Freebie Wednesday

First of all, I am sorry for not getting a project up for you last week.  I do not have an excuse, I just never did it. To busy getting other stuff done I suppose.

So last week's project becomes this week's project!  Pretty simple really...

As a crafty creative person you would think that my house would be interesting. Sadly, not so much, but I did recently add some little touches that I feel made a big improvement.  One of them was covering my light switch covers with fabric.  I am going to try to decoupage them at a later date - I will let you know how it goes, I kinda don't love to do messy crafts.

This is a really simple project, your kids (if you are *lucky* enough to have *crafty* kids) could even do their own.  I cannot imagine letting Penelope anywhere near a glue gun and am pretty sure the Little Man would not be interested.

To start, you need a switch cover and piece of fabric about two inches all the way around bigger and a glue gun (if you do not already have one - go to the local Dollar Store and get one, you will seriously wonder how you ever lived without it!).

The next thing I did was glue down the centre of all four sides.  I did that so I could be fussier (fussy.  Who me?  Never!) about the corners without having to worry about the glue drying.

Then, I glued down the corners, the same way I would hand sew a quilt binding (well sort of).

Once I was satisfied with my corners, I flipped the cover over to make sure it looked neat and tidy. So, now the hard part (not really), cut a small line up the centre of the opening and then two lines coming from the top of that line.  You cannot see it very well on the fabric, but it is there.

All that is left to do is to glue the clipped bits around the hole down.

I will try to remember to take a picture of the completed cover on my wall - but don't hold your breath.  Have fun and make lots!

:o)  Tina

Ten on Tuesday

Crap, I need to make this quick I almost *forgot* and I have to get some sewing done for my Mum for a wedding dress she is making and she wants it tomorrow! Yikes!!

1. What’s the recipe for your favorite drink? (Smoothie, alcoholic, coffee, whatever.)Boiling water.  Tetley tea bag. Teaspoon of sugar and a spot of milk.  Perfection. Seriously.

2. What kind of razor do you use?Whatever that cheap men's one is that my husband and his sensitive skin have discarded for his expensive brand.  My legs do not have sensitive skin.  They are like tree trunks, leading to the nasty roots which are my feet (a WHOLE other story!)

3. Who is your favorite Sesame Street character?I always liked the Doodle Bugs in Ernie's window box.  I love the idea even as a child of a secret place.

4. What makes the perfect salad? (Lettuce type, toppings, dressing, etc.)Cheese.  Evil, waste line expanding cheese.  I do not even care (really) what kind - I prefer feta or cheddar.

5. What was your favorite subject in school?
I loved school.  In elementary school it was probably Socials Studies.  In high school it was lunch!

6. What’s your favorite summer tradition?
We never really had any summer traditions other than just being together.  I loved and still love the family part of summer.

7. Do you suffer from season allergies? How do you combat them? Nope.  Not even a little bit.  Thank Goodness.

8. How often do you have to charge your cell phone? Every night - it is an iphone and doesn't hold its charge very well with the millions of things I do with it in a day.

9. Do you have a bucket list? No I don’t but it is something I have thought about working on. Maybe not a bucket list because I am immortal after all, but a list of things I would like to do before I get too old to be able to really enjoy doing them.

10. Do you have any desire to go back to school?Like, back to high school.  YA!  I loved high school!  Back to college/university, yes, but not right now.  There are lots of things I would like to learn and like to be able to do.

Okay.  Bye for now.  I gotta go sew or my Mum is going to kill me!!!

:o)  Tina

Stumbled Upon #1

Okay.  So I am going to try something new.  I always see all these things I love scattered all over the internet and never really put them anywhere so I thought that once a week I would put them here - for now anyway.  :o)

Enjoy...

From Made by Girl on Etsy

I love this cause it is me.  I love blogs - Lord knows I love tea - and the colours and flowers, etc.  They are all me.

From TurnMeOnArt on Etsy

Owls are a popular theme right now and I thought this was pretty cute.  PITA wants to do the baby's room in owls, perhaps her and I should make one of these... or maybe even just buy it from Etsy!

