We Have A Winner

Well, majority rules!  I have chosen from the last giveaway post who the winner will be.  I transferred every entry onto a piece of paper and drew the name.  I apologize to those who voted to draw from the original post, I don't mean to offend.  Had I drawn from the original post, the original posters may not have seen that I was resetting the giveaway and quite frankly, I do not have time to chase the winner down...especially since they didn't even know there was a reset on the giveaway!

So....here's the winner:

Jane Campbell!!!

Okay...here's the deal - Jane, contact me with your email address by Sunday morning.  If I do not hear from the winner by Sunday 31 July, I will draw another name, so keep checking back until I confirm the winner has contacted me.

The contacts and prize must be sent by Saturday of next week because I am leaving for a 2 WEEK VACATION on Monday morning, 9 August!  Yup...I'm going to see my mom in North Carolina!!  It will take me two days to drive there, I will be spending a week with mom and dad at their house.....and for the best part:  Dad has rented a house on the ocean shores of Oak Island for a WEEK...we are talking the beach front here, folks!!!!  

I can't wait - I love the ocean so much, I have a mini-ocean in my family room!  My coral reef tank I have posted about in the past.  I have never had the opportunity to spend so long at the ocean, I am not passing this up!  Therefore, the prize has to get mailed before I leave.  In addition, I am doing custom jewelry sets for a wedding party of 5, a custom order of 9 pieces of button jewelry for the editor of a popular garden journal in my area and finishing a 60" x 60" quilt for a woman to give to her daughter that just got back from Afghanistan (she's a medic in the Air Force).  Plus working the evening away making 1940's dresses to wear during the vacation.  Whew - it sure is busy here.  Hubby is getting lonely with the hours I have been in my studio this past week!

So the race is on!  Thank you to everyone who commented :)

Remember These? A Giveaway...

I finally got a hold of the winner who was going to email me her address.  Well, I never heard from her again.  This has never happened before.  Therefore, I have a little situation on my hands and need your help!

I have two options, in which you will help me decide what to do:

1)  Draw another number from the comments on the original giveaway.  Drawback will be that most of the people who entered think someone else already won, therefore, they may not get back to this site to see that they won in the second draw...

OR

2) Choose a random number from the comments on this post.

Here is how we will do this....Majority Rules.  If more than 50% of comments believe we should choose from the original comments, we will do so.  If more than 50% of comments believe we should draw from comments on this post, I will draw randomly from comments on this post.

So....to enter, simply comment which option you think I should take.
To earn another entry - in case we use these comments, simply follow this blog (or indicate that you already do)
To earn yet another entry, "Like" my FaceBook Page

I will close the voting July 29, 2010 at Midnite, EST.

Please be sure to comment separately for each one you do.  (Nevermind the comment moderation...I do that so that spammers can't spam my older posts!)

Okay...decide away!!!!

A View from the Garden......

My Passionflower is finally shooting blooms!

I love roses...but I am so particular about them.   If they are not David Austin roses, I don't want to grow them!   He specializes in old, antique varieties...my favorite!

Unfortunately, even David Austin roses are not immune to those horrible Japanese Beetles!  I keep spraying them with garlic juice (they hate garlic juice), but if I don't get them re-sprayed after it rains right away, the beetles come back to much away....

Evidence of more beetle damage...

My victory garden....the peas are gone, the yellow and green beans are just about done, the cukes are going.  Waiting for the peppers, tomatoes, red and white onion and my son's jalepenos!

Black hollyhocks....

My favorite wildflower (outside of Queen Anne's Lace, which is really considered a weed)....Black-Eyed Susans!

The frog pond...completely loaded with frogs and tadpoles....

Pink Phlox...

Oh, and my hens and chicks made this crazy flower stalk!  I have had them in my memory garden for about 7 years and I have never seen them do this before :)

Balloon flower...I know, I need to dead-head....

hydrangeas....

rose of sharon....

 and finally, Bee Balm....

(a bee balm flower just opening....)

Thank you for joining me for a stroll through my gardens!  There is so much more to see, but I just wanted to share with you my favorites :)

Have a great weekend....and spend some time in your gardens....

Cherry-Ho!

Well, maybe not exactly complete cherry-ho, but I promise you some cherries!

