This is just a quick post to show you my twins. They are all done and halfway to their new home by now. For anyone who wants to make a Fancy Nancy for themselves, she is a free pattern by Judith Prior. Just follow the link.... Fancy Nancy. then scroll to the bottom of the page and look for the freebies link.
I have two doll books for sale. If you are a Kathe Kruse fan, I have her Treasury of Kathe Kruse Dolls Album 3 book. It's hard cover, has 126 pages and is copyright 1984. It's in very good shape although just slightly aged but given it's a book of 25 years old, I think that's pretty good. No torn pages and still has the original dust jacket. Measures approx. 11" tall x 9" wide x 1/2" thick. Here's a picture. I think if you click on the image it will show larger for you.
The second book is Cloth Dolls - How to Make Them by Miriam Gourley. Same dimensions as the first book. In very good shape also, just one small bump on the top corner, but otherwise in great shape. It has 158 pages and is copyright 1991. Again if you click the image it should show larger. Each book is $10 plus postage. If interested, please leave me a comment. I will only accept PayPal (and you don't have to have an account with them now, to use that service.) Let me know....
Last year I replaced my old Janome sewing machine with a nice new one. I also got an embellisher, which might sound like a big expense right, but embellishers are really inexpensive. I also didn't get a big fancy sewing machine, so it's all good. Today I went to Sawyers, our very good sewing machine place and got myself a new Serger. My poor Bernina Bernette was so old, a 3 three machine and meant for industrial work. That might sound okay for working on heavy duty things, but it was time...lol I'm guessing that sweet little machine was almost 30 years old. I got it before we bought our house in '92 and it was a used machine then, so it has served me well. It still works and all I got was $20 for it on a trade, but they can clean her up and make her ready for a new sewer that will need one....
Here's my new machine and in the next few days I hope to actually turn something out with it. It's a brand new model, 789D and priced on sale for $469.00 for anyone wishing to look into this particular one. I noticed the actual price listed on the label and it read $899.00, so I guess this is an introductory price ??? I told the sales lady it felt like going from a Toyota to Beamer looking at the new machine. Of course it's not a big fancy machine, but for me it is. Now all my machines are new and I'm a happy girl doing the happy dance... This is my reward after gathering firewood for the past three weekends, which is no small task I assure you, but I'm getting a good set of muscles for it. Have a great weekend everyone... ;o)))
For those of you who love Raggies or know someone who does, now is your chance to try and win one. De over at Bowls N Annies is having a giveaway for this little cutie... Isn't she just the sweetest little thing. Here is the link to her blog, so click on over and enter the draw. Bowls N Annies
Boy, you post something to your blog and whooooosh, a week goes by and not a word out of me. Well it's just been that busy. I've been cleaning and sorting in my work room, working on a doll order, and on the weekend off to get more firewood. Do you think we've got enough yet...nahhhh, we're going again next weekend. Now that my back and leg muscles are back in shape with no pain, don't want to stop.
With all that, I've managed to fill up an already fully loaded box for the thrift store. I've unearthed things that I put together with like things so I know what I have and how many of them. I've been washing and ironing fabrics for clothes I'm going to make and quilting projects that I have lined up.
We've also been in touch with the Tempurpedic people regarding our mattress having a dip in it. We were busy taking pictures and measuring the dip to show them, so now that's underway and the replacement mattress should be here by the end of the week....(hope hope hope - my back would be very happy) Warranties really do work.
We also went to the store in Victoria to touch base with them as they will be delivering our replacement mattress and picked up two new pillows. Have you ever tried to find a pillow that either doesn't collapse into a pancake, push up around your head on either side or bounce your head off because it's so hard, and when you finally do get to sleep after fighting with any of these, you wake up with a crick in your neck and pain in the back from being poorly aligned........Ah the dilemma of the perfect pillow...
We got pillows. They are like the temper ones, (don't like the temper ones but these are a different style and a bit softer than the temper ones - same material but not quite so dense) They are contoured, so that your neck rests inside the curve and your head fits into the contour and only goes down enough to make it fit like a glove.
And this is half of what I've been working on. Her twin will be ready in the next day or two. Will post again when the girls are ready to travel to their new home.
I am going to break my "no resolutions" rule. Imagine that, I'm breaking the no resolutions rule to make one. This is a small rant on what I feel is an important thing (IMO).
We went yesterday to get a load of firewood which is no small task. We're up at 5, load up the truck with supplies we need, have a quick bite to eat and out the door at 6. We drive for an hour to get there, set up, saw chop and stack the wood into the truck, clean up and head home. So now we're at 10 am, I'm tired, wet from the rain, and we still had to get home and unload the truck, stack the wood and clean up. I asked hubby if he would mind stopping at a store in the area as it would save me time to not have to drive out again ( a 45 min drive each way) to pick up or order what I needed.
So off we went. I went in with a smile and said hi by name since I know her, and commented on how well she seems to be doing as the store is teaming with class offerings (painting) and there were a few students busy painting. (I haven't been there for a long time.) She kind of grunted and I dismissed that. I set about trying to deal with her but her attitude was aggressive, and completely rude and the details are not worth repeating. To sum it up, I called her back and left a message to cancel the order I placed with her and why!! I specifically went there to shop with her, to support her, and would have had to drive back there to pick up the order, but not now. I've ordered what I wanted online and in doing so, I even picked those items up on sale.
