The Sewing Mom

I wanted to post a brief note here to apologize to all of my readers and EC droppers.  I am currently visiting my sister and her family in order to attend my niece’s graduation from nursing school.  My sister has internet access, but it is dial up and extremely slow.  I also want to spend my time visiting and not on the computer (it took 10 minutes for my blog to load) and so will more than likely not be dropping card or responding to comments until I return home on Monday.

I hope you all have a great week and wonderful weekend. 

I was recently tagged by Margie and Edna for this meme. I know you’re all just clambering to know 7 useless facts about me, so here they come.

1. I played the flute in middle school. I probably would’ve continued to play the flute, but my family moved and band was not offered at the school I moved in to.
2. I am the youngest of 3 girls. We are all very close and love hanging out with our Mom, although, we don’t get to do it nearly often enough.
3. My first job was working in a dry cleaners. It was nasty and disgusting and I don’t think I would ever want that job again.
4. I have a short temper and I almost always feel bad after I’ve become angry, usually at either my daughter or husband. This is something I’ve been working on over the years.
5. I got my first cat when I was in 3rd grade. He came walking into my life from the cornfield across from my Grandma’s house where someone had dumped him off. He stayed in my life until I was in college and he was a big yellow tabby cat.
6. I hate cleaning bathrooms. I often wonder (at least once a week) why that job falls to the woman of the house, is there some unwritten law that says women are the toilet cleaners of the family?
7. I love flowers, all types of flowers, but I love them best in my garden, not in a vase.

Now, I’m supposed to tag other bloggers with this meme. As I’ve been blog hopping over the last several days, I’ve noticed that most of those that I would consider tagging have all ready done this meme. So, I think I will make this meme self tagging.

If you would like to participate in this meme, leave me a comment and I will tag you (giving you a linkback).

Val,at I know EVERYTHING, just ask my hubby as volunteered to be tagged! Thanks Val!

I missed this meme last week, but I’m not letting that happen again! Posting Four Foods on Friday means my weekend is just about to officially begin. This week has been rather busy for all of us, so I’m glad it’s Friday. This is a great meme, if you’d like to participate, give Valmg a visit!

This week’s questions:

#1. When going out to dinner what items do your order? Appetizers, soup, salad, dinner, dessert. I usually will have soup or a salad and dinner. There are certain restaurants that I look forward to ordering desert, but that doesn’t happen too frequently.

#2. How predictable are you when eating out? Do you usually order a meal that you’ve had before or do you like to try new things? That too depends on where we go. Some restaurants I tend to order the same thing, particularly Italian or Mexican. Others, I tend to order something different every time I go in.

#3. When eating at a restaurant, what beverage do you like to order with your meal? Most of the time I just get water or ice tea, but, depending on my mood, sometimes I’ll order a glass of wine. I’m cheap and don’t like paying the price of alcoholic beverages that I can have or make at home!

#4. Name a meal that you ate at a restaurant that you liked so much you tried to recreate it, as well as the name of the restaurant and the recipe. I don’t have a meal that I’ve tried to recreate, but I did try to recreate the bread pudding that our local KFC used to have on their buffet. I’ve never been successful at making it though, so really don’t have a recipe to share. However, if anyone knows a good, sweet bread pudding recipe, I’d love it if you’d share it with me. In fact, I’ll post it here if you share it!

Mother’s Day is getting really close and I’ve been searching for just the right idea to spoil my own mom with. She is an avid quilter and so I tend to look for things at the quilt shop for her, something that maybe she wouldn’t buy for herself.  If you’re looking for ways to spoil your loved ones, read on.

I wanted to mention a sight that is close to my own heart because I am one of several writers who post articles here and that is Spoil On, a site full of articles and ideas on how to spoil your loved ones. Loved ones can be anyone from your spouse to your children. There are some great ideas, and not all of them require going out and spending money. I hope you’ll take a look!

If you have a great way to make your loved ones feel special and spoiled, let me know, I’d love to hear about it!

A blogging friend of mine has started a new blog Forest’s Blog About Animals and I am thrilled that he has chosen to feature my little dog Plinko in the first of his ongoing series about bloggers and their pets.

I hope you’ll go over and take a look. While you’re there, let Forest know what you think of his new site. I personally think it’s going to be a very successful blog. Who doesn’t like to see photos of pets? If you’re a blogger with a pet of your own, leave a comment on his new site if you’re interested in having your pet profiled.

I was asked by one of my readers to create something for her child that will soon be turning 1. Besides creating fleece blankets, I hadn’t really done anything for young children, so this was a challenge for me and I took it on whole heartedly.

I began my using what I know and the working with the supplies I all ready possessed. I love working with fabric, so the project I came up with was pieced fabric blocks. These are about 2 1/2 in. square and can be embroidered with letters or small designs. I love using all the brighter colored fabrics for kids. These are stuffed with polyfill and are washable.

What do you think?

Since my daughter was born 12 years ago, I’ve worked outside the home and I’ve been a stay at home mom. No matter what I’m doing, my primary goal is to be able to provide the very best for my family. I’m the first to admit, it’s not always easy, but finding a balance between working and family is definitely worthwhile.

When we moved from Illinois to Texas about a year ago, I gave up a full time job and decided to stay home full time and look for other ways to provide income from home. First and foremost, I am attempting to start my own business with my sewing and crafting. It’s a slow start, but I am definitely making progress. In the mean time, I’ve also looked for other ways to supplement our income.

I began blogging about 7 months ago as a way to document my sewing projects. It’s also a way to keep something of a diary of my progress. I’ve also discovered along the way, blogging can be a means to make money. Because blogging can be done at my leisure, it fits in great with my schedule. It’s a perfect outlet whether I am working outside the home or not. In other words, it’s the perfect way for me and other mommy bloggers to make money.

If you’re a mommy blogger and would like to earn some money through blogging, you really need to check out SocialSpark, the newest social media marketing network for bloggers. Social Spark is a great place to meet other bloggers with similar interests. I’ve also discovered many bloggers through their network who have helped me with other things such as technical issues with my blog. But, Social Spark isn’t only a social network, it’s a great way to earn money.

Register at Social Spark and once your blog is approved, you may begin accepting opportunities to write about on your blog. You can choose from those opportunities that interest you, write a simple post on your blog and get paid. Write your post on your own time, when the kids are at school, or down for a nap, when it’s convenient for you. Set your own hours, be your own boss and get paid. I just don’t think it gets any better than that!

What are you waiting for?

I was just reading some of my favorite blogs and I ran across a post that really made me laugh. If you are a dog or cat lover (or even love both), this post is a must read.

Tammie received the post in an email and shared it on her blog, so I hope you will go over and give it a read. If you enjoy humor (and who doesn’t), you will certainly enjoy this one! As I read it on another blog, I am posting the link here and I hope you will go give it a read.

I had a very enjoyable morning, I met a new friend.

I’ve been chatting back and forth with a fellow blogger Ellen. Ellen has several blogs including 2 of my favorites, All In A Day and Ellen Sew Crafty as well as her Etsy shop. Ellen, like me, sews beautiful handmade bags in addition to other items. She also knits, something I’ve never been able to accomplish with any success.

We met IRL today as she was working in my neck of the woods. I had so much fun chatting with her about blogging and our love of sewing that I was shocked to see that almost two hours had passed! It really was like meeting an old friend after having not see them for a long period of time. I am truly hoping we get to do this on a more regular basis.

We had walked outside, as Ellen needed to return to work, and the high Dallas winds caught us both before I remembered that I had brought my camera. Thus, we are both sporting a very wind blown look, of course, my hair is actually heading the wrong direction and I had no mirror to tell me so!