Today's Special: A Giveaway!

MMMMMM.....

Hungry?

Can't eat this guy...

but he's cute to look at.

Wouldn't you agree?

It's a Hamburger!

(with all the fixins'! Lettuce, tomato, cheese and onion)

(Notice his seed bead sesame seeds)

It's a pincushion!

It's a tape measure???
(it's in the hamburger patty)


It's all 3!!

That's right!

This guy will not only hold your pins,
measure your fabric,
and just look good sittin' pretty....

He will remind you to stop sewing and grab a bite to eat!

I have to admit that this project took on a mind of it's own.
But I love him!
Hope you do too!

He's made out of all thrifted/recycled items
(except the tape measure--I bought that new yesterday)

Including felted wool sweaters,
a hideous pair of pants,
and the stuffing from a terribly ugly pillow/sewing project gone wrong.

And all this could be yours
for the low price of....

well...
a comment.

Welcome to my little spot in blogland.
And thank you for coming.

I am excited to get Today's Special on it's way to you.

It doesn't matter where you are...
I'll get it to you!
(this means I will ship internationally)

I'll keep the comments open through
June 1st, 2009

@ 6:00 am
(Canada time--oh I don't know what time! Early!)

Just leave me a comment
and tell me how you would dress your burger...

Do you like ketchup?
Mayo?
Crushed potato chips?

What??!

Have a happy giveaway day!

The Art of Indecision Giveaway--No Indecision here!

I've made fast friends with Brooke from

The Art of Indecision

She has a fabulous giveaway going

for Giveaway Day!

Go check her out!

You'll be glad you did!

Have your cake...

And eat it, too!

I put a lot of planning into my kids birthdays.

Every year I have a theme.

My mom used to make us the best cakes.

My friends still talk about my childhood birthday parties!

They were fabulous!

My parents pulled out all the stops!

Here are the cakes my kiddos have had on their big day!

Pumpkin's 2nd birthday was a rubber ducky theme

(her 1st birthday was back before digital cameras--it was a polka dot cake)

This lovely lady was the cake and the present for Pumpkin's 3rd Birthday bash!

What's better than a pretend sleepover when you turn 4

(the tutorial for this cake can be found here)

And this friendly Croc was the hit of the party

when my little man turned 1 year old!

(tutorial for mr. crocodile here)

(adapted from this tutorial here)

Hubby has a big family so we had quite a few mouths to feed.

And a lot of little mouths at that.

So we opted to have little cuppies instead.

Don't worry.

We did eat the Croc later with my family.

So, Bubby has a big #2 birthday at the end of July.

I'm normally all over this but I have to confess

I haven't thought much about it.

Probably because I've been planning this since last year!

Care for a piece of cake?

I love Martha Stewart!

I actually want to BE Martha!

She and her staff have such wonderful ideas.

And their organization tips are great!

I get daily emails from Martha about all sorts of things.

oh. uh. no.

Not personal emails.

Although if she is an avid reader of my blog

and hasn't yet commented--

please do, Martha! I'd love to chat.

Anyways.

Back to reality.

So the other day I received in my inbox this tip about quilt keeping.

Martha says:

"To protect your heirloom quilt when it's not on display, store it in a cool place with good air circulation. Fifty-percent relative humidity is ideal, but difficult to achieve; if a room's humidity level is comfortable for you, it should be fine for your quilt. Note that quilts should never be stored in the basement or attic. Acid-free tissue paper and acid-free boxes, which are chemically neutral, will shield the textile from materials that might leach acids into the fabric -- wood, for instance. Vintage quilts should never be stored in plastic, which does not allow the fabric to breathe and can trigger the growth of mildew and mold."

See? She's brilliant!

Oh Martha

Stop by my blog anytime!

Quilt Along with Old Red Barn Co.

I am literally on the edge of my seat with anticipation!

Have you signed up for the Quilt Along?

Not only are there prizes but

DANA

is going to teach you how to quilt!

And if you already know how

then you will learn a new pattern,

get out of your using a quilt pattern rut,

or at the very least

use up some very fun fabric from your stash.

I know you've got some :)

Well I guess I've figured out what to do with these sheets!

But Dana is using 12 different fabrics

and I only have 7

or 8 if you include white

(which I'm not)

So what is a girl to do?

Go shopping!

