Winner!!!

Congratulations to "Life of a Southern Belle", she is the winner of my 100th post giveaway! Thanks everyone for entering...wish I could send each of you a clutch!



I used RANDOM.ORG to select the winner and 'Rachintherealworld' was actually first name drawn. Since she is my daughter I didn't think that would look on the up & up, so I did a second drawing. I feel sure Rach will be compensated in the end...lol.

http://www.random.org/draws/details/?draw=805

Shining new faces

I have three classes full of the most delightful students...I'm so excited about working with them this semester...but righ now, I'm too tired to wiggle!

Don't forget to enter the giveaway!

Lunch bag-Flower Girl Gift...what a cute idea!

100th Post Giveaway

100th Post Giveaway Clutch

WOW! Can't believe this is already the 100th post...man, I 'talk' a lot! I'm giving away a Basement Bags Clutch bag to a lucky blog friend. The winner gets to select the fabric, monogram style and thread color. Here are the entry rules:

1. Giveaway begins 8/23/09 and ends 8/28/09 (midnight)
2. Comment on this post for one entry
3. Post about the giveaway for one entry (tell me here that you are posting)
4. Post my Basement Bags logo on your blog for one more entry (copy & paste logo below)

Routine

I am back to my normal routine. Weekdays include school, exercise (or nap, maybe both), sewing, dinner, more sewing, bedtime. Housework, laundry, lots of sewing, a trip to the lake, eating out or movie date on the weekends...a very exciting existence I tell you! It works for us.

We took our friends to the airport this morning. They are off for another year in Morocco (he works for the State Department). We will miss them.

Made this cute tote with a brides' new initials this afternoon. I like the navy and lavender together. Hope all is well in your corner of the world.

Countdown

In NC teachers work 190 days/year. Two down and 188 to go...I'm just saying.

ugh...

It's 6:15 am and I am going 'back to school' in a few minutes. Someone pinch me! wake me up from this bad dream...surely my summer vacation is not over! The 'back to school' enthusiasm that all good teachers are suppose to feel right now totally eludes me. I am certain that a full day of meetings and Open house tonight will inspire me. Hope you have a Wonderful Wednesday!

Random stuff

Today I'm breaking from the normal 'look at this cute stuff I made' post and will share some random tidbits about myself.

• hot flashes feel like being sunburned on the inside
• the new flimsy plastic used for bottled water = squired in the face on every first sip
• Crocs flipflops rescued my achy feet
• Styrofoam cups feel yucky in my mouth, only drink coffee from 'real' cups
• my favorite clothing stores are Chico's and Christoper & Banks
• per my definition I'm a fluffy size girl...14/16 clothes, 9 shoes, 8.5 ring...but only the tiniest iPod ear buds fit my ears
• based on the amount of brown hair everywhere in our house, it's amazing that I'm not bald
• I don't like shopping & despise trying on clothes in the store, call me the Queen of Returns
• my husband and I met 'on line', dated for 3 yrs & will celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary in a few weeks, we're living the 'happily ever after'
• I get my hair colored at one salon and cut at a different one
• blogging is my only 'social' networking outlet...no facebook or twitter for me
• when I find something that I like or that fits, I buy one in every color
• cutting grass and ironing are two chores I find relaxing
• my favorite 'treat' is getting a manicure/pedicure

And lastly... made these adorable bib/cap sets this morning...you didn't really think I wasn't going to share some cuteness with you, did you?

Cuteness

Even future sports stars need to start with some cuteness.

Wish I'd made the design on the towel a little larger...still learning!

100th post Giveaway coming soon from your favorite basement!

Still time to tell me what item you'd like to see up for grabs.

One of those days

You know what I'm talking about?...one of those days...when nothing seems to go right. That's my day so far. This precious baby set took about twice as long as normal to make and there's a hooded towel in the trash can...expensive mistake...I'm just turning off the machines and going upstairs for a while. It's raining here and just a blah day, in more ways than one.

Would love more comments on 'tell the truth' post from yesterday.

Just noticed I'm getting pretty close to post #100...so maybe I'll do a little giveaway to celebrate...what would you like to see me giveaway?

Tell the truth

I so hate having my picture taken, but I need opinions.

Old glasses on the left, new ones on the top.

Which do you like best? Tell the truth!

The beginning

Yesterday I made this 'Chocolate Dots' purse. Cute, huh? Would you ever guess that it's made out of a placemat? Yes, one like you use on the dinner table. They were uber popular several year ago. Matter of fact, placemat purses are what got me started in business. The original purses were simply monogrammed placemats with ribbon handles...cute, but a bit flimsy for my taste. So I added a lining with pocket, webbing (belting) or wooden handles, ribbon & bows & lots of other trims...the variations are endless! I made placemat purses for cheerleading teams, to match sports teams, for Red Hat Society groups, for teachers, nurses, and on & on. Wish I'd kept track of how many I've made in the past five years! Customers still order them, not as often as in the beginning, but I still love making them.

