Butterfly Towels

I woke up this morning around 8 and have been up ever since.  I did my usual check the computer in the morning routine, and since then I have been cleaning, sorting and marking.  I did these towels a month or so ago, and they were laying there waiting to be pressed.  I thought I'd better do that and get them in the stall for the upcoming holiday weekend.

Later this morning, I am headed to Family Affair to have lunch with the lunch bunch and celebrate my mother's 70th birthday!  Happy Birthday Mom!  I hope you have a wonderful day and many, many, more Happy Birthday's to come!  Love, Elaine

New tulip towel

Doesn't this towel make you "Think Spring!"
It is a new tulip towel that I have been making.  Funky and fun!!!

A busy day here in Dallman land!  Sarah Jo and the two kids were here for a visit this afternoon.  Zach got off work early today due to the rain, so we met him out at Jimmy's house so that Sarah could take a shower.

I spent a lot of time on the phone today.  Diane had to have emergency gallbladder surgery tonight.  Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.  Today was Breezee's funeral too, and our hearts were with Nancy and family even though we could not attend.  We will really miss him, the flea market won't be the same with out him this year.

I fell asleep on the bed tonight with the lap top next to me, and when I woke up, the laptop which was right next to my right side, had burnt my skin through my shirt!  I have a big red blotch and a white mark on my skin.  When Zach came home from fire drill, I said to him, I need an EMT.  He said why?  I told him what had happened and showed him the burn.  He laughed, and couldn't believe it.  Since then he has been teasing me.....when I went upstairs to go to bed, he says to me "Don't burn yourself ! "  I have a sneaking suspicion that I am never going to hear the end of that one!  LOL

Zach doesn't have any plans this weekend so the kids decided to give me a break and that I could go home for the weekend.  So I will be coming home some time on Friday night.  It will feel strange to leave here, but it will be good to sleep in my own bed for a few nights, and to see the kitties.  I have big plans to get some stamping done!!!!!  And some cleaning.....:-(  Probably more of the first !  :-D

Jenna had a job interview for Spanish medical translating today, and she felt it went very well.  So we are hoping that she gets this job as it would work so well with her family.  The next step if chosen would be to take a test next week, and if hired, she would start the following week.  They are looking for someone for weekdays, Mon. thru  Fri. and you tell them when you are available to work for the next week, and then they schedule appointments in those time slots.  So this would be perfect for her to work around Antonio and Diana's schedule.  Antonio is always off Tuesday's so she plans on reserving that for a family day, but otherwise I think she will try and work when he is off.  He works a lot of hours on the weekends, and has been working a lot at night.  So are thoughts are if God feels it is the right timing for her family for her to get this job, if not, she will be content until it is the right time.

Sarah has been getting herself in and out of bed now and it is great to see her making such good progress.  The past two days have been pretty good for her as far as feeling sick.  Switching back to Vicoden has been a good thing for her as the side effects of the Oxycotin were terrible for her.  She still gets nausea when the pain medication is wearing off, she is stretching it to six hours right now, but she says she can distract herself pretty good now, unlike before.  So this is good news. 

Sarah's class has been chattering on face book about having a five year class reunion, and after we talked about it today, she decided, after I suggested it, that she is going to start a memorial scholarship fund for her friend Kendra that past away last year.  Kendra was very good at Art, so Sarah would like the scholarship to go to an Art major.  So she was busy making some phone calls today to find out more information on how to get this started.  So far, she has had a positive response from her classmates about doing this.

That"s all for today folks!  Elaine

New Bow tie Snowman Towel

This is a new bow tie snowman towel I have been making.  He has a folk art look to him.