With 2 kiddos it's hard to get out

and really browse for that perfect fabric.

So I decided to do a little internet shopping...

which I happen to like as much

if not MORE than the real thing!

I happened upon a great little ETSY shop called
Down Shadow Lane

Jen has a very extensive variety of fabrics.

And great prices too!

Her clearance is full of good stuff, alone!

I picked up this great Argyle from her.

I hope it's not too minty for my other fabrics

but it called my name!

As did this lovely lime mini dot.

It is definately the right shade!

And this Basketweave from the Katie Jump Rope line!

Too cute!

It'll be nice to have some designer fabric in there.

And lastly this taupe polka dot.

I think I'm becoming partial to polka dots.

Don't you just love their hAp HazZaRd nEss?

Oooh. That was hard on the eyes :)

But these polka dots aren't!

I just need one more fabric and a quilting ruler

and then I'm all set!

Hope my fabric arrives in time for Week #2 of Quilt Along.

Jen sent it out right away for me.

See? She's so efficient.

I love online fabric shopping :)

Who am I kidding?!

I just LOVE shopping!

period.

My Dad and Bubby

My dad never really got to know my son.

Bubby was only 7 months old when my dad was promoted to heaven.

Bubby had just begun eating solids.

In Daddy's last days with us, I fed Bub right beside Dad's wheelchair

so he could see the little monkey gobble it up.

Nothing my Dad liked better than seeing the kiddos enjoy their food.

Sadly, the ALS stole my father's ability to communicate verbally

early on in his diagnosis.

(Here he is with pumpkin on the coast. It was a special trip and they had a special bond. I'm thankful that she has some wonderful memories of her Papa)

He was a wonderful communicator.

And terribly funny.

He told particularly funny stories.

Not always because the story was all that hilarious.

But the way he told it was.

(my cousins, my brother and I as kiddos jumping into the pool with my dad)
My son is an out and out HAM!

He's so talkative and silly.

But he has these serious moments where you look at him

and he's chattering.
All pensive.
Like he's thinking really hard

and is telling you something really important.
He repeats himself, we've noticed.

To further his point, I'm assuming.

We can't understand him yet

but we nod and accept what he's saying as truth.

I see dad in him.

(Bubby, 2 months old, meeting his Papa for the first time)

If Bubby was to have glasses

I imagine him to take them off and stare right into your eyes.

And share his very important bit. Just like my dad.

Sometimes dad would tell a story and he'd tell it with big arm movements

and loud outbursts. Just like Bub.

And if you zoned out for a few minutes,

you could come back and still be on the same page as dad.

I miss my dad and his stories.

He made life interesting.

And even though he feigned no interest in the world

he certainly did know an awful lot about it.

(white socks, black shoes. So my dad. He also wore shorts all year long. Crazy man!)

I can't wait to see what stories and secrets Bubby has to unfold.
I don't want to miss a minute.

Twirly Girly Skirt

Remember the fabric that I bought at the second hand shop?

Well it was magically transformed into a "Twirly Girly" skirt

using this tutorial by House on Hill Road.

It was very easy and quick so I whipped one off in no time.

Well it turns out that my girl is not your average sized girl.

She's got legs that are soooo long that going by her height like the pattern says,

just didn't work for her.

oops.

So...

I made another one.

This time I lined it

and made it slightly smaller in the waist

and definately longer

(by like 3.5 inches!)

It is a twirly skirt so it has lots of fabric.

This makes it "POOF" out a bit

--hence the possibility of shortness on my evergrowing stringbean.

*giggle*

I wanted her to wear it on Easter.

I spent Saturday night working on it so she could wear it for Easter Sunday.

When I finished the skirt and paired it with the white top

it felt unfinished.

Inspired by the applique tops that i have seen on Etsy,

I decided to give it a go.

This is the applique up close.

Hubby doesn't like the MeSsy stitching

but I like things a little hAp-HaZzArd.

I'm very happy with how it all turned out.

Now what to do with the first skirt?

Sew Mama Sew is having a Giveaway Day

on May 27th.....

hmm...

Maybe--or maybe something else

*wink*

DANA ROCKS!

Who wouldn't want to sew along with Dana from Old Red Barn C0.?!

Well I'm totally IN!

And the best part is that there are prizes!

Go HERE and find out more!

Pay It Forward

I hope this works!

