The Edge of Reason

Birthday Bashes: Alyssa turns 19 and Fiskars is 360 years old!

Every parent says it: "Where does the time go?" I've been asking myself this question since the day Alyssa turned thirteen - that golden age of transition. Six years later, a few harrowing moment, a lot of wonderful memories, and at least a million "I love yous,"  she turned nineteen - that wonderful age of almost there... almost an adult... almost done with the business of growing up. And still I ask, "Where did the time go?" Because as I see it, she's so close to being there - the adult she so wants to be.

As we celebrated her nineteenth birthday yesterday, I was on an emotional roller-coaster - smiling one moment, and crying the next. The smile was my joy - the joy of who she was and who she has become. The tears were because I was remembering the day she was born, and although it was almost two decades ago, it remains one of my favorite lifetime moments. I kept thinking about how tiny she was that long ago day. And I remembered feeling so helpless as the doctor placed her in my arms; I remembered the overwhelming feeling of love that encompassed my entire being; and I remembered thinking she is my reason for life. And as I recalled all those emotions, I realized that I still feel helpless as a mother, and that overwhelming feeling of love that encompassed my soul - it has only grown stronger. So I guess the tears were joyful, in spite of my constant desire for a do-over because, as I've said many times before, I'm still not ready to say good-bye to my baby girl.

We didn't have a birthday party for Alyssa this year (she said she was too old for that), but we did honor her day by making a special birthday dinner, eating a beautiful cake, and taking the annual birthday photos.

As Alyssa was reviewing the options for her special dinner menu, John, Jeff and I were all holding our breath with anticipation because she is now a vegetarian (Jeff calls her Edgy the Veggie), and the rest of us are still meat eaters. Some of the things she comes up with are not our idea of "celebratory" meals! This year, she decided on Ratatouille. None of us have ever eaten Ratatouille, but it sure is fun to say! And once Jeff put it together (based upon a recipe she provided), we all decided that it looks really pretty on the grill. In the end, it was a delightful celebration dinner. Thankfully, Jeff added some chicken for John and me because we tend to like our protein in the form of meat. We also like cake - thankfully, we all agree on that since no animals were killed in the process <--- yes, we hear this speech a lot, and she is doing a pretty good job of swaying each of us to begin thinking her way, but I doubt any of us will ever have the passion for the subject that she has come to find. Go Alyssa... passion is good!

Here are the pictures from the celebration meal and the annual photo shoot - it was a good day all the way around!

And now... let's talk about Fiskars! The company is 360 years old this year. Amazing! Lucky me, as one of the Nifty Fifty Fiskateers I had the opportunity to work with one of the Lead Fiskateers, Wendy Jo Avey, at the GASC Crop Party last weekend where we celebrated everything Fiskars. It was a wave of orange all the way around and I had the time of my life meeting new friends and sharing the Fiskars love. It doesn't get much better than that when it comes to working an event (I don't even think of it as work when it is that much fun).

We began the evening by giving away Fiskars products to everyone who attended the crop. Almost every single person had at least one Fiskars tool in their crop bag, and it was clear to see that crafters the world over love Fiskars products:


After the general give-away, Wendy Jo held drawings and gave away products to the Fiskateers who were in attendance. We managed to get a nice group photo after everyone ogled their new goodies:


And to complete the GASC Fiskars Birthday Bash, we ate cake, because... really... no birthday party is complete without cake!


I like cake! Alyssa's cake, Fiskars cake, any kind of cake. Cake is good. It makes me happy and says happy birthday like nothing else. And so although I have no more cake to eat, I once again wish a happy birthday to my special daughter, and a very happy 360th year to Fiskars.

Cheers!

~ back in the saddle again ~

It feels like putting on a favorite pair of old shoes - comfortable, familiar, and oh-so right. That's where I'm at, because for the first time in a year, I will return to doing what I know best: working in the craft industry. Not writing, not designing (I've been doing that all along), but actually working with the owners, the vendors and the consumers - in person, up close, and for real at a convention. Bonus for me since I will be reunited with my friends from Luxe during the day, and I will get to put on my orange cowboy hat to work with my friends at Fiskars in the evening.

