Link Party No.84 and TRH 4th Anniversary Giveaway!

Hello everyone! Wow, I have been blogging for 4 years!? Actually, my bloggavesary was in September, but coming back from Japan, and with everything happening, I didn't plan well for the giveaway. I am sorry for keeping you guys waiting!

Blogging brought a new found joy into my life, even though sometimes I am not sewing or crafting and there isn't much to share, I still love to update my blog to talk to you all. So, thank you so much for still coming to visit me to see what I am up. :)

To show my gratitude, I have a giveaway every year... Are you curious to find out what I am giving away this year? Well, some of you guessed right, I am giving away some things I brought from Japan! Are you curious what they are?

They are...

Lariat style stitched bead necklace made by my sister. As I mentioned in my post before, she is an amazing beads artist. She will be happy that one of my readers will cherish and love her jewelry. There are several ways to wear this beauty, it is 32" long.

Origami and washi-tape set. The Origami is 9cm x 9cm and comes with 32 different Japanese style designs. You could do origami or use it for card making, modpage,etc...

What would you do with them?

This adorable A-line tank top is made by the collaboration of the Japanese clothing brand Uniqlo and Orla Kiely. It is size S (bust 77 - 83cm), and long enough to cover my rear. Wouldn't it be fun to add to your wardrobe?

This laminated cotton is printed by LECIEN. It is 20"x 22". If you are a bit worried about handling the laminated cotton, you can read the post I did a while back. It is such a cheerful and fun print!

The last but not least of the prizes are..."Bento set"! Sorry, there is not bento box for this set, but this set comes with an eco-bag (15 1/2"x 16 1/2"), laminated and lined bag (4 1/2"H x 4 1/2"D x 6 1/2"W), bunch of cute picks and a matryoshka bandana!

Don't forget, this post is also a link party post! So...I thought I would do this giveaway a bit different than the other giveaways that I have done in the past.

Here are the ways to enter;

1. Link up your project (1st entry)

2. Leave a comment and tell me your number for the link party project.

Note: Of course you will increase the chance of winning if you link up many projects, but I only count one comment per person.(2nd entry)

If you don't have anything to link up, you can leave comment on which "Trip to Japan" was your favorite. I will count the comment as 1 entry. :)

The winner will be announced on Monday, November 5th.

As usual here are the rules for linking:

1. Please post something YOU made. It doesn't matter if it is crochet, quilt, clothing, anything would be fine. I want to see it! If you use someone's idea or patterns please give them the rightful credit.

2. Link to your specific post, that way it is easier for everybody to find and read it.

3. Please grab the "Tea Rose Home" grab button, and link back from your post. If you can mention the party in your post or place the button on your side bar, that would be great! I want more people to have a chance to come and show off their creation.



<center><a href="http://tearosehome.blogspot.com"><img border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462799092490427250" style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 126px; height: 160px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMqD2Vd0YEWWfW_JevA07K4_OWomfU7lSFZXBHspcGVRoVaexEOVPpQJj3QRfeDrXxLrc0VSBLINUdXmJx0aEnpBkhJBFyWX5aulRpCbQdmpicAtJkh2qCOcowwuHAunCyw2SpvLlb4ZI/s200/GrabButtonLinkParty.jpg" /></a></center>
That's it! Go ahead to link up and show us what you have been working on!

Yankees Exercise Options on Cano, Granderson, and Aardsma

From Erik Boland:

Free agency officially kicked off in the hours after the Giants completed their four-game sweep of the Tigers in the World Series on Sunday night and, as expected, the Yankees on Monday exercised the club options they held on second baseman Robinson Cano, centerfielder Curtis Granderson and reliever David Aardsma.

Twelve of their players became free agents, headlined by Hiroki Kuroda, Nick Swisher, Russell Martin, Ichiro Suzuki, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera. The others are Eric Chavez, Pedro Feliciano, Freddy Garcia, Raul Ibanez, Andruw Jones and Derek Lowe.

Players can start signing with other clubs after midnight ET on Saturday.

OK, just wanted to post that before the Sandy knocked out my power and internet. Stay safe people.

MYCOLOR™ INSPIRED BY PANTONE® PAINTING PARTY! - Winner

photo credit – AHL

Thanks to all of you for the comments on the MYCOLOR™ INSPIRED BY PANTONE® PAINTING PARTY!  I thoroughly enjoyed reading all of the ideas that you guys have for painting projects. 

The winner of the MyColor by Pantone paint is Rae from Through the Haze – Reads.  Congrats Rae! 

I hope that everyone in Sandy’s path stays safe.  Take care if you are on the East coast.  For the rest of you have a great Monday!

