tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30272418312442052972014-08-06T10:27:32.236-04:00I know this much is trueThis is my personal blog where I write down my thoughts, archive my quilting and sewing projects, and share with you what I love the most.Karrie Shttps://plus.google.com/109228387160847910679noreply@blogger.comBlogger127125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3027241831244205297.post-64364421809302498982014-08-06T10:27:00.000-04:002014-08-06T10:27:32.248-04:00ClutterOver the summer I have gotten into the bad habit of putting things down in my room/sewing area NOT in it's proper place. My closet is horrendous. It's so easy to shut the door and not see the mess, but it's starting to spread out into other areas of my life. It's just one of those subconscious things that I feel like my life is full of clutter, and it is! I am very *really* overwhelmed with everything going on it my life right now. I made a major life decision to return to school to finish my accounting/business degree instead of continuing on with nursing. When I started out, there was NO way to predict what would happen in my life. I know I'm not the only one to switch majors a few times. I originally started out pursuing accounting, then felt so out of place that I switched to nursing. I didn't realize that business is something that you grow into, and it's going to feel very foreign at first. But I have to look at the positives instead of the negatives.<div><br /></div><div>1. I used to be so pissed that I was going to have to pay a lot of extra money in student loans for my accounting degree. I had all my pre-reqs done plus the first year in the College of Business. When I switched to nursing, I had to take a year of pre-reqs before I could apply to the Nursing Program.</div><div><br /></div><div>2. Unlike accounting, I can use my nursing experience for the rest of my life. I mean, everyone uses basic accounting skills in their life, but not everyone understands medical problems.</div><div><br /></div><div>3. I have a goal to look forward to. I can stop feeling guilty about "wasting time".</div><div><br /></div><div>I am sure there are more positives, but my mind is very full right now. My daughter is also ready to go to college this semester. School literally starts in 2 weeks, and I don't feel she is ready. She doesn't have her driver's license, because she is terrified to drive a car. She took driver's ed last year, but has gotten out of practice. She doesn't like driving my car or with me, and my Dad gets up for work so early, he is so tired when he gets home. When I was her age, she was over a year old. I was TIRED all the time, and didn't realize I had depression. I had depression as a teen and had eating issues, but they weren't a big issue at 18. I was just extremely tired all the time. I know now that IS depression. I have to come to terms that my child has extreme anxiety about everything. Every time she gets upset, she tears up and tries not to cry, and it makes me feel so sad to the very core, and frustrated at the same time. There is SO much that I had to do at her age that she will never understand for a long time, that it makes me frustrated that she can't just get in a car and drive without crying for 5 minutes. I have asked for help, but I am not getting any. I have made an appointment with our Dr to talk about it. She has already seen her to learn breathing exercises, but they aren't really helping. She is waking up everyday with anxiety. I think, unlike my mother, that I need to help her to do something about it. I HATE that she might have to go on medication, but if medication really helped me, why am I so against it? Especially if she can just get through the next year of new things in her life and find a good counselor. I already know the counselor, so it's really up to her to do her job.</div><div><br /></div><div>So that's where I'm at right now. Now I'm going to get offline for about a week (yeah right!) and start cleaning the physical areas of my life. Wish me luck. Hopefully by the end, I can just sit down and sew and sew and sew.</div>Karrie Shttps://plus.google.com/109228387160847910679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3027241831244205297.post-54896511936400463682014-06-23T01:32:00.000-04:002014-06-23T01:32:14.471-04:00Quick NoteSo there's a giveaway that one of my fave blogs (May Chappel) to read for inspiration is having. It's called MY Favorite Things Giveaway. But I think we are either siamese-twin broken up spirits OR she has complete access to my brain, bc they are all of MY favorite things too!<br /><br />Awesome fabric and sewing stuff. <a href="http://tinyurl.com/ogyvruh" target="_blank">Check it out here</a> if you love that stuff too.<br /><br />wonder clips<br />awesome fabric 15 YARDS WORTH PLUS:<br />bloc loc ruler<br />carolyn friedlander patterns<br />creative grids ruler<br />rotary cutter<br />AURIFIL THREAD<br />nail polish<br />quilter's dream batting<br />dear stella rainbow THICK charm pack!!<br />violet craft fabric<br />sweet as honey bundle<br />Sara Lawsons NEW Jungle Ave<br />and a few special from the creators of C+S<br /><br />You have to see the pics to believe it. How special is this lady?! This is bigger than my fabric hoard, and she's GIVING it away!! What a sweetheart :)Karrie Shttps://plus.google.com/109228387160847910679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3027241831244205297.post-89193630749145668342014-06-17T21:28:00.002-04:002014-06-17T21:28:53.684-04:00Feedburner Woes and Theft of CopyrightsIt's been awhile. Hi blog. Haven't forgot about you.<br /><br />Last month, for about a week, I stopped getting the blogs I love SO much that I subscribe to thru feedburner. The first thing I do is Google. This has been an on and off problem since 2011. GRRR. And WHY did Google take away Reader?! What a stupid stupid move. I almost feel like moving everything off Google because of it. So it took a week to figure it out. Now it's happening again a month later. It's super frustration. The only good thing I can say, is that I found an extension on Chrome that I can use, that makes Feedly look like the old Google Reader. The only thing you can't do is search within your own blogs. That was the best function ever. Feedly makes you pay for it, which I will never do, and Bloglovin doesn't have it, although I have mentioned it four times in a Beta test I did for their app.<br /><br />Does anyone else have any problems receiving (email) from the blogs they subscribed to thru Feedburner?!<br /><br />In other news, I found an app on my (new) Android tablet called Sewing Tutorials. It's a free app, but they basically stole blog or Youtube content from a handful of talented people without asking them. I took 3 hours out of my life to do some detective work and email them. They took website content from Sew Mama Sew, Tilly and Buttons, Sew Can She, Gertie's Blog for Better Sewing, and from some other wonderful talented people's YouTube. Oh, and the Allfreesewing site. Just because it's "free", doesn't mean you compile a bunch of awesome people together, and call it an app. Even if it's free. I have heard back from a few of them that emailed Google. If you have Android, it's called Sewing Tutorials with a cartoon-y looking app. I thought it was a first place ribbon at first, but it's a blue button with a couple pieces of washi tape. It's a pale yellow background, but the word Sewing is in white, in a child-like handwriting font on a pale green background. If Gertie or Tilly emails me and says, Thank You, it will be ALL worth it ;) Of COURSE I heard back from Sew Mama Sew...but we all know SMS is awesome :)<br /><br />I'm making 2 baby quilts for the weekend, so I'm excited to post about those. My first completed projects for my blog :)Karrie Shttps://plus.google.com/109228387160847910679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3027241831244205297.post-39405678952717675352014-05-23T22:10:00.001-04:002014-05-23T22:10:31.782-04:00Awesome giveaway: Cotton+SteelMy favorite LQS, Pink Castle Fabrics, is sponsoring a fabulous giveaway to win a year's subscription to the Cotton+Steel monthly subscription club on one of my favorite blogs: <a href="http://lilysquilts.blogspot.com/2014/05/cotton-steel-monthly-club-144-fq.html?showComment=1400895953611#c2475614391447569623" target="_blank">Lily's Quilts</a>. The winner gets a monthly bundle of 12 FQ: 9-10 prints & 2-3 basics. The bundles for purchase come in FQ, 1/2 yd, and full yd increments. Go to their website: <a href="http://pinkcastlefabrics.com/">pinkcastlefabrics.com</a> to order your bundle today!<br /><br />I got to meet Brenda last year when she turned her online store into a real store in Ann Arbor. They carry the best fabrics! They carry all the well known designers like Moda, Art Gallery Fabrics, RJR, Michael Miller, Riley Blake, Liberty, plus super awesome Japanese fabrics like Yuwa, Lecein, and Kokka among others. They also carry other types of fabric besides quilting cotton like linen, canvas, voile, double gauze, and I think they might be getting some knits in this summer! They also carry an awesome selection of paper patterns for quilting <i>and </i>sewing patterns! And one of my favorite things in the whole world: a beautiful selection of Aurifil threads! I love going and spending hours in the shop. In fact, that's my plan for tomorrow morning, because they have hundreds of fabrics on sale for 40%!!! That is the biggest sale I have ever seen there! They are moving out a bunch of great prints and solids to make room for the spring/summer/fall fabrics that are planned to be released later on this year. I'm super excited because I have some GCs from Christmas that I have been wanting to spend, but birthday and mother's day money! I haven't been getting gifts this year, just requesting money for fabric that is supposed to come out later this year. But with this sale, I might have to restart my savings for that collection! So make sure you enter on <a href="http://lilysquilts.blogspot.com/2014/05/cotton-steel-monthly-club-144-fq.html?showComment=1400895953611#c2475614391447569623" target="_blank">Lily's Quilts</a>. So far theres not quite 500 entries!! I am REALLY hoping I win this one because it's so awesome!Karrie Shttps://plus.google.com/109228387160847910679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3027241831244205297.post-55328007540961109612014-05-22T20:27:00.000-04:002014-05-22T20:44:20.942-04:00New bloglovin app? and other things1. I'm SO sick of stupid Kim Kardashian and her stupid wedding. I think she is the most disgusting person on Earth. To try and spend $2m on a dress when there are SO many people suffering each and every day, is absolutely infuriating. I just think that whole family is vile. But it's not totally their fault. It's everyone's fault that buys into that. SO STOP IT. There are WAY better people to waste our time on...that actually have a talent. I can do whatever Kim can do, and not to brag, but can do way better.<br /><br />ok, so that vent is out of the way.<br /><br />So for some reason, I was asked to try out a new Bloglovin app they are working on. It's not like a brand new app, it's just a way better version of the one they already have. Now, I follow something ridiculous like 4500 blogs. I have followed *so* many quilting and sewing and anything to do with fabric blogs. But when I first started following quilting blogs, I used to follow a lot of different blogs that seemed interesting; DIY blogs, craft blogs, beauty blogs and lifestyle blogs. And if they have frequent giveaways, the better. I'm not talking about the Giveaway blogs and review blogs, but just regular blogs giving away gift cards, or jewelry, or even some Ad space. The kind where it's actually possible to win, and doesn't have 100K entries. I didn't realize that at first about giveaway blogs and kinda just went wild with that. Now I'm stuck with a lot of FB pages I don't want about reviews and products without real blog content, and have followed my maximum on FB pages and Twitter accounts a few times. Because I can't scroll through my feed, it's been stuck at that high number for a long time. I'm excited to finally be able to delete some of those! So now I try to be very exclusive on what I follow, keeping it limited to anything sewing related or blogs I truly like to read, like Whispering Sweet Nothings or The Foley Fam Blog; those 2 girls are so sweet and awesome.<br /><br />There wasn't a huge difference on the new mobile app, except now it actually functions for me like it's supposed to!!! It has a cleaner appearance, which is always a great thing. The other thing is that I can actually scroll through more than 5 blogs. I'm not even exaggerating. Seriously, that is what the other mobile app let me do, which is super mega frustrating. I get just over a hundred blogs that I covet, emailed to me daily so I don't miss a thing! I will be so excited when the new app is out for everything, especially for people having the same problem as me! Anyone else out there have that problem?<br /><br />So I mentioned that I get blogs emailed through Feedburner to me. For some reason, for about the last 2 weeks, I noticed that I was missing a ton of blogs, but was getting just enough for me not to notice for about a week. I figured everyone was just busy getting ready for market!! I'm happy to say that it's back to working normal since Monday (thank you, God!)!! Sometimes I just do skim through my email, but I will keep it around if there is something I truly need to read about, or if I want to pin something for future reference. My Pinterest is super strong in quilting and sewing, I'm proud to say. And of course food. I have been using subcategories under Food for awhile. I have at least 10 subcategories each under quilting and sewing. I still have my first Food board to break down still, and that can stay like that for awhile. If I have time to do that, then I have time to be sewing.<br /><br />Other the weekend, my Aunt (my mother's sister) 's mother in law passed away. She was in her 90s, but she LOVED going to BINGO. She was there the first time I played BINGO. I was 18 and won some Christmas (or it may have been Thanksgiving) Jackpot of like 300 or 500 bucks (it was longer ago that I would like to admit). When I came back a few weeks later to play again, I got bombarded at the door for my license, because the regulars didn't think I was old enough to play. That was because I looked 12 when I was 16, and 12 when I turned 18. She was an awesome lady. My Mom picked up some really random BINGO fabric at Joann's and I spent my Sunday whipping up a blanket for her. The funeral was today, and she is either going to be buried with it or it will go to one of her family members. Has anyone else been asked to make a special quilt for someone to be buried in? It's kinda awesome to be asked to do that. Like, something you made, will be with someone for ETERNITY!!! It's kinda mind-blowing when you think about it. It wasn't even anything fancy.<br /><br />I subbed for first grade today. We went out for recess around 3pm. They were super rough while playing "soccer". There was about 12 boys and 1 girl. A few of the boys were playing rough. One would "fall", and then a couple of kids would "fall" and tackle the first kid. And in this game, it was ok to run with the ball away from everyone else, then when you get a chance, put it down and try to kick it as far as you could in the other direction. The girl got tripped because someone grabbed her shirt and she went down. Then she accidentally got kicked in the head. There were other teachers out at that time, so I warned them like 5 times to knock off the roughness or I was going to take the ball. I say "knock off" frequently. Stop please, doesn't really work. Neither does "knock off", but it makes me watch what I say so I never accidentally swear in front of them. I get flustered on my words sometimes. "Stop" doesn't always come out "stop". So then I just had to take the ball away because someone was going to break someone's arm or neck. When I went back in, I gave my lecture on why I had to take it away and why I was disappointed that they didn't listen. (because that's part of the job. You have to explain but try not to yell at them). The para-pro in the room (who is super nice and helpful) kinda exploded, because I guess this has been an ongoing issue for the year. The Principal had even put it in the morning announcements for that classroom. So I basically got the first grade class banned from playing soccer for the rest of the year (3 more weeks). Oops. I felt really bad about it, but my nursing background makes me *very* wary of kids bouncing off one another on the ground. I really don't need someone to get hurt on my watch. More than you even know.<br /><br />I would post some new pics of what the app looks like, but I don't even know if I'm even allowed to talk about it. I didn't read the terms and conditions. I don't want to lose my BL privileges since my new app finally works the way it's supposed to. I gave my feedback already, telling them this is the greatest thing to happen to me this week. I told them now they need to come up with a search function within your subscribed blogs, and it will be as perfect as Google Reader was. I also told them that Feedly has it, but ever since I learned they built the function <i>but made you <b>pay</b> for it</i>, I will no longer use them. I'm not paying for something that I used to get for free. Not gonna happen here.<br /><br />My best friend flies in from NYC tomorrow so he can attend DEMF in Detroit this weekend (it's an electronic music festival). I haven't been in like over 10 years, but he still goes. I just pick him up, have lunch, hang out a bit, text all weekend about what the other is doing-the horrible people he runs into (like my Ex) and laugh about it, and then drive him back to the airport on Tuesday.