Cool! I am a beautiful blogger!

WOW!  This is a nice gift from Vanessa at Sew Filled to the Brim.  She is a new sewer and is just beating the pants off of me with her amazing skills.  Go and visit her blog and see the really cute stuff she is making.

So now I have to share 10 things about myself with you.  You are going to love this!

1)  I am a certified cradle robber (old term for the now nasty sounding "Cougar")  My husband was 24 when I met him and I was 30. 

2)  I hate texting, Twitter, Facebook, etc.  Texting just seems like a waste of time--got something to say--say it.  If I have to text it we all be gray headed and toothless before I finish.  Never seen Twitter, only made a Facebook log in because of a request to "Friend" a friend. 

3)  I hate "putting a dress on words".  Why is it if a guy speaks plainly it is ok but women must soft peddle it?  Watch the communication style in your work place and you'll see what I mean.  The guy will say "Do it" and it gets done, the woman has to explain why she wants it done and ask if someone would do.  Don't worry I have studied communications and can put the dress on words but it does not mean I like it.

4) I made some really sturdy lawn furniture several years ago.  Bought a table saw and some lumber, a book and voila!  The stuff lasted about 10 years and one chair may still be in use at the old house--I left it for the new owners. 

5)  My mother drives me nuts!  The older she gets the worse it is.  Everything is a conspiracy.  You might think this is due to her getting old but she has ALWAYS been like this.  I call her a "Southern Belle/Prima Donna" with psychotic tendencies.  But only SBPM to her face which she will usually admit to anyway.  High Drama Mama! 

6)  I am like no one in my family, don't look like them, don't have the same beliefs or values.  I, like many others I am sure, always thought there was a good chance there was a switch at the hospital.  Mother blew that for me when she said there was only one other baby born at the hospital that day and it was Spanish decent. Damn!

7)  I bake an awesome Carrot Cake!  My husband and my best friend both love it.  It is THE requested cake from those who have tried it.

8)  We do the tradition turkey at Thanksgiving but try to mix it up at Xmas.  We have been doing a roast beef with cream horseradish sauce, blue cheese Yorkshire puddings, carrots (from our own garden last year) and other goodies.  I think we will probably change it up this year though.

9)  I used to make fun of people that took there dogs everywhere, talked about their dogs like children, etc.  Now I am those people and I am sure someone is making fun of me out there too.  I don't take them everywhere with me, after all they weigh over 70 pounds each.  But I do love my doggies!

10)  I need to lose 15 pounds.  I love to eat/cook and hate to exercise.  Does anybody see a problem here?

Now I have to pass the beautiful blogger award on to five others:

Jana at http://98redballoons.blogspot.com/
She is still in high school but again this is someone just kicking my butt at sewing. 

Kim at http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/
Very talented and a dog lover too.  She has a great fall table decoration (that I am going to copy), also she has great talent in all things home decor.

Jennifer at http://travisandjennykerr.com/kerrfect/
She just revamped her blog and she is also one of the best read people I know.  And I thought I read alot until I checked out her Goodreads page.  I've got a lot of classic reads to do before I can compete with her for "best read".

HiddenEloise at http://hidenseek.typepad.com/come_out_come_out/
I bought pocket mirrors from her Etsy shop last year for Xmas presents.  She has the most beautiful artwork and it arrives at your home so beautifully packaged too.  Very talented lady!

Kathy at http://littlesewingalcove.blogspot.com/
Another dog lover/seamstress.  Another person who is very talented with her sewing skills too.

So you now have a few tidbits about me.  Maybe you found a bit of yourself in one of those comments too :)

Life interfers with sewing and blogging

I have had to let the blog sit and the sewing sit due to real life interfering with fun life.  I've cleaned house (although I need to start over on that, again), cut the grass, edged the front yard, cleaned the backyard terrace, put up new umbrella (bought on clearance end of summer bargain), cleaned the garage (Honey helped).