In my blog travels - which sometimes are many, depending on the week and what other things I have been up to - I stumbled upon a really great blog called Mushroom Printing.  This is a quote from a post on that blog.

 "Family is meant to be a foundation–when you begin to sway, they are there to hold you up, to keep you strong."

From the same source I also found dooce.com.  And this hilarious story.  SO something PITA and I would do to each other - and not be able to keep a straight face! (Most likely her doing it to me but me being the one unable to breath from uncontrollable laughter.)

:o)  Tina

Fill in the Blank Friday

Fill in the Blank Friday

1. The last thing I ate was Thinsations Cheese Nips and Source O Plus Peach yogurt - pretty lame lunch (although the yogurt was delicious!) but the diet has not been going as well as I would like! I of course washed it all down with a giant mug of Tetley.

2. The next thing I'd like to eat is my homemade lasagna, but that is so not going to happen.  I will most likely be having something fast for dinner, just to fill the hole before I come back to work.  Maybe a tuna sandwich with dill pickles.

3. The best things are the things that you worked for and are not just handed to you - kids, sewing projects, goals and hopes and dreams that you have accomplished on your own.

4. Something that makes me supremely and utterly happy is spending time with CH and the kids.  Knowing the kids are happy in their lives.  Family vacations - no matter where we go.  My pets - especially when they are showing me love. A busy day at the shop.  I am pretty easy to please but hard to keep happy.

5. Sports are I am not interested in sports.  CH watches hockey religiously - the Vancouver Canucks and the Trail Smokeaters - and had his heart broken both teams this year in the playoffs.

6. I miss home.  I would have liked to stay there today as I spent all day yesterday cleaning and it would have been so nice to enjoy that today.

7. Right now I am pretty lucky to be self employed - this is the first productive thing I have done today and I am not sure it even counts!

So there it is! I hope you have a great weekend - mine is going to busy as in my quest to be the coolest Mum, I am letting the little man have two friends sleep over - and take over - on Saturday night.  His two closest friends are nice guys but three 9 year old boys can be a bit rowdy.  It is only one night and I am looking forward to seeing them.

:o) Tina

Ten on Tuesday

I am so tired. I have been buring the midnight oil lately and cannot seem to drag myself to bed before 1 am and I have to get up at 7:30 so sometimes that is a bit of a challenge. I have been working on samples and getting projects done for the shop. I cannot sew fast enough to keep up with the ideas I have!

The sun is shining here today - it kind of seems like forever since we had a nice day. It is usually really hot in this part of the world by now, but not this year. I remember when I was a kid, before there was AC everywhere, back in the days when we drank from the hose, being so hot during the last couple of weeks of school that I could barely hold my pencil cause my hands were so sweaty. Childhood summers where the best...

Okay so on with the list.  I am writing this last - as an after thought- I am a perfectionist.  It was extremely difficult for me to answer these questions as in my mind, perfect is VERY very hard to achieve.  Enjoy. :o)

1. What’s the perfect meal?
As previously mentioned, I love to eat so food is not the issue it is more the company I eat with that makes a meal perfect. I love big get togethers or family dinners when everyone is there.

2. What are the perfect pair of shoes?
I once had a pair of Nine West Cloud Nine wedge sangles that where magnicifant. Like walking with matteresses on your feel. I loved those shoes so much and wore them until they were really, really beat up. The best shoes ever.

This is kind of a loaded question today as I was just at the doctor about my feet and she said that I had to get better shoes so my feet will not hurt so much so often.  In the morning, I have to hold onto the wall to get down the stairs before they "warm up" and are okay to walk on... onto eBay I go... poor me, having to buy new shoes!

3. What is the perfect afternoon?
A beautiful day at the beach with my family. Or a day when my house is nice and clean with my family all doing their own thing (me sewing and watching HGTV with Tetley), I especially love this when it is snowy or rainy.

4. What’s the perfect house?
Big open kitchen with a table to eat and an Aga, lots of spacious bedrooms with attached baths so that everyone can have their I started to write all of these material things about a house and then it occurred to me.  The perfect house is a home.  My home.  Where everything is always okay, tears are rarely shed, and love is given freely; where I always feel safe and comfortable and most of the time, at the very least, content.

