Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas to all of our Soldiers and their families!! We are so grateful for your sacrifice, especially during this holiday season. You are always in our thoughts and prayers. Stay safe and come home soon.

Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone who has faced hardship because of Hurricane Sandy. We are thankful for your strength and courage. Many, many thanks to all the first responders and volunteers. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

Also, our thoughts and prayers are with everyone in Newtown, CT. No words can repair your torn community or can replace the lives lost in such a traumatic and life altering manner. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

We wish all of our family and friends a very wonderful Christmas!! To all the beautiful and crafty bloggers....I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas. I hope you have a wonderful day filled with love, joy and health. 

Merry Christmas E!! I love and treasure you so very much. Thank you for always giving me such a wonderful Christmas! Merry Christmas to our sweet yellow lab and fur baby Holly!!

Happy Birthday Holly!!!

Happy 6th Birthday Holly!!!  We love you so very much!!



 

Love,
Daddy & Mommy ♥

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving!! I hope you are all having a wonderful day spending time with family and friends, eating delicious foods and scrumptious desserts. I know we will and we are really looking forward to it. I will be missing my family and friends back in New York and will be wishing that we could be spending today with them. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone who has faced hardship because of Hurricane Sandy. We are thankful for your strength and courage. Many, many thanks to all the first responders and volunteers. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers...not only today, but everyday.

I am so thankful for my husband who makes me proud of the man and Army Officer that he is. He loves me unconditionally, romantic, supportive, giving, thoughtful, makes me a better person, always make me laugh and loves our fur baby Holly unconditionally. He always encourages me to excel at all my craft's and this year I sewed my first costume for Halloween and will be knitting my first sweater for him. He has enjoyed his assignment over this past year and we have had a wonderful time up here in Canada. We are thankful for how Canadians have embraced us and we have made some wonderful friends.

I am thankful for my Mom who has taught me so much about being the woman I am today, about life, love and happiness. More importantly, to wait for the right man to come along, how to be a good wife, daughter, sibling and friend. Thank you for being in my life! I am also very thankful to have a wonderful sister. You are a wonderful sister, sister-in-law, friend, wife, mother and fur baby aunt. To our wonderful brother-in-law E, we are thankful for you being part of our family and being a wonderful husband, father and brother. I am thankful for our nephews G and M...both a gift. Thank you for being the sweet, loving boys that you are and always putting smiles on our faces. We love you both very much and miss you dearly.

I also wish all of our troops serving our Country and their families a very Happy Thanksgiving. Thank you for keeping Americans and our country safe. Thank you to the Military families who stand by their side and support what they do. Please keep them in your thoughts every day.

Also, thank you to all my blogging friends out there, old and new, who have been supportive since I started blogging 3 years ago this past October. You have all been so kind with your encouraging and funny comments and I have really enjoyed reading your blogs, learning from and getting to know you.

From my family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving.  May your day be filled with family, friends, food, and fun!

How to sew Welt Pocket with Exposed Zipper by Gertie

Hello Everyone,

I came across this great tutorial by Gertie on how to sew a welt pocket with an exposed zipper.

I can't wait to try it.

Veteran's Day & Remembrance Day

Veterans Day gives Americans the opportunity to celebrate the bravery and sacrifice of all U.S. veterans. An official wreath-laying ceremony is held each Veterans Day at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery, while parades and other celebrations are held in states around the country. Veterans Day pays tribute to all American veterans--living or dead--but especially gives thanks to living veterans who served their country honorably during war or peacetime.


A recognized symbol of Veteran's Day is the red poppy. In World War I, Soldiers who were returning home, reported seeing battlefields covered with red poppies blooming. In their hearts, the red poppies symbolized the bloodshed  and sacrifice made by the fallen soldiers. After the war, groups began making red paper poppies as a way to raise money for the wounded veteran's and selling them on Armistice Day (Veteran's Day) on November 11th.  The red poppy remains a symbol of solidarity for Veteran's. 

