Another giveaway?!?

Yes, another one! Through some blog surfing, I found this wonderful pile of scraps being given away in just a couple days ... don't you just want to dive in?!Click here to enter. And, as always, good luck!

Laundry day can be fun ...

if you're wearing the right apron! What?! You don't have a washday apron? Well, sheesh, neither do I ... now what? Hmmm ... we're going to have to remedy that ... with an apron giveaway, of course! Dear Diane (aka "Persuaded") from Tomato Soup Cake made 2 adorable aprons over the weekend in the cutest laundry themed fabrics, and she's graciously offering one of them in a giveaway on her blog. Isn't it sweet, modeled here by her lovely daughter, Millen?She sure looks like she's enjoying doing that laundry ... I need some of that joy LOL! If I don't win this apron, I think I just may have to make my own (wish I could get a hold of that pattern ... love it!) If you're in desperate need of some laundry joy, too, click here and follow the instructions. Good luck!

Sassy Smox

This week's giveaway at The Apron Goddesses is sassy, indeed! You could win your choice of a half-apron from Sassy Smox ... there's a dozen to choose from, and they're all gorgeous! I'm having a hard time deciding, but if I have to choose just one (and according to the rules, I must), then I pick this one ... "Freshly Squeezed" ... love that rickrack!For your chance to win, click here and follow the instructions. Good luck!

Earth & Fire

One of the highlights from our recent Florida trip was going to Earth & Fire to paint pottery. I've always wanted to try this! We all had fun browsing all the neat things we could choose from ... it was tough trying to choose just one thing to paint LOL! But after much deliberation, Emily chose a set of 5 Matryoshka dolls, Abby chose a piggy bank, and my mom and I each chose a dressform hook. Here's mine:When Emily chose the dolls (9 pieces in the set), we figured she would take the longest, but guess who was the last person to finish? Yep, me! Trying to stay in the lines, constantly getting up to use the dryer to dry each layer, and fussing over the belt ... all those minutes really added up LOL! But then my mom pointed out that I did help Abby quite a bit with her piggy bank, too, so that accounts for some of the time. But it was worth it ... I love how it turned out! Can't wait to hang it in my studio.

I had so much fun with this that I hope to do it again soon. There's a similar place not too far from here (at least I hope it's still there ... I drove by it once probably before Abby was born, and she's 7 now!) If it's still there, I'd like to go there later this summer, maybe for my birthday in August ...

I'm back!

Yes, I'm back from our little vacation to Florida ... and I've got the peeling shoulders to prove it! We had a blast hanging out with my mom (known as "Granny" to the girls). We picnicked on the beach, went out for Chinese, painted ceramics, found out the real story of the Three Little Pigs, got our nails done, played in her quilt studio and swam a whole heck of a lot. The week just flew by! I hated to leave, yet it is also nice to be home again ... we all missed our dh/Papa. Over the next few days, I hope to share some pics of our trip with you all.

Now for the bad news ... I came home to find that I didn't win the 4th of July apron ... darn! But that's okay ... there's another apron up for grabs this week ... this gorgeous little number:
Very cute!! If you want a chance to win, too, go and follow the instructions here. Good luck, everyone!

Off to unpack the luggage ...

What should you wear on the 4th of July?

A 4th of July inspired apron, of course! At The Apron Goddesses blog this week, the apron giveaway is a half-apron using these fun patriotic fabrics. You need this apron in order for your 4th of July BBQ to come out just right, right?! So hurry on over and follow the instructions ... then get the grill ready ... the 4th will be here before you know it ...

Yes, I know it's late ...

and I should be in bed. But I just had to click one more link, to one more blog ... come on, admit it, you know exactly what I'm talking about LOL! Well, here's what I found ... a handmade jewelry give-away on a delightful blog called Clay Hill Farm! A necklace with a quote from Aesop about kindness, and earrings to match ... very pretty! I've left my comment already ... if you want a chance, too, do stop by and enter ... but hurry, it ends June 14th. Good luck!

