100th blog post...and GIVEAWAY

I'm so excited! This is my 100th blog post and I'm taking this opportunity to host a giveaway! It's open to everyone and runs through till Saturday, March 7th when I will personally pick the winner! I will contact the winner via his/her blog. If you don't have a blog please let me know your email in your comment. The winner will receive the following items all handmade by me:

cute little coin purse with hand-painted birdy button (you can keep your fave piece of jewelry in here, or earplugs, knick-knacks, secrects...)

sleepmask incl. drawstring pouch...for sweet dreams

fabric and felt flower hair accessory...for your little girl or the little girl in you

All you need to do to enter is post a comment letting me know the colour and/or pattern of your current purse/handbag/tote/backpack or whatever carrier it is you are using daily! If you really want to win the items above and for additional 2 entries please grab my button and put it on your blog. (don't worry - you don't need to keep it there indefinitely...just for the duration of this giveaway. Of course you can keep it if you want ♥) Please let me know in a separate comment if you have done this. If you already have my button on your blog, please let me know, as you will be eligible for those two add. entries too. For additional 4 entries you may blog about this giveaway on your blog! Please let me know in a separate comment. See? It's that easy! Naturally shipping is free, but should you live in a country where you need to bribe the postman to receive your parcel or it gets stuck in customs for whatever obscure reason, please, please, please don't hold me responsible! I wish everyone the best of luck and I can't wait to pick the lucky winner!

Crafty books

Phew. As you can see me lovely header is back up there. I got a little panicky when it just disappeared yesterday ☺

On to one of my favourite subjects - books.

I love the crafting books by Ute Menze. Unfortunately for all you English-speakers out there, they're in German and haven't been translated as far as I know. However the beautiful layout and the gorgeous pictures and crafting ideas speak for themselves. If you are just a little bit crafty you won't need to understand the text. These books are ideal for people who love cross stitching, embroidery, patchwork and sewing. It is full of adorable details, and all the projects can be easily adapted to suit ones taste. The books are available on Amazon.

Help!!! What happened to my header?

I swear I didn't do anything to the layout...I mean why should I?

This is all I need! Can anyone help me? PLEASE!!!!!!

*Addendum 24th Feb

thanks for your quick response everyone! I think there was an error in Blogger when I tried to log on...then I tried to refresh the page and my header had disappeared! Including the image of the purse. The 'pinkrose' is just the background design. I will need to contact the designer, I think.

**Thank you, Sheila, for your immediate response and quick action - my header's back!!!

I'm not a fan

Being too weak to do anything much, I've decided to become a couch potato for the next couple of weeks. Last evening I settled down among the cushions, hot-water bottle on my feet and soft blanket covering my knees; water, a tissue box, my protein drink and the remote control within easy reach. So I started flipping through the channels when - horror among horrors - I came across Germany's Next Top Model. Even more horrendous: it's the 4th season! When this reality show first aired a couple of years ago I watched it like the rest of us thinking it was all about girls being made over, nice clothes, nice photo shoots etc. Little did I know that this show is all about mental torture! Honestly. I couldn't watch till the end. The way these poor girls are treated you'd think they are all hideous, dumb, colour blind and anti-social. Atleast that's how they are portrayed. And then omnipresent super-woman Heidi Klum arrives and seemingly turns them all into Cinderellas. But not before giving them the good cop/bad cop routine, trampling all over their delicate self-esteem, then doing an about-face and fawning all over them the next day. Besides, Klum's incessant and repetitive psycho-babble drives me insane! No wonder the girls are all afraid of her. The hype surrounding Klum, who hails from a small town not very far from here, has been inflated to such ginormous proportions that the woman doesn't seem real anymore. Last year I talked about this show to my pupils (girls, aged 12-14), and they told me they watch this show with dedication. They all want to be like Heidi Klum. One twelve year old told me she needed to lose weight. Frightening. Just imagine...when these girls look into the mirror, what do they see? Intelligence? Creativity? Compassion? No. Their critical eyes only see the surface. Not blond enough, not tall enough, not thin enough and so on and so forth. Each season this show airs is always accompanied by outraged moms, who - like me - believe its underlying message to be detrimental to young girls who seem to watch it religiously. And each season the media downplays and devalues these concerns. They say that's reality T.V. You can choose to watch it or not. Reality? What's real is that it reflects our degenerative (western) society. And that's a sad fact.

Hello Friends...♥

*Deep breath*.....sigh.....

