The Sewing Mom

My daughter and I just got back from running errands. I am surprised, although I shouldn’t be, to find the stores are all ready gearing up for “back to school” season with the shelves being stocked with school supplies. It feels as if summer break has just started. I know July is going to fly by since we have so many plans to keep us busy. Then it will be August and before you know it, the first day of school.

I should probably go to the school district website and see if I can get my hands on a school supply list. I know my daughter would like a new backpack to start the year. She’s been using the same one since 1st grade, and she’s going into 7th grade this year! I guess it’s time to update.

Something else I need to do update is the computer software. She will be in all pre-AP (advanced placement) classes and we’ve been told that we can expect a tougher work load and more projects. It’s important that she have the right computer software to complete her work and I think she should go Back to school with Microsoft Office 2007from Costcaptain.com. As a student, she qualifies to receive this authentic Microsoft product at an academic discount, we just have to provide proof of eligibility. While I don’t homeschool her, if I did, she would still qualify.

I’m nervous about my daughter moving up to junior high, but she’s very excited. I think if I can make sure she has all the supplies, support, and of course, clothes she needs to succeed, I will feel more excited about it too.

Tags: cost captain, costcaptain, Microsoft Office 2007, Microsoft Vista, Publisher 2007, www.costcaptain.com

I don’t have any pictures today, but my tackle is to get my house in order for guests arriving from out of town on Thursday. I’m going to post my to do list here so that maybe I will get things accomplished.  Our guest bedroom is by itself upstairs with its own bathroom, so these first 3 items are strictly for the guests.  I can complete those today because they will stay clean and I won’t have to redo them.  Everything else will just have to be redone between now and then, so I won’t do them in as much detail.

1. Put clean sheets on guest bed and make the bed.
2. Dust and vacuum upstairs.
3. Clean upstairs bathroom.
4. Vacuum t.v. room.
5. Sweep floors
6. Clear and clean countes (again!)
7. Dust and vacuum rest of the house (my daughter took care of her room yesterday!)

It’s really not that bad around here.  We’ve had so many guests over the past month that I’ve been keeping up with the cleaning.  You wouldn’t know it looking at my kitchen counter, but that’s where everything collects.  I could clean it this morning and by tonight it would be full again.

I did tell my daughter that if she helps me mow the yard tomorrow, I will take her for a pedicure on Thursday.  She’s been wanting one for weeks, so I think the bribe will work!

Happy Tackling!

Tags: house cleaning, tackle it Tuesday

I am so honored and touched to have received this award. This award is given for sharing beauty, love and joy. It means so much to me that not only one, but two fellow bloggers found it in their hearts to bestow this award on my blog. The first is Maitri of Magic & Moments at Dragonfly Cottage. Her kind words about my site and my creativity were so sweet. I am happy to try at least to bring a little sunshine into the blogosphere. Second to send this wonderful award my way was Lady Rose of the Diet Pulpit had such nice words about my sewing creations. I’m so glad to know others enjoy seeing what I make as much as I enjoy sharing photos of my work.

I need to choose 5 other bloggers to share this award with and this will be difficult. I’ve come to admire so many bloggers, my list of favorites is too long to mention. I am forced to only choose 5 and I will try to choose those who have not all ready received this award. The 5 I choose are in random order and I thank all of them for inspiring me.
Kim - Simply Crafting shows us what beautiful, hand crafted jewelry can look like. She has been working so very hard recently to prepare enough jewelry for an upcoming show/sale. I wish her all the best and success.

Lynn -When the Dust Settles shows us how an at home business can work right along side of family life. Of course, having a mudslide now and then helps too! Lynn makes some really cute ceramic piggy banks with super cute paint styles. My favorite is the watermelon piggy! She also makes other personalized ceramic items so be sure to check out her blog and shop.

Ellen - All In A Day While Ellen has been extremely busy with work lately and hasn’t had much spare time to show her creative side, we’re all hoping that will change very soon. She has a real talent for knitting and sewing and has given me the inspiration to open my own Etsy shop.

Charlotte - Charlotte’s Tips shows day to day living tips, whether it’s how to deal with rude people in the grocery store or cooking and cleaning tips, this is a great blog. I’d love to go have a cup of coffee with this blogger.

Heidi - Health Nut Wannabee Mom is inspiring me to live a healthier life. She has super simple advice to lead a healthier life everyday. I like knowing I don’t have to go out and buy expensive exercise equipment or exotic foods to eat in order to live healthy. I can use things I all ready have and eat foods I all ready enjoy.

I want to thank all of these ladies for being such inspirations to me. I hope others find them just as inspiring.

Tags: blogging, blogging award

A few months ago, I became a member of SocialSpark.com as another way to monetize my site. Of course, SocialSpark is more than a way to earn money, it’s a social community where I’ve made a number of friends, found bloggers with similar crafting interests and been introduced to new advertisers.

