Quilt as you go...

This is a cool runner idea. Rhonda introduced this pattern on her blog a few months ago, from THIS post on another quilter's blog. I have done a couple of these, but I like this one the best out of the ones I've done. You'll notice that mine looks absolutely nothing like the one in the post I've linked to, but I'm just giving reference to what I did to make this! It's only about the size of a regular place mat, but I only made one, so I intend for it to be a table centre square. They are super easy to make, but I found it helpful to double check how straight I was with each piece of fabric, and not wait until the end. I am not the best at keeping things squared up, so my handy dandy sewing grid was put to good use for this project.


Once again, the fabric is from last year's stash from Fabricland :)

Christmas Table Music!

Here is a little more holiday sewing that I did. This one was for my mom. The small squares measure about 2.5 X 2.5 inches. The fabric is all from Fabricland, and I picked it up last year. I fell in love with their patterns last year, and ended up with metre upon metre of Christmas fabric. I didn't have to buy anymore this year. Actually, truth be told, I wouldn't let myself buy anymore until I used up all the fabric I bought last year!!!

Some Sewing Gifts

This year, I tried to make things to give. Not everything I gave was handmade, but many more things than in previous years....

For my Mother-in-Law, I made this table mat. The fabric is mainly from Stampin' Up!, the "Deck the Halls" collection, but the solid red is from Fabricland.

Angels we have heard on high....

Elise was an angel, along with the other preschool girls, in our church Christmas play last Sunday.

Although she sang when she was supposed to, I noticed she wasn't so good at watching her teacher!!
IThe waiting is always hard, eh?! She looks like an angel waiting for her assignment. Notice her halo falling off.... the other moms must have put their little girls' halos on better than I did!

Ahhh, melts my heart. Here they are singing "Go Tell it on the Mountain." How many times do you think I've heard that song this week?! She knows the words!!!

Luke 2:8-14

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel,
praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and blessings for a happy, healthy New Year.

I am planning on posting a few of the Christmas gifts I made this year over the next few days, but other than that, I will not be on here much until 2011... sounds so far away, but Christmas is in 2 sleeps :) If you are traveling, I pray for your safety, and if you are spending time with family and friends, I hope you create wonderful, long-lasting memories. Take lots of pictures! You'll want something to scrapbook in the long cold months of January and February!

Remember the real reason we celebrate this season -

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Happy Anniversary, Husband!

December 22, 2001

I ♥ You!

I just have to share...

I stumbled across a very fun Christmas project this morning. This little advent calendar idea is so cute. I wouldn't have ever thought of using my front door like this. Gather up your little tins... you're going to want to put them to use for next Christmas!!

Click here to see a great idea.

Ladies Who Lunch got together for Brunch!!

We just had our 2nd annual Ladies Who Lunch Brunch this past Wednesday. It was a great time together, with much laughter, beautiful friends, and... because it's Christmas - amazing gift exchange prezzies!!!

I seriously think I scored the biggest this year! Rhonda SPOILED me absolutely rotten with this gorgeous quilt. To say "I LOVE it" is an understatement - it is so beautiful! Thank you, Rhonda, I have displayed it on my wall with pride! (photo borrowed from Rhonda's blog)

The other gifts were truly beautiful, too. Cindy made Rhonda some gorgeous fingerless gloves, and gave her a host of other goodies. Andrea gave Cindy a gorgeous Christmas quilt that she made with intricate little squares and embroidered Christmas words around the outside. Jill created a "Traditions" album for Andrea to put her Christmas traditions in each year and display. And I already posted about the place mats I made for Jill. She loved them!! I have to make a correction in what I called the 5th thing, though. Since it is not long an narrow, it should just be called a "table mat" instead of a runner. Oops. I'm still learning all the lingo!

Andrea was our host this year, and her home was decorated so perfectly. Christmas trees everywhere, and so many beautifully hand crafted items. This lady has some serious talent!!

This is the kind of fireplace that makes it onto the front of a Christmas card!!

And I love this idea... a bowl of ornaments as decoration. So cute.


The food this year... WOW! Amazing. Desserts, bread (and more bread!) and the dips, and appies.... yum yum yummy.


