And The Winner Is........

We've reached our goal of 300 Followers!  Thank you everyone!!!

My husband drew a name from the basket last night.  Here is the winner:

Anne at Anne's Phamily Blog

Anne, please email me with your street address so I can mail your prize to you!  Congratulations!!!!

Guest Blogger - Lynn Stevens

I've been taken, for quite some time now, by Steampunk Art.  I see it all over the beautiful Somerset Studio magazines that I love and I see it online.  One of my sweet blog friends, Lynn Stevens of Trash To Treasure Art blog, does the most beautiful Steampunk Art that I've ever seen!  I invited Lynn to be my Guest Blogger for October 1st.  Lynn had to have emergency surgery and is now recovering so we're a bit late on my Guest Blogger post for October 1st but as I told Lynn, her health is the most important thing.  Lynn was feeling well enough last night to send me her post so here it is.  Please welcome my friend, Lynn Stevens:

Steampunk works and How to get Published

by Lynn Stevens

I was thrilled when Pam asked me to share with you all a little about my Steampunk work and how I
go about getting my work published.

Steampunk has been around for quite some time and has found its way into the Art field. Its a mix of
Victorian meets Mechanical if you will, think Jules Vern. Often made up of watch & clock parts,
Airships, cogs, light bulbs, corsets, salvaged vintage jewelry. just about anything mechanical can be
taken apart and used in Steampunk. That's the fun of it !!! discovering found objects to use in your art.
I Love doing Jewelry, altered art, cards, ATC's, etc.

I really fell in Love with the idea of Nautical Steampunk. The fun of putting together some contraption
of something you might have found delving deep in the waters with an old Sea Captain. I came up with
"Under the Sea" A combination of stamps from Oxford Impressions. (One of the Design teams I'm on)
and bits and bobs I gathered along my creative journey. A did and entire collection of Sea Faring
pieces.

Steampunk can also take to the land, I did an entire series of Train themed pieces for Artistic Outpost
(another one of my DT's I'm on.)
Using the traditional cog and watch parts for my creations.

Or the Air, Yes Airships or flying machines have such a fun bit of whimsy. A few pieces I did when
asked to be a Guest Designer for Alpha stamps.

A few of my jewelry pieces available on my Etsy site.

 The best thing about Steampunk is ANYTHING goes. Just have fun!!!
Getting Published
I've been fortunate to have been published in many of Stampington's publications, Somerset Studios,
Somerset Gallery, Belle Amour Jewelry, Belle Amour, Somerset Home, Stampers Sampler, Take Ten,
Catch Up issues. Altered Arts, and a few others. I'm most excited about a collaborative project with my
local stamp group coming out in Somerset Galley that features several Steampunk Birds we created
together. I included a how to so you can create your own birds. So watch for it in December.

The best thing I can tell you about being published is just do it!! You'll never know if you don't try.
Submit original work, familiarize your self with the type of art each publication is looking for. There's
so many out there, your sure to find one that fits your style. Most magazine will have a call for entries
listed on their website for upcoming themes or challenges. Keep in mind they work many months
ahead ,so something you submit may not come out for 8 to 9 months. They often will hold your work
for an extended period of time for possible future issues, So if its something you can't be without don't
send it. You'll need to send return postage if you want your art returned. You need to keep a list of
everything that went in to making your project along with detailed instructions on how you put it
together. With credits given for products used. Attach it to the art itself. I usually put all my information
on a 3 x 5 card. Include your name, address, phone #, email address. Name of art piece and
instructions.

An added bonus is many companies offer incentives when using their products and will send you free
merchandise. Just check with the companies you use and ask about their incentive program. If your
piece is chosen for a special write up the magazine will contact you for more information or photos and
ask for an electronic version. So keep good records and photos of your submissions. You also receive a
complimentary issues or voucher in the magazine your published in. It sounds like a lot of work but
believe me it is well worth the effort!

I currently work on several design teams. Alpha Stamps, Oxford Impressions, Artistic Outpost,
Gingersnap Creations. and usually guest host on a different design team each month. I keep a up to date
blog http://trashtotreasureart.blogspot.com and sell some of my pieces on my Etsy site.

I'd like to thank Lynn for being my guest blogger today.  I hope you enjoyed reading about Lynn's Steampunk Art and how to submit work to magazines.

On a final note for today, I have reached 300 Followers!  Yeah!!!  We will have our drawing when Scott gets home from work tonight and I will post the winner's name for my Sewing Art Quilt first thing on Friday morning so please stop back to see if you won!

Crazy Quilting For Newbies - Resources

Today, I thought I would talk about where to find supplies. 

Fabrics:  Walmart, Hobby Lobby, JoAnn Fabric Stores, Hancock Fabrics - all have a nice selection of fabrics to choose from.  Keep in mind, with crazy quilting, you don't need to buy yardage!  1/8 yard pieces will go a long way!

Satins, Silk, Brocade, Velvet & Velveteen are traditional fabrics for CQ.  I also use cotton prints and anything else I like. Look for things with texture and things that are reflective or shiny or sparkly.  Variety is the spice of life when it comes to Crazy Quilting.

I find all sorts of fun things at Flea Markets and Antique Shops.  Vintage damask napkins are nice to cut up for CQ work.  Vintage handkerchiefs, vintage embroidered linens and old lace are all easy to find at Flea Markets and usually quite affordable.  And there's always Ebay if you don't have access to antique shops and flea markets.

