White Christmas, 2009! Giveaway win, birthday, etc

I can't remember the last time we had a white Christmas, but we sure got one this year! Jim took this photo this morning about 8:30, the sun isn't quite up over the hill to the left of the house, we never see a sunrise or set around here because of all the hills. Nosey Parker was out in her very first snow this morning, but we couldn't see her, either! lol Perfect camo, that girl has!

It rained off and on all day yesterday and started turning to sleet last night about 8 PM, when it got cold enough. Then it became flurries and then full-fledged snowflakes. We ended up getting 4-5" of it, enough to keep my parents home today instead of coming over for a prime rib dinner. We decided to postpone that until tomorrow, just to be on the safe side.

And speaking of parents, the Mumster turned 89 on Tuesday, the 22nd. Isn't she cute?


She's happy and feeling pretty good, too, I think the doctors have hit on the right medication combo, finally. We took over a few gifts and a card and she had a nice time. The parents live about 11 miles away, in a patio home at a retirement center. They are completely independent but a small housekeeping crew comes in every 2 weeks and vacuums and mops, etc. Mum freaks out whenever it's time and she spends a whole day cleaning before they come, snork! (Please ignore my gormless hair- I'm in that horrible awkward stage of trying to grow it out a bit, I'm totally frustrated with it right now.)

And my big win came from Scotland! Lynz of DOMESTIC LIGHT and MAGIC made me this sweet little quilt/wall-hanging of laundry on a line. I just love it, can you see how sweet it is? I love everything about it, right down to the little scrap of fabric spilling out of the basket. I thought I'd hang it in the laundry room but I wouldn't see it very much, so I think it's going into the craft room, instead! Also, a wonderful assortment box of Cadbury chocolates, oh, MAN! These are yummy. I'm letting Jim help me with it, but only because it's the season of giving, otherwise, I'd have hidden them away and snarfed 'em all myself! Some of these chocolates are new and unknown to us, so it's kind of an adventure. We share each piece so we can both try them all. You're a real sweetie, Lynz, to send me all this, no matter WHAT everyone else says!

Thank you so much, Lynz, you're a great pal and a terrific sport and I enjoyed your slightly fixed giveaway contest immensely! lol You are such a nut! I'm just so thankful that my name is Susan and I have a ickle white kitten and live in ArKINGsaw with the kitten fishers! Phew, what WERE the odds of meeting all that criteria? Huge, I'm sure! Lucky, LUCKY me!

Merry Christmas to everyone, I hope you're all having a wonderful fun day with friends and family! We're staying home and warm by the woodstove today, it's cozy and quiet and a popcorn kind of day! Perfect. Enjoy!

Sewing Machine Cover Tutorial....

I made up a tutorial for a custom-fit sewing machine cover and it's on my FlickR site. I'm going to leave it there for now just because I'm too lazy to move everything over here. :) Anyway, I'll walk you through making a cover from measuring it and figuring out how big to cut your fabric all the way to making an opening for your handle and cords, if you so choose.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments or corrections. Thanks!

And you wonder why we don't put up a tree?

No, this isn't Nosey Parker, but it could be, if we were stupid enough to put up a tree! lol This video is like the Ghost of Christmas Future.

I'm a lucky duck!

First, this. Lynz does a pity giveaway, just for women who live in Arkansas, have little cute white kittens AND are named Susan. Whew, lucky for ME, I qualified. ;)

And guess WHAT? I won! Can you believe it, I couldn't, I was shocked. And of course, THRILLED! I can't wait to see what Wilson, Lynz and the Chook have come up for me. I know it's going to be something great and that I'll treasure forever! Thank you, Lynz, for taking pity on me. :) You're such a pal. *smooch*

Then as if THAT wasn't enough to send me over the moon, I find out that I won a giveaway at Hawthorne Threads! This is a wonderful new company owned by a married couple who seem to be very sweet together, so it'll be good to help keep them in business and bliss! Their prices seem to be very fair, too, so I'm placing an order today. My win is for an e-pattern and kit to make a Monterey Market Bag using Dolce fabrics. We all know I LOVE to make bags, so this is a perfect win for me! I'm excited.

