Time to Reflect...

The end of the year always seems to be a time to reflect on what we have accomplished, and all that we would like to accomplish. In honor of that, I am sharing this that I saw this over on Lori's blog. I had fun going through the list and thought I would share it. You are suppose to cut and paste this to your blog and bold all the things you have done. It was interesting to see how many of the things I have done (64 out of 100 is not so bad!), and how many I would still like to do.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community.
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Feel free to do it yourself and share with your friends. I hope the upcoming new year brings you all the joys you are hoping for.

I'm BACK...

Ok, so I've actually been back from Malaysia for over a month now, but just now getting around to blogging. Things have been a little crazy, with trying to recover from some serious jet lag, getting thrown right into Thanksgiving, and now Christmas!

For anyone who entered the giveaway I had posted about before leaving for Malaysia - I've not forgotten about it. I will still pick a winner sometime soon and let you know who it is and get their gift on the way.

I was prompted to blog today when I got an email from tipjunkie that my vintage fabric covered Christmas ornaments were going to be featured!

I have had lots of visits in the past few days from people who have seen them on Tip Junkie! Thanks for all who have stopped by to visit. Sorry I haven't had much new creative stuff right now to blog about, but please stop back by after the first of the year when I hope to get back into the swing of things.

If I don't manage to post before the "big day", wishing you and yours a very merry Christmas!

Malaysia

Yes, I arrived safely in Malaysia.

After a very long flight. Actually 4 flights - FW to Detroit, Detroit to Tokyo, Tokyo to Singapore, Singapore to Penang. Total travel time was about 34 hours!!

Penang is an island off the western coast of Malaysia.

There is a 12 hour time difference from here to home, so contacting family has been quite a challenge.

I have been very tied up with the work I was sent here to do and had not had a chance to see much of my surroundings until today. Here are some pictures I took today...

I could have just stayed at the beach all day!

Only for my 7 year old son would I hold a large python and malaysian pit vipers!!!

The butterfly garden was amazing!

Some interesting creatures we saw throughout the day!


Being in a "jungle" the flowers were beautiful!


I will be here another 2 weeks, so if I get a chance to see some other sites, I will share them with you.

Bon Voyage

Things have been very crazy in the last 24 hours. I got a call yesterday afternoon from my boss asking if I could go to Malysia (yes, as in the country Malysia in southeast Asia) to do some work for a client!

To make a long story short... I am going to Malysia, and will be leaving this coming Sunday. I will be gone for 3 weeks! It is a worldwind of activity here trying to get everything in place to leave that quickly for that long a period of time. I have never been away from home for this long before, and am a little nervous. But I am also excited! I love a new adventure.

Travel time takes about 36 hours! So when I leave on Sunday I will not arrive at my destination until Tuesday morning (there is also a 12 hour time change to deal with)!!!

So I will be away for a while. I will try to blog some while I am gone, and show you pics of where I am, but I doubt there will be any "craftyness" going on for the next few weeks.

All that being said, my giveaway/contest is on hold. I will repost it again when I return. Please keep leaving me your suggestions - I will eventually clean up my workspace, it just won't be in the timeframe I had originally hoped! If you have already left messages, you are already entered, but there will be no drawing until I get back.

Spare a Square Scrap Challenge Complete

I finally finished my "Spare a Square Scrap Challenge" that I signed up for over at JC Handmade. I had to make "something" using these scraps of fabric.

I have to tell you I was really stumped, and had a hard time with this. Being that the pieces were all differnt sizes and patterns and colors, my mind was swirling. I had houses on the brain, due to my participation in another quilt along, so here is what I came up with...
To me Home is where you feel comfortable. You are filled with things you love and everything doesn't have to match. Your neighborhood is flled with a variety of different people, whoes personalities meld together to make a place feel like home. That is what inspired me to make this pillow out of the fabrics that seemingly didn't go together. They were all fabrics that somoeone loved and were a part of that person.
I think they made a perfect neighborhood and Home!
I raw edge appliqued the houses on the pillow to add to the imperfect design. Because real HOMES are like that. Only brand new, unlived in show houses are perfect and don't have any cosmetic blemishes, places where the paint needs touched up, a lawn that needs mowed, a bike left outside, a roof needing attention, etc... and I wanted my homes and neighborhood to reflect that. This project also gave me an opportunity to try free motion quilting on my new sewing machine. The front quilting is a little too "busy", but for a first shot, I think it is ok. The back was actually just a piece I was practicing on, and I kind of liked all the different designs that I was trying, and ended up cutting it up and using it as the back for the pillow.
I think the pillow turned out quite cute. I you want to see more pictures, or pictures of what others came up with (some are really amazing!), go to this Flickr Group.