Here in Canada, Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day or Armistice Day) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth countries since the end of World War I to remember the members of their armed forces who have died in the line of duty. Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November to recall the end of hostilities of World War I on that date in 1918. ("At the 11th hour" refers to the passing of the 11th hour, or 11:00 a.m.) World War I officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919. The day was specifically dedicated by King George V on November 7, 1919 as a day of remembrance for members of the armed forces who were killed during World War I.

The red remembrance poppy has become a familiar emblem of Remembrance Day due to the poem "In Flanders Fields". These poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, their brilliant red colour an appropriate symbol for the blood spilled in the war.

If you know a Veteran or someone currently serving in our country's uniform, take the time today to thank them for their service and sacrifices. Also, thank their Spouses and Families to for their service and sacrifice. 

On a personal note, thank you E for keeping us safe, serving our country and keeping us out of harm's way!! I love you!!

Thank you Veteran's!!

A New Scarf for E

Hello Everyone,

 

Well, I finally finished E's matching scarf to the toque/hat I made here. I did take a break after making his toque/hat...only after my sweet little fur baby got into the skein of yarn I was working on. 

I tried for days to untangle the spider web of a mess and that is exactly how it looked on our great room floor. E tried to help me untangle it also and then I just looked at him, said "thank you for all of your hard work and help" and I cut the yarn closest to the skein. I bought a new skein and started again.

I love the yarn,  how soft it is and the color (sorry about how it looks like two different colors - I took the picutre of each in different rooms). I used Cascade Yarns Pacific and 3.0 mm needles (US #2)  - it was worth all the time and effort put into it. I will have to take a picture of E wearing both when we get our Winter hats, scarves, gloves out of storage.

Since I am done with my Halloween costume and I plan on starting E's costume right after the New Year I will be doing some knitting. I am currently working with Eyelash yarn and I am love how it looks so far. I will post about it when I am done and I think there are some family and friends that will want some for themselves.

 

I am linking up with these parties and TCB.

Hope you all have a wonderful evening and weekend!!

Happy Halloween & The Evil Queen Costume

Hello Everyone!!

Happy Halloween!!! E and I went to a costume party at the Officer's Mess this past Friday night here in Kingston, ON. I went as the Evil Queen from "Once Upon A Time" and E went as Rumplestilkin.

This was the first costume I ever made and I love how it came out. I chose pattern "A" from Simplicity's Medieval Costume Collection pattern #9758.

E as Rumplestilkin

Evil Queen

I love the fabrics and embellishments. E helped me pick them all out and I think he did a great job. I never worked with beaded trim, boning for the collar and eyelets in fabric. I had a great time putting the costume together and I am already planning our next years costumes. The only thing I regret is not making E's costume. Next year, I am starting early LOL.

Back of cape and dress.

Close up of bodice and cape.

Sleeve with beaded trim and satin lining.

Button for cape.

I hope you all have a safe and fun Halloween!!!

I am linking up with these parties and TCB.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to our family and friends back in New York and to everyone else who had been affected by Hurricane Sandy.

September 11, 2001 - 11 Year Anniversary

Today marks the 11th anniversary of the worst attack on the United States. I can't believe that eleven years have passed since that tragic day. It is with every post I write every year that I have such a heavy heart.

Early on the morning of September 11, 2001, 19 hijackers took control of four commercial airliners (two Boeing 757 and two Boeing 767) en route to San Francisco or Los Angeles after takeoffs from Boston, Massachusetts, Newark, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C. Large planes with long flights were intentionally selected for hijacking because they would be heavily fueled.

The four flights involved were:

• American Airlines Flight 11: Left Boston's Logan Airport at 7:59 a.m. enroute to Los Angeles with a crew of 11 and 76 passengers, not including five hijackers. The hijackers flew the plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m.
• United Airlines Flight 175: Left Logan Airport at 8:14 a.m. enroute to Los Angeles with a crew of nine and 51 passengers, not including five hijackers. The hijackers flew the plane into the South Tower of the World Trade Center at 9:03 a.m.
• American Airlines Flight 77: Left Washington Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia at 8:20 a.m. enroute to Los Angeles with a crew of six and 53 passengers, not including five hijackers. The hijackers flew the plane into the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m.
• United Airlines Flight 93: Left Newark International Airport at 8:42 a.m. enroute to San Francisco, with a crew of seven and 33 passengers, not including four hijackers. After the passengers revolted, the hijackers crashed the plane into the ground near Shanksville, Pennsylvania at 10:03 a.m.