When I was first contacted to do the work, I felt like a poser... I mean... really... I've not done this for over a year, and during that time, I've completely stepped away from everything and anything industry related. I've become so consumed with raising the child I have left at home - health scares, home-bound schooling, grades, bad decisions, court appearances, and then making it all right - I forgot how to focus on me and I had forgotten how to do what I know best, because I am the first to admit that parenting teens is NOT what I do best... I do MY best, but I do not excel at the task. Because whether I admit or ignore it, crafting is what I know inside and out. It's in my blood. It defines who I am more so than anything else on earth. Crafting is my passion and my escape. And I'd forgotten that I need to do this as much as I need to eat and breathe. How could I have let that happen? Life. Life took over, and somewhere along the way I'd lost myself. Funny thing: I didn't even know I'd gone missing!

For the past month, I've stressed over the jobs: will I fit in? Will I remember how to work a booth? Will I do right by the companies I'm working with? Will I make a fool of myself? Will people remember me? But then something happened on the way to this weekend... it all came back to me and I went from feeling inadequate to feeling excited and exhilarated. And now that the convention is two short days away, I can honestly say that I am so excited to be back in the saddle again. I can't wait to meet with Luxe and work with the girls. And I am looking forward to seeing fellow Fiskateers. A convention - what better way than a convention to jump back on the horse?

As I reminisce about what I used to do and what I will be doing again, I am reminded that old friends and new friends are what I miss the most about the work. People. I miss the people who share my love of crafting. These are people who understand the passion, and because these people share that passion... we all have the same burning desire to make pretty things as we create works of heart.

And so for those in the northern Virginia area who will be attending the Great American Scrapbook Convention at the Chantilly Expo Center... stop by, say hello! I'll be at the Luxe booth during the day and with the Fiskateers during the crop.

And for those whom I've worked with in the past and whom I hope to work with again, I've missed you, dear friends. I got lost for a while, but I'm finding my way back. I'm back in the saddle again - and I hope to see ya'll soon!

Fiskars Crafts Summer School Give-Away Winners...

Fiskars Crafts Summer School classes are such a great way to learn something new during the lazy days of summer. I am finding that every class is unique and inspirating. To all those who took on the challenge and tried their hand with the sewing machine applique class - I hope you had fun!

In relation to the applique class offered at Summer School, today is the day that the winners of the give away are announced. And so without further ado, I will do just that. Thank you to everyone who took the time to sign up for the drawing.

To keep things official and organized, I wrote down all the names on little cards. I then placed the cards inside a basket and shuffled them all around.


After placing the names in the basket, I drew out one name for the first project in the class. Congratulations to Kasey for winning the apron!


The next drawing was for the second project featured in the class. Congratulations to Colleen for winning the summer tote!


The final drawing was for the Fourth of July kitchen set which includes two kitchen towels and four cloth napkins. Congratulations to Janeal for winning the holiday collection.

These three lucky winners will be notified via email and the project packages will be sent out in the next few days.

Thank you, again, for joining in on the fun - happy summer crafting!

 

Fiskars Give-away, John's Prom, the Internet, and Stormy Weather <---- in no particular order and totally unrelated!

This weekend I discovered something new about myself: I am hopelessly addicted to the internet. The realization occurred while we were without internet connection for two days. I felt lost... helpless... out of touch... out of sorts... and most of all... out of patience. What makes me laugh is that two days later Verizon continues to call us with a recorded message saying that they are still working on the problem. Okay. Thanks. The "problem" was corrected on Monday. But we appreciate the interruption three times a day - NOT (talk about lack of communication within a company).

As soon as our internet was back up and running, I did a little happy dance <--- yes, I have one of those and, in fact, several of my friends have actually seen me do the happy dance. My kids, on the other hand, despise the dorky dance, and so I try to limit my antics to times when they are not within the viewing area. It was too bad that immediately following my happy dance, a big storm rolled in with a whole lot of thunder and a little bit of lightening. I quickly unplugged the computer, not wanting a power surge to mess up my recent rekindling of the love affair I have with internet connection. I fear my happy dance may now be referred to as a rain dance since that is what it brought on in full force.

