It's Been A While...

I don't really know where to begin. I had good intentions, I was going to COMMIT to post at least once a week - that's my word for the year. I was planning on showing you our kitchen remodel that had started last August and my plans for our vegetable garden along with other things I was working on but then everything changed. One of my best friends was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer a little over a month ago. It came out of nowhere. We thought she had a cyst, not uncommon with ovaries, but a lump under her arm indicated otherwise. Originally she was scheduled for surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible but finding that lump put her on a different path and now she's having chemotherapy for 9 weeks first. With all that happening so fast we scheduled a visit to a wig shop immediately. Actually "we" were scheduled but we forgot to call to make an appointment! Luckily for us Lisa (the shop owner) fit us in as soon as we stepped into the shop. Although our reasons for being there were serious, we did manage to have fun. Her husband had always wanted to date a red head so that was the first wig we tried! We tried long and short, red and grey and everything in between. Lisa was fantastic. Finally we narrowed it down to four, put the purchase on hold as directed by Lisa until we knew what kind of chemo treatment she was having and then went for lunch. We've been back with husbands and one of her daughters "in tow" to try on hats. Everything looked fabulous on her but we chose one that could work as a quick pop out to the store or a dinner date with hubby. Shortly after her third chemo treatment, her hair started to fall out so she decided to shave her head and hubby has too!

Before her second treatment, I decided to make her a "chemo bag" and filled it with a few items to make those days a little better. I went to my local Joann's and chose a Cloud 9 fabric with a solid fabric for the bottom of the bag and something complimentary for the inside. Originally I was going to use some cute wooden handles but ended up using the solid fabric.

I got up early (5am) to make the bag as we were going to the hospital to try on wigs at 11.30 (The hospital gives out a free wig to cancer patients. We were a little skeptical at the thought of a free wig but they look really good!) and her second chemo treatment was the next day. I'd already bought some things to put inside the bag (I got some ideas from Pinterest!) so just had to whip this up! I love how it turned out and am happy to say I have enough fabric leftover to make me a bag!!

Maybe I'll do some sewing this weekend! In the meantime I'm doing a little knitting so hopefully I'll have something to share next week. Until then...

Bullet Journal

Last year I decided to give bullet journaling a try and I have to say I really enjoy it. I don't do all the trackers and things - it's really my style of bullet journaling - but that's what's so nice about this kind of journaling - you can do it however you like! I'm having fun making the inserts even though they're just the basic ones at the moment, but I'm slowly working out how to make some more colourful. Maybe by Christmas I'll have it all figured out!!! So as I'd said in my last post, I was waiting on my long reach stapler from Amazon. I love it. Here are the inserts I made using Target's One Spot file folders

Even though I said I don't really do Trackers, I did do a birthday one as I'm always late mailing my birthday cards. I saw one like this on Pinterest but couldn't find the original owner, so if you're out there and you read this please leave a comment and THANK YOU I love it!

And whilst we're talking inserts and journals, here are my first 3 weekly spreads

It's hard to believe but I'm actually all caught up and it's all because we're having our kitchen re-done so I'm "trapped" upstairs in my studio! This kitchen project has been going on since August and we're now beginning to finally see the light. It's a long story for another day, so until next time...

Life Is Good!

What a great start to 2017. I had a busy but fun week at work. We're transitioning to Spring which means lots of new colours and products and decorating ideas. The store is looking great and very refreshing after seeing Christmas for the last four months or so! As usual, I like to check out the dish towels and napkins for my work aprons and they did not disappoint!! I picked a coffee themed dish towel which I sewed today into my favourite little apron. The photo is not the best for the colour but you get the idea.

It's the new Java dish towel. I bought a grey/black fabric with lines from Joann Fabrics for the trim and ties and a beige batik for the back. I'm loving how it turned out and can't wait to wear it tomorrow!

I've also been working on my bullet journal for January. I'm a little behind but hope to have some pics by the weekend. I decided this time I didn't want to sew my inserts for my Whimsiedori so I ordered a long reach stapler from Amazon - that should be here by Friday. And I'm still working on my Christmas Memories journal because I was hoping to get the Zink Happy photo printer for christmas - which I did! - so I'm still printing out little photos. Maybe I'll do a flip thru once it's finished.

We had our first snow this past week. Whilst it was only a little, it was still a happy sight. Hubby and I are waiting for a big snowfall but we need to buy a snowblower first! I think we're finally accepting that we can't always use a shovel!

I hope your first week of 2017 was a good one. Until next time...

Happy New Year!

Just a quick post to wish everyone a Happy New Year and to officially start 2017 with my word of the year! I've chosen the word COMMIT. I'm planning on setting myself some goals each month - nothing too involved that I become overwhelmed and quit, but things as simple as making a bag or knitting a blanket. I guess my first goal should be to COMMIT to posting at least once a week for the month of January! (This one doesn't really count!!). So I'll wish you all a Happy, Healthy, Fun Filled 2017 and I look forward to sharing my year with you. Until next time...