Alrighty then ... I'm off to bed ... maybe ...

I'm blushing!!

Oh, my! I'm blushing over the nice things Julia and Suzi wrote about me over at The Apron Goddesses blog ... I'm an official tea-time apron goddess! Thanks so much, Julia and Suzi, for the wonderful post ... too kind. I'm honored!

For those of you who have come here from TAG, welcome! Please pull up a chair and help yourself to some tea and scones. I have all your favorites, of course LOL! I hope you enjoy your stay!

For those of you who've never heard of TAG, do check it out! It's a great place to see some wonderful aprons, and to meet the ladies wearing them. And if you have an apron, you, too, can be a featured apron goddess ... just follow the instructions. But if you don't have an apron, you may be in luck ... Julia has an apron giveaway almost every week, usually on Mondays ... check it out! That's how I got the apron I'm wearing above! Enjoy!!

No, I haven't gone back into hiding ...

I just don't have any projects to share lately! I haven't sewn a single stitch in several days. Instead, we've been busy wrapping up our homeschool year (almost there!!), buying a new car (headache-inducing!), and trying to pack for our trip to Florida next week (can we possibly fit everything into carry-ons?!?) It doesn't help that I came down with something nasty over the weekend ...

I did start planning a new project, however ... car caddies for the new car. Several years ago, I bought McCall's Crafts pattern #8260, which is all about organizing (desperately needed around here, I might add!!) I meant to make these for our previous "new car", but never got around to it, so for this new car, it's gettin' done ... really ... I mean it! It's that organizer pictured in the lower right corner of the pattern:I dug through my stash of decorator weight fabrics and chose a few that'd work, then let my girls pick their favorite ... now I'm all ready, except I can't find the time right now! So it's my goal to make them first thing when we get back ... well, maybe second thing, right after putting the vacation clothes into the laundry ...

Turn a New Leaf

Last Saturday I got an email entitled "Congrats!" I almost deleted it because, really, it just looked like more spam. But then I reminded myself that I had entered contests on 3 or 4 blogs earlier that week ... could I possibly have won something? So, after doing the little trick dh showed me of checking the email's properties first for any telltale spam signs, I clicked it ... and sure enough, I'd won this from My Good Cents:Isn't it cute?! It's my new coupon organizer from Austin Artisan! I'd been searching the Internet for tutorials for making my own organizer because I couldn't seem to find one in the stores (I know they must be out there, but I can't seem to figure out where they're hiding!) My search led to several tutorials and also some contests for others' handmade organizers. I figured I could wait another week or two to make my own just in case I won. I'm so glad I did LOL!The best part was that I got to pick the design! I chose this one (called "Turn a New Leaf") because I just love the little stitching on the leaves (if you like it, too, she has another one with a brown background). She also has many others that are just as cute. You can see them all here.It just came in the mail the other day ... thank you, thank you, thank you, Austin Artisan and My Good Cents!! Now to fill it up with coupons ... bring on the savings!!

Well, shoot ...

Now I've gone and done it ... my blog looks pretty, but I've lost all my favorite links, my counter and the rings I belonged to!! Now what?! All the websites say I shouldn't lose anything just by switching templates and such, but I must be the exception to the rule. Dagnabbit! Now I'm going to have to start over. Oh, well ... live and learn {{{sigh}}} ...

Thank goodness for the history tab, though ... I can use that to find the links to the websites I visit most often. I'm just sorry to lose those websites that I check once a month or so. Hey, now that I have to start all over, how about you all sharing some of your favorite websites? Maybe I'll find some new favorites!

By the way, how do you like the new look? I got the background from The Cutest Blog on the Block. I also used their tutorial to go from 2 columns to 3 columns. I've always wanted another sidebar so that I could spread out the links and such. Guess that's my silver lining today LOL!

