tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79672271838693571402024-03-13T16:28:22.827-07:00Crafty JenniferCrafting to keep myself out of trouble...Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07393262997793042729noreply@blogger.comBlogger105125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967227183869357140.post-60293650086690807302013-07-10T18:50:00.001-07:002013-07-10T18:50:25.139-07:00I'm SwooningI'm back, hopefully for good this time. And I'm Swooning.<br />
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<br /><a href="http://fairyfacedesigns.blogspot.ie/" title="FairyFace Designs"><img alt="FairyFace Designs" src="http://i1085.photobucket.com/albums/j433/FairyFaceDesigns/90fff96c-09b4-4363-b0e8-6c58654bd017.jpg" style="border: none;" /></a></div>
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I "missed" the previous Swoon-along craze. FairyFace Designs started a Swoon 2013, which I joined in via Instagram #swoon2013.<br />
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The Mister and I picked out these fabrics. <br />
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After I posted that picture, we removed a couple fabrics, and added in a couple different ones. When I went back and looked at the fabrics and started trying to pair them, I realized that we needed more green.<br />
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Instead of the white most people use as their back ground fabric, I am using Kona Chocolate!<br />
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One Swoon block down, eight to go...<br />
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="710" scrolling="no" src="//instagram.com/p/bbZWwUKhJh/embed/" width="612"></iframe><br />Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07393262997793042729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967227183869357140.post-75354507442399498042012-12-18T22:25:00.001-07:002012-12-20T10:46:18.127-07:00<div style="text-align: center;">
Happy Holidays from</div>
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the Craftys!</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">mug rug from the <a href="http://www.tucsonmodernquilts.com/">Tucson Modern Quilt Guild</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">holiday gift exchange</span></div>
Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07393262997793042729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967227183869357140.post-14999753273410764512012-10-28T23:50:00.000-07:002012-10-28T23:50:03.881-07:00A gift to the family<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
This post is one that I am not really sure how to write...</div>
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<tr style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tutorial <a href="http://tallgrassprairiestudio.blogspot.com/2009/01/my-heart-is-filled-with-joy.html">here</a></td></tr>
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When I was 4, my Grandma Anderson (mom's mom) passed away. When I was 9, my grandpa remarried a lovely woman named Lorraine. For reasons I won't get into here, it took me a long time to think of her as a grandma person in my life, not any fault of hers. (Probably more to do with me being a teenager...)</div>
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She battled multiple myeloma for a number of years, in and out of remission, always such a fighter and the true picture of a survivor. I <a href="http://tntjennifer.blogspot.com/">ran in her honor three time</a>s with <a href="http://www.teamintraining.org/">Team In Training</a> and raised over $10,000 for <a href="http://www.lls.org/">The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society</a> between 2008 & 2010.</div>
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She <b><i>hinted</i></b> every time I saw her how much she would <i>LOVE</i> one of my quilts. I started thinking about how I could make a really special quilt for her and then it hit me: what she loves most is her family, blood or not.</div>
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I emailed the whole family asking for pictures "of their family" for a project I was working on. I didn't mention the quilt to them at all. I printed the pictures on <a href="http://store.quilting-warehouse.com/083031.html">sew-in inkjet fabric sheets</a> (thank you 50% off Joann's coupon!) and make this my project for the <a href="http://coast2coastbee.blogspot.com/">Coast 2 Coast Quilting Bee</a>.</div>
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By June or July of 2010, I had all the blocks back from the other ladies in the quilting bee. Unfortunately, my time was consumed by work and school (plus there were some that were larger/smaller than the requested 10.5" square and I wasn't sure what to do). And I needed to make my blocks, plus figure out what I wanted to do with the extra pictures I wanted to use but did not send out to the bee.</div>
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In November 2010, Lorraine's health was getting worse and she ended up in the hospital, and eventually in hospice care. I knew that I was not going to get the quilt completed in time for her to use and enjoy it. I took all the blocks, extra pictures, and fabric with me to visit her. She got to see the pieces of it and showed it off to the other family members that were there. She passed away a few days later, just before Thanksgiving.</div>
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A year later, I finished the quilt Christmas eve, in order the give it to my Grandpa for Christmas.</div>
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Below are a few shots of the quilt. Somewhere, I have pictures of Grandpa opening it, taking in what it was, and enjoying it. I fear those were lost when Mr. Crafty's hard drive crashed but I know my Dad got video of it. (My photographer brother is supposed to bring my a CD of the images he took of the quilt when he visits from Beijing next week. Will post more/better pics if he does.)</div>
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<span id="goog_1281008772"></span><span id="goog_1281008773"></span><br />Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07393262997793042729noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967227183869357140.post-50288747534621694482012-10-23T14:38:00.003-07:002012-10-23T15:45:54.368-07:00Still alive. No really!<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I know things have been awful quiet around here for a really long time... I don't really have a "good" excuse for that.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />I finished grad school in May of last year and then enjoyed some well-deserved time off. Then I got a new job in September. And that new job is kicking my butt on a regular basis.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And every time I thought about coming back to this blog, I didn't know how or where to start.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So now I am jumping in the deep end with both feet! CANNONBALL!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I have been quilting some, running some, and enjoying my time with Mr. Crafty. And working 50-60 hour weeks since the end of July.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Above is a photo of a quilt I made for my friend Robin as a wedding gift. Robin was one of my bridesmaids in my wedding and I was devastated that I couldn't attend her wedding in San Juan this March. She was the last of my bridesmaids to get married (both the other two got married in 2007, which was a very busy quilt-y gift year). She saw the <a href="http://cuttopieces.blogspot.com/2011/06/zig-and-zag-beginning.html">pattern</a> to this quilt when I posted it on Facebook and mentioned that she liked it. She requested the colors. All the blues are from Sandi Henderson's Secret Garden line, as are some of the pinks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The quilt & I had a
lovely photo shoot in Flagstaff back in May. And then Mr. Crafty's
hard-drive crashed and I do not have those fun photos :-( The above
photo was taken with my cell phone & Instagrammed when I was
working on this quilt. I have a couple others from my phone and from the
ladies in the <a href="http://www.tucsonmodernquilts.com/">Tucson Modern Quilt Guild</a> (the two photos below) from when I took it to show & tell.</span> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I stitched a signature block with her wedding date, her ring, and some of the quilt colors using a pattern from <a href="http://www.sublimestitching.com/collections/patterns/products/wedding-wishes-embroidery-patterns">Jenny Hart</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://pinterest.com/jwellborn/">I'm on Pinterest</a> if you want to see some of the fun stuff I've been pinning (not necessarily making). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hope all has been well in your neck of the woods! Thanks for stopping by! More projects to come soon, I promise.</span>Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07393262997793042729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967227183869357140.post-24722389677185169082011-01-12T16:03:00.000-07:002011-01-12T16:03:11.955-07:00Happy/Merry Halloween/Thanksgiving/Chanukah/Christmas/New Years!I know, I know, I've been gone a very long time. Lots has gone on over the past 3 months (in addition to the holidays listed above) and even a few crafts! I think about all of you often but have lacked the time to write a proper post. And even this is not a proper post, but I did want to let you know that I am still here.<br />