Also, I volunteered this past Saturday at a local dinner theatre.  Out of 4000 email requests for help only about 8 people showed up.  This was my first time but since this was a holiday weekend  that probably explains the short list of volunteers.  My job was to paint, and when finished with that, paint some more, and then paint some more.  I was so tired!  I called Honey and requested wine/fruit/cheese/crackers for dinner.  Sweetie ran to town and bought all sorts of yummies for me.

After a shower we watched "Suddenly Last Summer" with Elizabeth Taylor and enjoyed our nice chilled wine. 

Still no sewing to report.  Today's "To Do" list includes washing the two cute dobermans, cutting the back lawn, and I still have work to do on the database for the non-profit.  Good news though--it looks like the small grant we requested for the non-profit is going through. So it's off to work we go  . . .

Here for the Rosette Swap Link Party?

Just check out previous two postings here for the swap I received from Stevie and the one that I sent to Cathy aka Lady Hightower.  I would also like to send out a "Thank You!" to Stevie for the sweet rosette swap I received from her.

Gifts from Blogland!

Here are some photos of the items I received from the swaps I participated in.  The first photos are from my Shabby Chic Swap and my partner was Marie from Australia.  Here is the link if you missed my part of the swap for her: http://summersetsewing.blogspot.com/2010/07/vintage-swap-package-delivered.html

She sent coasters and key chain with doberman photos because she understands what Toocutecdobs stands for (two cute dobermans), a notebook with the rose cover, 3 napkins and a doily, 3 packs of sachet, 2 "baskets of roses" soaps, a pewter bookmark,a box of bookplates and one of her own pieces of art--the Victorian lady and horse decorated box.

If you would like to see more of Marie's work and her blog just follow this link:

http://ajourneythatstartshere.blogspot.com/

My next swap was the Rosette Swap.  I signed up for this having never made a rosette but figured this was just the thing to inspire me.  If you missed my half of the swap just check out the previous post with tutorial of the rosettes I made.  I tried several styles but was only successful with the one shown.

This swap was different because we did not know who our swap partner was.  Jill at http://www.gypsyfleamarket.blogspot.com/ organized hosted this swap and assigned us to someone.  Here are the wonderful goodies I received.

Stevie from http://myartcanvas.blogspot.com/ sent me these beauties.  A reclaimed necklace that she added the rosette to, a beautiful fun bunting with a rosette and ice cream theme, and a fabric wrap cuff with rosette and vintage lace.  At first glance I thought the cuff was far too tiny but it fits perfectly.  Pretty, pretty, pretty! I told Stevie this package made me want to host an ice cream party while wearing a vintage summer dress and the jewelry she had made for me.

And then I got this surprise package from Jana at http://98redballoons.blogspot.com/  This was not even a swap just a fabulous gift from a fellow blogger!  Jana had been traveling a lot this summer but sent all these goodies to me when she arrived back home.

This is a German issue Burda (my first ever Burda!), two great pieces of fabric, a pattern, a postcard from her travels, and a note card from Jana.

The pattern is Butterick 5334-I like it! And the Burda had some really great shoes in this issue besides all of the other fashion stuff.

Here is a close up of the two pieces of fabric Jana sent.  The left piece is a stretch cotton and the right--well I don't know the fabric content but I like it.  It is an olive green with black running through it.  Jana is really talented at copying designer work and making her own version of it.  You should check out her blog when you get a chance.

My heartfelt thanks to Jana, Marie and Stevie for the great gifts I received. Thanks so much!

Tuesday morning and Everybody WINS!

Ok, at least everybody that made a comment to the previous post "GRIN".  Vanessa and Kathy both will receive a gift from me for the Followers Celebration.

Rosette Swap

I finished my "custom" designed rosette for the swap and here is what I came up with.

These are three individual rosettes with pin backs.  They are attached to a pillow sham I made in a heavy cotton with a basket weave design.  The lady receiving this will only need to insert an 18 inch pillow form.  She is also receiving a small "shabby chic" gift as she indicated in her email that shabby chic was a preference of hers.

Close-up of the two smaller rosettes.  You can see the basket weave in the fabric better in this photo.