Things seem to have calmed down now, which means all is once again well in my world and I can proceed as planned, albeit four days behind schedule.

So first things first: for the past few weeks I've been working on a project for Fiskars on-line Summer School program. This week, I am the guest designer on the site and the class is up and ready to go. And so for anyone who has ever wanted to try their hand at sewing machine applique on small scale projects, this class is for you: Applique with Fiskars Templates.

In addition to the class at Fiskars, I am also offering my own promotional give-away of the featured projects. The class includes instructions for applique on a denim apron, a medium sized tote, and a festive Fourth of July kitchen collection that includes decorative towels and cloth napkins - these three finished projects are the items I will be giving away via a drawing. To sign up for the drawing, just leave a comment on this post including your real name and true email address (I need to be able to contact the winners via correct information). On Wednesday of next week, June 17, I will draw three names and will announce the winners here on the blog. So that gives you a full week to try your hand at applique as well as to spread the word about Fiskars Summer School classes and this drawing. I hope you enjoy the projects as much as I enjoyed making them!

And finally, another year, another teenager, another prom. These proms just do me in. There is so much behind the scenes work that goes into getting a teenager ready for their prom. With Alyssa, it was much easier (but far more expensive) because she is a take charge kind of girl and did everything on her own. But with John, things are different. I swear - boys are so weird. They just don't care about dances as much as girls do. I had to do everything from picking out the tuxedo (he wasn't interested in looking at the book), to buying the tickets (he almost forgot), to ordering the corsage the night before (his girlfriend reminded me), to printing out directions to the prom (once they got to dinner, they realized they didn't know how to get to the prom). Seriously... it wore me out. But the truth is, I wouldn't give it up for the world and I am well aware that my days with this child are short. And so although it wears me out and does me in, I cherish every single moment that he still allows me to participate in his life.

Following are a few of the pictures taken before the Prom. I was only able to take a handful of pictures because, again, boys are weird and they just want to get on with the show. But the pictures I took are priceless to me, and in the end, that is what matters:

One more year... I only have one more year of being a "prom mom." My hope is that my children's recollections of high school and their proms are every bit as wonderful as mine are because the best things I have done in my life are named Alyssa and John, and Prom Night for John is one more treasured memory I now have to add to the corner of my heart that is reserved for everything wonderful and special.

Tee-shirt applique - a how to pictorial instruction guide

Before Alyssa's Spring Break began, she started a list of things she wanted to do while she was home from college. The number one item on her list was to sew the Greek letters of her sorority onto tee-shirts. Knowing that there are a lot of "rules" that go with being in a sorority, I asked her to make sure that it was not "illegal" for us to make our own letters. She promptly followed through and was told that we could make our own Chi-Omega letters, but the letters had to be identical to those that were used for official sorority business and activities. Once she received the go-ahead, she was gung-ho to begin this project.

As the person who would be designing and sewing the letters, I felt a lot of pressure to not screw this up. First of all, I've never appliqued on tee shirts before. I've made tee-shirts back in the days when I used my serger to sew clothing for my kids - but I've never embellished the tee shirts using the applique method, and because tee-shirt material is very stretchy and loose, I was concerned with how to go about this project without messing it up. I also didn't want to let her down since she is not one to ask favors of me. The fact that she actually asked me to do this for her was proof of much this project meant to her.

And so after stressing for an entire weekend (she couldn't stop talking about it), I took a deep breath and tackled the project yesterday. When I realized how very easy this project is, I knew that I had to pass along the instructions, because not only is this an easy project, it is also one of the most inexpensive projects I have ever made.

Following are the instructions... I've tried to include enough pictures for each step in order to keep it simple.

Supplies required for this project are:

1. A tee-shirt - available at Michael's (cost of $3.99)
2. Wonder Under paper backed fusible webbing
3. Tear-Away Stabilizer - I prefer the roll, but it can be purchased in a package also
4. Grid paper to trace pattern on - available at any office supply store in tablets
5. Fabric - we purchased fat quarters at JoAnn's (cost of 99 cents each!)
6. Coordinating thread
7. A sewing machine with a zig-zag stitch (I set the width to 4.5mm and the length to .7 mm)
8. An ironing board and iron

These are the original [read "official"] tee-shirts that I used as a pattern guide - the girls have been spending anywhere from $20 to $30 for each tee-shirt at the local mall. When personalizing your own projects, any image can be used to create a pattern. Coloring books work well, as do computer images of objects such as baseballs, bats, footballs, flowers, peace signs, computer fonts, etc. Just print out the image you want to use and then make a pattern out of it. You can size it on the computer before printing, which makes this step fast and easy (unless you are following sorority guidelines!).

