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Showing posts from May, 2013

Flying to the West Coast

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You long-time readers know how much I love to fly...I always share the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to my flying experiences. Actually, I take that back...I always share the good, better and best, because I have always had great flying experiences. Ahem, had being the key word. Last week I flew from Maine to Oregon...not my first time on the West Coast, but my first time in Oregon or any Northwestern states. We got all of our stuff in one suitcase...that is two women for 12 days...but it was overweight. :( So we went to two suitcases, which ended up being a good thing. There were 6 of us flying together...my Grandmother and I, plus a close friend of mine with her 3 small boys. She and I both were holding a baby on our lap for the flights. We got checked in and through security with absolutely no problems. Did you know that kids under 12 don't  have to take off their shoes for security?? Such a blessing! But things started getting interesting at this point. Watching o...

DIY Curtain Panels

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Just popping in with a quick tutorial today! The other day Months and months ago, I spotted this b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l. fabric in a bin at our local thrift shop... It was actually a shower curtain, the nice heavy fabric kind. We were looking for panels to put in a new washroom at church, and this was just screaming out at me! The walls are blue, so I wasn't looking for more blue in the space, but I just couldn't pass up this huge, good-quality fabric for less than $5. So, we brought it home. We already had a sheer curtain hanging in the window for privacy, but wanted some color in the space to frame out the window. The two panels will never be drawn together, so I didn't have to worry about how full these were. I just cut this big piece in half to create the two panels. I pinned the curtain in half to keep things from sliding around: And then just ran my scissors up the fold to cut in in half. This is easy to do with a sharp pair of scissors! The exciting thing about using an...

No Goals, but Many Gifts!

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I'm in Maine this week, before going to Oregon for about 10 days. So exciting! I'm thrilled to be taking a little time "off," visiting family, and taking a cross country trip. I just love traveling! Oh, and when I got to Maine, look what was greeting me... I shared this on my 1,000 Gifts picture series on Facebook , but I can't resist sharing it here too! My Grammie told me I could pick some and put them in my room, and boy do they smell lovely! I just adore lilacs, they are my favourite flower, and now when they are just opening up they smell so sweet. I had an interesting, blessed, hectic weekend. Sounds interesting, right?! I'd love to briefly share it with you, because God did some exciting things! We were supposed to leave for Moncton, NB on Friday. Supposed to. I woke up Friday morning, preparing to leave, when I was informed we wouldn't be going anywhere...half my family had come down with the flu!! There was a time when that type of news would...

A Cold Remedy that {apparently} Works!

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Way back in March, I shared with you s ome new cold remedies I was implementing ...with the plan to experiment and see if these natural remedies kept me from catching a cold every two weeks! And like any good experiment, I'm back to share an update and tell you what did and didn't work for me. Well I'll cut right to the chase... Once I started drinking water with lemon all the time, I was not sick at all. Not one little sore throat or anything.  Until last week. What happened last week, you ask? I stopped drinking the lemon water, and within days was down with one of the worst head colds ever. I wish I was joking. No, I really wish I was joking, because I have really felt miserable this week. (cue violins) I'm getting better now, but I'm here to tell you... the lemon water worked for me ! I didn't realize how much it was working until I stopped taking it. Here are the ways it helped my overall health: ~I didn't get sick while drinking it, and I was around so...

Vacation...for my shop and myself!

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This is the first time I've ever done this...put my entire shop on vacation! I mentioned Monday that I would be away for a few weeks, so it must be done. But don't you worry, I'll be planning some big new things for the shop while I'm away...and I'm already excited to share them with you when I get back! Most recent addition... Retro flowers Tablet/eReader sleeve! You will still be able to browse through So Sew Organized during this time...just not make any purchases. There is plenty of eye candy to be had over there!   Update: it appears that you can no longer browse a shop while the owner is on vacation, boo! You can browse past and present products here on the blog under the label " Etsy Shop " or on our Facebook page . Hope you'll continue to stay in touch! This one-way floral design is unique, but so summer-y and fun! I will also still be interacting with people in the Etsy community and am also looking for improvement that can be made to my ...

