Scarlet Threads Song!

This is one of the newest aprons from Scarlet Threads, called Song! Don't you just love her? She's so whimsical and lovely, and the colors are just wonderful.

Would you like one for your apron collection? We're giving one away! Yes! Scarlet Threads is hosting a giveaway and you could win a Song of your very own!

Go here to the blog, and see how to enter, and who knows, the Song could be yours!

Also, if something else catches your eye in the shop, use "Lex10" at checkout for 10% off!

a wooden spool wreath!

This Christmas, I tried to do more gifts with meaning. I wanted to do something that I knew would be special to the person it was for. My sister has long admired Jane Goodall, and interned for her a few summers ago. For part of her gift, I bought her a chimp guardianship and she loved it, as I had suspected she would!

My mother has been quilting for about fifteen years, I'd say, and she was the one who inspired me to begin quilting and sewing. She's made some really gorgeous quilts over the years and is always there to answer the questions that I have with my quilting!

On the long drive back from Iowa over Thanksgiving, I saw a photo on pinterest that I knew I had to make for her- a wreath made of old wooden spools of thread! I fell in love with it immediately, and will admit that I had a hard time not showing the picture to her beforehand!

Wooden spools seem to have become a bit of a hot commodity among sewers, I think. I have a few that I'd found here and there, and I have them in a mason jar in my sewing room. I went onto etsy to find more, and they got expensive! In some cases that I found, they were five for $5! That seemed a bit much. I found a really sweet seller who had all sorts of fun spools at a great price and other things in her shop, so I ordered a few bags and had so much fun going through them. I should have taken more photos of a few of the individual spools, because there were some really cool ones in the bundles! I found a wire wreath frame at Michaels for about $3 and was ready!

I brought them home with me and made it at my parents house, rather than making it before the holiday (yes, I am a procrastinator...), but I figured it would be fun that way. Since we were in NH for a week, I brought my sewing machine and tons of fabric, and did a lot of sewing while I was home. I packed my pink glue gun for this project and had a crafty cocktail night with my mother and my oldest friend in the world, Hillary, which was just perfect.

Getting ready.....

(don't you just love the plastic daisy placemats?! I figured my mother didn't want hot glue all over her dining room table!)

Here's the finished wreath! I just love how it came out, and my mother does too. She looped a wide ribbon around it and hung it on the wall of her sewing room!

I really want to make one for my sewing room too!

Did you make any of your Christmas gifts this year?

giveaway!

Do you read the blog We are Not Martha? Sues and Chels are two girls in Boston and their blog is filled with some of the best recipes you've ever seen. One of my favorites, the strawberry shortcake cookies, came from them! It is now one of my go-to summer recipes, though I make it year-round, because they're so delicious!

Well, Sues and Chels were so gracious and are hosting a giveaway with Scarlet Threads! Hop on over, read and try their recipe for lemony summer risotto, and take a chance at winning a gorgeous Daphne apron!

Also, Scarlet Threads will be hosting a cookbook swap! Go here and see a photo of Steve in an apron, and sign up to swap with us!

thrifty thursday, via Scarlet Threads!

Clearly you know of my great love and new involvement (which I still need to tell you about!) with Scarlet Threads, right?

Well, do have a look at this, via Eileen, one of the amazing women behind it all!

Is anyone out there familiar with Extreme Couponing on TLC? I am completely enamored with the thriftiness of these folks, but I am completely incapable of duplicating their efforts in my own world. In the spirit of couponing, however, we at Scarlet Threads decided to create a deal for you!

One Thursday per month we will have a special one-day sale where the discount is entirely based on how many new facebook followers we received since the preceding Thursday. We will announce the date of the one day sale on the Thursday before to allow you the opportunity to spread the word about Scarlet Threads to all of your Facebook friends
We shall call this "Thrifty Thursday!" In order to increase the discount, use the "suggest to friends" button to introduce your social network to Scarlet Threads. At a future date, we may choose to do a Thrifty Thursday based on Twitter or Blog Followers. We are not super stealthy, so we will let you know which social media we are selecting for the one day sale, how many current followers we have, and how we will calculate the discount.
I wouldn't let you down, would I? Now that you've read about the concept, we are announcing that NEXT THURSDAY will be our first Scarlet Threads Thrifty Thursday.

