Sunshine in the Garden Bag

Sunshine in the Garden Bag
Originally uploaded by misseskwittys.

Good morning! I was surprised this morning by a little note in my inbox telling me that I was featured in the "Funky Finds" blog! Yeah! Now THAT is a good way to start the day! I had never seen her blog before--I really like her style, LOL! All kidding aside, it is a fun read and I was introduced to some very nice products--Check it out!!

I had the blahs when I woke up this morning, but now I think my mood has improved immensely--I need to go and get busy on a couple bags that the lovely kalos has ordered from me! Yeah! I just wanted to share the news.

Have a great day!

Busy, busy, busy....

How's everyone doing? It's all good around here. Been keeping busy?

Linds got a gift certificate from my brother and his lovely wife for her birthday--a free poolside room at the Holiday Inn!!! Yeah! So I took her and 3 of her girlfriends there for a swimming/slumber party on Friday night. Here's a couple cute pics from the festive affair. What fun!

I just finished with a nice order for Sheri at The Loopy Ewe--who is going to start offering some of my drawstring bags and pocket packs in her cutey online yarn shop! Yeah! I am so kicking myself in the hinder! I was going to take a pic of all the finished items before I mailed them out--and I totally forgot!! SORRY SHARON!! I am getting so flakey in my old age! LOL They were mailed out this morning Priority mail, so they should be there in a few days. I have my fingers crossed that they will do well there and we will be doing a LOT of business together!

I finally got my high-speed internet!! Yeah! It is such a change, wow! I have switched my email over to MSN now--so all you who have my email addy--just change the AOL part to MSN and you will be just fine. Thanks. I cannot get over how fast it is to load pictures, lol. I'm used to beginning a download, going and making a sandwich, going potty, checking on the laundry, giving my hubby a quick hug, and then back to the comp to wait for it to finish! Now it's just-WHOOSH- DONE! Yeah, life is good!

And last but not least, the staircase is coming along quite nicely. We have the landing walls done, the window is done, the top section of the stairs are all stripped and the kickbacks and spindles are all painted! I think, folks, that we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel! It is looking so fresh and clean and pretty! Yeah! I am gonna have to think about making my curtains pretty soon now.

Birthday was a big Hit!

Here is one happy little girl!!! This pic is when she opened up her cell phone--my hub was sitting off to the side and caused it to ring right when she was opening it! Yeah!!

AND here she is opening the beautiful necklace/earrings set that the lovely PINKY made especially for her. She absolutely loves them!

Bitty Birdy Bag

Cell Phone pouch
Originally uploaded by misseskwittys.

A lazy sunday around here today. Hubby is asleep on the couch with the basketball game droning away on the tv, the kids are upstairs playing quietly, and I am just sitting here wasting time on the comp. Feels kinda good, even though I can hear that pile of fabric that is sitting down on my cutting table, waiting to be made into bags, calling my name! I attempted to go down there and get some work done, but my heart isn't into it today--so I'm taking the day off!

I just made arrangements for some of my bags to be sold in a cute online specialty yarn shop-- The Loopy Ewe--and she wanted to go with a red/black color scheme for her first order. Sooo, I finally decided on and purchased some fabrics for them! I'm pretty excited about it and I hope they go well there. It will be nice to have another place to make stuff for besides my Etsy shop. Hopefully it will be a success for both of us. If you like to knit, you should check out her shop--it's really cute and she seems to be a very nice and friendly gal.

I made up this little pouch to give to Linds for her birthday--we got her a cell phone (she is gonna pee her pants with joy!) and I thought this would be cute for her to keep it in. I also made an extra one to put in my Etsy shop. It's just a little bag-- 6" x 3"--just perfect for a cell phone or ipod or just a little clutter catcher for your purse. She likes bright and colorful and funky things--so I think she is really gonna like this! I also got her a VERY lovely "something special" that Pinky designed especially for her. I will post pics after her birthday so you can all see how gorgeous!

We are coming along very nicely on the stairs too. I will take pics this week some time and show you all the progress! I do believe we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!

