What did I purchase from my first BNR?

Hey Everyone!
I have to show you what I bought from my first BNR! Browsing thru KATIEBELLE'S SHOP, I could not resist this Tree Of Life necklace.  It's beautiful !!  And it couldn't come at a more perfect time.  I still need to write about the amazing {family tree} type of connection we had a few weeks ago.  I've been so pre-occupied with happenings at the hospital & hubby, that I've fallen a little behind. I will catch up, promise!

If you CLICK HERE & check out her items, I'm sure you'll agree with me, she has a wonderful shop.  Her shop is actually so wonderful, that I HAD to purchase from her again during another BNR !  {More on that purchase next time}.   Check out this necklace....

Tree of Life necklace from KatieBelleDesign.Etsy.com

I have a weak spot for jewelry {the more bling, the better, as you'll see with my next purchase}, and Shoes, and Fabric.  I have way too much of all of these things.   Do you have a favorite Etsy shop? I'd love to hear about it.  What do you have too much of?
I should sign off for now before I start blogging about American Idol !  Lol {another weakness}.
Until next time,

** Wednesday BNR **

Woo-Hooo!  Another BNR {Buy & Replace} treasury.  Follow the link and go shopping :-) Support Handmade!  If you purchase something {and also have an Etsy shop}, your shop will replace the shop that you bought from.  No minimum required.  A fun way to meet others and bring traffic your way. Go ahead and click H E R E and join in the FuN !
Until next time,

~ It's The Last weeK of MaRcH ~ Time To Warm UP!

Hey everyone!
I've had such a blast this past week being introduced to the BNR's on ETSY.  What a cool way to meet others and shop and talk and have extra traffic stop by your store! FuN for All  :-)   Thank goodness I don't have tons to spend because if I did, I think I would!!  The talent on ETSY is amazing ~ and equally hard to resist. I can only sew {and knit & crochet scarves only}.... but some shops I visit, display beautiful works of art. I mean like jewelry, or ceramics, photographs, or even food.  I've said this before, the photos are a huge deal. Everyone should be familiar with basic photography. If you think about it, the picture you pick to represent your wares, is all that a shopper has to go by.  I fail at this miserably !!!!   Sometimes I'm so impatient to post a new item, that I'll take a picture with my phone. {and tell myself that I'll re-do it later}.  As you can tell by glancing at some of my photos.... "later" never happens!  I move on.  Bad, bad thing!!  My hubby said he'll re-shoot my items for me when he's feeling better.  I lOOk forward to that! update:  speaking of hubby, I brought him home over the weekend. He had been in the hospital over a month with not much change. They aren't too sure how to handle his case ~ except to wait for the clots to dissolve and for new pathways to form in his leg & allow for venous return. This is a very slow process, even with blood thinning medication. A little walking would help but the pain is so severe that he cannot walk. Vicious circle for sure. {Accepting all prayers!} What I've realized in the last two and a half days is that I'm getting great training for my future as a home health nurse {although this makes home health seem like a cake walk! Lol }.The other thing I realized is that even though my throat is on fire & feels like it's been playing with a pack of razor blades AND my ears burn, ring and ding, it's a known fact that Mom's, nurses, & wives, aren't allowed to go down. There simply isn't enough time!  I'm sure it's because of very limited sleep and of that limited sleep, it's pretty much broken. Every three hours, morning and night, an alarm goes off to remind me to give meds.  So if you see me on Facebook at strange hours, that's the explanation.  Even though I'm tired, I still can't sleep. 

Before I sign out, I thought I'd post a pic of a small item I made...

Pink Check Book Cover- Inside

Pink Check Book Cover with Button Closure

I know, who uses checks anymore? Maybe once or twice per month you might need to ~ and even if it just sits in your desk drawer, at least it'll look better than the plastic one you get free from the bank.  I'll probably remove the white pen holder {seam binding}.  I didn't realize how much it stands out !! Lol. I thought I'd mention that before someone else did!
I hope your week is a great one and be on your guard.... remember, this Friday is April Fool's Day !!!
Until next time,

Woo ~ Hoo! Another BNR is going on NoW **

Oh my, can you tell I'm so excited?  I just learned about this a couple of days ago. Chatting with everyone while shopping is the best thing ever!  So I just wanted to quickly mention the place to be now   IS RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!!!    Stop in and say Hello & let Laurie know I sent you.  Everyone is so sweet and maybe you'll find that perfect something for someone, or even YoU :-)     Enjoy!
Until next time,

* another sale in my little shop *

Hey everyone!!