Our home.  Dominic's first day of Kindergarten September 2007.

5. What is the perfect outfit?

I do not really know the answer to this question (see below and above).  I love comfy clothes for home and would love to look fabulous in cute vintage styled dresses - alas I do not, therefore my perfect outfit eludes me.

I love these little waisted big skirt dresses that SO DO NOT suit my body type. Sigh...

6. What’s the perfect wedding song?
I am so black and white.  Answering questions about perfection is very difficult for me.  I am a perfectionist and if I do not have an immediate answer then I think it is because I do not know the perfect answer...  the first thing that comes to mind is "I Knew I Loved You" by Savage Garden.  I have a cousin who got married a short while after I did (the first time) and that was their wedding song and I can still remember that so it must have been a be good choice. :o)  I love you Tegan! xo

7. What is the perfect job?
My job would be perfect if I made more money doing it!  I do not expect to be rich but not having to worry would be nice.  It is the perfect mix of business/family/creative and allows for growth in any way I choose to grow and the freedom to be there for my kids at the drop of a pin.

8. What’s the perfect hairstyle?
I am not much into hair.  Right this minute I am wearing a ponytail with my sunglasses as a headband to keep the fly aways in.  I have had the same long straight (although as I age it is becoming less than straight) hair since I was about 16 (22 years people!!).  The only change has been the length of my bangs (and the colour - it was once blonde as gets darker every year).  They have been long for a long time but when I was young and adventurousness I had them long then short then long then short (you get the idea).  In high school they were short, curled, back-combed and hair sprayed like crazy on the weekends. So the perfect hair style - illusive. :o)

9. What’s the perfect music festival?
I have not been to a music festival in years.  I went to the original Lilth Fair a two of the three times it happened ( I was in Italy for the first one and it was fabulous!!) and really loved that - but it was more about having fun with my friends than anything else.

10. What’s the perfect day to yourself?
I honestly don't know.  I can't imagine it and when I am home alone for a couple of hours I feel lonely and I want my kids to come home...  wow heh?  I am such a sap!

Happy Tuesday.  I hope the sun is shining for you, wherever you are.

:o)  Tina

Fill in the Blank Friday

This time of year always seems a little more difficult in my life and what can go wrong will!  This week I am having phone problems at the shop of all places - there is something wrong with the line and it is only working about 1/3 of the time!  Grrr.  I hope they fix it by Monday as it is putting a rainy cloud over my Friday - and PITA may be working tomorrow so it actually is a Friday!  :o)  

the little things we do

1. The last movie I saw was Follow the Profit, last night on NetFlicks.  PITA and I are a little obsessed with polygamy but this was a movie and not a documentary and I do NOT recommend it.  It was not well done and very extreme. I like to learn more about the happy polygamists - just can't get enough of Sister Wives on TLC! The movie before that was a documentary called Modified (also on NetFlicks) - it was about piercing and other extreme body modification and it felt wrong watching it but I couldn't stop myself.  Tiger Man?  Really?  Ick!

2. I want to find that one really great idea that will earn me money and make me happy... I know it is out there, I feel it waiting for me... Perhaps I am working in it right now. :o)

3. Surprises are the greatest thing ever.  I LOVE a happy surprise!

4. The best accessory is one's smile!  No matter the car you drive, the shoes you wear, etc, your smile shows the world you care, you are happy, you are happy to see them, life is good - all of those things and so much more!

5. My favorite warm drink is hands down, no contest - TETLEY tea!  I even have it in my about me page. I could not, would not, live without it.  If I was packing to be stranded on a desert island my giant pottery mug and an enormous box of Tetley would be in by suitcase! I couldn't live without it - really.

6. My favorite cold drink is  Pepsi slurpee - but unlike Tetley, I limit this to one, maybe two a week and although I love them, I could live without them. :o)

7. Currently loving blogging and building my visitors (and obsessing over it), Thinsations Chocolate Covered Pretzels, All things Etsy. Creating new, simple patterns from things I have seen and passing them along - free - to others. Sorting through my huge UFO pile and getting it done!

