Saturday, June 30, 2012

A New Yarn/Project Basket

The kids and I made a run to Target yesterday because they were in need of toothpaste. While we were there we slipped down the isle with the picnic supplies. That's where I found my new basket. It is meant to be a picnic basket but who cares. I have been looking at similar baskets at the craft stores but they range anywhere from $20 to $30. And that is without a lid. I bought mine for.... Are you ready?.........$9. Gotta love target! The only thing is this one doesn't have a pocket. That's the only thing I would add. They came in quite a few colors. I had to share my find with you. It is collapsable, has a nipper close top, and you can take it off the frame if you need to wash it. And for all of you sewers out there, you could make a different covers to go on it to switch out.

As you can see I have my angel bear pattern all typed up.  I am checking it as I make a new one to make sure it has nothing left out.

Don't forget. We are still looking for donations for our women's meeting. You can read about it HERE . I will be putting a page up on the blog to list who has donated and what they donated. We will also send out donation receipts so this is completely tax deductible. If you want to donate just leave a comment or use my contact page at the top.

Have a great weekend all. I may have to run and get a few more of these baskets.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Ideas???...HELP!!!...Free Advertising!!!

Hello bloggy friends!! I need your help. I have been asked, again this year, to be in charge of finding gifts to hand out at a women's conference. The organization that holds the conferences is Christian Women of Today. (See bottom part of post to find out how CWOT got started.) Last year, with the Lords help, we were able to obtain enough christian books donations to hand out to each woman that came to the conference and they LOVED them. You can see a list of some of the books donated for last year here.





This year they would like to try something different. I thought maybe I would try to reach out to the blog and Etsy world and see if anyone would like to donate something for this years conference. The conference will be in November so I still have plenty of time to collect donations. We would love any hand made or crafted item that you would like to donate. Please remember that this is a Christian conference for women.





Anything would be great....crocheted items, knit items, jewelry items, pottery, anything you would like to donate would be wonderful and greatly appreciated!! If you or someone you know is interested please leave me a comment or contact me through my blog page. Please help me spread the word about this also. If you do make a donation, you name and blog/Etsy store address will be posted here and on the Christian Woman of Today blog. That means free advertising for you and your blog or Etsy store. Plus you will also receive a receipt so you can use it as a tax deductable donation.

A little bit about Christian Women of Today and how they got started...


Christian Women of Today began in July 2005. We are a nondenominational group who share the word of Christ with other women. When we first started, with only about three or four women, we held meetings in the homes of different women in our area. Since then our women's conferences have grown by leaps and bounds. CWOT now holds quarterly conferences in different churches across Northwest Arkansas. We have guest speakers at each meeting, and a wonderful praise and worship team.(Kim Marler and her team from Mercy & Grace) We try to do something different at each conference to bring in more and more women and have even done skits before the service. Our conferences range in size from 60 women to over 200 women.



Monday, June 25, 2012

A 13 Year Old, A Fun Craft Project And A Sneak Peek

Happy Monday everyone!!  I have a lot to post about today. First of all I have to tell you I am now the mother of a teenager!!  AHHHHHH!!!!

As of Friday, June 19, 2012, this sweet tiny little baby is now 13.
Here she is as the proud big sister at 5 1/2.
Happy Birthday to you!!

BLOW!!
It's hard to believe that tiny baby that only weighted 6lbs 9oz and was 18 1/2" long would grow to be so tall.  She is now taller than mom.  We knew she would be beautiful.  I mean look at that little face up there and all that red hair. Baby girl we are so proud of you.  You are a great big sister and so much fun to be around.  You are doing so good in school!!  You are so talented with your cross stitch and learning to crochet.  And you did great this last year in Choir! We can't wait to see what the next 13 years will bring.  I know they will be just as good or even better.  For her Birthday, we went out to eat lunch then to the movies and saw Brave.  Then came home and had a cook out at Grammy and Papaw's house.  She got lots of finger nail polish and other goodies that she wanted.  

After seeing a post on Debi's new blog, Dly's Crafts and Stuff, about using picture frames and glass gems to make a picture we had to try our own.  Off to the dollar tree we went to get frames and some gems.  We also hit Hobby Lobby for a few more gems.
Here is everything laid out and ready to go.  When Boo is working with anything messy like glue or paint I ALWAYS put a trash bag over the table where he is working.  He can be a little messy and it makes for easy clean up.  Roll up the trash bag with mess inside and throw away.
  
