Merry Christmas!!!!

Sorry I've been on hiatus! Visiting with family can keep you REAL busy.... NOT to mention being surrounded by tons of snow!
I just want to post a quick blog wishing you all a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Happy Holidays Ya'll!

--Steens
(Hopefully I'll have some pictures later.. and maybe I can post some on my handbags!)

Good Morning!

I've made it safely to Michigan! lol.... Not without lots of adventure though! I'll have to blog about it later..
For now (while I'm freezing my butt off) I'll just post the project I was working on the other
night.

My Boppy Slipcover

I really wanted to make one.. so here's how my pattern turned out. (Still need to make some adjustments and sew a zipper on.. but It's not too bad at all! :) )

WOOOOOHOOO!!! I WON I WON!!

I'm SOOOOOO excited right now!! So last night I got an email from Greg @ mommydaddyblog.com saying I won a Nest Egg for my baby collection!!!!! I've never won anything in my life!! (Let alone something so awesome lol) Here's what it looks like :)

Might be a different design.. but that's the gist of it! Anywho, Check out their blog... I'm going back to dancing around my desk! :)

--Steeeeena

UFC Fight... Extravaganza!!!!

We went to UFC'S Fight for the Troops and had a great time!

Here are Mike and me before and after the fight lol.

Notice how Vicious we both got?! hehehe

He was ready to RUMMMMMMMBBBBBLLLLEEEE!

Here's a shot of the crowd before ... it was packed by the 2nd fight. Talk about HOT and smelly!! lol. The craziest part of the night was Corey hill breaking his leg.. I swear he just kicked is opponent and his leg snapped in half like a spaghetti noodle.. (I'm still gagging) You tube has some videos I'm sure. I was forced to watch the slow-mo replays over and over at the fight, lol, so I'm good.. no more for me!

It was def a romantic night of blood and violence... haha jk Maybe next time we can do dinner and a movie instead? :0P

--Steens

Swarrrrrmed!

I've been so busy lately! With the holidays, side projects, and work... Well gosh! I'm still wondering how I'm managing to stay awake right now~!
I'll be posting plenty of updates today.. on hand bags.. UFC... and everything else I've been up to!
What do you find yourself being caught up in around this time of year?

Thanksgiving 2008!

Happy Monday everyone! Hope you all had a fabulous weekend! (I know I sure did.) Last night I finally put up the Christmas Tree... and OHHH man it's beautiful. I'll have to post some pics up later.. ALSO, I finished my craft area. I'm so excited to have everything just about in order at my house. Right in time for my birthday ::::cough cough:: which is tomorrow:::cough and the holiday season :)
Anyways! On to what we've all come here for! What did Christina do for Thanksgiving this year?
Well, of course I stuffed myself full of delicious food, BUT more importantly, I was filled with joy. I got up super early on Thursday and met up with my parents to go feed the needy. I could have done away with eating completely that day. The feeling I got from helping others was good enough. Here are some pics---- (gotta love the camera phone and overexposure... lol)

The meals were all ready to go by 11am.. They were made at a church down the street and brought to the rescue mission for passing out. From what I saw, it looked like a nice selection of food. Each person got a meal, some fruit, a drink, and some sort of dessert.


Yum.. Vitamin water... lol jk... I'm really not a big fan of it.. But then again.. I guess I'd be glad to have anything if I was without.

Mom and dad. They are two of the most kind hearted people I know.. They definitely passed along their 'giving' heart. They raised me to appreciate everything I've been blessed with and to help those less fortunate.
With the economy the way it is right now... you never know if you're a heartbeat away from trading places with the people you help.

There were a lot of young people helping out. I think it's a beautiful thing to see young people making a difference. They are the future.

This is my favorite picture of them all. See that arrow? Well, the arrow is not important. It's the children that arrow is pointing at that make it all worth it.
The little boy in the picture kept picking out shoes and laying them by his sister's feet to see if they 'fit' lol.. It was the cutest... He wasn't concerned at all about what HE was going to get.. but more which shoes would look pretty on his sister. He'd grab the glittery shoes, put them by her feet, then put them back. Next, the pink ones and so on. *sigh* oh the petty things we take for granted. If you look at the little girl now you'll see her on her pink bike.. see it? Well, that bike was about 8x too small.. but she was so appreciative and in love with that pretty pink bike. She entrusted me to 'guard' it for her while she ate lol.. It was my pleasure.

I'm so glad it was warm out.. Unfortunately, it wont be that way for much longer, which is why everyone was allowed to grab a blanket from the stack. I usually sleep with two blankets at night, but as of now, I will be donating one to keep someone else warm this holiday.

Here my parents are walking over to check out the men's shelter.... sadly, there isn't much left. It burnt down and now many are back on the street this winter.

