Slammin' the Screen Door: 2013

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

….and I haven't been run over by a reindeer. Oh, I guess it’s still a little too early for that.

I have been so busy with my day job, Christmas shopping, baking and getting ready for my Sailor to come home TOMORROW morning that I haven’t had time to take any photos or write a blog post.

I’ve just recently attempted to catch up on blog reading. Since I was using my lunch hour at work for this, our firewall prevented me from commenting on some of your blogs. So if you have wondered “Where is Jeanna?”, I’ve followed but was blocked from commenting. I have to figure out why I was able to comment on some and not others. (I’ll add that to my list for 2014)
Speaking of 2014…do you make New Year’s Resolutions? Do you set secret goals? For as long as I can remember my New Year’s Resolution was to NEVER make one because I felt it was a way to set myself up for failure. Then for 2013 I set some ‘goals.’ Figuring it wouldn’t be so brutal if I didn’t meet them all. (Please don't ask for a status report...)

My birthday was in November so I was treated to a combined birthday - Christmas gift…I’ll share about that after the holidays. It’s a little overwhelming for me but fun at the same time…intrigued?

Before the holiday Slammin’ occurred I made a couple of other items to go with my ironing set that I posted about here.

A tool Bag

A thread catcher / trash bag

The complete little set

Now I have all the tools I need to take classes...when I'm a little less overwhelmed with the new gift ;)

I'm hopeful things are going to slow down a bit for me soon and I'll have lots to share...the gift...our holidays...our vacation...my plans for 2014...not necessarily in that order.

Hope you are enjoying your Season ... with love,

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Wishes

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

From My Family to Yours

Love,

Operation: Warm and Fuzzy III

The third campaign of Operation: Warm & Fuzzy has come to an end. My co-worker and friend Debbie is the coordinator of this effort and she does a wonderful job. I asked her for some facts…just the facts…from this year’s campaign. Here is what she shared…

55 volunteers (company employees as well as friends and family from Montreal, Wisconsin, and Miami)

321 liners knitted (277 last year)

Length of time it takes to knit each liner: anywhere from 7-12 hours depending on skill level

Approximately 12 volunteers learned how to knit this year. (Debbie will teach anyone to knit and will provide the supplies needed as long as they commit to knitting at least one liner) She taught me to knit last year :)

Dollars for Doers program: our company's way of rewarding those employees who volunteer within the community and input their hours into our volunteer database. Grants, which go directly to, in this case, the Forgotten Soldiers Outreach, varied from $100 (total of 20 volunteer hours) to $250 (total of 40 volunteer hours) for a possible grand total of $350 per volunteer.

Third quarter grant total $5750

Year to date grant total (for the 2nd and 3rd quarters) $7850

Total grant money given to the FSO over three years as result of O:W&F $18,000+

As a reminder, I posted about O:W&F and Forgotten Soldiers here.

Last Saturday was the FSO Holiday Packing Event and they included our 321 helmet liners in the soldier's boxes. Here is a picture of some of the knitters at the event (I am on the far left and Debbie is second from the right).

I hope you all have an amazing loooonnngggg weekend ;)

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Ornament Swap

Sweet Vicky from Life On Willie Mae Lane recently hosted an ornament swap. This was my first swap and it was so much fun. Thank you Vicky for hosting!

Part of Vicky’s desire was that each person would make two new friends, the person you receive an ornament from and the person you send an ornament to.

Well, I ‘met’ THREE new friends…

Debbie sent me the sweetest snowman package, because I heart snowmen.

She even decorated the outside of the package.

A package of surprises…hot chocolate, Gourmet cookies, milk chocolate snowballs .

And...this cutie pie… I LOVE IT Debbie. Thank you so much J

Debbie doesn’t blog ~ yet ;) ~ so she keeps up with blogland through her daughter's blog The Enchanted Rose. Stephanie is friend number two. You should pop over and read the poem she posted today and check out her amazing photos!

Now my third friend is Carol from Art and Sand. She was the recipient of my ornament. When you visit Carol’s blog you will notice she is an artist…no pressure here J From reading Art and Sand, I learned that she doesn’t decorate using traditional colors.

So I gave her this ornament, I painted the inside using blue, white and a little grey…beach colors since Carol lives very close to the ocean... you know, like right down the street.

I hope Carol likes her ornament as much as I like the one Debbie gave to me.

And I hope you have a great week… a short one for those of us celebrating Thanksgiving.

Friday, November 22, 2013

2014 Goodnight Irene Sew-Along

I know, I know…with all the UFOs in my sewing room, I have no business starting something new. Well, does it count if I’m not actually starting it now?

There is a cute little button on my sidebar for Goodnight Irene Sew-Along…click it and it will take you to Terry’s blog. She is hosting a sew-along that begins in January 2014. You can read about it here and here.

After you read a few of Terry’s posts you will learn that she is a high-achiever…in a GOOD way! She has a plan for our sew-along and at the end of 7 months…we will have ACHIEVED one amazing quilt.

Won’t you join us? If so, please read Terry’s blog and let her know you want to participate. And if you decide not to join the sew-along, please continue to follow her and watch her progress, not just on Goodnight Irene but on all of her amazing quilts.

Remember these?

Well, they would be great candidates for Terry’s project BUT, I fell in love with her test quilt in batiks. Sewww…. since my birthday is next week, I’m going to ask for a jelly roll of batiks in blues. YUMMY!

Remember click on this cute little button...

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend…I’ll be back soon J

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Thank You and Checking In

Happy Sunday Friends!

First, my Mom sends her gratitude for all of your birthday wishes. (And so do I) She reads my blog and I encouraged her to read the many comments from you wishing her a Happy Birthday. Truly special…’cuz that’s just how you are J

I’ve been taking some Saturday classes at my local sewing store, mostly using the embroidery unit on my sewing machine. One item that I absolutely love is this tissue box cover…

I've since zig-zagged over the seams again so the white no longer shows through.

The store does not have a very big space for classes and to use their ironing board and iron is not always convenient. So…. I made my own little ironing board…

Then I needed a little tote for an iron…

Then, I had to buy a travel iron...

Bed, Bath & Beyond (with a coupon!)

My sewing machine has been pretty quiet during the week but that will have to change. Christmas is just around the corner and I have a few items to finish for gifts.

Hope you have a wonderful week J

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Happy Birthday Mom, Part 2

If you missed Part 1 of Mom’s birthday celebration, you can find it here.

The second surprise for Mom was a “girls only” day trip to Mount Dora, FL. Mount Dora is a historic little town located in Central Florida. It sits on a lake (duh) and in spite of only having just over 10,000 residents, there is always something happening there. It is a well known spot for antiques as well as its art and craft fairs. The entire town also decorates for the holiday season and the best way to view its splendor is by one of the many boat tours around the lake. You can read more about Mount Dora here.

This past weekend was one of their largest craft fairs and I’m sharing a few photos with you... this is just a sampling (are 51 photos too many?), believe me it occupied street after street after street...