A Few Of My Favorite Places

Hey Everyone!
I thought I'd share a few of my favorite pages.  I have to stop by at least once per day.  The first one is a blog I recently discovered by clicking here and clicking there.  You know, one thing leads to another.... when you should be doing something else but you can't seem to step away from the laptop... haha..  what caught my eye was "Thirty Days Of Sundresses". I LOVE sundresses! Over at  MELLY SEWS, she features a sundress or two each day for young and adult.  It's so inspiring and looks SO easy!
My other favorite page is SEW CAN SHE.  Everyday is a feature project and tutorial by a talented sewist/crafter.  I just love it.  I signed up for her newsletter and each day I see something amazing! 
{ps I don't know the owners of the pages I mentioned or did they ask me to post about them. I'm simply sharing an awesome find!}
Here on the home front, Hubby was finally transferred out of the glass bubble/critical care unit and  on to the cardiac floor.  This is a good thing! The healing has been slow and go and pretty painful but it looks like the worst is behind him.
I hope where ever you are, you're enjoying wonderful weather like I am in sunny Southern Calif!

Until Next Time,

Giveaway Winner Plus How Do You Manage Your Time & Other Thoughts of Daily Organization

Hey Everyone!
Hard to believe that this week is speeding by.  And it seems as if not much as been accomplished that I was hoping would.  How do you organize your day?  Are you a list maker? Or do you keep all the info in your head?  I do make lists and keep them on my phone. Not for the daily stuff but for categories like "Food" and "Craft Store" and of course "Target"  etc. Usually my phone is with me so when I think of a random item I forgot to buy last time, and I think about it at a random time {while being no where near a pen & paper}, I always have an ongoing list on my phone.  Same with my Calendar. I put all appts into it as well as setting an alarm for it to go off and remind me prior to the appointment. I could not live without it.  Another thing I do is put a mini wall calendar in my bathroom, right next to the mirror. I totally need that for the visual of the month and which date falls on which day, etc.  So I'm pretty organized that way BUT the huge problem is the computer!!!  I used to play lots of games on Facebook - okay there, I admitted it.  Not so much anymore.  I don't have time!  Now with my Etsy shop and this Blog, and two Facebook pages, Twitter, Flickr, and my Dot Com website... there is not enough time. Oh, and I have a day job.  For a while there, most of you know my hubby was not doing well. He had a fairly simple surgery in Feb.  All went well with that but two days later, he had complications with DVT's {embolism, blood clot} and would have passed on but his IVC filter saved his life. He has a decade long history of clots so his Doc recommended the filer be placed many years ago. He's been home almost a month now & is finally walking again... but prior to that, I was his nurse 24/7. I mean for everything. He was bedridden. I was glad to brush up on my nursing skills. And glad now that he's more independent. You can imagine, he is too. He's not the type to sit still for more than a few minutes. {Wow, I have a way of getting off track}  Anyway, back to original subject!  I suppose a daily list would be good for me. Time to sew for my shop, time for Emails and replies, Time for Blogging, Time for updating all other websites.  Packaging and shipping. Sketching new ideas { this part is funny because I have these awesome ideas in my head for products, etc.  When that pencil touches the paper, for the life of me, I cannot accurately get my idea out!  My drawings look nothing like images in my head ~ I cannot draw at all. Then frustration sets in.}  So usually what happens, is the fabric is spread on my cutting table and I just start cutting away and hope for the best.  A little sewing, a little seam ripping, a little more sewing.  Sometimes, like with a recent tote I made, the finished product is not what it started out to be!  It's on these days that my list would not be followed because I'd use up much more time than originally allocated.  Before you know it, it's time for dinner {You know, WAY past that time when you should have been thinking about dinner..  help me {FLY LADY !!}    Of course all of the above is a non-issue if I've been at work all day. Only dinner is addressed {Sometimes}  Either something goes in the slow cooker & ready when I'm home or Hubby will prepare it. Luckily, he loves everything Food. Touching, smelling EATing it. {huge sore spot} Lol.  Me, well not that I don't like food, it's just the opposite.  LOVE the stuff but bad things happen to the waistline for me so I'd rather just stay away!  Know what I mean?  
Well, I could spend all day tapping away on this laptop but I've got something to sew and something to package up for mail {Love my sales and Love Giveaways!!}  Speaking of GIVEAWAY Dona was the lucky winner of the first giveaway!   YAY!  She picked this tote:

Dona is the Winner!!!

Congratulations to Dona!!  I will be having another giveaway soon, so be sure to stay tuned.  I'll also mention it on my Facebook page and Twitter so everyone will have an opportunity.
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,

..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,

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,