I'm so thankful this year for all my many blessings. I'm thankful for a wonderful family, a life full of happiness, and the drive to give back.

Hope you all have a great day!
--Steena

Terrrrrrific Tuesday!!!

Now that the Baby Shower is over, I can finally share what I made! :)

Stevie used to be an old coworker of mine and on Saturday her new boss threw her a baby shower! Stevie is a very unique soul. She loves to be a trendsetter and is always up on her fashion. She's got a girly side, but she can keep it real.
I saw this fabric at Joann and thought 'That would be *perfect* for her blanket!'

I have to be 100% honest.. I kind of fell in love with this blanket lol.. and now, I'm jealous to see that someone else got to keep it!!!!!!! I guess I'll just have to grab another couple yards and put them to use, huh?

Pinning...

Sewing...

So bright and colorful... girly, yet, punk lol..

Alright, back to work for me.. I'll probably be back to write some more later since everyone has left me.. and I'm @ work forever today :)

--Steens

A tisket a tasket.. there's too much junk in my basket!

So, I'm working an incredibly long shift today and I'm seriously losing my mind. I really have so many things I need to get done and sitting here for hours on end isn't helping!

• I've gotta RSVP for the Christmas party @ work
• I have Christmas cards to write up and mail off
• I have FIVE handbag orders to make for Christmas
• And finally (which sums up everything else) I have a billion other small projects to complete!!!!!! lol

I DO have a sneak peak for you though,...

Find out what these become..... duhn duhn duhhhhhhhhhh

OMG! This is what boredom will do to ya!! lol

I think Rascal was tired of seeing all of this baby boom stuff going on and decided to give in to his natural parenting instincts.. Congrats on the new puppy! (LOL)

Ok,, so Rascal didn't really have a baby.. But it's funny right??

And I guess boys can't give birth.. UNLESS you are Thomas Beatie.. (who is actually still a woman parts wise, but legally a man.. ?... )

ANYWAYS! Look how cute... Too bad babies will never be in Rascal's future since he has been 'taken care of' ::: cough:: lol

Surprise!

He puts up with my madness lol.. What a great dog.. :)

Well.. just thought I'd post these..

Have a wonderful day!!

--Steens

Pens pens pens

(yay for camera phonessss)

I have so much junk at my desk @ work... So instead of tossing our 8 billion highlighters, pens, and scissors in the desk... I grabbed some stylish paper and an old soup can.. and TADA! Now I've got a nifty new pen cup! :)

Ok.. Now if I could only make about 20 more lol

This is the newest addition to my collection of creations... Once I got the hang of things it took maybe an hour to finish.. Next time.. I'd say I could do it in about 30 mins.. :)

I chose a nice soft baby flannel.. with a little stretch to it ;0) I figured this pattern could be unisex.. so it was perfect!

First, I cut out my pieces of fabric (yay for camera phone pictures lol)

Next, I sewed the sleeves onto the front and back panels.

:::stitch stitch:::

This is what it looks like with the sleeves attached.. not too cute, I know.

Now you sew from the bottoms of each sleeve, down and around each leg, and then to the other sleeve bottom.

I wanted to neaten things up, so I made a nice 1/2 inch seam on each side of the front panel opening.

Look how much better it's looking... "Can I get a partial 'aaawwwwweee' now??"

After we've got this cutie looking somewhat decent, we need to add some elastic to the sleeves, snappies to the front, and a collar!

Cut out a wider opening where the neck goes ... whatever you think looks comfortable.. (I have to guess without a baby model around to measure lol)

::snip snip::::

Either buy binding.. or make your own...

I used some extra fabric, ironed it up.. and it turned out fine!

Here I am sewing on the binding to the neck area to create a clean looking collar area.

For the elastic in the sleeves, I created a seam with a small space to feed the elastic. Once I threaded the elastic in I sewed it closed and repeated the same on the other sleeve. Looks even better now, huh? :)

Finally, You can sew on your snappies! Since, I don't have a baby to measure, I simply sewed on one snappy for now just to close it up temporary. If, you have a baby around, you could measure the fit a little better and add about 4 or 5 onto it to close it up

Just a quick sew to fasten.

Look how happy! lol.. Now you have finished jammies! Yippeeeeeee!

Now I need to make a hundred more.. and in a few different sizes! Time to make some patterns!!!

xoxooxox

----~*~Steens ~*~

A few pics from Halloween 2008

BOO!

Halloween fun @ work

My costume made from red duck tape and black trash bags!.. I was a Trashion Queen :)
The cutest..

The Scooby Doo Gang.. How creative..

Scooby hanging out the sunroof lol

Morgan looked awesome lol..

OH NO! Who ran this guy over??

Oh.. guess we found the guilty party.. LOL..

Overall, definitely a fun day :)