Pardon the dust

I'm playing around with the layout of my blog today ...

Vintage goodies, anyone?

I was surfing the Internet this morning and, as often happens, one blog led to another, which led to another, which led to ... well, you get the picture. In all that surfing, I happened upon a new-to-me blog called Tomato Soup Cake. I enjoyed browsing through her past posts so much and was so inspired that I just had to add her to my list of favorite blogs in my sidebar so I can visit her often! And talk about perfect timing ... her post this morning was about some vintage goodies she scored at a garage sale this weekend. At the end of the post, she mentioned doing a giveaway of some of the goodies later today because it's so fun to share!

Well, she's got her giveaway up ... and it's her first ever! There are quite a few yummy goodies in the giveaway, and she's even throwing in a 1950's apron pattern to boot. If you're interested, you'd better get over there quick ... she's going to pick the winner on June 3rd! Good luck!

Another pie apron

I had fun stitching up my Pie-Makin' Apron, but don't you think I should have more than one?! After all, the recipe on the pocket is printed on a Quick Fuse Inkjet Fabric Sheet, and, thus, can only be hand-washed. That means my apron is really just for serving pies, not for making them! So it only makes sense to have another pie apron for doing the actual pie makin', right?

Well, here's our chance! This week's apron giveaway on The Apron Goddesses blog is a Fresh Baked Pies apron ... yummy! I can totally see myself making pie after pie in this. But don't delay ... the contest closes June 3rd. Good luck, everyone!

It's here!

My new tea time apron has arrived and I just love it! Of course, I had to wait to try it on until both the girls had their turn ... 7 yo Abby wants me to turn it into a dress for her. I think not ... it's mine, all mine LOL! Thanks so much, Annie!

I especially love the envelope-style pockets ... adorable!

Spurred on into summer

Two events have combined recently to spur me into action ... Pat Sloan's recent finish-it-up challenge and my upcoming trip to Florida to visit my mom. These two things have reminded me that I still had one more round to do on the "Altered Art Book Page Thingy", which first began in February 2008. Three other ladies, including my mom, and I set out to make pages for each other, round robin style, in each of our chosen themes. Mine was "Opposites Attract".

The second round I worked on, the theme was "Flourish", and the third round, the theme was "Matisse". Both of these rounds, I took my time, but still finished relatively quickly. But then came the final round ... this was my mom's theme, "Seasons", and the work of the first three rounds (spring, fall and winter) was amazing! I had no idea how I could come close to matching these beautiful pages with my summer pages. I hemmed, I hawed, I tossed around and rejected a few ideas. Mom said, "Don't stress about it ... take your time and when it gets done, it gets done." So it got put back in the envelope to incubate.

Now, when my mom says, "take your time," she really means, "give it another week, or even two," not "take a year off," but that's what happened! It sat and sat ... occasionally I'd spy the envelope peeking out at me and I'd think so more, but, really, it just sat. Recently, in light of the whole finish-it-up challenge, I got the bright idea (think, "duh!" with hand slap to forehead) to pull the pages out and put them up on the design wall. There I couldn't ignore them and pretend they didn't exist! And then, my mom calls and invites us down to visit ... bingo! A deadline! So I got in gear and told myself, "It's not about trying to match the others, it's about what the season means to you!" So I thought some more, searched the Internet for ideas, pulled some fabrics, broke out the fusible web, and made these.











Not so grand as the other three seasons, but I'm please with them! Here's a pic of all the pages together. Can't wait to see what my mom does with them!Ready for a kicker? When the lady before me sent me my mom's, she sent mine back, too. But I promised myself I wouldn't look at mine until my mom's were done. So last night I finally got to see what these ladies had done with my "Opposites Attract" theme ... gorgeous! I'll share them with you later this week ....