Sara Ricci was over today for a visit this morning.  It was good to visit.  This afternoon I decided that I needed to get out of the house for awhile as I had not been out of the house since Monday and I was getting a little bit of cabin fever.  So I went to Practical Cents and to Don Smiths.  I found a real good deal on some yarn at Don Smiths and I have been working on a baby afghan this evening with some of the yellow baby yarn that I bought, and I have been watching old movies while crocheting.  Have a good one!  Elaine

Bunny Towels

 

This is a new bunny towel pattern that I have been making right now.  The flower on the rabbit's belly is felt.  Spring and Easter will be here before we know it, hopefully!!!  Karen was just here to pick up her stamping order, and Di was over earlier to get hers too, and to visit.  I finished decorating a grocery pad list for Saturday's swap, so I now have all my projects ready for that.  I also made up about 20 flowers to give away to show and tell participants with the Blossom Party  Die today.  They make a great focal point on a card.  So start working on your show and tell projects so that you get to take one home!!!

I just read that Border's bookstore is going through Chapter 11 and will be closing 200 of their stores across the country by April 2011.  These are the stores that are showing up on the list for Wisconsin.

Fox Point, WI Riverpoint Village Shopping Center 8705 N. Port Washington
Greendale, WI Southridge Mall 5250 S. 76th Street
Madison, WI Village of Shorewood Hills 3750 University Ave
Milwaukee, WI ASQ Center 101 West Wisconsin Avenue

I am very sad to see that the one at Greendale will be closing, and  Diana will be sad also as it is her favorite Borders Store.  I took her there last summer, I have been to it many times.  It is right near Antonio's Olive Garden, the one that Jenna first worked at in Milwaukee.  Such sad news.  Take care.....Elaine

Rooster Towel

This is a new rooster towel that I have been making.  I love the folk art look to him!
Last night I had my Thursday night stamping group.  Some of the gals in that group are new stampers and had never done embossing with the heat gun.  It was fun to see their faces as the button's on the card raised.  As many times as I have embossed, I still think it is a WOW every time to see it magically change and rise up and it is always fun to see people and their reaction to embossing for the first time!
Diane and I went to see Breezy yesterday at Villa Pines.  He has terminal brain cancer.  It is so sad to see him like this.  Please keep him and his family in your prayers!
I found a new ponytail pattern on line and have been busy crocheting them this afternoon and evening, while watching TV.  I watched the old movie April Love, and I am in the middle of another one, Love is a Many Splendid Thing.  I also fell asleep watching one.  I am tired out today, and had a nice nap.
Dana Diorio and her mother were over this morning.  Dana's daughter is getting married and she wanted some ideas for invitations.  She knew I had been through this before with my girls, so I showed her some things and gave her a bunch of ideas.
Tomorrow is the big day.....my fiftieth birthday party!  I am so excited, it will be so fun to see everyone, and I am especially looking forward to seeing little Mason.  That is a present in itself!!  Have a great weekend!  Elaine 

Rooster Towel

This is a towel that I embroidered for Colleen last fall.  I have had a box sitting here that I have kept adding to with her birthday and Christmas presents.  I finally got it mailed out on Saturday, and she received it on Tuesday.  She said that she almost cried when she opened her gifts that she was so touched as they all were so perfect for her.  WOW!  That made me feel good.  She loves this towel so much that she is thinking of framing it.  Silly girl.  I told her to just use it, it is only a towel.  But she would not listen to me, so we finally ended the conversation with me saying "Whatever.....you do what you want."  I am glad she liked her the towel and her package.

Otherwise, there is not much new around here except that I talked with both of the girls each a couple of hours yesterday while crafting away.  I got 24 cards done yesterday which I am very happy about.  The plan is to make more today.  I ordered a new tire for the van yesterday and they will be putting that on the van on Friday, so it will be nice not to have to worry about that tire going flat any more.  Make it a great day!  Elaine

A new year and a pleasant surprise!

I had a very pleasant surprise this afternoon.  Two old friends that I went all through school with stopped over today and surprised me.  Pam Collins and Teri (Greene) Hamon were here.  Teri flew in from WA state for Pam's father's funeral.  We visited for about 3 hours this afternoon and had a real nice visit, catching up on things.  It is too bad that a sad occasion got us all together, Teri didn't tell anyone that she was coming as she wasn't sure if she could make it work to get here, but she did.  Any ways, it was great to see them both.  Oh!  I just thought you would find it interesting that Teri loved the chicken towel and has chicken's in her kitchen, so she bought it and took it back with her.

