zippers

been sewing a lot more lately, getting ready for the czech fundraiser craft sale.

zippers are not my friend....we haven't been getting along well lately, but i can't live without them. i need them for dresses, skirts, pouches and various sewing projects in the works. i started a sewing class a few weeks ago at cypress college again. a very nice lady offered to pay for my class so that i can take it for free. last night, i learned an easier way to add a zipper. hooray! seriously, it was so darn hard lately and what should have taken just an hour or so took almost the whole afternoon. i think i unravel more than i actually get any sewing done.

here's a few things that i've done so far:

quilt for the living room (working progress)

quilted coaster (finished a set of 4)

zipper pouch

 baby bib and pouch (baby shower gift)

i've also been thrift shopping more. goodwill is a tad too expensive lately so i've been going to the lincoln thrift store, salvation army and rewear warehouse. they have the best deals that i've seen. the lincoln thrift store has 50% off 3 color tags usually once a month (fri/sat). the salvation army had a really good deal - 10 clothing items or more for $2/each. rewear warehouse has 50% off everything (except vintage) on wed, 30% off 2 color tags every day and 30% off everything (except vintage) on sat and sun. right now, i have a lot of fabric and clothes, but if anybody wants to donate to my pile, let me know.

some sewing projects so far....

  

small tote

slouch bag (fabric from thrift store)

skirt with elastic band (1 yard of fabric)

this is a dress i worked on during the summer (this took some time to finish b/c i kept messing up the lining and having to adjust the size b/c we didn't fit the pattern properly), still need to adjust the size on the sides and shoulders a little bit

dress i made in the fall during my sewing class (didn't add the straps in time for julie's wedding and haven't touched since last year, will have to add soon if i want to wear it again)

these are just a few of the sewing projects i've completed (somewhat). i'm working on a quilt for our living room (stay tuned for that). i've been on a thrift store kick lately and have found some great items for a cheap price. because of this, i've been collecting lots of fabric and clothes which i need to sort through and organize. i've been hoarding my old clothes hoping to turn things into something else.

thankfulness

haven't been able to update...not sure what to say.

only one word comes to mind - thankfulness. thankfulness for God's grace, for His faithfulness, for the gospel that saved me and brings me eternal joy and hope, for my family, for my church family, dear friends (old and new) and so much more to mention. the Lord has been very gracious in giving me strength to endure what was the most difficult event in my life to this day. although grief is something that i haven't truly experienced until this past december and i'm still not sure how to cope, but He continues to be faithful to His promises - to always be with me, to be the God of all comfort. i think the best thing to come out of this tragedy is my parents. i've seen them grieve and have seen them leaning towards God. i'm glad that they were able to see the love my church poured upon our family and they long to have that which helped them to seek out a church body of their own. i'm praying not that the Lord would make our lives a little easier, but for even more opportunities to trust in Him more.

K.O.

enjoyed a wonderful day of snowboarding with some friends monday. with all the rain we had during the weekend, monday was the perfect day to enjoy the fresh snow. it's been about 2 years since i was on a snowboard so i was a little worried. the first time down the mtn, i was cautious. the second time, i tried to carve and i landed pretty hard on my rear. my butt bounced 2x. i even had strangers ask me if i was ok. it was a very hard fall. i could barely get up and stand, but i wasn't even half way down the mtn at that point. i finally came down slowly and rested for a while in the car. not wanting to give up but try again, i went back up to go down the mtn again. bad idea. it took me twice as long to get down and i had fallen again on the same spot. i was in a lot of pain. today is wednesday and it still hurts. everytime i get out of bed, go to the bathroom, sit down....even when i sleep it hurts. hopefully the pain will go away soon. *fingers-crossed*

to a new beginning....

why start a blog?

since learning how to sew and other crafty skills, i've been reading so many different blogs of such talented people that i hope to spark interest in others....also i need a blog to post my crafting projects in order to win giveaways. hehe... :)

don't worry, the title of my blog will be a working title, hopefully will change it to something super clever (we'll see how long that takes). i don't want this blog to be just about sewing, knitting, crocheting, etc., but i want to be able to share about anything.

so it's now december and i'm starting something new, hopefully this will continue.

thanks for reading, cyber world!