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And that it might be quiet around here for the next couple months. This week, I started my very last (yippee!!!) semester of my second masters program. I am soooo crazy that I am taking two classes over the next eight weeks and one of them is a research class. So don't expect to see too much of me around here.<br />
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I wanted to say hi and wish all of you a very happy new year. I am hoping to have a bit of time this weekend to show you the small projects I did over the past couple months...<br />
An adult tutu in hot pink, lime green & purple with sparkly ribbons (worn for an entire half marathon)!<br />
A wreath made entirely of ornaments that took 10 minutes and $7 to make!<br />
And some great blogs that some of my friends are doing...<br />
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You like my teaser? Hope to see you soon!<br />
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P.S. For those of you that remember I live in Tucson, this week has been surreal but makes me proud to be a Tucsonan. This community has really come together to support each other and grieve. I still can barely believe that it happened or happened here.<br />
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<div style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; color: #999999; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 5px; text-align: center; width: 420px;">Visit msnbc.com for <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/" style="border-bottom: #999 1px dotted; color: #5799db !important; font-weight: normal !important; height: 13px; text-decoration: none !important;">breaking news</a>, <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032507" style="border-bottom: #999 1px dotted; color: #5799db !important; font-weight: normal !important; height: 13px; text-decoration: none !important;">world news</a>, and <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032072" style="border-bottom: #999 1px dotted; color: #5799db !important; font-weight: normal !important; height: 13px; text-decoration: none !important;">news about the economy</a></div><br />
I wanted to share this video with you because it really shows the Tucson I know and love, not the horrific tragedy. Mr. Crafty and I often refer to Tucson as a really big small town because we often get a small town feel even though we live in a community of a million people.<br />
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Please keep the vicitms & their families in your thoughts and prayers!Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07393262997793042729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967227183869357140.post-89825949312502092852010-10-15T16:33:00.001-07:002010-10-15T16:33:39.767-07:00Crafty's in San Francisco<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TLjk1NtBnvI/AAAAAAAAAzw/saljlaJulDg/s1600/2010-10-15+16.12.37-719768.jpg"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TLjk1NtBnvI/AAAAAAAAAzw/saljlaJulDg/s320/2010-10-15+16.12.37-719768.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528420145459994354" /></a></p><p>It's the end of a very long week... a very long training season... and a very long semester.</p> <p>Mr. Crafty & I are in San Fran this weekend. Our first real vacation (not a trip to visit family) in... I don't know how long. I'm running th Nike Women's Marathon on Sunday.</p> <p>We've had some fun today, I'll share the pics when we get back. Mr. Crafty has been using our dslr camera for most of the pictures.</p> <p>Before we left, we had a hectic week. Cute, adorable, troublemaker Trixie decided to eat the elastic string from one of her toys on Saturday morning. And she had (not cheap) surgery on Monday to remove the elastic string. We had to scramble to find someone to take care of her while we're in SF...</p> <p>I found this fantatic chandelier today. Mr. Crafty doesn't agree that we need it :-( For $4500, I guess I agree...</p> <p>See you when we get back to Tucson!</p> <p>The Craftys</p> Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07393262997793042729noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967227183869357140.post-40526783785211457212010-10-08T12:01:00.001-07:002010-10-08T14:52:54.352-07:00Love this!I totally forgot to tell this as part of yesterday's post. But I guess it deserves it's own post.<br />
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Last week, I got this email from my aunt:<br />
<div class="GBThreadMessageRow_Body_Content"><em>Lindsey is Star of the Week in her class this week and today's activity is to bring in a special item and tell the class about it for Show and Tell. Lindsey brought in the crayon holder that you made her for Christmas last year!! Awww... :-)</em></div><div class="GBThreadMessageRow_Body_Content"></div><div class="GBThreadMessageRow_Body_Content">Lindsey is my 6 year old cousin. My aunt and <span style="font-size: x-small;">{former}</span> uncle adopted her and her sister Hayley {age 8} from China. They are the cutest little girls ever. They love Mr. Crafty. He is their personal jungle gym when we see them because he flips them over and gets silly with them. {The last two times we saw them, he made the mistake of doing a tough arm workout at the gym in the morning and kept complaining to me how much his arms hurt. Hehe}</div><div class="GBThreadMessageRow_Body_Content"></div><div class="GBThreadMessageRow_Body_Content">This is the crayon holder that my aunt is referring to {except that Lindsey's has an "L" on it}:</div><div class="GBThreadMessageRow_Body_Content"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TK9qXHvEnsI/AAAAAAAAAzU/hrEd2fXjfIs/s1600/Crayon_rolls_032.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TK9qXHvEnsI/AAAAAAAAAzU/hrEd2fXjfIs/s1600/Crayon_rolls_032.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TK9qciaAU-I/AAAAAAAAAzY/Y21Vq7yd7XM/s1600/Crayon_rolls_020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TK9qciaAU-I/AAAAAAAAAzY/Y21Vq7yd7XM/s1600/Crayon_rolls_020.jpg" /></a></div><div class="GBThreadMessageRow_Body_Content"></div><div class="GBThreadMessageRow_Body_Content">You can make your own by following the very first tutorial I ever wrote <a href="http://craftyjennifer.blogspot.com/2009/10/scrap-busterchristmas-gifts.html">here</a>.</div><div class="GBThreadMessageRow_Body_Content"><br />
And the owners of a <a href="http://craftyjennifer.blogspot.com/2009/08/another-blue-green-wedding-gift-quilt.html">wedding quilt</a> I made last summer posted this on Facebook recently too. With the caption: "Thanks for the quilt, Jennifer! Molly loves it."<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TK-SHbOt19I/AAAAAAAAAzc/gNiN7836LdA/s1600/35362_861869210179_14803951_47702975_8189132_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TK-SHbOt19I/AAAAAAAAAzc/gNiN7836LdA/s320/35362_861869210179_14803951_47702975_8189132_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div></div><div class="GBThreadMessageRow_Body_Content">Just gotta love when people love the things you lovingly made for them :-)<br />
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Tomorrow, I am getting together with the <a href="http://tucsonquilts.webs.com/">Tucson Modern Quilt Guild</a> ladies for a little sewing time. Yippee!!! We're each going to make a block or two for a Breast Cancer quilt that we'll then donate.</div>Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07393262997793042729noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967227183869357140.post-67325712953973111202010-10-07T10:42:00.000-07:002010-10-07T10:42:58.973-07:00Still alive!I assure you I am still alive. The past couple weeks have been busy ones in the Crafty household. Unfortunately, most of that busy-ness did not involve crafty-ness. Boohoo!<br />
<br />
But I have some fantastic news! Mr. Crafty got a new job!!! In the past two and a half weeks, he's been a much happier Mr. Crafty. Which I am a BIG fan of!<br />
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He had the world's worst boss at his old job. He was sad to leave the people (except his boss!) but his new job has some fantastic opportunities. He's an Education Specialist for <a href="http://www.cordblood.com/">Cord Blood Registry</a>. He's currently in training and learning all about pregnancy, stem cells, and lots of other information. He'll be helping families decide whether or not to store their babies' cord blood. So exciting!<br />
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I did get one project done recently. And it really made me wish I made the trip to Joann's and bought the specialty ruler. Ah well, live and learn!<br />
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My friends and coaches for Team In Training Ashley and Ryan are expecting their first child. <span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