This is a new snowman towel, the first one I have made with this pattern.  People really like snowmen towels, I could probably work on them all year long.  I finished this one up tonight, and another chicken towel as I plan on stopping at the Craft Mall tomorrow

I am going to my daughter Sarah's house tomorrow to bring her a sewing machine and some supplies, and I am going to teach her how to sew.  I will spend the day down there.  It is so much fun for me to be sharing my passions with my family members.  The girls weren't really interested in that stuff growing up, all the other kids that came to the house were but for my girls it was old hat, mom was always crafting.  So it is really neat that they are showing interest now.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!  Elaine

Chicken Towel

This is the new Chicken towel that I just started doing.  A funky, fun chicken, lol  Love it!  I finished 2 more towels last night so now have done 6 this week and  I have started a seventh.  I am not getting any crafting accomplished so far today.  I have been doing laundry, stripped the bed, and have been picking up around here.  I also downloaded a few pictures that Sarah took at Christmas, and printed a few so that I can show the Yackette's tonight..  Sarah got some real good ones of Mason.  I hope you all are enjoying the sunshine!  Have a great day!  Elaine

Snowed In!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!  Oh...I guess it did that already!  :-D  I am snowed in...and haven't been out of the house.  I am hoping that my dad will come and plow tomorrow.
This is a different snow man towel that I have been making to sell.  I sure love their cute little faces!
No improvement from yesterday....flare wise.  I keep hoping I will wake up and find some improvement, but so far that is not happening, so I have been down in bed a lot.  But I did finish one Christmas gift I was making last night, and worked on some other Christmas projects for a while today.  I just finished stamping a couple of cards.  One of them is an anniversary card for Jenna and Antonio.  It is hard to believe that they have been married for a year already.  I made another one identical to it that I will have in January's samples to show my stamping groups.
Tomorrow, my preorder for the new Occasion mini that starts in January will be arriving.  I can't wait to play with my new goodies and make up some cool samples to show you!
Until tomorrow....stay warm!  Elaine

Snowman Towel

Pumpkin Towel

Here is a pumpkin towel I stitched today.  This is a pattern that I picked up at Quilt Expo in September, and I picked up the stand that it is on there too.  I bought the stand for displaying small quilts.  I thought it was so adorable, and the towel sure looks cute on it too!  The green towel is one that I picked up yesterday in our travels.  This towel will be going to the booth in the Dells.
Today, Lady Di and I went to church and then she treated me to breakfast at Family Affair.  We decided that I would go over to her house, so she dropped me off and I rounded up some things to do.  Tomorrow we are taking a sweatshirt class that Joann Dickow from Community Quilting is going to teach us at the church.  So I worked on getting my fabric cut for it, and finished ripping apart the sweat shirt.  You take a sweatshirt, and tear it all apart and turn it into a jacket.  Di was watching the football game too.  It was a marathon football day with the Packers playing first and then the Vikings which Di also wanted to watch as she wanted to watch Favre.  We had supper together, I finished stitching this towel and headed home.  I have all the rest of my stuff for tomorrow all packed up and ready to go.  I will just need to make my lunch in the morning.  Hope you all had a great weekend!  Elaine

Santa Towel and Snowflake tin

I had a busy day today.  First thing this morning, Carol and I went to Mauston to my doctor's appointment.  After that, she suggested that we head to Marshfield to the quilt show, so off we went!  We had a real nice time there.  We ended the day with a stop to Hancock Fabrics, a drive through Culver's for ice cream, and we were on our way home.  A nice long relaxing day.  This is the Santa towel I embroidered for her birthday present, and then I made a snowflake tin and filled it with a bag of Christmas tags that I made from the stamp set Tags till Christmas.  She really liked everything.  She was fascinated with the little tin and thought it was so pretty, and she told me that the towel will never see dishes!  I told her that she could use it but she plans on using it with one of her displays.  She loves Christmas, so the wheels were turning.  She thought of all kinds of places she could put it.  I am wiped, and am ready to head to bed.  I know I will immediately fall asleep when my head hits the pillow so I have been trying to stay up a little while longer!  It was a fun, great day!

