Dee Dee's Special Challenge!

Recently I was sent a challenge from my blogging friend, Dee Dee over at Dee Dee's Craft Spot.
 She sent a cute little embroidered heart on some white fabric for me to create some kind of little project.

  Well, it took a few weeks while for me to decide on what to do, but I didn't want to disappoint Dee Dee. I had the privilege of meeting her last summer, and we both have a special love for dogs.
  Keeping that in mind, I decided to do the challenge with a "dog" theme. (See below.)
 I hope you like this sweet friend!

 Actually, it wasn't my idea alone as Dee Dee also sent this to our blogging friend Deb at Mosaic Magpie. Being the conniving thoughtful friends that we are, we just had to do something to give back to Dee Dee. Both heads together, we decided to each make a pin cushion, and add the names of Dee Dee's little dogs, Chuck and Bentley. (Go to Deb's page to see her pin cushion.)

Unfortunately, last year she lost her precious little Lucky so I couldn't forget about him. You see Lucky was the reason I started commenting on Dee Dee's blog. We used to have a pom, and she had just died in the fall of 2010.

  Deb went back and looked and my first post on her blog was in November of 2010, and then I found Dee Dee right after that. Well, I think we both found her around the same time.

  Deb had a heart swap on her blog, and then her husband got really sick. She was determined to carry through, and somehow managed to get all of those hearts sent out.  Dee Dee has had some tough health problems to deal with, but she is such a trouper and so determined to carry on her crafting. You see where I'm going here? These two ladies are some of the most talented people I've ever met. 


  No matter how we found each other, all three of us have developed a very special bond. When we email, we send our emails so all three of us can share.  (Well, almost always. Sorry, DeeDee, we had to keep a secret!)

  I hope that someday soon we can all meet up and have a nice long visit. I know that's on my Bucket List!!
 Thanks, girls, for being the wonderful friends that you are, and mostly for sharing your talent. I have learned so much from reading your blogs, and seeing your projects.
 Love you sooooo much!

A lovely thing to win!

A few weeks ago I entered a contest over at Mermaid Sews. Lorelei was giving away some beautiful charm packs by Moda.
  I am a sucker for anything made by Moda! I was so excited when she wrote to tell me I'd won.
 Now I just have to share some pics of these charm packs. I have been collecting some charm packs so I will have a lot of choices when I start on some small quilts for the grands. These will also work in just fine with some of my ideas.

I just love all of the colors and prints! Lucky me! Thanks so much, Lorelei, for having the contest!

My Maggie Lou!! Woo Hoo!

I want to thank everyone who voted for my dog, Maggie Lou, in the photo contest. Maggie Lou did very well, and she is in the top 6 dogs so Fifi Flowers painted her picture.

 Please go and look HERE!
Fifi is an amazing artist, and she paints anything anyone wants or likes. Please go and check out her beautiful paintings.

 Thanks so much Fifi for having the contest. I never thought Maggie would do so well. We got her over a year ago, and she is two years old. Her owner died and she was being shifted around among family members. She is such a loving, protective dog! The best thing about her since she is a full blooded Yorkie is that she doesn't bark unless someone comes or she sees an animal, but she mostly barks at people! Her sister lives across the street, and she barks constantly! LOL 
  We love our Maggie!

Zebra Print Swimsuit

  This is my little granddaughter, Shelby, who is five. She is such a joy to sew for as she loves anything I make for her, and now she is starting to give me "orders" of things she wants. She has recently discovered animal print fabrics, and "this" is one of her orders! 

   The pattern came out in Sew Beautiful Magazine in 2010 Issue #130.  (You may also purchase and download the pattern from their site.) This is the 4th time I've made this pattern, but this year I changed up the way the ruffles were made. I sewed them on the outside of the top and bottoms instead of in the seams because I wanted to add the hot pink binding. I just thought the ruffles would stand out better this way, and I also added some width and length to the ruffles. 

  Shelby loves swimsuits, and since we just went to the beach last week, she had to look cute everyday! 

 These are some of her "creative poses". LOL This girl is a riot!

I love sewing for my Shelby! I finished this suit two days before we left for the beach, and she gave me orders for a zebra print purse to match, and for me to make her mommy a swimsuit like this one! Let's just say "Mimi is still working on those!" 

Thanks for stopping by!

Please vote for my dog!

Maggie is in a contest to have her picture painted by Fifi Flowers. All you have to do is leave a comment on her blog with the number of the picture. View and vote HERE.
  Her number is 12.  Plus you can vote for 6 dog pictures total!
 Oh, and since today is my birthday, just consider it a birthday present to me!! :)
  Thanks so much!

Are You Green with Envy???

 I entered a giveaway on Sew Many Ways back in May, and I was so astounded that I won. There were 125 entries, and mine was picked! Wow! 


 The prize was these beautiful hand dyed set of fat eights fabrics from Vicki Welsh. You can visit Vicki's shop HERE to see all of her lovely choices. Everyone is different. I chose the set of greens as I plan on making some I Spy quilts for the grands, and my new grandson to be loves green. (We just got word that my son and DIL can now adopt him!)