Ashley and Ryan are waiting to find out the baby's sex. And let me tell you, it is more and more challenging to find gender neutral infant stuff at the store. I did find a super cute duckie sleeper with ducks on the feet and a duck face on the butt and some cute onesies with zoo animals.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TK4FctdJBzI/AAAAAAAAAzM/lkHvAZwsT1g/s1600/ashley's+blanket+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TK4FctdJBzI/AAAAAAAAAzM/lkHvAZwsT1g/s320/ashley's+blanket+001.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
I made the family a fleece blanket. My mom had given me this fabric and I thought it was perfect. I made the blanket more of a rectangle than a square too.<br />
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Ashley is due basically any day now... her "due date" is October 26th but I keep advocating for a 10/10/10 baby! {I mean, seriously, how cool would that be???}<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">{Sidenote: Mr. Crafty's bday is 8/8/81. Pretty cool, right? We had a "Super Golden Birthday" party for him on 8/8/08. And yes, if you did the math, I am about a year and a half older than him.}</span><br />
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We also got a new member of the Crafty family... a new gnome from our alma mater!!!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TK4GIJrfqOI/AAAAAAAAAzQ/EPyT7_OPY6I/s1600/2010-10-05_19.17.07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TK4GIJrfqOI/AAAAAAAAAzQ/EPyT7_OPY6I/s320/2010-10-05_19.17.07.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
The blue one we got last year at Homecoming. He's also my profile picture and his name is Tobias Archibald Anthrax. There is a story behind the name... The yellow gnome with the #1 finger is our new addition to the family. {We actually got 2 of the yellow gnomes because Mr. Crafty wanted one for work because he works with a lot of University of Arizona Wildcats. Boo!}Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07393262997793042729noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967227183869357140.post-48860866562289415402010-09-17T14:07:00.001-07:002010-09-17T14:10:55.867-07:00Frustration...I actually had a whole different blog written. It was my venting about the frustrations I've had the past couple weeks, mainly since Mr. Crafty left for his business trip.<br />
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The AC died last week {and is still very much needed here, it's been over 100 all week} and last night/this morning I found out that our mailman sent all our mail back to the senders. Including my tags for my car. And the DMV is closed today. But I have my printout showing I paid and I don't plan on getting pulled over so I should be OK. Just annoyed. Earlier, I might have been a more than annoyed...<br />
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The original post went much more into all that. And I just deleted it. I am letting it go.<br />
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So there's a back story to the next part of this blog post. When Mr. Crafty and I were planning our wedding, we wrote our own vows. I wanted them to be really personal and really <em>us</em>. I wanted to promise to always eat the pickle from his hamburger. But he thought that people would take that the wrong way. *clears throat* I mean you, Justin & Trevor.<br />
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You see, Mr. Crafty hates pickles. And I love them. He used to order his burgers without pickles. Now he orders them with pickles and picks them off and puts them on my plate. He also loves mushrooms. And I hate them. So I pick them out and put them on his plate. So I wanted to promise to always do that...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TJPXoiaR8LI/AAAAAAAAAy8/NtUUxUX8Uz0/s1600/709.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TJPXoiaR8LI/AAAAAAAAAy8/NtUUxUX8Uz0/s320/709.JPG" /></a></div><br />
Mr. Crafty comes home tomorrow and I am ready for him to be home. We've gone two weeks without really being able to communicate with each other. He gets no cell reception in the part of rural Nebraska where he has spent the last two weeks. He had no desk, computer or phone of his own at work so I couldn't really email him. And there was no phone in his room, weird I know. He's my best friend and I miss him.<br />
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He's spending the night in Omaha before his flight home and the girls he's been working with in rural Nebraska were telling him all the "big city" things to do in Omaha. Apparently, they started making fun of sushi. {This was told to me via IM a bit ago when he got to an area where he actually gets cell reception. Hallelujah for cell reception!}<br />
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So I told him not to eat sushi without me. {I actually have wanted to ask him all week if we can have sushi for dinner tomorrow after he gets home but haven't had a chance.} He said he would never dream of it.<br />
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Mr Crafty: "Nor would I eat the pickle on my burger, that's yours"<br />
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Awwww, come home Mr. Crafty! Come home!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TJPYaHo214I/AAAAAAAAAzE/hEDKKVFlhBI/s1600/trixle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TJPYaHo214I/AAAAAAAAAzE/hEDKKVFlhBI/s320/trixle.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trixie is ready for Mr. Crafty to come home and cuddle too!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07393262997793042729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967227183869357140.post-25007412213225008102010-09-14T14:51:00.000-07:002010-09-14T14:51:04.877-07:00Happy GleeKy Tuesday{I'm going to apologize if this post appears twice. I was out of the office at a recruiting event and sent the post from my phone. Love that mobile posting via email. But the post I wrote never appeared on my page. And it's not in my gmail sent or draft folders. It's apparently lost somewhere in internet-land.}<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TI_tRPQtGgI/AAAAAAAAAy0/m--1Ywcult4/s1600/work+pretties.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TI_tRPQtGgI/AAAAAAAAAy0/m--1Ywcult4/s320/work+pretties.jpg" /></a></div>GLEE Season 1 on DVD!!! And the special issue of people!<br />
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Happy GleeKy Tuesday!!!<br />
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I'd like to thank Target for having the DVD set on sale the day it came out {Target opened at 8am, I stopped by to get mine on my way to the recruiting event at 9:30am}.<br />
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I also may have had an irrational thought when I saw all the other cars in the parking lot of Target. I was worried they were ALL there to get their copy of Glee and they might be out. And then I realized the rest of the Target shoppers probably did not plan their morning around picking of their copy of Glee Season 1 like I did. OK, maybe a couple other shoppers... like my friend Scott who got his at 8am and was at the door waiting for Target to open.<br />
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Now I just have to explain this and the other things I got at Target to Mr. Crafty...Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07393262997793042729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967227183869357140.post-21895792059333509822010-09-10T10:47:00.001-07:002010-09-10T10:48:15.386-07:00Happy FridaySo this week has been crazy! Like crazy, crazy.<br />
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Last night was the first meeting of the <a href="http://www.tucsonquilts.webs.com/">Tucson Modern Quilt Guild</a>! Yippee! The time I should have used to read the 200+ pages I have to get done this weekend, mini-paper & journal response (both due today), I spent meeting the lovely ladies of the new Tucson Modern Quilt Guild. Our kinda-sorta fearless leader is Melanie of <a href="http://www.aboveallfabric.com/">All Above Fabric</a>.<br />
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I have no pics to share because I left my camera and projects to share at home. What??? I know! I ran home, took a quiz for one of my classes, changed and drove over to the meeting. There was a group picture taken and I know it will be posted on either the guild website or Melanie's blog on All Above Fabric. Fantastic ladies! Definitely my type of quilters. And we all seem to have the same fabric problem. We joked that we should be the fabric-holics anonymous.<br />
