Notes From Mom - The Dress Box

As promised, I have a new blog post from mom!  She's sharing one of my favorite childhood memories today.  Enjoy!

Hi Everyone!   It's me Adria, Pam’s mom.  The one who is in trouble all the time. My gallbladder surgery is Tues. Dec l4 and I will be very happy to get it over with so I can enjoy my Christmas.  

As of Nov.1st, I had all of my shopping done (I try to do that every year.  I also have all my presents wrapped and have made some spiced peanuts, Swedish nuts (the Jewish people call them Masugga Nuts), I have toffee candy in the freezer and 8 kinds of cookies in the freezer, and speaking of cookies I have a cute story to tell you.

This is a story about my mother.  My mother had a very serious depression when I was 6 yrs.old and lost her sense of taste and smell just as I have now. Because of the loss of these senses she was never very interested in eating except for things that were crisp or crunchy.  Mom always liked my cookies especially the Christmas ones.  I always gave her a box of Christmas cookes but one year she kind of one-upped me with it and it was really fun.  Even Pam thought so and we still talk about them after all these years. 

Pam & Grandma.  I was about 6 weeks old here.

You see my mother saved a very large dress box, which at that time were bigger than now.  She gave the box to me and asked me to fill it for her.  At that point in my life I was used to making 25 to 30 different kinds of cookies for Christmas.  I lined the box with waxed paper and bought a big supply of cupcake papers & started to line them up in the box.  As I added the cookies I pushed them over very tight and kept filling up the box.  Needless to say she was extatic! 

Pam making cookies with Mom.  I was about 8 years old here.

My mother lived with 2 of her sisters at the time and one was bedridden with RA.  My mother was very posessive of those cookies.  She did let my 2 aunts have some but only if she was in the right mood.  She also had a sister with 8 kids and if they showed up, she hid the cookies .  They were hers and she wasn’t going to share.  It always made me laugh because all she had to do was ask for more and I would have made them for her. 

In addition to the cookies I always made her a pound cake and a nut bread too but she just wasn’t willing to share those either.  She just loved the things I baked for her even though she couldn’t taste them..  This has been a very, very enjoyable memorie for Pam and me and we still laugh about it. 

Pam & Mom, Valentine's Day in 1969.

 I no longer make that many varieties of cookies, mostly because we just don’t have enough people to give them to.  I used to give both Pam and Kathi cookies as a Christmas gift for the teachers.  I understand that doesn’t work any more as the prime gifts are now l4K gold, new cars and anything else that costs much more money than a plate of cookies.  Back then the teachers were very happy to get baked goods so that they didn’t have to bake so much themselves.
 
Well that is all for now, but I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Love, Adria

Embroidered, Cottage Style Accent Pillows

Just a quick post for this evening everyone.  I just added these Embroidered, Decorative Pillows to our shop:

I'm really into my iron on transfers these days so I thought I'd stitch up a few pretty shabby chic pillows!

Tomorrow, I'll have a new blog post from mom.  She'll be sharing a wonderful Christmas memory with you from when I was little!

Until then, have a great everyone!

Marie Antoinette Crazy Quilt Block 4 Completed!

I finished up on Block #4 of my Marie Antoinette Crazyquilt:

And as a refresher, here are blocks #1,2 & 3:

I'll be back later with some new pretties to share!

Marie Antoinette Crazy Quilt Block 4

Well, after a week of non-stop racing, my mind has finally quieted down.  Oh, I just hate that racing!!!  I feel more focused and settled today.  I'm so looking forward to the day after New Year's when I can start tapering off of the Zoloft some more!

In the meantime, I started on Block 4 of my Marie Antoinette Crazy Quilt:

When I finish up here, I'm going to stitch on it for a while before going over to mom's.

Before I head out for today, I thought you would enjoy this sweet little video from the 1950's.  If you grew up in the Chicago area, you might remember seeing this on WGN!

Jewelry, Cuff Bracelets, Seashell Brooches, by kittyandme on Etsy

Yes, I'm still breathing!  LOL!! 

I've been reworking all of the listings in the shop for SEO (Search Engine Optimization).  Do you have any idea how many times I've typed in "by kittyandme on Etsy?"  Ok, well first, I had to do some research on SEO.  I remember when the internet was easy.  A cute little title and few keywords and that's all we needed.  Of course, I remember when television was the same way.  You turned it on, you watched tv.  Nothing else to do.  Now, I'd have no tv if it wasn't for Bubba.  Thank goodness he knows how to plug this into that and that into this and blah, blah, blah.  Why does everything have to get so complicated?

Anyway, I have some new pretties.  First are my Seashell Brooches:

I felted the background and then added embroidery, beads, seashells, pearls and fish. 

I also finished up on some Cuff Bracelets that I started awhile back:

I did some felting directly on the fabric, added some cheesechoth, some netting and vintage flowers.

In other news, I started on Block #4 of my Marie Antoinette quilt.  I will have photos of that (hopefully) tomorrow.  I also sewed up 2 of my embroidered pieces into pillows this afternoon.  I still have to stuff the and then I'll share those photos.

Yes, I keep myself quite busy.  Keeps my mind off the depression and the SADS.

I'll be taking my little computer over to mom's on Friday.  She has several nice Christmas stories that she would like to share with you.  I'll have to ask Dad to get the family photos out so I can include some with mom's stories.