<br /><br />Next Tuesday is my daughter's last day of high school :/ I am not sure how I feel about it, but I know I'm kinda sad about it. I want her to still be young so she has to hang out with me all the time. haha. She's my favorite person on this Earth! I hope everyone else has a great and safe Memorial Day weekend! Remember why we have this special day and thank the people you know who risked their life fighting for this country! I would like to virtually thank all the men and women who have fought to keep this country free for me to be able to do whatever I want. :)Karrie Shttps://plus.google.com/109228387160847910679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3027241831244205297.post-33645048654691754182014-05-12T02:33:00.000-04:002014-05-14T09:39:01.649-04:00SMS Day Giveaway!!! May 2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3027241831244205297" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>***EDIT: Sorry for getting this post up late. My laptop literally died when I restarted it to put up the pictures. Which leads me to apologize for the crappy pics. They died with the laptop and I'm just using the ones off my phone***<br /><br />I have known about SMS Day and have been entering since 2012. You can read all about the day at <a href="http://sewmamasew.com/">sewmamasew.com</a>. I think it's about time I give something back. Every time it comes around, it kinda comes up when everything is kinda crazy in my life, and I don't have something awesome to share. So before we get to the good stuff, I would like to share some super important information for females, and I appreciate you taking the time to read it before you enter or coming back and reading it later.<br /><br />I started this blog after I Googled quilting in fall 2011. My sister had passed from cervical cancer at the age of 29 on August 7, 2010, and I was 31, and I was looking for a hobby to help work through my grief. She was diagnosed with Cervical Cancer Stage 3b in January 2009. She had been "leaking" urine when she laughed hard the summer before, and it was getting progressively worse. She had just finished all her exams and graduated from Eastern Michigan University, to become a teacher. She worked as a Store Manager of a Burger King, for the same owner/boss since she started working there at the age of 15. Fast food restaurants do not offer health insurance for all employees (at that time; it may have changed with the Obama Care thing). In fact, to qualify for health insurance you must have a title of "assistant/manager" and work full time at 40 per week. There are two options to choose from, Crappy and Crappier, and then they deduct a chunk of money from your check. My sister was making MORE money working at BK, than she would as a teacher, and every time she went to leave, her boss just kept raising her salary. She was very loyal, but she was getting too old mentally and physically to work there. (This turned out to be a good thing for her; her bosses were so incredibly giving while she was sick by keeping her on PAID leave for over a year, and were paying for the "better" insurance out of their pockets for her) So in the fall of 2008, she made an appointment with a urologist, (but she had to see her primary doctor to get the referral-so add 3 months), and saw him after 3 months. He did a cystoscopy (put a camera/tube up her urethra- aka your "pee hole"), and did some "examining" around the area. He said to make an exam with a gynecologist. He saw a tumor in her vaginal canal, but didn't bother telling her that. She made another 3 month-from-now appointment with a OB-GYN for January. On December 17, the pain that she had been having in her abdomen became much more severe, so she, her fiance Frank, and my Mom, went to the ER. They did a bunch of tests, and sent her home with some pain meds. A week or so later, my Dad called me on my way home from work, and told me that my sister had been diagnosed STAGE 3B. She didn't even get to her scheduled OB-GYN appointment yet. They started treatment immediately, and my life completely changed forever. At this time, I'm a RN and have experience from working at my first hospital on their Oncology floor for 3 years, and worked at St Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, for over a year. I have only worked on Oncology floors, so I understood the treatments and prognosis, and what each entailed. My stomach flipped and I knew how serious it was. Her cancer was the size of a softball (i think?), but had not metastasized (moved to a lymph node or other organ) yet. To make a long story short, she had missed her PAP smear for over 2 years. Cervical cancer is caused from HPV, which is a STI that you can get by SKIN to SKIN contact. You don't even have to exchange any fluids or have intercourse. You can get this by friction. It's possible to get, even if you both can have underwear on! (according to some reputable websites I found during researching: HPV and Cervical Cancer). Cervical cancer has been known to develop on it's own as well.<br /><br />There is a test that can be done every year to detect if there are any changes to the cervix, such as abnormal cell growth or surrounding infections, and it's called a PAP smear, and it's exactly for detecting cervical cancer. It's been around for a long time. It's the not-so-fun doctor appointment, where you put on a gown and lay on the table in stirrups, and the doctor takes a special Q-tip and swabs inside you for cells to test. One of the cervix's job is to tighten when pregnant, so the baby doesn't emerge early, so it has a very special job to do. The government has recently changed it's policy on PAP smears, from getting them annually to once EVERY 3 years. They changed this to try to save money on "unnecessary" health testing costs. It is true that the majority of tests will come back negative, but this can be deadly for the small amount that have an abnormal test result. Sometimes insurance even states that you shouldn't start getting tested until you are 25!!! Lots of women will get normal results every year, but I think it's dangerous to wait that long for the women who may develop cancer rapidly, like my sister. I suggest that you get a PAP done every year starting when you are sexually active or after you turn 18 years old; whichever comes first. I would suggest to my daughter to get one by the time she is 21, if she is not yet sexually active. A really nice woman emailed me today, said if she would have waited until 25 she would have not gotten treatment in time, and could have died. You need to be an advocate for yourself and demand this every year! The last that I knew, most insurances will still pay annually for one, but "suggests" testing every 3 years. Please tell your female friends about this, if you feel comfortable enough to discuss it with them. Please ask your adult daughters if they are caught up on their annual PAP. My mom feels incredibly guilty that she didn't ask, although it's not her fault. Your friends and daughters may pass the info on to their daughters or their friends, and even if 1 woman is saved, that will make me incredibly happy! For them and their loved ones! I believe my sister got one of the 4 deadliest strains, and both her and I were not vaccinated with<a href="http://www.gardasil.com/" target="_blank"> Guardisil </a>(a vaccination a girl can get to help prevent the deadliest strains of cervical cancer) because we were too "old" when it came out. I'm not recommending the vaccine, to each their own, but I have provided the link to their official page if you are interested in reading about it. (Plus I never like to jump into a new treatment without years of post-research, if I can avoid it). It has been out for about ten years now.<br /><br /> There are like 80 strains of HPV or something like that. It's not the same strain that causes warts or herpes. Sometimes HPV has no symptoms at all, and it's possible to contract and go away on it's own. It says that cancer can take years to develop, but I don't think that is necessarily true in every case. My sister drank alcohol occasionally and was a social smoker, but she did not sleep around (as far as I know). Her boyfriend before her fiance, cheated on my sister and got that girl pregnant. I think it may have come from him, but I hate to make an accusation like that without finding out for sure. Plus it's not like he did it purposefully. This is why it's important *I think* to get a PAP smear annually, especially if you have ever had a past positive test for HPV, or have had any findings in your PAP smear that may indicate abnormal cell growth. Remember, HPV sometimes does not show any symptoms at all, until it is too late. Many people do not know they even have it, and that's why you should never be embarrassed if you get it. It's not because you are a bad person. The PAP is not needed if you are pregnant, because your OB should be checking down there frequently anyway. The technology for HIV/AIDS have significantly improved, and thankfully isn't a death sentence anymore, but 20 million Americans have HPV currently, and it's growing. That's one of the reasons why it's also important to get checked out for STI's as needed. Please see <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/std/hpv/stdfact-hpv.htm">here</a> for the government's Center for Disease Control on cervical cancer, to find out more. If you are going through Menopause, you still need to get your annual PAP exam. It's still possible to get cervical and ovarian cancer after The Change. Please discuss this with your primary care physician. If your doctor says that you no longer need one, that is the old recommendations. Please remember my sister, and be an advocate for yourself and firmly request one if your doctor doesn't think you need one. You may just be saving your life! When I started working at the hospitals I was blown away by the amount of people who have or had a diagnosis of cancer. It's even more than you think! Thank you for reading this. It means a lot to me. SO now let's get to the good stuff!!!<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3027241831244205297" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><br />So I started quilting to help with my grief. I've made a bunch of blankets and a few quilt tops, but have never completely finished them (or blogged about them). But I got some new books to help with that. Since Google Reader died, I have found it easier to keep up by using Instagram. I follow as many people as I can who quilt or sew cute clothes (my <i>other</i> obsession)!<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3027241831244205297" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.sewmamasew.com/2014/05/giveaway-day-tomorrow-2/" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.sewmamasew.com/may2014/MayGiveawayDay.jpg" /></a></div><br />I *am* giving away Heather Ross fabric "scraps" There are 9 pieces total of various sizes. But I have to be honest with you. I bought these from thegreatfabricdestash on IG. The description read "Heather Ross scraps $20". I saw the gnomes and fish, and pounced on it. I was super excited, and couldn't wait until they came. When I opened up the Ziploc, I became less happy. Most of the "scraps" came from PJ pants. These are the first HR prints that I have, besides Briar Rose. I wouldn't have bought them had I known they came from the PJs. I am 99% sure the photo did not show this <i>or</i> was left in the details , so I felt duped. I don't know if they have ever been washed or not, or the history, because I bought them as "scraps", I didn't care if they were washed or not, and I already have pets so I didn't care. My cats come into this room, but don't go by my sewing area, just to let you know. I have a dog, but he stays on the floor or bed. I know that this does not matter to some people, and I know there are HR maniacs (no judging here!) out there that would love to have these! So instead of trying to resell them and make up a fair price -are the PJs even <i>worth</i> as much as the true fabric?!- I *finally* remembered that SMS day was coming up, so I have been holding on to them to giveaway! As you can see, my blog has taken last priority lately and I wanted a bigger audience to have a chance to win these. I have a bunch of projects in progress and I feel confident to finally start to share them here.<br /><br />The first pic is of the pieces I got that are obviously attached to PJs, except for the dotted fabric. It got cut out of the pic, but the pink gnomes have buttons on them. The bike fabric is folded over so you can see the hems. The dotted fabric is pulled down to show you the selvage, but it's folded exactly in half from selvage to selvage. You can see the picture I posted on my instagram account <a href="http://instagram.com/p/nnOKBPLWfm/" target="_blank">here</a>, which shows it better. (sorta-it IS from my crappy phone). The other pic I posted is <a href="http://instagram.com/p/nnOKBPLWfm/" target="_blank">here on IG</a>. As you can see the fabric is switched around in the instagram pics. The coke can is there so you can see how big the fabric is (without me measuring it!)<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3OFOL1KArT0/U3JAYYQR1LI/AAAAAAAABZY/28wHD1oTibo/s1600/SMS1PJ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3OFOL1KArT0/U3JAYYQR1LI/AAAAAAAABZY/28wHD1oTibo/s1600/SMS1PJ.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pic 1: Pink Gnomes, Sushi and Bikes have definite hems<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table>Picture 2 contains fabric that has been cut with scissors and do not have any sewn hems. The dots above do not have hems either. There are 5 pieces. The striped fabric in this picture is folded in half, and you can see where the wrong side of the fabric is showing at the top. There are: blue gnomes, bags of fish, goldfish, a small pink bike and stripes.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GqT_PSjGVsY/U3JAu47s14I/AAAAAAAABZg/oV7aONZJJfw/s1600/P2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GqT_PSjGVsY/U3JAu47s14I/AAAAAAAABZg/oV7aONZJJfw/s1600/P2.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pic 2: Blue Gnomes, Goldfish, Bags of Fish, Pink Bike and Stripes.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>RULES</b>: I'm following the rules from sewmamasew.com. This giveaway will close: Friday, May 16, at 5 pm PST/8 pm EST. I will choose a winner by a computerized randomized draw program. I will try to email the winner by 11 pm, on Friday May 16th EST. I will ship the prize on Monday, May 19, so <b>please respond within 48 hours, by Sunday, May 18th by 11 pm*EST/7 pm*PST</b>, or I will have to draw a new winner, and I don't want to do that!!<br /><br />I know that some people don't like Rafflecopter, so I made the first question super easy. Just tell me what way you follow me in the COMMENT section. PLEASE make sure you click on the rafflecopter so it can count your vote! Email me (ksmith8@emich.edu) if you have any trouble signing up for Rafflecopter, but I think you just add your email and name to it, and you are done. I promise it's super easy. I wanted to use an electronic counter and not have to go through all the comments myself to see if people did what they were supposed to do, to make it fair for everyone!<br /><br /><b>EDIT: I made some changes to the rafflecopter on Wednesday May 14, at 9 a.m. </b>I forgot that some people do not have or want a G+ account. I accidentally switched my blog out of blogger to G+, and I can't go back to Blogger. I couldn't remove the original first question in the rafflecopter that asked to leave a comment, so now it's a bonus 5 point question. The new rafflecopter allows you to leave your answer within the rafflecopter box, and if you <i>want</i> to leave a comment below for the same question, you will get 5 extra points. I wanted to be as fair as possible, and that's why I went with rafflecopter.<br /><br />Thank you very much! I appreciate you taking the time to read this post, more than you know! And thank you to SMS for hosting this awesome event. Good Luck to all of you, and click <b><a href="http://www.sewmamasew.com/2014/05/giveaway-day-supplies-fabric-patterns-etc/" target="_blank">here</a></b> to go back to more giveaways for supplies.<br /><br /><a class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/1af6691/" id="rc-1af6691" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a><br /><script src="//widget.rafflecopter.com/load.js"></script>Karrie Shttps://plus.google.com/109228387160847910679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3027241831244205297.post-36263743027860263862014-04-13T23:07:00.001-04:002014-04-13T23:07:22.861-04:00Karen's Quilts, Crows and Cardinals: Celebrate Wool Applique love "Spring Basket" on An...<a href="http://karensquiltscrowscardinals.blogspot.com/2014/04/celebrate-wool-applique-love-spring.html?spref=bl">Karen's Quilts, Crows and Cardinals: Celebrate Wool Applique love "Spring Basket" on An...</a>: Greetings blogging friends and welcome to the next celebration and giveaway in A Month of Monday Giveaways!! but first... "Thank You&...Karrie Shttps://plus.google.com/109228387160847910679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3027241831244205297.post-56865788006657514162014-04-08T06:06:00.002-04:002014-04-08T06:06:43.962-04:00Confession...I was in a weird mood in my last post. I was probably up too late or up all night and wrote it in the morning...either way, I'm too lazy too look.<br /><br />So I have been into sewing since 2011. Around that time, late into the year, is when I started finding more and more quilting sites, online fabric stores, Etsy, Craftsy, and my favorite: blogs. One of the first sites I found was Craftsy, and I purchased one of the first quilting classes they offered. No joke. There was like 5 to choose from, and now they have dozens :) Good for them, and good for me if I had the funds to purchase them all! Luckily there is so much variety, that I can take what I *really* want to learn.<br /><br />I have sewn a few blankets, a baby quilt with minky on the back that I did really quilt per se, a bunch of tops-some with flannel, and I've been working on my first "real" quilt for a few years now.<br /><br />My confession is that I have not EVER finished a quilt!! When I first started, I was a fiend. I "borrowed" the sewing machine I got my daughter for Christmas one year, hoping that she would find it fun, like I did when I was her age. That didn't really happen, so I must have known that some day I would be using it when I purchased it. It's a simple Singer with like 30something decorative stitches. It's really all I need.