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If you are in Tucson, love quilting and fresh & modern fabrics, come join us for the next meeting! We're going to meet the 2nd Thursday of each month and have some other activities planned.<br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">But here's the real Happy Friday for me... as of yesterday afternoon, this beauty is mine. ALL MINE!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TIpt4-weJVI/AAAAAAAAAys/4DUI7GVN-nA/s1600/product-front-13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" ox="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TIpt4-weJVI/AAAAAAAAAys/4DUI7GVN-nA/s400/product-front-13.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo from Mac website</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">Yes, I am now the PROUD owner of a 13-in MacBook Pro! I have always been a Mac girl but somewhere along the line, I ended up owning a PC laptop. And then a PC desktop - which really is Mr. Crafty's computer. I was tired of using the PC, especially being tethered to the computer desk. So I finally persuaded Mr. Crafty that I NEEDED this. I was stalking my laptop via FedEx tracking all week. And yesterday at 12:53pm, it arrived.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">Mr. Crafty also got a 160GB iPod Classic to replace his dying 5-year old 64GB iPod. So don't go feeling bad for him. Except that his new iPod arrived on Tuesday, the day after he left for his two week business trip. So he doesn't even get to enjoy it yet :-(</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">Now I just have to figure out how to set up our old wireless router...</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">{unless one of my neighbors wants to let me "borrow" their wireless}</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07393262997793042729noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967227183869357140.post-28519362708594076012010-09-09T09:19:00.000-07:002010-09-09T09:19:20.915-07:00Some Thursday fun!My parents have lived in their house since my mom was preggers with me. So they've been there about 31 years now {no, I'm only 30, remember I said she was preggers}. The house is still nearly all original. Or is it vintage? They still have the original chocolate brown shag-ish carpet and the dark wood kitchen cabinets. The dark brown carpets were pretty handy for raising two kids and several pets!<br />
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For the past several years, my mom has been talking about the renovations she wants to do. And other than replacing the sliding door to the backyard with French doors last summer {or the summer before} not much has happened.<br />
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Until now! Mom retired from teaching the end of this past school year and now they are starting some of the renovations. They are getting new kitchen cabinets and countertops, basically a new kitchen but with the same appliances they already have.<br />
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In preparation for the new cabinets, they need to clean out 31 years worth of stuff in their old cabinets. Last night, my dad emails pics of a cordless electric ice cream maker he found. I have a sneaking suspicion that it was a gift at their wedding in 1975<br />
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And this morning he emailed this:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TIkHn106DvI/AAAAAAAAAyk/8kEmsjHgyPc/s1600/P9090001%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" ox="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TIkHn106DvI/AAAAAAAAAyk/8kEmsjHgyPc/s640/P9090001%5B1%5D.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
To which, I had the following email conversation with him:<br />
Me: I want it!!! Can I have it????<br />
Dad: Rescuing it from the Upward Foundation donation on the sidewalk, now! What would have happened if I hadn't taken a picture of it?!<br />
Me: I would have been devastated. Completely crushed. That snowcone maker is awesome!<br />
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I remember making Snoopy Sno Cones in little Dixie cups with my older brother. We'd cover them in Kool-Aid. <br />
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And now it is mine. Just like our original Nintendo {I claimed that one several years ago}. My brother needs to be faster on the draw! Or maybe this is just karma coming back at him for when he used to sell me his old toys for my allowance. <br />
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In case you were wondering, the AC got fixed late Tuesday morning, thank heavens! It was a blown fuse ($200!) but the whole unit is 15-16 years old and will need to be replaced soon. Bleh!Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07393262997793042729noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967227183869357140.post-4705511687713337092010-09-08T15:37:00.001-07:002010-09-08T15:38:51.185-07:00Know what makes me smile?Do you know what makes me smile? Seriously grinning ear to ear?<br />
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When someone uses a quilt I gave them as a gift. This is a pic of my friend Dana's daughter Taylor. <span style="font-size: xx-small;">{Since she is not my child, I covered her face.}</span> She is still using the quilt I gave her as a baby. Taylor is 3 {I think, her birth announcement is still on my fridge at home so you'd think I'd know that answer!} and she just moved into her big girl bed so mom posted this pic to her Facebook page.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TIgPOYWYxKI/AAAAAAAAAyc/5bUIPAH5qjg/s1600/taylor%27s+quilt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TIgPOYWYxKI/AAAAAAAAAyc/5bUIPAH5qjg/s320/taylor%27s+quilt.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Seriously makes me grin from ear to ear. Not because it's a perfect quilt by any means. But because it is being used and loved and not stashed somewhere in a closet {like I know my nieces' quilts are, don't get me started on that!}. My boss' daughter is 5 and still uses her quilt every night. She calls it her "cold blanket" because the cotton is cool.<br />
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This is why I quilt gifts for friends and family.Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07393262997793042729noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967227183869357140.post-68410888118696383652010-09-07T08:03:00.000-07:002010-09-07T08:03:50.608-07:00Problem = crafty solutionLast week, the new semester started. And I had a problem. And it required a crafty solution!<br />
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My online class that runs from now until mid-December has an 800+ page text book (and yes, I will read basically all of it). And for some reason, the textbook manufacturer made this textbook a paperback. And I found it way too floppy and knew it would drive me nuts.<br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">So I made my paperback book into a hard cover!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TIZOYkn70yI/AAAAAAAAAxc/s8yjl4oZpw8/s1600/book+solution+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TIZOYkn70yI/AAAAAAAAAxc/s8yjl4oZpw8/s320/book+solution+001.jpg" /></a></div>(Book cover from Target. Hurry, you might still be able to find them on clearance! It's paper and comes in a pack of three. It's meant to be colored with Sharpies but I'm also using crayons & highlighters)<br />
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I didn't take any in progress photos, mostly because I wasn't sure if it would work.<br />
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Here's what I did:<br />
1. Found a couple sturdy boxes that I could cut up.<br />
2. Trace around the book to get the 2 outer layer cardboard pieces.<br />
3. Line up the 2 cut pieces to make sure they are the right sizes and trim as needed. I ended up trimming about 1/4"-1/2" off one of the long sides<br />
4. Trace the outer cut pieces again for my inner layer cardboard pieces. These need to be cut about 1/2" smaller on the long side because they go on the inside of the cover.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TIZPrE4T0FI/AAAAAAAAAxk/D8j8gnpvv68/s1600/book+solution+004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TIZPrE4T0FI/AAAAAAAAAxk/D8j8gnpvv68/s320/book+solution+004.jpg" /></a></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(You can see why the book cover was necessary...)</span></div><br />
5. Layer the outer layer on top and the inner layer inside the front cover and secure with rubber bands. Then tape the outer edges of the carboard (NOT the book, if you want to sell this book back). One thing I wish I had done was smooth out my rubber bands before taping. I can feel their twistedness through the book cover. Oh well, if it really bugs me, I can fix it.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TIZPsxDzxCI/AAAAAAAAAxs/oCg5T_zucZg/s1600/book+solution+003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TIZPsxDzxCI/AAAAAAAAAxs/oCg5T_zucZg/s320/book+solution+003.jpg" /></a></div>6. Cover your new hardcover book with a book cover. I learned how to cover books from my junior year pre-calc teacher in HS. Never knew it would come in handy 14 years later!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TIZRtVmNFFI/AAAAAAAAAx0/ygLq7BmaSlA/s1600/book+solution+002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TIZRtVmNFFI/AAAAAAAAAx0/ygLq7BmaSlA/s320/book+solution+002.jpg" /></a></div>I'm sure there are instructions on how to cover a book online but if you have questions, I can walk you through it.<br />
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On an unrelated note, the AC died last night. Ugh! I left at 5pm to meet some people for a run, ran to Target and Chipotle on my way home and when I got home at 8pm, the living room was 85 degrees (and got up to about 87). And the AC was blowing hot air. Of course this happened the DAY Mr. Crafty left for a 2 week long business trip. As if I wasn't going to miss him enough, he usually deals with things like this (not that I'm not capable, he just usually does them). So now, instead of going to work, I am waiting for the AC repairman to show up. Sleep last night was pretty miserable. I'm a grumpy (and sweaty) version of myself. I guess that's enough of my pity party.<br />
