So Sew Organized

Here is a random glimpse into my life the past few weeks! I'll warn you, this post has no rhyme or reason, so just flow with it, ok? :) September brought a lot of positive steps in my personal life. I entered September feeling a little overwhelmed from a crazy busy summer, but this month gave me a little time to slow down and focus on some priorities in my own life. Sometimes the best thing you can do to encourage yourself to move forward is to recognize even the smallest of achievements in an area you are working on. There are times I have felt overwhelmed with all I wanted to do and all I wasn't doing. Instead, I chose to focus on little, teeny ways I was making progress, and I have been so much more encouraged and motivated! Funny tidbit about this vest...I've worn it twice, thinking I was going to be all cutsie and "Fall-ish". The first day I wore it to work and had to wear an apron over it - I ended up just feeling puffy and fat, not cutsie at a...

It is Monday again! Hello to a new week. :) This is the day I do a little phone-photo dump and recap my week for you in a random format. Ok, who are we kidding, I don't think there is any "format" to it. :) I've been blogging in this new space for a week now, and I am pretty excited about the direction this blog is headed. It has been very freeing to write in a fresh new place, and even though it still has a feel of the old blog, it has some qualities that make it seem new. Kind of the way decorating changes to a room make it feel fresh and new, even with the old wallpaper and carpet still in tact. Sometimes we just need a little change! So here is the phone dump part of the post: Ad for Kindle on the back of a magazine. Loved it! Totally me as a child....and adult ;) She's a friendly lady! Also we have one ready to give birth any day, so wait for those cute pictures!  Did you enter the giveaway yet? You still have a few more days! There...

I’m not setting goals this week...you’ll hear why in a second. Today I’d just like to share some life updates, so cue the random music! First of all, I stopped on the side of the road to snap these pictures last night. This is the scenery I "put up with" each week on my hour-long ride home from church. I absolutely love the beauty of that drive each week, and there are so many picture-perfect moments, but this sunset was one of the most beautiful. The entire sky was dark with clouds except for that one place on the horizon...so pretty! But enough of the weather. We had a great week at VBS last week! Did you catch any of my FB pictures ? It was a challenging, tiring week, but we had one boy saved on Thursday night! He came back to church Sunday along with a neighbor, so we are thankful for the Lord’s working in those lives. This week, our family is heading to Family Camp. We’ve never been to a family camp at this particular camp before, and we’ve never been as a family of 8, s...

Here is a peek at the adorable wallet I picked up a few weeks ago!! I know I don’t normally share pictures of my wallet - seems kind of odd, right? But I’m trying to infuse a bit more personality into my posts...a little more of “me” than just projects, sewing, etc. I actually picked this up at a Christian bookstore in Oregon. I have carried this style wallet for years, and LOVE it! My old one was falling apart, however {it was white with cherries!} and I’d been on the lookout for a new one. Lo and behold, I found these super cute ones with Bible verses on them! Score! There were some other prints I liked even better, but this verse caught my eye above all the others. Last year during VBS we sang a song based on this verse, and it has become one of my favourites! When the woes of life threaten to get me down, I try to remind myself - It is the joy of the Lord, not of my circumstances, that will give me strength! Of course, the happy teal colour doesn’t hurt my feelings, either. {wink!}...

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...

Recently fellow blogger and friend MaryEllen posted 28 random things about herself . I thought I’d borrow her idea in honor of my milestone birthday, and share 25 random things about me today. Yup, I’m turning 25. Remember when I said you’d laugh when you found out my age ? Go ahead and do it now. :) 25 things you probably will wish you never knew about me... 1. I’ve lived in 3 states and one “foreign” country - Maine for 17 years, North Carolina for 5 years, Florida for 7 months and Nova Scotia, Canada for 2½ years. 2. ^ I can’t pick a favourite. I love different aspects of each place ^ 3. I own an old Apple laptop (the iBook G4 to be exact) and I’m shocked it didn’t quit on me long ago. I’m saving up for a replacement. 4. I use fleece sheets for 9 months out of the year. The other 3 months I use flannel. 5. Cooking is my least favourite household chore. 6. I used to be very much of a “people person.” Now I consider myself more of an introvert. 7. I love blogging and sewing. If I had ...

Today’s post is just going to be a hodge-podge of random blogging info, because I have some exciting (and not so exciting) things to share about changes that are being made! So, I decided to cram them all into one boring post and call it a day. Ok? Hopefully you can stick with me to the end! Item #1: Home Improvement Party Yup, its that time again.. Time for our monthly Home Improvement Linky party ! I had a blast seeing the super creative ways that you improved your home last month , and I’m excited to see what you have to link up this month! {note: all the participants last month also got a Facebook mention, so maybe that will give you a little motivation to get your party on?} Remember, you can link up ANY type of improvement you’ve made to your physical home, or your way of living over the month of March. Our party is going to be held next Thursday, March 28th and will go live at 8am. EST. So head back over here then to link up your blog posts from the last months, or share in the...

I’m calling this tote, “Birds of a Feather” I was asked to make this as a Christmas present for a local lady, but I’m pretty sure she’s not reading here, so I thought I’d share it with you. Because I absolutely lurve it. Which is odd, because I’m not that into roosters, chickens, or partridges, and this bag has ‘em all. Hence the title of this post. And the turquoise….oh the turquoise. Purple has always been my favourite color. But since turquoise is basically the new black, I’ve been enjoying using it more and more in different areas. Whoever designed this rooster/chicken material was brilliant to include such a rich turquoise color!! I had a blast matching it to line the inside and provide a pleasing pop of color to the outside. This tote is an example of how fun it can be to take a certain theme that you adore, such as roosters, and tie it into a fun, stylish handbag that you can carry everywhere! I've done a similar idea with horses , and loved the result then, too. And even th...