I tried to get several pics so you could see the varied colors in the dyes.







Plus I won this set of transfer sheets! Woo hoo!

Thank you Karen from Sew Many Ways for having the giveaway, and to Vicki for sponsoring the prizes! You girls rock!

New Beginnings!

The month of May has been very busy around here. I sort of feel like we are repeating the month of December when we never have a free minute. That's ok though! I'd rather be busy than bored or unable to participate in my families milestones.
  On May 11, our Bubba earned his degree in Oil and Gas Technology from Bossier Parish Community College. As most of you know, this was a miracle in itself as he was in that terrible wreck in September. The doctors told him he'd not be able to walk for at least six months. He proved them wrong and was back in class in December. 
 The Bossier Press Tribune did an interview with him, and the article came out on his graduation day. We all just sat there with tears in our eyes feeling so blessed and so thankful he had lived through that and achieved his goal to finish by the end of May. You can read the article HERE.
  I was also excited to see some kids I taught in elementary school also graduate the same day! I guess that's double dipping! 
  This is a picture of Bubba and one of his best friends from high school, Katy. Katy graduated again with Bubba, and the funny thing is that Bubba ended up sitting right behind Katy at the ceremony - out of 372 graduates - that was pretty neat! 

  The speaker at the ceremony chose 4 students to highlight, and one of them was Bubba for his determination to finish. We were again touched beyond words!


 Our next milestone was our little Shelby who graduated Pre-K on  May 17th. She was so adorable during their program. She never missed a beat or a verse singing the songs. She said her Bible verse loud and clear - so loud we were wondering who this kid was? 

 If you read this to the bottom, I really appreciate it. I know most people don't find my blog very interesting, but is my life and this is what brings me joy. 
 I comment on so many blogs and the majority of them never even come to look at mine. I may continue for a while and then just give it up. I don't have much else to share except my family and the projects I make. 
 I hope everyone has a good weekend. Thanks for stopping by. 
 

Tongue Cancer Surgery - 4 Years Ago!!

(Linking this post to With a Grateful Prayer and a Thankful Heart)
 
 Today is a very emotional day for me. It has been exactly 4 years since I had tongue cancer surgery. It really doesn't seem possible at times. If you would like to read about my surgery, click the link below, and then arrow down to the first few posts for May. My daughter, Emily, did an excellent (Amazing) job of keeping everyone up to date all through my 12 hour surgery.

May 2008 Archives

  I got all teary-eyed just rereading all of that. Mostly from reading all of the sweet messages that people wrote, and especially from our precious friend, Jay Dawn, that left us in Feb. She was and has always been such a big support to our family. Words just can't describe the emptiness I still feel about her passing. 

 With that being said, I hope to again make people aware just how important it is to use good dental hygiene, and to get your mouth checked regularly. Even the smallest place can turn into cancer.

 I was very lucky that mine was confined to my tongue. Half of my tongue is now muscle from my left arm. Amazing? Right! 

 If you read that part of my blog, you will see that on the 9th day I was talking! Amazing? Right! Extremely amazing! 
 I also had two Amazing doctors - Dr. Ghali and Dr. Kim! 

  My family (husband-Clay, son-Cody, daughter-Emily, and niece, Robin) was also Amazing through this whole ordeal - and believe me, it was an ordeal! This was the most helpless I've ever been in my life. ICU was a nightmare for me as I couldn't sleep, and I couldn't talk, and of course, no one was allowed to stay in there with me. I won't go into details, but it was such a relief to get to a room so someone could stay with me to be my voice. I used a dry erase board, but I was so weak that it was hard to write plainly what I needed or wanted. 

 I found this board a few weeks ago stuck behind my dresser. These were some of the last messages on it. I don't think they went together, but I just had to laugh out loud. 
 What is funny is that my hubby wrote the last sentence! Hello, I could hear! Just couldn't talk!

 I sincerely hope that you will pass this information along. If you are a smoker, then your chances of getting tongue/mouth cancer is greatly increased. I was in the 4 percentile! My doctors said they do this surgery on someone nearly every week. I had never even heard of this surgery until it happened to me. 

 Sadly, we had a friend that had the same surgery a couple of years ago, but she lost her battle. She was in stage 4 when they found it. 

 Again, let me say how very lucky and blessed I was that my dentist sent me on to be checked by an oral surgeon, and then to Dr. Ghali. I was also very, very blessed that I didn't have to take chemo or radiation!! 
  So I leave you with the first verse of this song. I am truly Amazed and eternally grateful that I am here to tell you MY story!

I stand Amazed in the presence 
 of Jesus the Nazarene, 
 and wonder how he could love me, 
 a sinner, condemned, unclean. 

 How marvelous! How wonderful! 
 And my song shall ever be:
 How marvelous! How wonderful 
 is my Savior's love for me! 