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Here's a couple pics of the crafty assistants "assisting" Mr. Crafty with his packing.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TIZTgmG8IuI/AAAAAAAAAyE/SBPp5orfwAY/s1600/Trixie+%26+summer+2010+gatos+093.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TIZTgmG8IuI/AAAAAAAAAyE/SBPp5orfwAY/s320/Trixie+%26+summer+2010+gatos+093.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Rory making sure the garment bag flap did not blow away</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TIZTrLWXFTI/AAAAAAAAAyM/SRkrggdnuS4/s1600/Trixie+%26+summer+2010+gatos+098.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TIZTrLWXFTI/AAAAAAAAAyM/SRkrggdnuS4/s320/Trixie+%26+summer+2010+gatos+098.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Maggie supervising</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TIZT5eNEblI/AAAAAAAAAyU/jNVKOuLoYw0/s1600/Trixie+%26+summer+2010+gatos+103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TIZT5eNEblI/AAAAAAAAAyU/jNVKOuLoYw0/s320/Trixie+%26+summer+2010+gatos+103.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Trixie tried to sneak a ride to Nebraska in Mr. Crafty's duffle bag. She played in that thing for like 20 minutes.</div></div>Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07393262997793042729noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967227183869357140.post-64865374547722248072010-08-31T06:27:00.000-07:002010-08-31T06:27:18.170-07:00A Bee Block for Bibi<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TH0BVnC4HwI/AAAAAAAAAw8/r9hXuNX04y4/s1600/Bibi%27s+block+003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TH0BVnC4HwI/AAAAAAAAAw8/r9hXuNX04y4/s320/Bibi%27s+block+003.jpg" /></a></div>For August in the <a href="http://coast2coastbee.blogspot.com/">Coast 2 Coast Block Party Bee</a>, Bibi asked us to make a block for her son using some of her fantastic scraps and <a href="http://www.ohfransson.com/oh_fransson/2009/07/map-of-the-states-blocks.html">Oh Fransson's Map of the States tutorial</a>. I really like how this turned out. It was a fun bee block to make, although I'm not sure that I'd like to do it for a whole quilt. It is a bit time consuming because you are basically fussy cutting each piece. But I did love being able to pick which part of the fabric I could use.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TH0BVnC4HwI/AAAAAAAAAw8/r9hXuNX04y4/s1600/Bibi%27s+block+003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TH0BVnC4HwI/AAAAAAAAAw8/r9hXuNX04y4/s320/Bibi%27s+block+003.jpg" /></a></div><br />
And for those Trixie fans out there {I keep joking with Mr. Crafty that I need to make her a Facebook fan page} she was "helping" me when I got out my cutting board to cut my batting down to size for my brother's quilt.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TH0BeAlbwDI/AAAAAAAAAxE/eiXh5bX9T2Y/s1600/Trixie+%26+summer+2010+gatos+083.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TH0BeAlbwDI/AAAAAAAAAxE/eiXh5bX9T2Y/s320/Trixie+%26+summer+2010+gatos+083.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Don't worry, she was no where near the sharp sissors. She spent some time in the bathroom with her toys. She cried the entire time and made me feel bad. But she hasn't learned what is and what is not a toy. She also hasn't learned that <em>I</em> am not actually a jungle gym and that she should not play <em>on</em> me with her claws out. Trust me, I have the scratches to prove it!Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07393262997793042729noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967227183869357140.post-24914664349768616262010-08-27T13:01:00.000-07:002010-08-27T13:01:32.233-07:00This morning's amusementI don't often talk about work around here. I work for a state university in their Extended Campuses. Which means these days {not the "glory days" three years ago} there is very little money for even office supplies.<br />
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Mr. Crafty likes to joke about how I work for Northern Arizona University in southern Arizona. Yes, I work for <em>Northern</em> Arizona University in <em>southern</em> Arizona {we're a 4 hour drive from the main campus but the entire Extended Campuses divsion accounts for 1/3rd of NAU's students}. I don't know why Mr. Crafty finds this so amusing, he finished the degree he started at the main campus in Flagstaff here in Tucson and is the "poster child" for Extended Campuses. Ok, maybe not the poster child... but he really is exactly like the students we see here. But I digress...<br />
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Part of my job, and now an ever increasing part of my job, is recruiting. Remember how I said that we are a state university and we have very little money? When our higher ups announced this new recruitiment push, we asked if we could have our color laser printer back. No printer :-(<br />
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So next I asked if I could get 1 ream of each color of paper. Yes, just one ream. And I got it. I think I actually did a happy dance when my coworker told me she was ordering color paper for me and what colors did I want.<br />
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So today, I am updating my recruiting bag {which is a 5 year old scrapbooking bag bought online from Joann's for half price that is falling apart} and I pulled my reams of color paper out of their hiding place. Oh yes, I have to hide them or our faculty would have used them up by now. No joke. One of our faculty members took the brand new spindle of 100 CD's from the supply cabinet. We haven't been able to replace it yet so if I need to take a powerpoint or something with me, I have to put it on my personal thumb drive or email it to myself. So you can see why my reams of color paper were hidden. Ahhh, I digressed again...<br />
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So these are the pretty views I got while manning {or womanning} the copier.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/THgYnc9tWTI/AAAAAAAAAwQ/iPrrnbDej38/s1600/work+pretties+002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/THgYnc9tWTI/AAAAAAAAAwQ/iPrrnbDej38/s320/work+pretties+002.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/THgYr1CLqsI/AAAAAAAAAwY/KPrF0y59dlM/s1600/work+pretties+003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/THgYr1CLqsI/AAAAAAAAAwY/KPrF0y59dlM/s320/work+pretties+003.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/THgYxjHr_0I/AAAAAAAAAwg/Mt_HeAk2SM4/s1600/work+pretties+006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/THgYxjHr_0I/AAAAAAAAAwg/Mt_HeAk2SM4/s320/work+pretties+006.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Anyone else see a future quilt in there? I sure do! The white sheets in between the colors are my originals and they definitely look like sashing to me.<br />
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Look at those strata of pretty! Yes, that's a geology reference. It's like the layers of strata in the Grand Canyon or Sedona but in color paper.Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07393262997793042729noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967227183869357140.post-71800108569676365612010-08-26T20:18:00.003-07:002010-08-26T20:22:29.391-07:00Couple of things I've been working onHmmm, my month of crafty-ness during my four week break from school really has not materialized. And now I have 2 classes that start on Monday. Boo!<br />
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What was I thinking doing another master's degree? Some days, I have no clue! And although I haven't had classes to worry about, August is always killer at work. Working for a university, it is usually one of our busiest times of the year.<br />
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I have done a couple projects I wanted to share with you. And I am finishing up a couple things this week too. I'll show you those when I am done.<br />
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{I also have finished 3 and a half non-school books. All of them total chick lit. I found during my first master's program that chick lit was my anti-school reading. It's easy on the brain. And usually a fast read. Perhaps that might be part of the reason I haven't completed many projects?}<br />
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A couple weeks ago, I had to travel to Phoenix {4 hours roundtrip in the car} for work twice in three days. The first trip, I didn't bring anything in the car with me since quilting is not typically very mobile. But I was insanely jealous of my co-worker/friend Emily who worked on a crocheted blanket in the car. So the second trip to & from Phoenix, I made this.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/THcqlT2nwAI/AAAAAAAAAvw/eZWIFaMWXL4/s1600/2010-08-12+16.13.19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/THcqlT2nwAI/AAAAAAAAAvw/eZWIFaMWXL4/s320/2010-08-12+16.13.19.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/THcqpSA2tpI/AAAAAAAAAv4/Z4GYIO7_mhM/s1600/2010-08-12+16.13.27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/THcqpSA2tpI/AAAAAAAAAv4/Z4GYIO7_mhM/s320/2010-08-12+16.13.27.jpg" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Pardon the crappy pics, I took them in the car with my cell phone. This is currently in our kitchen but it's been raining each night this week when I got home from work so I haven't gotten a better pic yet. Also, the towel was an old towle because I am still learning and didn't want to "screw up" a new one.<br />
