forty seven

Yep, it's official. I am one year older. Well, actually my birthday was on Sunday, but I didn't want to put up my dukes and fight with all the dads out there so I waited a few days.
I started the day by running 4 miles (a new record for this ole' gal) and a little later I had a big gulp of my beverage of choice. Then just celebrated the day. I also found a box of old photos. I even included a few here. It was a good day!

ok, I was only about 12 in the first photo :)

Fathers Day

Happy Fathers Day to all the wonderful dads out there - hope you have a great day!

Photos!!!!

Here are the pictures I promised.

The Before:






The After!!!!!



I am so excited with how it turned out!!! I can't believe I did it!!!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

Thanks for the all of the awesome suggestions. I really enjoyed reading them and will definately use a lot of them too :)

Here are the winners of my totally random giveaway!

Now, drum roll......


Victoria M! You are a winner!
Sherri! You are a winner!
Email me your addresses and I will send out your prizes!

So, what am I up to now??? Well, tomorrow I am cutting off my LONG hair and donating it to Locks of Love. I am so excited! I feel like I have been growing it out forever and I am SO ready for a new "do" and maybe I'll even throw in some highlights for the summer.
I'll be sure and post some photos of the drama - before, during and after.

Wish me luck!
Tomorrow it'll all be gone (well, not all of it)!!

Mary

A Big THANKS!!!!

First of all I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to all of you who gave me such wonderful suggestions!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
I am now in the kit making, pattern printing, and quilt gathering mode. It will be a lot of fun and I can hardly wait for Festival in July! It will be here sooner than I know it!!
I will be picking the winners later today too and will post them tomorrow.

Now, on a totally different subject, I am home bound today as we are having our carpets stretched.
A couple of years after we moved in, we noticed our NEW carpet getting "bumps" in it. In many places and in many different rooms!!
So we finally bit the bullet and decided it was about time to get those bumps fixed. We had to take ALL THE FURNITURE OUT OF THE ROOMS IN QUESTION - a huge undertaking and today is the day when our carpet will finally be "bump free" again.

Tomorrow I will announce the winners and tell you about another cool thing that I am going to do on Thursday. I am SO excited I can hardly sit still!! (Hint: It doesn't include carpet).

Sadly (or not) I have no photos for today (probably for the better as they would include lumpy carpet or something equally as boring).

Stop by and visit me tomorrow and definitely on Thursday to see what I am up to

Have a great day!
Mary

Think of this as an online suggestion box

Some of you know that I will be attending Quilt Festival in Long Beach, July 24th thru the 26th with a preview on the evening of July 23. This will be my FIRST RETAIL SHOW and I would love to hear all of your comments and suggestions on what to bring / sell in my booth.
Now mind you, all of your suggesting will not go unrewarded. I am going to be randomly picking 2 people who leave suggestions / comments and you will be rewarded with the 5 new patterns from my Spring Collection PLUS a brand, spankin' new Christmas table topper pattern (and can I just say "it's so cute")!
I really need help here peeps, and I know I can count on all of you!!
Thanks, and happy suggesting :)
Mary

Sometimes ya just gotta make a mess!

You all know the old saying "sometimes you have to make a mess to clean up" (I think it's an old saying isn't it)?? Well, having said that, I finally convinced Dear Husband to buy me some awesome IKEA Expedit shelves. They come in many different shapes and sizes. These two work best for me, now I can see all of my stash (kind of a small one) at a glance. I just LOVE IT!! I'll show you the uncensored photos - I hope they won't be too shocking... There, you've been warned, so go ahead and look




It all started with an empty wall...





Then came "the mess" (if you see anything you want - just let me know, maybe we can make a trade)





and the empty bins (these used to be stuffed full of fabric)


And finally, the beautiful "after". I am very happy with how it turned out.








But... don't be fooled. Don't look behind the curtain!! (there just might be 20 bolts of yummy Portabello Market fabric hiding behind there, along with a few other things :)






I'm still working on making it cute - I have a problem with that kind of thing. I'm glad that's done. Now on to thinking about / planning / getting ready for Quilt Festival in July in Long Beach

Main Street Market

Quilts etc. in Sandy Utah had their bi-annual Main Street Market last week and it was totally fun! I got to see old friends and make some new ones too. Here's a couple of photos for your viewing pleasure!

My "booth space" started off looking like this:



and ended up looking like this: (with A LOT of help from my awesome friend Dawn)





Amanda was there



So was Muriel



And Ann



And Monica



And Karen



There were several designers there and we had fun talking to people, getting hit with flying fish from Amanda and oh, yea, selling our patterns too. It was hard for me to leave my booth so these are the only photos I have. I am SO bummed that I didn't get a photo of cute Judi Madsen's booth. How did I totally miss that one?? Sorry Judi! Y'all will just have to go to her website and see all of her cool stuff.



Now on to the next crisis (they don't call me the Crisis Ranger for nothin')

Have a great day
Mary

Goodbye Farley

My Mom's dog Farley died yesterday. He was a little dog with a HUGE personality. He outlived 2 owners, first my Uncle Art and then my dear Dad. He didn't even live in the same state as us but, we all loved him so much.

So, today when I raise my glass of diet pepsi, here's the toast I'll make
To Farley:
His "smile" and huge personality
The incredible high jumps at dinner
His many nick names
The "spare parts" dog that he was
My dad's last dog.

Goodbye "Far"
You'll be missed