<br /><br />Two years ago, I really wanted a free motion foot for my machine. My Mom wanted to get it for me (I don't remember the details or why she did it) so she went to the closest Joann. They have a Viking store in the middle that sells sewing machines and parts. They told her the foot would mess up my machine, the tension would be off, and I would have to get it serviced. Now, at this time I have only been learning for about 6 months. It freaked me out. Everyone makes tension sound really scary. I've been really scared, up until around the past Christmas when I was checking out my manual, and figured out where the ?bottom tension was. I was taking apart my machine to clean it, and I totally figured out it was some tiny screw-slot that held my bobbin thing together. I can't believe I was so scared of this, and I found out where it was. They made it sound like it was in the soul of my machine, and I'd never be able to get to it!!!<br /><br />Now, I haven't actually messed with it much, but I *am* setting it up this week, and going to practice some FMQ so I can quilt my first *real* quilt. I say "real" because it's 100% quilting cotton. Some of my other tops have flannel in it because my Grandma made most of our quilts (the later ones before she stopped quilting 15 or so years ago), with flannel. We live in Michigan, and the winters are cold. The first quilt I got that was *all mine* was mostly yellow patchwork. I love it so much. My sister got a pastel blue color. Then she made me a pink one to match my room. I literally hated to wear pink growing up, but for some reason I gravitated towards pink for my bedroom colors. SO weird. I didn't even like pink that much. I think I picked it so I wouldn't be the same as my sister. Then I also have a gray quilt with some blue and pink fabric in it. I'm not sure who *owns* it, but I've had it on my bed for awhile. She had a cedar closet that my Grandpa made for her, and she kept her supplies in. When you took home your quilt, it smelled SO GOOD. I've read that cedar isn't the best to keep quilts in, but pooh on that. It isn't an heirloom and I will adore that smell for the rest of my life! My Grandpa passed in March 2007. My Grandma is still alive, but has had Alzheimer's since he has passed. We think she had the start of it before my Grandpa got sick. It's hard to tell, because sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between someone getting older and someone that is getting dementia. They practically raised us in the summers when my parents were at work. We were over there every weekend growing up. My other set of grandparents died before I was born, so they are very special people in my life.<br /><br />Later after I'm checking my 564 emails, I will be linking up my *first* real quilt! I just didn't want this story attached to the post. It's so embarrassing to admit! I feel like there is going to be a major change in my life soon, and I welcome it! I've been stagnant for way too long, and I'm excited for a change.Karrie Shttps://plus.google.com/109228387160847910679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3027241831244205297.post-2444591637882669052014-04-02T01:50:00.002-04:002014-04-02T02:35:53.808-04:00April: Spring, bunnies, chicks, eggs, baskets, pretty, presents, candy, hopeless futures, failure.I'm scrolling through the emails on my phone that have been left unattended to for a few days. I get a lot of blogs sent to my phone so I don't miss something. That doesn't matter, because I feel like I miss something anyway. I find that Bloglovin is stupid and slow on my computer, and annoys me. I don't like Feedly. It's ugly and stupid, and makes you pay for a subscription to SEARCH for a term like "skirt" in your blog list. I feel like I begrudgingly allowed Google to hook it's tentacles into my computer parts when I allowed to access to "see" what I do on my computer for it's analysis, and then once it figured out how much I really liked Google Reader around and forgot about it spying on me, it posted it's breakup with me all over town! How hard is it for Google to maintain such a small simple thing as a generic blog reader? I don't get it at all. If he thinks I want his new and "improved" cousin G+, then he is sadly mistaken. His cousin rolled in like he was going to be this super suave big-time incredible thing that ever happened to my life, but in reality he just messed up my blogger comments and whenever I see him, I just get a taste of total regret on the back of my tongue and my nostril starts to twitch into a snarl. Talk about a major disappointment.<br /><br />So I'm seeing WAY too many posts on colored eggs, pastel ribbons, newborn baby bunnies and chicks, and cookies. Yeah right, ok-so not really the cookies, but this Easter-before-the-month-of annoys the hell out of me. I like to linger in the holiday that is actually happening. In craft world, you are always living for Next Time. These must be the same people that work in small chain drugstores that started that whole thing.<br /><br />Did you know that Easter is NOT about bunnies or chicks, pastels, baskets, eggs or candy?! My generation of late 70s-early 80s kids totally changed the world, by changing the actual meaning of holidays. Or maybe it was our parents. Most of the time I don't know the reasoning behind it. I'll start at the top of the year to show you exactly what I mean.<br /><br />Jan: New Years Day. Not much happens. Sometimes you have a baby-sitter while your parents go out. You sometimes have a week off school left to enjoy. The rest of the month is half days for Presidents Day. Don't ask me why, because I don't know. I think MJK's birthday is thrown in there. Or maybe it's next month. I'm not looking it up. In school we trace our hands or cut out construction paper that's already traced and make a pic to represent a pink hand holding a black hand. Equality is being molded in our small little minds. This is a good thing. In a couple of generations we won't even need to cut out hands anymore. It will just be that way. *** A lot of people home school. I never knew that before I started reading blogs.<br /><br />Feb: UGH. Vday. If you are not in a new relationship, this day is pretty much a major let down. If you don't have someone, you feel bad about yourself...until you get older (and I mean older than 30) and realize that you like yourself much better than the "men" that populate your current location. Then you secretly celebrate by taking a bubble bath, eating a mini box of chocolate and watching a movie that YOU want to watch as gross thoughts enter your mind like: millions of couples are doing it all over, and I'm so glad that's not me right now, haha. (because I'm totally relaxed from my bath). As kids, you make a card for everyone in your class and pass them out. required cards equal no losers back then. You have a class party.You get excited because you only get juice to drink, and everyone's Mom knows Hawaiian Punch is where it's at. Even if it's canned Hi-C it's still pretty great. It's also Black History Month. There is probably an assembly and more time off school in honor of that.<br /><br />March-Spring starts/Winter ends. 17: is St Pat's Day. Do you even know who that is? But we all wear green and pinch people that forget to. Even if we aren't Irish. BUT kids aren't allowed to pinch anymore. I'm glad I was able to grow up a pincher. And creepy little Leprechauns. Did you know that you are supposed to hide gold coins to find in your house now? I didn't until last year!!!! Sometimes Easter is in the month. Which means Ash Wed was about a month ago. Which means nothing if you aren't Catholic.<br /><br />....Unless you have a kid named Ash, which I happen to do, and when they ask you what it means when they are checking out the calendar, then you get to make up a ridiculous story to tell them. Like, all Ashleys are made on that day and special people are picked to be their parents. It's like a clone experiment, but you get to pick out exactly how your kid is going to look. The government only picks a few people and it's top secret. So if you tell people about it they won't believe you. For a few years they think about this until they realize you make up ridiculous stories like that habitually for fun, never to be mean. Before they catch on, you can make references to that date all year-round.. Like: Ugh. I knew I should have went with red hair on Ash Wed., or I hope my Ashley will be taller than me. The Gov. said you would be. *this makes sense when you get to June.<br /><br />Easter: Not about bunnies, chicks, eggs, pastel colors, cute things, baskets, hiding colored eggs, the Easter Bunny or candy. I'm not sure how getting a small basket of jelly beans and a tiny stuffed rabbit turned into the 40$ monster baskets you see at Walmart. Kids get crazy presents now. I remember when the Dime Store went out of business in my town. My parents actually gave us baby albino bunnies on Easter once. I was about 4 going-on 5, and my sister was about 2 going-on 3. They pooped constantly all over the house when we took them out of their cage, so we only had them for a few weeks. This was something my Dad could not live with, I guess. After realizing the Easter Bunny was a bad mother and couldn't even take care of her kids, and counted on me to be a surrogate mother, my 4 year-old self had failed, as well. A few years later, and definitely not enough time had passed, we found out my "uncle" Gary ate them. He ATE them. My pet rabbits. His father had always raised rabbits to eat, and I remember going over there once to see them before we got the bunnies. My uncle was definitely drinking too much beer when he told us and said it so seriously we didn't believe him. Then it hit, because I remember his Dad's house and his backyard of rabbits, and we believed him. We were definitely a bit traumatized that we let down the Easter bunny (mother) and allowed her kids to be eaten by my hungry "uncle". I was like 7 when I found this out. So I definitely felt super guilty about this, for a long time. My mom was one of those parents that said " little kids lie, and they don't know what they are talking about, that Santa and EBun is real", and I believed her because she was my Mom. I was like 12 when I let myself realize they weren't real. And she still wouldn't tell me. I don't think she ever has admitted this yet.<br /><br />April: Spring! Easter! Sometimes a late snow storm or a heat wave.<br /><br />May 3: My bday. Bring cupcakes to school and cans of Hawaiian Punch!<br />Memorial Day weekend. We get a day off to get together for a BBQ at my Grandparents house.<br />June: SUMMER VACATION!!!<br /> 27: My sister's Bday.<br /> * on June 11, 96 my little Ashley was born 3 days after my junior year. This was before Teen Mom, so I didn't know any better (sarcasm).<br /><br />July: 4th....too hot to do anything but swim. We didn't have central air until I was 20. My parents had a tiny one in their bedroom that Ash got to sleep in every hot night. I could sleep on the floor when it was super hot. Imagine being trapped in a 10x10 room with 3 people that snore like bears. Guess who was the loudest? me. I was born without a fully developed trachea. This is the theory on why I snore (for real. My mom actually got a nurse fired after the nurse showed my 19 year old Mom all the babies with tracheotomies. My Mom freaked out and was inconsolable. I was her first and her mom just passed away from breast cancer) Anyway, if I ever have to sleep in a public situation I spit this out when people tell me I snore loud. As if it's their fault I snore loud. Their attitude changes when they realize it is congenital. 5 feet tall and 100 pounds, I was the loudest snorer in the room.<br /><br />We didn't go on many vacations. We went to Tennessee to visit extended family a few different times. And the car trip from MI to SC-Myrtle Beach. That was when bright tie=dyed one piece bathing suits with the stomach and back cut out, but the sides were still attached, were cool. That was the first time I realized that I was fat. This came from my mother who said...maybe we need to get you a new kind of bathing suit. You are getting heavy. And I look down at the pink exposed rolls and get really mad. Why was I allowed out of the house if this is what I looked like? This is a turning point in my life and this is what I hear every day for the rest of my life.<br /><br />August: Again more hot weather, but we're getting ready for the good months ahead. School starts, and we get to get school supplies, and some new clothes and shoes. Woo!t! Kmart sweat pants and trapper keepers<br /><br />Oct: HALLOWEEN!!! Glow sticks just came out and are super cool, but they also promote safety, in case a car decides to drive on the sidewalk and they can see you are real, by the super cool glow stick you have around your neck. Sadly these only last about a day. You wear a costume suit made out of plastic with your favorite character. Berenstein bears, care bears, superman, ninja turtles..you pick. It came with a flimsy mask with elastic thread stapled on, to hold it on your face. You could never really see out of the eye slits very good. You had to be careful, because the elastic usually breaks by the end of the night. Candy, candy, candy. My second favorite holiday. Thank you, starving mischievous kids from hundreds of years ago. You are awesome.<br /><br />November: Thanksgiving. People had dinner, and it was mostly Turkey. We usually visited family. Once my Mom did Thanksgiving at our house when I was 5 and she said "never again". She kept that promise for over 20 years. Cool Parade on tv<br /><br />December: Christmas.Cool Parade on tv. We got a big gift from Santa, and some other gifts that were stuffed animals, books, clothes, and other toys from my parents. I got a Super Nintendo in 7th grade, and that was a huge gift. Because we loved my Aunt's waterbed so much, my parents got us waterbeds when I was in the 4th grade. It was so random and I loved it. I'm positive it was not taken care of properly. But if you don't have AC in the summer, then that is the best thing to lay on, to sleep. The heater gets turned off, and the water bed gets super cold. The winter is the best, because you can crank the heat up, and I'm pretty sure it's like sleeping in a womb.<br /><br />I named all those events. I left some out, like the Super Bowl, Mother's and Father's Day, and others that I'm probably totally forgetting about. We never decorated. If we did, it was the kids who made stuff, and our parents let us hang it up. My Mom didn't sew us up elaborate costumes or place mats. We dyed eggs using a box setup. She doesn't have an area that she changes for the season. She didn't participate in that creepy hiding Elf ,or leperchaun coins. I'm pretty sure I would have been terrified of leprechauns coming into our home. Plus in 8th grade a bully used to call me that because I'm short and have red hair.<br /><br />.... Now I realize he had special emotional problems. He had to pick on the weakest quietest person to feel better about himself. He probably shouldn't have tried to keep trying to hang out and be friends with the popular crowd. If they were in a bad mood and the bully was annoying, he would get called the F word, and then I knew my day was about to be ruined. Because he was always in 4 out of 6 of my classes. The F word is the worst insult anybody could be called, at my school. When you think about it, there are SO many worse things to be called. Like, my best friend and I, used to call this kid Cat Molester in the 7th grade. I guess they were just trying to break down people, until they magically confessed they were the F word. I really do live by some really dumb people.<br /><br />Oops sorry for that rant....So Christmas: We decorated our tree with ornaments we made at school. (we still do). We have stockings with our names glitter-glued on. But we understood that Santa didn't have an endless sack of toys to bring to us. I honestly see the next generation of kids and newborns completely losing their shit, because they can keep up their real lives with their Pinterest Boards. That causes major anxiety and depression, folks! When is it reality, and when does it become so much work that you can't enjoy the moment, because you are blogging about the next-next holiday?<br /><br /> I'm the kind of Mom that thinks a blow up Alien is the coolest thing to have, and tells their kid it comes alive at night. And that their boyfriend visits from a spaceship and tells her when he will be visiting. My kid was born with extreme skepticism. She knew if she squinted her face at me that it only took me 3 seconds until I laughed and blew the whole scam. She stopped believing my stories at age 5, but that didn't stop me from trying. <br /><br />(For some reason, I don't care about the rest of the holiday decorating, but Easter really irritates me. Most holidays are created by religion or tradition. How in the hell did a Bunny take over America to represent when JC came back to life after being brutally murdered? That is my interpretation of it. I'm not religious, but I believe in God and I'm spiritual. I'm VERY open minded, but this one makes my socks stink. It's just crazy.)<br /><br />That's why I sew. Or try to. I love looking at blogs. It is very time consuming, but I like to do it. People will link up 8 quilts and a new out fit they made for every month. It's taking me a few months to complete something. And obviously I don't really blog about it. I sort of feel like I don't measure up. But then again, I don't really care all that much to change. I don't have an audience to feed. I don't feel the need to make a pattern that has been made SO many times before. I have seen 3 new Plus X patterns out this month. How hard is it to make a bunch of +s? Especially since a really big name just released that pattern. I don't want to be a person that puts out unnecessary duplicated crap. No offense, because I really don't mean to be mean about it. I'm talking about myself. I haven't found my niche at all. I only have myself to blame. I'm afraid of failure. I'm afraid of being frustrated and wasting my time (and money). I don't want the pressure of it. I'm afraid of not being able to "keep up". I would love to be friends with the quilter people in blog land. I just don't have the money to keep up. I'm in a weird point in my life that I didn't plan for. I went to college, and now i don't know if I want to be a nurse anymore? I should be doing it, but I'm not ready, so I better make a decision quick because I can't live like this anymore.