One reason I've been bloggy-absent is that I've spent about a million hours stocking up my Etsy shop. I've been sewing like crazy- making cell phone purses, condiment wallets, sewing organizers and coffee cup caddies. (I've got almost 60 things in my shop. I think that's my record.)

I thought that the Sew,Mama,Sew Giveaway for the coffee cup caddy would generate some interest in them. Um. I thought wrong! lol I guess I won't be making any anytime soon, now that I have about 9 of 'em made. The giveaway was a lot of fun, though, and I'm really glad I did it. The lady who won seems to be very sweet.

I'm going to make an e-pattern for coffee cup caddy, though, since it seems like most of the people who wanted one were perfectly capable of making one themselves and in fact, would prefer to, rather than to buy one. I'm exactly the same way, so I have no complaint about that. I've spent some time figuring out how to draw up the pattern on the computer so that it looks professional, and then, even trickier- how to save it to a pdf. file so I can email it to anyone who purchases one. I may need to call on one or two of my loyal followers to be my guinea pigs and perhaps even pattern tester for this project. Any volunteers?

*disclaimer- this is not actually Nosey Parker, but it should be* roflmao

We have a drawing winner!

The drawing is over for the coffee mug sewing caddy, I used a random number generator (162 was way too many corks to number and besides, Nosey Parker is outside playing and chasing leaves around) and the winner is ...

...

...

BETHANY! Congrats, Bethany! I'll be in touch for your mailing address. I hope you get lots of use out of your new little caddy.

I'd like to thank everyone who participated in my giveaway. If I ever figure out how to make a PDF pattern, I'll do that and get some into my Etsy shop so you can make your own. In the meantime, though, if you didn't win a caddy and want to get one, I made some up this week and they're in my Etsy shop. And they're pretty darn reasonable too, if I may say so myself!

And thanks so much for ALL the great comments about your unusual pets and the stories that went with them, that was a lot of fun to read and I was laughing out loud more times than I can count. You big bunch of nuts! I'm glad to be associating with such fun, kind-hearted peeps. :)

Sorry if you didn't win, I wish I could make you all winners, but if I did that, I'd have to kill myself! lol

Giveaway Day! Coffee Mug Caddy...

Another GIVEAWAY????? Oh, goodie!

No, not a kitten, she's here to stay. Sorry!

Welcome to my first venture into Sew, Mama, Sew's annual Giveaway Day!

I'm offering up one of my coffee mug caddies, which is a very handy item to keep next to your sewing machine or on your desk. This is handmade by me from my own pattern and with my own little fingers, with a little help from sweet white paws. :)

I'm showing you two here, so you can see it from different sides, but you're only getting one. I used Mary Englebreit's "Recipe for Friendship" cherry fabrics along with a sweet little dotted fabric for the backing and the binding. You can put this caddy on a mug, as you can see, or a heavy goblet, which is how I use mine. It has 6 different sized pockets on the outside. A small hair elastic loops over 2 buttons to keep it securely in place on your mug or goblet. You'll need to provide your own mug or goblet, but everyone has one of those laying around, right?


An overhead shot-

There are 8 loops inside to hold markers, forceps, turners, etc and space in the middle, too, for small things like Fray-Check. It really holds a lot! I didn't overfill it so you could actually see into it, but mine is way loaded and comes in so handy next to the sewing machine.

Some fiberfill and fabric stuffed into the largest pocket makes a really handy pincushion.

This is what it looks like without a mug or goblet.

If you'd like a chance to win one of these, please leave a comment here on my blog. To make it a little more interesting, how about telling me about the strangest pet you've ever had? (We raised a fawn and had her in the house for about 4 months. And we had African Pygmy Dormice, too.)

I'll ship to the winner no matter where she or he lives and I'll do the drawing Dec 6th, Sunday. Depending on the number of entries, I'll either use my little white random number generator (see previous giveaway posts!) or just a regular one. Please make sure you have an email address affiliated with your comment so I can let you know if you've won so you can give me your mailing address.

Nosey Parker says GOOD LUCK! And thanks to Sew, Mama, Sew for making this all possible. Be sure to go there and check out all the fabulous giveaways, starting Wednesday morning!