Meandering through the Green

Meandering through the Green
Originally uploaded by misseskwittys.

Oh! It has been so beautiful here this week--sunshine and weather in the 40's! Of course, this IS Minnesota, so we got about 4" of snow yesterday, but the sun is back out and it is melting already. I think I have spring fever--I'm finding it very hard to sit down in my basement and craft! I hear the sunshine calling me.

I am a green person. No, I am not the color green (ya big silly), but I love green, I love trees, I love grass--my eyes and soul thirst for green during the winter months. I think that has become totally apparent in my newest little bag that you see to the right! lol Check out this beautiful paisley fabric in a couple shades of green--it is both bright and funky and traditional at the same time--kinda like me. I added a band of a really pretty spring green polka dot and, of course I had to stitch on a cute little birdy!! It can be found in my Etsy shop--oh, and there is a tissue holder there too made with the same fabrics.

Guess what?!!! I am FINALLY getting high speed internet!! YEAH!!! I am so excited, I can hardly stand it! This dial-up has become so frustratingly slow now that most websites are so image oriented--and just trying to maintain my Etsy shop has gotten so time consuming that it is ridiculous. I ended up getting a really good deal because I also went and got cell phones for my daughter and I(Happy Birthday Linds!) (she is gonna pee her pants with excitement!) --so I got a package deal and saved some bucks! YEAH!!! It will get hooked up on Tuesday, I can hardly wait!

Pretty Purple Tissue Holder

Pretty Purple Tissue Holder
Originally uploaded by misseskwittys.

Isn't this a beautiful purple and just a cute fabric? I really like it, and I'm not really a purple person usually. Anywhoo--it's the newest little tissue holder that I listed in my Etsy shop--you can find a pic of it on the right sidebar and get it for your very own if you want!! :-D

This month month marks the THIRD anniversary of when I quit smoking!! Yeah! 3 years, WOW! At one time, I didn't think I would ever be able to do it. I was just reading a blog earlier, Cozy Etsy , where the author is still in the process of quitting. I can so remember how hard it was some days. I think that having coffee in the morning and driving in the car were the 2 hardest times for me. In fact, this is really weird, but I still sometimes will drive by someone who is smoking in their car, and my mouth will water! ROFL Isn't that crazy?! I am very happy to be a non-smoker, and I hate the smell of cigarettes now, but my mouth will still water once in a while for one--- God help me! LOL That is a powerful addiction! So, just a word of encouragement for anyone who is trying to quit or is just thinking about it--DO IT!! If I can do it, anyone can, really. Just remember to be kind to yourself, cigarettes are just like a drug, and your body has to go through the withdrawal, and ask our Lord to help you, and you will get through it all right.

Oh, I had such a good time at the birthday party yesterday!! The kids were so cute and I had fun playing and talking with them! I am so kicking myself in the pants because I forgot to bring my camera with!!! I HATE when I do that! Here is a pic of them from last summer, just so you can see their cute little faces!

BlooBirdy Bag

BlooBirdy Bag
Originally uploaded by misseskwittys.

Here's the latest drawstring bag---just finished it this afternoon! I had some fun with the prints, keeping it fun and cheerful. I just can't seem to get enough of the little birdies, lol. Can be found in my Etsy shop.

By the way, did anyone notice my new little sidebar goodie----->
This is the latest little fun thing that Etsy has come up with--it links directly to my Etsy shop and show the first 10 items in the shop!! How cool is that? So, if you want to shop, just click on it and off you go! Wheeeeee......

I am so looking forward to tomorrow! My little great-nephew is turning 2 and they are having his birthday party tomorrow. Yeah! I get so lonesome for babies sometimes. It should be a great time, I will see my little goddaughter too, who is 4 and just the funniest little girl you ever did see. She just started headstart this year and always has the cutest stories to tell!

Well, I better go and get this bag listed in my shop and go to bed. It's been a long day and I want to be well rested for tomorrow (it is really bad when you yawn all through church--I might give Fr. Tony a complex! lol). Good night ;-D

Milestones

A fuzzy wuzzy wittle face
Originally uploaded by misseskwittys.