Most of you will have guessed by now where I spent the last seven days. Yup. Back in hospital. I'm beginning to develop a 'hospital-phobia'. It was awful. According to the blood tests I developed another strain of the first virus, which unfortunately got reactivated. The irony is I probably contracted it from my previous stay in hospital! How unfair is that?

This time around they did a CT, to check all my organs, especially the heart. THANK GOD my heart has gone unscathed by this viral infection. I believe the prayers you sent me ♥♥♥ and all your kind, sweet and encouraging words protected me...

Now that I'm back home it's vital that I continue resting. There's another cold front coming, and this particular virus thrives on cold. Since there is no medication I need to strengthen my immune system. I've started drinking protein shakes. I need a lot of protein right now! I'm taking Coenzyme Q10 which helps repair cells. Other than that it's rest, rest, rest and drinking plenty of hot fluids. Doing sports is out of the question too.

Now what about my work? Most clients I talked to are sympathetic to my plight...others not so. In fact, there are some who take it personally! I'm consoling myself by telling myself they weren't the right clients anyway. I'm trying to be positive about all this. Right now I have to concentrate on getting my health and my life back on track. 

As for blogging (my favourite addiction), well, it may only be sporadic for a while....I mean, if I can't get to sewing bags to display here, what's the point? I don't even want to think about all those unfinished projects on my sewing table.

I'm coming up to my 100th post, and I had something special planned. I hope I can still go ahead with my plans when the time comes. Depends on how much energy I have. Meanwhile I really appreciate all your support. It's good to know you're still dropping by. You really are the BEST!

hugs,

A trip to the doc...

Okay, so the weather has turned from bad to worse and there's this new wave of viruses making rounds over here. I wasn't feeling too good this morning (my glands were swollen); not as bad as last time, but definitely something the doctor should look at. So I put on my woolliest sweater and a scarf and my thick outdoor jacket and went to see the doctor. She said my throat didn't look too bad, but she made some blood tests anyway, just in case. I will need to call in tomorrow to find out if the virus has reactivated or if I caught another one (please don't let this be the case). Sigh....

Meanwhile, I'm going to have to cancel some work-related appointments again.  Also, if I do have another virus, it's highly infectious and I don't want to be responsible for making other people sick, but I fear my reputation is going to suffer if I keep cancelling work stuff. There's nothing I can do about it. Sorry, this is not a happy post. I'm just so sick (literally) and tired of this whole virus mess and winter dragging on and on and on. 

At least I have more time to read your blogs and discover new ones, which is always highly entertaining and brightens my day.

Miss Japan

A while ago some of you wanted to see what the darker version of the trim that I bought looked like. Truth is, it took me ages to match up this dark grey ribbon. I knew I wanted a bold colour to go with it, but not too colourful. And I certainly didn't want to use any fabrics containing grey. Then I came across the Japanese flag and it hit me! A red/white combo of course, hence the name 'Miss Japan'. The red was bold enough to counterbalance the dark grey of the trim; mixed with white it didn't overpower it either. I had a hard time finding the polka dot fabric - mostly you get reversed colours, i.e. white dots on bright red. But I wanted the trim to be the eye-catcher, not the red colour. I was so glad when I stumbled upon this mini polka-dot fabric. There is a slight discrepancy of the reds, but since the eye is drawn to the whimsical trim, I don't think one notices. I like the way it turned out, and although the fabrics aren't Japanese, I do think this bag has a Japanese feel to it, don't you?

Kaffe Fassett make up bag

Kaffe Fassett is a well-known textile designer, innovative knitter, quilter and author. His first book 'Glorious Knitting' was the first knitting book ever to make it on the bestseller list. Born in San Francisco in 1937, he went on to study at the renowned School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and in 1964 moved to London where he now works and resides. He is the first living artist ever to have been invited to exhibit at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. He has a distinctive style, and the fabrics he designs are cheerful and explode with colour. In fact, Kaffe Fassett is all about colour. His colour-combinations are inspired by nature's wealth of colours, oriental ceramics and paintings. The jumpers he designs for Rowan Yarns may contain up to 60 colours! It's truly amazing. I used one of Kaffe Fassett's fabrics for this new make-up bag. As you can see it's colourful and just the right thing to brighten up a dreary winter's day. I altered the shape, so that more of your make up and other essential utensils may fit inside! I am also offering to ship this bag 'flat-packed' to reduce the postage. I got this piece of valuable advice from my blogging friends rkdsign88 and The sewing mom. I've alerted my customers to this alternative type of shipping in my shop and I hope it will help to increase sales.