.

I’ve added these three notebooks (two notebooks and a sketchbook) to the Gift of Giving blog. These notebooks have found homes. Thank You!

To read a little bit more about Gift of Giving go here or here.

So,

Is there someone in your life who needs a gift? Head on over to the blog and claim a gift. Rules are listed there.

Thanks for helping share the gift of handmade.

April

P.S. I’ve updated the shop with almost identical notebooks.

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Shop Update

Hello all,

I just wanted to let you know, since I have received quite a few requests, that I have listed some new 2011 planners in the shop. This will be my last listing for the year. Thanks so much for your support. 

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Filling the Shop

I mentioned a bit in an earlier post about balance. I have been working on that a ton lately. Trying to balance my chores, personal family time, this desire to sew, sew, sew, errands and the many other things that I want to fill my day with. I want to start working in this blog again. I love this space and have had big plans for it in the past but most of them are still waiting to be realized. We will have to see how things pan out in that department but I did want to stop in and say hello and let you know what I’ve been doing.

There has been lots of making. Nothing new, just more of my favorites. The good old items that are familiar and easy for me. This kind of making is so refreshing for me. When making things like these my brain can rest a bit from the overload of ideas that sometimes burden me when I sleep and yet my nerves are settled and calmed as I sit and create.  I made enough to set up a table at the local farmers market. I had coasters, magnets, notebooks, tissue pouches, notecards, zipper pouches, and a couple other things. Not one sold. I had fun though. Thisbe joined me with some dipped marshmallows and made a few dollars. This was more of a yard sale site/flea market rather than a farmers market, not quite the place for hand made goods. Thisbe did get inspired to go through our two huge tubs of stuffed animals, so we may be back to this locations, with a different type of goods to sell.

Upon returning Thisbe set up shop in the front yard and I got to work taking pictures of my items to sell in my etsy shop. Here are a few.

I’m working on getting my items loaded in the shop. It will be slow but some should be added daily.

I’ve got a new twist planned for my birthday give away this year and I am hoping that I can fund it with things that I make. So all sales in the esty shop, 100%,will go towards supporting my give away this year.

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Finding a place to sit

Each move affects me in a different way. This one had me pacing. Literally. I would wonder the empty house all day. Room to room, upstairs, down, again and again and again. Sure I stopped to make a meal or look at the computer or something like that but most of day I would just pace. It actually took me a week or so to realize it was happening. I mentioned this to a friend and  she laughingly told me that I was pacing because I didn’t have any furniture to sit in. Made perfect sence and I accepted that as the problem but then I realized it was more than that.

I had lost my routine and our situation here was different and so a whole new routine would have to be made. So I paced and paced some more but this time I was trying to think about what I should be doing. What would I do when I woke up? What time will I wake up? When the kids leave for school what would Bron and I do? How am I going to connect with the kids if they are gone for most of it? Pace, pace, pace.

I am still pacing… but not as much. Yesterday Bron and I left the house. It was a leaky air mattress that made this trip out a necessity. While out I decided to head over to a new found fabric store and see if I can get started on the quilt I mentioned last time. Bron brought the markers so I had all the time I wanted to wander the little shop and  think about something other than my routine. I think it is just what I needed. When finished , we walked around the cute little downtown area of Ocean Springs. Just what I needed. I came home and sewed.

Oh, it felt so good to do something familiar. Maybe that is what I need. More things familiar.

I think furniture and stuff will help. But my little outing has provided me somethings to keep my hands busy. My machine is here and I do have a few folding chairs and a shaky folding table. I think I will sit at the table and do some sewing today. After I clean up the breakfast on it.

First of 16 blocks for my quilting project with some friends from Turkey. (I’ll post more on this later.)

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Birthday Give Away Wrap-Up

So, my birthday has come and gone. Its been a week actually. While  I loved the increase in blogging time, sewing, and photo shoots, I’ve actually enjoyed my time away. I stop in today to wrap up the birthday give away.

This year there were a few snags on my birthday. There were a few repeats from last year forthe give away this year and in order to avoid sending someone the same gift two years in a row, I set up a blog  (feel free to go check it out) so people could choose their own gifts. Good idea right? Well maybe in theory.

The first problem was that when I set up the blog it didn’t test the comments. As it turned out my comments were set up so that I had to moderate a comment before it would show up. Well, I mass emailed everyone (almost) and then took off for an hour or so only to return to an inbox full of comments that needed to be moderated. The problem was that multiple people commented on the same gift without knowing it. As I hung my head in shame I sent out an e-mail telling them what a fool I was and how sorry I was and asked them to choose a different gift.

Problem number two was that I didn’t realize the amount of organization that needed to happen if I wanted to give a specific present to a specific person and send that to a specific address, multiplied by 30 (31).  Magnus and I organized gifts, recipients, and their addresses as best we could. To my knowledge everyone got the correct gift shipped to them but don’t hold it against me if I made a mistake. 

One last problem was that as I was choosing names I accidently chose 31 instead of 30, the number of gifts I made. I shipped out the bulk of the gifts on Monday and then finally figured out why I was missing a gift; I had 4 names and only three gifts. I recounted my the names from the list I made of people I chose, people I emailed, and people listed on the announcement post, yep I had chosen an extra name. I waited until all the gifts were chosen and then e-mail the last person, explained what happened and then offered a choice between a zipper pouch and a covered notebook. They graciously told me to surprise them and so I went with  a notebook cover. I really never tire of making them.

So here is the final gift of the year.

The final 4 gifts were shipped out today. So winners, start watching your mail boxes, presents are on the way.

Thanks again for a great month. While the actual give away part was a little crazy this year, the making part was wonderful. My brain is already spinning with ideas for next year.

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Final Birthday Gift

Here is a cute little pouch made with Hope Valley fabric. This will be my final birthday gift of the year. I have about 30 presents to wrap and prepare for shipping. Thank you for all your birthday wishes and lovely comments this month. I have had a great month but am a little sad it is over. Well almost over anyway, tomorrow will be so much fun. I am so excited to do the drawings tomorrow. I can’t wait.

Again I will close all comments on April posts when I wake up on the 30th. That will be about 8:30 pm PST on the 29th.

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