I'm off to the dentist today. I hate the dentist. Oh, don't get me wrong...I love clean teeth...just hate the process. My teeth are ultra sensitive so it hurts. But the bigger issue for me is the noise in a dentist office. Repetitive noises drive me insane! Like when hubby leaves the keys in the ignition, leaves the door open and then walks off...eek!...like scratching nails on a blackboard (for those of you who remember blackboards!) Anyway, you get my drift, I hate the noises. But for the sake of clean, healthy teeth I will endure the torture. Also have to pick up my new glasses today...hope they are decent since I picked them out after my eyes had been dilated.

Time to turn on the machines and get busy...lots of babies needing adorable bibs & burp cloths! I am going to miss my coffee/blogging time when school starts.

Terrific Totes

Terrific totes for bridesmaids to be stuffed with all kinds of goodies!

Today is the first day of my last full week of summer vacation...where did the time go?!?! Seems like I waited so long for it to get here and it went so fast. Oh well, my waistline is telling me it's time to get back on a schedule. Shame on me 'cause I can't even remember the last time points were counted. We won't even think about the pizza and birthday cake I consumed yesterday. So I'm fifty-one now. Don't think it's going to be much different than fifty, but pretty certain I can't pull off the '36' anymore. Hope you are having a Marvelous Monday!

Ribbon rules

So I've shared with you before that I love ribbon...proof is in the pictures. If a little is good, then a lot is GREAT!

Check out the 'mammajamma' ribbon rack that son-in-law built. Y'all it is beautiful!...furniture quality construction! He's a very talented craftsmen. I am tickled with it and love that there is some 'growing room' so I can add to my selection.

This is about 100 more pieces of ribbon that aren't on spools. The ladies at one of the local craft stores save spools for me, but if anyone has an inexpensive suggestion of how to hang my ribbons, please share.

I store narrow ribbons these display boxes.

BFF4Real

Made a 'mad dash' to SC yesterday to attend a dinner party for 'Retired Teachers & Friends' in my former hometown. I taught there for 21 yrs. before relocating to NC seven years ago. I love my life here, but still miss my friends. This is a picture of me & my all time very best friend...we taught across the hall from each other for 15+ years and we were a force to be reckoned with! I miss her the most! This is so corny, but if you look up the word 'friend' in the dictionary, her picture will be there. She is beautiful inside & out, a fabulous listener and can always make me laugh. I'll post more pictures later. Hope you are having a Fantastic Friday and have happy weekend.

Babyrama

Hot Pink Lady Bugs
Fun Plaid Applique' Letter

Yummy Watermelon

Is everyone having a baby?

I hope so...love, love, love making these precious baby things.

Do you have a favorite?

Missing thumb

Green thumb that is....I don't have one. Every year we purchased beautiful ferns for the front porch & although I really try to keep them healthy, sometimes they get pretty ratty looking . No green thumb, but fortunately a sweet little plant food recipe that snaps them back into shape almost overnight. I'll share in case you are 'plant care challenged' like me!

Plant Food

1 gal. tepid water add 1 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. Epsom salts, 1 tsp. salt peter, and 1/2 tsp. household ammonia.

Water once a month.

*I only use this on ferns, not sure if it works on other plants.

"Back to school" time is quickly approaching.

Thank you very much television/radio commercials that constantly remind me that my glorious vacation is almost over! Anyway, this is my week of 'appointments' .... all those 'once a year 'things we do ... just easier to do them all at once and while school is out. Eye exam today.

Dilation + sunshine = monster headache

Hope those new frames I selected while blind look alright.

When my vision returned to normal, I stitched out this adorable baby blanket. This is absolutely the softest blanket in the world! and they make wonderful personalized gifts.

The price of being cool

We had to replace one of our air conditioners this past week. :( Besides the obvious financial shock...my body is reeling from the experience. You see, the air handlers are in the basement...yes, my basement! And since the hoses, wires and all that other 'necessary to make air conditioning work stuff' feeds to the outside units through a hole in the basement wall. The old stuff had to be torn out and the new go in. Hole in the wall was enlarged, the ceiling tiles had to be removed...I don't know all the specifics, just that everything had to move ... embroidery machine, plastic drawer thingies, furniture, treadmill, Boflex ...everything! "Oh my aching back!" Anyway, what better time to continue the make-over of my work space? Now walls are freshly painted, Luster White - no, not exciting, but man does it reflect the light! which is a good thing in a basement. And it looks soooo clean! Everything has been dusted, organized and moved back to it's rightful place. New shelves (more plastic thingies) were purchased to hold fabric, embroidery blanks and other assorted sewing stuff. Had to order an additional set of shelves and am waiting for my ribbon rack to be finished and installed. Just need new floor covering and I will be totally satisfied with the basement. As you can see in the picture below, right now we have the most gosh-awful mis-matched pieces of carpet that were salvaged from hubby's office when they remodeled. Would love to hear some your suggestions for flooring...low budget flooring (very low budget...air conditions are crazy expensive).