Well, another Friday comes and goes... getting close to my vacation to Vancouver!  I am so excited.  We are going to go the long way there and do a bit of camping, build some memories!  Can't wait!

:o)  Tina

Vintage McCall's Magazines

My brother found these magazines in the walls of his house when he was doing some renovating - pretty cool.

February 1955, November 1954, October 1954, just listed on Etsy.

February 1955 Issue

November 1954 Issue

October 1954

I have some magazines from the 70s, 80s, and 90s and I thought they were dated but a lot of that was fashion these magazines are...foreign -things have changed a lot from then until now.  I enjoyed having a look at them but am more than happy to pass them on to someone who will love them and give them the home they deserve.

I have listed them for sale on Etsy if you are interested, just click on the dates below the images.  I am totally open to offers, I really did not know how much to charge.

Overall, very cool.  I hope my brother gives me more - he said he kept the good ones for himself...

:o)  Tina

Scrub-a-Dub

I am so guilty of doing what so many of us do - by us I mean crafty types.  I saw something and rather than buying it and showing my appreciation to the person who made it, I bought the supplies and went home and made my own. I do buy things - I bought this super cute felt robin the other day. I know I could make it, but I know I wouldn't and it is so super cute.

Purchased from SeaPinks on Etsy

As a crafter - both in spirit and profession - I feel it is very important to support other crafters so that they may continue to do what they love and maybe, hopefully, even make a living of sorts doing it.  If there is something you see that you like that you could make but probably wouldn't - for crying in the sink just buy it all ready!

So here is my super simple little project - you will see why it was a do-it-yourself project.  Perhaps if I did not know how to sew at all...

:o) Tina

Ten on Tuesday

Happy Tuesday!  Hopefully the weather is nicer where you are than it was here today...rain, rain, rain.  Hopefully someone, somewhere around this town is building an arc cause I am way too busy.  I might drowned but at least I know the human race will be saved.

1. How do you pronounce the word aunt? Does your pronunciation rhyme with ‘haunt’ or ‘can’t'?
I suppose, can'tie.  :o)

2. Do most of the people in your life know you blog? Or are you partially or totally anonymous?
A few people know but only those who I feel comfortable enough with that they already know that I am a little nuts.  I want people to read it but I feel shy about letting them know it is there to read.  Silly, I know.

3. When you grocery shop, do you prefer to bag your own groceries or do you like it when the store bags them for you? Paper, plastic, or reusable bags?
I want the store to bag them for me.  I find it rude when they don't and I try not to shop at the store that doesn't. I like to use my own bags whenever I can as we have hundreds of the suckers already and really only use them for dog poop and other icky things.

4. Do you have a green thumb?

I think so, but it is very out of practice.  I use to be all about the garden, I have had indoor and outdoor plants since I was 20 and have tried all kinds of crazy thing.  I tried grafting a fruit tree once and successfully propagated roses with rooting hormone. Now it is all I can do to keep the house plants looking good - it is the shop and the kids not a lack of interest that keeps me out of the garden.

5. If you watch the Food Network, which chef/show host is your favorite?

Never watched it - and wouldn't cause I am pretty sure it would just make me hungry...

6. Do you like to take baths? Do you take them very often?

Yes I do, almost every Sunday.  Every other day of the week I am busy and rushing (i.e. showering, no time for a bath) but Sunday I can relax.  If I had a hot tub I would do that instead, but I don't, so it will have to do for now.

7. What color are the walls in your kitchen?

Beige, tan, suede.  A mellow colour... well they will be soon.  Right now they are (bleck) white.

8. Do you prefer to dine outdoors or indoors?

Indoors for sure.  I am not a big fan of eating outside unless it is civilized (i.e. my parents' patio or a nice outdoor restaurant) but even then, one bug and I am turned off and want to go in.

9. Describe your ideal weather.

Warm but not hot - around 25.  I love the Spring and the Autumn here in the Kootenays because that is the weather I get.  I am not sure which I like better, probably the Spring because everything is coming alive rather than dying or going to sleep like in the Autumn.  Summer is too stinking hot and Winter is too icy - I don't mind the snow but I could live without the slip!

