Have Some Fun!

Summertime is here and there is no better time to feel like a kid again. It is such a carefree time.

Have a fun and safe summer and play a game of hopscotch!
xoxo, Sue

Finally a Happy Dance!

I am finally peeking out from underneath the covers and what do I see? Outside my kitchen window I see this…



I haven’t felt like doing much these last few weeks, although I did manage to celebrate Memorial Day at our beautiful State Capitol Park and captured these images.

Our California Vietnam Veterans Memorial dedicated in 1989.


A lovely pink rose in our beautiful Capitol Rose Garden. There are approximately 700 rose bushes in this garden. On a warm morning walking to my office I can smell the roses a city block away. I spend many lunch breaks over here. I am blessed.


This beauty is called Shockwave and I can see why. I have never seen a rose so bright and yellow. This picture does not do it justice.


One of several paths between the roses.


I have no idea what this one is called. I call it the Candy Cane Rose.

Why am I so late sharing my lovely Memorial Day? I debated on whether to share this but I want to let all my friends know to not ignore a sinus infection! I kept blaming my overall crummy feeling on allergies. I should have known better because I don’t have allergies. I just figured that I finally developed allergies. This region is one of the worse for allergy sufferers and if you don’t have allergies you will eventually develop them if you live in this region long enough.

Anway, I get home on Monday afternoon (Memorial Day) and looked in the mirror and was horrified at what I saw. My eyes were swollen and I was quickly developing a rather large beet red circle around my left eye that went all the way to the eyebrow and down my face. So what does this girl think (blonde moment?)…the allergies are getting worse. Fast forward to Tuesday morning. My eyes are now almost swollen shut with all of the signs of pink eye maybe? I saw the Doctor that morning and I was feeling REALLY bad by then and the temp was hovering around 100. When you are in the Doctor’s office and the Doctor walks in, the last thing the sick person wants to see is a rather shocked look on the Doctor’s face? Huh? I am thinking this must be one of the more severe allergy cases she has seen. Well let me tell you, I had a sinus infection so severe that I was in the first stages of cellulitis of the face (a bacterial infection of the skin cells). Oh yes, had I waited much longer this would have put me in the hospital . Fast forward to today and antibiotics…I AM FEELING MUCH BETTER!!! I want to do a happy dance! Thinking back on these last several weeks, if not the last 3 months or so, I think I have had this infection for a very long time. I must have one heck of an immune system.

How I managed all this time I have no idea. The Doctor doesn’t know either. All I can say is, today I have more energy than I have had in a long, long time. The moral of this story…don’t ignore a sinus infection. I had no idea that it could manifest into something more serious however I didn’t know I had one. But I will the next time!

Hugs to everyone as I continue with my Happy Dance! Sue

It Was Long Overdue

As most of you know I took almost 3 weeks’ vacation time from work. Honestly it was long overdue and we made no plans for a fabulous getaway. I relished every single moment being home and not waking up to an alarm clock. That was good enough for me! I got lots of sewing done preparing for my Holiday Craft Faires and I put a wee bit of thought into stocking my Etsy shop, but that will still have to wait for awhile. Logistically, that is not going to work for me quite yet. I would essentially have 2 full time jobs and that would not be fun. Since I have decided that I am going to retire Dec. 2012 I am going to take more time off between now and then. I have so much accrued vacation time because I haven’t taken much time off. Now, for the announcement of my upcoming fabulous getaway. Drum roll please…


We are going to go to Texas at the end of September. YES, Texas is fabulous! Sweet Hubby’s sister lives in Texas and we have a new little great nephew that we can’t wait to see. His sister’s birthday is September 29th and….another drum roll please…


I am going to go to the Round Top Antiques Fair! Here is my little confession. I sort of planned this getaway around the show. O.K., not sort of, I flat out planned it around the show but SH reminded me that it was his sister’s birthday too. Now how fabulous is that? This is better than a vacation in Hawaii (which is long overdue too, but I will save that for another story).

Oh and one other thing, I am going to hit Hobby Lobby up BIG TIME. We don't have one in Cali. :(

xoxo, Sue

Acts 2:38

A woman had just returned to her home from an evening of church services , when she was startled by an intruder. She caught the man in the act of robbing her home of its valuables and yelled: 'Stop! Acts 2:38!' (Repent and be Baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ , so that your sins may be forgiven.)

