On the Second Day of Give aways...

On the Second Day of Christmas Give aways

This blog sent to Winner #1

Two yards of polar fleece 

and

A collection of winter hat patterns

On the First Day of Give aways...

On the First Day of Christmas Give aways

This blog sent to Winner #1

A collection of winter hat patterns

McCall's 8513 (unopened) 

"Kids bundle up for winter, make hats and scarfs in all shapes and sizes, fun, cold weather accessories for kids in sizes small thru large 21 thru 23 inches."  

Simplicity 7880 (unopened)

"Misses', Men's, and Teen's Hat. All items in fleece type fabrics only. Top hat has contrast top and brim. Jester hat with purchased pom pons has contrast band with ear flaps and purchased cording ties. Stocking hat in two colours has self fringe and top-stitching. Hat in three sizes Small (21"), Medium (22"), Large (23").     

Nothing says Christmas like twelve days of give-aways!

Starting tomorrow it is twelve days before Christmas. Can you believe it? I don't know where the time has gone.

Anyway, it is a holiday that I like to celebrate and I thought it would call for a give away, twelve days of give aways.  There will be three winners during the twelve days of give aways.

The give away is open to anyone, anywhere. Just leave a comment on one of the twelve days of give-away posts and I will draw for the three give-away winners on December 28th.

Christmas Cards

I have been writing Christmas cards this weekend. Yes, it is one of my favourite holiday traditions.

I know you're probably thinking, "how old fashion".

But I do love coming home from work to find that another Christmas card has arrived in the mail.

Yes, I have "ol' fashion" friends who are generous enough to take the time to write and mail those little pieces of art, humour, and good cheer.  

And I do get Christmas greetings from my technology inclined friends via electronic sources. It is not the same as those e-cards are hard to display on the Christmas tree or string along the wall.

My favourite cards are the ones that are homemade with winter scene photographs, or scrap-booking materials.

I do admire those folks that go the extra hundred miles in their Christmas card giving.

I am in awe of those creative folks that use their sewing machines to create homemade Christmas cards.

And check this one out! A co-worker and friend gave me this beautiful hand-made card a few years ago. It is stunning.

She rolled paper strips and glued them onto card paper into a pattern depicting a tree.

I don't have the patience to create this detailed work but I do have an appreciation for the creativity of this beautiful piece of art. Every year, I take it out and display it with the other cards that come in through the mail. I thought I would share it with you too.

 

How I spent my Saturday afternoon

I spent an afternoon participating in self-torture.

Yes, that was a pattern sheet from Burda magazine. It is for the draped dress shown here.

I spent the afternoon highlighting the pattern pieces in yellow. I haven't even started to trace it out. Now that I have finished highlighting the pattern pieces I think I've changed my mind about the project.

But now I know what everyone has been talking about when it comes to tracing out a Burda pattern.  Yikes!

Finding the pattern pieces wasn't so hard, the sheets are labelled somewhat like a map. The margins indicate a general location to find you pattern piece.

At Pattern Review, Eileen gave a helpful hint--wax paper. I would never have thought about that.

fehr Trade recommends tracing the patterns using a serrated blade on top of a carpet.

I also read someone's recommendation of using see-through plastic. Love that idea! But it could get quite expensive, no?

How do you handle Burda World of Fashion magazine patterns? Or do you want to give up when your eyes start going cross eyed?

It was all about Shoulder Pads!

Picture credit:  Jimmy Pants.
I was too busy getting my groove on to be taking any pictures.

The Prince concert was unbelieveable! Seriously, I have no words to describe the feeling of ecstacy during the concert. All I can say is that I never danced so much in one night. And I love my raspberry beret! Yes, I did.

Prince was in amazing shape, he played a two and a half concert with The Power Generation. The band and the back-up singers were equally amazing.

Three costume changes for Prince. He first came out wearing a black suit with a asmetrical hemline.  His impectalbe black shirt had a white collar and cuffs.

The second outfit showed off what amazing shape Prince was in, highlighting the muscles in his legs. Yowza!

And the third outfit was a black & white graphic tee-shirt with white pants. What did they all have in common, shoulder pads. But not a throwback to the eighties. Just like Prince's music from back in the day, it had a modern twist.

In three words:  BEST CONCERT EVER.  I love a concert with a live band. Even though he didn't play Musicology I still had the best time. I was hurting today at work but it was all worth it.  

Princely Dreams

When I was a wee youngster in my twenties I dreamed of working as a fashion designer for Prince.

Yes, it is my dirty little secret.

I've always admired his fashion sense, even those, um, pants. Yup, the pants. He's brave and always manages to pull off any look. He has the look.

Anyway, I'm am lucky enough to see him tonight in concert.

[insert excitement here]

I can't wait to see what Prince will wear!