Goals for the Week, May 13, 2013

Happy Monday, everyone! We had a rainy Mother's Day weekend, which was very much needed around here! Things are sprouting in our garden...how exciting! Speaking of Mother's Day, did you read my post on one very special mother I know ? She has just written a book that I know you will LOVE! I did! Check it out here . ********************************************************************************************************** Last week , I set these goals: Continue reading Tamate: the Life Story of James Chalmers {Richard Lovett} Swap out some winter clothes for my cute summer clothes - I get so excited to do this each spring! Work on hemming those 15 pair of pants Work on one post for another site Finish birthday thank you cards - didn't get them all done Make culottes for one sister Memorize Philippians 3:13-15  Work on mending This week begins my "vacation" ...I'm spending the next weekend in Moncton, the next week in Maine, and the next 10 days after that in Ore...

Expecting Grace: A Mother's Day Story

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Mother’s Day is just about upon us, and I would be remiss to let it go by without mentioning it. Blog land is full of the stories of amazing mothers these days, along with tons of gift ideas for Sunday. What are you hoping to get or gift? Today I’d like to introduce to you a mother whose story shows powerfully the love a mother has for her children and family - to the point of nearly giving her life. It is probably not the mother you’d expect me to talk about today, since she is not any relation to me whatsoever. But after reading her powerful story, I think you’ll agree that this mother is worth mentioning this mother’s day. This mother’s name is Leah , and during both of her pregnancies she had a rare condition called Hyperemesis Gravidarum , or HG for short. In Leah's own words HG is “a life-threatening pregnancy disease characterized by unrelenting nausea, vomiting, and extreme dehydration that often lasts the entire length of the pregnancy. The only known cure is giving birth...

Dresser Vignette

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I shared with you yesterday how I decided to be intentional with creating an inspirational, but functional work space. This room is my bedroom, office, shop and sewing room all rolled into one, so it needs to be a space that I want to be in...a lot! Things were starting to feel old and cluttered, so I knew a change was needed. It has been a few weeks that I have been planning out this dresser vignette. Yesterday’s post showed you some of the inspiration I drew from as I pondered how to put this arrangement together. It was fun - a whole lot of trial and error as I tried different items different ways. I’m in love with the end result! I took my dresser from this: To this! Ok, so one corner has to hold the phone for our upstairs level, so to balance that out I put my candle warmer and candle in the other corner. Not the most beautiful elements of this space, but I tried to work with what I had. So let’s ignore those two items and focus on the lovely vignette! The focal point is this be...

Dresser Decor Inspiration {In which I break out a fancy word}

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I enjoy the small amount of decorating I get to do in my home, but in the past I have not been very intentional about broadening my horizons and trying new things. This year, I’m making an effort to make the decor in my bedroom - slash - office - slash - shop - slash - crafting room practical and inspirational. A room with that many uses has to be all that and organized, to boot! An inspirational work space was becoming increasingly important to me, and what I had going on in the space was not working for me anymore. I decided to be a bit more intentional in my decor, putting thought into what I actually wanted instead of just slapping a few things up and calling it a day. I started dreaming up plans for the space - beginning with my vintage wood dresser. And here is where my fancy word comes in. What do you call it when you are decorating the top of a dresser? I was thinking of it as a sort of mantle arrangement, but a mantle it is not. Tablescape won’t work either. After scouring aro...

Birthday Recap and the Blessing of Friends

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Last week I celebrated a birthday . Want to see a bit of what the day was like for me? The night before my birthday, I had a dream about being back at college with my friends. That is not so unusual, but in the dream, one of my friends said something really, really funny, and I was laughing so hard in my sleep that I woke myself up. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never woken up laughing out loud before! Even once I was awake, I just could not stop laughing. {Thinking about it later, it wasn’t really that funny! Guess it was just one of those middle-of-the-night things!} So when I woke up on my birthday morning, I felt all sorts of funny. Like I’d missed out on something, just a feeling that my day felt pretty empty. And then suddenly, I realized what it was: my friends were missing. I found myself wanting more than anything to be surrounded by my friends again. And so, I started off the day a bit down in the dumps. :( But my oh my, be careful what you wish for. :) By the end of the...