Snowman Towel

HelloHello!  For the very first time, I could not get into blogger to post.  I tried many times last night and again this morning, and still I could not get into it.  Finally it is working again tonight.  I really felt cut off from the world.  LOL

Here is a picture of one of the snowman towels I have been working on while sitting at the flea market.  I have two styles of red towels that I am putting them on.  I only have one more down there to finish, so I need to get some more towels prepped to stitch.  The mini quilt hanging out of the basket I also made, and it looks wonderful in my living room.  I love it!

Door prizes and Hostess Gifts

I made this towel and tag as a thank you for Sandy for having her party. The tag uses the stamp set Friends 24-7. I appliqued the towel.
These are the little cups that I filled and decorated for door prizes. They have chipboard, ribbon, buttons and a peanut butter bon bon in them. The trick or treat stamp is from the level one hostess set, Holiday Best. I love it! I found the cute little orange cups a couple of months ago over at Reedsburg when I was visiting Sarah one day. I usually forget to take pictures of my Hostess gifts and Door Prizes. Aren't you proud of me that I remembered!!!!! I finished my projects for next month's stamp camp today and I am so happy about that as it was one of my goals for the week. Tomorrow I need to design some sample wedding invitations for Jenna and I need to get the inserts printed for the bridal shower invitations. Never a dull moment around here!

I thought I would give you an update on my road. They tore it all up on Monday but have not been back since to work on it. I see they are working on the street on the other side of town. It is extremely quiet because few cars are traveling on it. I feel like I am living out in the country right now! LOL I am glad that I don't live far down the street though as I can only go 5 mph as it is so rough.

Star Flower Towel and Sunflower Towel

Good Evening! Today I took Diane to her dentist appointment and while I was in the waiting room, I finished stitching these two towels while listening to an audio book on my Nano. When Di came out...she wanted to know how many hundred towels I got stitched while I was in there..or something to that effect. She thinks I work so fast...I don't think so and she does not like to do things over and over so it amazes her how I always make multiples of things. I rarely make just one of something. Any hoo...we zoomed over to Mauston after her appointment to pick up my new glasses and then headed back to town. Di wanted some soda so we stopped at Pamida and I was looking around while waiting for her (then she ended up waiting for me..lol) and I found a few more packages of towels like these so I was tickled about that. I had high hopes of getting a lot done this afternoon but couldn't get motivated so after doing some piddly stuff, I laid down and looked at some magazines. I zonked out for awhile till the phone rang at 5 and now I have been pretty productive since I have been up. I enlarged some patterns to stitch on towels on the computer and started a felt pin cushion which I plan on finishing tonight. So looking at the magazines was a good thing...plus the nap. Energy, and Inspiration, works every time!!!

Sheep and Sunflower Towel

These are the two towels that I finished yesterday during Diane's doctor's appointment. The sheep pattern I found in a quilting magazine that Diane lent me and the sunflower is from the new pattern I got when we went to Janesville last weekend. I am resting up for the weekend and paid bills, etc.....all that fun stuff :-( I talked to Jenna this afternoon and she will be bringing Roberto and Dusty with her tomorrow and I can't wait to see them all. It seems like FOREVER! Enjoy the weekend! Elaine

Flower Towel

I am a tired camper. Today Diane and I went to her doctor's appointment in La Crosse. I took this tote bag I have had for a couple of months but couldn't quite decide what to do with it and boy did I come up with the perfect idea. I rolled up the towels I need to stitch and filled up 3 out of 4 of the center pockets. The 4th pocket I put my water bottle in and all the outer pockets I used to put my needles, floss, drugs, nano, stamping magazines, wallet, cell phone, etc. It really worked slick. While Diane was at her appointment, I embroidered two towels out of the 12 that I prepped yesterday. Afterwards we had Chinese...our favorite, headed over to Michaels, and then I ran into Target to look at towels but they were to pricey but I did find some in Good Will in the new section. We stopped at my house for Diane's stamping order when we got back, said hi to the Yackette's as tonight was the monthly get together but we were to beat to go. Then I took Diane home, picked up the van, and headed back home to pack up the stamping order, make a salad and crash by the computer! The towel I have to show you today is one of two that I stitched on the way to Janesville and back on Saturday when we went to the quilt show. I also have some exciting news! I am going to be on the design team for Owl Whimsy's digital stamps! Stephanie thought the work that I did with "Sweetie", the little girl was awesome so you shall be seeing more of Stephanie's digital stamps on here! Wooooo HOOOOO!!!!

