What a wonderful feeling....

......to be able to connect again with an old friend! 

You know what I am talking about? I bet you do!

The kind of friend that no matter how much time goes by you feel like you just talked to them yesterday? 

Ahhh I can see the look in your eyes, you know JUST what I am talking about!

Well, let me tell you about my friend! 

Her name is Madame Samm! It is! Isn't that just a spectacular name? I love it. She ventured into my life years ago, I cannot recall the exact year, but I have to say I was so happy she did! 

Why am I telling you about Madame Samm? Tsk, patience my friends and you will see! 

Now, she started out with creating the cutest rag dollies! I wish I still had a picture to show you but I am afraid I lost them on my old computer. Don't fret though, I have a link to share! 

Okay so it's no longer a dolly link as Samm ventured into her true love and is now one of the leading ladies of the quilting world. When I say leading ladies I mean it! She is HUGE now, and her following is HUGE! If you knew Samm you would not be surprised one bit. This is what she does best! 

So alas here is her link if  you would like to check my amazing friend out! I do this, not to promote her, as she has more of a following then I will ever have in a complete lifetime, simply to just share an amazing lady with crazy talent and kindness. Her blog rocks pretty hard as well LOL.

http://www.sewwequilt.com/

Oh and I almost forgot! She wrote a book as well! Oh what can Samm NOT do? Nothing, there is nothing she cannot do! If you are interested in a healthy eating lifestyle this is a MUST read! 

If you would like to purchase a copy you can write to Samm at madamesamm@cogeco.ca

As always, thank you for sharing in my smiles!!!

Memories of Christmas past...

Now would you just look at that? The very same manger that I grew up with, Christmas after Christmas, happily sits in my living room. I'm actually not sure exactly how old it is as I believe it was even around before my time. That would explain the crayon marks inside. It must have been done by my brothers. I was way too much of a good girl to do such a naughty thing! 

It may not seem very fancy I know, but to me, it is worth it's weight in gold, oh it so is!

Can you remember these treasures above? I believe they still make them but the new ones are much more flashy and up to date I suppose. I'll stick with the old ones just fine, thank you! 

Can you see the name on the star? Well yes! It's reads Jack! My Daddy will forever and always be with us in spirit, that I know!

 I cannot recall when these were purchased, but I cannot remember a Christmas, as a child, without them. As always, my MeeMee's ( my nick name for my Mom) hangs right next to his. It reads Fran but the flash blurred it out. Oh I cherish these two ornaments so very much!

Oh happy smiles! I now I get to introduce you to Barrr! No, no, no, NOT bear! Barrr was not a typo, really, it wasn't! Barrr has been a very happy part of our family for years now. He used to sit and greet visitors on my parents front porch but now he is cozy inside next to our tree. Yes we love this Barrr of ours! 

What special decorations do you cherish???

As The Day Goes By In The Studio....OH MY!!!

Oh my my my! If you have ever had a fabric that just looks perfect for what you want to use it for, and it's just so very pretty BUT BUT BUT...... 

Well then you know exactly what I mean LOL

A beautiful soul found this fabric for me and I screamed "OH PERFECT!"'

Umm yes, that's how it went UNTIL I started sewing with it. Let the eye crossing begin!

OMGosh I didn't think I was ever going to get it to work but I was determined to not give up as it was so perfect for the creation I am making. 

In the end I got what I wanted sewn up but lets just say, this merbaby tail will always be a one of a kind LOL

I am so glad I got at least one tail made and I cannot wait to finish the whole soft sculpture. I think she is going to be beautiful! 

Here is a peek of the tale....

Isn' it just the cutest tail??? I know it doesn't look like it was difficult but let me tell you......LOL

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog!!!

It's a Love Thing!!!

Really it is! A  true love from the bottom, top, and all sides of my heart even! What can I say? I love what I do! I bet you got the idea already huh?

Okay, okay, so onto my "tinkerings" for the day. What are tinkerings? Well, when I was young and playing with my dollies, or doing something crafty, my mom called it tinkering. So I am happy to say the tradition lives on! 

Oh yes, okay, back to point! Today will be spent all day sewing, stuffing, sculpting, and smiling! What a day! Can we say pure smiles?

I plan on working on two of my merbaby soft sculptures from my Sea Witch Babies line. Along with that a Baby Giant, as well as a Mistickle. No pictures for now but they are coming. 

I can share a couple pictures of a tail I have sewn up out of the most gorgeous fabric! 

What do you think Isn't it just the yummiest??? I cannot wait to get her finished!!!

As always thank you for sharing in my smiles!!!

A Work in Progess....

Can you guess what I will be??? 

Please do not judge me too hard, mommy still has a lot to yet do. 

Fun With Graphics!

While I am by no means a graphic designer in the true sense of the word, tinkering with graphics is a favorite pastime of mine.

Not only is it fun for me, it works as a huge stress relief!

It also helps to get my "mojo" flowing again if I am finding myself not so anxious to create or stuck with something.

Sometimes it's just something simple like the above picture....

Or it I might feel a little more creative and go for a whole scene like above.

 

Regardless of how fancy or simple I go it is always so fun!

 

If anyone is interested in trying a little graphic fun check out PhotoImpact Pro. I adore this program!!! I have used some of the very expensive programs on a trial run and I tell you, PhotoImpact Pro does everything I need it to do for a fraction of  the cost!

 

 

 

 



Pulling My Hair Out...

Over what you ask? Why the Post Office of course! OMGosh let me tell you about it!

 

After I receive payment for a creation I then transfer the amount from Paypal into my Tipsy bank account. This takes 3-4 days, most times. Once that is finished I then, God willing, make it to the Post Office. A pretty normal routine I must say. Although I am admittedly Post Office jinxed. Really I am! You can ask some of my past customers LOL.

 

So, on with the story, I am shipping a Baby Giant. Those of you that have lovingly brought one into your family know they are a tad larger then most of my other creations so I often times combine two Priority boxes together in order to get the BG to fit comfortably inside. No biggie right?

 

Wrong!!!

 

This time it was a big deal. They now inform me that there is a surcharge for the size. I reiterate, I have done this many times before in the past, so I know about a small surcharge. Small I said? Ooops well let me change that statement. It is NOW almost $50.00 to ship a BG to California!!!! What???? YES! That is what I said, fifty US smackers. I will go out of business at this rate!

 

Needless to say the BG came back home with me. I now will go buy a standard box at Staples, or some place of the sort, repack my lil man, and then send him out tomorrow standard mail. This frustrates me to no end!

 

 I so truly sincerely apologize to my customers. I will be using standard shipping on any of my larger creations from now on out unless a customer is okay with paying $50.00 shipping INSIDE the US.

 

*Oober sad, annoyed, and grumpy face*