Christmas in July Giveaway items received...

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know that I recently celebrated Christmas in July by hosting a giveaway of several handmade items. The winner of the giveaway was Catherine of Quilt Obsession. Please hop on over to her blog to see some truly fabulous quilts and a wide array of fabric related projects. Be sure to check out her beautiful needlebooks with beaded bobbles. They are totally fabulous and leave me drooling every time I see them. If you are a cat lover like me, I know you will enjoy photo's of her beautiful kitties, Smudge and Lester. She's a very good mom and always tries to get a shot or two into every post.

I'm sure you'd be surprised to learn just how long it takes for a package to ship from Hawaii to the eastern time zone of Canada. We're talking at minimum, two weeks! That's difficult to believe especially when a person can physically fly there in a matter of hours. My guess is that it probably has everything to do with customs.

I'm glad that yesterday is over. It really was a very trying day. The solar water heater went in just fine. I was so relieved when the installation guys left. One guy kept breaking into song every 20 minutes or so. I was in the back room of my house and he was in the front in my garage and I could hear him loud and clear. I can only imagine what my neighbors were thinking. Maybe I really don't want to know. LOL

When making large numbers of like items, I take everything in steps to speed up the process. Yesterday was bow making day. I made approximately 300 1-3/8" bows. Whew, I'm so glad that's done!



I hope you're all having a fabulous day. See you tomorrow.

Aloha!

Yo-Yo Lollipop--What A Week!!!

I have been away from my blog for so long because I have been dealing with a bunch of household matters. As I type, there are two loud-mouthed guys (Eek and Irk) outside of my house who are here to install our solar water heater. Lot's of booming and banging going on too. I just turned up the volume on my television to drown them out. They are eek and irking me to no end!?!?!?!

And to make matters worse, I just received a call from my dentist office. I MISSED MY APPOINTMENT this morning! Can you hear me screaming??? I never miss appointments. I've totally lost my mind, I tell you.

Breathe...breathe...Calgon, please take me away, I beg you........


After much contemplation, I decided to add a "sugar coating" to the yo-yo lollipops (notice the center yo-yo) with the addition of glass seed beads. It seemed too plain and as if I had just slapped a couple of yo-yo's onto a stick without giving it much thought. The glass seed beads will add a glint of shimmer and will make this a special keepsake ornament. Yes, I'll be beading until forever, but perhaps it will take my mind off of everything else that is going on around here.

I have seen so many beautiful needlebooks posted on blogs lately. I am a person with many pincushions but no needlebooks so I decided to finally remedy that. Of course, it had to be beaded because I love beads. I figured this would also be the perfect opportunity to work further with folded hexagons and to create something unique. I decided to add patchwork segments to the hexagons, something that I have never done before. Voila! I love it!


A look at the inside...Four hexagon wool felt "pages" for my needles.

I doubt I'll get any crafting done this week with everything that is going on around here. So....if I fail to show up tomorrow or the next day, you will know that I've been admitted to the loony bin. Instead of flowers, please send Calgon. Thanks.

Aloha,
Lettie

Beaded Ornaments from a Friend

Hello everyone. I was just about to call it a no post day when I received something in the mail from a sweet new friend and blog reader, Lynn, a.k.a. Wannabecrafty. Lynn sent me a couple of the cutest ornaments that she hand beaded. Both are really lovely and will sure add a bit of glitz to my Christmas tree.


This ornament is beaded in iridescent white and soft pink beads with an opaque pink glass ornament center.


This little beauty is beaded in light aqua blue beads and has a shiny silver glass ornament center.

Thank you for your generosity, Lynn. I will always cherish these beautiful ornaments.

I have been so busy lately that I have been neglectful of my blog. I finally got around to reading my comments last night and saw that I had several questions regarding a couple of things that I recently posted. Regarding the yo-yo tag...every component of the tag was made by me. The tag itself is two layers of fabric that has been bonded together. I don't know if there is a comparable alternative at the craft store or not. I am "not in the know" mainly because I seldom step foot in craft stores. Another question was about the lollipop ornaments. They're made from two yo-yo's, placed back to back, with a lollipop stick glued in the center. You can find lollipop sticks wherever they sell candy making supplies. Hope this helps.