Northwoods Towel

I have been trying to remember to post every day but today I remembered after midnight so I am missing a day. I took generic Tylenol Pm and should be fast asleep in my warm bed as I took it 3 hours ago but sometimes it doesn't work and tonight is one of those times! I went to Practical Cents today to look for a couple of things that the girls have me scouting for but didn't find what they were looking for. But I did pick up some fabric, some neat little clippy things that attach to a table and you can put a knotted grocery bag into and presto...you have a bag for scraps! I attached one to a white folding table that I have my sewing machine on much to Taffy's delight! She was driving me nuts for about 5 minutes or so as she was using my leg as a tree and was playing with the sewing machine cord and the plastic bag. Finally I got sick of it as her claws were hurting my leg so I went to the kitchen to get the dreaded spray bottle! She of course didn't try that again so I kind of wasted a trip but she also knew the spray bottle was there so she didn't want to get sprayed so perhaps it wasn't a wasted trip after all. She sat up on the table with me for a bit and watched me sew then took off for a nap. I was working on a baby quilt today. I did a snowball pattern with Dora fabric that I got from Minerva (aka Melissa). Thankyou Minerva! I did cut and complete the top today and was pretty happy about that as I felt like I had a productive day but you will have to wait till it is finished to see that. But...I do have something for you to see. I stitched four of these Northwood towels this week. I think they turned out pretty cute. I did forget to tell you that I found a Beanie Baby pole at the thrift shop that I will be able to display stuffed animals on at the flea market so was pretty happy about that! I also made a trip to the library to pick up some books and music that I ordered. All the libarians know me by name as I am a frequent visitor! I never look around in the library, I order everything from home on the computer and check the new "Don't miss list" each month. It is such a wonderful service and saves me alot of money. Every now and then I find a book that I have to have and usually order it from the used book section on Amazon. I have had amazingly good luck with that and the books I have purchased have always been in NEW condition. If you haven't ordered from the library or from Amazon...check it out! You will love it! Boo

KItty Towels

Here is another towel pattern that I have been working on this week. I have been stitching these kitties and have 3 completed and one more almost finished. I took a break from stitching today and worked on Christmas cards of all things....LOL I have a bunch left from the Christmas Stamp A Stack that I held in September. I will put some pictures of them on here later. Any hoo....Lady Di came over in the afternoon and she was working on her projects and I was working on finishing and assembling cards. I got 33 done. Not a bad days work! I made porkchops in the slow cooker with cream of mushroom soup and mushrooms and we had them over porkchops. Yummy....I read awhile in bed and fell asleep around 10pm and woke up at 11:30. Bummer.... I have been at the computer since reading blogs...one of my favorite things to do! But I am getting sleepy now so will head back to bed! Later alligator!

Hand and Heart Towel

I have been stitching up towels to sell this week and here is the first one that I did. I made 4 of these on Monday while chattering on the phone with different people. I sure make the most of my Vonage account and I absolutely love being able to talk with anyone I want to for as long as I want to! So if you want to chit chat....give me a call and I will buzz you back! I will put on my headset and work! I found a great headset through Radio Shack that works wonderfully. The cheaper ones do not last long! If you can get them to last a month you are doing good! I have been using my current one for about 8 months and it is still going strong!
Yesterday, I was out to Lady Di's house and I was working on more towels in between trying to keep her cat Charlie out of the dip and chip's we were eating. He sure has a thing for dip! Today we are going to work here in the afternoon. I plan on getting some more towels prepped for stitching before she gets here later. But first I need to go back to bed and try and get some more ZZZZZ's!