It's Christmas in July, part 2... and please VOTE!

YES!

My dear sister didn't want to ship this to her next destination, and asked if I would like to have it. I offered to "store" it for her, until she needs it. ((((SO excited!))))

And my sweet friend, Sophie, sent this adorable pincushion to me a little while back (along with some delicious Tim Tams for Christine, which are loooong gone). . . .

I am sorry I'm just now posting this, Sophie. It's sitting right next to my machine, and I have been putting it to good use! It's perfect. Thank you!

Time to VOTE!

Our Etsy Texas Crafters street team is hosting its monthly Design Challenge! The theme is Summer Magic, and there are quite a few submissions for this month's challenge. Please take a moment or two and vote here for your favorite Summer Magic entry. Here's my submission for the challenge. . . .

I remember sitting on my grandparents' back porch with all of my cousins and siblings, cooling down on a hot summer evening with a huge slice of watermelon. As the fireflies began to blink about in the yard, we always had a seed-spitting contest, which always quickly escalated into a seed-spitting war. This is such a fond memory from my childhood, and is what had inspired me to create this little pincushion for my shop.

Again, please take a moment and vote for your favorite Summer Magic entry! Thanks!

It's Christmas in July! Part 1

I had such a wonderful, fabulous day yesterday. My sister and her husband drove in for a visit. I only get to see this sister maybe once a year, if I'm lucky. We simply live too far apart (and are generally too poor) to be visiting each other more often than that. We laughed, visited, ate, swam, and laughed some more. The day just wasn't long enough.

While I could stop this post now, with that being the best gift ever, all by itself, I do have more loveliness to post. I'm breaking it up into 2 posts, as I don't think I could handle so much goodness in one post.

A few years back, Monkey 6 and I flew out to Hawaii, where all 3 of my sisters were living at the time. Another wonderful visit. One night, we ordered take-out and watched Waiting for Guffman. I think we probably watched it twice, plus all the extra features, and laughed until we cried most of the time. It's ridiculously silly, if you haven't watched it. Inspired by the movie, my sweet sister made this piece for me. . . .

Aside from this just being amazing in general, I can't get over her stitching! And using that metallic thread -- well, it's no picnic, and her stitches are perfect.

Her countless hours spent, her thoughtfulness and creativity, this gift, means so much to me. It will be hung in my work space, so I can see it all the time. Thank you, sis!

Thrifty steal of the day

Today, I wanted to share my latest thifty steal with you. . . .

Only $3 a piece!!! These are in perfect condition, and I love the colors! The older Monkeys gave them a bath (on the sidewalk, for all to see, of course) and now they're move-in ready. Our disgustingly ugly, non-functional classroom chairs are going to chair heaven. Trust me, they're not worth saving or even recycling.


Thrifty tip. . . . Sign up for your local thrift store's mailing list or email newsletter. Many thrift stores have these. You'll get advance notice of sales and deals before anyone else does. That's how I snatched up these chairs before they disappeared!

Beautiful embroidery

My sweet partner, pinkmichk, over on Craftster, stitched this beautiful tote for me!

I love the colors, the theme, the size of the bag, everything!

Her stitches are so neat and even -- very nicely done. . . .

She also made a sweet wire-wrapped nest pendant for me. I've wished for one for so long!

This could not have come at a better time -- what a huge day-brightener! On the swapping-front, I'm such a slacker. . . . I'm nowhere near done on her embroidered tote. Did I mention how sweet -- and patient! -- my partner is? I'll be sure to show you once it's done. Until then, I have some stitching to do!

Just a quick note. . .

I've been gone too long, and am unable to write much today. I just thought I'd drop a little picture of something I worked on last week. . . .

I love how simple and sweet it is.

My shop is also closed for awhile. . . I hope to re-open sometime within the next two weeks. Thank you for your patience, and I will be back before you know it.

Another tote, and a big THANKS to the Storque! Oh, and a sale

Another tote. . . .

I soooo love this accent fabric! It is so bright, so happy, in person. The tote is also made from recycled jeans and a tunic (the tote's lining). I also included a couple of extra pockets, perfect for containing all those summer-time necessities.

And some big THANKS. . . .

Caaa-RA-zy! The Etsy Storque published an article yesterday on eco-friendly finds on Etsy, and included my dryer sachets. (This article was also included in an email they sent out!) Well, the orders have been steadily pouring in. If I didn't have plans for this holiday weekend, I do now! They involve fabric, lavender, and a machine. And I'm very OK with that! (Thanks, Etsy! And thanks to all the kind folks dropping by my shop!)

And a sale. . . .

I'm also having a $5 sale all weekend long. Oh, hello friend was kind enough to blog about my sale! (Thanks, Danni!) I also noticed that my friend, Liz, is blogged about, too. . . congrats! Be sure to drop by her lovely shop. We loooove her face scrubbies around here!

I want to wish you all a happy, healthy, safe and blessed Independence Day!