Here is the one Boo made.  He said it was a self portrait. (his eyes are really brown but we didn't have any.

Tootie made penguins of course.  She made a beautiful flag to begin with but didn't want to use  up all the red so Boo would have plenty since it is his favorite color.  Then she was going to do an Arctic scene but could get her igloo the way she wanted to she settled on the penguins.  I think they are too cute. 

I worked on mine for ever.  I wanted a big daisy in the middle but couldn't get it to come out right so I just settled for this.  I like it though. Now I just have to get something to hang them with.  We did 8 x 10 frames and they are heavy so I need something that will hold them up better.  I may just go get some plate stands or plate hangers.

And now for the sneak peek I promised.

project hope


I have also been working on a smaller snuggle blanket to donate to Project Hope.  I finally got the rest of it done last night.  It is an angel bear.
I still need to sew the wings on and embroider the face then it will be ready to go.  I have to get the pattern typed up.  It is a mess right now.  The wings gave me fits but I got them finally.  I am going to work some up in different colors and try to get them sent out pretty soon.  

Hope you have a great week and if you are in the lower US stay cool!!  We are supposed to be in the 100's again today.  It's already in the 80's now.  I think I will take the kids swimming this morning.  I still can't go yet. :(  Just a few more weeks and I will be free!!

Now that you know what I have been up to, leave me a comment and let me know what all of you have been doing?

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

My Poor Sweet Girl!!

My sweet baby girl, who by the way will be 13 on Friday, had a rough day today.  She had to go sit in one of these...

and fill a couple of these...

Back in 2007 she had an allergic reaction at school where her eyes and the bridge of her nose swelled really bad.  The she also broke out in hives.  Let me rephrase that...She broke out in one hive and it covered her entire body.  Unsure of what caused it we rushed her to the ER where they proceeded to TRY and find a vein to put an I.V.  Due to the fact that she was one sold hive it took three nurses and one anesthesiologist to get that baby in there.  Needless to say after being poked numerous times and having them dig around for a good 10 minutes she has somewhat developed a slight needle phobia.   The she was taken to an allergist a couple days later and was poked again.  At that time she tested positive for peanuts, pecans, soy and a few other things.

Five years later and A LOT of begging on my part I talked her into being retested to see if she had grown out of her allergies.  So, we get to the new allergist and signed in.  At this point we were told that they would probably not do blood work, but the scratch testing instead.  At this point the poor girl turned white, then red, then looked like she didn't know if she was going to throw up or pass out or cry.  I was a little afraid she might do all three at once.
 

 Once we got back in a room we met the wonderful nurse at this new clinic.  She informed us that they may have to do both the scratch and blood testing.  Of course the poor baby started changing colors again and was about to cry.  She even had tears in her eyes.


Then the beautiful and wonderful allergist came in swooping in to the rescue.  She didn't see any since in doing both.  She said she just wanted blood work done. She loved this allergist because she came in and shook her hand and sat up on the table with her.  Then off we went to the local hospital to have blood drawn.  She was much happier with only getting poked once.  Then we get to the hospital, get checked in, get a lovely blue bracelet and wait.  They call us back, she climbs into the chair and starts changing colors again.  I think she was about to toss her pancake puff she had for breakfast.  The blood lady pulls out the needle and miss "I'm gonna hurl here" turns her head and covers her face with her free hand.  I had to keep telling her to breath.  I know it hurt because the woman that did it had drawn my before and she is not all that great.  Of course the lovely lady keeps saying does it really hurt all that bad.  It can't still hurt.  Does it really still hurt.  Miss Tootie looks her in the eye and says "YES!!  IT STILL HURTS THAT BAD!!!"  Mom was about to crack up .Now it is all over and she won't have to be tested for another 3 to 5 years.  If she is not allergic to anything she won't ever need to be tested again.

We will know in two weeks what the results are.  So please say a little prayer that all is negative.  Sorry for waffling on for so long and thanks for listening.  Hope you all had a great day and are having a wonderful week.


I almost forgot to mention I am participating in the GFC Blog Hop

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Great Giveaway!!

Crochet Queen at http://notyouraveragecrochet.wordpress.com/2012/06/19/its-time-again/ is have a wonderful giveaway to celebrate having over 50 followers. Go have a peek at her blog and enter to win. Good luck.

