Swaps & Contests….

I got my Orange & Purple Coloriffic Swap package & it was another great one! I guess in light of all my other “issues” the swap Gods have taken pity on my & blessed me with fabulous swap partners of late!

All this yummy goodness came from Revital.



She made the earrings, bracelet & the little butterfly buttons! I have really been into purple lately so I have been wearing the bracelet & earrings a lot.

While we are on the swapping subject, I would like to point out that my lovely Aqua & Red Swap partner, Heather, is hosting a swap. Check out her A Little Bit of Everything Swap. I was swearing off Swap Bot swaps for for individual swaps for a while but I had to join this seeing as Heather was hosting it.

I have also entered a contest Stacy’s Stacy Sews Fabric Leftovers Contest. There are some great entries so I would ask you to go check them out. Not that you have to vote for mine, but I won’t be upset if you do. Just vote & show some support for the craftiness out there in blog land.

Speaking of contests, remember that great Peeps Bra from the Sewing Expo a couple posts back, well as it turns out one of my readers (how funny does that sound?) Sarah e-mailed me to ask if I had seen her entry at the Expo, because she hadn’t heard anything from them. Well as it turns out Miz Sarah took first place with her entry “Sports Bra: Supporting a Race for a Cure”. Isn’t that so great! Congrats Sarah!

You can check out the winners here.

I'm here, I'm here!

I am so terribly behind! In my blogging, swapping, laundry*, etc etc! I only have a second before my lunch break is over but I have to share this fantabulous package that I got from Heather for the Aqua & Red Swap.



She was so thoughtful with her choices for my box. She had been reading Sew Little Thyme & picked the best stuff! My mom & I both at in love with the little bowls!** The chocolates were very yummy!


The bracelet is just so pretty! I have worn it like a dozen times already! I was telling Heather that because I make jewelry I hardly ever buy it for myself thinking or I can make myself that. Then of course reality takes hold, the “do to” list calls & I never get to it. So it was so nice to get
that.
Her little tissue & lip gloss holders are just too cute! The little sketch book is going in my purse for when I need to jot done a fabulous idea for a new project. I have actually been looking for one just like it for ever! That little tiny lady bug is the cutest magnet. She also knew about my hair issues & made me that beaded flower hairpin & red stain ribbon headband. Also check out the tiny little Canada pin!
Also she was so cute because she put little tags on everything explaining why she choice it! I love it! I do that too sometimes! Also it was all wrapped in that beautifully yummy brown & Aqua paper! I have kept it too. I am trying to figure out how I might be able to reuse it. It’s just too pretty not to! I am also planning on framing that handmade card that she did such a great job making. It is really pretty & I think that it will make a fabulous addition to my sewing/guest room décor. Let’s see did I miss anything….oh yeah the Mary Kay Satins hands little kit, lip gloss & then these soap leaves (not MK)! I haven’t tried them yet but they smell really good!

I also told her that it came at the perfect time, as we got more “house problem” news that same day. Seems that we have a new deadline of Nov 1 before they will seek to condemn the house. Oh and get this little gem, prosecute us too! Fabulous! We may get to spent Christmas in the big house! 3 hots & a cot! Oh joy!

But seriously our attorney feels that they will have a snowballs chance in He** of actually getting any judge to go along with that but it’s still in the back of our minds. So we keep trusting that there must be a bigger reason for all this & taking comfort in the fact that we have done nothing wrong. We spent the last week & ½ preparing our response to that response from the township that they sent to the state, in response to our complaint. ***

So that is where we are at & why I have been MIA. Thank to all who have sent good thoughts & e-mails. I really appreciate it. It is a comfort to know that that there are still good people out there when you are only dealing with the crawled out from under a rock kind. Thank you, again!




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* is anyone ever actually caught up on laundry? Come on really?

** I might have to check mom’s luggage before she leaves to make sure that she doesn’t sneak off with them! And the tissue holder for that matter. I saw her eyeballing that too!

*** Your keeping all this straight right? Because there will be a quiz at the end of the saga. So take notes!

Recap......

