Only One More Week And The Giveaway Continues!

For us, there's only one more week until the start of the new school year. The summer holidays went so fast! I am going to extend the giveaway of Shannon Okey's book until Friday because I have been travelling and now I have a sick little one. Brain. Can't Think.

xo, L

Summer Days Going Fast And A Giveaway Too!

I have heard that some of you have sent your kids back to school already. Yikes! Is it that time for us? We were just enjoying hockey and hanging out with our cousins in Toronto. Now it's time to buckle down. Oh, don't worry, we'll still have fun. It's the back-to-school paperwork that Mommy dreads.

Notice we have mostly all boy cousins except Miss Taylor. So the daddies took all of the boys out for some hockey time while the ladies stayed in, played cards and chatted. So relaxing but we are a competitive bunch when we play cards. So fun.

Now that we are getting back to school mode, what are we mommies going to do? I got to read this terrific book on professional knitwear design, The KNITGRRL Guide To Professional Knitwear Design. I love reading interviews. That was my very favorite part of the book. Some of the designers who were interviewed were quite frank and I appreciate that. The other parts of the book were good too! There's information on how to start your own designing business and how to use social media to benefit your business. Terrific read even if you are not in the industry. I have a copy for you to win. All you have to do is tell me what you'll be sewing, knitting, scrapbooking or crafting as soon as the kids are back in school. Drop me a note here or on Facebook. Contest closes this Sunday at midnight.

I can't wait to see what you're going to busy yourselves with this fall! xo, L

p.s. The giveaway is not just for mommies. All entries are welcome!

What It Takes To Be "It"

I discovered this funky camera bag recently. I. SO. WANT. ONE. I haven't seen it in person but the ads are so my speed. I love the edgy feeling of the photos. So gorgeous yet so practical. You can't beat that.

Look at all the space in the bag. This looks like a fantastic bag. It's so stylish and so fashion forward. No more nylon bags!!

I love it when something has that "it" factor. Looks, branding, and functionality all tied into one. They're having a giveaway too! Oooooooh! When is Christmas? It can't come soon enough.
xo, L

Special Things

How's your summer? It's going so fast! I think that I am having panic attacks because school will be back in session, and everything is going to be crazy, crazy, crazy. Plus, Quilt Market will be upon us again. Oh, dear! I have been doing designing stuff that I hope to show you in a few weeks and am working hard at putting it together. I have been mulling over changes and direction for a long time now. The ideas are coming together and I'll be getting my act together soon. I've also volunteered myself to teach some classes on re-purposing, knitting and scrapbooking/journaling at my kids' school for their enrichment program. I'm still in the planning stages of the classes but I'm hopeful and looking forward to the fun.

There's been so much activity around here! There was camp, summer rec, and many, many big special moments. My big guy just had a birthday!

Hubby and I celebrated a big anniversary!

My girlfriend Colleen celebrated a big birthday! Happy birthday!! My other girlfriend, Joanne, celebrated a big birthday too! Happy birthday, girls! It was a girls night out. I think that was special in itself!

My high school pal, Nancy and her family visited NJ. She and her hubby celebrated a bigger anniversary than mine and even got to kiss under the new statue in NYC the first day the statue was revealed!

         

There were everyday special moments too. Our visit to Pittsburgh to visit our friend Emily was a blast.

Catching our first fish was so fun too!

Now it's time to sit back, relax and blow some bubbles. Soon it will be back to school. Enjoy the rest of your summer. Fall is just around the corner and I'm sure that we'll make some more special memories.

xo, L

Fun At The Library

It has been a fast week. Reno's away on a business trip and the kiddies go to camp. Fall is quickly approaching! Yikes!

Last night, my buddy, Mark Lipinski, asked if I wanted to go the the Clinton Public Library. There was a meeting of the North County Art Fiber Group. Sure!

We had fun chatting, the ladies had lovely projects and Mark enjoyed my iPad  for a while.

Lovely knits, lovely stitches and lovely color.

There were some spinners too. They made it look so easy! I tried to spin using a drop spindle but I didn't have great results the first time. I should try it again.

Mark and I think that counted cross-stitch is making a comeback. Did you ever like cross-stitch? I am more of a needlepoint type but my sister loves cross-stitch. This pre-printed sampler is so pretty and the stitcher found it at a thrift shop! Lucky!

Thanks to the ladies of North County Art Fiber Group for letting us be part of their night! If you are on Facebook and haven't friended either Mark or I, do so! He's got a video of the night!
xo, L

p.s. Mark has a video of the evening on his FB wall and I put it on mine. Let us know what you think!

Full Moon

You know that when I call my kiddos "lil' punks", I'm just kidding right? Right? When I tell you that I want to wring the little guys' necks, I don't really mean it. Right? Little A is such a crazy kid. Apparently, it's been said that he's the spitting image of his momma when you count only his personality. Naw!!

See? Funny. Crazy. Silly. What a package.  Drives his big brother nuts too but they love each other.

   

Drives his momma nuts too but she loves him. [That would be said child with his tie on backwards.]

   

Well, last week was all about Little A. Big A was good for the most part. Little A, on the other hand, had an outer body experience. On top of the crazy behavior that goes on while there's a full moon, he developed swimmer's ear. Owie! Owie! Owie! Oh, did I mention the ankle pain? Double owie! After drops, blood tests and an x-ray, everything turned out fine. Knock on wood.  By Saturday, things were swimming. Only thing, his momma, who had stayed up every night with him, needed to get out of the house in search of some sanity.

His momma headed down to Pennington Quilt Works. Lovely, lovely place. Hey, she spotted something cool. Run out and buy this issue of American Patchwork and Quilting. Why?

Look on the back!!! It's her quilt!! They photographed it as a party quilt but since the holiday are quickly approaching, you could use holiday fabric for this darling quilt.

PQW is full of color and texture. 

Lots of color in every nook.

She always loves their displays. In fact, she could actually live here if Jan, the owner, would let her.

Even in the bathroom, she felt important. She spied her quilt on this poster. 

That would be her quilt, bottom row, third one from the left.

Check. I'm ok now. xo, L