Drum roll please.... and the winner is......

Is it Monday already?  Well then, can I have my lovely assistants to help pick a winner, please?

Are you ready?

And the winner is.... Karen of Sew Many Ways!

Thank you everyone!  I enjoyed hearing from you and also meeting some new friends!  Karen, I will email you to get your address and have that shipped out by December 3rd!

Be sure to check out my Etsy shop as I have some holiday sales going on!  Have a great week!

Mona

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What a week!!!

Wow, I don't know if we could have packed much more into our Thanksgiving week!  Two of my kiddos celebrated birthdays, we enjoyed a Thanksgiving Feast at the elementary school, watched my oldest daughter get inducted into the National Honor Society, went ice skating to celebrate a little friend's birthday, went to the zoo for our son's birthday party (12 of us - two adults, 3 teens, 1 three year old, and six 1st grade boys!), took the family to see "Planet 51" at the movies, enjoyed a great Thanksgiving Day and a fabulous lunch, whipped up a wedding and groom's cake, two dozen cupcakes (can't waist any extra batter, right?), made a birthday cake for a girlfriend, enjoyed a high school regional playoff game victory, and we topped it off with Christmas decorating!  Whew!  Here are a few of the highlights...

It was an awesome week!  And, you can understand why I didn't get any Christmas shopping done!  That's okay - I'm hitting that this week!

Don't forget - tomorrow is the last day to leave a comment for my giveaway!

And, speaking of!  I hear that the lovely ladies of Marie-Madeline Studios are giving away one of these beautiful quilts!  I'm in love with the Darla quilt and putting in my two-cents worth and crossing my fingers!  Thank you to Sivje of Goosegirl News for the post!

Well, I'm off to prepare for the week!  The weather finally turned chilly, Christmas is in the air, and there's plenty to do!

Mona Pin It

Gobble, gobble!

Wishing you a blessed Thanksgiving!

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Happy Thanksgiving... and yet another thing to be thankful for!

This time of year we are all reminded to be thankful and to ponder what we are thankful for.  Well, my list could go on and on!  But, one particular thing that I am thankful for is my four beautiful, healthy children.  They are the joy of my life and I thank God, although not often enough, for keeping them healthy and safe.  Lately, with the ongoing threat of the H1N1 virus all around us, the thought of our children's well-being is continually in our thoughts.  But, during the hectic lives we lead, it is sometimes taken for granted. 

Years ago, I was perusing a local Hancock Fabrics store and saw an ad for "stitchers needed".  It was for a program called "DFW Stitch A Wish Program" which benefits patients at Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth.  It really pulled at my heart-strings and made me realize how fortunate my husband and I are. 

The program is wonderful and has so many opportunities for people to volunteer their stitching talents.  Visit their website to find out how you can join in on the fun and sharing!  They are always in need of donated fabric and sewn items such as pillowcases, medical play dolls, telemetry bibs, and more.

Be sure to check out the details on my giveaway!  The deadline is Sunday, November 29th.  I would love to hear from you!

I wish for each of you a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

Mona Pin It

'Tis the season... for a giveaway!!!

This is my first giveaway and I have really enjoyed getting ready for it!  I've been busy decorating papier mache houses and other goodies for my Etsy shop and thought I would share one of my petite houses!

(Insert tingly-jingly "going back in time" music...)  It all started when I went to Jana's Trade Days in October and saw some of the most beautiful houses made by Carolyn of Then and Now.  I was so inspired!  I actually had several of the larger houses that I had purchased last year - just sitting there waiting to be decorated!!

 

This sweet little house is baby pink with a pretty cream roof.  It has a silver tinseled roofline and shutters, tiny roses, glittery stars, silver ric rac, a snowy roof, and a lovely winter angel to greet you!  And, lots and lots of glitter!  Oh, you know how I love glitter!  It measures 5 1/4" wide by 4 1/2" deep by 6" tall.  

  

Would this little house fit right in with your holiday decorating?  Or, maybe a nice little gift to give a friend or loved one?  If so, here are the guidelines to the giveaway:

You will receive one entry in the giveaway drawing for each the following:

• Leave a comment on my blog and tell me what you like most about this time of year!
• Become a Follower.
• Mention the giveaway on your blog and post a link to my blog.
• Refer a friend and have them leave a comment (along with your name). 