I'll leave you with a photo of my fat cat, Mouse. He's sitting in an Arizona Iced Tea box which is his new "favorite" place to hang out. He's so fat that he barely fits inside the box but that doesn't stop him from squeezing his ample body into it.

I'm still working on making lollipops so I have nothing new to report to you. I will be doing the same thing tomorrow and probably throughout the weekend.
I want to wish you all a fabulous weekend. More than likely, I'll be back to blogging on Monday. See you then!

Aloha!

Yo-Yo Lollipop--Welcome to The Candy Shoppe!

Raspberry, Cotton Candy, Bubble Gum


Orange Sorbet, Butterscotch, Strawberry


Chocolate Fizz, Lemon Lime, Mixed Berry


Wild Cherry, Fruit Punch, Blueberry


Grape


Mixed Assortment

I have been busy in the candy factory turning out flavor after flavor of calorie free lollipops. Don't they look delicious? Although not pictured, included will be a clear nylon loop for hanging onto the Christmas tree.

Sorry for the glare from the plastic bags but it couldn't be avoided no matter how hard I tried. The alternative is to leave the bags off but I wanted it to look as authentic as possible. I'm interested in knowing what you think. Should the bags be left on or omitted?


It's back to the candy factory for me. I hope you're having a fantastic day.

Aloha!

Recycled Posie Bouquet

Take an old bunch of wired plastic stems devoid of silk flowers and leaves and turn it into something colorful and fun.


A bouquet of aqua and red polka-dotted yo-yo posies surrounded in a sea of lime green polka-dotted leaves make a playful summer bouquet.


The posies and leaves have a small channel in their centers to allow them to be slipped over the tips of each of the stems. They can easily be replaced with other color choices. Perhaps the bouquet would look cute all in red for Valentines Day or Christmas. Maybe pastels for Easter. I love that I have the option to change it at will.


As you all know, I was supposed to be working at making craft fair goodies but that went by the wayside real fast. I felt more like playing instead. In the process, I did save one more useless piece of plastic and wire from the landfill. *smile* I promise myself that I'll do better next week.

I hope you all have a fabulous and productive weekend!

Aloha!

Giveaway Winner

Hello, everyone! I'm sorry that I'm so late in announcing the winner of my Christmas Giveaway. I snuck away from my guests (my nephew and his family) for a quick post. I would like to announce that the winner of the giveaway, chosen by random number generator, is comment number 1. Catherine, since you were the first person to post a comment, you are the winner. I will be in contact with you later today.


Everyone, I want to thank you all for entering the giveaway. It sure was a lot of fun.

Gotta run. Have a super day!

Aloha!

Giveaway, Final Day!

I hope you have been inspired to get an early start on your Christmas decorations, gifts, and planning. Please remember that it is never too early to start. Many of us share memories of putting those last few stitches into our handmade gifts on the final days before Christmas. I do, and I hope to never find myself in that predicament again. I look forward to seeing photo's of your accomplishments from now until the holidays. Please keep in mind that there are only 162 days left until Christmas!

Over the next month or so, I am going to be doing quite a bit of fabric cutting and not too much creating. I hope I don't bore you with my posts. I'll try to keep it interesting but I've got to get back to making items for my craft fairs.


There are no craft photos for today's post. The final items in the giveaway are these Chocolate Covered Macadamia Nuts and Butter Candy Glazed Macadamias. They are delicious and I know you will enjoy these sweet treats.

As of Midnight EST today, the Christmas giveaway will come to a close so please get your entry in if you haven't already done so. A winner will be chosen tomorrow by random number generator.

You can be the winner of the macadamia nut treats along with...


a set of 3 yo-yo flower gift tags.


this cactus pincushion...


this 4-pocket tea tote...


this cross-stitched pillow...


this set of four fabric drink coasters...


this patchwork Christmas tree skirt...



these fall and winter fabric flower pins...


a Polka Dotted Christmas Stocking...


and little miss Yo-Yo Annie.

I hope you have an incredible day.

Aloha!



**If you'd like to enter to win the macadamia nut treats, the set of 3 yo-yo flower gift tags, pincushion, Tea Tote, cross-stitched pillow, coasters, Christmas tree skirt, pins, Christmas stocking, and Yo-Yo Annie, please leave a comment about your favorite Christmas memory here. Only comments made on my post of 6/30/08 will be eligible.**