One good thing about summer--it is too hot upstairs, so I am really happy to go down to my basement craft room and work! I've made a bunch of stuff lately--been having a great time. Please don't look at my upstairs though--I keep waiting for the cleaning fairies to come--where the heck are they? LOL I think we are supposed to get a little cool down tomorrow, so I'm going to finally get a little much needed housework done.

Dragonfly in the Garden Wallet keyring.

Paisley and Dotty Bird Checkbook Wallet

Aqua Feedsack and YoYo Checkbook Wallet

Feedsack Flyer Drawstring Bag with bird applique.

Vintage Romantic Roses Wedding Keepsake Book or Journal.


I had rather nice surprise today too--I was featured in CUTEABLE--as a cute find--check it out!!

Parties Galore

How's everyone doing? It's really something when the 4th of July falls midweek huh?! LOL I've been wandering around Blogland and it looks like everyone had a wonderful time!

Us too--yup! another party. You know, I'm not whining *much*, and I really consider myself blessed to be a part of such a big and loving family--BUT how much potato salad and jello can a person eat before they blow up??! HUH? We have had parties every weekend since Memorial Day, plus our wedding and a mid-week 4th bash! :-D Ok--I'm just joking around here--we've been having a really lovely and fun summer and I've never eaten so well in my whole life!

Now today we have a funeral to go to (I feel so sad and strange about this one--it's for an old friend of mine who I used to spend a lot of time with, but had fallen out of touch with over the last 15 years, and I am feeling guilty and sad that I didn't take the time to keep in touch with him)--and of course there will be eating afterwards--and tomorrow we have a big family BBQ at my Aunt's to celebrate her son's retirement from the Navy! I haven't seen my cousin since he joined the Navy back when he was just out of high school (20 years ago!) He worked his way up to some secret sector of the navy and even my Aunt didn't know where he was most of the time. It has been quite worrisome for her over the years and she is quite relieved to know that he will be done with it now. Next weekend we have a party at my cousin's to send off her son--he is being shipped off to Iraq. I'd appreciate it if you would keep him in your prayers.

I've been trying to get down and get a little *LITTLE* crafting done, but have only managed to get a couple of these little wallets made (I can't help it, I just think they are sooo cute!) They are listed in my Etsy shop if anyone is interested.

Oh, and some more of these bird tags--this batch in a cute purple paper.

I also belong to an Etsy bloggers group and they have challenged us to do a blog entry on the color orange (you know, ETSY orange!). Well...ok. I've discovered something about myself that I didn't even know--I really don't do orange! I looked through months and months of pics to try and find some craft that I made with orange and only found this one needlebook from back in August of last year! I really like all colors--I think they are all pretty in their own way, but I think if I had to pick a color that I like the least, it would have to be orange. I don't even have any orange stuff in my home. Hm. I am going to purposefully make something orange in the near future, just because.

This and That--And wedding pics!

Well, it's come and gone. Isn't it funny, those days we wait for and plan for so long, and they are gone in a flash! Thank God for pictures! Here we are, Mark and I, the kids, my best girlfriend and BIL. Remember, the camera adds 50 pounds, but only to women over 40! LOL


I really like this picture of the kids with Father Tony! He has been our Pastor for about 10 years now, and sadly he is being re-located in about a week. We were so happy that we were able to have him do our ceremony before he leaves. Such a kind and warm man, and really has a good rapport with the kids in the parish.




Mark and I went up to the cabin for our mini-honeymoon. We were blessed with beautiful weather and a great big full moon to gaze at while we sat around the campfire. Mark promised me the moon--but I told him to just poke it a couple times for me and let it be!



I did manage to get a couple things finished yesterday too! I whipped up this soft and romantic bag--and was thinking that it would be wonderful to use as a gift bag for a wedding gift or wedding shower gift--don't you think? It's listed in my Etsy shop.

Here's another little cutey I finished up yesterday. I hadn't done a bagkeeper for a while and I had this cute embroidery all stitched up and waiting to be made into something--so here it is. I just love cherries in the kitchen! Such a cheerful and colorful little design, with a retro feel. This too is listed in my Etsy shop.