After selecting an image to recreate, a pattern needs to be made - I use the grid paper for proper sizing.

Once the pattern has been designed, trace the image onto the Wonder Under. Iron the image to the WRONG side of the fabric... let cool before trimming to size.

Before the sewing begins, stabilizer must be attached to the WRONG side of the tee-shirt (the inside-out side). I baste a square or rectangle and later remove the basting stitches before tearing away the excess.

Now comes the fun part: sewing. Remove the backing of the Wonder Under and iron the shapes onto the RIGHT side of the fabric. I iron one layer at a time, and then sew that layer. After each layer is sewn, I iron on the next layer and sew that. To put it another way - when appliqueing multiple layers, the process is to stack one upon the other, sewing a layer at a time. I use a zig-zag stitch around the edges, making sure to catch all raw edges. There is no pre-fold hem required, as the wide, tight zig-zag stitches and the sticky back Wonder Under will finish the edges.

To finish the project, remove the basting stitches that hold the stabilizer in place and then tear away the excess stabilizer (see noted photos above). Press tee-shirt to fill in any basting stitch needle marks that may still appear - these will go away once they are pressed back into place.

Here is what the finished projects look like:

 

My total cost for each tee-shirt was $5.33. Note that this does not include the price of the Wonder Under or the stabilizer. If those items are purchased specifically for this project, the base cost will increase substantially. However, one package of Wonder Under is 2 yards in length and that will make over 20 tee-shirts. A roll of stabilizer is also 2 yards in length. Therefore, these supplies are what I consider to be staple materials, so I do not factor in these items in the overall cost of the tee-shirts.

So there you have it - a simple and very low budget project that can be completed in a day. Each tee-shirt took two hours to make, which included tracing the Greek letters, and all of the cutting, ironing and stitching. Like I said, I'm slow when it comes to sewing, and I'm sure that most people would be able to speed up the production time... I'm just not most people... I'm one of those slow people.

Alyssa is thrilled. She has already started to brainstorm more sorority projects. In fact, she wants to sell these tee-shirts to the girls in her sorority (once again, I told her that she absolutely had to get permission to do so before she started advertising tee-shirts for sale!). After she decided that selling Greek letter tee-shirts was a good idea, she then asked me if I would be willing to make them for that purpose. This made me giggle. I honestly think she believes that all I do is sew my life away - maybe a tad bit accurate, but not the entire truth... I do have a few other activities in my life! Anyway, I told her that I would consider making more, but that if I were to sell them, I would do so via the [still not created] Etsy Shop so that she would not be responsible for collecting the money.

When all is said and done, I'm pleased with the results of this project, and I feel honored that Alyssa would trust me enough to ask me to do something sorority related. It's been so much fun having her home. She's grown up a lot and she is really fun to spend time with. Once again, I am tickled with this turn of events. Spring Break has never been one of my favorite "breaks", mostly due to the not-so-spring-like weather that occurs every year, in addition to high expectations from kids who have no concept that the entire world is not on spring break. Now that Alyssa has been in college for almost a year, she finally understands that March weather is probably going to be crappy, the world doesn't revolve around spring break, and having a break from classes is worth celebrating regardless of the weather or the lack of a BIG EVENT. The BIG EVENT, in this case, is having her home. And in my world, that's huge!

The project that took forever, and other nonsense

I will be the first to admit that I sew slowly. I live by the rule that the slow and steady win the race, whereas the fast and furious crash and burn - at least, when it comes to sewing, that has been my experience - I crash and burn every single time I try to speed up the process... and so I sew slow. I like to think that by doing so, I am able to enjoy the experience all the more. But the real truth is that when I sew slowly, I make fewer mistakes and my stitches are more accurate. In the end, this saves me from having to rip out my work, which I do enough of as it is even with the slow going. In recent years, I've come to refer to my slow and steady pace as The Amish Method, because those people make the most beautiful things, and they do so without electricity - instead, they use treadle machines and turn the wheel by hand. Okay... I don't sew that slow, but sometimes it comes close.

