Friday, September 30, 2011

As promised, an embarrassing moment..

Yesterday I posted my first giveaway (click here to enter) and as one of the entries, asked you to share your most embarrassing (or in my case, one of) moment.  So we could all get to know each other better, and have some laughs.


There is a proverb that says, "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit drieth the bones."  Come, be merry, and share your humiliation and have a laugh, too! :)


What kind of host would I be, if I asked you to share, but wasn't willing to share myself.  So today, I will post one of my most embarrassing moments.  There are so many to pick from.  Oy.  But this one really stands out! 


I was 19, and was asked to be a candle lighter in a friend's wedding.  The other candle lighter was one of my best friends.  


So there we were, on the stage, lighting the candles while the song was being sung.. all of mine are lit, and I look over at my friend Julie, who is really struggling with her candles not lighting.. I feel a moment of panic for her and decide to just stand in place while she finishes.. 


Then, I look up at my candles and half of them have gone out.  I had to do a double-take to believe it, but yes, they were not lit anymore.  I take a deep breath and start lighting them again.  It was a cluster type of candelabra where you had to reach between the candles to light the higher ones. Being very careful not to catch my wrist corsage on fire while doing this, (that thing was like a tree!  from wrist to elbow almost!)  I glance at Julie, still struggling.  Then I glance back.. my wrist corsage is fine, but the ivy adorning my lighter-candle that I'm using has caught FIRE!!!!  Fire, I tell you!  I quickly pull it close to me, trying to hide it from the audience and try to snuff it out/blow it out, etc.  Luckily, it just kind of melted and turned to ash, which fell to the floor and left black soot.  On the floor and on my hands.  


By this time, Julie is still struggling to keep her candles lit (what is it with these candles!!!) and the song is over, and it is silence in the church.  We finally looked at each other and shrugged and just went and sat down.  I could not have been more embarrassed!!  Oh, except at the end of the wedding when we were ushered out and I had black soot on my hands!  And saw the faces in the audience of people I knew who were laughing or smiling at me.  I had the nickname of "church burner" for a long time after that.  Wow. My face is red just thinking about that. :)


Now, come and enter my very first giveaway.  For three little fat quarters, 30's print, a Mary Englebreit panel that would make a great wall hanging and/or pillows, and a great computer program.  If they're not for you, then they might make a good gift for someone you know.  Esp. if you know someone who scrapbooks.  Here is a little short video about the computer software: 







Thanks for reading.. come join the fun! :) Go to this post and enter.  You can have up to five chances to win.
Thursday, September 29, 2011

My FIRST Giveaway!!! Spread the word!

Computer Software plus
a little FABRIC bonus!!!


I'm soooo excited!  After we got back from DisneyWorld, as in the next day, I was contacted by Liz @



and asked to host a giveaway and post a review for this really cool scrapbooking, photo book making, greeting card or calendar making, all around very useful and easy to use software program.  What perfect timing.  I have something like 500 pics from our trip. 

Soo, I downloaded the program, very simple to do, and last night, I made these 3 pages with it.




You can print them out and put them into a traditional scrapbook, you can have all of your pages put into a bound photo book, you can even have them all put on a CD that you can send to family or friends to share.  You can also incorporate video into your projects.  I am thinking some of these things would make great gifts.  Plus, if you ever want to purchase other templates, they are pretty economical.. there are other free downloads in the store, and some that are just a buck or two, etc.  


So many ways you can use the software.  And if I could figure it out, ANYBODY can.  I'm looking forward to exploring the other features, such as card making and calendar making.  You can also just print several pictures onto one page with lots of background paper designs.  There is so much that you can do, I haven't even scratched the surface.  


You could even use it to make a portfolio book of your finished quilts!  And it can be yours --the My Memories Suite program,a $40 value-- ..FREE!!

Plus, as a little thank you bonus for my blog friends, I'm going to throw in these sweet little fat quarters that have just been languishing in my stash (ahem..closet) for quite a while. I have a thing about collecting random fat quarters.. ;)  Maybe some of you have a project, or know someone who does, that could give these a nice home.


Also, I have this Mary Englebreit panel from the Recipe for Friendship collection that needs a nice loving home.  I love the bright colors and I love her art!



Would you like to win a very cool computer software program with endless possibilities plus a little bonus prize?