Tomorrow's the Big Day!!

Here's one of my latest creations made with a lovely embroidered linen napkin, some pretty beige linen, and a lovely and soft roses cotton print. It is so pretty in person, I'm gonna have a hard time parting with it! It can be found in my Etsy shop if anyone is interested. I was thinking it would be a lovely bridal shower gift.

AND--(check out the cool segue way here) speaking of bridal--tomorrow is the big day!! Yup, Mark and I are getting hitched --or re-hitched!-- tomorrow at noon. This day has been so long in coming. I had to get my first marriage annulled before we could be married in the church and I started this process in the spring of 2004! Oh well, the wait is over now, yeah! It's going to be a small, sweet ceremony. Linds and I found the perfect dresses. Mine is in a sheer fabric, sleeveless with a few floaty layers--a lovely ivory color and pink roses. Linds' is ivory with little black polka dots--a sheer fabric too, with a cute bow in the front. I'll post pics some time next week. Mark and I are going to sneak off to the cabin afterwards.....shhhh.

Rambling!

I can't think of a title for this post--I guess I'm not really sure what to write about today, but I have a little time to sit while I munch on my lunch (turkey sandwich, SunChips, cantelope, V8) so I thought I'd take the time to chat with my friends! :-)

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We had a great weekend--my niece had her grad party and lots and lots of the relatives showed up for it. Such fun!! My brother Darrel and his wife Linda came in from out-of-town, it's always so good to see them! I put a pic of my brother, Will, on here--no real reason except I just thought it would be nice to see his handsome face when I click on my blog for a few days, lol! Notice the smart-ass smirk? He's just about to say something funny! Anyways, my niece had a great party. I made her one of Angela's exploding boxes and she absolutely loved it. Really, if you like to scrapbook or know someone who does, send them along to the tutorial--it's perfect and my box turned out perfect too!

I've finished up all the things I HAD on my to-do list, plus one more custom order for a birthday gift, and I made and listed this pretty blue bookcover. I was looking through my shop and noticed that I very rarely do anything blue. Weird huh? I like blue and all, but I don't usually make blue things. Huh. So, I dug through my stash and found these pretty blues and made a bookcover--it's in my Etsy shop if you are interested.

I've sold quite a few of the bookcovers so far. In fact, the lovely JennMaruska recently ordered a couple of them to give as gifts--and she was sweet enough to mention them on her blog--Thanks Jenn :-)

Ok, well, my lunch is gone and I should get back down to work! My poor shop is looking a little bare. Oh, and I just thought of a title for this post "Rambling!" lol Have a great day!

Custom Customers

I don't have any new items to show today. NO, I haven't been slacking, just busy with custom orders. I really do like to make custom stuff--makes me put on my thinking cap. It's good for me to have that discipline once in a while. It's very different than just going down and making stuff. I am not a purposeful crafter as a rule--I usually just go and sit amongst my stuff, run my fingers through my fabric, and when the iron is hot--I strike! LOL I make patterns as I go along. I will let the fabric tell me what it wants to be. The best part is finding fabric combos. Some days I will just put together combos--until I have teetering stacks of cute combos all over the place! This is when I'm in my glory. I like to turn on the tunes--loud!--and just get in the flow. Cut, sew, iron, embroider!! Yeah--Oh, I do love it so!!! Of course, we do have to make grocery money--so when I get a pattern figured out, I will make it up in cardboard and jot down the instructions and make up a few different versions before I move on to the next project.

So, I was over at Jenn Maruska's blog , and see that she is doing a to-do list and challenged me to list mine too. I'm a little bummed! I just finished a bunch of stuff the last few days and crossed a whole bunch of stuff OFF my to-do list! So, I'm gonna list those, just so I can show off a bit, LOL!

**completed the Loopy Ewe order (40 items!) packed it all up, made a little "something special" for the owner, and shipped it off!