<br /><br />I would seriously love to sew with free fabric all day long. Sometimes I get so jealous of that. I want a box of free fabric shipped to my house. When I see people with a fabric pile that weighs more than my body, and I have a pile that won't complete one quilt, that makes me super jealous. I realize *I* have to make some decisions so *I* can have bolts of fabric to create magic with. Because I have it in my mind, but it's hard to draw on paper, and it's even harder for me to buy. I find that my biggest problem is deciding what pattern I want to use with the fabric. I have a coveted Nordika collection that I don't know what to do with.<br /><br />My Goal for this month is to make that a plan. I will have a plan/pattern on what to do with that fabric. I will also finish my Washi dress. I'll talk about that later. I can't believe for the first time in my entire life, I'm upset because my bust is too big.<br /><br />Karrie Shttps://plus.google.com/109228387160847910679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3027241831244205297.post-11126704256369176342014-01-18T08:21:00.001-05:002014-01-18T08:21:26.627-05:00what's happenin'Today is one of my favorite days of the year. It's my best friend's and another good friend's birthday! They are some of my favorite people :)<br /><br />I have been thinking a lot and I want this year to be a lot different. At the best, I have been sluggish in life. I have taken this horrible thing that has happened and destroy me. I really am a figment of who I used to be. There is some positive things about that, but a lot more negative things. So this is the year to get it back! It's hard when you reach an age where you think you are "old". I feel like it's too late, and it's never too late!<br /><br />On Thursday I went to Joann's to get a new cutting mat. I have a 15% coupon I have all the time for substitute teaching I can use. I haven't been there in so long that I don't think I renewed my coupon. BUT I had my little flyer of coupons that gets mailed to me every few weeks that had a 15% off crafts. It had a couple of exclusions, but I thought almost everything would count except for my fabric (because they had a 15% fabric coupon that starts today). I had a mat, a rotary cutter, some triangle rulers (in one pack), 3 yd of fabric for my Washi dress, some Pellon Interfacing, and a pack of bobbins. I spent 3 hours in the store debating if I wanted to buy a $13 18x24" mat compared to a 24x36" mat. I couldn't figure out that math that my board was half the size of the bigger board, which was $25. I decided to go with the smaller one because I cut on the "puzzle board", that came from a kitchen counter cut out from the sink. The bigger board was too big to cut on without going off the wood. I could just see bad things happening.<br /><br />My car spent the night at Joann's because there is something wrong with the battery. I called Esurance's Road Side Emergency service. I was very irritated for a lot of reasons. 1) It was starting to snow, the wet heavy kind, and it was freezing outside. 2) They said it would take 50-90 minutes! 3) I have shitty friends and need to make new ones 4) No one could come help me <u style="font-weight: bold;">5) Esurance will only send out ONE service!! EIther you get gas OR a jump. I requested gas because I had jumper cables. </u> I couldn't believe it. He did put some gas in, and he acted like he didn't know if he was supposed to be paid or not. I gave him a $10 and just wanted to get home, and told him to put in ten bucks worth so I didn't have to stop for gas. JUST incase it was out of gas. The guy was around 50ish and had really chapped lips that might have been a cold sore, that I tried not to look at because I know that I looked 16. I was wearing my glasses, no makeup, and an owl hat. I just look like a kid. I know that he knew how much gas he was supposed to give me. He came in an Auto Recovery truck with a light on top of it. So he got out his little portable battery machine. It didn't work because those are crappy. He wouldn't listen to me that he needed to leave it on for a few minutes. He said my gas froze in my line. Thankfully my Mom left work and came and took me home. It took 3 hours to warm up, and my muscles were sore from shivering. The next day Dad and me went out there, used my jumper cables, and it started right up. It wasn't cold enough either day for the gas to freeze in the line for the 3 hours I was in the store.<br /><br />Like everyone else in BLog Land, I have some goals.<br /><br />This month I want to complete my Washi dress and decide what I am going to do for my Nordika quilt. I also want to use my Pink Castle Fabric coupons to get some Rapture fabric. I can't believe it's taking THIS LONG to get it. I was thinking flying geese or stars. I need to just pick already.<br /><br />I have quilts to make for<br />-Dad<br />-Ash<br />-Mom<br />-Aunt Debbie (I should also make one for my Uncle Ted and Uncle Henry while I'm at it)<br />-Brett<br />I have a baby quilt to quilt and bind that's ready to go.<br /><br />I also want to make more skirts and dresses. I will get more specific in the future and share what I'm making of course. This post was just to get some stuff out of my mind. I also want to start journaling more, and I think I'm going to write through my blog. I don't really care if people read it or not. I want to connect with my followers more. I also want to participate in more blog hops that have to do with quilting or sewing. It's time to get going already and stop being shy! I feel SO boring and uninteresting it's really pathetic.<br /><br />I have some vintage sewing books I want to post about. I am going to start my Washi dress today, so maybe if I get something done, I'll have something to show you later! Or at least tomorrow! Hope you all have a great weekend!Karrie Shttps://plus.google.com/109228387160847910679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3027241831244205297.post-59372609921327567892014-01-03T04:00:00.002-05:002014-01-03T04:00:37.455-05:00Happy New YearSo I suck at blogging. I have already planned to take my blog back to recording my sewing projects. I have not started any quilts or dresses in SOO long. Last October I took some sewing to my LQS, and I took my cutting mat. I left it in the car and it warped. I tried to set really heavy things on my pool table in the garage to kinda warp it back into shape, but that failed. I asked for one for Christmas, and thought I was getting it, so I didn't rush out to get one. Well, I did not get one for Christmas and it has been snowing for 3 days with a wind chill. So of course I haven't ventured outside to go get one. I plan on doing that today hopefully.<br /><br />I had a great Christmas. It's always hard when you lose a family member, especially if they are in your immediate fam. My sister passed in 2010, and this is the first Christmas that I have felt ok about celebrating. It's really hard to enjoy a holiday when a major piece is missing. It's not like that are coming later, or live too far away. She's gone and won't be coming back. I think about her every day and I miss her a lot. I'm sure we would have been best friends later on in life.<br /><br />So I asked for a dress form and an extension table for my basic sewing machine. I ended up getting both! Plus that cute mint cart from Ikea that everyone has (or wants). I built the dress form and sewing cart myself! My kid has been sick for most of her vacation with this horrible cough. I have quarantined myself into my bedroom so I don't get it. I've been realllllly lazy and have spent most of my vacation reading in bed. I have to clean my room tomorrow and reorganize everything. I was planning to do it AFTER I bought the mat, so I would get some inspiration (or major caffeine from Starbucks) to move some stuff around. There is a Starbucks across the street from Joann's. I also got some gift certificates to Pink Castle Fabrics, and I want to get some Rapture by Pat Bravo. It is SO pretty! I also got the Washi Dress pattern by Made By Rae, and I'm hoping that I can buy a FQ bundle and have some left over for a dress!<br /><br />I checked out a bunch of books on making patterns, other dress making books (Colette!!!) and a TON of novels. I have been using my Goodreads app to find books I would want to read, so I don't have to go through the aisles looking for something interesting. I could easily spend like 5 hours in the library looking for books. After this bunch of books, I plan on sewing. I haven't done any free-motion quilting, but I plan on learning that this week. I just have a bunch of stuff to do to make that happen and that's what I plan on doing this weekend!Karrie Shttps://plus.google.com/109228387160847910679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3027241831244205297.post-52828003292241293272013-11-18T00:29:00.001-05:002013-11-18T00:29:57.343-05:00getting betterI'm feeling a bit better this week. I actually have kept a log of what I have eaten/drank. I just need to exercise, drink more water, stop drinking Coke, and I'm well on my way. I've lost 3 pounds from my doctor office weight. I feel a lot of this is extra water weight, while my meds are being adjusted.<br /><br />I have been keeping a tiny notepad on my nightstand, so I can keep notes. It's been helping me focus a bit better.<br /><br />I've read 3 fiction books this past week, so I feel like I'm actually doing something, instead of watching tv. I also have dressmaking and pattern making books checked out. I'm learning SO much. I'm still bummed that I'm STILL not better since I got sick last weekend. I missed a skirt making class that I've been obsessing about for MONTHS. I also have a book out on making bags. I never had an interest, until I had the idea that I can make bags to match my dress!<br /><br />I have over 3K email. I've erased the entire thing TWICE. The first time I used my iPhone, and thought I reversed something to make all the email magically reappear, like the hour I just spend deleting all that email didn't exist. So it took about another week to get over that, and I tried it again. I pressed trash, exited out, and saw I had 300 emails to read. Pretty good from over 3000. Then I noticed about 15 minutes later all the email came back again!! So I'm going to have to do this manually on my laptop. The bad thing, is I get really distracted and start 5 different side projects while I'm doing it. I find that I need to reorganize my pinboards, and transfer all my bookmarks to pins, that way I have more memory (or whatever it's called. I don't care, i just want my computer to run faster). Then I find that I need to blog about 5 different things, while entering giveaways and checking Instagram on my phone. It's been a difficult task. That's what I get for abandoning my laptop for a month.<br /><br />I KNOW that I'm going to be unsubscribing to a lot of crap emails I get, and try to figure out a better way to read my blogs. Some blogs I haven't even seen since Google Reader died. On my iPhone, i can only load a few pages of blogs. So 10 blogs at a time. I subscribe to like 8000 or something, because I have a lot of different interests.<br /><br />Thanks for reading this rant. I promise I'll be more interesting next time. After cleaning out my computer, I'm going to start on my room. So I can start sewing presents. It's been fun seeing what other people make.Karrie Shttps://plus.google.com/109228387160847910679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3027241831244205297.post-53004385085059790462013-11-11T00:44:00.002-05:002013-11-11T00:44:22.475-05:00The past monthI haven't opened up my laptop. I just didn't FEEL like it. For the first couple weeks, I was pretty good at going through my email. Then around the 4th week, I had almost 2,000 to go through. I deleted more than 900 during my first sweep through them. It was a bit more than my iphone could handle, and I did something that REVERSED that process and I got back my junky email. Oh, thank you Apple, because of all other things to mess up, email isn't one of them. grumble grumble.<br /><br />Because I could only delete somewhere between 50 & 100 at a time, I reluctantly decided to open my laptop and get back to business...because that number is driving me insane. I get over 100 email a day. Thank YOU Google (not-anymore-reader).<br /><br />But you know what? I'm not stressed about this blog. I don't care if I didn't get around to writing something. I have been using it as a : GO DO this already, pathetic girl.<br /><br />Something happened mid-month that is horrible beyond belief. It's a very private issue that I haven't talked about on my blog, but it's serious. It has nothing to do with rape, so don't get to worried there. The only person it hurts is me...and maybe the people who really care about me, but in the end, it really just effects me. So now that's been almost a month ago, and last week I started getting hives again. That happened way earlier this year when Spring was trying to emerge as winter was clinging on. I guess the temperamental season changes doesn't help this much. I was SO SICK this past weekend. I even missed my skirt class that I have been dying to attend since this past summer. Like I have $50 to waste. I'm so pissed, and I really hope I get to work out something, that I can take another class at a different time. I fell asleep 5pm Friday and woke up around 4pm on Sunday. I slept through Saturday.<br /><br />I know I'm depressed. I know that it's a situational depression that really is dependent on how this will play out. I see a Dr at least once a month. She's aware of this and has been prescribing me meds for this for over 3 years.<br /><br />I know that I've gained a bunch of weight and am HATING it.<br /><br />I know that I have too many mind-numbing activities going on.<br /><br />What I can do: I have a treadmill on loan. Right now it came possessed, and I have to figure out how to run/fast walk on a few inclines without going from 2 to 8 incline and from 2 to 9 speed. There is no way in Hell, I can attempt something like that any time soon. I don't have a goal because I have NEVER worked out before. I figure if I can lose 10 pounds and increase my metabolism, it will be a win-win.<br /><br />Changes have been made so I have fresh veggies, and sometimes fruit on hand so I can eat that instead of cookies.<br /><br />I am quitting Coke. This is one of the hardest things I've had to do. It's ALWAYS there. There really isn't an option to get this out of the house. I'm thinking on ways to do it though. I drink sweetened tea instead. This is the same sweetened tea that I've drank ALL my life (when I wasn't drinking coke) when I've weighted 90 pounds, so I'm not too worried about cutting EVERYthing down to water and carrot sticks. Tea is good for you.<br /><br />I need to start journaling. Which is different than blogging. I want to buy a new notebook for this. I also want to start a Fitness journal, where I record what I'm eating and drinking and how much I exercise. Just to keep track of where something might be going wrong.<br /><br />I need to start SEWING again. Just because I don't have a backing for a quilt, isn't a good excuse not to put together the top.<br /><br />I need to start making a real effort to be friends with the friends that I have. I tend to isolate and not keep promises....which makes me go back to feel bad about myself...vicious cycle.<br /><br />I REALLY hope that I can take a different class. I didn't feel right about going in with a super high fever and fever spots/hives. I guess we will see tomorrow. If not, I'll just act like I donated to a good cause. Because I like that spot and I don't want to get bitter over it. It's not worth it.<br /><br />I have good things going for me, if I work for them. I also need to find something new to read. I love to read about ANYthing I find interesting. From the non-fiction, biographies, sewing books sections to just about anything from Stephen King to David Sedaris in fiction.<br /><br />I think anything good to battle the anxiety and depression that I'm having is good for me. The only thing I can do is pray and wait for a (hopefully good) answer.Karrie Shttps://plus.google.com/109228387160847910679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3027241831244205297.post-81667287731548770592013-10-01T04:14:00.000-04:002013-10-01T04:14:37.366-04:00Government Shut Down Hurts Everyone<a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/09/30/heres-how-government-shutdown-hurts-american-people?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=email242-text1&utm_campaign=shutdown"><img src="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/image/wh_shutdown_bygroup_93020131.png" /></a><br /><br />I'm going to copy and paste the email I received from the White House. Did you know that House Republicans have voted over 40 times to try to sabotage Obama Care? As a nurse, I'm ashamed that I don't know much about Obama Care yet. I know the goal is for every American to have health insurance at a low cost and affordable. What I think, is that there is a lot of fear of the unknown. We should have put this into place 30 years ago, but that didn't happen. Now that tons of people are getting sicker and have chronic diseases, which costs billions of dollars, it's like stepping into an impossible problem. Obama Care isn't going to be perfect. It's an initial attempt to try to bandage an hemorrhaging problem. It's like putting a bandaid on a gunshot wound. It's going to take years to get all the bugs out. I don't understand why the House Republicans are so against it, but they are seriously effing with innocent people, and that's what makes me angry. Here is the initial letter I received from the White House a few hours ago:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">(insert image of White House that didn't copy)</div><br /><div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1380607829945_6174" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">If the United States government shuts down tonight and our economy takes a hit, it will be because House Republicans let it happen.