I'm usually a very calm and patient customer (those that know me know that to be true) especially when I can see they are busy and short staffed as it serves no purpose to be otherwise, they are trying their best to get to me. But, from now on when I go into a store and there is nothing urgent happening or there is no other customer in there other than me, and I get spoken to in that condescending and rude way, I will simply walk out and tell them why I am doing so.
I am truly fed up with people who are running a business and the last thing on their mind is having respect for their customers. If you don't want to deal with the public, don't have a business where you have that much contact with them. I once heard someone say that they (the store owners) aren't hungry enough, if they were, they wouldn't treat those that keep them in business with such disdain. Running a business is not easy I know that, but with the economy on a downturn at this time and many businesses struggling to stay open and many closing, wouldn't you think that you would do your best to keep those customers coming and happy so that they will come back and bring their friends. ????
This turned into a bigger rant than I intended, but the bottom line for me is that from now I will not just try to understand why someone is being rude in a store, or standing around with another employee discussing the weekend doings or some other situation where I'm being ignored or spoken to in a demeaning way.
Perhaps if we all do that, those businesses that deserve to be successful will continue, and those that don't, deserve to close. It's all about attitude and I have found some of that.... so thanks to that shop owner yesterday for her bad manners. Someone else profited from her lack of respect for me as a customer, and I learned that I don't have to take that abuse.
To end on a positive note, being angry like that was a good thing. I channeled it into a clean up of my work table and a tidy up and organizing of sewing projects and then a good vacuuming of the room, so by the time I fell into bed I earned that nights sleep, now I feel better having advocated for myself and spent time with my stuff ;o)) and got everything tidied up for the next project. Thank you for taking the time to read this.
I started this before Christmas but had to put it aside for a while to keep on top of all the holiday stuff. This is a class I did at Fabric Traders. As a side note, I've just redone Andrea's site for her as it kind of got dumped in her lap to figure out herself, so I made a new site for her and if you have time to take a look, please stop by.
This is what Andrea calls her One Meter Mat. It's learning how to chenille. I always thought it was a bit intimidating, but it's as easy as can be. It just shows you how you can stop yourself from learning by being afraid to try something. This is the first step. It's just deciding on the size of the mat and then layering all the fabrics you want to use. The bottom needs to be something more sturdy than the rest as it will be on the floor and will get the most wear. I had a stack of flannel pieces, not really big enough for anything, so I stacked the bits and pieces. Then you sew diagonal lines (supposed to be 1/2" apart....oooops, I made them 1" and cut away merrily until I had a flash of panic and asked her. Yes it's supposed to be 1/2" spaces before cutting....Oh well, I will have chunky ribs).
After you've done your sewing, its time to cut through those layers. Easy does it, you want to cut all but the last layer.
Step three is applying the binding. This picture shows that and the heavy cotton I used on the bottom.
And here's the finished product after a couple of washes. The ribs plump up in the wash, the layers separate and the edges fray a bit and does it ever feel good under your feet...
I took a class at the local fabric store yesterday. I bought a couple of little kits last year and it was one of those "best of intention" moments where I was going to create a masterpiece in my spare time... ummm, didn't quite get there.
Andrea had this class listed and I knew that was my opportunity to finally put this little kit to good use. I have more strips to do another runner, but at least I'm this far... She is calling this her Braided Runner. The class was to learn to do paper piecing which I've done a little of, but a refresher is always a good thing to have. Here it is...the first project for 2009.
I used one of the traded fabrics for the border. The one I brought wasn't going to work out. The dark border is what I already had and the braided part is done from the kit. Here's another picture with it on my coffee table and my Masi Warrior and his lady love in the center. I bought that piece of artwork on Saltspring Island. I just love it, it has such a lot of good energy around it. My eye is drawn to it whenever I'm in the room.
I'm almost finished another project. I have the binding to add then it has to be washed and dried to make it complete. I'll explain why later.. !!!!
Wow I had a busier day than I thought I would... I guess that might signal the type of year it's going to be and that's a good thing. I hope it's filled with tons of creative days. Today I spent it with a friend that I'm helping to build a website.
I don't make New Year resolutions, I stopped doing that a lot time ago. I think it's a recipe for disaster. It puts a person under to much pressure. A few years ago I decided that the only thing I would do each New Year, is promise to do my best at whatever I put my mind to be it personal or creatively.
Following my friend Serena, I've added one more concept. Serena found this post on Christine Kane's blog. The post talks about choosing a word for the year, that best applies to you and your intentions and what you see for yourself in the year ahead. The word I've chosen is Nourish.
I have since August been on a health and fitness program with the help of my Naturopath and GP. I'm doing very well with it, and so I will continue to Nourish my body with good food and exercise.
I will continue to Nourish my mind with good creative thinking and work to keep negative influences and people away from me, and surround myself with positives that keep that creative flow going.
I will also continue to Nourish my relationships with those who mean the most to me because good friends are hard to find and those relationships need to be nourished to stay healthy. With that, I will sign off. I wish you all a fantastic year ahead. Make every day count, fill it with all the things you enjoy and always find time to play.....
Happy New Year Glitter Pictures
