A Quick Note

Hi all...sorry..it's been almost a month.  A lot has happened again. We moved into the new house a little over a week ago, so it was a crazy week trying to make the house liveable for family coming in for Christmas.  I will post pictures of the finished project as soon as we are done setting everything up..it might take a little while since there are quite a few things we need to get.

On another sad note..a couple days after my last post we lost the baby.  So, it's been a very sad time for me however having this house to finish so we could move in and now all the work that still lays ahead has helped. We have picked ourselves back up and are trying again..DH is actually the one really pushing for it..which is a little odd...I think this has actually helped him get over his fear of the whole process and realize how fragile of a process it really is and how each baby is a blessed miracle.

I'm hoping to get back into the full swing of things after the New Year..some new things to look forward to..facial puffs, child size bath puffs, reusable cotton balls, and facial scrubbies. Of course we will be keeping up with all the original bath puffs and dish cloths as well. 

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Rough Couple of Weeks

So..last time I wrote I was super excited about the new house.  My mom was here for almost a week and we got a ton accomplished..but there was still so much to do.  Then on the 20th, we got some awesome news but it threw a huge halt on everything painting wise.  I’m pregnant..it was a planned surprise..we have been trying but I guess you never expect it to be that month..or at least I don’t.  So..the last couple weeks have been filled with tons of stress trying to find people to help finish up the house..with only a little success.  So now we are 1 hopefully 2 weeks out from moving (we prefer the 2 but our current landlord might want us out in 1) and have 2 bedrooms and 1 bath and some cutting in and trim to do.  BUT let’s add another level to all of this.  Eager to get the Doctor process underway I go in for the pregnancy blood test to get receive results that my numbers weren’t high enough and I needed to retake the test..great..not problem..retake the test last Wednesday but because of the Holiday I didn’t get the results until Tuesday afternoon this week..they didn’t double..had to go in and take another test this past Wed..the doubled but in a week they should have been A LOT higher...yikes..so they bring me in for an Ultra Sound yesterday to find out what was going on, very thankful they didn’t make me wait and just fit me in.  Go in..have to talk to the midwife first because the nurses could tell I’m a wreck..she pretty much prepares me that I’m miscarrying..go in for the ultra sound..first thing she announces..there’s a HEARTBEAT!!!  I just started sobbing on the table (not that I hadn’t been all day) and luckily dh was able to make it while I was in there and the technician was wonderful enough to show him the baby and let him hear it as well.   HUGE amounts of stress for nothing..I understand that they do the numbers because that’s the earliest indication that something is wrong..but wow. So I am very very thankful that we have a healthy baby developing..and I am due on July 31st.  :)

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Pictures of the New House

I went through and took pictures of the new house.  Very exciting.  I will post pictures room by room as I am work on them otherwise I would end up clogging up this whole post with so many pictures. 
To start here are the pictures of the original Dining Room/Living Room.  We have accomplished a lot already.  All of the wallpaper has been removed and a subfloor was put down since the existing hardwood was in horrible shape and the carpet would not even lay well on it.  We are going to start priming and painting today.  The colors for the room are Vanilla Brandy with Weeping Willow accent walls.  I’m not going to tell you the actual colors..you will just have to wait and see ;).  Hopefully will be posting pictures of the completed area (minus carpet which is being installed on the 30th) within a few days. 
Enjoy…
Dining Room
Living Room
Fireplace that Unfortunately does not work.

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A New to Us House

I’m really excited about a new project I am undertaking.  We have decided that we are going to move into a different house. We are renters..for now..so it’s easy.  The house we live in right now is very nice..only about 4 or 5 years old.  Huge compared to what we came from..very nice neighborhood..very nice neighbors..in fact there was 4 other young families from our church around us. But..there are a couple of downfalls.  1. and the most influential..all of this comes with a larger price tags..rent while not high is stretching us a little to far and keep us from being able to do anything and enjoy some fun things.  2. no back yard..well a landing strip of a back yard which is controlled by the association so no baby pool and not leaving the little slide out so summer fun was a bummer for us just because of the pain of pulling things out every time we wanted to go out many times for just a few minutes.