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Oh, and Mr. Crafty's comment when I showed him: "Cool! But why'd you use the towel I wiped car grease on?" Ummm, Mr. Crafty, why are you using our kitchen towels on the cars when we have an entire supply of shop rags from Costco? {sigh, MEN!}</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>Both are <a href="http://www.sublimestitching.com/">Jenny Hart's Sublime Stitching</a> designs. {I added the "Sweet!" to the old man lemon}<br />
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Last Saturday, Mr. Crafty & I drove to Phoenix/Mesa to celebrate my dad's birthday. He loves bowling, so we went bowling after lunch. And by some miracle, I beat BOTH Mr. Crafty {Dan} AND my dad {Steve} in both games.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/THcrYhmkzyI/AAAAAAAAAwA/pKREQBTRNtM/s1600/Dad%27s+2010+birthday+039.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/THcrYhmkzyI/AAAAAAAAAwA/pKREQBTRNtM/s320/Dad%27s+2010+birthday+039.jpg" /></a></div>{My brother, who flew in from Missouri for the weekend, beat me both games. But we won't talk about that, it'll just give him an even bigger head than he already has}<br />
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Anyway, the crafty part of the visit...<br />
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I STILL haven't finished my brother and sis-in-law's quilt that was their Christmas present. The top has been done since December 23rd but I just have not gotten it put together. I have excuses galore... but...<br />
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To make peace, I ran to Target Saturday morning on my way home from my run with <a href="http://pages.teamintraining.org/dm/nikesf10/jennifer">the Team</a> {still <a href="http://pages.teamintraining.org/dm/nikesf10/jennifer">accepting donations for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society</a>. And I ain't too proud to beg} and grabbed some clearance kitchen towels. I actually was looking for some striped ones but couldn't find any but stumbled on these on one of the clearance endcaps. Oh, how I love Target! I wasn't sure how they would work since they are waffle towles but they came out OK. There is a second towel for my brother, but I only got this one finished during the ride up there so I just didn't mention the second one. These are also Jenny Hart designs, from her China Town collection.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/THctVIJWiJI/AAAAAAAAAwI/Kgz_zwGzLuU/s1600/embroidery+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/THctVIJWiJI/AAAAAAAAAwI/Kgz_zwGzLuU/s320/embroidery+001.jpg" /></a></div><br />
The top symbol is double happiness and my brother and {Chinese} sis-in-law used this all over in the decorations for their wedding reception. I used backstitch and stem stitch for these.<br />
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More to come later this week... hopefully including the <a href="http://craftyjennifer.blogspot.com/2010/08/crafting-for-cause.html">Raspberry Limeade Pinwheel quilt</a> tutorial/patternJenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07393262997793042729noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967227183869357140.post-15154826218445526082010-08-21T04:43:00.000-07:002010-08-21T04:43:24.021-07:00Dream On Winner<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TG-5Kq4xqiI/AAAAAAAAAvY/q152JadzqFM/s1600/blogiversary+giveaway+006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TG-5Kq4xqiI/AAAAAAAAAvY/q152JadzqFM/s320/blogiversary+giveaway+006.jpg" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Wow, 249 comments! I originally thought I would be happy with like 50 comments.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I enjoyed reading all your comments and am trying to respond to every comment personally. I still have a few more to go. And I am not sure if the emails I sent from my phone went through, sometimes I think my phone hates me, but it's close to time to get new phones. {Don't get me wrong, for the most part the G1 has been great and I have yet to pay for an app but sometimes I email Mr. Crafty and he doesn't get it}</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I selfishly asked the question about your favorite part of summer because this is the time of year where I get fed up with summer. Living in the desert Southwest, summer lasts a really long time. And it's monsoon season so now it's hot AND humid. But many of you reminded me the good parts about summer. And now I really want to try to plant a little garden here next spring. Our townhouse has less than perfect conditions for a garden, a teeny backyard that gets sun nearly all day. Oh yeah, and I have a black thumb. I once killed bamboo in my office. But I digress...</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">{In case you were wondering, my favorite season is spring}</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>And now for the winner...<br />
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Drum roll please...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TG-5dQDXyeI/AAAAAAAAAvg/-hZkeYMNRpg/s1600/dream+on+winner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" ox="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TG-5dQDXyeI/AAAAAAAAAvg/-hZkeYMNRpg/s200/dream+on+winner.jpg" width="174" /></a></div>And the winner is... Joy!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TG-5wH0fL9I/AAAAAAAAAvo/qvD7u2g82Yo/s1600/dream+on+winner+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TG-5wH0fL9I/AAAAAAAAAvo/qvD7u2g82Yo/s320/dream+on+winner+1.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Joy, I'll be sending you an email in a little bit. I'm off to run 14 miles with my friends in <a href="http://pages.teamintraining.org/dm/nikesf10/jennifer">Team In Training</a> so it might be later today. {Yes, it's 4:30am as I am writing this}Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07393262997793042729noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967227183869357140.post-5980459050109869782010-08-09T19:12:00.000-07:002010-08-09T19:12:28.731-07:00Crafting for a cause<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Looking for my blog-iversary giveaway? See the next post... but please read here first! Thank you.</span><br />
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I have talked about this a couple other times but I am currently raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society as a member of <a href="http://pages.teamintraining.org/dm/nikesf10/jennifer">Team In Training</a>. As part of my training for the Nike Women's Marathon on October 17th, I pledged to raise $3500 for this great organization and their mission. They provide support for patients and their families, as well as research for new treatments and to find a cure for blood cancers. A cure for blood cancers could mean a cure for ALL cancers.<br />
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While this is a cause near and dear to my heart, it really hit home for me again recently. Our coordinator, who lost her husband 11 years ago to cancer, was just diagnosed with breast cancer herself. Ironically, her husband was a scientist who worked on the early stages of a cancer treatment drug that probably would have saved his life. Here is a woman who spends her days helping those and their families battle cancer, assisting people like me with their fundraising, and coordinating recruiting new participants, travel plans for our races and basically working her butt off. And her response "I'll be fine" and somewhere in there she also reminded all of us to get our yearly exams too. My 12 mile hill run {yes, I said 12 miles and hills together} on Saturday morning was dedicated to her and others that have been recently diagnosed.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TGCzBgwKtrI/AAAAAAAAAvA/yK6Ivra-DAw/s1600/Quilts+for+LLS+010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TGCzBgwKtrI/AAAAAAAAAvA/yK6Ivra-DAw/s320/Quilts+for+LLS+010.jpg" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Now you don't have to get up at 4am and do a 20 mile training run, <a href="http://pages.teamintraining.org/dm/nikesf10/jennifer">I'll do that for you</a>. There are too many children and adults out there going through their own marathons - with cancer treatment. I want to help these people but I need your help to do that.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TGC1KTAqHUI/AAAAAAAAAvI/8RkURfV_oFU/s1600/combined.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TGC1KTAqHUI/AAAAAAAAAvI/8RkURfV_oFU/s320/combined.jpg" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">As part of <a href="http://pages.teamintraining.org/dm/nikesf10/jennifer">my fundraising for LLS</a>, I am raffling off two quilts I've made, pictured above & below. Both a lap quilt-sized, with the Land & Sea (blue & green) measuring approx 46" x 52" and the Raspberry Limeade (pink & green) measuring approx 42" x 60". Every $10 donated to this cause gets you 1 raffle entry, and each $50 gets you an additional entry. Example: donate $30, get 3 entries; donate $50, get 6 entries; and donate $100, get 12 entries. Winners for each quilt will be drawn at random August 25th.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Make your tax-deductible, secure online donation here: <a href="http://pages.teamintraining.org/dm/nikesf10/jennifer">http://pages.teamintraining.org/dm/nikesf10/jennifer</a> </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">AND you get an extra TWO entries for each friend that you refer to this raffle that makes a donation. Have your friend put your name in the "additional comments" section on the donation page or email me at <a href="mailto:jennifer.wellborn@gmail.com">jennifer.wellborn@gmail.com</a>.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Thank you for your support!</div>Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07393262997793042729noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967227183869357140.post-70898526522859928232010-08-09T18:49:00.006-07:002010-08-23T12:53:05.138-07:00First Blog-iversary Giveaway!!!<div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: red;">GIVEAWAY CLOSED!</span></strong></div><br />