**Did 2 custom bookcovers. One for a journal and one for a Bible--two totally different styles.

**Had to draw --Yup, DRAW-- a kangaroo for an applique to be put on a custom business card wallet. Ummm, I can't draw! lol This was a toughie, but in the end it turned out pretty cute and I'm proud of it! So I finished up her wallet (see picture) and sent that off to her.

**Completed 10 cup huggies and ten hand cut gift tags to go along with them, and got those all packed up and shipped.

Yeah!

So now the To-Do list:

**Put together a Goody Bag for Lia's daughter.

**Make one of these cool exploding boxes for my sweet niece who's grad party is this Saturday! Thanks for the tutorial Ang (of Norththreads) !!

**Make some food for the party!

**Go dress shopping (for the wedding) for me and Linds (we're talking pretty flowery sundresses, I think!)

**Get some new stuff done for my Etsy shop--which is starting to look a little bare!

**Clean my computer area, which is beginning to look like a very dusty bomb went off in it and strew the papers and magazines everywhere!

I don't know, there are a million and one things to be doing every day--and you still have to find time to play with the kids and shop and cook and eat and clean and watch movies and have coffee with your sweety---you all know!! LOL Life is to be lived, and so we do. Like Martha says "It's a good thing."

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there! Go hug your Dad, if he's close--or give him a call if he's not--or send up a prayer if he is no longer with us here (they hear them you know!)!

Here's my handsome Dad! It's his grad picture--isn't he dreamy? And such a jock! I just finished scanning in a scrapbook that my Grandma put together filled with all the newpaper clippings and sports ribbons and letters that he earned in high school! WOW--it's sometimes hard to imagine one's Dad as such a dynamic young man--but there it was! Every football game article is filled with his name and picture, softball, and hockey too. My Dad was the oldest son--in a family with 17 kids!! Yes--SEVENTEEN! lol

Unfortunately we have arthritis that runs in the family, and he was stricken rather harshly with it. Of course, that never stopped him--he just kept plugging along--one of the most energetic and ambitious people I've ever known. In fact, most people had no idea how much pain he was in all the time. Being a sufferer of arthritis myself (thanks a lot Dad! lol) I cannot tell you how much admiration I have for him!!

This second picture is one of my very favorite pictures of him. This was taken right before they all moved out to Arizona and left me here in MN! YUP, the whole family up and moved way far away--left me here all alone! He had started his own business and became very successful. He's a strong, capable, intellegent, hard-working, and kind man. He's always been such a good Dad to us all. He was always one to take us fishing, ready to play and have fun, on trips, kiting, teaching us to make stuff, he even liked to take us all to work with him--he was a firm believer that you need to TEACH kids to work and take care of business and themself. I thank him so much for those lessons--no one in our family thinks that you get anything for nothing and we can all take care of ourselves very well, thank you very much!

Dad has always been a religious man. We all grew up to love and respect the Lord. In his later years, in Arizona, he became a deacon and does his ministry mostly tending to those people in their older years and in nursing homes. He is loved and appreciated by many. Him and his wife were foster parents too for many years and ended up adopting 2 little girls that came from a crack addicted mother. So, I now have 2 little sisters that are the same age as my kids! lol

We almost lost my Dad a little over a year ago. He suffered from 2 major heart attacks in a row, and was in intensive care, with machines keeping him alive. The doctors reported that he wasn't showing any brain activity and that he has a "no extra-ordinary measures are to be taken to keep him alive" clause in his will-- so they scheduled a time to take him off the machines. We all started to pray, all his very large family, all the people he tended to in his ministry, and the hundreds of people who came by to offer prayers and support to his wife. The hour came for the machines to be stopped. They came and pulled the breathing tube from his throat, and he started to talk! Cohesively. No brain damage at all. Within about a week, they inserted a defibrilator and sent him home! So, no one tells me that there are no miracles or that prayer doesn't work. I know. And I thank God for letting us have Dad here for a while longer!

Love you Dad!!

16 Years!!

16 Years!!
Originally uploaded by misseskwittys

Hello friends! Like my magazine cover? Flickr toys are so fun!