Had a couple more sales yesterday, Yay!!  I get so excited when that happens! Hey, you should check out   MY SHOP ,  I'm just sure there is something you or someone you know, needs!!  Oh just kidding, no pressure.  But I will say a big shout out to my friend Cheri.  Thank you, Cheri !!

Chili Pepper Little Boy Boxers

Red & White Pom Pom & Dots Diaper Cover

 
She has a wonderful blog with lots of good info for new families and new babies and every thing good that goes with that!! You can find her RIGHT HERE. 
For now, I have to cut this short but will probably post more info later!
Until next time,

BNR {Buy and Replace} today !

Hey everyone!
I just thought I'd mention the BNR "event" I'm participating in today.  While posting a new item in my shop earlier, Laurie of Created By Laurie invited me to join.  Before today, I had no clue what BNR stood for. Laurie was so sweet to explain.  She gave me a link to follow which lead me to the treasury that she is the curator of. The way it works is, you buy from one of the featured shops, post the purchase info on the ongoing message blog on the treasury page, and then she replaces the shop you purchased from with your shop! There is no limit. What a great idea for increasing traffic to you shop! You should check it out! What ever shops are remaining at the end of the day will carry over into her next BNR, probably this weekend.  Just click here to view the treasury !
Until next time,

..Springtime = short time ...

Happy Spring to everyone!
Here in So Cal, we've been having really nice sunny days, that is until it officially turned "spring". Then the skies opened up!  I know we need the rain. For me, it just makes me want to stay inside where it's warm and dry.  Perfect sewing time! Speaking of sewing, slowly but surely I've added two pairs of shorts to my shop. The chili pepper print is boxer style, complete with stitch detail & fly front.  The flannel flamingo print is a regular pair of pull-on, elastic shorts.  Both for toddlers, although I can make any size, I thought the smaller ones look SO cute! Especially the boxer shorts. Take a look:

Chili Pepper Boxer Shorts. Toddler Size 3/4

Close up

Flannel Flamingo Print Pull-On Shorts

So what do you think?  You can check out my shop to see my other items for sale.
update: hubby still in the hospital. I can't believe how long it's taking to manage pain & get the clots under control ~ or at least smaller.
I'll talk about the interesting recent Family Tree happenings soon.  I want to set up a FB page with new found relatives in hopes of finding even more of us! { I hope that's a good thing :-)  haha}
Until next time,

Lots Of Activity Around Here!

Hey Everyone!
Hope your weekend is going well.
My "baby" turned 22 yesterday. It doesn't seem possible! Mostly because that makes me two decades plus two years older!!  Never mind my older boys, 26 1/2 and 25 1/2.  Wow!   I still remember those younger years as if they were yesterday.  When I hear new mom's talk about sleepless nights and other activities involved with babies and toddlers, I totally have a visual of a similar incident in my family's earlier years.  When I hear a mom complain about those sleepless nights, I just have to share with them that even though my boys are older, it doesn't mean I don't have those same sleepless nights because for me, tons of metal with an engine are traded for a crying baby or sick toddler.  Once they start driving, a whole new set of situations take over.  Suddenly you don't have control.  And because I've received that horrible phone call late at night, that one of my boys had been in an auto accident, being up all night with a crying little one seems so much easier to handle. (By the way, my son was fine after a weekend in the hospital.  He was a back seat passenger in a volvo { nice, solid car }  It was a rainy night. The driver drove through a slick spot on the freeway, spun out and hit a cement divider. Thankfully everyone was okay!! Just very scary)..... back to birthday happenings... we had a little gathering here on Friday night. Luckily he attends a University only about 15 minutes from home so old friends and fraternity brothers were able to stop by.  Unfortunately,{update:} Dad is back in the hospital again.  His pain was not manageable at home and so the only way to get relief was to go back and start over. I brought him home on Wed afternoon and he returned early Friday morning.  An ultra sound shows no change in the clots. He's still completely full of them. He is in good spirits now that everything is under control!!

