It's That Time of Year Again!

AHHH~CHOO!!! LOL Yep, it's allergy season in our neck of the woods and I've been sicky all wk. w/a stuffed-up head/sinus drainage, a really bad sore throat and now a wonderful cough that keeps us up all night long, even propped up on 3 pillows. I even tried the vapor-rub thingy that you put on the soles of your feet and is supposed to work 100% of the time ~ well, I must be the one exception! I even rubbed it all over my chest for that menthol smell to clear up my head, but still not happening!!! (My dh got me the off-brand kind, maybe that is why it's NOT working)???? So I said all that to say that I just didn't feel like doing much stitching or sewing this past wk. but I did manage to get a couple of things done before we left on our first camping trip of the season last wkend. A couple of posts back I asked you all if you had any idea what I was making w/these strips of fabric ~ nobody guessed it. It was for my very first journal cover. Now, I'm still not completely finished w/it yet, but here it is so far. It's supposed to have rick rack on the flap and also a covered button, but you get the idea. I would love to make one similar to fit my Bible, as my other one is so old. Here's the inside.... a pocket for pens and other goodies and a 5 X 8 notepad. It has a velcro closure.

I found this pattern a bit confusing and some of the info was wrong, so I'm not mentioning who the designer is, but I don't think it's for a beginner. I took notes on the pattern for the next time, cuz I'd still like to make some more.

This other journal cover is a pattern by Indygo Junction and was a breeze to work with. I made it especially for our new granddaughter who had a b'day this wk.

This pattern did NOT, however have any kind of alphabet to go by, so I just winged it and freehanded the letters myself, using pearl cotton.

The inside has pockets for pencils and pens.

I had all this fabric in my stash, so didn't have to buy any this time. :))

This is Brooke who turned 9 the other day, but we celebrated her b'day early last wkend. Her mom is a former hairdresser and put PINK highlights in her hair for her b'day. She is quite the girly girl and we had a blast w/her and her brother Ethan all wkend. I had so much fun w/them, but they wore me out! LOL

I had so much fun shopping for 'girl's' clothes for a change that I went back twice! Having boys, I never got to buy anything pink!!

Brooke's mom and aunt made the cake/cupcakes to match the napkins/plates/tablecloth.

Amy, my step-daughter, is very artistic and I thought it looked like it came from a bakery!

Here she is on the big day! There were about 15 family members that all drove from out of town to be there, including us.

She had a few more presents that came after this pic was taken that filled up the other end of the table. She got a lot of really nice gifts!! Mostly clothes, then later her mom and I watched her try them on as she gave us a 'fashion show' walking like the models down their hallway. It was bunches of fun for all of us ~ she is quite the 'ham'. LOL

Here she is squeezing her brother Ethan. :)))

They were so excited that we brought the camper and our doggie BJ w/us. They ended up sleeping w/us both Fri. and Sat. nites. We played w/play-dough and colored in coloring books and watched Disney movies and bounced off the beds, oops, wasn't supposed to let that out, ha!

Then we awoke early Sun. morn to go to church, which was just a few steps away(we parked the camper in the church's parking lot) LOL. Our son-in-law is a preacher, so we got to hear him preach for the very first time and he did a great job.

They didn't want us to leave and neither did we! A great wkend was had by all. This was the very first time we got to celebrate her b'day w/her and we were thrilled to get to be a part of it. We are looking forward to many more visits and hoping they'll get to go camping w/us this summer.

Well, I'm headed back to the couch w/my blankie and Kleenex box to stitch while I watch some movies since it's raining out again! I still owe some of you an email, so I'll catch up w/you soon! Have a great wkend everyone!

Here's your quote for today:"Laughter w/a girlfriend can soothe everything from a bad day to a broken heart."

P.S. ~ A big Happy B'day to my sister-in-law Cindy whose b'day is today!!

Take care! ***Tanya***