</div><div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1380607829945_6175" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Right now, there's a bill sitting in the House that funds the government for a few more weeks. It doesn't demand the repeal or delay of the health care law, or deny women access to birth control, or include any other failed, partisan proposals. It funds the government. That's it. And if Republican leadership allowed a simple yes or no vote on this bill -- like the Senate has -- it would get enough support from members of both parties to pass.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Instead, the government that these Republicans were elected to fund will close down and that will hurt our economy. Americans across the country won't be allowed to show up for work. Paychecks could be delayed, meaning some folks will have to cut back on groceries or maybe even not pay a few bills. Businesses will have fewer customers. Veterans won't get services they rely on -- and it will put benefits for seniors at risk.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Even though they've already voted over 40 times to defund or delay the health care law, this group of Republicans in Congress is so obsessed with the idea of sabotaging Obamacare that they're willing to take the economy hostage to do it.</div><div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1380607829945_6127" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><strong id="yui_3_7_2_1_1380607829945_6126"><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/09/30/heres-how-government-shutdown-hurts-american-people?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=email242-text1&utm_campaign=shutdown"><span style="color: #336699;">Take a look at how this shutdown will affect millions of Americans -- and then make sure you share it so other folks know, too.</span> (that's the same link from above)</a></strong></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">President Obama has said time and time again that he's willing to work with folks on both sides of the aisle to grow our economy and even improve the health care law. But using the threat of government shutdown or defaulting on the bills our country owes is reckless and irresponsible.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">In fact, shutting down the government won't stop Obamacare. The Health Insurance Marketplace will still open for business starting tomorrow, without delay.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Washington needs to stop manufacturing crises and focus on the issues that matter: creating jobs and building a strong middle class. Taking our economy over the cliff just to score political points isn't fair to the millions of Americans who show up every day to work and do their jobs. It’s time for Congress to do its job.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><strong><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/09/30/heres-how-government-shutdown-hurts-american-people?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=email242-text1&utm_campaign=shutdown">Make sure you know exactly who this shutdown is directly affecting and then pass it on.</a></strong></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/09/30/heres-how-government-shutdown-hurts-american-people?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=email242-text1&utm_campaign=shutdown">Thanks,</a></div><div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1380607829945_6176" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">David</div><div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1380607829945_6177" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">David Simas<br />Deputy Senior Advisor<br />The White House<br /><strong><a href="http://links.whitehouse.gov/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTMxMDAxLjIzNTY5NzAxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDEzMTAwMS4yMzU2OTcwMSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE2OTI5OTg4JmVtYWlsaWQ9a3NtaXRoOEBlbWljaC5lZHUmdXNlcmlkPWtzbWl0aDhAZW1pY2guZWR1JmZsPSZleHRyYT1NdWx0aXZhcmlhdGVJZD0mJiY=&&&102&&&http://www.twitter.com/simas44" rel="nofollow" style="color: #336699; outline: 0px;" target="_blank">@Simas44</a></strong> </div><div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1380607829945_6186" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">P.S. -- You'll still be able to sign up for affordable health insurance on<strong><a href="http://links.whitehouse.gov/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTMxMDAxLjIzNTY5NzAxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDEzMTAwMS4yMzU2OTcwMSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE2OTI5OTg4JmVtYWlsaWQ9a3NtaXRoOEBlbWljaC5lZHUmdXNlcmlkPWtzbWl0aDhAZW1pY2guZWR1JmZsPSZleHRyYT1NdWx0aXZhcmlhdGVJZD0mJiY=&&&103&&&http://www.healthcare.gov" rel="nofollow" style="color: #336699; outline: 0px;" target="_blank">HealthCare.gov</a></strong> starting tomorrow, shutdown or no shutdown.</div><div align="center" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;"><a href="http://links.whitehouse.gov/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTMxMDAxLjIzNTY5NzAxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDEzMTAwMS4yMzU2OTcwMSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE2OTI5OTg4JmVtYWlsaWQ9a3NtaXRoOEBlbWljaC5lZHUmdXNlcmlkPWtzbWl0aDhAZW1pY2guZWR1JmZsPSZleHRyYT1NdWx0aXZhcmlhdGVJZD0mJiY=&&&104&&&http://www.whitehouse.gov?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=email242-footer&utm_campaign=shutdown" rel="nofollow" style="color: #336699; outline: 0px;" target="_blank"><img alt="Visit WhiteHouse.gov" border="0" height="51" src="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/email-files/email_visit_whgov_02.jpg" style="border: 0px;" width="225" /></a></div><div id="yiv1270548770date" style="background-color: white; 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font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #999999; font-size: 8pt;"><br /></span></div><div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1380607829945_6182" style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #999999; font-size: 8pt;"><br /></span></div><div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1380607829945_6182" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What are your thoughts on this? </span></span></div></div>Karrie Shttps://plus.google.com/109228387160847910679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3027241831244205297.post-75285078169621125782013-10-01T03:43:00.003-04:002013-10-01T03:43:44.952-04:00Dear Rant Letters and Government AnarchyDear Google:<br />Thanks for making great products so I become your fan, then take them away so I hate you. Just to let you know I liked my Home Page just the way I liked it. Instead of teal and butter yellow, I see white. If I wanted it to look like that, then I wouldn't have spent hours looking through the Chrome Web Store to change the background. I'm not even going to touch on the fact that you have killed my blog reading by murdering Google Reader. Let me tell you my back ups: 1. Bloglovin (stupidest name in the world, dare I go on?) that doesn't have a search function. It's basically useless. 2. Feedly...that expects me to do this: PAY for a premium account ($5 month or $45 year)so I can SEARCH through the blogs I follow. Shouldn't that be FREE? It was in Reader. They didn't feel that they had to charge. Do you really think I'd pay $45 a year to search through some blogs I can get emailed to me? Or I can bookmark? How are you doing on that? That's what I hate about this country. People will pay $45 to be EXTREMELY lazy instead of paying for entire village to have fresh food, water, schooling, shelter and clothing. Because a clean well drilling costs that much in Madagascar.<br /><br />So a big Screw You Too. I will never buy any of your products until you remedy this situation...and even then, it would have to be spectacular. Like the only thing you have going good is Maps. Don't screw that up.<br /><br />Screw You Too,<br />karrie<br /><br /><br />Dear Government:<br /><br />You fucking suck. That's what I have to say to you. I hope each one of you that is holding shit up, gets electrocuted in your chair when you go back to work. And I will try my damnedest to bring a bill that kicks these old ass people out of Congress. You need to retire. You are effing up the world worse. I hope you all die or retire. Stop screwing around. You are literally killing people.<br /><br />Signed,<br />Anonymous<br />-duh, have you seen Hostages this week?<br /><br />Dear Charter Schools,<br /><br />You are creating the worst kind of people. I hate your schools, and I will never sub for you again, unless I'm desperate.<br /><br />I hate you the most today<br /><br />Karrie Smith<br /><br /><br />So last week I went back to "work". My job is substitute teaching. Why not nursing? Because I'm scared. So here's what happened: I forgot how much I am generally annoyed by kids that live in a 50 mile radius of me, especially in a large group. This kid, who would rather spend time arguing with me instead of doing the task at hand, ended up locking me out of the classroom DURING MY LUNCHTIME. Someone usually unlocks it in the morning, and I close it at the end of the day. This kid waiting 4 minutes while a kid was changing his shoes. When we were going out the door, he tells me he has to change his shoes, I say Oh Well. Then don't get your shoes dirty. I have 25 kids to get to lunch that we are already late for. As he stares at me and is waiting for the Common Sense Wand to hit him in the head. So if you don't know: THey had Gym that day, and they were uniforms. I don't know why either pair mattered much, but oh well. I told him: You can come back up with me I guess and get them. Because I didn't want to get in trouble after I had a minute to think it over. There were two boys that were pushing my buttons like this for 4 hours already this morning, with a brief 45 minutes of Gym that I had to meet with the other 5th grade teachers for No Identifiable Purpose-this was a new thing for me. I NEED alone time.<br /><br /> Since the very beginning of class, I had already sent the other one to a different classroom BEFORE lunch because he was constantly doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing. It was really wearing on me. All I wanted was a piece of quiet and my lunch. So after I took the kids to the lunchroom, I had to go back with Shoe Boy so he could change his shoes, then walk ALL the way back (I really regretted this decision but I figured it would taken him 3 minutes like the other kid that was going so slow) When you are late for Lunch, they get mad. But I understand. When you cut 3 minutes from their 12 minutes of sit down time, that's a quarter for their time. When I get back AGAIN (to be alone and regroup), he shut the door and locked me out.<br /><br />So I went to the office to get the key again. This lady, who in retrospect I shouldn't have assumed was a busybody assistant, asked me how I was, and I said it just keeps getting worse. Because by this point, I ran down the school and flight of stairs for a 4th time (going on 5), only had a few minutes left of lunch and was getting sweaty (read my prior post. I'm basically like a plant potted into my bed). She was like "No this is important if you are having a bad time"-so I just said, No I just got locked out and it's my lunch. (I didn't want to be bothered by her one second more) So then the kid comes back that I kicked out, and he's fooling around. The assistant I have is at lunch. (ugh) The classroom I sent him to is empty. (double UGH) So I sent him to an empty seat in front of the class because he kept fooling around with the other boy. So I sent him out in the hall to do his math, and then he says "my head hurts" So I said "maybe it wouldn't hurt so much, if you weren't fooling around". Well, I guess she heard that. So she pulled me aside, and told me she was sending me home because they don't speak like that to the kids. And they always listen when a kid says that. OH, and that the kids were telling her, people were getting their cards flipped!!! THEY were the ones in trouble! BUT:The thing she said in between it was what amazed me: what if they tell their parents? tell their parents...tell their parents... tell their parents...There was no accountability that their kid could actually being acting like a little idiot. I was in shock. I apologized and said I didn't realize my tone was sharp, because I was trying to kid with him to diffuse a situation. I didn't argue with her. I didn't tell her I was a nurse. I didn't tell her she was a fucking idiot, that the kid was screwing with me, because that's what kids do when there's a sub, especially when they are getting in trouble.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"> When I started subbing, I got told to <b><i>stop</i></b> sending the kids down for every little thing they said. The office said to only send them down if they look sick or feel warm. I still remember the days when my Elementary school Principal paddled people. That's what Public School is. Charter Schools seem to worry more about what will the parents think, than actually telling the parent what they are doing. If that's the difference, then I'm PS all the way. School is not a business. It's not about pleasing the consumer/parent. It's there to educate children, who hopefully grow into responsible adults. The LAST THING Southeast Michigan needs, is to create another generation of kids that aren't accountable for their actions. Cough. Kwame. jail Cough. Kwame's Wife fired last week. Cough DETROIT POLITICIANS. Because that's what this area really needs. Did you guys know that only 8,000 people live in Detroit? It used to be the biggest city in the country at one point in time. Because it's Ghetto here. I can only imagine that L.A. is worse. And that's because they actually have people there.</div><br />But why should I be surprised, when this happened to one of my best friend's (the Dad with the ridiculous beard, not the mom) the week before:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/QILnoSEDD38" width="480"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I could not believe this. Why are we punishing kids-that still play Cops n Robbers-but don't do anything about the REAL problem (instead the Government shuts down for THIS very reason tonight-access to medical care) Gage is a sweetheart. He's not going to shoot up a public building. I bet if he went to the Charter School, Jonathan wouldn't have even heard about this. But instead, it became national news. This has me going into my second rant letter, so I'll stop here. I wonder if all the people that have shot up public buildings in the last year attended Charter Schools. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">These are my opinions, and this is what I feel. Sorry if my opinions are offensive to you. I rarely post my "rants", but I'm really upset about this government thing. I swear to God, I hope there is a revolution soon. What is going to happen to my daughter's generation? And hers? And hers? It's going to look like District 9 by then. Things have to change. I get paralyzed and sick when I think about the toxic world (why do you think so many people have cancer? Do you even know how many people have cancer right now?) and lazy people are killing the Earth. We are killing the rainforests, and MANY cancer curing drug has been from a biological agent? Meaning some plant found, that they are able to replicate. See? This runs through my brain. This is why I have such bad anxiety. Is anyone else like this? Or am I just some freak? Because I worry about this stuff a lot when I'm not busy. Ok, stopping for real.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Go read this stuff. <a href="http://www.whisperingsweetly.com/2013/09/the-4th-c-of-addiction.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WhisperingSweetNothings+%28Whispering+Sweet+Nothings%29">Shane posted</a> a very thoughtful post on addiction</div><div style="text-align: left;">Want to read an awesome blog? One of my faves is <a href="http://www.okayallison.com/">Allison's</a>: She's on an awesome positive kick after having a horrible week. She is really inspiring to me, because she is capable of being so honest. Her life is getting really exciting: she's about to marry her lovely mustached man, she just moved into a new home with him, and she just got a new job. </div>Karrie Shttps://plus.google.com/109228387160847910679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3027241831244205297.post-7940290701449966832013-09-29T02:36:00.001-04:002013-09-29T02:49:21.036-04:00worriesGoing through the past week's email filled with the blogs that I love, I've noticed that I'm not the only one that feels down. A lot of women feel stressed this week/end. They are women busy with life and dealing with real BS, they are women busy with their families and raising kids, they are women moving into new places and making it their own, they are women who make beautiful things, and they are women that are just down-bc it doesn't seem like they do much that would make their life stressful...oh my mistake, she broke her makeup.<br /><br />I like following tons of different kinds of blogs. My IG followings are over 1000. I follow people that make a ton of stuff with fabric, whether its quilts, garments, bags, ect. or maybe they are designers or sell fabric. I love looking at them. I also follow a ton of different clothing stores, and make up stores, and vintage stores.I love women that dress like pin ups from the 50s...I follow a lot of them. I follow anyone I find that has pretty pictures. It's easy to talk to people. It would be weird to comment on a bunch of stranger's facebook....but IG is really anonymous, and I like that. An illusion of being social without really being social.