Current Facebook Fan Count: 3200

For every new fan from now until I check the account on the morning of Thursday next, the one-day sale will increase by 1% (up to 50%). For example, if we receive 27 new fans the sale discount will be 27% and if we receive 52 fans the discount will be capped at 50%. See? Isn't that fun? You can command your own destiny and demand your own price.

Ready? Set. Suggest a Friend!

HERE is their facebook site. Go like them. You know I do!

a little giveaway!

Oh hey! This is my 500th post! Crazy, eh? I have no idea what I've gone on about for 500 posts, but here it is. To celebrate, I thought I'd offer you a little giveaway! Surely you've heard of CSN stores, right? They've been all over blog world, even here on mine before too. I was just asked if I wanted to do another giveaway, and since they are so much fun, I said yes. I'm giving away a gift certificate to any of their more than 200 online stores, where you can find anything from modern dining room furnutire to kitchenware to shoes! I've bought a few things from there in recent months and have been very happy with them!

In order to enter, just leave me a comment and let me know what you'd buy if you won. Go have a look at some of their sites, there are so many. Of course, my birthday is coming up in a few weeks (January 24!), so feel free to use the gift certificate to buy my birthday present ;)

The giveaway will stay open for a week, so I will pick a winner next Friday, January 14.

Sharing the Joy of Sponsorship | World Vision Child Ambassadors

Please take two minutes to watch this video...I feel the same way as each of these people about my sponsorship of Majlinda and Boikokobetso!

Maybe a resolution for 2011 can be to sponsor a child? I promise, you will love it and it will change your life- for the absolute best.

{Modern Relief}

If you are a reader of quilting blogs like I am, you may have seen this popping up in the last several days---

Heather has dreamed up the most amazing project this holiday season-

{ Modern } Relief is a simple concept. We are Modern Quilters uniting through the holiday season by bringing the warmth of our quilts and the warmth of your hearts together for others in need. This season, 2010, we will be supporting World Vision. We hope YOU will join us in taking a stand against hunger by participating in our fundraising raffle.

I know that I don't need to tell you how much I love and support World Vision, so I was thrilled to see this charity as theirs.

Please go here and have a look at some of the amazingly gorgeous quilts that have been donated. I am not posting all of the pictures here, as there are so many, but here is one teaser, made by Heather herself-

Amazing, isn't it? She is so talented.

Raffle tickets can be purchased for $10 each and you can access their paypal account for purchasing tickets on Heather's site. I don't know if I can link their paypal account here! There are more than a dozen quilts that are part of the raffle, and one of them could be yours! Please consider purchasing a ticket and help support World Vision this year. Winners will eb chosen by a randon generator on December 1, so buy a ticket today and spread the word!

what are YOU doing?

Today is National Philantropy Day!

I've seen lots of posts about this on twitter, so I thought it would be appropriate to discuss. According to their website (linked above), 2010 is a very special year, as not only does it mark the 50th anniversary of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the chief sponsor of NPD, but it’s also the 25th anniversary of this special day.

In the United States alone, there are more than 1 million charitable organizations, and Americans give more than $300 billion annually to charitable causes (Giving USA Foundation). In Canada, more than 88,000 charities provide countless services to millions of Canadians, who in turn contribute more than $10 billion annually to those organizations (Canada Revenue Agency). In Latin America and Asia, with governments no longer able to provide enough funding for social services, charitable sectors are growing rapidly and creating programs to meet the needs of their countries’ citizens. The quality of life for all people—everything from education, healthcare, the environment and the arts, to name only a few—would be far less if not for these organizations.

(italicized paragraphs come from their site)

I talk about them enough, so I'm sure you know of two of my favorite organizations-

Scarlet Threads

A a compassionate boutique, specializing in unique products designed and produced by talented seamstresses in rural Asia.

World Vision

a Christian relief, development and advocacy organization dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice.

It has only been recently that I've become involved with Scarlet Threads, but I just love their mission and beauty, and I'd love you to check out their site (linked above, and on the side of my blog) for more information. They have gorgeous fairtrade aprons and other gifts that are perfect for any occasion. They just came out with their new products, and see the Aubergine apron? That was my name suggestion! Time for another giveaway, perhaps?

As you know, I sponsor two little girls through World Vision. Majlinda is seven and lives in Albania and Boikokobetso is three and lives in South Africa. I've been sponsoring Boikokobetso for just over a year, but it's hard to believe some days that Majlinda has been in my life for more than three years! I just love having them both in my life, and I think about them often, sending love and prayers their way. I have a picture of them both on my desk at work too. Unfortunately, I cannot post their pictures on my blog, as WV works hard to protect their privacy, and I respect that, but trust me when I say how adorable they are!