Aprons by the dozen

My mil and I go to a luncheon each month where for just $15 we get to enjoy the company of many wonderful ladies, eat a delicious meal and hear amazing speakers talk about what God is doing in their lives. A few months ago, my mil offered to help with the centerpieces for the tables. She likes to make them fit the theme of the luncheon topics ... for instance, once we had a watercolor artist speak, so she painted up some small canvases and displayed them on little easels, complete with paintbrushes with flowers tied to them. Another month, we had a musician, so she cut out musical notes, glued them to skewers and tucked them into flower arrangements. Cute, huh?!

Well, for the month of June, I'm adding to the fun! The theme is "Once Upon a Salad" and the speaker, a chef, will be giving us ideas on main dish salads. I told my mil an apron tied to the vase would be cute, and hmm, somehow I ended up promising to make said aprons LOL! So I went home, did a little searching for apron ornament patterns, and ended up coming up with my own half-apron pattern. Next, I pawed through the scraps left over from my Dancing Train quilt and came up with over a dozen combinations. Then came the fun!
I made my own bias tape to edge each apron, which caused some burned fingers, but I think the results were worth it!
Here's one tied to the vase we picked out. She plans to add some greenery and maybe a daisy or two, plus a set of four wooden spoons/forks that she got at the dollar store.Only one problem ... I won't be there to see them! I realized about halfway through the sewing that my girls and I will be in Florida visiting my mom that week (yeah, I can hear you cuing up the violins LOL!) Hope my mil gets some pictures! And we're going to offer the centerpieces for sale, so I can't wait to hear how they do! Which one's your favorite?

My Pie-Makin' Apron

Last week I posted a sneak peek of my Pie-Makin' Apron ... a pile of fabrics and a recipe card. A recipe card? Yep, a recipe card ... but not for just any ol' recipe. This is a recipe for my Great Grandma Mitchell's Butterscotch Cookies. I remember as a little girl playing Tiddly Winks in her living room while nibbling on these yummy cookies, eating around the pecan half, saving it for last. Wonderful memories!When I read about the latest Tie One On theme, I immediately knew what apron I wanted to make ... the recipe-card apron in a sweet little book called Stitched in Time by Alicia Paulson. I looked through all the old recipes my stepmom had, specifically looking for a pie recipe, but when I stumbled on this cookie recipe, I knew it was the one! So I took it home and whipped up this apron (well, it did take me several days, but still ...)I had so much fun putting this together and remembering my Great Grandma! If you'd like to go back in time with me, make up a batch of these cookies. Enjoy!

Butterscotch Cookies

1/2 lb. (2 sticks) butter
1 scant cup dark brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond or lemon extract
2 scant cups flour
Pecan halves

Cream butter and brown sugar. Add egg, vanilla and almond or lemon. Add flour and beat well 'til well blended. Refrigerate for an hour. Drop by teaspoons on buttered cookie sheet, with pecan half on top. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Makes 4 dozen.

April's basket

I finished April's basket over the weekend.On to May's basket o' flowers ... I'm lovin' these baskets!

It has borders!

I finally bit the bullet and worked on the borders of the first Crooked Cabin quilt. It was a bit daunting to square it up, but it had to be done ... and now I'm glad it's over LOL! A bit of black and then a nice red outer border really finished it off nicely. I'm very pleased with it.As for the second Crooked Cabin quilt, I auditioned several different borders and I didn't like any of them. Nothing seemed right. Then I realized that the fabric I used to tilt the squares is so wide that it is enough of a border as is. So I'm calling it done, too.Well, these quilts are at that "top-is-done-and-just-needs-quilting" stage, which is where I wanted to be! Now I have a new goal for them ... to be quilted and bound in time for my guild's July picnic. It's tradition to invite kids and grandkids that like to sew and quilt, and show-n-tell is centered around the kids' handiwork and also any recent quilts that have been made for kids. These would fit the bill nicely, so I thought it'd make a good goal to shoot for. Thank goodness we meet toward the end of the month LOL! Cross your fingers for me ....