I got this from http://www.obsessedwithfabric.blogspot.com/

From HERE

I will make a handmade gift for the first 3 interested people who comment on this post.

I have 365 days to do it in…

What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise!

The catch is that you must participate as well:

you must have a blog

and before you leave your comment here,

write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going.

Just cut and paste this one if you like, which I did.

*side note: I was introduced to Beth at Obsessed with Fabric just moments ago by Sheridan from Chaletgirl.

Beth and I both live in Canada. We're only 2 hrs apart and she lives near some of my family.

Sheridan lives in Australia. Other side of the world. And she introduced us!

Crazy how this blog stuff works. I love how we can be friends anywhere in the world.

Thanks Sheridan. Nice to meet you Beth.

Quilting Query

So for Mother's Day I got the first of many quilt related gifts.

(mine are much prettier, but you get the idea)

I have a list a mile long.

I'm the kind of person that thinks she needs

everything

before she can get started on a project.

Well,

Not this time.

I'm diving in.
Taking the initiative and flying with it.

Solo,

I might add.

Hubby has decided to refrain from having an opinion

on anything fabric, quilt or sewing/crafty related.

I can't blame him.

I ask the same questions over and over.

And OVER.

But I need reassurance.

I need to know I'm right.

I need someone to agree with me.

Or tell me what to do!

with these...

These sheets.

These $4

grocery store

sale sheets.

They are a quilt.

Can you see it?

You might have to squint.

I've been squinting so hard I'm cross eyed.

They're still in their packaging.

I'm unsure.

I read blogs and feel soooo inspired.

I know I can do it.

Then I turn the computer off.

zzzzpft.

fiZzle.

PoP!

flat lined.

creativity. dead.

I think I'm just going to take Jodi's advice and just start slicing and dicing.

We'll see where I end up.

Honestly.

I just can't wait to get started.

I just have to get up the nerve.

And maybe just buy a few more necessities...

just to be sure I'm prepared.

Isn't that the quilter's motto?

"Always be prepared?"

oh, never mind.

That's the Girl Guides motto.

Well, maybe I could work on my quilting badge.

* giggle *

Not for the faint of heart...

I recently had 2 wisdom teeth taken out.

They were impacted and it was atrocious!

Not the surgery.

I worked as a dental assistant/receptionist before Pumpkin and Bubby were born so I knew what I was getting myself into.

But still---horrible, wicked, atrocious!

After all is said and done, I'm fine now.

Minus 2 teeth.

I asked them if I could keep them to show my children.

Pumpkin was so excited to see them.

I was barely out of the car, gauze in mouth,

and she was begging me to "see 'em!"

Pretty cool, really.

When I was feeling somewhat better I thought I'd take a closer look at them.

Bubby wanted a chance to look them over too.

I didn't see any harm in letting him take a look.

(he is nearly 2)

I look away to stir the soup--

turn back and

"where are the teeth, Pumpkin?"

She doesn't know.

"Where are the teeth Bubby?"

A big smile spreads and I see them stick out like chewing gum in his mouth.

"pop, pop"

"POPCORN"

UGH!

He spits them out and they're both there and in one piece.

And now they are also very clean.

Gross.

Girly Giveaway!

Elizabeth at Pigtails and Snails is giving away one of her fabulous quilts!

It is an original design for her quilt design company LizzyAnne quilt designs

and the pattern will be available soon!

But I want to win it!

Do you?

Thought so...

Elizabeth puts such creativity and detail into each of her quilt designs.

Just look at the sweet button detail!

She is also generously giving away bag and quilt patterns to some runners up.

It definately betters your chances, I'd say.

The quilt is called Pink-a-Boo and you can enter here.

Or you can click on the button in my sidebar.

p.s. if you win, you do plan on giving it to me, right?

yeah.

I didn't think so.

The secret to life is in the shoes

I love shoes.

I love shopping for shoes.

I loved that line in the movie "In Her Shoes".

You know, in the beginning?

Where she says it doesn't matter how much you weigh or how tall or short you are.

Shoes always fit.

There's no arguing that shoe shopping has got to be the easiest

and most satisfying of all apparel.

There are alot of great shoes in Blogland.

Some of my favourites include the leopard ones, here,

these, (you have to scroll down a bit)

and particularly these.

Nathalie always has GREAT shoes!