What are your favorite charities and what are you involved with? Are you passing along the message of philantropy today?

ahhh, sweet September!

In case you missed the memo, today is September 1! I am so pleased and hope the next few months will be better than the last few. It may not have been apparent from my posts, but I've been in a bit of a funk this summer. Maybe I should write more about it, but right now, I don't want to go too into it, just hope that my mood will improve as the weather cools down.

September also means that new shows begin again! I'll be watching How I Met Your Mother, Law and Order: SVU, Survivor and Amazing Race for sure. Those are my top favorites, I think. What are your favorites?

Also, my giveaway ended yesterday and the big winner of the lovely Penelope apron is MANDY!!! If you don't read her blog, you really should. She's quite hilarious with the talers of her daughter, Vivian, the diva! Go say hi to Mandy!

Mandy, please send me your address so that I can get your Penelope in the mail!

Thank you all who entered. Consider hosting a Scarlet Threads giveaway of your own sometime (maybe for the holidays!), and check back, as it is highly likely that I will host another apron giveaway in the next few months. I'll also be hosting an apron party, I think, and let me know if you are interested in doing the same, as I will then put you in touch with the ladies behind Scarlet Threads and they will help you set it up!

In other exciting news, I was selected to host a World Vision House Party next month!

A House Party™ is thousands of parties across the country, hosted by people like you. Each event is sponsored by a leading brand and focuses on something cool that the sponsor wants its best fans to experience firsthand and share with their friends.

I think you know how much I love World Vision and my Albanian and South African babies, so I am really excited about this opportunity. Basically, I will have people over and share my story of sponsorship. I'd love it if others signed up to sponsor a child too, but I will admit, that I feel a bit awkward asking people to do that. A good thing about World Vision sponsorship is that you can be as involved as you want. Aside from the $35 monthly donation, the rest is really up to you. I'm very involved with my girls, so I write letters and send packages at least once a month, but others don't write, they just send the donation, and that is fine too. It's up to the individual.

If you are interested in attending my World Vision party virtually (or if you are in DC and want to come) please let me know. I can certainly pass along the information if you'd like to sponsor a child. I know it sounds cliche, but it will change your life, and I love having my girls in my life!

Any good news with you this week?

yet another giveaway!

Remember a few months ago when I hosted a giveaway to benefit Scarlett Threads?

Reminder-

Scarlett Threads, a compassionate boutique, specializing in unique products designed and produced by talented seamstresses in rural Asia. Scarlet Threads products are fairly traded and created in compliance with our core vision and values. When you purchase one of our beautiful hand-crafted products, you become part of our story by providing a woman with safe and rewarding work. (from their site)

Well, I am doing another one, and here is why!

Scarlett Threads often has new products come out, and when they do, they have naming contests where they ask their readers to suggest names.

I won!

Thanks to yours truely, this lovely lady is called Penelope!

With summer's end right around the corner, our new reversible apron is also perfect for fall! One side is a bold floral print in shades of pink, brown, and orange. The other side features a leaf motif with shades of teal and gold. The neck and waist straps are both made of green polka-dot and are fully adjustable.

Isn't she cute?! Wouldn't you love to have her in your kitchen?

If you would, here's how you could-
(same rules as last time)

You'll receive one entry for each of the following-

1- leave a comment, first of all, and tell me which of their aprons is your favorite design

2- become a follower of my blog (if you already do, just let me know)

3- become a follower of the Scarlett Threads blog

4- tweet about this giveaway (if you do, add the @lexilooo and @ScarletThreadFT so I see it) (feel free to retweet a few times a week, too!)

5- while you are tweeting, follow both @lexilooo and @ScarletThreadFT

6- blog about this giveaway on your own blog (leave the link here for me)

7- if you are really loving this idea, buy an apron from their shop for either yourself or a giveaway of your own, and you'll receive an extra ten entries!


Also, Scarlett Threads is working to introduce something new- they will be working with readers to host apron parties! It is a very new concept and still in the early stages, but I think I may be hosting one sometime this fall. It would be along the lines of a Tupperware party or the like, but way more fun! Interested in attending mine, either in person or virtually? Let me know! Interested in hosting one of your own? Let me know, and I will put you in contact with the Scarlett Threads girls and they will help make it happen!

I will keep this giveaway open through the remainder of August, so you have some time to enter and tell all of your friends :)

public service announcement

I have a confession to make.