***Happy Tuesday! I found out today that I'm "stuck" in Maine a couple days longer, so you'll continue to excuse the irregular posting! Now I get to fill in the extra time with more family visits, woo hoo! One of my goals for 2012 was to simplify, and one of the ways I strive to do that is to limit the amount of stuff I have. It is so easy to accumulate, accumulate, accumulate - not even bad things, just things! That is why I frequently weed out and donate items so they don't get built up. But.... (You knew there was a "but," didn't you?) Sometimes having things is necessary or better in the long run. Take my sewing machine and serger for instance. They get so dusty and packed up with fabric fuzz...similar to the lint that collects in your pockets over time! All that build up is not good for the machine and could cause serious problems if allowed to continue. So, I picked up this: It is a mini vacuum, designed for computers and electronics! I actua...

To celebrate this beautiful Friday evening (aren't Friday's just the best of days?) I have a FREE printable for you! I have to admit that I don't have a recipe binder, but a reader asked if I could make a printable to match the others for a recipe binder. If there is one thing I love, it is making printables that meet the needs of my readers! This blog would be pretty boring without you, so passing on some love in the way of printables is the least I can do! Anyway, back to the printable. How did I get on the sappy train? I really was not sure what all is included on a recipe binder page, but here is what I came up with: Then I thought that maybe there are some people out there that prefer to write teeny tiny and save space, and would like two recipes to a sheet. So I shrunk everything down and came up with this: Hopefully this will be a help! I could totally do a B&W version or size it for a half sized binder, if you prefer. After making these sheets, I began to see ...

There is a lot of hullabaloo over Pinterest these days. If you haven’t gotten your invite yet, let me just tell ya, its the greatest thing since sliced bread. Here is how most of us use it: We jump right in with both feet when we get our invite, making boards, and repinning like crazy. Anything and everything gets repinned if it looks halfway decent (and even if it doesn’t). We don’t really think about the pins...we just repin. And usually we leave the description of the pin exactly as the last person had it...so our pin says “This is the easiest way to clean toilets!!” even though we’ve never actually tried it. Raise your hand if you’ve done that. Yeah, mine goes up. One day I pin a zillion recipes (because thats what my followers were pinning) and the next day I’m pinning wardrobe styles and the next day its DIY projects flooding the page. And I’ll probably never even look at those pins again. But its Pinterest...its eye-catching, inspiring goodness. I was the above pinner, until I s...

A couple Christmases ago, my mom gave me these Click It Pads as a gift. What are they, you ask? Well basically, they are like HotHands on steroids. :) I used to have a serious addiction to HotHands, the hand warmers fllled with activated charcoal that can be purchased in pretty much any checkout aisle. The trouble with those is that they are only good one time! When my mom saw these, she knew they would be perfect for me since I am always cold. The best part is that they can be used again and again! Here is how they work: They start out as a small gel pack, small enough to hold in your hand: To activate the heat, you just "click" that tiny tin button you see inside. This causes some type of reaction in the gel that changes it to a crystallized form and produces heat. Don't ask me how they do it, but they do! Here is a little video I made to show you how the transformation takes place: (please don't mind the wigglyness, I had a bit of trouble doing it with one hand!) ...

Yesterday I received an invite in my mailbox to join Google+. (Ever notice how awkward that is to type? And it looks weird to put some type of punctuation after it. Guess I won’t ever use it at the end of a sentence!) I was glad to get the invite, because I’ve been thinking of joining. But I’m still dragging my feet a little bit. Ok, a lot. I did the same thing before I joined Twitter. Why? Because I just can’t help but wonder if I want to join one more thing . As of right now, I’m on Facebook , Twitter , Pinterest , Blogger, Etsy, and Gmail (which is that ancient form of communication called email, in case you were wondering.) And I love and use them all. Some. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. It would be slightly ridiculous to complain and gripe about something I am in no way obligated to have or use. I am just explaining why I am dragging out this joining Google+ thing.  I enjoy spending a little time each day on these social media outlets. I am daily on Facebook, Blo...

Its been a while since I talked about Swagbucks, the search engine that helps you make money while searching the web! I think there are probably a whole lotta you guys already using it, but for those that aren't, I wanted to be the first to fill you in on the greatness. Swagbucks is not a gimmick, scam or anything else bad. Its genuine - I've been using it for while now! This last Christmas I was able to redeem my swagbucks and score $10 worth of Amazon gift cards to use towards a certain present I was purchasing. That made my purchase price gloriously low! It was such a terrific feeling, that I am going to be vigilant about using Swagbucks all year long, and do even better for Christmas of 2012! Maybe you would like to do the same! Here are the ways I earn Swagbucks: - By searching. Using the swagbucks search engine makes the most dough. Normally every day I do a search I earn something, anywhere from $10 to $25 in one search! This is the best way to earn bucks. -By voting. Un...

While I was cleaning up some Christmas clutter and looking through some of the things I have in storage in the attic, I decided to do a quick little project and add to the art on my bedroom wall. I really only have one wall for art (because of the weird slanted wall on the other side) and that one wall is kinda turning into a gallery of various art. Observe: This is the before. Although it is not truly the before, because you might notice the odd frameness going on in the bottom left corner. Basically that one small vertical frame used to be hanging horizontally like the one below it...then I got a vertical picture and that is when the awkwardness began. But I fixed it. Keep reading. I laid out some of the new things I wanted to put up and, in my Sherry obsessiveness, used newspaper to lay it all out on the wall. It really works very well! And the after... Gotta love how fast the internet makes that process, eh? Wish it happened that fast in real life! Here are some closeups of the ...