10. If you could learn any foreign language, which would you choose to learn?

Italian.  Hands down. I know a few words and I know a few people who speak it more fluently than English.  I went to Italy in 1997 and would love to go back and be fluent.

Today is still Monday to me, I am just heading to bed.  I took some belly pictures of PITA today and the Little Man snuck in. Pretty stinkin' cute.  They have the same green eyes and are pretty close to the same height and almost 20 years apart (I think he has bigger feet).  My baby and my niece - aren't they so stinkin' cute?

:o) Tina

Fill in the Blank Friday

The Little Things We Do

1. This weekend I have to try to get some yard work done, my flower beds are abysmal and I don't feel like it! I just want them to magically look fabulous like they did 4 years ago when I had no shop and more TIME!

2. My last vacation was ...vacation... hmmm... the last real one that did not include a tent (not that there is anything wrong with that) would have been the summer Penelope was 1 (she is 6).  All four of the kids and I drove to Vancouver Island, where CH was working and we did all the things tourists do on the Island and on the Mainland.  It was really fun.


3. My next vacation will be to Vancouver for the Davidson Family Sports Day. I am SUPER excited to see my extended family and to go on a vacation with CH and the kids. We have been places and done stuff but this will be an actual get away for a week, do the touristy stuff, have fun...


4. My favorite way to relax is with some junk food, a good movie, CH near by and the kids snuggled in their beds.  I especially love this when the weather is bad.  When the weather is good, I love to swim in my favorite swimming spot on earth...

5. When vacationing one should always leave room for spontaneity. Planning is good, but spontaneity is the stuff that memories are made of. That makes me think of my favorite road tripping friend ever - I love you and miss you Surely - we always found an adventure on the side wherever we went.  It once took us 12 hours to get from Hope to Vancouver (which is about a 2 1/2 hour drive in traffic).

6. When vacationing one should never count pennies. You are always going to spend more than you intended - enjoy it while you can!


7. The best part about a vacation is the reaffirmation of the bonds you have with the people you vacationed with.  I once went away for a weekend (it was an amazing fun, fabulous weekend) with my girlfriends and when we came home we all had a little girlfriend withdrawal.  I missed being with them.  We had SO much fun. I think "as an adult" the best part is the mental break from the everyday.

Saw it on Facebook

My cousin Marie had this as her status this morning - didn't want to be a status stealer so I put it here. Enjoy.

"I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go. Things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right. You believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together." ~ Marilyn Monroe

:o) Tina

Fabric Math

I am good at quilt math - I think it is one of those things.  Practice makes perfect and I have a LOT of practice.  The measurements below are not something I have stored in my head but can figure out pretty easily.  I found this compilation in the gigantic stack of paperwork I am constantly trying to get a grip on.


These numbers are based on a yard, not a meter but that means you can get a little bit more in Canada where you are buying 39 and a bit inches rather than 36!


Square Per Yard

1"	=	1584	5"	=	56	9"	=	16
1 1/2"	=	696	5 1/2"	=	48	9 1/2"	=	12
1 7/8"	=	437	5 7/8"	=	42	9 7/8"	=	12
2"	=	396	6"	=	42	10"	=	12
2 1/2"	=	238	6 1/2""	=	30	10 1/2"	=	12
2 7/8"	=	180	6 7/8""	=	30	10 7/8"	=	12
3"	=	168	7"	=	25	11"	=	12
3 1/2"	=	120	7 1/2"	=	20	11 1/2"	=	9
3 7/8"	=	99	7 7/8"	=	20	11 7/8"	=	9
4"	=	99	8"	=	20	12"	=	9
4 1/2"	=	72	8 1/2"	=	20	12 1/2"	=	9
4 7/8"	=	63	8 7/8"	=	16	12 7/8"	=	9

Squares per Fat Quarter (18"x 22")

2"	=	99	3 7/8"	=	20	5 1/2"	=	12
2 1/2"	=	56	4"	=	20	5 7/8"	=	9
2 7/8"	=	42	4 1/2"	=	16	6"	=	9
3"	=	42	4 7/8"	=	12	6 1/2"	=	6
3 1/2"	=	30	5""	=	12	6 7/8"	=	6

Diagonal Block Measurements
The basic calculation to find the size of square you need for setting triangles is to multiply the block size by 1.41

Finished Block Size	Diagonal Measurements	Decimal Equivalents
4"	5 5/8"	5.625"
6"	8 1/2"	8.5"
9"	12 3/4"	12.75"

Get a printable version of this information here.