So..anyways..the house are moving into is OLD and needs a TON of work.  It’s a duplex house..which is a down fall..but the rent makes up for it..almost half of what we are paying now..YAY.  So..what’s the new and big project..um..the house needs a lot of work and guess who is going to be doing some of it..or a lot of it..at least doesn’t need a strong male or to be professionally done.  I have wall paper to remove, 8 rooms plus a stairway and hallway to paint, cabinetry to paint and a ton of cleaning.  Okay..so maybe not a TON of work for me..but did I mention that all this needs to be done with my 2 yr old in tow and as quickly as possible so that we are moving at the latest by mid December..add on top of that Christmas shopping, Thanksgiving, and my shop which I really hoping picks up very soon.  The really fun thing about all of this is..I get to pick out the paint colors, we get to do whatever we want to the house as long as it increases the value of the house.  Oh and the majority of everything in the house will be new..carpets, floors, windows, vanities..lighting and the list goes on and on.  The one big downfall is..is tiny kitchen and I love to cook.but even that is fixable with a couple extra pieces in there.

So, I am very excited about all of this..I will be taking pictures of the new place tomorrow and posting them soon and I really hope you will follow along with this project with me.

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45 Days to Christmas - Random Etsy Search – Red Apple

So, I thought it might be fun with the holiday season baring down on to post some Etsy finds.  Hopefully this will help to give you some ideas for your holiday shopping. I also started my search around page 20 for items that have been lost in the shuffle.

For this search I used the term “red apple”. I am planning on putting together a gift basket using some homemade canned apple pie filling, some crumble/crisp topping in a jar, and some random other apple items.

Here is a few items that I found – click on title to be brought the item listing or go to the shop using the shop link. 

Apple Jacket – Hand knit red - www.jacquelineknits.etsy.com

$14.00

4 oz Apple Spice Soy Upcycled Jar Candle – www.chicearth.etsy.com

$5.00

Travel Lunch Set – Mini Bag, Petit Sandwich Bag with Napkin – www.Evelynfields.etsy.com

$16.50

Apple Birdhouse Gourd – www.houseofgourds.etsy.com

$32.00

1/4 Pound Dried Red Apple Slices – www.layla.etsy.com

$4.25

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Halloween

I thought I would post a couple Halloween pictures.  This was the first year we have taken DD trick or treating.  It was super cute.  She is very shy so it was hard getting her to say anything walking up to the doors until she figured out what was going on.  Then she would walk down the street saying treat..treat..treat..  When we would get up to the door there was a 50/50 chance that she would say anything, she would however reach right into the candy bowl, even when people were handing her the candy.  Luckily everyone people seemed to think she was cute enough, not to care.  It was a fun time while it lasted and she is excited for her “purse” of treats.

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Busy Busy Busy

I have been frantically working the last week or so on my first consignment deal, which I am super excited about.  You will find us at Dreaming Tree Studio’s in Kentucky.  Their grand opening is November 4th.  I’m really hoping for good things from this.  I am sending out 10 bath puffs and 10 soap savers today.  If these are successful I will be adding washcloths and possibly facial scrubbies (once I get the pattern worked out) as well.  We are very excited and hoping to have more consignment deals in the future.  Here are the bath puffs, I was going to take a picture of all the soap savers as well, however, dh ran out the door this morning, taking the camera with him.  Oh, and I finally found a shop to do tags for me at a very reasonable price.  She is awesome to work with.  http://www.jerseygirlgraphics.etsy.com/ 
 
Another item I have been working on like crazy is a custom order blanket.  It’s turning out very nice and I am more than 2/3 done.  I am hoping to be able to finish it this week or early next week.  I’m thinking about creating a listing for a custom/create your own blanket.  I’m going to list out prices by foot/color..for example.  $8.00 a foot for 1 color plus a trim color..$10.00 a foot for 2 colors..and so on. Not sure how to list it just yet though.
 
I am also excited to have won a custom order for crochet squares.  I will be creating 50 squares for her using her pattern for half of them.  She will then turn it into a blanket.  I’m hoping if this turns out well to be able to do more work for her down the line. 

So, it has been a busy week.

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Wordless Wednesday

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E’s Birthday – Part 3 – The Party

Trying to blow out the candle

More Cake

The start of presents

Middle of presents..she love clothes

She loves her babies highchair

*****Her Actual Birthday*****

Playing with Playdoh in her new booster seat

Wiping her hands after even more cake

Rearranging her presents

actually opening presents (I think that’s the first time she really did it herself)

End  day of the..my attempt to capture the t-shirt, however if just never worked..she moves too fast.

 

That is is..thanks for looking..I will plaque you no longer with my DD’s birthday. 

Quick note about the shop, my mom made this really neat table runner..it will work for Halloween and fall. 

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E’s Birthday – Part 2 – The Cake

So..this is what happens when you turn your back on a two year old within reaching distance of the cake.  Completely unaware that she had noticed the cake, and that she could reach it if she moved her chair, I turned my focus on cleaning off the top of the refrigerator.  Bad move mama.  I turned around to see her chewing on something..my heart stops a for a moment because I don’t know what..and then I see it..the hole that was impossible to cover up. 