A couple days ago marked one year since my <a href="http://craftyjennifer.blogspot.com/2009/08/attempting-to-be-witty-and-crafty.html">first crafty blog post</a> ever. I missed celebrating with all of you on the actual day for several reasons. The main reasons are that I finished 2 summer school classes the day before, then reported to jury duty and was trying to figure out what to do for Mr. Crafty's birthday {which was yesterday}. I am happy to report that in the past week, I have read TWO non-school books. But not much crafty to report. Oh, I did make these <a href="http://craftyjennifer.blogspot.com/2010/08/happy-birthday-mr-crafty.html">delicious snickerdoodle cupcakes for Mr. Crafty</a>...<br />
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By the end of this month I hope to have a <a href="http://craftyjennifer.blogspot.com/2010/08/crafting-for-cause.html">pattern/tutorial for this quilt</a>... saying it out loud will make me do it, right?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TGCvjTuQe3I/AAAAAAAAAu4/VHxKwBXnz_Y/s1600/Quilts+for+LLS+013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TGCvjTuQe3I/AAAAAAAAAu4/VHxKwBXnz_Y/s320/Quilts+for+LLS+013.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>Anyway, now to the giveaway. I thought about this over the past couple months. What did I really want to share with all of you? When I saw the <a href="http://www.fatquartershop.com/Dream-On-Urban-Chiks-Moda-Fabrics.asp">Dream On line by Urban Chiks for Moda</a>, I knew I wanted to give some Dream On away... and then I got it in my home and started thinking I might keep it. I love the vintage sheet-ish feel to it and I am a floral fan but more the 60's & 70's florals than your traditional florals.But I am not keeping it, I am giving it away to some lucky reader!<br />
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Here's what you get: Uptown Girl pattern by Carolina Patchworks and three charm packs of Dream On<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TGCt8THxGdI/AAAAAAAAAuw/P_zppkMlTZs/s1600/blogiversary+giveaway+006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TGCt8THxGdI/AAAAAAAAAuw/P_zppkMlTZs/s400/blogiversary+giveaway+006.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<strong><span style="color: red;">GIVEAWAY CLOSED!</span></strong><br />
AND you get more than one opportunity to enter to win. Here's all the ways you can enter {please leave a separate comment for each}:<br />
1. Tell me what you favorite part of summer is<br />
2. Follow my blog {or tell me that you already follow}<br />
3. Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment with a link to your blog<br />
4. Make a donation to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society <a href="http://pages.teamintraining.org/dm/nikesf10/jennifer">here</a> and leave me a comment letting you know that you donated. This also enters you to win one of two quilts that are being raffled by me for this great cause.<br />
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Please make sure that I have a way to contact you :-)<br />
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A winner will be randomly drawn on August 20th at 9pm Arizona time. Happy crafting!!!Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07393262997793042729noreply@blogger.com244tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967227183869357140.post-43419569343302458762010-08-06T19:03:00.002-07:002010-08-09T10:03:35.145-07:00Happy birthday Mr. Crafty<div class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TFy-__X1tII/AAAAAAAAAuo/HURflqk9SFw/s1600/2010-08-06+18.58.08-722642.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502482851292361858" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TFy-__X1tII/AAAAAAAAAuo/HURflqk9SFw/s320/2010-08-06+18.58.08-722642.jpg" /></a></div>Sunday is Mr. Crafty's birthday but I just made these snickerdoodle cupcakes when I got home from work today. I wanted to share with you. I haven't sampled them yet {OK, maybe a bit of frosting} because Mr. Crafty is stuck at work :-(<br />
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<em>Edited: OMG, they are soooooo delicious! I had to take some to work for fear that I would eat all of them myself.</em><br />
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I'll post a link to the recipe soon. Writing this post on my phone from my kitchen while I make dinner for one :-(<br />
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<em>Edited - Here's the recipe: </em><a href="http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2010/07/snickerdoodle_cake_for_cinnamo.html"><em>http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2010/07/snickerdoodle_cake_for_cinnamo.html</em></a><em>. I didn't use the applesauce & used an entire stick of butter for the batter. I threw in a little bit of extra cinnamon in the frosting too</em>Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07393262997793042729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967227183869357140.post-26087225981505451302010-08-04T16:26:00.001-07:002010-08-04T16:27:09.375-07:00First Blog-iversary Coming Soon!!!I'll be posting a fantastic first blog-iversary giveaway very soon. Make sure you check it out...<br />
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{<span style="font-size: x-small;">On a somewhat related note, I am DONE with summer school and have almost 4 weeks until the start of my next classes. I think I am still rocking the 4.0GPA too!</span> Oh, the crafty things I have planned...}Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07393262997793042729noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967227183869357140.post-39891040585708343722010-07-29T10:23:00.001-07:002010-07-29T11:36:44.019-07:00OMG, Holiday Happy giveaway!!!<a href="http://lovelylittlehandmades.blogspot.com/2010/07/christmas-in-july-giveaway.html?showComment=1280423964490_AIe9_BEXjNOyv1gTWQjPQzicVzN_odt7kYYUG3qYCSwHUybYDENqC7w40uODVzM_jP6_xnDF5vqGMIXMtWg3WWrId3Ohp5BTLDshSwV1-sBeu4KsbUTbMg1AX6JjjzRZ9hSN_Y_YUPiLwsmbpMohMMa6pyHXarmPF-mWn6rHHV_YCyDENuzGC5FByP-q_MkhrMAZmee-BewqtliqWhmCS0nXroJwaxJYvgtvy9vw8SG8itk_fLY-xxm8NQ_JlVYVB6ju9Qyhi9guyTC2kRalpDwobeR9pC2XSZSOfGbzdj1Ss31x3WYO-se3uHsSRt5uupeFEevXzW18ednDZjqap0OvGuR24lyGzRReHHj0LGLPvKtUKJZ-ROLBT2XKWCGV_eMyIzARX8UQCsi1LespKQCtinakCeyEGFkJRbTx2oSbi1Va5V7ikWBQOi2pQzuzvANGlMO2t7ssi7onHxiQboTN0025VECphFiDW6K6Q4T6dotIHmzfgKVD3OEd58FwnTEnC5wJVhRu12a9i_MzWMIfO4Z5zSUf-_KYJ4t4ysclHjMzsHTsZ_KdLatQ-Y77p5grcUzXMFdrvjCnKp_Hq5nsVODuKyh_yb3KKP_dagz54YbVWN96q47un5VXCJIMChg915_i4t-LcTY03mZBF2QznTvJLJs3L1GLu7cyW-Tn0YAELtQHP3HRaTTplmEIs30jGotNT_UtthyxesbRMUfTxvEgvQvMUXr3QHnbnLVwteXnLjzUBVoS9YZZtOs_axBGO3yHRUzyy95dYC4p1Apk_gcVewFq0MxjTuAPAWGV8rgtPfLnEko2nOsB8Jq5zqjqnlxA-3Y6u-iDyRrV9MQF9tYCFoBUnP21KlKHwuhiu-4DBl6ZgLY#c9099702850819479860">Kerri at Lovely Little Handmades</a> is giving away Holiday Happy by Monica of <a href="http://thehappyzombie.com/blog/">Happy Zombie</a>!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TFG4qQrejDI/AAAAAAAAAuY/rSOKYyFwDZ0/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TFG4qQrejDI/AAAAAAAAAuY/rSOKYyFwDZ0/s320/1.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Just look at that fabulousness!!!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TFG4773hllI/AAAAAAAAAug/r6uOyG9SDqE/s1600/gnome_panel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TFG4773hllI/AAAAAAAAAug/r6uOyG9SDqE/s320/gnome_panel.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">P.S. Here's my <a href="http://craftyjennifer.blogspot.com/2010/06/i-need-this-someone-please-explain-to.html">previous blog</a> about my love for this line... You can see more photos of the line and links too.</div>Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07393262997793042729noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967227183869357140.post-71398796146465296362010-07-26T14:07:00.003-07:002010-08-11T11:23:54.906-07:00Quick baby tutorialHaha, I guess that should read Quick Tutorial for Baby. That sounds like I am giving you a quick tutorial on how to make a baby, not make something for baby...