New Year Giveaway!!

As I am sitting here in my little cubbyhole my toes are just freezing. In Florida 60 degrees is cold but today is an unheard record low of 28 degrees! My sewing room was actually a part of our attic that is now connected to my bedroom on the second floor (we had to raise the floor a foot so it is level with my room). I still yet to show the whole room as only a portion of it is still not decorated/organized to my liking.Even with centralized heating/cooling system the temperature is extreme. In the hot summer months I mostly sew during the night and during the day when it is cold.

Okay for the fun part since I have sadly neglected my blog I am giving away one Yvette Gadget Pouch in Ebony and Ivory. Just go to my site and tell me your favorite. I will run this until Jan. 16 Saturday and I will announce the lucky winner here.

Fay--The Aftermath

Well--one down! You might have heard about the widespread flood all over Florida. This is the worst that I remember. Not even past hurricanes caused such massive flooding. The storm actually came late since it was predicted to arrive at midnight but actually the relentless rain actually started at about 6:00 am.

This was about lunchtime. That bird is probably Sam. He's a permanent fixture in our backyard. He was so cool-- oblivious to the pouring rain and 60 mph wind! At this point I was getting worried as the water level kept getting higher.

By mid afternoon the strip of grass had all been covered with water and the lake and the small creek had merged. I was thinking we were certainly going to get flooded. We have a strip of grass before the backroom (where our three bunnies stay)but it didn't take long to get the water this high.

The day after. What a mess! At least we didn't get flooded.

Outside around the neighborhood. I was thinking well it wasn't so bad the water will receed soon. Well I spoke too soon because when I tried to get out to the main street the water was knee high!

Hurricane 2008

Here we go again! Living in gorgeous Florida is synonymous with tropical storms and hurricanes. We are not in the direct path of Fay but we will experience wind gusts of about 50 mph arriving midnight. I went through Andrew in 1992 and two back to back hurricanes (within 20 days each other) Frances and Jeanne in 2004. I am proud to say I am as prepared as I can ever be. Unfortunately for some they do it when a storm is approaching. I should have known better than to go to the grocery last night. On top of back to school shopping people were doing hurricane shopping and I was in line for half an hour at the check out counter!

I have been doing laundry because power failure is expected. In between loads I was trying to finish orders so hopefully they can go out on Wednesday.

My daughter is supposed to start school tomorrow. She had everything ready--uniforms pressed, new backpack filled with tons of pens and fancy binders--oh well she got an extra day of summer vacation!

Tadpoles!! Day 1

I was pulling out weeds yesterday morning when I noticed some black wiggly things in our water fountain. Upon closer inspection I realized they were tadpoles and lots of them! I didn't notice any eggs in there (they look like tapioca suspended in sticky white froth). My daughter freaked out though--can you imagine how many frogs will there be? It is a treat to me though. We used to have a couple of doves lay eggs in the Spring. They loved one of our orchids pots hanging up front. One time they never came back but the eggs hatched. We had to call animal control so they can remove the poor chicks in there.

Anyway back to the tadpoles. In 4th grade we had a large aquarium where we had to observe how the eggs evolve into tadpoles and then to frogs. It was so much fun watching them hatch, see the tadpoles slowly lose their tails to be replaced by legs. We had so much fun. My question is do I leave them alone or put something to feed them? Any feedback would be wonderful. I will keep you posted.

Itsy Bitsy Pouch Winner

Sorry about the delay ladies. It is such a beautiful day. We have an unexpected cold front at this time of year. Mid 50s. Yeah! So I went for a walk at about 9:00 and it felt so invigorating. I really have to make time as I am lucky enough to live where walking or biking is very conducive. I know I should do this everyday but sometimes I have to finish some orders before mail pickup. It is so convenient nowadays--just print your postage at home and schedule a pick up. No need to wait and save money and gas! My lady carrier, Carol is so sweet and I love chatting with her once in a while.

The lucky winner is---elliemae! Contact me within 4 days and tell me which one you want. Thank you to all . There will be another giveaway soon. Have a great day.

Hassle Free Holiday Shopping

Hello everybody. I just popped in for a quick hello and some updates. This is my best Holiday season yet! I have finally added Lisa, our convertible wristlet and it's been a hit. I named it after my 2-year old niece whom I just met for the first time last Thanksgiving. You will notice some cute imported Japanese prints that are so popular. I have more but will slowly add them since I have to fill in some orders and send them out as soon as I can.Wear it three ways--as a wristlet, mini purse and belt pouch.