Happy quilting.

:o)  Tina

Ten on Tuesday

I think I have mentioned this before.  I love doing these things.  When I was a kid (grade 7ish) I wrote reports - for fun.  I love to write, I just need to be given a topic so answering these questions is pefect.  Sometimes I find that I would write and write and write...  Well anyway, here is this week's Ten on Tuesday, enjoy.  :o)

1. What type of phone do you have? Do you like it?

I have an iPhone 4 and I don't like it.  I freakin' LOVE it!  It is, next to my sewing machine and my Barbie motor home my favorite toy ever!  I can talk on it, text with it, BLOG with it, serf the internet, email, take pretty good pictures, there are lots of fun and useful apps...  I really love it.

2. How old were you when you got your first cell phone?
I think I was 25, I might have been 26.  (I am 38 (OMG as if I am 38) now.  Wow that just hit me.  When did I turn 38!!!!! Yikes!) I was on my way to my Grandmother's house from downtown Vancouver in a snow storm.  It took me three hours when in good traffic I could get there in 25 minutes.  When I got there everyone was worried, I called home and Dave (the x-husband) finally agreed that I should have a cell phone.  Back then not every single person over the age of 13 had one.  Most of my friends did not.

3. How many cell phones have you owned since your first?

This is the my first phone.  :o)

My first one was a little Motorola flip phone, and I was so proud of it.  I had it until I moved home from North Van (September 2001) and there was sketchy service where I was moving to so we no longer had cell phones.  I did not have one again until about 2006 and I got a pink one that was free with my plan.  I had two more pink ones and now my beloved iPhone. I  have had 5 - CH has had like 10 starting with a brick. 

4. How much is your average monthly phone bill?

$75 plus taxes and usage fees, etc. So worth it. 

5. When you were a kid/teenager, were you allowed to have a phone in your room?

Umm no!  Remember how old I am?  We did not do that around here then.  Nobody had a phone or a t.v. in their room. Believe it or not I do not feel damaged from it.  My Mum used to set the timer on the microwave to limit the amount of time I could stay on the phone. We did not have call waiting as it was not available then and she claimed that people from work called my Dad for stuff - I do not remember anyone calling.... I really loved talking on the phone - I think it is a right of passage for every teenaged girl.

6. Do you like talking on the phone or do you despise it? Or somewhere in-between?

Depends who I am talking to. My Mum, PITA, Grandpa, or my other friends - yes, mostly.  CH, not so much.  He is usually phoning for something (i.e. he needs me to answer a question, solve a problem, or do something for him) and he does not have much to say beyond that - he a crappy phone talker, which is not a problem now but was a little bit when he worked on the road.

7. Do you text a lot? Is texting/talking while driving illegal where you live? Are you guilty of it anyway?
I do a lot of texting.  I don't do it when I am driving.  It is illegal where I live but that is not why I don't do it.  I just do not have the coordination it would take to do both and 99/100 I have my kids with me and it is SO not worth the risk.

8. What sort of texting keyboard does your phone have? Touch screen, slide out, or something different? Do you care?

I have touch screen and I am pretty sure I could not go back to keys. The texting was a big part of why I wanted the phone in the first place.  Did I mention I love it!

9. Look at the last call in your call log – who is it? What were they calling about? Who calls you the most?

It was CH.  No surprise there we have free calling to each other so make good use of it.  I do not remember why he was calling, I think maybe to find out if I like purple freezies cause they were out of white ones.

10. What is the longest phone call you can recall having?

I think it was just under 8 hours.  Multiple phones were required.  I was walking to my high school and 20-something best friend about 2 years ago...It was crazy, I cannot imagine what her bill was like since I live in Canada and she lives in London England!  Haven't talked to Surely since as a matter of fact....