What do you get when you put 5 bloggers in the same room for a Christmas function? A WHOLE LOT OF PHOTOS!!! There were hundreds snapped this day, I am sure. You can click on the highlighted names above to go read the other gals' accounts of the day on their blogs.

These are wonderful ladies, and have become very dear friends over the past couple years. I appreciate each and every one of you! So blessed to call you friends.

Canucks Game

This Fall, my boys brought home booklets of raffle tickets to sell. I don't like sending my kids door to door for fundraising things, so we ask Grandparents, and a few friends, but mainly, it's me that buys the tickets. I think of it as a donation to the school, and this year the teachers will all get some new digital teaching aids with the monies earned.

Well....... this year I WON!!!! I won 2 tickets to a Canucks game, as well as the parking pass. (which was a $30 pass!)
The tickets were for the 2nd row, and they were amazing seats. I've never been to a Canucks game, or even a game with our local junior teams, for that matter. It was pretty fun!

The Canucks played Columbus, and the Canucks won 3 -2 in OT. Here are a few pics of the evening.












After first period, the Timbits team came out and played. "Fin" was the referee and it was a very cute game!

A Little Sewing...

This morning, we had our 2nd annual "Ladies Who Lunch" Christmas brunch. Last year, we started the tradition of giving a hand crafted gift. I drew Jill's name, and, knowing she loves anything orange, I chose this funky fabric in different orange designs.... I made her a table runner and 4 matching place mats. Here they are.

Here's the quilted runner. It's only a couple inches bigger than the place mats, but it could go over a solid tablecloth, or be used on a coffee table.

And the place mats... they look like this on the top, and are backed with dark denim. I think I might have to make myself a set of these, now, in colours that match my house.

Yay Stampin' Up!!!

Stampin' Up!'s Co-founder and CEO helping out with the Toy Drive... check it out below:

LINK

A little catch-up

Last week was a fun one! After working with all the grade 1, 2 and 3 classes at my boys' school for the past 3 weeks to help them learn the songs for their musical, I got to direct the musical and play the piano for 3 songs of it. It turned out great and the kids sang their hearts out!

Before my job was "mom" I was an Elementary school teacher, and for 2 1/2 years of my career, I taught k - 7 music. So, this was like stepping back into that role, and I loved it! I also loved the fact that 2 of those precious voices were coming from my own little boys.

This week is the last week of school before Christmas holidays! I am the grade 1 "Class Mom" so I am going to pick up a couple teacher gifts from the class. Tomorrow I get to help with craft day in the grade 2 class, and on Friday is our all-school Christmas singalong. It's another full week, but it is all celebrating this wonderful season.

Here is a little card that a friend just sent to me. I thought it was really cute!!

CLICK TO GET YOUR CARD.

Another digi page

I love how MDS comes with so many stamp images and options for creating great works of art. Then, if you want to add onto your program, the digital downloads are so affordable, and of course, there's no shipping on digi add-on items because they are downloads right to your computer. This background paper is a download that I purchased last week, and comes in a package called "Shades of Spring."

The stamped images and punch I used on this page are all included in the original MDS software.

Some Digi Scrappin'!

Haven't done much traditional stamping these last couple weeks, but I did a few digital pages. Here's a 12X12 sized one that I did this week using My Digital Studio.

Elise... a photoshoot!

A couple weeks ago, a friend of mine who is a local photographer, Courteney Rodda, posted on her faceboook page that she was looking for someone to pose with an old phone for some photos. She wanted pictures to use on her new website, which will launch on January 1st. I asked her if she would like to use Elise. So, we emailed back and forth a few times, came up with an outfit for Elise to wear, and set a time to meet at her place.

It was a bitterly cold and windy day, but in less than 20 minutes, Courteney had worked her photographer magic and taken countless photos of little E... talking on the phone, dancing around the back yard, and pretending to take pictures on a vintage camera. It was so much fun to see Elise dance around and do whatever Courteney asked her to do.

I can't wait to see how she uses these on her new website. If you are looking for someone to take your photos, Courteney does a great job of photographing kids, babies, families, weddings... you name it.

Courteney Rodda Photography
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