Melissa

An Anniversary

19 years ago today an 18 year old girl and a 24 year old boy got married. They had met 2 years earlier and fallen in love, but as she was too young to get married then they waited.  It was worth it!!  Here is the couple on their big day. (Sorry the picture scanned a little darker than it should be.)

Yes that little 18 year old girl is me.  My brother looks so serious standing behind me.  There is a long story behind why he was the one to give me away.  We will leave that for another day.

Here is the happy couple after the ceremony.  

19 years later, we have two wonderful children and love each other more today than we did then.  Life may not be quite as exciting as it was back then, but who needs exciting when you have each other. 

Happy anniversary my dear husband.  May the next 19 years be even better than the first.


Monday, June 18, 2012

Sodastream Review





SodaStream



My family and I recently had the chance to review the Sodastream Genesis in Black.
Genesis

This is the box we received.  Wow was it big.

This is what was inside. There is a little boy hiding behind the big box : o )

And inside those boxes was all of this. Wow!!  That's a lot!! (Yes, that little boy is hiding in the background again.)
Included for review were:

1 Genesis Soda starter kit which included:
 *Sodastream machine
*1  carbonating canister
*2 1 liter carbonating bottles with black lids
*1 12 pack flavor starter kit.(Energy, Dr. Pete, Root Beer, Diet Root Beer, Diet Cranberry-Raspberry, Diet Cola, Diet Dr. Pete, Diet Pink Grapefruit, Diet Lemon-Lime, Lemon-Lime, Fountain Mist, and Orange.)

8 Regular size bottles of soda flavoring :
*5 16.9 fl oz bottles which make 50 servings (12 liters) in Cranberry-Raspberry, Root Beer, Cola Free, Diet Lemon-Lime, and Diet Pink Grapefruit.
*3 Sparkling Natural/Naturally Sweetened flavors 25.4 fl oz bottle which make 25 servings (6 liters) in Orange & Pineapple,  Cola, and Ginger Ale.

1 MyWater Flavor Essence Variety  pack in Orange, Lemon-Lime and Cranberry to make sparkling water.

I could not believe the amount of product that they sent for us to review. The kids called Grammy and we had a tasting party at our house. 

All you have to do to make your soda is:
Take the top off of the Sodastream machine, insert the carbonating canister, put the lid back on.  Then add water to the 1 liter bottles up to the line. Twist the bottle onto the Sodastream machine and press the button onto until you hear a buzzing noise, then press two more time for regular fizz.  If you need more fizz you can add more but I think three buzzes were enough for us. Unscrew the bottle from the machine.  Be prepared it will make a sound like a newly opened bottle of soda. Then you add the flavor of you choice by tipping the bottle of water at an angle and pouring in the flavor.  Put the lid on and tip the bottle back and for slowly to mix it  up. Give it a minute then open, pour and enjoy!!  To clean the carbonating bottles, just hand wash them in cool water and rinse. No mess, no cans and bottle to throw away or recycle, and you have soda when ever you want or need it.

The kids and Grammy loved the Root Beer and Dr. Pete.  I enjoyed the fruity flavors.  The Ginger Ale was our least favorite because it was a little too strong in flavor. We are going to try and use less mix next time. They have also come out with some new flavors that include teas, Country Time Lemonade and Crystal Light flavors.  We have also used it with flavoring we already had around the house like Kool-aid singles and other singles packets.  Just add enough flavoring  to the bottle to flavor the amount of water you have.  We use two packets most of the time.  I have used most of the Flavor Essence bottles for water as I am a big water drinker.  

The kids have had a blast using it and drinking all of the yummy sodas they have made.  Our next idea is to make snow cones and use the flavor syrups for that.  I'll let you know how that goes.  The ideas for the machine and flavors are endless.  I recommend this for any family out there that wants to save money and time and make their own soda at home.

Disclosure: I was provided with the product(s) mentioned for review purposes. All opinions are my own. I can not be held responsible for sponsor not shipping products.







Saturday, June 16, 2012

Project Hope

On June 13, 2012, I was contacted by a wonderful woman named Vanessa.  She had been searching Etsy for security, lovey and snuggle blankets and had come across my Snuggle Puppy pattern.  She then contacted me and asked if I would be interested in donating some of the finished items.  This is when I was introduced to Laura and her project Project Hope.

Laura has been blessed with four sweet and precious little babies that she was only able to hold in her arms for a short time because they went on to be with the Lord. You can read more about them here.  She also has three other children who are healthy and strong.

(Click on the picture to find out more about Laura and her family.)