SocialSpark has had some very interesting opportunities, some of which I’ve posted on this blog. This is my personal blog and I want all of my posts, even those that I’m paid for, to reflect my interests. I’d love to see more crafting companies like Joann’s or Michael’s sponsor blogs like mine. Trust me, I spend enough at their stores, I sponsor them! Other companies I’d love to have sponsor me would include Viking sewing machines. I’ve spoken about them often on this blog and the sewing/embroidery machine I drool over on a regular basis is made by them.

Of course, I do other things besides sewing and would enjoy being sponsored by food product companies and, in particular, I can’t live without my Green Mountain Coffee. I’ve been a coffee club member with them for about 7 years and would feel honored to have them sponsor this blog.

Besides eating, I maintain our home and use cleaning products, do laundry, pool maintenance, and yard work. Let’s see, I believe Lysol is my most frequently used cleaning product, Tide and Downey are my laundry products of choice and we use a ton of Sears lawn products to keep our yard and shrubs under control as well as patio furnishings. Any and all of these companies would be welcomed as sponsors on this blog. Leslie’s Pool Supplies is a large supplier of all of our pool chemicals and equipment, they would also be welcomed here.

I could go on and on listing companies that I feel would be a great fit for sponsorships on this blog. I can’t forget about my family and shopping for them. We do a lot of business at Target, Home Depot and Lowe’s, all of which would be awesome sponsors.

So, if any of these companies are reading this blog, pay attention. Please consider advertising through SocialSpark.com, whether you go with a written post to create buzz or a review of a product, or a day to day sponsorship, I would be thrilled to have you sponsor my blog!

Tags: Green Mountain Coffee, Home Depot, Joanns, Lowes, Michaels, Sears, SocialSpark, Target, Viking

Okay, it only took me two weeks, but I’ve completed this project and I have to say, I’m very happy with it. The only reason it took me so long was that I kept procrastinating when it came to the quilting part of it. You see, I’m a sewer, but I’m not a fan of quilting, at least not when I’m the one that has to do it. I love quilts, and my mom is an expert quilter.  I’m just not comfortable with. And, because I expect all of my bags to end up perfectly, quilting can be frustrating for me. I just haven’t done enough of it to be good at it.

However, in the end, and with a lot of moral support from my mom, the quilting came out just fine. I love this bag!

This is a “medium” sized tote, approximately 8″x10″x13″. The entire bag is made from 100% quilters cotton, except for the backing of the main tote fabric which is a muslin. The muslin was only used as a quilt backing and is not visible in the bag as it is covered by the interior lining. This bag is padded with an all natural cotton batting. The larger pockets are supported with a fusible interfacing, as are the straps.

This bag is so nice and roomy inside. Besides the two exterior pockets, it also has 4 interior pockets. It is deep and wide and will carry many, many things. It’s even large enough for a laptop. I’ve added a magnetic snap closure to the top for security.

Due to the amount of fabric (almost 4 yards) and the time involved (even ignoring my procrastination), I will have to charge $48 for this beautiful tote bag.

Tags: cotton, fabric tote, quilting, sewing, tote bag

I am having all sorts of technical problems this weekend. First, my laptop lost its wireless connection last night. It took several reboots and two system restores to get it back. I was extremely frustated and I have no idea what caused it.

Second, I can’t get Entrecard’s site to work. I can see my stats, but that’s about it. I can’t see the widget on anybody’s site, including my own. I can’t see any widgets on the EC site. Because I can’t see any widgets, I can’t drop cards.

I have tried it on my laptop which uses Firefox and I’ve tried it on my desktop which uses IE. I’ve deleted the widget code from my blog and reinstalled it, but still won’t work.

If anyone has any ideas, please let me know. I tried to look through the EC forum to see if I’m the only one experiencing this, but the site is loading so slowly for me, I gave up. Is anyone else having difficulty or is it just me? I can tell that cards are being dropped on my site, so I am thinking it’s just me! Ugh!

update

Being unable to sleep because of my EC addiction and knowing I’d missed an entire day of dropping cards. I got up at 2 am to work on the problem some more. I turned on my laptop, started up Firefox, brought up the EC website and everything was back to normal. I have no idea what the issue was or why or how it went away, but I’m glad it did and I hope it stays fixed!

Thanks to all who stopped by with words of encouragement!

Tags: entrecard

I originally wrote this review on my other site, Itsmyimagination.com, but I am so intrigued by this product and what it does, I’ve decided to reprint the review here. I am going in on Monday for my eye exam and I keep thinking about these pinhole glasses. Let me know what you think of this product, leave me a comment.

I began wearing prescription lenses for my vision when I was 25 years old. When I was 30 I began wearing contact lenses. Over the years, my vision didn’t change too much, until I was around 40 and I had to get bifocal lenses. I don’t mind that much that I don’t have perfect, but it can certainly be expensive to make a visit to the eye doctor, which I attempt to do on an annual basis.When I go to the optometrist, my insurance usually covers the cost of the eye exam. The insurance will also cover a portion of new frames and lenses. But, like buying a car, by the time I’ve added on all the extras such as scratch resistant lenses, bifocal lenses, lightweight frames, etc., I can spend a small fortune.Prescription eyewear is also called “corrective”. It makes it sound as if wearing glasses is going to “correct” your vision. I guess it does, but only while you’re wearing them. Once the lenses are removed, your vision is blurred. Basically, once you’ve been diagnosed with a vision problem you can pretty much count on wearing corrective lenses for the rest of your life. Unless you have surgery done, your vision is not corrected.