An excellent and affordable source for fabrics is through my friend Karen South.  Karen lives in Louisville, Kentucky and she has the most wonderful fabric store available to her.  I've been there!  Karen offers Fabric Packs that are perfect for crazy quilting.  Here is the link:  Karen's Fabric Packs.  She hasn't updated her site in awhile but you can email her for more information.

Lace & Trims:  I for one, cannot walk away from a pile of old lace at a Flea Market.  I love it all and have way more than I will ever use but I don't care.  Old lace is wonderful on crazy quilts.  Of course, there are plenty of beautiful new laces available too and I have some of those too.

You can of course find old lace at Antique shops and Flea Markets and there's always Ebay and Etsy.  Another source that offers tons of beautiful laces and trims is Flights Of Fancy.  Here, you can find all sorts of beautiful treasures for your CQ work.

Carolyn at Evening Star Designs offers fabrics, lace & trims, threads and other embellishments and CQ kits.

Maureen at Maureen's Vintage Acquisitions offers a huge and wonderful selection of Crazy Quilt supplies including antique Cigarette Silks.

And here's another link for beautiful fabrics, trims and embellishments.  Crazy Quilt Silks, Fibers & Embellishments.

Beads - You can find beads at all the usual places like craft stores and Etsy but one of my favorite sources is Fire Mountain Gems.  When you go to their site, be prepared to drool!  LOL!!!

Sequins - I have purchased the majority of my sequins from Cartwrights Sequins & Beads.  They offer a huge variety of sequins, they ship incredibly fast and they are very affordable!

Silk Ribbon - I hand dye and hand paint my own silk ribbon but many stitchers would rather not mess with dyes.  A source for beautiful hand dyed silk ribbon is my dear friend Pat Winter.  Be sure to visit her blog and then you can email her for information on her hand dyed ribbons.  Pat also has an Etsy shop that you will enjoy visiting.  She offers little embellishment kits that would be perfect for a newbie crazy quilter.

Buttons - What can I say about buttons?  You can find them everywhere!  All the usual places like craft stores, antique shops, Ebay & Etsy.  You don't need a ton of fancy buttons to get started but if you would like a few beautiful and unusual handpainted buttons, you will enjoy visiting Gerry's Etsy shop. 

So, that's a good list of places for you to start with.  It's not a complete list of resources but it definitely gives you a lot of good options for supplies.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to leave a comment here or you can send me an email.

Italian Soup Recipe

I thought I would start sharing a few of my quick & healthy meal recipes with you.  I always say I can't cook but the truth is, I can.  I would just rather stitch than cook!

I have some really nice things that I make.  All are healthy and easy.  And let's face it, pre-packaged things are so full of chemicals & salt these days that we really have no choice but to cook from scratch if want to feel good.

This is my Italian Soup Recipe:

2 pounds Ground Sirloin
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 medium Onion finely chopped
3 cloves Garlic minced
2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning
1 - 28 oz. can Crushed Tomatos
1 - 8 oz package frozen chopped spinach
1 - 6 oz package finely shredded Parmesan cheese
4 - 14 oz cans Low Sodium Chicken Broth

Heat olive oil in soup pot.  Saute onion and garlic.  Add ground sirloin and brown.  Add chicken broth, crushed tomatos and spinach.  Add Italian seasoning.  Simmer for 30 minutes.  Add Parmesan cheese.  Enjoy with a piece of Garlic Bread!

This recipe is low fat, low salt and low carb!  And it's excellent so give it a try and let me know what you think!

This And That And More

I haven't been feeling well for the past few days.  More Zoloft withdrawals.  But I do feel a bit more on the planet.  Not sure I'm liking reality these days but I certainly have my diversions.

Bubba cleaned and resealed our deck over the weekend.  It looks so nice!  This coming weekend, we're going to dig all the perennials out of the garden.  Come Spring, I want to put together a container garden with herbs and annuals.  Should be easier for me to take care of and I just love herbs.  They smell so good!  The weather this coming weekend looks like it will be about 75 degrees and sunny.  Perfect for getting that job done.  Scott will dig and I will haul it out back.

Mom is doing pretty well.  She's having some withdrawals from cutting back on the pain medication.  It's aggravating her BiPolar but other than that, she's healing well.  She only has to wear the brace for 8 more days.  I've been able to do her hair for her and will do it again tomorrow.  I'll see if she's up to writing.  If she is, I'll take the laptop over so she can write a blog post.  Mom really enjoys doing that.

Kathi and I went to a Fiber show on Saturday.  It was on a farm in Delavan Wisconsin.  Wonderful and so fun!  We saw how they shear the sheep!!!  Too cool!  I picked up a few things.  I really love needle felting.  It gives me something more to stitch on!  Will share my latest needle felting project later.  I just have to do the finishing on it.

I added a few more things to shop over the weekend.  A couple of mom's Christmas Tussy Mussy's:

And I added 2 more of my framed Crazy Quilt pieces:

I'm finishing up on a custom order today and I'm looking forward to starting on my Marie Antoinette quilt.  The seasonal affective disorder is already setting in.  But it really is pretty outside.  I do love October!

I made a big pot of Italian soup yesterday.  I want to share the recipe with you since it's easy and healthy.  I'll try to get that posted later today.

For now, I need to stitch.