Yup, it's our anniversary today. 16 years. I am grateful for this good man that the Lord brought into my life--a hard working, good humored, funny, sweet, and loving man. I feel very blessed.

Know what's really cool? Tomorrow morning we have a meeting with Father Tony (our parish priest) to discuss our church wedding! We got married at the courthouse all those 16 years ago, but now we would like to get married in the church, so that's what we're doing. I'm so excited!

Blog Slacker!

Helllooo. Did you guys miss me? I know, I know, been a slacker on my blog. I do have a good excuse ya know, lol. I think things are starting to calm down around here a bit now. The kids were happy to have their first Monday morning without having to go to school! Remember that? Oh, that's a great feeling!

Here's my latest listing in my Etsy shop--a romantic book cover/carrier. Isn't it pretty? See that beautiful ribbon trim? I got that as a surprise with my order from Aggie -- Pareo at Etsy. One of the best things about doing business on Etsy and blogging and Flickr is that you meet the BEST people! I met Aggie when she ordered an item from me and I checked out her shop and saw the beautiful shabby chic decoupage work she does, so I had to order a little something from her too. We just hit it off--she is just such a sweety! Well, anyways, she had that beautiful trim that she got from her Grandma and decided to share it with me. How nice and sweet is that?!! Thanks Aggie--I hope you like what I did with it!


We had a special birthday to go to on Saturday--my little Goddaughter turned 5!! Yeah. She is so cute. She got a little pink tutu as a gift, and she looked so adorable running around in it. It made me remember when my Linds was a little girl of about 4, we were rummage saling one day and she found this little black tutu--just her size! She LOVED that tutu and wore it everyday--summer and winter--for about a year! LOL EVERYWHERE we went! Not surprising, she ended up taking ballet for several years (when she got a little older!) and she really loved it. Anyways, it was fun to get together with the brothers and their families, it was a lovely and sunny day, and a good time was had by all.

Well, enough gabbing for tonight--I better get to bed. OH, I almost forgot...go check out this blog , She's Sew Pretty, a fun read and she is having a drawing for some of her lovley rosy stuff! You'll be glad you did--and be prepared to have another blog to add to your reading list! Good night friends!!

The spice of life???

Here's my newest listing--a book cover/carrier--all done up in pretty repro feedsack floral from the 20's. I got to use some of my new fabric, yeah! It's been listed in my Etsy shop, if anyone is interested.

I don't know if any of you feel the way I do, but I have gotten to the point where I hate to watch the news programs! HATE it. The sensationalism has gotten so far out of hand, that it sickens me. These poor families that have tragedies occur in their lives are mercilessly bombarded by the media. And the stupid questions they ask! Lord help us. I think that being fed such a rich and spicy diet of all that is sensational, it is very easy to forget that there is more good in the world than evil, more kindness than cruelty, more honor than dishonor, and more virtue than immorality. It lends a sense of hopelessness to life when we are constantly bombarded with all that is horrible.

I was just talking with the hub about this very thing this morning, and a little later, as I was paging through some old magazines I ran across this article that just jumped right out at me! The magazine is called "The Modern Priscilla" from May 1921. The article is called "The Spice of Life" and I wanted to share this with you:
"It doesn't take long to accustom the taste to hightly seasoned foods, to highly seasoned drama, to highly seasoned life. The more spice we add, the more we may, and the day will come when the jaded senses rebel and push away the plates, toss aside the books, turn away from the theaters--life itself will have lost it's savor.......

When we are "fed up" on this overspiced diet, it is a healthful practice to look about semi-occasionally, and rediscover the unadvertised fact that the normal is the beautiful, quite as fascinating and far more satisfying than the abnormal. Let us go look at the plowed fields, a sunset, a great painting; or let us sit among the silent thousands and listen to good music. Let us look in upon the folks next door. We shall find a queer sort of satisfaction and a real inspiration in the very obviousness of our good neighbors."

Isn't it something that this woman, from 86 years ago, had exactly the same sentiments then that I had today? This really gave me some food for thought today--some good homecooked food, that is. I think I'll skip the spice.