And so when this project, now referred to as the Daisy Kitchen Collection, ended up taking me over two weeks to complete, even I began to wonder if maybe I should speed things up a bit. But with the recent medical issues (a visit to the hospital is a pretty good reason to stop sewing for at least a day), and a son who is turning into a teenage hellion (his latest antics don't even warrant documentation because they are so lame... the boy needs to use his brain!)... well, slow going began to look better than no going at all, because even though things were progressing at a snail's pace, I was able to see progress each and every day.

This project is one that I intend to add to the growing inventory of the still to be determined Etsy Shop. I came up with the design late one night as I was looking through a magazine - there was an advertisement for some brand of allergy medication and the ad design inspired me to think of blues and yellows with daisies scattered about. And so at 11:30 at night, I got out my sketch pad and I started to draw daisies of all kinds (some of those daisies were really bad - but that's how things work... start with the bad and end up with something that fits the concept). The next morning I dug through my fabric stash and pulled out all my blue and yellow material, but I didn't like my choices, so I clipped a coupon and off I went to the fabric store. I found some daisy fabric that perfectly suited the concept I had in mind, and thus began "The Project That Took Forever."

Below is the end result of two weeks of start and stop slow sewing. This is only the third project that I have conceptualized, designed, and developed from start to finish on my own. The pattern is in my mind and if I had to make it again, it would probably turn out differently because that's how my mind works - I go with the flow and wing it as I go. This kitchen set is simple... but I like how it turned out:

Now, the nonsense about my son - the one who is turning into a teenage hellion: I am so blessed to have a support team of friends and family who are always willing to listen to my woes and to offer words of encouragement. Yesterday, I received an email from a very special friend, and I think that she summed things up perfectly. I wanted to share her words because I believe they apply to any teenager who is struggling to find their way, regardless of the actual situation - I do believe that this observation is spot on and applies to all teenagers:

John. Sigh. From the outside looking in I see a young man who rebels as his way of being ‘normal’ and taking control of his life since otherwise he is not normal and not in control of his body, his situation. it is the only way he has come up with to be a ‘normal’ teen.  Then he will be viewed as the bad ass and not the sick kid.  Again, only my two cents. By dancing with the law he is not pitied or babied as he probably is by other adults in his life. You and others react with anger and other strong feelings instead of letting him slip by because of his condition. He is testing you and others….’look what I did – love me still?’. He may have felt that your love and support came from his illness – especially with a gorgeous and successful sister going before him.  maybe if he sees that his actions might have dire consequence he may rethink them….juvie hall? “prison school” ? (something we have here) some other form of institutionalization? If he realizes you cannot cope with his actions and will not tolerate them….. I don’t know. this is a tough one.

And so to this friend, I say thank you... thank you for putting things into perspective and for helping me see outside of the problem that is so close to my heart... so close, and painful, and frightening that I am often unable to see beyond the moment. After much consideration, I know she's right - John is at the stage where he is going to need to face outside consequences for his irresponsible and unacceptable actions, and when that happens, only then will he realize that my love for him is unconditional. Unfortunately, his consequences may be something that he pays for in ways that he has yet to think through. And so in the meantime, I continue to love, to pray, to support, to guide, and to live in constant fear that his actions are going to harm him in ways that a mother can't fix.

To end this entry on a positive note (and another bit of nonsense), I thought I'd share an elusive photo with you. This is the ONLY picture that has been taken of me and my husband in over ten years, and although I posted it on Facebook, I thought that it also needed to be added to the archives of the blog. I offer it as proof that I really am married... there really is a spouse... I really do love him... and he really does exist in more than just my mind:

 
Kelly and Jeff - photo taken shortly before our 20 year wedding anniversary.

