greetingarts

tea cakes

Becca got to play tea party for a little while before I sent this off to my partner for the Pincushion Swap. I also included several mini spools of color co-ordinated ribbons, a Mary Englebreit needlebook,  some candy, and a little packet of blank Christmas cards I made last year.



And this is the loveliness I received from Amy, who included stickers, special recipes for me to make with my daughter, ribbons, a bath bomb (oh, how I *wish* I had the luxury of a bath, but I'm afraid that's just going to sit on my bathroom shelf for quite a while), a cool quilting tool, chocolate, and those fantastic pins.  Can you see them, there, in that little plastic box?  Those super sharp long pins with glass heads, some yellow, some sky blue.  I actually have a pack of those already, but I used them sparingly because they are seriously the greatest pins.  Ever.  Seriously.  And I didn't want to lose them, or mess them up, but not anymore!  Today, I can use them with abandon, because now I have gobs and gobs.  Thanks so much!

happy thanksgiving

Yesterday I noticed a lot of people were posting about Thanksgiving, but I just thought, "oh, Thanksgiving is coming up, it's nice they're preparing for it."  Uh, yeah, I guess they'd better, because it's today.  How the heck did that happen?  Wasn't it just Halloween?  Where did November go?

Anyway.



I'm thankful.

happy birthday

To a great sister and an even better aunt.  We love you.  You'll be getting your gift (pattern here) and card a little late!

waiting for the mail

So, I had this long post all ready to go, about how I got flaked on by five swappers in a row, for three different swaps, but you know what?  I'm not going to bore you with it.  Yes, sometimes the mail doesn't come, and that sucks, but hopefully those people had a darn good reason and at least have the decency to feel bad about it.  Meanwhile, there are more than enough kind, generous people out there who send you a package out of the blue to make up for the one that never came, or a hostess who steps in and ensures that nobody in one of her swaps is disappointed.

 

Thank you so much, Lynne and Ulla, for your pink and red goodies.  I can't tell you how much I appreciate the thought and consideration, even more than the adorable strawberry zipper pouch, the twin bunnies for my girls (one didn't make it into the photo), the yummy yarn, the cute spotty fabric, and everything else.  And believe me, I do appreciate every single one of those things!

And thank you to Angela, the hostess of the Magic Yarn Ball Again swap, who covered for my partner who never even returned any of my emails.  Angela took it upon herself to make and send me a Magic Yarn Ball with the softest green yarn, beautifully wrapped in lace and a satin bag, and she even included a chenille eye pillow that she made herself.  I can see some beaded stitch markers peeking out here and there, and can't wait to unravel that ball.

Finally, this is the fabric I created for Moki's New Stamp Swap that was due way back in September.  I was quite proud of it, since it was my first time ever coming up with my own design and creating an actual stamp.  I used white Kona cotton as the base fabric, then used a paintbrush to apply fabric paint directly to the stamp (which was cut from foam pieces glued to a scrap wood block).  The polka dots were made with the old pencil eraser trick, then it was all heat set with an iron.  I did receive one of my three fabric swaps, with a sort of floral design, and some sticky notes and a handmade card.  Unfortunately, no picture since my girls have decided to play hide and seek with some of mommy's things...

And now, we move on. 

red

Okay.  I lied.  Still not a crafty post, but the next one will be.  I pinky swear, this time.

shiny

This week's theme was right up Becca's alley, so there was no shortage of pictures to choose from.  This one was her favorite, though.



Any guesses as to what you're looking at?



Not like I took a much better photo, but it's a roll of glittery, very sparkly stickers.  I like her "action shot" much better.

The next post will be crafty stuff, I swear.

green yellow

A birthday present from my husband, way back when we were just beginning to date.  Gee, I miss those days.  The pre-kid days seem so incredibly long ago.

It's been a rough week.  I'm glad it's almost over.

97 degrees

I kid you not.  It was 95˚ yesterday, and 97˚ today.



His name is Ancho, Ancho Chile.  Poor guy never had a chance.  But at least he's still smiling.

A pattern for the basic snowman can be found here.  I just embellished mine with some felt and embroidery.

dandelion

Another one of my 99 Cent Store finds.  It's a keychain, has flashing lights when you touch the bottom.  This color just reminds me of sunshine.  Which I need a little bit more of in my life right now. 

First, let me just say "Mom, Dad, Jessie is totally fine today."  Okay.  Now on to my sob story of the Friday from Hell.

Jess threw up fourteen times last night, starting right about the time we were getting ready for bed, which happened to coincide with the water heater busting.  Lovely.  A puking kidlet and no water to wash with.  Not just no hot water, no water, period.  What timing.  So.  Anyway.  Eight hundred dollars and 24 hours later, I have mounds (piles, mountains, many many loads) of disgusting, smelly, stained, completely gross laundry to do.  A garage full of wet boxes to sort through, and all on four hours of sleep (split in half when Becca woke up crying in the middle of the night).  Still, I fared better than my husband, who only got an hour and a half.  Hope we can get through tonight, then I think we'll be fine.  Like I said, Jess seems totally fine today, so at least that's a relief.

In order to not have a totally depressing post, I wanted to announce the winner of the mini santa hat.  It's Ali!  So, just email me your mailing information, and I'll send it out in time for you to figure out what you want to do with it before the holidays.