You can have up to five entries. Please leave a separate comment for each entry.

  • Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment telling me you did..
  • Visit the My Memories page and tell me your favorite digital paper pack or layout..
  • Become a follower of my blog, or if you already are (Thank you!) leave a comment telling me so..
  • Leave a comment telling me where you live..(LOVE having blog friends all over the world!)
  • BONUS entry:  Leave a comment telling me about your most embarrassing moment (that you're willing to share, anyway).. we'll all get to know each other better and maybe have some laughs along the way. :) (I will share mine--one of them anyway-- tomorrow.. it's a doozy.) 
For my readers who don't win.. I will be posting a coupon code worth $20 ($10 of which you can use to purchase the program, and $10 which you could use in the My Memories store on accessories) when I announce the winner --WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 5th!!

Please enter friends.. so that my first giveaway doesn't have zero entries. haha! :)
Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Missing my ticker..

Not my personal ticker.. my heart is fine.  I was really missing my Disney ticker at the top of my blog, and having something to count down to.  So I added a Halloween ticker. :)


Will post some photos soon.. still playing catch-up from being gone last week.  Stay tuned, though, for photos and a giveaway coming up soon! 
Monday, September 26, 2011

Back from vacation in time to enter a giveaway..

Check out this giveaway!  Sweet fabrics.. what's not to love?


http://jabotquilt.blogspot.com/  


Fighting off the post vacation blues.  ha!  Working on getting all of the laundry caught up.  Went grocery shopping this morning while little man was at preschool.. house needs cleaning.  Dog is picked up from kennel..


Had a great time at the House of Mouse.. now trying to get back into the everyday routine.  Then hopefully I will be able to have some Q-time with my sewing machine.  Thanks to everyone who commented on my last post.  I have four more blocks to square up and put orange borders on, hopefully I can get to it soon.


Until next time Mickey.. *sigh*


P.S.  I just removed the Disney ticker that was counting down to our trip from the top of my page, and ohhhhh.. it was painful!! **gulp--sniff**
Friday, September 16, 2011

Friday Night Sew-In

This was my first time ever signing up for Friday Night Sew-In.  What was I thinking?  We are leaving on a trip for a week at 6 a.m. in the morning!  But I had a couple of projects staring at me, and I wanted to play with them and accomplish something!


So, I got all of the laundry done yesterday, all of the packing done this afternoon early, and left myself some time to PLAY!  A perfectly relaxing way to kick off our vacation!  I had to quit a little early though, as it is almost time to put my little one to bed..


Here is what I did.. not too complex, but lots of fun.  I sewed the deep orange borders to these blocks:









What took the longest was squaring them up.  They were pretty uneven.. I made them by tracing a triangle cut out of regular paper onto the fabrics with a sharpie. haha  Before I knew what a rotary cutter was!  Just started cutting different fabrics into triangles and arranging them on the floor.  I was a greenhorn for sure! :)  Here is the plan for these EIGHT YEAR old blocks (which were originally made for a quilt for my 4 year old nephew .. but were somehow abandoned and have been stagnating in the closet all of this time): 




I am going with a dark grey background.  Feels good to be giving them a new life, and trying a modern-ish way of putting them together, since my nephew is now 12.. :/  I love how the orange is framing them out.


I also sewed something quick for my little sonny.  With the fabrics that he himself picked out. :) 



I heart being a mom!!  (swoon)  xoxo


Here he is "signing in" at preschool.  Something they have to do every day.  Such a cute idea his teacher had and helps them practice their writing.. The names are already getting smaller and neater.


Day 1:

Day 4: (progress)


Here is where my Friday Night Sew-In took place:



If you're here from FNSI, welcome and thanks for stopping by.  I am going to look through the links when we get back from Disney.. look forward to seeing all of the sewing that went on tonight! See you in a week!




(Link for Friday Night Sew-In : CLICK HERE)
Wednesday, September 14, 2011

A Hexi-plan :)

After posting my hexie flowers for One Flower Wednesday yesterday, and my idea for what I might do with them, I had a comment from: 


Archie the Wonder Dog asking me if this was the kind of quilt I had in mind...


http://www.flickr.com/photos/imagingermonkey/6058458889/in/set-72157623616096597/ by I'm a Ginger Monkey..