As some final nonsense and a bit of daily trivia: Alyssa is home this weekend because she's been so sick at college, we decided to bring her home to her own bed and to see her own doctor. I'll be in full-blown mother mode for the next few days. And when all is said and done, that is the one thing that makes the most happy, even though I feel terrible that my college student is too sick to stay in the dorm!

Happy weekend to all - and to my own mother, I send happy birthday wishes. Smooches to you, Mom, enjoy your birthday and celebrate your life!

My idea of a perfect afternoon.

One of my very favorite people in the world is my little six year old friend, Miss B. I love spending time with her because she is funny and clever and oh-so smart. I get downright giddy when she stops by to play with the dogs because that means an afternoon of giggles. And she dances... she will actually dance with me when I turn on the music. One of our favorite things to do is share the iPod earbuds and dance to our favorite songs (she's a huge Carrie Underwood fan, so we sing and dance when Carrie is on the iPod).

At Christmas time, Miss B wrote Santa a letter requesting a sewing machine of her very own. In the letter, she included a paragraph explaining that it would be okay for her to have a sewing machine because her babysitter's mom (me) knew how to sew and would be happy to give her lessons. Good 'ole Santa - he came through with flying colors and Miss B is now the proud owner of her very own grown-up sewing machine. And me... well, I'm the teacher! But first off, I had to figure out how to use her machine since I was not familiar with the Janome brand. But now we have that figured out, and we are off and running with the sewing lessons.

Today we had Miss B's second sewing lesson. Honestly, I have not had this much fun in ages! It doesn't hurt that the pupil is a true natural and has taken to sewing like nobody's business. It also helps that she reads at a 4th grade level, so she is able to follow written instructions with ease. But the best part is that I love this girl. She is such a delight to be with - she makes me happy!

Here is a pictorial recap of today's lesson... these pictures make me smile:

Student and teacher (she's only six years old!)

Miss B does it all by herself... every single stitch!

Filling the finished bag with Valentines to take to school tomorrow.

Sweet success and a very happy girl!

A job well done and a great finished project. Cute model, too!

Did I mention she made this entire bag all by herself... in less than two hours... without any mistakes at all? Truly, the child has a gift. And you have to know that I am thrilled knowing that my favorite six year old has become the newest convert to my happy place.

Seriously, this is my idea of a perfect afternoon. The pictures make me smile, as does thinking about how much fun it is to spend time with Miss B. Add in some sewing... and... well... this is about as close to heaven as I've been in a long time.

You may have been wondering...

... where I've been. And because I don't want to offend those who are waiting for emails, and for the handful of people who loyally continue to check the blog, I provide this information:

Not fun. Without going into details, I will just say that I'm in the process of blood therapy, testing, procedures, and consulting with specialists. I'm also trying not to be mad at God, because although I know He is good, I'm not appreciating His sense of humor. First John, now me? I see nothing funny about that at all.

So there you have it: my absence is due to some physical difficulties and I am a tad bit overwhelmed, a whole lot stressed, and a quite a bit freaked out.

In order to keep the blog happy and upbeat, I thought I'd post a couple of sneak peek pictures of some of the projects I'd been working on before the health glitch:

The two projects above are items that I plan to add to the [maybe to happen] Etsy shop.

For the pillow, I made a cover/case that I placed on a small pillow that I use for back support when I am crocheting. I loved this fabric so much that I went back to the store and purchased three more yards. With the additional fabric, I think I am going to make some matching over-sized throw pillows for my sofa. What doesn't show up in the photo is the gold outlines around each flower - the fabric is exquisite and almost too classy for a pillow case. Had I known how fancy it was, I probably would have chosen something less formal to use as a back support. As it is, I think I now have a new favorite fabric-ever! I seriously love this fabric.

Current projects in the works are applique table settings as well as another 15 point star table centerpiece with matching placemats (more possible Etsy additions - if and when I decide to open a shop). However, the process is slow going due to the current health issues and so these projects are taking a long time to complete because when I'm not in the hospital or at medical appointments and therapies, I seem to be sleeping - the medication makes me so drowsy that I've even had to give up some of my favorite television shows (American Idol and Lost!). For those who know me, giving up my television shows is something I am not very happy about.