I have discovered a unique product, pinhole glasses, that are designed to restore perfect vision, not just correct your vision while you’re wearing them. These eye glasses are unique because they “use the principle of sight to let in only those rays which are capable of forming a clear image on the retina”. According to their website, www.pinhole-glasses-direct.com, wearing pinhole eyeglasses is scientifically proven to improve vision in cases of Myopia, Presbyopia, Hyperopia, Cataracts and Astigmatism.

Pinhole glasses are lightweight, durable and inexpensive. They do not have glass lenses and could last a lifetime. These special glasses have regularly spaced holes of 1-1.5 mm that direct light rays to your pupil, preventing rays from entering the pupil from extreme angles. Angled light rays can result in a distorted image to be formed by the retina resulting in blurred vision.

While pinhole glasses should not be used when driving or moving around (such as when playing a sport), they do work with all distances and so work for reading, watching television or working on the computer. At $14.95 a pair, I think these are a fabulous deal.

Tags: astigmatism, cataracts, corrective lenses, eyeglasses, hyperopia, Myopia, pinhole glasses, presbyopia

It’s Friday! This week seemed to go by very quickly for me. Perhaps it is because I have so many things I’m trying to get done and I’ve stayed very busy this week. One thing I love about Friday is doing this meme sponsored by Valmg at Fun, Crafts and Recipes. If you’d like to play along, head on over to her site for the rules and questions and leave her a comment to let her know you’ve participated.

So, here are this week’s questions and my answers.

#1. Name one cookbook, cooking website or food blog that you frequently use. I actually use 2 cookbooks on a regular basis, one is for crockpot cooking, the other Betty Crocker’s Cookbook, is an old standard. I’m not even sure how long I’ve had this one, I may have received it as a wedding present, but it’s got the most basic recipes and uses the most basic ingredients. I wouldn’t want to be without it.

#2. Do you watch any cooking shows on tv? Which ones? I watch a couple of shows where they cook, Top Chef and Hell’s Kitchen, but I’m not learning how to cook from them. I do learn how to scream, yell and cuss in the kitchen though!

#3. Are you in a cooking rut? Name a food or dish that you’d like to find a recipe for. I’m not really in a rut lately, although I’ve been there in the past! I see them cooking this dish on t.v. a lot and wonder how it’s done, so I’ll say Beef Wellington.

#4. Share a recipe created by somebody else that you haven’t tried but would like to. This is a recipe from my mom and I’m really not sure why I’ve never tried it. Maybe I’ll get my daughter in the kitchen today and we’ll make it together.

Lemon Pudding Cake for 2

1 egg (separated)
2 T flour
1/2 c. sugar
2 T lemon juice
1/3 c. milk
1/2 tsp. salt

In mixing bowl, beat egg yolks. Add sugar, milk, flour, lemon juice, and salt; beat until smooth. Beat egg white until stiff peaks form; gently fold into lemon mixture. Pour into 2 ungreased 6 oz. custard cups. Place cups in baking pan and pour boiling water into pan up to 1 inch. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Recipe may be doubled for 4.

Tags: Four Foods on Friday, meme

Less than a month now and I will be heading to Tennessee. I’m really wanting to go a little bit farther and go to my sister’s in Kentucky, but with the cost of gasoline, I may not be able to do it. That would probably add at least another tank of gas to my expenditures. That doesn’t sound like much, but at $4.00 a gallon, that’s $100 to fill up the tank in our van.

We have been somewhat kidding around lately about ways to cut back on our gas consumption. My daughter and I all ready own electric scooters that we ride around the neighborhood, but they’re not street legal, so we can’t go out of our subdivision. I think that conversation led me to start dreaming of motorcycles. I’ve heard that sales of motorcycles has increased lately and that’s really no surprise.

Truthfully, if I didn’t have so much stuff to take with me on this trip, I think I would look into rentals or sales with Motorcycle Tours. I can just imagine myself being an Eaglerider! My sister all ready owns a Harley, and so does her husband, so I’d fit right in with them! Maybe we could all rent a motorcycle while we’re in Tennessee to save on gas while we’re there. There are some beautiful winding roads to motor on in the Great Smokey Mountains. Of course, I’m not sure what my husband would think of the idea though, I haven’t shared this particular dream with him. Maybe he’d feel better if I just rented something smaller, like a scooter!

Tags: motorcycle tours, motorcyle rental

One of two purses I finished recently. It is 9″h x 12″w with one exterior pocket and 2 interior pockets. It has a metal tubular closure mechanism that pulls open and then “snaps” closed when you apply pressure. It is fully lined and the handles are reinforced for comfort and security. This bag sells for $40.

Tags: fabric purse, purse, sewing