<br /><br />I weighed myself today and I'm down about it. I thought I've lost a bit of weight, but I've gained some. I don't understand how I've gained 10 pounds in a few months, when it took 10 years to gain 10 pounds. I'm not active. Not at all. It's really hard to get active when you are trying to restrict food-plus I'm not the one buying the food. This isn't a new problem (restriction). It goes back to 1992 or so. I've become more accepting of my body, but not fitting into my clothes, refusing to buy new ones-because I get SO depressed trying to find clothes that fit 5 feet tall people. I've not left my house a lot lately. I did dig through my closet and found a pair of pants I can wear....but this body weight shit is old. I don't know why it still hurts. A few people even texted me this weekend, and I just "hid" out from them. My FB is off conversation. I know I'm isolating. I know this isn't good for me. I was even sad last week, that nobody noticed I wasn't around, and then people reach out, and I just ignore them. I plan on answering tomorrow though. I JUST started to work, but I'm broke. I understand why all kinds of women are stressed. And most of their lives are way more complicated than mine (I started complicated when I was 16...now my kid is 17, a great kid, and doesn't require much :)). For the first time in 15 years, I took a break from chasing guys. It's been over a year now. i'm kinda relieved that I don't have to care about another person right now. I can do what I want. I don't know if you understand that...but maybe it has to do with how I feel right now. i don't want anyone interrupting me.<br /><br />To be honest, I've been coming off a med that I've been taking for over 3 years now. I was on 2 mg and I'm down to 1mg. Depression comes with this. I just don't understand why I'm turning into a dough ball this year...i KNOW i have to get active. And it's time to really do that. I'm looking at these fitbit gadgets, that if I spend $$ on, then I know that I will use it. Plus it's really easy for me to become <i>addicted </i>to it. And out of everything in my life that I've been obsessively drawn to, fitness is not a bad thing to be addicted to.<br /><br />If I don't become active, then I have to take new meds-because coming of this med can cause depression and anxiety. I can't take any addictive medication or narcotics. I'm allergic to them. One for blood pressure! There is nothing wrong with my BP, but it's been proven to work for my symptoms. This last mg is going to be the hardest. I'm actually a few months ahead that what I originally planned to be.<br /><br />So hopefully next month looks up. I LOVE fall and Halloween.<br />My days will be filled with substitute teaching, coming off this med, and looking for a nursing job that I WANT to do. I need to be off this med first, and not start a new job all stressed out. I will definitely be more active because I'll be constantly up and walking around a classroom. My life right now is sad. If I told you what my day consisted of you would feel sorry for me.<br /><br />Have you seen Forgetting Sarah Marshall? First of all, I love Mila Kunis & Jason Segel. Mila because she's so pretty and she's Meg's voice, and Jason because he's awkwardly tall-and I know how that feels being so small. My guy friends have urges to pick me up and throw me like a baby...at least when i wasn't a dough ball :( The ending is my favorite part. Insert amusing smile. Before he starts to pick himself up from his depression, there's a scene where he's in bed, looks at the clock-it's 2:something PM, and he pulls the covers back on his head. That is how I feel almost all of the time. I just want to sleep, so I don't have to think. I know that something great is going to happen beyond the horizon-like a super awesome vampire musical-but I have to get that to happen somehow. And I'm clueless, stuck, and kinda lost. Plus I've never been active in my life on purpose. I don't understand why someone would run on purpose, if not in extreme danger from a murderer or a snake. Being sore and sweaty are not fun at all. I hate both.<br /><br />And then throw this bullshit body issue on top of that, and I turn into a mess. I know it's because I don't like something about myself. But I don't know what it is. I've accepted this, and I don't harm myself anymore, and haven't for over 5 years with binging and purging/purging....so I try to restrict food more. And restricting yourself to a few cans of Coke today is probably is what is poisoning my body. I probably have some sort of gut bacterial imbalance. Or my guts are so clean, that I have a lack of gut bacteria. I don't know. It sucks.<br /><br />So tomorrow is a new day. If I can get up and walk around the block, I know I can make it to the vampire show. I have to. There is no other choice, besides waiting longer.<br /><br /><br />PS: Sarah Marshall: my fave part is the psychiatrist song. When I get mad, I yell the same way.Karrie Shttps://plus.google.com/109228387160847910679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3027241831244205297.post-37661173223482585692013-09-10T19:36:00.001-04:002013-09-10T19:53:06.015-04:00Kashi Sea Salt & Olive Oil Hummus Crisps<img alt="" src="https://img.bzzagent.com/image/hummusCrisps.jpg?Type=activity&Activity=6030726957&Campaign=3710375657&Uid=1456243&token=6b60fc49c973b713843cdd22fadcb9dc" /><br /><br />Since I'm a <a href="https://www.bzzagent.com/">BzzAgent</a>, I was recently sent a bag of Kashi Sea Salt & Olive Oil Hummus Crisps to try out in exchange for my honest opinion. I was skeptical that I would enjoy these. I love fresh hummus, but how can you turn hummus into a crisp that actually tastes good without being weird? Kashi does it!<br /><br />My initial impression of Kashi=Healthy Food. Besides fresh fruits and veggies, most health food doesn't taste so good to me, especially as a finished product out of a bag or box. Ever had a plain Rice Cake? They ingeniously use the word "cake" for a reason, folks. Otherwise it would be called Rice Coaster. I know that a lot of my friends like and buy Kashi products, so I had a little hope that I would like these.<br /><br /><b>Basic Info</b><br />There are 3 flavors: Sea Salt & Olive Oil (the one I received), Caramelized Onion, and Sundried Tomato, Basil & Feta. Each bag is made from air-popped chickpea crisps made <i>without</i> any partially hydrogenated oils (the bad fats), high fructose corn syrup, or artificial anything. Each serving size (27 crisps) contain 120 calories, 3.5g fat, 3g protein, and 6 g of whole grains. What's awesome is there is no saturated or trans fat so all the fat is the good kind of fat that your body requires. Not sure how much protein you should be taking in daily? Check out <a href="https://www.facebook.com/kashi/app_320730144706902">Kashi's FB page</a> that will calculate your daily required protein intake based on your weight and activity level! I didn't even know how much I should be eating, so I did this quick quiz. It's recommended that Americans get 25-35 g of fiber each day. I love the fact that these Hummus Crisps are so much better for you compared to regular potato chips, that are only made with fat and salt. I feel way better choosing crisps over chips! Nutrition and ingredients are the first thing I look at when picking out a new food product. I don't want to eat something that is worse than what I'm already currently eating! I feel for the most part, that Kashi is a good company known to have healthy products, so I was excited to try this product. <br /><br /><b>The Verdict</b><br /><b><br /></b>When I tried the crisps, I was pleasantly surprised. They have a good flavor, but not over the top. I could definitely taste the sea salt and other spices/flavors, but it was just right for my taste. The flavors weren't trying to overcompensate for a bland product. The crisps are a little smaller than the size of a round nacho chip as well as a similar texture once you pop one in your mouth. It's hard to believe they are made from chickpeas! When I was done eating, I didn't feel super dehydrated or like I ate a bunch of grease, like I do after eating normal potato chips. I didn't feel guilt, because their fat was from the good kind of fat that your body needs! I bet the other 2 flavors are just as good and I can't wait to try them out next. The crisps were so good, that I destroyed that bag in about 2 days, and I'm not even a big salted snack eater!<br /><br />Next time you see these, you should pick up a bag or two! And feel better that it's a better snack that regular potato chips or something coated in orange dust that sticks to your fingers while you're eating them!<br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Disclosure statement:I am not an expert in dietary nutrition, although I consider myself to be quite knowledgeable about nutrition, being a nurse. My review does not state that this product is "all natural" or contains only "natural" ingredients, or does it claim not to contain any artificial ingredients, please see Kashi's website for that information. I am only basing my review on the taste of the product, not on the Kashi Company or any claims made against the company concerning GMOs. </span></span><br /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">I'm a BzzAgent and received this product complimentary as part of a campaign.</span></span>Karrie Shttps://plus.google.com/109228387160847910679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3027241831244205297.post-63135375607226174112013-09-10T06:36:00.001-04:002013-09-10T06:36:13.761-04:00Tuesday September 10th, 2013Snazzy title, huh?<br /><br />Guess what today's national holiday is? Well, there's a few. So I'll go over the main ones that overlap on the websites I'm checking out.<br /><br />1. TV Dinner Day. It was introduced in 1953 by Swanson & Sons and changed the prepackaged meal industry forever. Wanna know the first meal? The first Swanson TV dinner featured Thanksgiving Dinner. The meal came with turkey (and hopefully some gravy), cornmeal dressing, peas and sweet potatoes. Not exactly what's on *my* table, but for an easy dinner, it passes inspection by me. The original tray was made out of aluminum and had separate compartments for each food. You had to bake it for 25 minutes. Because consumer microwaves didn't exist back then. <br /><br />***I remember when everyone in my family got one around 1985. I thought we were five minutes from living it up like the Jetson's. Unfortunately, in my opinion, we were closer to flying cars when the amazing microwave came out in the 80s compared to the "electric car" of today.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-86PydK3Uizs/Ui7rKXZ34VI/AAAAAAAABTw/S-obwBHYEII/s1600/tvt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-86PydK3Uizs/Ui7rKXZ34VI/AAAAAAAABTw/S-obwBHYEII/s200/tvt.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kIgYwgOdyHc/Ui7qywu1c4I/AAAAAAAABTo/mMTOy2acA3U/s1600/tvdinner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kIgYwgOdyHc/Ui7qywu1c4I/AAAAAAAABTo/mMTOy2acA3U/s1600/tvdinner.jpg" /></a></div>So each meal cost around 98 cents and they expected to sell around 5,000 their first year. To their great surprise, they sold over 10 MILLION of them. If you do your math, that's just short of 10 MILLION DOLLARS in 1953! Of course the TV dinner has evolved since the first year. It has added a dessert compartment, started selling breakfasts in the 60s, the Hungry-Man meals in the 70s, microwavable meals in the 80's (SEE?!!) and in 1986 the original Swanson TV tray was submitted to the by the Smithsonian Institute into the Museum of American History. Good stuff.<br /><br />Thank you Mr Swanson, or I wouldn't be on a consistent diet of Smart Meals & Lean Cuisines!!<br /><br />2. National Swap Ideas Day.<br /> This day sounds stupid, was my first thought. Basically it encourages people to share ideas to help each other out. It sounds like a painful brainstorming activity in High School that your teacher just randomly decided to do out of the blue, and picked out your group members for you, on the day everyone forgot how to think and communicate. On second thought, this sounds terribly painful to me. This one gets 2 thumbs down.<br /><br />3. Lace Making Day. I guess this is pretty self explanatory.<br /><br />4. SEWING MACHINE DAY!!!<br /> Apparently there are 2 days that this is celebrated on. The other is June 13th. Nobody knows who came up with either day. Makes sense for today, since September is National Sewing Month. I sew on a basic Singer 2932:<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BsaK9cpVM_U/Ui7wPcAk2zI/AAAAAAAABUQ/q-GIV_VaPu8/s1600/sin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BsaK9cpVM_U/Ui7wPcAk2zI/AAAAAAAABUQ/q-GIV_VaPu8/s1600/sin.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>5. <a href="http://www.iasp.info/wspd/">World Suicide Prevention Day</a>. Go check out the facebook for today.<br /><br /><br />Did you know there are actual calendars based on FOOD?! Today is TV Dinner Day, but yesterday Sept 9th was :<br /><h1 class="fn tight" style="background-color: white; color: #cf3a00; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 3em; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Wienerschnitzel Day!!!</h1><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Humongous Text is what I get for copying and pasting. This <a href="http://www.tfdutch.com/foodh.htm">website</a> (AKA my new favorite site) actually goes over each day of the year (and some days have more than one food!) AND THEN links to a recipe of that food! Mmm.</b></div><b>I found out there are also entire months dedicated to specific foods. I bet you're dying to know what's under the <a href="http://www.statesymbolsusa.org/National_Symbols/American_Hollidays.html">September Food List</a>!</b><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss, SunSans-Regular; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; text-align: start;"><span style="background-color: white; color: darkgreen;">National Chicken Month-</span><span style="background-color: white; color: magenta;">YUM!</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: darkgreen;">National Honey Month-</span><span style="background-color: white; color: magenta;">YUM!</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: darkgreen;">National Mushroom Month-</span><span style="background-color: white; color: red;"><u>DISGUSTING. BLECH.</u></span><br /><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: darkgreen;">National Papaya Month-</span><span style="color: magenta;">Yum.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: darkgreen;">National Potato Month. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: magenta;"><u>TRIPLE SUPER YUM.</u></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: darkgreen;">National Rice Month.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: magenta;"> yum.</span><br /><a href="http://wholegrainscouncil.org/get-involved/celebrate-whole-grains-month-in-september" style="background-color: white;" target="_blank">Whole Grains Month</a><span style="background-color: white;">. <span style="color: magenta;">Yum in toast.</span></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So of course after today's September 10th Lesson, I'll leave you with 3 interesting events from <a href="http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-drunk-driving-arrest">This Day In History.</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>1897</b>. <b><u>The first drunk driving arrest:</u> </b><span style="background-color: #f1f1ea; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><b>On this day in 1897, a 25-year-old London taxi driver named George Smith becomes the first person ever arrested</b> for drunk driving after slamming his cab into a building. Smith later pled guilty and was fined 25 shillings. In the US the first laws about operating a motor vehicle while impaired with alcohol became legal in New York in 1910. <span style="color: red;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: #f1f1ea; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: red;">In 2005, 16,885 people died in alcohol-related crashes and almost 1.4 million people were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs</span></span><span style="background-color: #f1f1ea; color: #666666; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: #f1f1ea; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">For some reason, I thought cars were invented much later! And the most meaningful to me:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><b>1991</b>. <u><b>Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was released as a single</b>.</u> I have probably spent hours wondering what Kurt's life would be like today. Go ahead, entertain that though. Would there be another bean? a few new wives? a reality show? the coolest guy alive still? Go buy Bleach. then Unplugged. then Nevermind. But you should have all 3. Then buy In Utero. You will thank me.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1tmECZgjcLA/Ui7uV-JaBmI/AAAAAAAABT8/nATiNKfdKhI/s1600/nir.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1tmECZgjcLA/Ui7uV-JaBmI/AAAAAAAABT8/nATiNKfdKhI/s320/nir.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Teen Spirit on LP: Nevermind</td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">And the most surprising to me:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">1977</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">. The guillotine falls silent. ? The guillotine is what they used in France to cut off peoples heads starting in The French Revolution. The French thought this was more humane than the </span></span><span style="line-height: 18px;">other</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"> execution methods like hanging or a firing squad. So a French DECAPITATING MACHINE was built based on machines already in practice in England and Ireland, tested on CADAVERS, and on April 25, 1792 a highwayman became the first French to be executed by this machine. It was named "guillotine" after </span></span><span style="background-color: #f1f1ea; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">physician and revolutionary Joseph-Ignace Guillotin won passage of a law requiring all death sentences to be carried out by "means of a machine."