Five Question Friday

I hope all this question asking and blank filling in does not bore you. I think it is fun but, well, honestly, I guess I enjoy writing about the things I know the best - me, my life, and those in it.

1. If you had to choose, how would you prefer to choose to spend money...on landscaping or a pool?
I typed landscaping first but really, I think pool.  I really love to swim and this is hypothetical. :o)

2. (Scott likes to get things stirred up...) Death penalty, yay or nay?

Oh my Gosh. NAY!!!!  Killing is killing no matter who it is.  I do not care about "the taxpayer's money".  What kind of a world allows the death penalty.  I do not want my children to grow up thinking that two wrongs make a right.  NAY!

3. What's the worst thing your kid has gotten into when you turned your back / blogged / showered / blinked?
Penelope has never - for real - done anything worse than taking every Kleenex out of the box and putting in the toilet (for which at 2 1/2 she blamed her brother). The Little Man on the other hand.  Can you say, sleep with on eye open?  He was a busy, busy boy.  The worst.... probably, taking a carving knife outside to get me some flowers while I was breastfeeding Penelope who was all of three weeks old.  I saw him, put her down, and calmly grabbed the knife from him (and received 5 stitches).  I was so, so scared that he would see me coming and run with the knife.  He did some many crazy, rotten things between 2 and about 5 that I often wonder how he has made it to the ripe old age of 9 - bless his heart. :o)

4. How often do you REALLY go to the dentist?
I try to go at least twice a year but usually only go once.  We do not have dental so all of our budget for that goes to the kids - they go twice a year for sure and more if they need to.

5. What is your favorite animal (doesn't have to be a pet-type animal)?

I have always loved horses and vowed that I would have one some day.  They make my heart ache I love them so much.  I love all animals.  Dogs and cats are high up there. I would love to snuggle into a lion's mane or ride on the back of a zebra...

One Meter Apron

I found this pattern in the basement of my shop.  I am having some regrets about writing my notes all over the original but what is done is done.

So anyway, I made the apron.  Took exactly 0, that is zero, pictures to display here.  What is the matter with me!?  I am going to make another one so that I can take pictures of the process and have them here for you when you come back to this post to get the pattern!

Click here for your very own printable copy.

:o) Tina

Update, March 3, 2012 - Still haven't made another one and I have lost all motivation to do so! Nag sold this one and now our lady has a vintage apron one her.

Fill in the Blank Friday

1. I love my family because they have never let me down when it comes to the things that really matter.  I think I have talked about this before and I do not mean to sound bitter - I'm not -  but my experience is that, it is very true - blood is thicker than water.

2. A time that mama knew best was when my heart was broken over my first boyfriend and she told me it would not be the last time that I had a broken heart but that it would mend.  Sad but true, there were more heart breaks after that one.

3. My first kiss went a little like this ...I don't remember.  Totally NOT memorable.  I know it is something you should never forget but I was really boy crazy and I used to chase all of my cousin's friends and try to kiss them...  I really do not remember the first real kiss

4. My celebrity crush is Hello! Gerrard Butler! It began with "PS I love you" and was cemented with "300". Please note that CH is aware of this crush and I think is somewhat amused by it... I hope.

5. My splurge of choice is food. I love eating. Food and I have a strong love hate relationship... last night I felt stressed and sad and I ate a whole big Dairy Milk bar - that is like 12 WW points... I felt guilty this morning but it was oh so worth it last night. Jeesh sounds like I am having affair!


6. My biggest accomplishment is my ability to smile and laugh and see the bright side 98% of the time. I am not sure that I was born with it but I do "practice" it now. I have other big accomplishments that I feel are worth mentioning - the marriage I fight for, the children I adore, the store I work so hard at... even though that last one has got me down a little this week.

7. My dance jam of choice is ... another tough one.  I LOVE to dance and just about anything will do.

So there it is. My blanks filled in for another week.  Now that you have gotten to know me a little better I hope you are still reading  - and that perhaps you are even looking forward to reading the future posts.  I look forward to writing them.  My goal, is to get brave enough to post the link of FaceBook, so far, I feel like most of what I have written is a little too personal to make that step.  I actually know some of the people I have as my friends on there...  What do you think?

:o) Tina