I've never donated blood. I know how incredibly important it is, and I have tried several times, though not recently, I will admit. For a while, I couldn't, because I had lived in Luxembourg and Poland and there had been the whole foot and mouth thing (remember that?). I did try once here in DC and was turned away because I had recently been on antibiotics. Since then, I haven't tried again.

My blood type is B-, which is pretty rare, and I somehow never knew that.

I just saw this post on Rachel's blog and thought I should share-



Do you live in the DC area?

Do you have B negative or O negative blood?

I was reading SpouseBuzz this morning and came across the following, which I thought I would share here because I know that there are A LOT of DC Bloggers out there. If you can’t help, please consider re-posting this on your blog. My blood type is O negative, but sadly, DC is too far for me to travel. If you or someone you know can help, get in contact, make a difference!

Here’s the basics:We have a leukemia patient at Children’s who is using blood products VERY frequently and he has a very rare blood type. Only two percent of the population have one of the two types of blood he needs: B negative and O negative. In addition to those blood types, this patient also needed multiple platelet transfusions every day. We are struggling to keep up with his need for these rare blood types and yesterday, he just increased his usage.

If anyone is interesting in donating for this patient, they would have to come to Children’s Hospital in Northwest Washington, DC. To schedule an appointment, or any questions can be sent directly to me via any of the contact information listed below.

Thank you SOOOO much!!
Andrea Wolschleger
Donor RecruiterChildren’s National Medical Center
P: 202-476-3306
C: 202-495-9011
F: 202-476-6526
www.childrensnational.org/donateblood
“Donate blood for all the little reasons.”


I went to this link for the Blood Donor's Center at the Children's National Medical Center where they have a page where you can make an appointment to donate blood right online.

I just made an appointment for next Thursday at 3:45pm to donate.

Do you think you could donate as well? Could you maybe share this post too?

we have a winner!

Remember my great giveaway from the other week? Well, there is a winner!

Katelin, of Gorgeous Footsteps in the Sand, it's YOU!!!!

Hooray, Katelin! How appropriate, as this past weekend was her birthday and she's getting married this summer! Katelin, consider this your birthday and wedding gift ;) Please email me your address so that I can send it out to you!

Thank you all for entering, and taking a minute to learn about the amazingness that is Scarlett Threads. Check back, as I love them so much that I will likely do another giveaway this summer. They have new apron designs out AND some adorable cloth bags!

win!

I won two giveaways last week! So, so exciting :)

First, was from Sherri over at A Quilting Life, where I won the most adorable little bag and matching pin cushion!


Aren't they adorable!?! I saw them, and loved them, but never ever thought I'd win...she had more than 400 entries! I think that the bag will be perfect to keep some sewing supplies in and now I want to learn to make the pin cushions myself. I think my mother would love one! Sherri also has an etsy shop, where she sells these adorable pin cushions! Sherri is really talented, go have a look at her blog and some of the things that she's made!

Then I found out that I won Anamarie's giveaway and won a $15 gift certificate to Red Envelope! I think I am going to use it for my sister's Christmas present. I am debating between this and this. Which do you vote for? She doesn't read (or know about!) my blog, so this isn't spoiling anything :)

So, many thanks to you both for these fabulous giveaways! I am so lucky!

Maybe once the new year comes, I will host another giveaway. I always find them to be so much fun. Or, maybe I should organize a swap? A Valentine swap? Or, a swap in honor of my 30th birthday (how did that happen?!)?

What do you vote for? Giveaway or swap?

two giveaways!

I thought I'd post about these two lovely giveaways you might be interested in.

First, over at Pink Pincushion, you could win the following---

This giveaway includes a handmade loyalty wallet, to keep your punch cards in. A pincushion out of Rouenneries fabrics using the Sugar Pumpkin pattern by Fig Tree Quilts, and the wonderful French Inspired Home book by Kaari Meng.

Love it!

Read more about the giveaway, and a story, here. This is a quilting blog that I enjoy. She's so talented and has pictures of some of her creations. Inspiring!

The second giveaway is being hosted by Jennifer over at The Pink Chick and she is giving away a gorgeous scarf by TDM Designs. I will definitely be looking into this company. This is a company that makes Nepali scarves and looks to "create opportunities for poverty-stricken women to generate sustainable income in Nepal." They are also "invested in a literacy and education campaign throughout the country."