Ok let’s see if I can manage to do this in less than 5000 words. (if you know me you know I can’t tell/type a short story).

I took Friday off from work to attend The American Sewing Expo in Novi. I left my house at 6:30 am to be at my friend Judi’s for shortly after 9 am. We were to the Expo by around 10 am & didn’t leave until 6-ish. It was a full day of shopping, looking, talking & feeling the fabric.

I am really proud of myself that I bought no fabric! The only items I did purchase are this, this, this & a couple of these tubular frames, to make a couple of these* .The Garden Jacket isn't normally my style but they had them in the booth made up in different types of fabrics & it gives it a whole new look. Really pretty nice.

I found some great buttons for my Garbo Jacket but we both agreed that $35.00 was a bit much for 5 buttons. I mean they were neat but not $7.00 each worth of neat. So am keeping my eye out for 4 large (1”-1 ½”) buttons to go with my purple/blue boucle. I will probably end up with mother of pearl or silver ones as I think that it will be hard to find a another set that close in color.

They had some fabulous exhibits at the Expo. One was of bras for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, antique clothing from Jane Austin to Titanic Rose & of this unbelievably realistic looking quits. I can’t remember the name of the exhibit.

One of my favorite bras, "Don't Touch My Peeps":




One of the Civil War Era Dresses:

One of the gorgeous quilts & because I love lillies:




We also got to attend two fashion shows. One was of independent pattern companies the other was all Simplicity patterns. This was extra cool because we got to talk to Debra Kneiling, director of design development. She was so nice & had the most fabulous jacket on! It is actually one of the new Built by Wendy ones but it was made out of a gorgeous brown wool with pink & green dot like designs woven into it. It looked totally different than the one shown on the pattern

I got home Sat am & worked like a mad woman to try & finish my dress for the Cowboy BBQ that night. No such luck. I did get the buttons on John’s vest but I had to wear something else. Oh well. I’ll get it finished sometime this winter.



I spent Sunday cleaning house & putting up Halloween décor. By the way Sunday was our deadline on the “house thing”. We haven’t heard anything yet but we do know that “they” were contacted by the State about the complaint that we filed. So fingers crossed that they are going to lay off of us while they try to figure out how to cover their butts.

Lets see what else…..Oh yes Fiona received her Aqua & Red Swap box from me! Yippy! She says she likes everything so that is fab-u-lous! I am still working at getting my Coloriffic Orange & Purple swap box all together. I have it partially finished. She is hard because she likes natural things, no bright colors, that makes it hard as it is a Orange & Purple swap! But I think I got it figured out. Pictures to come later…….

On the thrifting front I popped into Goodwill last night to see if I might find some thrifted goodies for my Orange & Purple swap. Yes & no. I did find one little thing for her, a little Halloween candle holder for me, a tea bag holder (this may or may not end up as a Christmas gift, but I really like it!), a jacket(will be nice for work) & sweater(has super cute buttons!) for me.

Work is still a zoo. “The Drama Queen” had yet another family emergency today. “The Flea Girl” is still baring her thong & doing her best to infest the office with her fleas. I had another one on my pant leg within 15 minutes of arriving at work on Monday & then TDQ* had one down her shirt when she was driving home that same night. Ah Ha! Now I am not sure a nut job because I keep complaining about them. Her husband told her that if they get fleas in their house he is going to give TFG* the bill to pay.

Other than that our leaves are changing fast. It is raining again & I am searching for new fall recipes. I found one for Courgette and Butternut Squash Pasta. Which in case you did not know a Courgette is a Britich Zucchini. Learn something new evreyday. So if you have any great fall/squash/apple/pumpkin recipes I would love to hear them! I hope to get a chance to try LLA’s “The Best Darn Chewy/Crunchy and Addictive Oatmeal Cookie. Ever”recipe before John eats all my Frosted Flakes. I’ll let you know how they are.

Until then, my fair bloging friends……

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* TDQ = The Drama Queen & TFG = The FLea Girl - because they are & this is faster to type.

* Sorry I checked my plink yesterday before posting but they were messed up anyway. They shoudl be correct now. Darn Blogger!