Believe or not, that is not the end of the saga.  The next day, after I had disastrously decorate the cakes (went the easy way of using store bought frosting..what a mess)..had one of the cakes sitting in the refrigerator..turned around to grab something off the counter to put in the fridge..and what happens..ANOTHER HOLE..she decided to taste test AGAIN..had a big old handful of frosting and cake the she was licking off her fingers.  UGH!!!  I know it’s my own fault for turning my back but I didn’t realize again that she would grab it in the literally 2 seconds I turned my back.  The positive note is that it was the same cake as the other hidden hole and of course it creates a great story and the grandparents loved it.  I tried to take a picture of “the cake” however the picture did not turn out.  You can kind of make out a little bit of the whole on the bottom right wing.

Here is the other cake that was not tasted ahead of time

 

Keep an eye out for part 3..loads of pictures of the actual event.

Okay, so on a quick side note, you may have noticed that I am posting less often.  I pulled back from being on the computer so much last week (or at least tried).  I’m going to be working on stepping back a little, spending more time creating and more focused time with E.

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E’s Birthday Weekend – Part One

Erica’s party was this past weekend and her actual birthday was yesterday.  There are so many fun things to share that it will definitely take a few entries, unless of course you all want to read a book.

So, let’s start with the rocker and the story behind it.

Here is it..the original version (well almost, I did start sanding it before I remembered to take a picture):

When deciding on Erica’s name, I got the middle name (Grace, after my Grandmother and my middle name), DH was allowed to choose the first name.  It was around this time that he began talking to our neighbor while outside doing lawn work and such.  When he found out her name was Erica, he decided that was it, that is what our daughters name should be.  So, he says that she is named after her..of course me..I say she was the inspiration for the name.  Anyways, she decided to move the spring after E was born. While cleaning out her garage she found this rocker that was hers when she was little, she decided to give it to us for Erica. So..that is the story behind the rocker.  Obviously, we had to wait until the right time to give it to Erica, which we decided would be her second birthday. 

Here is the refinished piece (with her baby doll sitting in it waiting for her):

Her sitting in it with bunny and her doll (two things that are carried everywhere we go):

 

Keep an eye for part two for the cake incident. 

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Wordless Wednesday

http://www.awwpix.com/

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Yikes..it's been awhile and Recipe Tuesday

Last week I was in a hunt for a tshirt for my daughter's 2nd birhtday party coming up this weekend.  I had planned on putting her in a real pretty fuffy dress but then I realized how silly that would be for a very relaxed family party, so I went on a hunt. Having a very tough September financially, nonexistent sales, and trying to put together a party all meant that I really need to do a trade for the shirt or she was going to be stuck in the dress.  After days of begging and pleading, the wonderful lady at http://www.planetofsmiles.etsy.com/ volunteered to design a shirt for me.  With timing as it was she emailed me the design to be able to do the transfer ourselved.  This was such a huge blessing to me.  Please if you have a few moments take a look at her shop.  She has a ton of differnt designs.

As for the attempt to reach 50 items....I made it to 48, between weather not cooperating and camera battery issues I just couldn't get there (and of course it didn't help that I obsessed over the tshirt), however I do have a couple more items that are ready to list right now, I just need to photo them, so they should be up this week. 

Recipe Tuesday....BBQ Chicken Wraps (A favorite of mine...found in Kraft Food Magazine and online)

1 each large green and red pepper, cut into strips (4 cups)
1 large onion, thinly sliced (1 cup)
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
1/3 cup BBQ Sauce
4 whole wheat tortillas (10 inch), warmed
1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

COOK and stir vegetables in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat 3 min. Add chicken; cook and stir 3 to 4 min. or until no longer pink. Stir in barbecue sauce; cook on medium heat 3 min. or until chicken is done, stirring occasionally.



SPOON chicken mixture down centers of tortillas; top with cheese. Roll up. Cut diagonally in half to serve.

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Recipes Tuesday - Apples for Alll

Can you catch the theme for this week??

Follow the links for the original recipes on http://www.allrecipes.com/

Sarah's Applesauce
4 apples - peeled, cored and chopped
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

1.In a saucepan, combine apples, water, sugar, and cinnamon. Cover, and cook over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, or until apples are soft. Allow to cool, then mash with a fork or potato masher.
 
Notes from me:  I reduce the amount of water to about 1/4 - 1/2 cup as I like a thicker sauce.  I also cook for a longer peirod of low, not sure if this helps the flavors meld or not.  I also run the cooked apples through the blender or food processor so for a smooth sauce.  I also don't measure my cinnamon..I just go by smell :)
 
 
Bonus Recipes - I have not tried this yet but am going to tomorrow with the abundance of applesauce I have
 
Applesauce Bars
INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup applesauce
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons margarine, melted
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.