Well, not exactly.  I love that one, but that is quite a lot of hexie.  I was thinking of maybe trailing them across a quilt top, whereas that one has a lot of them taking up most of the middle of the quilt.  So I set out to make a sketch of my idea with my basic paint program again.  


This is kind of how I would like it to be, I think.  Maybe on a solid brown background.. or another color, that's up for debate once I have all of them done. I was thinking about even making some tiny ones (gasp!--I must really be addicted!) to go in the opposite corners.  Anyway, this is my rough idea:




Actually, I think I like the bright colors in the paint program better. ha!  Here I sit on the computer, when I should be packing for Disney!  Just can't wrap my mind around it yet. I'm more of a procrastinator last minute packer.  I think since it's almost Thursday, I will play Thursday Think Tank with Making Rebecca Lynne.  


Happy Thursday!  


Is it really going to be Thursday?! Aye!  I need to get moving. :)
      
Tuesday, September 13, 2011

My Hexie Collection & A Package

These are the hexies I have done so far..  I have one more, that I was going to post for One Flower Wednesday, but it isn't loaded onto the computer yet.  So I will just post a pic of my collection.  Who knew they would be so much fun?!  Well.. a lot of you did, and now I know why!




I can see where I should have put some petals as centers maybe or arranged them differently, but I am definitely learning as I go.  I am thinking about making enough of them to trail across a solid color quilt top maybe.  Not sure yet...


In other news, a while back, I became the 200th follower over at:


  Living4Quilting



And Linda sent me this prize:




Thanks, Linda!  What a fun package to get in the mail!!  Love the book, and can't wait to try the other prizes. :)


Happy Wednesday.. head over here to see more hexies!


       One Flower Wednesday
Monday, September 12, 2011

Tuesday Treasures

This week's Tuesday Treasure is directly related to what I will be doing come this Saturday.


In April, we took a family trip to Disneyland and I spotted only the cutest salt and pepper shakers ever made!




I have a slight weakness for cute S&P shakers.. 




and red.. in case you haven't noticed. :)


And Mickey and Minnie, the actual shakers, nestle into the car with magnets. *sigh* I LOVE.  




And they always remind me of our trip.  And how happy this little face was to get his picture taken with every single character that we passed, every day that we were there.




The first time we went to Disneyland, he asked me how come "real" Mickey doesn't talk? He was three at the time.  In April, he was four, and he didn't say much about it.. but the other day, now almost five, he told me that last time we were at Disneyland, he noticed that Mickey (who apparently had a wardrobe malfunction with the head of his costume that day) had a "neck".  So he thinks that maybe there's a man inside Mickey and maybe that's why Mickey doesn't talk.  :(  Growing right up, yes he is.  


Today was his first day of the "wee 5" preschool program that he's going to.  (for those who didn't start kindergarten with late birthdays) ...*sniff*




..and when he was in the bath tonight, the doorbell rang.  It was one of my neighbors, who likes to bake and try new recipes.  Who doesn't love a surprise like this?




I have accepted the fact that my son is almost five years old, and I will likely never... NEVER. be down to my pre-pregnancy weight. Ever again.. Not living in this neighborhood anyway. haha


Happy Tuesday! :)


P.S.  Pop over here to see what Tuesday Treasures others are sharing!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

It's almost here!

Has anyone seen the Disney ticker at the top of my page?  I mean, really LOOKED at it!  It is down to 6.. SIX.. DAYS!!!  We leave Saturday morning, and in the last two weeks my son had the stomach flu, then I got the stomach flu, thought I was recovered enough to go to the Greek Festival on Friday afternoon.. NOT.  Still no appetite really, got WAY too hot, and overheated and wound up dizzy and dehydrated and totally scared myself!  Total setback. :(


But look at the quilt I saw there (and purchased a couple of raffle tickets for)..




made by a local quilt guild.  And I'm sitting at home taking 9 years to stitch a hexie flower! Look at all that applique.


Since then, I've just been taking it easy, and trying to rest and recover.  This is one brutal bug. My appetite is still sketchy and I am wiped out!  But feeling a little better every day.  This is a good thing to do while sitting around feeling crummy..






..three more.  Very scrappy looking, but trying to stick with the fabrics I have to work with and make them kind of random.


