Freshening up a bit...

Do ya like the new look? It matches my website now. I get bored easily and I have to change the backgrounds here every so often. LOL

Well, my Christmas set didn't sell at ebay. It didn't even get a bid higher than $12.51. Glad I set a reserve price! The listing itself cost me $4.85. I'm not sure how to take that. Apparently no on thought it was worth more than that? I spent $10.00 on the shirt alone! I put it over at Etsy, we will see what happens there. Needless to say I'm a little disappointed that it didn't get any higher bids.

I have been working on some crochet projects this last week. I made a sweater. I'm not sure who will get it at this point. I didn't check my gage and it turned out way smaller than it was supposed to. :0) When I went to Illinois a few weeks ago, my mom gave me a whole lot of crochet books and thread and yarn and some unfinished projects. One of them is a dress that I started for my niece, Allison, um... 17 years ago. It is by this pattern. It is from a book of patterns that belonged to my grandmother. The same book that has the pattern for the little yellow layette set that she made for me when I was born. The price on the front of the pattern book says $.35. I am a little sad now that I never finished the little dress for my niece. I'll finish it and put it away. Someday maybe there will be a special someone to give it to.

Thanks Chantel!

Chantel who won the giveaway was kind enough to send me these pictures of her beautiful daughter wearing the outfit. I really appreciate her sending me the pictures. The top buttons down the back and also ties in the back.
I am calling it "Autumn's Splendor"

So bummed!

I took pictures of the giveaway outfit before mailing it, and my camera skitzed out and lost them before I got them saved on my computer. Unfortunately I realized this AFTER the outfit was mailed! So, I apologize, but I have no pictures of it to show you.

Here goes nuthin.....

I listed the Christmas outfit at Ebay...
We shall see how it goes....
I mailed the giveaway outfit yesterday! I can't wait for the winner to get it!
I get to spend this weekend sorting through more stuff in my sewing room. It is a complete disaster! When I went to Illinois last week, my mother gave me A LOT of notions and trims, and yarn, and patterns, and this and that and the other sewing thing.... I now have to find homes for all of it in my sewing room. :0)

A couple of links...

I thought I would do a post with some links in it this time. I have just come back from vacation and trying to get caught up on my blog reading.
In doing so I have found a couple of really interesting blog posts.

My amazingly creative friend, Amanda has been doing a whole series of tutorials of gifts to make for Christmas.
Crazy Mom Quilts

Kristin is an wonderfully resourceful lady. In this post, not only does she have some great stories and pictures of her beautiful kids, she also shows some yarn that she has hand spun from recycled materials. Fascinating and beautiful! She always has very inventive and creative things at her blog, take a look back through past posts and you will see what I mean.
Reclaiming The Home

I spent yesterday leisurely working on the outfit for the giveaway. I have to say that this is turning out to be one of my favorites so far! I am really excited about it! I have to go and get some buttons for it today. All that is left is buttons and buttonholes and that's all I am telling you for now! I can't wait to get it sent off so that I can reveal it to you!

I also have a bit of a surprise possibly in the works, but I need to find out more before I talk much about that....

I've been on vacation

Jason and I just spent the last week with my family in Illinois. While we were there we took a trip to Wildlife Prairie Park. This is a wildlife park that was made from an old strip mine. It has lots of animals that are native to central Illinois and it also has an old homestead and a one room schoolhouse. It opened when I was a kid and we used to take my nieces there about once a year when they were little. I don't think I have been there for about 13 years or so, so it was fun to go back and see what had changed and what was still the same. Anyway, here are some of the pictures I took while we were there.

My sister, Janet and her daughter Allison

Here is a great shot of Allison







My other beautiful niece, Kayla.

Kayla, Allison and their Dad, Terry

A little Gimpy goodness, among other things.

Been having a little fun with the "gimp" program this evening while I was waiting for laundry to dry. "Gimp" is a free photo editing program that you can download. You can do almost as much with it as you can photoshop.
I took these pictures in my yard yesterday and then edited them in gimp. It's fun to play around with.

Original


Color foreground and black and white background.




I was also flattered to get a message from Renee at Candy Stick Lane that she had chosen me to receive the Brillante Weblog award. Renee has some wonderful children's items at her site and Etsy store.
Here are a couple of my favorites.




I am very flattered and humbled to have been chosen for this.

Now it is my turn to choose 7 of my favorites to receive this award, too!

Crazy Mom Quilts
i have to say...
Reclaiming the Home
AJ Quilts
Sew Me Something Good
Life at AJ's
Craft Addictions

Now to the winners it is your turn to...
1) Add the logo of the Brillante Weblog award to your blog
2) Add a link to the person who awarded it to you
3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs or sites
4) Add links to those blogs on your blog
5) Leave a message for your nominees that they've won the Brillante Weblog award
6) Show a picture of those who awarded you and those you give the prize to (optional)

It is an honor to call all of you wonderful ladies my friends!

And lastly a couple of pictures of the birthday gift I sent out this week to Amanda's son. I made it with fabric I received from Amy Jo a while back when she did a giveaway. An appliqued tee and a pair of lounge shorts. Amanda, I hope they aren't too terribly big, I wanted him to have room to grow and the next size down seemed small.



Sigh...

Alas, once again the Little Falls craft show weekend has come and I cannot go. I have lived in Minnesota for nearly 12 years and I have not made it to this yet. It always seems to either fall on a bad weekend for me, or I have no one to go with. And lets face it, these things are a lot more fun when you go with a friend. This weekend we are getting ready to leave on a trip to Illinois to visit my parents and a couple of my siblings. We aren't leaving until Monday, but my house needs serious cleaning before I go, so that's how I will be spending MY weekend.

I have been spending my evenings this week in the sewing room. I sewed up a little birthday gift that I dropped in the mail. I don't want to post pictures quite yet because the recipient's mom reads my blog. I'm sure she knows who she is by now. :) I used some of the fabric that I got from Amy Jo's giveaway a while back. It seemed fitting since Amy Jo is a good friend of this family, too. I have also been working on the surprise for the giveaway, too. That outfit is nearing completion and I hope to get it in the mail soon, too!

I have been thinking about doing a sewing tips and tricks post from time to time. I would like to put an image link to email questions or tips in my sidebar, but I don't know how to do this. If anyone is an html genius and knows how to do this let me know. :0) I know a few little html things, but this is not one of them.
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