The burglar stopped in his tracks. The woman calmly called the police and explained what she had done.

As the officer cuffed the man to take him in, he asked the burglar: 'Why did you just stand there? All the old lady did was yell a scripture to you.'

'Scripture?' replied the burglar. 'She said she had an Ax and Two 38s!

This was just too cute not to share!

I have some catching up to do. Now you would think being on vacation all this time I would have posted more. Well, I have been so busy being busy but I am loving every minute of it.

xoxo, Sue

Bringing Out the Scissors...Vacation Time!

Of course it will be the Good Scissors! Yes, these are my scissors.



I finally said enough is enough and I am taking 3 weeks vacation! What are you going to do on your vacation, you ask? Anything this girlie wants to do. I spent the morning in my sewing room. BLISS! I am working on a new design for a bag. BLISS! I think I have the pattern just the way I want it.


Now comes the hard part. What fabric do I want to use? This is not my stack of fabric but I am so loving the Spring colors in this. I found this fabric at the Fabric Shoppe on Etsy. Hmmm, me thinks I should pop back over there. They really do have a beautiful selection of fabric and great prices.

Big vacation hugs, Sue

The Wrong Way to Get Fuller Lips

I did my Saturday morning Costco trip and hurried back to unload the car because I so want to make BJ's Sunshine Cake. I even bought a huge bag of the most beautiful oranges for it but I still needed to make a side trip to our neighborhood grocery store for the other items for this most delicious sounding cake. Well something that may surprise you, I am just shy of 6 feet tall and when I opened the door of my SUV the top corner of the door smacked me HARD on my lip. The door cut the outside of the lip and the teeth did the rest of the damage inside my lip. HOW DOES SOMEONE DO THIS!? I don't know if I was in more pain or more mad at myself. I want to make this cake after all!!! I have been thinking about it for days. I know BJ is waiting for the reviews. LOL! I have swooned over this cake. Well after some ibuprofen and a nap I looked at myself in the mirror and my lips do have this rather attractive fullness to them. ;)

I will keep you posted on the cake. I am going to make this cake if it kills me! Just not today.

Have a blessed weekend. Hugs, Sue

I am Just Not Feeling It and Craft Faire Update

Spring has arrived and I had to vicariously enjoy its arrival through other peeps. It seems that Mother Nature wants Northern California to wait just a bit longer. It has been raining for days and the forecast is rain for several more days and lots of snow in the Sierra’s. What has this done to me you ask? Well it made me stay inside this last weekend, all cozy and warm and spend many long overdue hours in my sewing room. This year I am determined to get a head start on the Christmas Craft Faires.

Speaking of Craft Faires. I hinted about our Spring Craft Faire that was March 5th. It was quite successful for me. Mom also did rather well with her adorable Easter and Spring creations. She makes the most amazing items out of felt and every stitch is done by hand. She loves doing handwork. Years ago when she was still working and was making her own clothes, she did her buttonholes by hand. They were sheer perfection. I hope to one day show you. I guess I could ask her to make a sample. I know she would love to. She is even proud of them, as she should be.

She and I did the Craft Show circuit 25 years ago and were quite successful but working full time it got a little rough and sadly we had to give it up. About 7 years ago we decided to resurrect and dust off those sewing and crafting genes and hit the Craft show trail once again. Mom is now retired but I am still working full time, however I have some news about that and will share with you in a few days. All I can say is woo hoo! Will I finally get my Etsy shop stocked? The fingers are crossed.

Any hooooo here are a few snapshots…

These are my Mom's egg covers. Aren't they the cutest?

More of her of little cuties. People love her things. When I get my Etsy store stocked I hope to be offering some of her things too. Her Christmas creations are soooo cute too!

Some more cuties. Her lapel pins.

I have a new camera and I really have a lot to learn. The coloring is way off.

Little bunnies dressed in their little ribbon dresses.


These are a few of my bags. In the white basket are my "Mad Money"© wallets. I love these things. They are the perfect size for business cards, credit cards, gift cards and of course your Mad Money :)

These are my Key Keeps. I have several other fabric designs. I sold many at the show.

These were from a show last year. Since my inventory is so low at this time I wanted to show you a few from the past.

I love fabric and I love creating things using fabric. This year I will be working on a couple of new designs for my handbags. I want to have them ready for the holiday season.

Wishing everyone a blessed week.
xoxo, sue