My son starts preschool this week, my SIL's father just had open heart surgery today, still trying to find some energy, need to do laundry, there's no food in the house, the dog is going to have to be dropped off at the kennel on Friday.. and the packing.  Can't leave without packing.. oh, I'm tired now.  I want to play with these..





..or sleep.  Sleep would be nice.
Saturday, September 10, 2011

Kite Blocks Revisited..

..make that read, "Kite Blocks DECISION!"


***Edit: Went fabric shopping today and went with dark grey for the background, and deep orange for the block borders.  Feels good to be tackling an eight year old UFO! We'll see how it goes. Looking at my sketch at the bottom of this post makes me think I need some EQ software. ;) It looks a little crazy, but it all makes sense in my head, I promise. :)


For Thursday Think Tank at Making Rebecca Lynne I posted about these blocks:




..told the story of how they came to be 8 years ago, and asked for advice and thoughts on how to set them together all these years later.  Originally for a 4 year old boy, who is now 12.  I'm slow. (shrug) :/


I appreciate everyone's comments and advice.  It's so much fun to get everyone's input and brainstorm together.  All of the comments had me thinking and considering.. and I think I came up with something I want to try.  Since it's for my nephew who isn't 4 anymore, but a voice-changing, man-sounding young gentleman, I decided that I want it to have a modern-ish feel.  Whereas my normal comfort zone is patchwork, traditional borders and sashing, etc.


Here is my idea.. roughly drawn on my basic paint program --  It is meant to be symmetrical, it's obviously not in my doodle here.. :)  Not that talented with the paint program.


Thoughts?  If I do it this way, all 11 blocks would make up the top.  I tried 3 diff. colors to see what the background might look like.  Which color is my favorite I'm not sure yet.. Which one is your favorite?




Dark grey and deep orange it is!

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Trying Something New

Oh man!  I am finally feeling like I'm back in the land of the living.  That was a brutal two and a half days!  Thank you soooo much for all of your well wishes--such love from all of you.  Your kindness was so much appreciated!  


I have been blogging only for about a month and a half now, and have already found such a sense of community and friendship.  2011 has definitely been a year of ups and downs, and this blogging experience so far has really helped me to focus on positive and happy things.  And has encouraged and inspired me to be more creative which always helps too! :) And has generally just been alot of fun!  So thanks to all of you!


Today I'm going to try something new again and link up with Thursday Think Tank @ Rebecca's.


Rebecca is one of those fun virtual friends I've made in blogland, that I probably wouldn't mind as a next door neighbor.  In fact, I'm sure any and every one of you would make excellent next door neighbors.  Think of the block parties we could have.  Not only the block parties but the BLOCK parties! :)


Anyway, as I understand it, Thursday Think Tank is where you can post things you're thinking about, brainstorming about or just want to share.  So I'm going to post these blocks and ask for opinions on what I should do with them.




I made them with some fat quarter bundles, some polka dots and some batiks, and a little triangle pattern that I cut out of paper, with regular scissors, before I was aware of the rotary cutter.  Just started cutting triangles and putting blocks together.


That was probably 8 years ago? I thought I'd turn them into a quilt for my nephew who was 4 at the time.  He is 12 now, and when I talked to him on the phone the other day, he sounded like a MAN. ACK! His voice is changing.  Make it stop!  Here they are again for good measure.. I think I might have made a couple more after the pic was taken.  They are in a box in the closet somewhere but lately they've been on my mind.




Anyway, the project stalled, as many do, and I'm not sure how to put them together now.  I'm thinking just some sashing and maybe wide borders?  Yellow?  Purple?  Midnight blue?  I don't know.  The blocks kind of remind me of colorful kites.  But who knows?  Any ideas?  Input appreciated!


Again, I was overwhelmed with all of the well wishes I received while under the weather, and I hope the bug stopped here and none of you get it!


xo
Kelli
Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Hexed


So last week, when I made my first hexie, my son had some kind of stomach virus that kept him upstairs in bed all day.  For a 4 y.o., that's pretty bad.  He was down and out.  I stayed upstairs with him most of the day with only the occasional trip downstairs to get something or throw some laundry in.  That's when I decided I needed something to do with my hands.  I sewed my first hexie. Sitting on the bed next to my sick baby. :(  It took him a couple of days to get back to normal. 


Fast forward to today.  