The deadline is Sunday, November 29, 2009 - 11:59 p.m.

A random winner will be chosen and will be announced on Monday, November 30, 2009.

I will ship the house to the lucky winner (within the United States) by Thursday, December 3, 2009.

 

Good luck to everyone and Happy Thanksgiving!

Mona

P.S.  I feel a tutorial coming on soon!  Hmmmmm.

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Sew, eat... repeat! And, a GIVEAWAY!!

Well, I'm back from another faaaaaahbulous sewing retreat.  Where do I begin?  I arrived early to get a good start and sewed until they booted me out on Sunday!  This was my third time and it was just as fun and productive as the last two.

I would like to say it is all about the sewing, but let's be honest, the food is to die for!  Linda can cook.  Not just anything, but everything!  We were fed breakfasts, brunches, snacks, and lunches, dinners and desserts.  We even had Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday night.  Take a look at a few of the tasty things she surprised us with.  Seriously, people just don't cook like that anymore!

 

Our hostess, Lorene is a wealth of sewing information and always happy to teach and share with everyone.  She brought lots of her great kits, sewing notions, books, and of course... FABRIC!  Uh huh.  So, I loaded up.  Hey, just trying to keep her from having to haul all that back home.  Glad to help, Lorene!

Lorene is making her way around the room to assist...

...and showing us a new technique!

Here's a quick shot of our work room.  Again, hardly "work".  More like a play room for grown-ups.  Eleven of us were sewing like crazy and so many cute projects came about.  I've never heard so many "ooooh's" and "aaaaaah's" except at a baby shower!  And, they were all worthy of praise.

Lots of "hands on" stuff!  We also had fun testing out the new Simplicity Bias Tape Maker and Rotary Cutter.  "It won't mash!"  But, that's a whole other post.  Eh hem.

I worked on several projects.  The first one to tackle was the Natty Jacket and Vest pattern from Chelsea of Pink Fig Patterns.  I loved this little pattern and it went together quite nicely.  I even learned how to free-motion quilt!!  Yes, I did!  I'm gonna quilt up a storm now!  It is hard to even see the quilting, so I'll post better pictures on Flickr soon.  The best part of all - my daughter loved it!

Then I worked on the new Juliet Top pattern also from Pink Fig.  Cute, cute. It came out so sweet, but it didn't begin to fit my daughter!  I just knew something was wrong with the pattern - it couldn't have been MY sewing!  Wrong.  I checked the pattern and realized that I forgot to cut the back piece on the fold.  Duh.  I had to email Chelsea and tell her what I had done and reassure her that her pattern was indeed, just fine!  So, after I "adjust" the back, I will take a photo or two.  I started a few little skirts and appliqued tops for my daughter and her bff.... still WIP.  Stay tuned.

Okay, so the REAL reason for going to the retreat isn't really the sewing or eating, it is for the FUN we all have while sewing and eating!  All but three ladies were at the last retreat so getting to see them again was great.  And I really enjoyed meeting three new friends.  This is Betty and Mollie - my two favorite sisters. Well, they aren't my sisters, but I wish they were!  Aren't they dolls?  I sat across from them and just enjoyed listening to them talk back and forth, and help one another. 

This is "JisJis" as her grandkids call her.  She was undoubtedly voted "best dressed" of the group.  And she's always this happy, even on four hours of sleep!

Ladies, I am thankful to have met you and I'm already looking forward to the next retreat with the SewItUp Sisters!

Guess what?  My first GIVEAWAY!!!  Yeah!  I will post the details in a few days and hope you'll come back to check it out.  In the meantime, my friend, Harriet has started her own blog, Seed Thoughts -  on gracious manners and creative inspiration.  She's done a beautiful job and I can't wait to see what she has in store.

Take care,

Mona Pin It

Here's to Jeanne!

Woman is born to create. In creating she becomes herself, accomplishes her destiny. Her whole life is only an initiation into creative power. To create is not merely to produce a work, it is to give out ones own individuality. -Jeanne de Vietinghoff.