I think you all know how I feel about literacy causes :)

So, go have a look at them, and maybe you'll get lucky!

now's the time that we need to share

I know I'm not the only one who can't believe how quickly the holidays are approaching. Even my darling sister, who begins her Christmas countdown in September set her facebook status today to "what has happened to November?" or something similar.

Of course, with the holidays come buying gifts for friends and loved ones (side note- is it just me, or is that phrase slightly odd? friends and loved ones? are my friends not loved?). Along with those gifts, I always like to do some extra donations to charity. While I complain about my tiny apartment, or how I wish I had an iphone, I need to remember how blessed I really am. I have an amazing family and really wonderful friends. I have a loving boyfriend, an education and a job, a roof over my head, a fridge full of food and legs/metro card to get me where I need to go. There are a lot, a lot, of people in this world who are not as fortunate as I am, so I like to try to do what I can to help. By no means am I wealthy, but I can help in small ways, and I think that is an important thing to do. I know that the economy isn't great right now, and people are struggling everywhere, so I like to think that the little that I do, makes a tiny difference in someone's life.

As you know, I sponsor two little girls through World Vision. At the holidays, I send them an extra donation, which I do a few times throughout the year as well. $75 can buy a lot more in Albania than it can here, and since I just began sponsoring Boikokobetso in South Africa, I haven't done this yet for her, but I imagine it is more than in Albania (am I wrong?). Also, around the holidays, World Vision has a gift catalog where you can donate things like sheep, ducks, chickens, tree seedlings, soccer balls and so much more to needy families in developing nations. $25 will buy two chickens, and $30? Five ducks! Both will have lots of eggs, something that can both be eaten and also sold. Both good things. Last year, I sent along some chickens, ducks and seeds. Oh, and two soccer balls for $16! I don't know where they went, but I know they were well received.

The last few years, I also did the Angel Tree program. A friend had a tree at her office, so she brought me an angel. It listed the name, age and sizes of a child, and I went out and bought a few things for the child. I think I had to wrap them, and then my friend took them back to her office for me and they were delivered. She and I are no longer friends, so this won't happen this year, but maybe I will try it through the website. I have to have a better look at their site, but I like to pick out the gifts myself, rather than just donate money directly (am I strange?).

One year, I also did the Letter to Santa, which was local to DC, though they seem to have it elsewhere. I only did this once, several years ago, and it was a bit hard. I say that, because I went to the post office and picked through a basket full of letters to Santa. Most were written by the mothers, and the majority of them had five or six children (or more) of various ages, most asking for things like ipods or a wii. At the time, I didn't really have the extra cash for an ipod for myself, much less a family of eight. I finally found a letter from a mother of two children, one around eight and one around three. I bought them each a fleecie pullover, a toy and a book.

Every morning and most afternoons, I see Marines at my metro stop, holding a sign for Toys for Tots. I'm thinking that I may go with this one this year. I have a daily reminder to buy a few toys, and there are several drop-off locations in DC, so I think this will be fun. Maybe I will buy a Cabbage Patch Doll! Of course, I'll buy books. Every child needs books. Oh yes, oh yes they do.

There is also a food drive going on at work, it will run through December 31. I've gone through my cabinets and picked out several things to bring in. Also, when I've gone grocery shopping, I've made it a habit to pick up a few extra cans to donate. Many canned goods are less than a dollar each, so picking out a few cans of beans or the like won't put a huge dent in my grocery bill, and local soup kitchens really need the goods. I know that my office is hardly the only one doing this, it is all over the country. I'm sure the Salvation Army takes year-round donations too.

Do you do anything like this at the holidays? What is your favorite organization to support? Please share with me, I'd love to see more!

giveaway winners!!!!!

My stationary giveaway with English Tea Paperie is over and I have two winners!


Congratulations to Magda and Melanie! Hooray!!!


Magda was the first name pulled (via random.org) and has won the flats and minis and Melanie has won the set of flats.


Remember also, for those of you who didn't win, Chloe has kindly offered a 10% discount to all of you lovelies, so please go have a look at her shop! When you click the link, the 10% will b e deducted at checkout. So, go fill your cart with pretty things!


Magda and Melanie, please send me an email (my email is on my profile page) with your mailing address. From there, I will put you in touch with Chloe!


Thank you to Chloe for letting me host this giveaway, it has been fun!

another giveaway!

Oh hey! How about another giveaway? It's not mine, but it's still fabulous.

Go have a look, there are three different chances to win!