Another recent happening, involving the Family Tree unraveled this week!  I will put that in the next post because it could end up rather lengthy if I don't think first how to streamline the info.  Lol, I have a hard time sticking to the point - and blogging is actually helping me {a little!}. I also want to post a few pictures and add to my ETSY shop, and sew a little more... so much to do!
Until next time,

Following up!

Once again it looks like I was successful at blogging from my {smarter than me} smarty-pants phone. Although I have to say I'm not totally comfortable with it. First of all, typing on the phone vs. laptop:  no comparison! And as far as sending pictures, well, sometimes it's not so good. I think it only sends when it feels like it. Can you tell I'm not thrilled about the phone? I switched to this "transformer" phone in January and really wish I had my palm pre back!  That's a whole other story I'll save for another time.... back to the Bib !! So glad it posted well because just now I went to my email to download the same picture plus the backside and wouldn't you know it...  neither picture/email is there!  Just when I thought I was done talking about the phone and it's sending issues. Well, no photos in this blog. 
If you love the Bib like I do, you can get the pattern from my friend Amy!  You'll find it in her "tutorial" section. It's a great pattern, makes a great gift and is easy to follow.  You should give it a try ! 
update:  Hubby is doing better and should be coming home soon!
Until next time,

Bib for a friend ( I mean her new baby)

Posting via my phone..lets see how this works!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Pillowcase Dresses!

This was so fun to participate in and I'm glad I found out about it. I think I will make these often. Such a great cause.

Everyone have a great day!  Until next time,

I've got mail...... and new fabric !!

I love receiving mail. Especially mail that has goodies I've ordered in!  Today my package of fabric came from PINKED FABRICS !!!   Amy has the BEST fabrics ever over in her ETSY shop.  You should check it out.  She is great to work with and she mails your order out right away.  Even when she's snowed in, somehow she still manages.  Amazing!  So check out what I ordered, it's so cute.  I need more fabric like I need a hole in the head but I had to get some "boy" fabric.  I have so much Pink and Girlie stuff.

See, this stuff is cute, right?  I know, totally cute.
So I have little cars, and buildings, gnomes and teeny tiny green checks to coordinate it all. It's already in the washing machine pre-shrinking and will soon be ready for me to start cutting it up.
update: my update is, that there really isn't an update on my hubby. He is the same and his clots are not budging one little bit. He's still too critical to move from ICU, and needs the constant care of nurses. Actually one good thing is his coloring. His leg isn't blue any longer and his face isn't gray. Yay!
Until next time,

... one more....

Good morning!
I was able to cut out a couple more dresses last night, not as many as originally planned, but I will have a few solid hours this morning to complete the project.  I dozed off while attempting to post last night and woke to the news of the horrible quake in Japan. My heart goes out to everyone there. The videos are so devastating and I've been glued to the tube most of the night. I hear that our beaches are closed (does that mean if I were working, that I wouldn't be?) and we should have waves in about two hours. I'm thankful for the advance warning and I hope the damage is minimal since they say we are in the ring of fire.
I'll keep this short and try to stick to my plan of posting a little bit later. Until next time,

Clippity Clop...slow but steady...

I managed to make another dress this morning.  I need to use the packaged seam binding like I said I would instead of making my own.  Things might go a little faster.  If all goes well, I think after I get back from the hospital I will at least cut out several dresses and get the elastic and seam binding measured and cut. The assembly line system seems to work wonderfully when you have a larger quantity of the same thing to complete.  And look at me, waiting until the last minute!!  Okay well not entirely my fault !! Injured foot and clots needed a little attention, too!

PillowCase Dress #2

Here is a dress I made earlier.  It's kinda cute, huh?  I love using up smaller pieces of remnants that would otherwise turn antique unless I eventually made a quilt out of it.  I like the contrast, too.  Again, more remnants. That's all for now. One dress per day won't break any world records but at least two little girls will have something new!!  Also, I hope to post an update later tonight.  Until next time, wear something sparkly :-)  I know I am!