When all is said and done, I've decided that it often takes a crisis to remind me of how precious my health is. I am also reminded of how very thankful I am to have such a passion for sewing - it is my escape from the reality of this current crisis.

Oh, and about being mad at God... I'm not really mad at Him... but I do seriously question His timing. I guess his clock runs a bit differently than the one I am using.

Pink Hearts & Doggy Scarves

2009 started out with a very loud bang - and it is not the kind of bang I was hoping would ring in the new year. Therefore, in answer to the question, "where have you been?" I will just say this about that: parenting a wayward, rebellious, angry teenage son is nothing to blog about - I am emotionally worn out, and I have reached the end of my rope. But if I were to blog about the experience, words such as illegal, police, temptations, peer pressure, and trouble would surely be included. Having said that, I am just going to skip right over all other recent developments. (No one will ever accuse me of lacking the ability to tune out my reality!)

And so with the beginning of a new year, and a burning desire to maintain my sanity through all the craziness that surrounds me, I once again turned to the sewing machine - but before doing so, I loudly proclaimed to my family that I was going to my happy place, and may the good Lord help anyone who dared question my motives. Needless to say, they left me alone.

The first thing I did was an attempt to remind myself that love abounds even when disappointments occur. With that thought in mind, I went to the fabric store and purchased yards and yards of pink heart fabric because 1) I love pink, and 2) Valentine's Day is the next holiday on the calendar. After looking at the fabric for a few days, I came up with a pattern and design late one night when I was trying not to wallow in parenting hell. This Valentine table setting is nothing fancy, but it makes me happy. I made the circles using various sizes of kitchen drinking glasses. I made the strips using a rotary cutter and quilting ruler. The place mats were made by tracing something else I had sewn last summer. All applique work was sewn with my Baby Lock machine using the applique stitch and contrasting thread. Easy, breezy, pink heart fun!

Here is what I ended up with to remind myself that love is all around:

After completing the pink heart project, I still had oodles of fabric left over, and so I sketched out a pattern similar to something I had seen last fall at a craft fair. I've been wanting to make one of these circle thingies for ages, but could never figure out how to do so. It took me four attempts to get the measurements right, and I ended up throwing the first three prototypes away. I finally recruited my husband to help me out and together we were able to calculate the proper cutting lines and exact dimensions. Without his calm approach and exceptional patience, I doubt I would have ever been able to complete this design. As it is, I've now made two sets and have the entire project down to a single day. I'm thinking about opening an Etsy Shop, and so this was a test project. I'm still undecided about the Etsy Shop, but in the meantime, I'm having fun thinking about it and working on possible inventory.

And finally, a just because story because this provided a laugh out loud moment when I needed it most:

The way my mom, Jenny, Debbie and I email each other is all together - so what one person writes, everyone reads (although I have to say that I think Jenny reads much more than she writes!). On Christmas day, Debbie sent an email wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and commented on the Christmas scarf that her dog, Sophie, was wearing. Apparently, Jenny had made the scarf for Sophie as a little doggy gift. Later that day, Jenny responded to the email saying that her dog, Chloe, had a Christmas scarf on as well. Harrumph. No scarves here in Virginia! I was feeling left out.

The following week, I had to sew up some new diaper wraps for my poor little pitiful dog who is still in a wheelchair due to paralysis. When I was done with the dreaded project (I really hate sewing doggy diaper wraps), my husband commented that Misty was the best dressed dog in the whole wide world. I told him that she was NOT the best dressed dog because she did not warrant an Aunt Jenny Christmas scarf. I also passed the comment along to my sister via the family email route, making sure she knew that I noticed the scarf favoritism.

Later that week, Jeff went out to the mailbox and when he came inside, he was chuckling to himself. He then waved a letter in front of me and said, "Misty got mail." I grabbed the envelope and tore it open to discover a lovely new Aunt Jenny scarf made especially for Misty. Oh happy day! Doggy mail. What fun! If I open an Etsy Shop, dog scarves will definitely be included in the inventory. These scarves are so stinkin' cute!