I was asked for a tutorial of the rosettes I made.  (Ok, I was really asked for a tutorial for the previous posting of rosettes I made.  But I have not made any more like that one since I was not all that pleased with the outcome of that style rosette.)  The rosettes shown here are made from a shiny sheer fabric I purchased at Hobby Lobby.  I think it was listed as chiffon but it has quite a bit of body and not like the normal soft type of chiffon I am used to.  On to the tute:

 You need only one of the squares shown above for the large rosette.

Fold or pinch fabric to a point in the center and have a needle threaded (double with knot) ready.

Hold the center of the fabric you folded fabric back over your hand and swirl until you see a rose center shape appear in your hand. 

Pinch this fabric to hold the shape of the rose as shown above.

Carefully holding your pinched fabric so it does not lose the shape you have made, fold the fabric back over to expose the center you have been holding.  Using your needle and thread start stitching the fabric fold together in the center (original pinched section you will hold until completed) and secure twisted fabric.

After securing the twisted fabric, fold the remaining loose fabric back over your hand.  Swirl and twist this fabric around your center rosette shape until you find it pleasing.  Again you hold on to this newly shaped fabric with your fingers underneath in the center pinch.  Then fold excess fabric back to expose the pinched center underneath and stitch again to secure this to the center.  Continue doing this until you have used all your fabric and you have made your rosette.

Use smaller pieces of fabric to make the rosebud shape and the small rosette.  Above you see a 14 inch piece of ribbon used to make the leaf and stem for the rosebud.

This is a running stitch down the edge of the ribbon made with a single knotted thread matching the green ribbon.  The ribbon is folded in half and the two sides are stitched together with the fold at the top.  You will pull the fold center down with your gathering stittch just slightly to indicate a leaf shape.  This top of the leaf ribbon was matched with the rosebud and the remain ribbon tail used to wind around for the rosebud stem.

When making the rosebud you will end up with a wad of fabric at the bottom which you will cover with the ribbon to make the stem. Stitch the ribbon tightly after winding it around the excess rosebud fabric.  To help get that excess fabric from the rosebud easier to handle I used floral tape just like I would in a floral arrangement.  Then I cover this with the ribbon and stitched it closed.  I used a bit glue at the very bottom tip to secure.

Finally I sewed pin backs on each of the small rosettes and secure them to the pillow sham with a safety pin from the interior of the sham. 

The large rosette was secure with only the safety pin on the interior of the sham--no pin back.  Also you can see that I stitched two large silk leaves to the back of the large rosette.  These are actually silk hydrangea leaves--these come in so handy with many types of projects.

"Friendship is the sweetest flower that in a garden grows."

My shabby chic gift that was include in the rosette swap.

The Next Post

This is the one I told you to be sure and check out.  But first let me tell you how hot it is here.  VERY!  And especially when I was helping walk the 28 dogs at the animal shelter that are being shipped to a no-kill shelter in Salem, MA.  Seems like all of the volunteers I know about turned up to help but I was still wilting in the heat before the job was done.

Also I am still working on the Access database I volunteered to do for the shelter's volunteer group.  It has been over 2 years since I worked in Access so this is taking longer than I think it should. Furthermore, it is keeping away from fun stuff like sewing!  So if any of you know Access 2007 and would exchange emails over designing objects PLEASE let me know :)  I could use the advice.  Even after spending $40 on a new Access book I seem to be missing some little thing that is holding up my design work.

Alright, no more teasing.  The Follower Celebration is on!  Take a look at the photo below and if you are interested in an opportunity to win this gift just add a comment to this posting.  I had been delaying this because I wanted to find just the right gift and I think this is it. 

"True Friends Celebrate the things they have in common and delight in the things that make them different"

Now that was worth the wait, wasn't it?

The drawing for this will take place on Tuesday morning, August 17, 2010

Peanut Butter Jelly. It's Hot in the Desert!

Peanut Butter Jelly

Don't know how I got here to this video but it had me cracking up!  Stay tuned for next post with sign up for the give away.  I know you thought I forgot but we do get to celebrate Followers on Summerset Sewing.