When Mom came up, we spent two days sewing Paige's cover to my specifications.  You remember what Paige looked like naked, right?

Sewing her cover was quite a chore.  I was too busy to chronicle the whole event, but I can show you her finished cover:

What an ordeal:  I put the cover on.  Mom pins.  I take cover off.  I baste cover.  I put cover back on.  Mom pins any more adjustments in that spot.  I take cover off.  I sew cover with tiny stitches.  Whew!  I put cover back on.  Mom pins a new area.  Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.  It took us a couple days.  The cover was actually really cute one me...Dad said I looked like I was wearing a WAC uniform!  Yea, we are all WWII buffs in this family :)

Putting the cover on Paige was not that much easier.  I ended up taking the cover off twice because the foam wasn't squished in exactly the right places.  The foam kept on wanting to go into the hips which rendered a flat butt.  Furthermore, I have a little poochy-belly I wanted Paige to have.  (Hey now...I had three kids!).  So, I ended up putting a small piece of memory foam in the belly area and finally got the hips squished to the rump.  However, the last time I put the cover on, I forgot to pull through the cleavage strings in the front.  But either way, she now has my exact measurements!  I LOVE HER!!!

So....I have been sewing!

Here is a sun-dress that I altered the pattern to reflect more 40's style and changed up the fabric with the panels.  With all my clothes, I make a dummy from muslin so I can tailor it to my exact proportions.  Then I rip my seams out and use it as the final pattern.  I also will not use a serger - I hate serged seams!  All, and I mean all, my seams are french seams.  Much better quality!

I'm still not happy with Paige's cover as I do have a little bit more rump than that, but the dress is so cute!  I wore it Sunday for my little family party for Ashlee.  I will have to get Mike to shoot a picture of me wearing it...it fits so perfectly!

Detail of the bodice.  Isn't it so cute?!  So retro!

Next, I made a skirt using a Kay Whitt pattern.  Sorry it's wrinkled...I still have a little hand finishing sewing to do as well as cut my strings!

Again, I mixed up the fabrics in the panels.  This is actually a Kay Whitt idea...love it!  Again, the skirt fits like a glove.  I altered the pattern so that the skirt waistline falls just below my belly button.  So comfortable!

Pocket detail....ignore the strings!

Hem detail with the pressed ruffle...

On to the cherries!

A cute shirt that ties around the waist to throw over a tank top...again perfectly fitted, thanks to Paige...

Again, a commercial pattern that was altered to reflect the 40's style.  Now I can rock my tanks Rosy the Riveter style!

Cute cherry fabric :)

Finally, a tank top that I drafted myself.  I still have a few tweeks I need to make to the design, but oh, so cute!  I have been toying with the idea of offering a line of 40's-esque clothing with vintage buttons, but that won't come until 2011.

So there you have it.  That's what I have been up to :)

Later this week, I will finally fill you in about Mom's visit!

Monday Moodboard

Sleep Mask Vintage Cherry

8 Euros

American Retro

$6.95/yard

American As Cherry Pie Pencil Skirt

$30

Vintage Glass Cherry Earrings

$14

Notice the cherry theme?  You will understand after the next post!

Side-Tracked Again....

Just when life started getting back to normal after Mom left, my daughter Ashlee drove up from Charlotte to visit for a few days.  We spent the day together yesterday and had our fill of movies last night under a fan to beat this horrible heat-wave!  She lives in N. Carolina, so she is used to the heat.  We just don't get this kind of heat here in New York!!!

She will be visiting her friends today and tomorrow and will be back on Sunday for one more day with her Momma (that's me!).  As she will be leaving early Monday morning, I am projecting that next week will be back to normal!  Have so much to share :)

Happy July 4th!

Mom left for home yesterday.  I had such a good time with her and will miss her dearly.  Now we are back to the everyday phone calls for another year :(

I have so much catching up to do as I didn't want to waste a moment on anything other than her, therefore, I will be back next week to resume my normal schedule as well as fill you all in with the fun we had, Paige and her cover, etc.

I am still waiting for Laurel to contact me with the Bead Soup Blog Party prize.  If I do not hear from her in another day or two, I will be drawing another winner.  Stay tuned...you may still have a chance!

Have a safe weekend and

God Bless America!