I thought I wasn't feeling well b/c I had skipped breakfast.  We rushed out the door this a.m. to the Dr. for him to get his 4th HIb shot for preschool which starts next week, then to the barbershop for a haircut (traumatic morning for him) and then to his gymnastics class.  Long story short, had to pull him out of his class and come home b/c it seems that Mommy is coming down with the same virus.  Sucking violently on the Tootsie Pop that the barber gave my son as a treat was the only thing that kept me from throwing up on the drive home. (I will steal candy from a small child if I absolutely HAVE TO!) NOT. FUN.  I spent the rest of the day being intermittently hot and then freezing cold, as in 3 quilts over me and still cold.. but was able to keep down some dinner.  So hopefully my case is more mild than my son's. And hopefully my husband isn't next.  He spent the day today being #1 Dad, holding the fort down so I could sleep. I am feeling hexed by the hexies.  Is my husband going to get sick next Tuesday?  Just in time for one flower wednesday again?  Hope not.  Because I am really enjoying making them. :) (Excuse the over sharing and graphic view into our homelife-;)


Before I got sick, I managed to make one more.. now I have 3. :)  Pardon the dark pictures.





I just wanted to check in with Blogland and keep my mind off of feeling yucky.  I enjoy reading all of your posts, and will try to catch up and leave some comments when I am all the way over this.


Happy One Flower Wednesday!
Monday, September 5, 2011

Tuesday Treasures

I'm linking up with Melody again for: 
        
I can't get the link to work right now, but if you head over to Melody's blog, you can check out everyone's treasures.  Click on the Tuesday Treasures button in my sidebar if you don't know Melody. She is having a great giveaway right now, too. :)

MY treasure this week is this quilt that was pieced probably in the 50's.. I'm not sure.  Rumor has it that my grandmother's aunt pieced it.  Aunt Rose. Part of it is pieced by hand, and part by machine.  My grandmother had the quilt top, and several years ago, maybe in the early 90's, she quilted it.  My mom also quilted a little on it.




It is so inspiring to me.  So many little pieces.  I guess it's not a true tumbling blocks quilt.. as the red and yellow blocks are all going different directions and they border stars.  I just LOVE it.  I love the history of it, the colors in it..  the scrappy feel of the stars, I'm sure they were scraps actually.  That's what people used back then.  I used to look at this in awe whenever I could at my grandma's house.  I think this quilt is a big reason that I like quilting so much!


Hope everyone in the U.S. had a great Labor Day weekend.  I spent it laboring.. putting this beast of a computer desk together (and painting a fresh coat of paint in the room).  But it will be so nice to have a little more desk space.  Our other one was a little dorm roomish corner tower.  My husband will be so shocked when he gets home from his weekend of work.




When we get this room done, I will be able to get a table for my sewing machine! Yea!


Have a great week!
Saturday, September 3, 2011

Easy Weekend Treat--Recipe

Actually, I'm not sure it is a recipe.  All I know is what my neighbor Barbara told me when I had these at her house when she had a going away party for another neighbor that was moving...


These are the ingredients:


I spray my muffin tin with Pam, just in case.


So you take your premade chocolate chip cookie dough..


and flatten ea. square into a little patty of goodness and fill your muffin tin like so..just lay them in the bottom.


Now the best part, and perfect if you have kids.. this is the easiest, least messy baking project to do with them.. nestle a mini Reese's in ea. one.  


Don't press too hard,just sit it on top and tap it down a little.


Now press the remaining squares into little patties and lay over the top of the Reese's..


Keep going until they are all covered.. the cookie dough I bought had 24 cookies in it, so it was the perfect amount for my 12 count muffin tin.


Throw them in the oven.. I did 350 degrees (F), they will puff up like so..


The tricky part is knowing how long to cook them.. I took them out too soon and they were so doughy I had to put them back in so some of them looked kind of messy.  Make sure you cook them until they are pretty brown on top.  You probably need about 25 minutes give or take.  At first I  did 15 and it wasn't nearly enough.  I put them back in for 10 more and that was about right. They will sink down in the center after you take them out.  Let them cool before removing them from the muffin tin.


And then you have 12 of these yummies!!  So easy and so fast, and so great to do with a little one.  No mess, easy things for them to do, and a great treat. :)
Also great if you need something super fast to take to a function or something.


YUM!!! :) Excuse me while I go gain a pound or two. ;)
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