I always include the past post of my experience on that day. You can view it here. Being a New Yorker, we are very resilient and can manage a lot of things that head our way.  I can tell you that nothing prepared us for that day or for anyone else in our country. September 11, 2001 touched every American in some way and it also reminds everyone of the many heroes that are in our lives, that protect us and that are still protecting us every single day. They help to keep a horrific event such as this from ever happening again.

America's Military, Police, Firemen and EMS have done such an amazing job keeping our country safe. Please take a moment to remember the nearly 3,000 men, women and children killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and aboard Flight 93. Please also keep our men and women in uniform in your thoughts as they continue to fight for our Nation. Military members and their families have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country since then. We salute you and thank you for your service. America sleeps easy knowing you are there to protect us.

We will never forget the events of that fateful and horrific day in September 2001.

My thoughts and prayers are with those lives lost and families who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001. Thank you to all the first responders from the FDNY, NYPD and the NYARNG (101 Cav, 69th IN, 256 FA) who risked their lives that tragic day. Thank you to all the men and women who defend our freedom by serving in the Military. We will never forget!!

Another Fur Baby Coat

Hello Everyone,

When my sister "E" was here for a visit I made her fur baby Tracey a coat for cold winter days and nights. She chose the same pattern as I did for Holly's coats here and here. I love the brown fleece against her fur. My fur neice looks so pretty.

 

"E" chose the fabric she wanted for Tracey and brought the pattern with her on her visit with us. We sat down together and I taught her how to sew. She learned how to read a pattern, pin and cut the fabric, but, wanted me to sew it.  She sat next to me the whole time I put it together. The good things is that "E" learned an important part of sewing...using a seam ripper. LOL

She was so excited when it was done and she ran into "E's" studio to show it to him. I'm so glad I got to sit down with my sister and teach her what I love. I hope she will be inspired.

I am linking up with these parties and TCB.
Have a wonderful evening.

G's Kid's Roll-Up Nap Blanket

Hello Everyone,

Well, I finished another Kid's Roll-Up Nap Blanket for my nephew "G" that Sew4Home had on their website. He loves Super Mario Bros and had to hunt down the fabric on the blanket and the iron-on for the pillow. "G" is so cute...he called me to thank me yesterday and it just tugged at my heart strings.

Here is my nephew's "M's" Kid's Roll-Up Nap Blanket I did a couple of months ago. My sister "E" came up for a visit last week and absolutely loved it. In case "G" wants to snuggle with his younger brother I made this one longer, wider and thicker, so, that he can also grow into it too. My machine handled it pretty well, but, it was a little bit harder getting through the machine because of its bulk. I did have a blast making it again.

I also taught my sister about sewing (how to read a pattern, cutting the pattern, pinning the pattern to fabric, cutting the fabric and all the basics) and we had so much fun just hanging out laughing and talking.

I am linking up with these parties and TCB.

Hope you all have a wonderful day.

I won at Salt Tree's Giveaway

I would like to thank Amber @ Salt Tree for their giveaway back in June. Also, thanks to Kristen Bourdier, from Fanciful Felt, for providing this sweet giveaway! These adorable headbands are for little girls...aren't they sweet!!!

I'm sorry it has taken me so long to blog about winning. I have just been enjoying these beautiful summer days and busy sewing.

Thank you Amber & Kristen!!

Bow Pleated Purse

Hello Everyone,

I hope you all had wonderful holiday weekends (American and Canadian). I finally completed a test pattern I was doing for Samantha At Home With Mrs H and you can purchase the pattern on her Etsy site.  I absolutely loved the look of this bag and couldn't wait to test it out. I love how the bow and pleat made it feel vintage.

There was the option of doing either an adjustable strap or a normal strap. I couldn't locate the adjustable strap kit at the local store here in Canada. So, next time I am in the states I will pick one or two up. There are two pockets on one side of the inner lining and a zippered pocket on the other side. I also did my first magnetic closure (not pictured).

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.  I am linking up with these parties and TCB.