When I saw her tootsies in that little red number,

I knew if I ever found them they'd have to come home with me.

Well.

They're not RED.

But they are patent leather.

they are all MINE!

p.s. for those wondering how my Mother's Day was,

well it was all I had wished for and more!

*wink*

I think I see a quilt in my future...

and a trip to Jodi's shop :)

A "Sweet" little giveaway!

Who doesn't love a little "sweetness"?

Well, Julie, at Tattered Threads and Willing Hands,

sweet as she is,

is offering up a "sweet" little giveaway!

Head on over and check it out!

Happy Blogiversary, Julie!

Have I hinted enough?

My dear babies,

Have I hinted enough to you about what mommy likes?

Have I shared with you exactly what to tell daddy

when he asks you what to get mommy for Mother's Day?

Don't forget to show daddy the card with the phone number for the quilt shop.

(it's on the fridge).

Daddy will need help remembering which one--

maybe this photo will help.

And I'll need the matching mat to go with it.

And if you can persuade daddy to be generous

and overlook my mounting stash in the basement...

maybe just a little bit of this.

but don't push it.

If he looks like he's done then we'll just have to remember...for Christmas.

*wink*

Second Hand glory

I love a deal.

A bargain, if you like.

And second hand shops--

Well, they're more like playing at shopping.

I love it!

More BANG for your BuCK!

It's like practice makes perfect.

Everything is affordable, and often, was wonderful in its own right at one time.

You just have to get there before someone else does.

We have 2 shops in our town to buy second hand items.

They are side by side!
Yes.

I'm thankful every day for living in a town with 2 second hand shops.

It's wonderful!

So, wanna' see some of my finds?

Thought you might.

Isn't this gumball machine a beauty?!

I was smitten the moment I laid eyes on it.

It's going to go in the kiddos bathroom as soon as I can convince hubby that it's a good idea.

He'll like it. It just has to grow on him.

He has to see it with gumballs in it and a shower curtain with appliques in this fabric.

(I purchased this fabric for an awesome deal from Liko18 on Etsy--I think she has some left if you hurry!)

It's going to be great--I'll show you when it's finished.

This horribly photographed fabric was $4 for 4 meters!

It's VERY bright--and fun!

I've already used some and will have to take pics to share with you soon.

I also got lucky and got this bright and funky set of sheets for Pumpkin.

(yes, unmade bed photo. Classy, eh?)

Oh she was sooo excited.

Apparently they are more comfortable to sleep in than any of her other sheets.... she's so all about luxury :)

Hope you're having a great week.

Maybe you'll find a bargain today!

To Magnolia, with Love

Oh Magnolia,

how do I love thee?

Let me count the ways.

I love your soft pink petals,

And how delicately you curtsy.

I love that you are waiting on me in the early morning.

The secrets that you keep,

And the pride with which you bloom.

I would if I could, climb into your graceful limbs and build a sanctuary.

If only you would stay a little longer.

Missing my Daddy

I suppose it's time to share a bit about my dad.

He was my best friend in so many ways.

He was the life of the party.

(Once you got him there)

When he loved something it was with every inch of him.
There was no halfway with him.
He loved my brother and I with the love of a mother bear for her cub.

I would share so many stories of his heroism in my life.

But I can't.

Not right now.

But I will share something that bothers me everyday.

I am unloading the dishwasher;

I look at a drinking glass that my dad gave Hubby a couple of years back.

He gave him a set actually--

of 007 James Bond drinking glasses.

(I found this pic on a classifieds site called Kijiji. I might have to buyit.)

Hubby and my Dad share the love of James Bond.

The glasses were my dad's favourites and they're nice and big for us for meal times.

Since moving we now have a new dishwasher which does a great job;

no complaints--except that the decals on my dad's glasses are being washed away and fading with each wash.

Fading.
Just like I feel he has done.
Just as the disease took him from vibrant to gray.

(my father battled ALS/Lou Gehrig's disease for 3 years)

Just like he is now faded out of our reach.

I turn the glass over in my hand and consider packing them up for safe keeping....

but dad wouldn't want me to.

They were his favourites and everyone in the family has used them.
Dad gave them to Hubby 'cause he knew he'd love them.

Yes they're fading but we think of him everytime we get a drink-

James Bond or no James Bond.

Just like James, Dad has just gone onto his next assignment.

I guess I'm just going to have to get used to that.