This is Miss Sarah Jennifer at four months old. She is such a sweet baby and is starting to "talk". MI daughter said that Sarah wakes up at 4:00 am and tries to carry on a conversation with her. Luckily after five minutes or so she falls back to sleep. Last Saturday she had her second round of baby shots and didn't feel well in the afternoon as she had a fever. By the next morning she was fine. She had an eye appointment with the opthamologist today because her pediatrician thought there was a possibility that she has a lazy eye. Everything was normal. She has a wide space between her eyes, as did her mom as a baby, so sometimes her eyes might not look quite right. I took her mom to the eye Dr. when she was a baby because I thought her eyes were crossed, but they were normal.

Rag Doll Challenge

Miss Tulip Belle

Miss Tulip Belle was made for the Rag Doll Challenge hosted by Blithe and Blonde. The doll was to reflect the springtime, so I went with a tulip theme. I decided that instead of fabric I would use Kraft paper. Boy oh boy was that hard to stuff. Miss Tulip suffered a few tears here and there. I think that if I was ever to do this again I would try to stuff as I sewed, rather than doing it through the open head. She is rather primitive looking so perhaps we can say that it was a primitive rag doll. LOL. Below are close-ups of her dress and head.

Though she didn't turn out as nice as I had hoped, I had fun doing the doll. Next time I will definitely use fabric. Happy Spring!

Winning Hand Swap--from Cassie

I finally got the pictures from the Winning Hand Swap posted. These are the gifts that I received from Cassie. The top picture is the lovely box that the gifts were wrapped in.

Of course, Toby had to see just what was in the box. I suppose he was expecting cat food. (The surprising thing about him he that he is not attracted to cat nip.) Yes, those are handmade chocolates, and it was hard to pace my eating of them, since I am on a diet program. Notice the beautiful green ribbon. The wall hanging is composed of hand dyed fabric and handmade paper from dryer sheets. The flower and leaves are embroidered on with floss and beads. Such nice work. The quote is from Henry David Thoreau: "Always maintain a kind of summer even in the middle of winter."

This is the ATC holder which is make from a fork with beads attached by wire. The ATC card was also make by Cassie, although I realize now that I have it upside down. The word serenity is on the card by the butterfly.

These are the valentines and the perfume card, which is a calendar, from 1890. Aren't they lovely? The perfume card is so pretty with the roses and lilies of the valley.

This is the sweet note that is on the back of one of the Valentines.

This swap was hosted by the Sweet Goodness Girls and they have another swap coming up soon, so if this sounds like fun to you check out their website.

Sarah and Juliet

Don't tulips remind you of Spring? My MI daughter gave these to me for watching Sarah on Wednesday. She didn't want Sarah to go to daycare because she was suffering with a cold. The prior week was her first experience in daycare, and sure enough she caught a cold! Daycare sure is a breeding place for germs. Luckily she only had a mild cold that left her with a slight cough. Miss Juliet in OR had a cold the previous week; she goes to daycare also.

I would like to share a story with you. My OR daughter has to do some traveling for her job. A few days after the plane went down in the Hudson river she had to travel by air. When she got home, she picked up Juliet from daycare. Now Juliet is only 2 1/2 years old, yet when she saw her mom she said, "Your plane no fall from the sky, Momma?" The OR family does not watch much TV, but somehow she must have heard about the plane crash. It makes me sad to think that little ones think about such things.

Yesterday I received my Winning Hand Swap from Cassie. I can't wait to show you pictures of what I received. It will have to be a surprise as I have yet to take the pictures.

Winning Hand Swap

I recently took part in The Winning Hand Swap hosted by the Sweet Goodness Girls. The requirements were to send a package to your swap partner that included at least one vintage/thrift/used item, one handmade item and a sweet treat. My swap partner was Cassie from Gifts for Nonnie, and the following is what I sent her in the above box, which really had nothing to do with the theme. I just liked it.

These are the thrift items: a heart candy mold, socks with diamond shapes, a drinking glass with face cards and the suit symbols. The C notes are for Cassie and the doily is a counted cross stitch fabric. I know she does a lot of beautiful cross stitch so I thought this might be a project for her.

