I heard Oprah say once that what pleases God most is for us to be grateful; that in the midst of sorrow and adversity we should find the good and be grateful.
The way I see it is that we have two choices: to be happy or not - it's up to us. The way we react to what's dealt us is our choice. This year more than ever I choose to find something good in every situation and to be grateful.
My Gratitude Jar
(I sure am grateful for my new lightroom lights - you can see them reflected there in my Gratitude Jar! They're so sweet. I can take photos any time of day or night and no more stressing out over catching the light! So grateful I finally bought them!!)
My jar sits next to my sewing machine in my happy place and my plan is to write down something I am grateful for everyday. Then at the end of the year I will empty my jar and read through the many blessings I've received throughout the year.
I've been so weepy lately. I'm fine during the day but once Bill goes off to bed and the house gets quiet I loose it.
I must say I've had my share of things to be sad about. Last Friday Bill and I attended our forth funeral in less than three weeks. As we drove north to the service the news of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings broke over the radio. We listened in disbelief. So much sadness. So much senseless tragedy.
My heart aches for our friend who suddenly lost her husband of over fifty years. I'm so sad for her children and grandchildren who are trying to deal with the loss of their dad and grandpa. My heart aches for another friend whose mother recently passed away from cancer. She feels so lost and misses her mother terribly. I can't even imagine how the families of the students and faculty in that Connecticut school must feel. The whole nation grieves with them.
Early today we got news that my former manager, Amanda had to have her two day old baby boy airlifted to UCLA for open heart surgery. She and her sweet family face months of worry while living in the PICU.
Bill and I feel so helpless. We can't take away their pain. We can only cry and pray and hope they feel the love that is sent their way.
Enter my Gratitude Jar. I was going to wait until January to start it but I really need it now. I want to focus on the positive; writing down something I'm thankful for everyday. Looking for the good in the midst of all this sadness.
Day 1. Today I am thankful for the team of skilled pediatric heart surgeons who will perform surgery on baby Will. Today I am thankful for a God that loves each of us and hears our prayers.
If you would like to send a card to Amanda and her family you can send them to Strawberry Patches and I'll see that she gets them.
A few weeks ago I joined in a Holiday Tag-a-long and when I posted my tags on my blog some of you emailed me with questions. So I thought I would share some of my tips with you all here today.
The first thing you need to do is trace your tag shapes onto medium weight fusible interfacing and because you will be using your lines as sewing guides you need to do this step very carefully. Cool tip: I discovered that if you cut your interfacing into 8 1/2" by 11" sheets you can feed them through your printer, eliminating the need for repetitive tracing. Tracing is my least favorite part of this project so I was excited that this step worked in the printer.
Cut the tags out on the lines
and fuse them to the wrong side of your tag fabric. Put front and back of tag fabric together - with right sides together.
Tip: Shorten your machine's stitch length to 15 - 18 stitches per inch.
The smaller stitches will help make the seams smoother and makes going around those curves a breeze. Sew right next to the interfacing leaving two to three inches open on one long side for turning.
Trim seam allowance to about 1/8" all around, 1/4" at opening. Clip curves up to seam being careful not to cut stitches.
Turn right side out. Poke seams out carefully and press well, making sure seams are open, smooth and flat.
Tip: I discovered that if your tags have large appliques on the fronts like mine do you can sew all the way around without leaving an opening. Split one layer of the tag fabric (the side without the interfacing) by cutting a two to three inch slit in the center of the tag.
Turn, poke out seams and press. Top stitch with matching thread.
Attach applique by sewing through all layers. Embellish as desired.
On these I made photo copies of old photographs and stitched them to felt, then sewed them to the tags.
Here's a neat tip for turning this type of applique.
Cut design out and layer right side to the fusible side of iron on medium weight interfacing.
With shortened stitch, sew on desired line - all the way around.
Trim seam allowance 1/8" and clip corners.
Cut a two to three inch slit in the center of the interfacing only.
Tip: Turn right side out using a Point Turner to poke out corners and smooth seams.
Lay on top of a piece of felt that has been cut slightly larger and iron in place. (Remember the back side of the applique is now fusible).
Top stitch the applique onto the felt with matching thread. Cut felt with scalloped shears* or pinking shears. * We have ordered scalloped fabric shears and scalloped rotary blades - let us know if you want us to save you one.
Sew on buttons. Attach to tag by sewing through all layers - I do this step by sewing on top of the felt very close to the applique with matching thread.
These are so much fun to do and they make darling ornaments, Valentines or gift tags. You will want to pop over to Flickr and view some of the amazing tags from the Holiday Tag-a-long group.Then, why not whip up some tags of your own and Tag-a-Long with us? We'd love to see what you come up with.
Who in their right mind is crafting Valentine's Day goody bags sixteen days before Christmas?
I'm blaming this one on Pam. This morning as I was stitching up some tags for my Tutorial Tuesday post I got this idea and wanted to whip one or two up before, you know, I forgot.
I just fused a little heart from the Pam Kitty Love collection onto felt then sewed it to a paper doily.
Then backed the doily with another doily, sewed them together leaving an opening to fill with tiny candies. Then I just sewed it shut. So quick, simple and inexpensive. I'll be making a ton more but first I need to get ready for Christmas. Christmas? Yikes, Christmas!
Grey skies and dark of night can no longer stop me from getting my shots. I'm so excited I doubt that I'll ever sleep again!
Bill went off to bed so I thought I'd set the thing up and take a test shot or two to give it a whirl. I ran upstairs to get the camera and AWK! Bill had bought me a new computer and printer and secretly got it all set up while I was at work!!! My old desk top was seriously about a hundred and fifty years old and soooslow. Well you can bet I'll be up all night now snapping pics and checking them out on my new GIANT monitor!
Merry early Christmas to me. I'm calling in sick in the morning. Just want to stay home and play with my new toys. Can you blame me?
These tags were inspired by one of my favorite blogs, Nana Company. For some fun tag ideas treat yourself to a peek at some of Amy's amazing creations then join us for a Holiday Tag Along.