2.In a medium bowl, mix together the butter, brown sugar and egg until smooth. Stir in applesauce. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice; stir into the applesauce mixture until well blended. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.

3.Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are golden. Cool in the pan over a wire rack.

4.In a small bowl, mix together the confectioners' sugar and margarine. Stir in vanilla and milk until smooth. Spread over cooled bars before cutting into squares.

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Apple Fest and the Quest

We visited a local apple farm this past Saturday for the annual Apple Festival.  It was raining that day, that misty one minute downpour the next type of rain, but we ventured out anyways..it was a one day thing and we didn’t want to miss it.  All in all it was a nice time, they had a petting farm that was fun for E, she ran around calling the goats puppy, over to the lama that was having a sneezing fit, and of course the cow that liked to lick.  I’m really hoping that next year there will me more to it, for all the hype that I kept hearing about there was really not much to do for the $3 a person to get in.  I also decided to pick some apples while we were there, that was fun and I ended up with a huge bag of apples ending up being 24lbs, not bad at all for $8.  I will up to ears making applesauce and hopefully some sautéed apples to can.

 

Onto the quest, I have a new goal for the store this week.  My plan is to hit 50 items by the end of the week.  I am at 39 right now.  I have 10 items ready to list including 3 new bath puffs, 3 new soap savers (in fun colors), the first snowman hanging, a set of gift tags, a new doily, and a set of dishcloths.  So, that leaves one new item to create or find that I haven’t listed already.  I’m very excited about reaching this new point. 

Items listed over the weekend (click on the picture to view listing):

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Wordless Wednesday..I have always loved this one

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Recipe Tuesday, Chicken Pot Pie

This is a staple in our house during the fall and winter months.  Unless we are serving this for company, we usually skip the crust.  Orginal Recipe Found Here at http://www.allrecipes.com/



PREP TIME 20 Min , COOK TIME 50 Min , READY IN 1 Hr 10 Min
Original recipe yield 1 - 9 inch pie

.INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed

1 cup sliced carrots

1 cup frozen green peas

1/2 cup sliced celery

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup chopped onion

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon celery seed

1 3/4 cups chicken broth

2/3 cup milk
2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts



..DIRECTIONS

1.Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)

2.In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas, and celery. Add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.

3.In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.

4.Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Pour hot liquid mixture over. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.

5.Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

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The Rag Quilt

Happy Monday.  I have taken on a rather ambitious project for me.  I am making my daughter a rag quilt for when she moves into her toddler bed.  After some searching I realized there is not a lot of toddler bedding unless of course you want character bedding (which I don’t, and she hasn’t gotten into anything yet).  So after reading another person’s blog about doing a rag quilt, I look up the information and decided I could handle that, after all there is no binding which is what always put a stop to my  past quilting projects.  I spent a couple hours yesterday cutting the squares from the fabric I already have.  I still need to get a few more fabrics as well as more flannel.  I will keep you all posted on the progress of this project.  
The inspiration fabric.  I have had my eye on this fabric for years but never had a project for it, and lavender seems to be dd’s favorite color.
The rest of the fabrics and flannel, for the flannel I have a combination of light pink, lavender, and white. I think I have about half of the squares cut.
I would glad for any tips that you might have to share.

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A Last

Finally...the kitty set is complete. I just relisted these yesterday. I'm offering free shipping through the end of day 9/19/09. I am so excited to be offering the full set now.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=28757499

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Wordless Wednesday

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Recipe Tuesday, Parmesan Noodles, with Chicken and Mushrooms

Okay, so I am trying to do some fun daily features to at least cover some of the days.  Goodness, I know my life is not something to try inspiration from to write daily or at least more often.  So, I have decided to do a recipe Tuesday and pull recipes from my files or things that I just make up as I go along and were a success.

Today’s recipe is something that I just randomly through together last night and it turned our really good. It’s a very basic pantry style meal using items most of us having already. This super simple meal comes in well under $5.00

1. 1 Chicken Breast
2. 1/4 cup Italian style dressing (I used Kraft Parmesan Romano)
3. 1 cup sliced Mushrooms
4. Pasta-Roni Parmesan Noodle
5. 1 1/3 cup water
6. 2/3 cu milk
7. 2 TBSP butter/marg
8. 1 TBSP butter/marg
9. 1 TBSP oil
10. 1 clove garlic

First I poured the dressing over the chicken breast and baked about 30mins (it was still frozen) or until almost done.

When Chicken is done and cooling, prepare noodles following the instructions on the box.