The above picture and the one below are what I made her. (Sorry the first picture is so bad, but I don't know how to delete it without starting all over again).

I made a tall journal, a fabric wallet with fabric covered in playing cards, a covered box, actually the sweet treat, with playing cards on it, another covered box, and a small glass jar filled with scrapbook embellishments.

This the covered box made using a Laughing Cow cheese box. The sides are covered in red velvet with a button where the ribbon meets. The top is scrapbook paper with cards on it, with a glass crown on the kings head. I also inked the box and the paper.

This is the tall journal that I covered with red paper, and cut outs of four different queens, each from a different suit. Then I added the tag-"Q is for Queen with different ribbon and a tassel.

The above are also things that I made for Cassie that don't fit the theme, but as the tag I made says they are for "just because." The dishcloths are from the pattern offered on Homespun Living. (I first saw this on Her Art Nest). The pattern is a basket weave that is quick and fun to make, actually a little bit addictive. I made them in white and moss green since Cassie likes that shade of green. The tag is inked brown with some lace added, and then my writing. The other Journal is made from a composition book. I covered it with vintage green wallpaper, a picture of a quilt from a catalog, and a page from a nature book. (The wallpaper and page came from a package I bought from Karla's Cottage. The rest of the embellishments are rubber stamp images, a metal rose, buttons, postage stamp, old picture and a rabbit.

This is the inside front cover and the first page. The cover has two tags, an ATC and her initial. I also covered the first three pages with white paper since I didn't like the lined pages and they were rather thin also. I originally tore the paper to get just the rose in, but when I looked at it, it looked like a little chick. So that's what is became.

Page two is a cute little fairy baby sleeping. I got this image from Karla also.

Page three is a cat because I LOVE cats! I also tore out every other page so the journal would close.

This was my first swap with the Sweet Goodness Girls and I hope Carla likes what I sent her.

Sarah at three months

This is a picture of MI daughter and her Sarah at three months. Yesterday was Sarah's first day at daycare. Beth was very sad to go to work, but she did it. When she picked Sarah up in the early evening Sarah gave her a great big smile. They sure do love each other. Sarah just glows when she is with her momma. I just love the way my daughters interact with their girls. They sing, they dance, they make goofy faces, and give lots of hugs and kisses. They are really great moms. I would post some pictures of Juliet, but her mom would prefer that I didn't, so I must respect her and her husband's decision. When we see them next time perhaps I can get a cute picture that doesn't really show her face.
If you live in the greater Detroit area and are looking for a photographer to take pictures of your baby and/or children check out Emily's work on Tutus and Tinkertoys. She took pictures of Beth when she was pregnant and pictures when Sarah was two weeks old and again at three months. Her pictures are creative and stunning.

Toby and my Salvation Army finds

I finally found my camera so that I could take a picture of my finds at the Salvation Army Family Store. Here is a list of things that I bought:

1. a roll of pink and green wallpaper in an art deco design.
2. an old rubber stamp holder
3. three glasses with pink roses that match my dishes
4. a skein of creme colored yarn with gold thread twisted in-perfect for some Christmas dish cloths.
5. a pitcher with roses on it
6. an old tart plate-I was thinking of mounting something in the middle
7. an old pattern with cute girls on the front
8. an old metal paper file holder-this will hold all my quilting rulers

I love to go looking at the thrift stores, not that I really need anything, but it is the thrill of the hunt. About a month ago I found a wool Pendleton Malcolm plaid skirt for $2.50! Even my husband thought it looked new. I have yet to discover if it is vintage Pendleton or not.

When I sew, Toby sits in his basket on a table next to my sewing machine. He likes to be part of the action like all cats do. He is a very sweet cat, but boy does he have a voice on him. We usually go Florida in the winter and we take him along. The first two hours of the drive he is constantly meowing. We have him in the back of the car with mesh separating him from the front seat. He is very annoyed by it, because he wants to sit on my husband's lap to help him drive. When he finally realizes that he has to stay in the back he will settle down and do some sleeping for a while. Then it is more meowing and trying to figure out a way to get up front. There have been times when much to our amazement he actually does make it up front!