Spirit Jumpers

Laurie, or Punkinhead to those of us on Etsy, posted a great site over on her blog that I would also like to share with you all.  The site is called Spirit Jump and it connects people who have been diagnosed with cancer with people who would like to lift (jump) their spirits by sending them a little something special in the mail.  As she explains on her site, it could be anything from something you make that would make life a little easier to something as simple as a card with some encouraging words.  

So, now you can go learn more about it, sign up to be a Spirit Jumper, or sign someone up who could use a jump. In honor of my Dad who battled his way through colon cancer, I signed up to be a spirit jumper. I remember how much better he seemed on the days when a friend would drop by his hospital room or a card would show up in the mail.... those little things make such a big difference.

p.s. Laurie made me some awesome vintage fabric coasters.  They rock.. thanks!  

Whew.. back with a quick update

Just a quick update for today... the FedEx man brought me a sexy new Macbook last night! Yay! It's funny how disconnected I felt without access to the web. I know I existed for most of my life without it, but, boy you sure get used to having it! Being iced-in for two days without internet access made it seem so much worse, too.  

I've been doing a little Christmas sewing lately. I made some teacher gifts, gift pouches for all the nieces and nephews, a Strawberry Shortcake apron for my little bit, and a Super Sleuth (those with young kids will know them from My Friends Tigger and Pooh) costume for a wee friend. I have been really slacking on my Etsy shop. I don't know if it's just a bit of burnout or what, but I just haven't been into it lately. I've been happy sewing all sorts of non-business things, but when it comes to sewing for the shop I just can't muster the want-to. The feeling's been coming in waves over the past few months.... I'm sure the etsy love will return eventually. :)

Anyway, I'll stop rambling now.  

And the winner is......

drumroll.... Colleen!
Thanks so much to all of you who sent such sweet comments! This was lots of fun and I'm sure I will hold another again sometime. Colleen, I'll email you to get your address so these can get on their way.

In other news, my computer died. :( My emac had a long run and now it runs no more. However, I have a sexy new Macbook on the way. I'm mooching off Jason's computer at work till the new one gets here, so I won't be able to respond to emails and such quite as quickly as I might normally. Here's to hoping that 3-5 day shipping takes 3 days!

It's a Giveaway!

I want to pass along some good cheer, so I am hosting a giveaway. Hooray! To enter, all you have to do is comment on this post.  Say anything you want, just make sure that I have some way of getting in touch with you if you win. If you have a blog or even an etsy shop, that will do. I don't want to drag this out too long, so I'll end this thing Wednesday morning, the 10th, after I get the kiddo off to school (roughly 8a.m. Central time). I will use a random number generator and that post will win a super cute zippered pouch and a sweet little tissue holder. I made the items nice and light so I'm happy to ship internationally (although I'll likely have to leave the tissues out of the holder, sorry).  

  So get yourself entered and maybe you'll win a little something for yourself or something to give to a super lucky friend.  *One more thing - Through Wed., I'll offer you guys 15% off any purchase of $10 or more in my Etsy shop.  Just put "giveaway15" in the note to seller and I will send you a revised invoice through paypal for the adjusted total. If you'd rather not wait for me to send an invoice, you can pay the full amount and I will send you a partial refund, but you gotta leave me a message in the note to seller. :)

The zippered pouch is approx. 7 3/4" wide x 6 1/2" tall (20 x 16.5 cm).  The fabric is a dark brown linen blend topped with Ginger Blossom by Sandi Henderson.  The lining is a heavy, yet smooth muslin.  I also added some pretty sparkle with a button accent.  I would so carry this as a cute little clutch!

The tissue holder is made with fabric from Heather Bailey's Freshcut line and the same smooth muslin.  Again, I dipped into my button stash to add a little cuteness.

Special Gifts and Giveaways - Oh My!

This week has been very gifty.  On Wednesday, Sew Mama Sew hosted a giveaway day where lots and lots of crafty blogs held giveaways.... and I won one!!!  Oh, and you are gonna be jealous.  I won a box of beautiful fabric from Oh, Fransson one of my favorite blogs.  She is a super crafter and always has the most beautiful and fun projects going!  You must check her out.  But, the really exciting thing for you guys is that I want to keep the giving going so I'm tomorrow I'm going to host my own giveaway!!!  I don't know exactly what the gift will be yet, but I promise it will be worth checking out!

Yesterday, I mailed out my AREtsy secret santa gift.  I really love doing swaps.  I feel like I can really be creative, more so than when I'm creating for my shop.  I just hope she likes them!  I feel pretty safe posting a picture here because she should have it today and the chances of ruining the surprise are pretty slim I think.  So....

My person is getting this crafty little set of goodies.  The tissue holder is made with one of my favorite Japanese import fabrics, the house ornament is embroidered with that cute pattern from vol.25, and the little embroidered button pattern is from pimp stitch.  

Finally, the most special gift this week came from the big man himself - Santa.  I took Taylor to see Santa at the mall yesterday after school and she brought with her a teeny bell to give to Santa to give to Rudolf.  She sat on his lap and gave him the little bell and in return he gave her his bell.  How cool is that?!  The look on her face was absolutely priceless.  

Kids + Christmas Crafts = FUN!

I've never been one to buy tons of decorations and go bananas getting the house all gussied-up for Christmas.  In the pre-Taylor days, we would put up a tree (maybe), but that's about it.  I do a bit more decorating now, but I still just can't seem to make myself buy tons of stuff.  Partly it is because I know that as Taylor goes through school we are going to accumulate lots of the best kinds of decorations..... the kid-made kind!  We really just started to this year. 

 

First, she made the super glittery paper chain above that is the exact right size for our mantle with her Grandma.

Over Thanksgiving, my aunt brought craft supplies for the kids to make these hangings to count down the days till Christmas.  There's a cute little poem at the top and then a little bell at the bottom. You get to take a candy cane everyday and when you get to the bell you know it's Christmas! Kids got to glue on the sequins and decorate the top (Taylor's has a little tree).  The bigger kids and grown-ups got to sew on all the yarn to tie the candy canes.  

And, finally, we have the one that was the most fun to make.  I bought some styrofoam balls and let her cover them with Mod Podge and fabric scraps.  It's super messy (Of course, that's what makes it fun!) so we did one half, let it dry, then did the rest.  After the fabric was dry I gave it an outer coating.  I used a pretty pin to attach a ribbon and there you have it!