Meanwhile, heat up 1 TBSP butter and 1 TBSP oil in a separate pan, smash garlic to peal and release then put in pan.  Sautee mushrooms and chicken.  Remove garlic when done.

When the Noodles are done, dump them in the post with chicken and mushroom.  Toss to mix and serve. 

This is great with a salad, your choice of veggie (we did corn), and maybe some garlic bread. 

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Another Monday

Good Morning All and Happy Monday to you. It’s the start of another fabulous week and you never know what could happen.  You never know, maybe some major buyer will come along and buy out Etsy..lol  I can dream can’t I.  So anyways, I hope you all had a great weekend.  It was nice for us, just laid low and hung out.  I set aside this past weekend to work on custom orders that need to be out the beginning of Oct, almost done with one.  I will hopefully finish it up today. I’m going to be using this week to finish up all of the almost finished projects I have sitting around.  So, keep an eye out for the last two kitty towels (just need to paint the kitty’s and all will be done), the first snowman (again, just need to finish painting, this turned out adorable), and will be listing a set of potpourri dishtowels that I just completely forgot about listing. 

As for a personal note, I’m really excited to have a new friend (I know pathetic right), she moved here just a few weeks before we did as well, her daughter is a couple days younger than ours and we seem to have a lot in common. I am very excited can’t you tell. MOPS (Mothers of Preschools) also starts this week which I will be leading my table..that is always a great time and such an encouragement.  I’m going to be working on setting up some goals for myself in this coming week.  Going to try to set up a schedule that will actually work to keep things done around the house as well as get back to some of the things that have been left in the background in the wake of my Etsy goals.  With that said, I think I will bake some cookies today, not a pack I pulled out of the refrigerator but some real cookies.  I’m thinking oatmeal peanut butter.  I always try to make them healthy with whole wheat flour and I use splenda, so I don’t feel bad when I eat them all..lol   Ah well, I’m off to make a list of things to do for the day, I hate having items on a to do list so that guarantees I will get things done. 

Have  a Great Day.  

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The Tough Stuff

Dh and I made the tough decision the other day, now we just have to put into to action. We are going down to a one car family.  It was a really hard decision because Dh’s car is his baby, it’s the car he’s always wanted (at least the low end version), however, things are tough and we have to do what we have to do.  Dh has been driving 5-6 hours every other Saturday plus working 8 hours, just to bring in extra money for us to survive, we realized how horrible that is this past week when the job he was suppose to do isn’t ready, which means he won’t be going and I really have to do some finagling to make things work.  So, in all it will work out just fine, he has a work van he will probably be able to take home, and if not, I will just have to get our little one up and take him to work the days that I need to car.  I guess things are what they are and there is nothing we can do about them, and sometime you just have to take a step backwards in order to take a few steps forward.

On to happier subjects; I listed this fun hillbilly wall art piece yesterday.  Hand Embroidered using a vintage pattern, used cotton batting, card stock, and wood embroidery hoop to frame it.  I left the wood bare to keep the rustic feeling. I also antiqued the cotton fabric.

The other piece in the set:

If you are in the market for fabric, don’t forget to check out my fabric destash   http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5948874&section_id=6386204

Also, we are at 99 shop hearts, the 100th heart will receive 25% off the order today 9/10/09.

Thank you for stopping by.

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Happy Labor Day..one day late

Good Morning to all, and Happy Labor Day although it is a day late and Happy Tuesday.  I hope you all had a fabulous long weekend.  For us, it was very uneventful.  The only thing we did all weekend was go to church.  I am very excited about that though.  I young lady that I met at story time came.  She is also from Michigan, and her daughter is only a couple days younger than ours.  This is a very exciting thing for me.  Everyone I  have met so far either have much older children or much younger, so it’s great to have an opportunity not only for me to make a new friend (which I desperately need..yes I’m willing to admit it, I’m almost desperate for friendship) and for our little one to make a friend. So, hopefully she will call me and hopefully we will be able to set up a play date.  Other than that..we did nothing.  It was wonderful.  It gave me plenty of time to finish/start some projects.  I will be framing the second of the hillbilly collection, I have finished the stitching on the 4th kitty towel, I am over halfway done with the stitching of the first snowman, and I worked on 3 custom orders this past weekend – finishing one and getting a small start of the two that need to be complete by the first of October.  So, for doing nothing it was a very successful weekend. 

Somme quick things that I have listed since the last time we spoke.

Made to Order Baby Blanket, you choose the colors, 36 x 36 $24.00

Fabric, Flat quarters $1.50 each:

 

 

Thanks for reading and I would love to hear your comments.  :)

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