I reached a couple milestones today in my Etsy shop--and then passed them right up! LOL My sales reached the lofty #200 mark ***smile*** and I also hit 400 hearts (if you are not familiar with what hearts are, they are when someone likes your shop and wants to mark it so they can return to it easily, they will give you a heart--and then you will be listed under their favorites). This is really exciting for me! I remember, about 11 months ago, when I opened my little Etsy shop wondering if I was going to be able to succeed at this at all. I really was not computer savvy at all, I had just gotten my digital camera and didn't even really know how to use it yet, I'd never heard of a blog, or Flickr, or joined in on a forum thread!!! LOL!! Just goes to show you what a person can do if they put their mind to it. I am grateful to be able to do this stuff that I love--and I am grateful for all the wonderful (and I mean WONDERFUL!!!) people that I have met along the way. Hugs and Kisses all around!!!

Spunky Spools

Spunky Spools
Originally uploaded by misseskwittys.

Ok---time for the truth to come out (I'm sure many of you have guessed this already, but I need to say it out loud). I am a fabric-o-holic. Yup *shakes head with shame*. There, it's out! lol I cannot drive past a fabric shop without stopping in. I try to limit myself to fat quarters unless I have a specific project that I am shopping for. I am the same way with buttons! I haunt thrift and antique shops for buttons and find it very hard to part with them once I have them. Oh, some of the newer buttons or ones that I find a whole package of, I can part with those. But not the beautiful old ones. When I find a really wonderful and obviously expensive old button, I often imagine where it came from--was it sewn onto a special outfit to be included in a bride's trousseau, or a special party dress, or something wonderful that was worn in some particular historical event. As if that is not bad enough--antique linens! I have an old suitcase (isn't that appropriate?) full of old tablecloths, pillowcases, dresser scarfs, and lovely old hankies. I can't bring myself to do anything with them because I love them too much to cut them up or ruin them in any way. I use a lot of them around my house, but you can only really put out so many without feeling like you are living in a textile museum or something! I rotate them in and out of the suitcase so they don't just sit in there unused and unforgotten. Some have stains or small tears or holes, but that doesn't make me love them any less. I get out my suitcase and go through them every now and then--I just am amazed with the fine stitching of those unseen women, many who are gone now --and how they would put so much time and effort into an everyday object, just to make it pretty. I guess that is what we do, even today, but it is so much easier for us. We have basically unlimited resources--so many fabrics to choose from, floss in every color imaginable right at our fingertips, patterns that we just have to iron-on, etc. OK, I guess that is enough for now--I don't want you all to know the FULL extent of my illness, LOL. I take some comfort in the fact that at least I use some of the items--and I try and make beautiful things to share with others. Who knows, maybe some day a woman will find one of my items and pick it up and wonder about me.

Warmth Tissue Keeper

Warmth Tissue Keeper
Originally uploaded by misseskwittys.

Just soak in the warm colors and vibe of this pretty little tissue holder....ooohhhmmmm....... Listed this morning in my Etsy shop.

Yeah, we can use the warmth here! Holy CRAP! Was that a storm or what? 1000 miles of serious storms. We got walloped with snow. 19.5 inches in a day, and for about 12 hours it was coming down straight sideways due to the 50-70 mph winds. AND it was thundering and lightning too--which is really unusual during a snow storm. We had drifts over 5 ft. deep in our driveway. It got so bad at one point that they actually pulled the plows off of the road! (I have been living up north in various places my whole life and have never heard of this before) the visibility was actually at ZERO and it was too dangerous to have the plows out. Awesome!

I see that we got by pretty lucky though, compared to some out there. My thoughts and prayers are with those who were hit by the tornados.

Here are some very cool (pardon the pun) snow related items I found around Etsy:

Crocheted snowflakes by Tradition

Snowfall in Love--snowflake earrings by Array

A beautiful photograph "Snow" by leighkolb

A cutey pie snowlflake baby hat by butterflydesign

Beautiful earrings "Blizzard at first Light" by giftbearer