Through Laura's loss...Project Hope was born.  After losing two of her babies, Grace and Faith, Laura received a box from the hospital.  It was a handmade box filled with items like a small prayer printed on a sheet of paper, crocheted booties and hat, a silver coin hand stamped with the word "HOPE", small blanket an other keepsakes.  In Faith's box was a pink bear snuggle blanket with angel wings.  Laura told herself then that she would have another baby girl one day and give her that special blanket.  And through God's goodness and promise, she did.


After Laura's daughter Mia was born, The Lord kept putting it on Laura's heart that there were other mom's out there that needed this same hope to hold onto. In  2011, Laura, with the help of Threads of Love, put together and donated 50 boxed to donate to area hospitals for mother's who have lost a baby.  This year Laura would like to be able to put together at least 100 boxes.  This is where you and anyone you know can help.

Laura is looking for the following items, to fill these boxes, and the help needed to make this happen...

-A committee to help with planning the craft event {local would be great because I would love to get together for planning meetings} 
-Etsy shop, business owners, or handmade shops that would like to donate an item for the memory boxes.
-Etsy Shop, Business owners or handmade shops who like to donate items for door prizes at the craft event. 
-Monetary Donations toward the purchase of the boxes, craft supplies, or the caskets.
-100 Lovies/Bears 
-Bloggers who would like to place a button on your blog for the duration of the project and possibly posting about it to help spread the word.
-Someone with graphics design skills who can help with the buttons and logo.  
-Anyone and everyone with a heart to help spread hope.
***all business and shop owners will be included with links in a blog post as well shout outs on twitter*** 

Project Hope will officially begin June 19th, 2012 and run through August 19th, 2012.  


If you would like to help, you can contact Laura through her blog by using the contact page.  I am going to donate some of the snuggle puppies and try to design a bear or something similar to send.  If you would like to make one of my snuggle puppies to donate please contact me through my comments page and let me know.  I know, that with God's help, together we can send Laura enough to reach and surpass her goal of 100 boxes. Please help spread the about Laura and her cause!!!

To find a Thread's of Love in your area please visit their Website.

(All pictures used came from Laura's blog and are not my own.)






Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Sunshine Blogger Award


My dear friend Susan from http://crochetaddictcfs.blogspot.co.uk gave me the Sunshine blogger award!!
Thanks so much Susan.


Sunshine Award Rules

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you. - done

2. Answer the 10 questions on your favourite things.

3. Nominate 10 blogs to receive the Sunshine Award and let them know they've been nominated.



  1. Favourite animal: I think birds and puppies have to be my favorite.
  2. Favourite number: 19
  3. Favourite non-alcoholic drink: I mostly drink water but I do love Lemonade, Gatorade and Tea (unsweet)
  4. Facebook or Twitter: Twitter
  5. My passion: My kids and Crocheting 
  6. Getting or giving: Giving
  7. Favourite Pattern: Not sure on this one I love so many.  I love to make granny squares and anything with daisies.
  8. Favourite day of the week: Sunday- This is the one day that we all try to stay home together and just hang out.
  9. Favourite flower: Daisy of course
  10. Favourite country: USA
Now it's time for me to nominate 10 blogs:


Saturday, June 9, 2012

Yarn Giveaway

Kate from http://sssinthesun.blogspot.com/?m=0 is having a international yarn giveaway. Go over and have a peek at her wonderful blog. Go to http://sssinthesun.blogspot.com/2012/06/yarn-giveaway.html?m=0 to enter to win.

Melissa

Happy Saturday All!!


Just wanted to let you know that I am still alive and crocheting.  I was going to say kicking but I'm not quite up to that yet.  I have been doing a lot of what this cute puppy is doing.
Lazy Bones
I am recovering nicely from the surgery.
 
I have been doing some crochet but can't show you because it is for the Santa Sack/Stocking Swap.  Promise to show you some of it when it is received in July.
I have some items to review and a couple giveaways coming up so stay tuned.  Can't sit at the computer too long yet as it makes my tummy sore and I pay for it the rest of the day. Hopefully I can get a few things up and going next week.
Cute-quotes_966982410_55
And with that I must say goodbye for now my friends.  But please know that I love each and everyone of you so don't leave me just yet because I don't know what I would do without all of you to visit with.







Thank you all for hanging in here with me and I will see you soon.
Thank-You! - Daisy

Here is a little flower for you and I hope you have a great weekend.


Love Poem