That my sister would make Misty a scarf and send it to my dog in the mail made me laugh until I cried. The scarf arrived on a day when John and I had been going at each other like never before, and I was to the point of throwing in my parenting towel and going on a very long vacation to Never-Neverland. I so greatly appreciate the fact that Jenny saw humor in my utter disgust that Misty was overlooked at Christmas time. That she would spend her day off making a doggy scarf meant more to me than anything else at that moment in time, and it reminded me that no matter how far away she lives, my sister is there just when I need her most. Three cheers for Jenny - she made me laugh! I love you, sis.

Oh... good news: I have a new laptop. It's a Sony Vaio that is sangria red and it is absolutely wonderful. When I opened this gift from my husband on Christmas Day, I was utterly speechless (I thought I was getting a new coffee maker). It's taken me a while to figure out how to transfer programs and such, but I think I have finally figured out how to work with the pictures using Vista, which was the most important thing to learn, second only to trying to remember my user names and passwords for various personal files and websites. If things on the blog look wonky, the fault is solely my own due to inexperience with the laptop and Adobe.

A very belated Happy New Year to all. My hope is that it only gets better, because if it gets any worse, a trip to Never-Neverland just still might happen.

Now this is Christmas!

Alyssa is home! And she brought her roommate with her. What a treat it has been to have both girls home for the holidays. Haley works at The Patriot Center and she was unable to go home until after her pay period ended, so she joined our family for a few days while she traveled back and forth from the campus of GMU to our house. It was so much fun seeing these girls together - they truly are like sisters. They spent the first few days of their winter break playing with my scrapbook supplies, watching movies, and sleeping... these girls know how to sleep!

And so with Alyssa home, our house has become a whirlwind of activity before the holiday. We've had Haley coming and going, Alyssa working the overnight shifts at Hollister, John trying to keep up with his tutors, nurses and social life, and me trying to finish up last minute Christmas preparations. At one point, we had Haley packing to go home while another friend moved into the guest room just three hours later - barely time to change the sheets and wash the towels! That same night, we had one of John's friends crashed out on our downstairs sofa while John and his girlfriend watched a movie in the upstairs family room... five teenagers all at once! The front door just kept revolving, leaving my head spinning and my pantry emptying faster than I could keep up. Note that this activity occurred at 2:30 in the morning and I was left to wonder exactly what sort of hours these college girls keep while living on campus with no rules at all.

It's been fun, but I just can't keep up with the teenagers.

Through it all, I managed to finish the final holiday sewing project:

 

This is a child's size 8 apron that I made as an anonymous donation to a family our neighborhood sponsored this Christmas (Simplicity Pattern # 4286). I had so much fun sewing something for a little girl - it brought back many memories of years gone by when I used to make Alyssa's Christmas dresses each year. I had forgotten how cute those little girl projects can be (and now I want grand babies, but I'm going to keep that wish to myself for a few more years!).

Speaking of neighbors: one of my neighbors had the wonderful idea that we all work together this holiday season and sponsor a family from a local church. She organized the project like a pro and we began gathering gifts in early November. Yesterday she hosted a wrapping party -

 

Participating in this project has been my greatest reward of the season. I was overwhelmed seeing the generosity of my friends and neighbors, and I was honored to have been asked to make the apron for a deserving little girl. In addition to the apron, Alyssa and I shopped for the mother. We had fun selecting items that we thought would make her life easier (jumbo sized bath towels), and more relaxing (a new coffee maker). As I spent the afternoon with my neighbors, I was reminded that when everyone gives a little, the result turns out to be a lot. It is my sincere desire that we make this an annual holiday tradition because this is really what Christmas is all about.

While at the wrapping party, Alyssa was able to spend time with our very favorite six year old friend. I almost stared to cry as we walked in the door and Little Miss B ran across the room and threw herself into Alyssa's arms. She held on very tightly and didn't want to stop hugging Alyssa - the look on her face was pure love and adoration. Afterwords, Alyssa told me that seeing Miss B was what she had been looking forward to more than anything else this holiday season.

 

When I take a minute to stop and soak it all in, I realize that this is what Christmas feels like: family, friends, love, laughter, and joy - and I am thankful to be blessed with these gifts - because I know that each moment is a memory and each memory is a treasure.

From my house to yours, I wish you a very Merry Christmas as you gather treasured memories of your own this holiday season.