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;">More than 10,000 people lost their heads during the revolution including Louis XVI (16th) and Marie Antoinette (former king and queen of France). In 1981, France outlawed Capital Punishment.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I seriously can't believe that lasted so long! I thought this was a 1700 thing. Not a 1970 thing! Don't know what one looks like? It's a big huge razor blade of death. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Nes26eVqZuA/Ui7vnWdoxmI/AAAAAAAABUI/d9HigRT0awY/s1600/300px-French_Revolution_Guillotine.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Nes26eVqZuA/Ui7vnWdoxmI/AAAAAAAABUI/d9HigRT0awY/s320/300px-French_Revolution_Guillotine.gif" width="258" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Your head goes over the bucket and you face down until the blade falls and cuts off yer head</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Isn't that crazy?! Oh, the things you learn, when you are googling something else!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Wanna know what else happened on Sept 10th?</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LsP47AU0Hxs/Ui70q2RIQYI/AAAAAAAABUc/FtMwbVfOgAA/s1600/CC.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LsP47AU0Hxs/Ui70q2RIQYI/AAAAAAAABUc/FtMwbVfOgAA/s400/CC.png" width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Level 306 Savory Shores!!!</b></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Have a wonderful September 10th, wherever you are!!! </div>Karrie Shttps://plus.google.com/109228387160847910679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3027241831244205297.post-59499069751324556272013-09-05T01:45:00.000-04:002013-09-05T01:45:07.913-04:00Why does time fly?I don't know what it is, but time has been going by SO FAST. I am majorly behind in almost everything I have to do in life. I have it written down, but I surely haven't done most of it. Some of the things I hope to accomplish this month:<br /><br />Finish Flutter<br />Quilt a friend's quilt<br />Send Allison her gift (I SUCK!)<br />Get the stuff for said gift. Suckage squared.<br />Send back my shoes and get the right size<br />"cash in" all my store credit from the various stores I have credit (and show you)<br />Finish my staple dress<br />Take Made by Rae's Learn to make a skirt class at Pink Castle Fabrics next week<br />Go to the meetup tomorrow and not punk out from anxiety<br />Finish my requirements<br /><strike>Reminisce my allergy test with you </strike><br />Find proper vitamins and actually take them<br /><br />But the main one I want to concentrate on...is lose some weight. When I tried on my staple dress a few days ago, I wanted to die. I have gained 20 pounds in the last 4 years, and while that might not sound like a lot, I am only 5 feet tall. Exactly. I have had eating disorders in the past and I know I have body dysmorphia because when I'm 20 pounds lighter, I feel like I look like what I do now. I look frumpy and my clothes don't fit. Plus I don't like how clothes look on me. I'm just not happy, and it's time to do something about it. <br />I'm weaning off a medication that I no longer need, and I'm cutting down 1/4 mg about every 2 weeks or so, depending how it goes. Hopefully a bit faster. While I'm doing that, I want to lose the fat around my stomach, arms, hips and thighs. Big surprise, eh? Currently I'm not exercising. In the past, I have always been super active at work, so that's where I got my exercise. I also have an addiction to Coke. I've been trying to cut that down all summer. I won't drink more than 3 cans a day. That's like a cup or pure sugar or something. I don't eat that much really, I just drink my calories in Coke. The 2 major things I need to do is drink water and exercise, and make sure I don't over eat when I'm bored. Luckily I don't binge eat anymore. I don't eat super healthy, but it's "real food" versus processed food. So just as long as I calculate how much is going in versus how much I'm exercising for a month or so, I'll have a good idea whether my body is working like it's supposed to. If I'm not losing, I'll need to have bloodwork done to check my hormones or whatever they do.<br /><br />Add to Goals:<br />Drink 64 oz water minimum<br />Exercise-walk everyday, and increase daily.<br />Calculate calories<br />Journal: diet/exercise<br />Look up FitBit<br /><br />I actually had an allergy test done when I was around 10. If you want to spend a day in Hell, go get yourself one. What they do is make you strip your top (which is super embarrassing when you are 10 years old and sitting with your Mom) then make about 40 numbered circles 1-40 (or however many it is) in Sharpie on your back. Then the Sadist with the every allergan known to man comes in, and drops a miniature drop or two of an allergen numbered 1-40 in the corresponding circle on your back. The allergen has a mystery number so you don't have a psychosomatic reaction to something (just kidding, I made this part up), but you won't know what the mystery is after the test. Believe me, it sounds intriguing before the test, but that's before you find out that you really ARE allergic to something.<br /><br /> To make sure this is done without any mistakes and to prevent spillage and cross contamination into other allergens to produce a False Positive (or a Super Allergen if you are allergic to both!), the Dropper Nurse will go slowly as possible. Most likely you WILL be allergic to the first five on your shoulder, then some on your lower back, a couple spots mid back, then a cluster on the other shoulder. You are told to "lie still for 15 minutes" to absorb the mystery numbered allergens. If you are extremely allergic, you will have an anaphylactic reaction, and they have epinephrine shots loaded to go to stick in your arm. If you are "highly allergic" it will start to burn and itch like a new strand of Super Mosquito just bit you. You can't scratch or you will cross contaminate the test. If you "highly" allergic to more than 3 things, the test will make you cry. I advise getting this as an adult, so your Mom doesn't get to tell you "STOP it. and DON"T you dare touch!" about every 35 seconds, alternating and getting more and more pissed at you as the seconds slowly tick by. If you DO have your Mom come, you will ask "is it over? it is almost time?" more than ALL the "are we there yet?"s combined. Once your test starts, you are warped into another dimension where a second of time here is really half a day there. I cried because I was so pissed. I didn't have allergies, and if I did I didn't know it at the time.<br /><br />Finally the stupid test was over. Guess what I was allergic to? Cat dander, dust, and hayfever things and some kind of plants. Normal allergens that almost everyone has a reaction to. No food allergies. Nothing important. <br /><br />I don't understand, if time is a constant, than why does it change in reality? Does anyone else find this weird? Oh, and does anyone have a FitBit?? or some other techie band that calculates every movement of your day? I think that would really motivate me. I also find it super scary, because that would have kept me super sick when I was obsessed with my weigh. Like checked the scale about every 20 minutes of the day. When a commercial came on, and I was bored/hungry, I would weigh myself. Today, I don't keep a scale in my bathroom bc my bathroom is really small, that it would be in the way, or get wet from the shower. But I'm thinking that I should get one.Karrie Shttps://plus.google.com/109228387160847910679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3027241831244205297.post-47532540078056629422013-08-24T21:52:00.001-04:002013-08-24T21:52:46.952-04:00HELP!!! I never know when I get comments on my blog!I stupidly switched to the G+ version of BLogger, when it was announced that Google Reader was going to be killed. I thought that was the next logical step in the process. Ever since, I do not receive my comments by my email. I've spent hours in the settings trying to set it up right. I hated Captcha and that is one benefit of changing from Blogger. However, most blogs I read, have not made the move, and still have the old Blogger Captcha comments. I'm frustrated because Real People are leaving nice comments, and I was feeling SO lonely, because I thought I have not received a comment in months. G+ will notify me at the bell at the top, when someone follows, but it doesn't notify me when people leave comments, although it's set up that way. i have G+ app on my iPhone. Besides +checking Blogger multiple times a day, there MUST be a better solution! <a class="g-profile" href="http://plus.google.com/114956105196589830671" target="_blank">+Allison Kennedy</a> ?Karrie Shttps://plus.google.com/109228387160847910679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3027241831244205297.post-62547231516937153152013-08-24T21:40:00.000-04:002013-08-25T00:54:35.833-04:00Sweet Fabric/Sewing/Quilting GiveawaysThis one is a bit late, but Heather Bailey (<a href="http://www.heatherbailey.typepad.com/">HELLOmynameisHeather</a>) is having a month full of giveaways! It started on August 1st, but there is some time left to enter! She is having a big prize on the blog daily, and giving away a $15 GC to the <a href="http://heatherbaileystore.com/">heatherbaileystore.com</a> everyday on Instagram (<a href="http://instagram.com/heatherbailey">@heatherbailey</a>) I actually won Day 21 on the instagram contest! Her store is so awesome, and she brings a little piece of heaven to my life!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GG4Uen_q7ek/UhlhYZCa2XI/AAAAAAAABTQ/SdYCxmy_qLQ/s1600/heatherbailey.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GG4Uen_q7ek/UhlhYZCa2XI/AAAAAAAABTQ/SdYCxmy_qLQ/s400/heatherbailey.png" width="266" /></a></div><br /><br />The second awesome contest is a month full of giveaways by <a href="http://alisonglass.com/blog/">Alison Glass Designs</a> blog. There are multiple awesome people hosting giveaways this month for her new awesome collection that has JUST hit stores. The first blog to host her giveaway was at Olivia Jane Handcrafted, and she is so cute! She made the sweetest skirt featuring Feathers from the Sun Print collection in Flame. <a href="http://oliviajanehandcrafted.com/blog/?p=4041">I actually won this giveaway!</a>! I was allowed to choose a color from Feathers. I chose teal, and was allowed to choose an embroidery pattern. I chose the Flowers because I could see myself actually using these on something. I don't know how to embroider, but it's literally NEXT on my Must Do List! I feel blessed to be so lucky! Besides the bunch of blogs featuring her new collections and giving away prizes, Alison is have a HUGE giveaway on her blog that will last all month. The grand prize is the total collection of all her fabrics! That's 74 fat quarters of beautiful colorful fabric!! That's over 16 yards of fabric if my math is right. On October 15th she will pick the lucky winner. Check out her blog and the listings of some awesome bloggers that will be giving away some of her new collections!<br /><br />Make sure you follow them on Instagram! @heatherbailey @alisonglass and ME: @Karries3<br /> I have been on IG a lot lately. I've added so many quilters/sewists to check out their work. I love it!<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v6-P3LMQb-8/Uhlff-noRQI/AAAAAAAABTE/uObwOs9YZYk/s1600/AG.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v6-P3LMQb-8/Uhlff-noRQI/AAAAAAAABTE/uObwOs9YZYk/s640/AG.png" width="413" /></a></div><br /><br />Also there a few more here:<br /><br />Maureen's Weekly Friday Giveaway: <a href="http://www.maureencracknellhandmade.blogspot.com/2013/08/a-fabric-giveaway_23.html">http://www.maureencracknellhandmade.blogspot.com/2013/08/a-fabric-giveaway_23.html</a>. A 40 Fat Quarter Bundle of Sunnyside by Kate Spain from the fat quarter shop. Ends Sunday.<br /><br />Take 5 Mad Mod bundle and Take 5 book: <a href="http://www.quiltersnewsletter.com/blogs/insideqn/2013/08/21/a-take-5-giveaway/">http://www.quiltersnewsletter.com/blogs/insideqn/2013/08/21/a-take-5-giveaway/</a>. Ends Sunday midnight Mountain Time.<br /><br />Quilt Trends. Books. <a href="http://www.quilttrendsmag.com/giveaways/index.shtml">http://www.quilttrendsmag.com/giveaways/index.shtml</a><br /><br />Angela Walter interview at The Intrepid Thread: <a href="http://intrepidthread.blogspot.com/2013/08/friday-fun-day-interview-with-angela.html">http://intrepidthread.blogspot.com/2013/08/friday-fun-day-interview-with-angela.html</a><br /><br />AND more Alison Glass at The Fabric Worm <a href="http://fabricworm.blogspot.com/2013/08/announcing-fabricworm-giveaway-allison.html">http://fabricworm.blogspot.com/2013/08/announcing-fabricworm-giveaway-allison.html</a><br /><br />Of course I found more giveaways checking my mail.<br /><br />Fashionable Fabric giveaway at A Quilting Life: <a href="http://www.aquiltinglife.com/2013/08/fashionable-fabrics-giveaway.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AQuiltingLife+%28A+Quilting+Life%29">http://www.aquiltinglife.com/2013/08/fashionable-fabrics-giveaway.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AQuiltingLife+%28A+Quilting+Life%29</a><br /><br />Big fabric friday at sew Mama sew: <a href="http://www.sewmamasew.com/2013/08/free-fabric-friday-73/">http://www.sewmamasew.com/2013/08/free-fabric-friday-73/</a><br /><br />Plus a Lily Ashbury giveawy: <a href="http://www.sewmamasew.com/2013/08/lily-ashbury-fabric-pattern-giveaway/">http://www.sewmamasew.com/2013/08/lily-ashbury-fabric-pattern-giveaway/</a><br /><br />Karrie Shttps://plus.google.com/109228387160847910679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3027241831244205297.post-75042997568798508282013-08-24T20:00:00.000-04:002013-08-24T21:53:45.757-04:00Still Without Laptop...Does anyone else have trouble coming up with what to post on your blog? I'm a sloooww quilter, so what else do I want to post about during the week where I accomplish nothing? Most of the time, I have ideas, but I'm too busy or lazy to write up a post. I don't use my schedule button like I should, I know. I bet it's a God-send to millions of bloggers our there...<br /><br />Of course the week without my personal laptop, is the week where I could have posted about a <strike>million</strike> (10) posts. It's how it goes, I guess.<br /><br />Even though I'm a day late, there was an awesome link up at <a href="http://ellisonlane.blogspot.com/2013/08/studiospotlightlinky.html">Ellison Lane Quilts</a>, where everyone linked up their studio/sewing rooms! Some are SO great, with mountains of rainbow fabric calling my name! I'm so jealous. I've actually been meaning to post my sewing area for a few months, but I was so tired yesterday that I forgot to link up and win some awesome prizes. GRrr.<br /><br />So that will be up on the blog one of these days.<br /><br />I'm exactly half-way done piecing (sewing together the different fabrics to make a design) a quilt top from a fabric bundle that came with a pattern called "Flutter", that I bought over a year ago from a quilt shop about 30 miles away. It's a spin on the log cabin block. But I am SO OCD. I know that with quilting there are minimal rules...basically you need a 1/4" seam allowance, but there are no rules to creating a quilt. My fabric bundle came with 8 fabrics: 4 solids and 4 prints. I figured out what color/pattern was used in the pattern, and I followed the instructions EXACTLY. I have always been a green grass/blue sky kind of girl. I'm awesome at paint-by-numbers! When I see a pattern of a copy of something, I want to make it Exactly As. I'm so weird! I guess I'm scared of being creative. I really don't know what it is. I know what I like, and I know what I don't like, and i feel that not many things fall in the middle. Of course, this only is reflective of material things. I would like to think I'm a very open-minded person that tolerates almost everyone/everything. For example, I don't like red, orange or yellow very much. I'm a natural redhead, and I know these colors don't look good on me, at all. I tend to stick to blues and gray. I guess this could be a positive thing, because it gives me a chance to *really* grow in the future?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ojyD_tniu88/UhlSPwg6C-I/AAAAAAAABR4/mnbgLHYDuc4/s1600/log+W.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ojyD_tniu88/UhlSPwg6C-I/AAAAAAAABR4/mnbgLHYDuc4/s1600/log+W.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>I'm making a surprise for my blog friend, Allison <a class="g-profile" href="http://plus.google.com/114956105196589830671" target="_blank">+Allison Kennedy</a> (<a href="http://okayallison.blogspot.com/">Okay, Allison!</a>). She has been kinda down lately, and when I saw the 2 surprise objects back-to-back, I had an awesome idea. Unfortunately, my car is also being fixed at the SAME time as my laptop, and I have to get materials for my present tomorrow. I want to ship this out by Monday. She loves to show off her awesome fashionably finds from homemade artists and independent designers, and she looks so cute doing it! I think the accessory I'm making for her will be perfect for her. I hope she thinks so too!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pgIIpq7-YgY/UhlRve8Pa0I/AAAAAAAABRw/62P1cFJzN6Y/s1600/ali.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pgIIpq7-YgY/UhlRve8Pa0I/AAAAAAAABRw/62P1cFJzN6Y/s1600/ali.