I just added some itsy bitsy zipper pouches. I remember as I child I had a lot of mini pouches that I used to stash my treasures in.

I got my live Christmas Tree but haven't had a chance to do anything yet. My Holiday purse party is this next Sunday so it will be a whirlwind week for me--Oh and my Christmas village too I have to start on that soon. That is another thing to do. I hope I survive this week!

Ballerina girl

I am so proud of my baybcakes (she doesn't want people to hear me say that anymore!). She had been dancing for almost 9 years now and she just got her pointe shoes. I never got that far. Dance is a big part of her life and luckily it hasn't affected her grades since it takes a lot of time and dedication to get this far. I didn't realized how very particular she is about some things (like me) when I was trying to sew in the elastic and the pink satin ribbon to her shoes. She tried it on so many times--"they are not even", don't scratch the satin with the pin", "the thread has to match", make sure the stitches are straight, etc. Like mother like daughter, I'll say!

Just perfect!

Take a Moment

I have been doing a sewing marathon lately. I hate getting backed up--I get so uneasy and I usually get palpitations when I am stressed so I try to be on top of things most of the time. I took it easy today besides I got somebody working in our bedrooms taking out the carpet and putting in wood floors---yes!!! We have allergies and this would help tremendously. When I had my studio done and I can see the dust that gathers on the floor (yikes!) I swore I will never have carpeting ever again.

Sweet smelling gardenia in front of the house. For some reason a lot of people get lost when they come to the house. So when it is blooming I tell them just turn in the driveway with the gardenia (you can smell it even before reaching the house) and it works all the time.

Some of my orchids in front of the house by the door.

Another one by the kitchen window.

I rearranged the back and put more orchids and plants. So peaceful especially when I need to recharge.

This is Sam. He usually comes in the afternoons.

This is it for now. I think I am ready to tackle another sewing marathon!

Brrrrr?

It is a beautiful Sunday morning. We are supposed to have a cold front--in the 50s? Well to us South Floridians that is COLD! It's more like low 70s with gusty winds. Most of us turn on the heater when the temperature drops even for a few degrees. I don't. For one thing our heater isn't hooked up yet and I like it cold as long as my knees don't start hurting. That's when I know it is too cold inside the house. We haven't really had a lot of cold fronts for the last couple of years but Hurricanes, well that's another story. My daughter spent the night with a friend so I can have some time to relax, sit back and catch up on my reading with a cup of cappuccino. I hardly drink regular coffee--I am a latte/cappuccino kind of gal. I have two books that I started reading simultaneously--Feng Shui Your Life by Jayme Barret and Feng Shui Revealed by R.D. Chin. This is my favorite spot until it gets too hot in late Spring, that is. The view is great as I get to see sunrise and sunset, hear the soothing sound of the water, chirping birds, scurrying squirrels and nosy family of ducks that share the space with me. I am waiting for one unusual creature that I haven't seen in awhile. It has a body of a dog but it has a snout like a pig's! If I see it I will try and take a picture and post it here maybe somebody knows what it is.

First Post--at last

Hello everyone. I have finally embraced the 21st century way of journal keeping--blogging. Why not? I almost always talk to myself and I had a diary when I was a lot younger. In retrospect, I think I was hesitant to get out of my comfort zone--wary of the unknown. Just like with my website it took me a long time to go for it as I am not computer savvy (well I am a lot better now). It took me awhile to finish my site but I learned a lot along the way. Actually I find html quite interesting....


I have so many things I want to do and you will probably read them here which is great since the accountability factor is at play here. First on my list is to add some Laurie ( female version of my younger brother's name Lawrence) Weekender Tote. I have actually been playing around with some of my fabrics and trims and came out with these. I have already came up with the name for the middle one. The last one on the right is called Ooh LA LA! which I did with Jane (named after my neighbor). I still have to come up with a name for the first one--any ideas?

I have named my bags after family, friends and customers. I have a lot of different styles and for some it might be overwhelming but I like variety --it would probably drive me crazy to make a particular style over and over again and with the same fabric! Sometimes I would get an order for 4-6 identical bags but not very often--most of my customers get different bag styles. My mind is constantly brewing different fabric combinations and which style to make. This keeps me on my toes and my creative juices flowing.

I will work on the Eiffel Tower print and post it here when it is done.