Dress*A*Girl ~ Sew-A-Long !

I'm so excited to participate in the Sew-A-Long!  Not only is it the first time for me but also the first time that I've made one of the pillowcase dresses.  They are so easy and this is for a wonderful cause!  Every girl in the world should have a dress! Of course the girl that gets one from me will have a PiNk one with a little sparkle in it :-)   Here's a picture my son took of me tonight after I put it together....  I know it's not about me but if you'd disregard the bags under my eyes, I'd appreciate it ! . Lol.  It is after 11pm and it's been a long day!!

Dress A Girl Around The World ~ Sew*A*Long

So I didn't actually use a pillowcase for this one. It's more of a gauze fabric which will be so nice and breezy in summer time. I think a pillowcase in this fabric wouldn't be so comfy. It takes about a yard of fabric for most standard pillowcases and I have lots of cute fabrics in one yard increments that will be put to great use. I may use the pre-packaged seam binding instead of making my own, as I did in the first one.  I can see myself getting all crazy with pockets or coordinating panels ~ which sometimes backfires for me and makes my project take much longer than it should. Lets see if I can stay focused  between hospital trips & whatever else pops up the rest of this week.  I don't know if I should set a goal of 10 or 20...

I was also able to finish an apron for my Etsy shop.  I like the fabric a lot, it looks like I should have made an apron out of it! The background is brown with little dots and it's covered with fruits & flowers.  I had to use rick-rack on the pockets. It just seemed appropriate. Check it out: 

Brown And Fruity Half Apron

I think it's totally cute. And how cool is it that I can use my orange tree as a backdrop and a hanging prop?  Works for me!
Update:  Hubby is doing okay. They are having huge difficulties with his stubborn clots. We thought he'd be moved to the regular floor today but he's still too critical so will stay in ICU a little longer. I also found out he may have developed an infection & was started on an antibiotic. Hope to have better news tomorrow.
Until next time,

 

A Little Block In The Road

Hey Everyone!
I've had to step out of my normal routine for a while.  The last few weeks has been rough for my hubby as he recovers from a procedure.  He had neck surgery and that went amazingly well.  I brought him home the next day!  Unfortunately he developed blood clots (DVT's) and that is very serious.  It's not the first time & we both know the drill because we've been through this many times over the past decade.  This particular episode was almost overlooked, and as the clots grow it becomes very dangerous. The vascular doctor placed a sheath in his leg and a catheter which had a strong clot busting solution that was released in the blood. After 48hrs into it, they discontinued it because there was a risk of the surgical site (in his neck) bleeding. Now it will take much longer for his blood to be therapeutic as he's given heparin through an IV.
He's actually doing well but as you can imagine, he's very bored!  And he misses his own bed, his doggies and my awesome, over-the-top cooking!!!! Lol.
I wanted to thank everyone who knew about this, for all your prayers and help and meals and encouragement!!! We really appreciate all you have done.
Oh, I almost forgot another update... my youngest son was playing basketball with his fraternity brothers the other night and rolled his ankle.  It's not a pretty sight! So many shades of blue and purple and red. (Yes I did take pictures but I will spare you). And it didn't help that he had a commitment in LA, and walked on it the entire weekend!!  His girlfriend took him to ER on Sunday night for x-rays & he left with a casted splint & broken bones.  This morning was spent at the Orthopedics' office and while there, we received great news.... the swelling had gone down considerably and further review of the x-rays showed NO BREAK!!

I've fallen behind on my pillowcase dresses but I hope tomorrow morning I can make up for lost time and help
dress a girl !!  I will take pictures of my progress before I send them off.
I hope everyone is having a FABulous week.
Until next time,

 

Dress A Girl Around The World SEW-A-LONG!

Hey all you sewing addicts out there!
Here is your chance to make a difference and find a good home for those gently used pillowcases!  Click  HERE *  and you'll see what I mean.  (I was having trouble earlier with the links, so if you can't access the page, please go directly:  www.LittleBigGirl.blogspot.com.  Or click on the pillow case dress on the top right column of this blog.
Get ready, this awesome event takes place March 7 - 12th.  I know I will be doing it!  How about you?
Until next time,