I came across this quote while visiting the new blog, Where Women Create.  Jo Packham was inspired by this quote and posted it in hopes that it would inspire others as well.  (By the way, the photo is Jeanne, not Jo.  Jo is much younger and more fashionably up-to-date!)  Run over and check out her blog and new contest, if you haven't already!

And yes, it inspired me, too.  In fact, I was very touched by the quote as it brought about different emotions and thoughts over the past few days.  Jeanne de Vietinghoff could have been referring to any number of things.  Was she talking about a woman's role in creating a child, creating a home, relationships, works of art?  At any rate, I'm sure it encompasses many of the wonderful creations from women every day, all over the world.

And, it was so timely for me!  My friend, Harriet and I have been very busy preparing for our first Creative Minds Trunk Show (we thought about calling it "Harry and Mo's Trunk Show" - but it just didn't leave a good image in one's mind!)  We talked about it several months ago and both agreed it would be fun, if for nothing else, to get together with some friends for tea and good conversation. The whole process was great... sharing ideas, shopping for supplies, taking the time to just sit, chat, and create.  And with our busy schedules and six kids between our two families, that isn't always easy to do.  It was a great excuse - with a deadline!

Since we both frequent Barnes and Noble, JoAnn's, Hobby Lobby, some of the local antique shops, and our fave blogs, we had inspiration and ideas coming from all directions. 

Stockings of sorts, glittery houses, paper shoes, cloches...

gift tags...

purses, make-up bags, and wine bottle bags...

bookmarks....

...and more tags!  Yes, we had quite an array of goodies!  We had so much fun, learned some new things, shared lots of laughs, and even sold a few of our wares. Thanks, Harriet for more great memories and to our friends for stopping by!

I will list some of these in my Etsy shop soon, so stop by to have a look and let me know what you think.  I would love to hear from you.

Happy creating,

Mona

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Get it together!

Now that Halloween has come and gone, I'm gearing up for the holidays.  Decorating for Thanksgiving is always a fun time for me, and well Christmas - an all out excuse to decorate every room in the house.  More on that later!  But, I have so many projects in mind that I have to stop and take stock, make lists, and of course... get organized!  So, I wanted to share with you some ways that I stay organized throughout the year.

I love storage boxes of all sorts!  I am fortunate to have a roomy closet in my studio and I have equipped it with lots of great shelves and yes, LOTS of storage boxes!  I love them!  I divided things up in groups like paint, glue, scissors, paper, sewing supplies, etc.  Now I can easily find the supplies the kids and I need for our projects.

I picked up about 15 or so of these boxes at JoAnn's when they were on sale.  They hold mostly sewing supplies and tons of little spools of thread as well as embroidery and serger thread.  I made the labels on the computer and just cut them out and slipped them in the brackets.  Easy to change as my needs change.

These little boxes are great for storing patterns and odds and ends.  I painted the front with chalkboard paint so I can re-label when I need to.  Or, my daughter can play and draw!

I found this little trio of buckets at Hobby Lobby in the gardening section and it stays on my counter to hold brushes, pencils, scissors, and sewing tools that we use frequently.  Fun.

When I work on a project periodically, I like to keep it handy, so a container like this is great.  I can keep my area tidy for other projects and pull it out when I need it without having to search for all the supplies.  I have about four different things going on in this little box!

I use magnetic containers like these to hold paperclips, push pins, rubberbands, and such.  I found these at World Market in the kitchen area.  They are actually spice jars!  And on the other side of the hutch is a handy cork board for notes and swatches.  I just glued 6" square pieces of cork to the hutch.  Super easy!

One of my favorite organizers is this awesome peg board which I purchased at Lowe's. It came with this great silver painted surface and holds yet more scissors (hey, you cannot have too many scissors!), pliers, tape, ribbon, paper towels, needles, and even my small ironing board!  I also keep my sewing machine feet on the peg board in small bags that are labeled.  This keeps me from having to dig around in my sewing machine!

Well, I have no excuses now!  I better get busy and get these projects going.  I 'm excited about the upcoming holidays, crafting, and sharing.  I hope to hear from you!

Mona

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