Bright Summer Outfit...

 It's Sew Crafty Saturday over at Wildflowers and Whimsy!

Also Sew Dang Crafty over at Sew Many Ways!



 

 There is a story behind this fabric. I won a copy of "Girl's World" on a blog, and after several weeks, I'd never received it. I wrote and no response so I wrote Jennifer Paganelli on FB. She immediately mailed out my copy of the book. The book was wrapped in this luscious yellow/blue print from her West Indies collection.
  It was a challenge as it was less than a yard. I knew I had to figure out some way to make something for Shelby.

Cayden and Shelby made puppets from their monkies!

  I had seen a tutorial for this type of top on the Children's Corner Archives page. I only changed how I did the straps. I didn't do the shirring method - I just used some 1/8" elastic. It was so super easy!
  The rick rack bridging is easy too! I've done this before, and if you are familiar with Kari Mecca, then you've seen her creations also.
  The shorts were a simple McCalls pattern. I added the waistband with belt loops and the band for the legs so it would tie on each side. I barely had enough left to make the belt.
 Oh I guess you'd like to see more pics!

 This was a fun outfit to make, and I gave it to her for her birthday. She loved it! 
Thanks for stopping by!

Wordless Wednesday!

CLASS OF 2025!

 My granddaughter - Shelby - growing up....

How a Sewing Machine Works!

 Someone posted this video on Facebook. It is really incredible to see how a sewing machine works on the inside, and how perfectly it has to be synchronized!

 It's not long - so enjoy!
 

Busy Birthday Week!

 My granddaughter, Shelby, turned 5 on Wednesday. Her party and my daughter's birthday were yesterday. They have kept us hopping! 
 On Wednesday, I met my daughter, and we took cupcakes to Shelby's class. Then we went to get Cayden where he was on a field trip. I always take them some type of present ON their birthday. That's just a special time for me.
  Emily had bought Shelby a purple leotard to wear for her party as it was at a sports center, and they did a lot of jumping and tumbling stuff. I thought it needed a little skirt, so I went to Hancock Fabrics and found this liquid silver lame to make a circular skirt. 
 It turned out so cute, and it was so easy as I made it completely on the serger!

  I used Simplicity 5401 to cut the circle, and I adjusted it a little so I could put elastic in the waistband. The fabric was really easy to work with even though it is stretchy. 

  This girl was ready to go to her party at 10:00 on Saturday, and her party wasn't until 1:00 pm. LOL

 It's hard to get a picture of a silver skirt when using a flash! 
  Then last night we met them at El Chicos Mexican restaurant because that's where Shelby wanted to go. She loves their french fries! What???
  She got ready, and this is what she wore: bluejeans with bling, a new shirt with bling, new sunglasses, a sequined cap, a necklace, 2 bracelets, new shoes, a princess pin, and a sequined purse. Then she asked her mommy if she needed to add anything else! 

We are very blessed to have such sweet and healthy grandchildren. I cherish every day that I get to spend with them and my kids!

One of our Junk Finds...

 Recently we visited a flea market and some antique/junk stores in another town.
  This chair was one of our great finds. We've used chairs before to display potted plants, but our last one finally bit the dust.
   We only paid $4 for this chair. It's not in the best of shape, but it will surely last for this summer. I will confess that we bought the plants already potted. However, we normally do our own. This was so pretty that we decided we just had to take it home!

 Remember the gerbera daisies I posted a few weeks ago? Well, here they are with even more blooms. Some of these blooms are finally fading, but more are coming. Since this pic was taken, I even have an orange one in the bunch, and I don't remember even buying orange. 

  We love sitting on our patio and watching the birds and squirrels. There is one squirrel that vexes the heck out of our dog. It is hilarious to watch. I call him the flying squirrel because he will jump out of the tree half way across the yard to get away from Maggie. I don't know how he survives those jumps and hitting the ground so hard, but he's back everyday!!

Thanks for visiting!

Pics of my Little Grands...

 I'm sorry to be so long with posting. We've had some stormy weather this past week, and our modem blew out during a crazy power surge. It was old so I suppose it just couldn't take the on and off surging. Does that sound right? LOL
  Anyway we had to wait a couple of days to get a new one. I'm glad to be back online. I missed reading my blogs!
  My daughter took these pictures a couple of weeks ago when the azaleas were in full bloom. She found Cayden a green shirt to match the green in Shelby's dress I made her from the last post.
 They are getting that age where it's hard to get them both to act right so they usually get bribed. She took the fixins' for a little picnic at this beautiful place called Norton's Art Gallery. It has wonderfully landscaped grounds, and it's so serene to just sit and enjoy the scenery.
  They were sitting on a blanket eating, and Cayden looked around and said, "You know this is really embarrassing!" Kids! You never know what is going through their minds.
  Here are the pics! Hope you enjoy!

If only it were like this all of the time!

Getting those big ole' teeth!

The "real" Cayden and Shelby!

 Thanks for looking!