The Green Bag Lady

The Green Bag Lady makes fabric bags for people around the world. It is a great way to reduce our impact on the planet. I won a bag, lucky number 5821, in the Sew, Mama, Sew contest. Although I received the bag a little while ago, and have used it several times, I am always by myself...no picture! I finally ran some errands with the hubby yesterday and got a picture of me using the bag.
If you check out her website you will see lots of posts of people with their bags. Plus they are doing another giveaway right now! Check it out.

Other Blogs

So I started my wee-little blog because I was enjoying reading everyone else's blogs. I know that hardly anyone reads mine, but I am trying to keep it up because I feel like it is cathartic (plus no one in my family is crafty - so they really don't appreciate the stuff I make!).
I have won a couple of things (I posted one below, will post the rest as I receive). There is a new giveaway on the Quilt Qua site that has some great fabric up for grabs. I decided to let anyone that reads this know about this great giveaway. Join me in trying to add some holiday cheer to your summer.


TELL A FRIEND GIVE-AWAY


Win: 1 Frosted Memories Fat Quarter Bundle by Holly Taylor for Moda Fabrics !
To enter simply "tell a friend" to spread the word about Quilt Qua. You can send an e-mail to people, post on your blog, comment on someone else's blog, put info in your guild newsletter, etc. Then send an e-mail to: quiltqua@gmail.com and let me know what you did. Enter as often as you wish. Random drawing for the winner will be at 10 pm July 31st.

Good Luck!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

I woke up to the weather person promising us that we would see sun at some point today. I think people will be running around screaming that the world is ending. It seems like we have had rain for soo long.
The rain has diverted me from my crafty endeavors and I have spent a bit of time working, cleaning, and baking instead. I am thinking that I will reward myself with some time in the sewing machine today, but also have to bake Dad his father's day cupcakes. I found a recipe for Dark and Stormy cupcakes, since it is Dad's favorite drink, I thought he would enjoy it in cupcake form.
This weekend the hubby got a new grill. He grills almost every night during the spring/summer months, and the old grill just died away. Sooo, as a grill warming present I made a reversible apron and oven mitt. He looked very snazzy when he grilled for the first time on Sunday!

A weekend of work

So I had pulled out the sewing machine and had hoped to get a chance to work on some sewing this weekend, but I didn't get as much done as I had hoped. Saturday (while the husband worked!), I finished sewing the capri pants that have been on top of my WIP pile. I just need to hem them.
Sunday turned out to be a work around the house day. Didn't get any sewing done, but the other work I got done was fantastic. I woke up early made homemade hamburger rolls for dinner - husband got a new grill on Saturday, so I knew we were going to be grilling. I then cleaned the kitchen- boy flour can make a mess!- the bathrooms, and even mopped the floors. Then while the husband put together his grill, a three hour process, that involved much cussing and murmming, I power-washed the house! Our house had turned green over the past few years and it was time to take it back. To give you an idea:

Before...look at all that green!


During...see me hard at work!


After...doesn't it look years younger?

Then we had my parents over and had burgers, and all the traditional picnic sides. It was a great end to a productive day. And now husband thinks we are done work for a while....guess that means I can pull the sewing machine back out today! Tee, hee, hee.

Crayon Roll

This is a crayon Roll that I made for my nephew. It was really quick and easy to make and he just loves that his crayons are in "pen-pens". I followed this tutorial, as I am not clever enough to have created it myself.

Also wanted to share a giveaway that I just joined. The Fabric Shopper is hosting a giveaway with the WhipStitch blog. You get t have the fun of designing your own fat quarter bundle, harder than it sounds, and then name it and enter away. Too fun!

I won in the Sew, Mama, Sew giveaway

I am soo excited. I won during the Sew, Mama, Sew giveaways. I won fabric from Ripping Out Seams blog.
Not only did I win fabric, I won some of the coolest fabric ever! Its a half yard of the Alexander Henry fabric, with half-naked men camping.



I am so going to have to make something with this that I can use when I camp. The fabric arrived today, and I honestly think I was as excited as I am at Christmas. Thanks Kat for the great win, I never win!

Pictures of Berkeley and SF

So I have spent most of my time in the workshop I have been doing at Lawrence Hall of Science, so I really don't have many pictures of the area, but here are a few I have managed to get:

This is the view from my hotel room. You can see that I am really on the marina.

This is a picture of the Bird of Paradise just outside the hotel. I love these flowers. I wish they grew around me, but then I guess they wouldn't be as special.



This is a picture from the balcony of the Lawrence Hall of Science. It sits at the top of Berkeley and has a beautiful view of the area. For those (like me) that aren't familiar with the view, I included the same picture with labels.
The workshop is over today and most people fly out today. I am one of the luck ones that couldn't get a flight until tomorrow. This means I get to explore this afternoon. I believe the plan is to go to Muir Woods and see the Redwoods. I am so excited. You see pictures of these great trees, but I just have a feeling that reality will be sooo much more impressive. Not sure we will actually be able to get into San Fransisco. Guess I will just have to come back someday!

Greetings from California

It is soo nice here in Berkeley. The hotel has a lovely view of the Golden Gate Bridge.
I am here for two more days and then back home to New Jersey. The only problem is that just as I adapt to the time change, I leave and start all over again.
Pulled out my camera today, so hope to add pictures from the Lawrence Hall of Science later. off to my workshop.

Good Monday Morning

I'm getting ready to head out of town for a workshop this week. I'm very excited to be making my second trip across the US to California, San Fransisco and Berkeley this time. I did LA tow years ago for a conference.
Today will be spent packing and getting ready, but thought I would share a couple more pictures. This time, we move to my other favorite arena: Cooking. I made these great cupcakes from the Hello, Cupcake! book by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson. This book is so cool because people like me that aren't artistic, but are creative, can make some really cute things. I made the cupcakes for my nephew, whose favorite things are sharks and Pen-Pens, so I mixed and matched. I can't wait to try butterflies next.