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TE32BsjQblI/AAAAAAAAAto/x9FGxSzuBJM/s1600/Baby+tie+onesie+007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hw="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TE32BsjQblI/AAAAAAAAAto/x9FGxSzuBJM/s320/Baby+tie+onesie+007.jpg" /></a></div><div align="center" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Hehe, that photo's title on my computer is "baby tie onesie 007". Little baby James Bond :-)</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Anywhoooo, I had a baby shower to go to on Saturday {same day as my anniversary with Mr. Crafty} and I debated briefly about not going, since it was my anniversary and I purposely took a day off from homework {it's finals week for my two summer classes, ahhhhhh!} to spend with Mr. Crafty. And Mr. Crafty has been super understanding about the lack of fun I have been since January.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Except that I've known my friend that is expecting her first baby for about 25 years. We met when we were in kindergarten and her mom was our Girl Scout leader for 13 years. So how could I not go?</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Jaime & her hubby Keith are expecting a boy around August 19th. Too many of my friends are having kids for me to be able to keep up with making baby quilts but I wanted to make something for Jaime's little boy. I've seen some of these on Etsy and I knew I could make my own.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Now I should mention that I got home from a 10 mile run and shopping for the shower around 10:30am, needed to shower, blow dry my hair & get ready for the shower that started at 1pm. And I managed to do all of those things, despite my fight with my sewing machine. More on that fight later.</div><div align="center" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">All I used for this project is:</div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">*Onesie (mine was 6-9 months, I didn't want to make it too small so his window to wear it would be too small)</div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">*Scrap of fabric - I picked black with swirls but I debated about using something more kid-like. But this way he can have a "dressy" onesie, right?</div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">*Heat N Bond Lite</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">*Coordinating thread</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">*Sewing machine</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">*Scissors</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TE32aPWjpuI/AAAAAAAAAtw/Q3mLjjrMhrQ/s1600/Baby+tie+onesie+002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hw="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TE32aPWjpuI/AAAAAAAAAtw/Q3mLjjrMhrQ/s320/Baby+tie+onesie+002.jpg" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><strong>Step 1:</strong> Attach a small piece of Heat N Bond to scrap of fabric. Little trick here: I cut my Heat N Bond a little bigger than my scrap and iron onto a paper bag instead of my ironing board cover. That way, the Heat N Bond goes all the way to the edges and I don't have to worry about placement or accidentially getting the sticky Heat N Bond on my ironing board {which I may or may not have done before}<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TE32vzwZ7lI/AAAAAAAAAt4/GxxQymn_E3U/s1600/Baby+tie+onesie+003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hw="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TE32vzwZ7lI/AAAAAAAAAt4/GxxQymn_E3U/s320/Baby+tie+onesie+003.jpg" /></a></div><strong>Step 2:</strong> Sketch out your tie and cut it out<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TE33JVVGKyI/AAAAAAAAAuA/zygltQzpTAQ/s1600/Baby+tie+onesie+004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hw="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TE33JVVGKyI/AAAAAAAAAuA/zygltQzpTAQ/s320/Baby+tie+onesie+004.jpg" /></a></div><strong>Step 3:</strong> Peel off Heat N Bond backing and position on onesie. Iron the tie onto onesie (follow directions on Heat N Bond packaging). Now the Heat N Bond will hold the applique to the onesie on it's own but I zigzag stitched around the edges of mine to prevent fraying. But you can be done here, if you want & then this is a no-sew project.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TE33nbjivxI/AAAAAAAAAuI/wDoHrjFnA7c/s1600/Baby+tie+onesie+005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hw="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TE33nbjivxI/AAAAAAAAAuI/wDoHrjFnA7c/s320/Baby+tie+onesie+005.jpg" /></a></div><strong>Step 4:</strong> Place stabilizer on the inside of the onesie. I pinned mine down really well because the onesie had lots of stretch to it. Also, be careful when you are sewing that you do not accidentially sew the back of the onesie to the front. There isn't as much play in this project as there are in larger ones so just be conscious of that when sewing.<br />
{Here is where the sewing machine & I got into a fight. My thread kept breaking and what should have taken me about 2 minutes took about 20. I wasn't in love with how my stitching came out but I got to the point where it looked OK and I was done. I mean really done}<br />
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<strong>Step 5:</strong> Remove excess stabilizer from the back. This will be up against baby's skin so you want to make sure to get as much of it off as you can. I use the tear-away stabilizer.<br />
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And you are done!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TE32BsjQblI/AAAAAAAAAto/x9FGxSzuBJM/s1600/Baby+tie+onesie+007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hw="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TE32BsjQblI/AAAAAAAAAto/x9FGxSzuBJM/s320/Baby+tie+onesie+007.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And not to be outdone, this adorableness is going on behind me. Which is good because I was convinced that someone gave Trixie (the new kitten) some crack or an entire bag of sugar or something because she was going crazy earlier. She attacked my head while I was writing a paper on the couch earlier. Just a couple days ago, Rory stopped hissing at her and running away and started playing with her. Now Trixie won't leave her alone.</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TE37YNU3iMI/AAAAAAAAAuQ/7-S7sjBMqEI/s1600/Baby+tie+onesie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hw="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TE37YNU3iMI/AAAAAAAAAuQ/7-S7sjBMqEI/s320/Baby+tie+onesie.jpg" /></a></div>Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07393262997793042729noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967227183869357140.post-46522239781415205792010-07-24T10:34:00.020-07:002010-08-11T11:21:28.353-07:00Happy Anniversary Mr. Crafty6 years ago, Mr. Crafty & I got married in beautiful Flagstaff, AZ. It poured rain and hail for our outdoor ceremony {we planned it for 1pm since it normally rained later in the afternoon but no such luck} but we still had a fantastic time.<br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TEnUkSE8ZBI/AAAAAAAAAtI/vIg-3J8e7pQ/s1600/705.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hw="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TEnUkSE8ZBI/AAAAAAAAAtI/vIg-3J8e7pQ/s320/705.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TEnTtVY-eeI/AAAAAAAAAsw/eZKto-dPcPI/s1600/173.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hw="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TEnTtVY-eeI/AAAAAAAAAsw/eZKto-dPcPI/s320/173.JPG" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TEnTYVE5kAI/AAAAAAAAAsg/3I3XKwfwTpE/s1600/153.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" hw="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TEnTYVE5kAI/AAAAAAAAAsg/3I3XKwfwTpE/s320/153.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TEnVNEjDlTI/AAAAAAAAAtg/QOCYzOAFC5Q/s1600/276.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hw="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TEnVNEjDlTI/AAAAAAAAAtg/QOCYzOAFC5Q/s320/276.JPG" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Thanks for a fabulous 6 years of wedded bliss Mr. Crafty!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TEnT--Jc3XI/AAAAAAAAAs4/UG1jr0KfV2Y/s1600/552.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hw="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TEnT--Jc3XI/AAAAAAAAAs4/UG1jr0KfV2Y/s320/552.JPG" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TEnUnBHToQI/AAAAAAAAAtQ/-P_D6pmf_9o/s1600/709.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hw="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TEnUnBHToQI/AAAAAAAAAtQ/-P_D6pmf_9o/s320/709.JPG" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TEnUc-GdwXI/AAAAAAAAAtA/YbQeD5tq_YY/s1600/696.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hw="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TEnUc-GdwXI/AAAAAAAAAtA/YbQeD5tq_YY/s320/696.JPG" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TEnUxGGPIcI/AAAAAAAAAtY/xDS_zNlL9To/s1600/744.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hw="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DpysKpfyLFw/TEnUxGGPIcI/AAAAAAAAAtY/xDS_zNlL9To/s320/744.JPG" /></a></div>Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07393262997793042729noreply@blogger.com2