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><b><u>September GOALS </u></b><br />1. Finish up my Staple Dress <a href="http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=%23thestapledress">#theStapleDress</a> by <a href="http://april-rhodes.com/">April Rhodes</a>;<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>*** if I run into trouble, I can join up at the next Southeast Michigan Crafty Meetup (SEMI) at <a href="https://pink-castle-fabrics.myshopify.com/">Pink Castle Fabrics</a>, on the 1st Thurs of the month. My teacher Karen (<a href="http://onegirlcircus.com/">One Girl Circus</a>) will be there to help any problems I have. Which in all honestly, I probably will. I think I should just go to meet new people. I'm at a weird stage in life where all my friends either live too far away, are partying, or starting families. I'm done with partying and my "family" will be all adults next year. Plus I love sewing, and everything seems so nice!<br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q0IKL5D0tRQ/UhlTlK9Q2BI/AAAAAAAABSE/eKMUz0F34j4/s1600/hang+W.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q0IKL5D0tRQ/UhlTlK9Q2BI/AAAAAAAABSE/eKMUz0F34j4/s320/hang+W.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Staple Dress, so far</td></tr></tbody></table>1a. Make it to SEMI in September (see #1)<br /><br />2. Finish Flutter AND quilt it!<br /><br />3. Check out an <a href="http://a2mqg.blogspot.com/">Ann Arbor Modern Quilt Guild</a> meeting; (either this Wednesday or Sept 25). I haven't even made an entire quilt yet, and I'm super nervous around new people-especially when I feel incompetent-so this one might wait a few months. This meets the last Wednesday of the month.<br /><br />5. Sign up for the <a href="https://pink-castle-fabrics.myshopify.com/pages/classes">skirt class or Washi dress class</a> (again at Pink Castle Fabrics) with Rae Hoekstra (<a href="http://www.made-by-rae.com/">Made by Rae</a>)! She's the one who PUBLISHED this pattern. It's super popular! Plus she is super good friends with Karen, my teacher for #theStapleDress!!<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xKiVzi8TQi0/UhlHRPFnLdI/AAAAAAAABRg/lBD7naRTApU/s1600/washicover1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xKiVzi8TQi0/UhlHRPFnLdI/AAAAAAAABRg/lBD7naRTApU/s320/washicover1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Washi Dress. Made by Rae</td></tr></tbody></table><br />6. Send out Allison's surprise<br />7.Try to blog at least twice a week<br /><br />8. Look for a new NURSING job (this will take some time)<br /><br />9. Get my hair chopped AND donate to somewhere<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5d12wTxVvTY/UhlC67h_o9I/AAAAAAAABRU/RHUfAf7XkHE/s1600/Messy-bun-updo-hairstyles3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5d12wTxVvTY/UhlC67h_o9I/AAAAAAAABRU/RHUfAf7XkHE/s1600/Messy-bun-updo-hairstyles3.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">HAH! If it only looked like this, then I wouldn't have to do this one:<br />*I wish I had the original source to this pic*<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U3ZDtWyUE5I/UhlVUStcdaI/AAAAAAAABSQ/IYfA5vpSiC0/s1600/hair+w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U3ZDtWyUE5I/UhlVUStcdaI/AAAAAAAABSQ/IYfA5vpSiC0/s1600/hair+w.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table>9. Find something to do with #nordika. I wanted to do my version from <a href="http://maureencracknellhandmade.blogspot.com/2013/07/nordika-zig-zag-quilt-and-giveaway.html">Maureen Cracknell's zig-zag pattern </a>she used to do her nordika quilt! A tutorial was supposed to be on Bernina's (i think) website, but so far I haven't seen it. There is another idea I have to make this, but I basically have to make a pattern with math. That is complicated! (i think)<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8Lmgoh_Jj0k/UhlWNjUmx6I/AAAAAAAABSc/Ekq4Q_evOJQ/s1600/nordika+W.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: 13px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8Lmgoh_Jj0k/UhlWNjUmx6I/AAAAAAAABSc/Ekq4Q_evOJQ/s1600/nordika+W.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sweet, beautiful Norkida, Oh how I love thee!!<br /> By Jeni Baker (<a href="http://www.incolororder.com/">In Color Order</a>)<br />designs for <a href="http://www.artgalleryfabrics.com/cgi-bin/fabricshop/gallery.cgi?Category=83">Art Gallery Fabrics</a><br />This is my first fabric obsession!<br /><div><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <span style="text-align: center;">***10: Fix my blog buttons. Apparently the code is wrong, and goes to my Photobucket page. WTH. Sometimes these tedious blog things are a pain in the ass. This one I'm working on as soon as I hit Publish!</span><br /><br /><strike>11. Figure out how to make a Watermark and use it.</strike><br />12. Clean up my Pinterest page<br />13. Clean up my blog and make sure everything WORKS.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">I really hope to accomplish all of these. Maybe the Modern Quilt Guild can wait awhile though.</div><br />The Staple Dress class I took was SO AWESOME. First, it was at my favorite fabric store. I got to take the first class they offered (I think). Learning new skills is so awesome. (sorry, awesome is my go-to exclamation) I learned how to make a pattern, copy it, cut it out, and make a dress from the pieces. It's very different from quilting, but at the same time, I'm pressing fabric and using my sewing machine, so some of the basic concepts are the same. I'm just adding to my knowledge base! I love it!<br /><br />Now I can do basic adjustments to my clothes, such as fitting my measurements and hemming! And I'm talking basic. The Staple Dress pattern is so versatile. You can make a dress with or without pockets, with a straight or dropped hem. From there you can add a collar, change the neckline, or even make it into a tunic. You need to check out the hashtag link <a href="http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=%23thestapledress">#TheStapleDress</a> to Flickr that shows all the awesome dresses that people made!<br /><br />My teacher was so inspiring! Karen is SO NICE. I was a nervous wreck with my rotary cutter, and I knew at some point there was going to be blood shed, and I was right. I'm just glad I got it out of the way. I was the one who gave Brenda (the owner) to get a first aid kit, haha. Brenda is awesome too. She was super funny when we were the only ones in the store. I can tell she has a really great sense of humor. What's really funny, is the day before my class I found her website from a blog hop that was featuring a kid pattern. I immediately book marked it "READ NOW" because I saw so much info that would be useful for sewing. I didn't realize it was her, until about a week later. If you ever have a chance to take a class from her, DO IT. She is so calm, positive, and caring. She nurtures you through the process. I'm a visual learner, and she adapted her skills to show me, then would watch me do it. I'm lucky because there was only another girl in the class, and I know when word gets out, that there will be a ton of UM girls coming to learn to sew. Karen was able to spend a lot of individual time with me. While we were all working, we would talk and get to know each other. Women that sew, are generally super nice, caring, funny people. So far, I haven't came into drama that I know probably exists, so it's shiny and new to me. I hope it stays that way forever!Karrie Shttps://plus.google.com/109228387160847910679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3027241831244205297.post-67920768215105552292013-08-14T23:44:00.002-04:002013-08-14T23:44:39.588-04:00Today's NewsSo there is something wrong with my laptop. it was shutting off by itself, so I did some sleuthing on Google, and it's probably some feature built-in that makes it shut off to prevent over-heating. And I already knew I was having some heating problems with it. I used half a can of air on that bad boy the week before. It helped for a quick minute. I even unscrewed the case to see if I could look at the fan to see if it worked. Apparently, I have a model where the fan is built in the back? Anyway, it's behind a bunch of stuff. On every website that I read, it said that I could only do this (remove the case and look at the junk in the fan) if I felt confident to do so. *I strongly recommend that you feel confident to do this*=was repeating on each and every page...and I was like, Why the hell not? I've removed dozens of staples from some skin graphs off of a junkie's leg before. I've digitally decompacted a few people in my lifetime. I've even given birth via Caesar's way. How could I be lacking confidence when all I was going to do was open my computer's shell and have a looksy around and attempt to evaluate my air-can skills?<br /><br />After I started opening up the shell super carefully, and making an identical mini-diagram/schematic for the loose hardware, I started checking with a few more websites. Um. It said not to touch any of the sensors or spray air too close/crooked because the liquid would damage the insides. Damn. Why wasn't this talked about during the confidence warning? Then I looked up my laptop's model and was very dismayed to see that my fan was hidden in the back, and not visible-just like my old Mercury Cougar's engine block-and that's the time where I started to lose confidence that was quickly being replaced with unsurety and major remorse. So I decided to Abort Mission!! and put my laptop back together so I could turn it on to see if it was worse off than before I started...<br /><br />...and luckily it was not! That was a big fat sigh of relief because I can't afford a new laptop/computer/iPad right now. Even though all 3 are on my Wanted List.<br /><br /><b style="font-size: x-large;">TOMORROW IS MY DRESS CLASS. </b>I am so stoked for it!!! However, I have yet to buy then wash any fabric for it! And I have SO MUCH to do before I go tomorrow. I have to be up early for a 9:30 appt, then to JoAnns <strike>or Hobby Lobby</strike> to pick up some cheapo fabric, then go hang with my Uncle for a bit, then take Ash to her first consultation with a Physical Therapist (her hip hurts her constantly and she might have slight scoliosis! <<b>sad</b>>, then a 5 minute Ortho appt for Ash, then home to wash cheapo fabric, then the SOS to replace her learner's permit that we failed to find after the <i>FIRST</i> time we got it, then to Pink Castle Fabrics by 6!!! I am so excited!!! I also have to pack up my sewing equipment *and I totally just remembered that I forgot to make a cute sewing machine cover! d'oh*, verify receipts before my first appointment, and find some time to wash my cheapo fabric. If I didn't have so much crap to do today, I would <strike>should</strike> have went today. BUT, with the world's greatest invention (yes, the internet) I can virtually shop at Joann's and Walmart to compare prices on some needles/notions and pick out some fabric at Joann's! I love the internet.<br /><br /> I <i>*really*</i> wished that I knew that I was going to have an extra $80 this week last Saturday so I could get some pretty Nordika instead of some cheapo fabric. <br /><br />(I got some child support for the first time since February and a $40 check from Chase Bank. They said they found some fee/BS that they found in their records and want to disperse to me. I'm just going to stop in tomorrow to see if it's a scam check or not. I have a 8$ check from their class action suit for shady accounting practices. I hate that bank SO much. I hate most banks, but Chase is the worst, and I'm GLAD they are being held for their actions. I know that I spent more than a few weeks miserable with overdraft charges, and I hope this hurts them. Rant Over and Out.)<br /><br />Ok, so I wish I could have picked up some Nordika in time for this class. I still might try to sneak and get some tomorrow in between appointments. That means another 20min trip (each way) to Ann Arbor and back, so it depends on this Chase check if I actually get to do that or not. Otherwise my first staple dress with be cute cheapo fabric, followed by dozens and dozens of glorious dresses made with Art Gallery fabric. I love dreaming about it!<br /><br />I've gained like 8 pounds this year. Since I'm 5 feet tall, it feels like 18 pounds. I'm praying that my measurements aren't as large as I think they might be. I have serious body dysmorphia. I feel like I'm getting fatter, but I seriously don't see THAT much of a difference between 92 pounds and 125 pounds, even though I know there is. There is a MAJOR difference between my daughter and me, but when I was 92 pounds, I saw 120 pounds. I missed ALL of those years enjoying what I really had. It makes me sad that I wasn't grateful for what I had. But I'm stopping here before I write the longest News report for Today.<br /><br /><br /><br />Karrie Shttps://plus.google.com/109228387160847910679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3027241831244205297.post-83041525675374580722013-08-06T01:07:00.001-04:002013-08-06T01:07:48.308-04:00Pink Castle Fabrics and My First Dress!A few months ago, <a href="https://pink-castle-fabrics.myshopify.com/" target="_blank">Pink Castle Fabrics</a> expanded their online store into a REAL store!!! They opened their store in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which is about a 20 minute drive for me from my home. I was SO excited when I found out about it, because I have been visiting fabric stores in this area, and I haven't found one where I'm overwhelmed with happiness. Now I have a Local Shop where I can visit and check out the fabric in person. There is another big fabric store in Ann Arbor, but it was a giant batik store, and I was super disappointed when I found that out. Instead of bright solids, the fabric looks waterpainted. Not my look at all. I desperately wanted a store where I can learn how to quilt and sew and improve my skills. You can only get so far by teaching yourself!<br /><div><br /></div><div>I LOVE LOVE LOVE their fabrics. They have a huge shop of bolts, precuts, and what's really cool is they have Blogger's pick out bundles to sell. I love going in and checking out all the new bundles that they have just put together! What I love the most, are the boxes of stray fat quarters and fat eights that haven't made it into a bundle of their own. It's SO awesome to pick through the boxes and find some gems that I otherwise wouldn't have gotten my hands on! (And they are super cheap which is a bonus for me!) Last week I was able to pick out a FQ (fat quarter) of a newly released line called <a href="http://heatherross.squarespace.com/journal/announcing-briar-rose-by-heather-ross-for-windham-fabrics.html" target="_blank">Briar Rose (by Heather Ross</a>) that everyone is going nuts for. I only wanted a little piece of the collection to put in my stash and hoard away. </div><div><br /></div><div>This is my favorite print: <img src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQGjV69n3IrrvsG_1ATmu8S3HNUrDPuLvQJ8jcrydtCQ9JNR7rI-A" /><br />Isn't the Mom Bee awesome?!<br /><br />It is a really good line, but I have a hard enough time deciding what I'm going to do with the collections of fabric I have! My first quilt top I have made has similar colors to Briar Rose, and <a href="http://www.artgalleryfabrics.com/cgi-bin/fabricshop/gallery.cgi?Category=83" target="_blank">Nordika</a> (Art Gallery Fabrics) (by<a href="http://www.incolororder.com/" target="_blank"> Jeni Baker/In Color Order</a>) came out at the same time and I would choose that fabric over ANY fabric every made. Art Gallery Fabrics makes the best fabric I've ever seen and touched. It's so soft!<br /><br />I actually bought the whole Nordika FQ collection with the coordinating solids and 2 yard of my favorite print, in hopes that will be a dress or a skirt!<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="200" src="http://www.artgalleryfabrics.com/fabricshop/categories/83/thumbs/NOR-8600-Tulip-Vines-Licorice.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tulip Vines in Licorice</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"> Isn't this the best?!! It will look great as a dress or skirt all year round in the the summer or winter depending on what I match with it!</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="200" src="http://www.artgalleryfabrics.com/fabricshop/categories/83/thumbs/NOR-8609-Whimsicol-Tide.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Whimsicol Tide Panel</td></tr></tbody></table> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="200" src="http://www.artgalleryfabrics.com/fabricshop/categories/83/thumbs/NOR-7609-Whimsicol-Mist.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Whimsicol Mist Panel</td></tr></tbody></table>I LOVE these Whimsicol Panels!!!! When i learn how to make the Staple Dress, I am definitely going to try to make both of these in the pattern. I have so many plans for this dress!<br /><br />So this is what I'm going to learn in ten days:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://aprilrhodes.blogspot.com/2013/03/spring-is-here-and-so-is-staple-happy.html" target="_blank">April Rhodes: The Staple Dress</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0240/0147/products/AR101-THE-STAPLE-DRESS_2_large.jpg?1077" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It's going to be a really basic dress pattern so I will be able to learn how to fit a dress to my size, and make the proper adjustments, and I haven't been this excited in a long time! Plus there are SO many different kind of wonderful dresses that have been popping up everywhere. You must look at them!</div></div>Karrie Shttps://plus.google.com/109228387160847910679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3027241831244205297.post-79240453918815093912013-08-02T01:00:00.001-04:002013-08-02T01:00:59.670-04:00HUGE Semi-Annual Sale by my FAVE Store<a href="http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=509816&u=825544&m=43745&urllink=&afftrack=">Get these goodies while you still can</a><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Wh_T77irlnI/Ufs7r4QMUzI/AAAAAAAABP4/vc_QiyopZtY/s1600/MCsale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Wh_T77irlnI/Ufs7r4QMUzI/AAAAAAAABP4/vc_QiyopZtY/s400/MCsale.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Karrie Shttps://plus.google.com/109228387160847910679noreply@blogger.com0