LiveJournal Tags: MyColor™ inspired by Pantone®,AHL

Motherhood, it's a Funny Thing

After I got back from Japan, it took me a while to get the house in order and myself adjusted to everything. Although, it seems like life just comes at you no matter what.

I have been away for only 2 weeks, but boy there are so many things we mothers go thorough emotionally and physically each day...

I will share some of the examples of what I mean;

Example 1:

We had our family night one Monday, went out for ice cream, then came back home. We told the kids to go upstairs to get ready for bed. I was in the kitchen cleaning up and packing their lunches for the next day, when all of a sudden; "BANG!!!!".

I froze. Mr. TRH runs up the stairs and found Michael on the floor. He fell off the bunk bed. It knocked the wind out of him, he was so pail... he told us that his wrist hurt and showed us the arm. It was SO obvious that it was broken.

We immediately piled in the car to rush to the emergency room. He was telling the doctor that he was "slowly" walking on the top bunk and stood up on the rail... Mr. TRH and I were giving each other glances and understood what he was doing. He was probably doing Ninja moves and running on the bed instead of "slowly walking", and slipped and fell. After a while they needed to fix his arm and sedated him, but when he came out of the sedation, he was extremely nauseated and I saw it was coming fast!

There was nothing to catch it and I... I caught it with my hands! Bahh... I have no idea why I did that, but it was a natural instinct as a mom. Sigh...

He is ok now, got a lot of attention, his cast signed and everything. Mr. TRH taught him a phrase to say when people ask him what happened, "I got into a fight, you should see the other guy" ha-ha.

We went home at 2 AM that night, so tired buy relieved it wasn't anything worse. He scared me to death!

Example 2:

My oldest son Christopher has been working hard this summer and started to earn some merit badges. I was happy for his accomplishments until Mr. TRH said, "Hey, you need to sew them onto his sash." Ugh, have you sewn scout badges? They are kind of hard to sew. Also, it is horrible for me to say this but it's not creative sewing, so it's not something I want to do.

As soon as he said that, a million ways to cut corners went through my mind. Can I use a glue gun? How about gorilla glue or can I staple it?

Well, I decided to do the conventional way and started to saw. Then a funny thing happened. As I was sewing each one of the badges, I remembered how much effort he put in to earn them and how excited he was. By the time when I was done sewing all of them, I was ready for more. I asked him "Where are the other merit badges? Keep it coming, buddy!"

Example 3;

One Friday I picked the kids up from school as usual, and then Michael said "Mom, I need a poster!"

My response was "What poster?"

"Mooooom (with a nasally voice), it's my birthday next week I need a poster to show the class."

Really?! I already had a bunch of things I needed to do that weekend, where am I going to squeeze in the time to make a poster? Well, to start with, I had to stop by the store to buy poster board and other stuff, it's not like I have those things just lying around. Just like the merit badge story, once I started, I was having fun making it.

I am guessing that just like the Grinch’s heart got bigger and bigger, us mother's hearts expand as we do things for the kids? No matter how busy we get, no matter how tired we get. Even when I went to Japan, the first few hours I was so excited for the "vacation" by myself, and then I started missing them even before I reached Japan.

Everything I saw, everything I ate, I always wished that they were there to experience with me... sounds corny, but I was thinking that the saying: "A mother holds her children’s hands for a while, but their hearts forever". I feel like it was the other way around, they got a hold of my heart forever. I was never alone in my thoughts while I was away. Isn't it funny, even though life gets so crazy and you get frustrated with them for many reasons, you love them more and more each day.

Ok, I have a funny story to tell you... I made the birthday week poster for Michel, and the day of his birthday, I was supposed to bring a treats for his whole class. I jumped into the shower, got dressed but my hair was still messy and no make-up on my face. I was trying to get the kids ready for school packing their lunches, washing dishes and all. Then, I felt like someone was watching. When I turned it was Michael.

I said "What?"

He said sheepishly, "Can I ask you something?"

"What do you wanna ask?"

"Um...are you wearing pajamas? Or is that clothes?"

I started to laugh so hard! Ok, here are the pictures of the dress I wore that day;

It is one of the dresses I bought while I was in Japan. Yeah, I can understand why he asked the question he asked. Picture me with that dress, messy bun, no make-up. No boots or scarf... oh yeah, half pulled up socks too. He must have thought that "Why did she take a shower and get dressed in different pajamas???"

Michael LOVES when I am dressed up and look nice. The other two kids couldn't care less. Isn't it funny how they are all different? I think he was a little worried that I might show up to his school wearing my new pajamas.

I am still learning this "Motherhood" thing and I guess I will never be done learning. Each stage of family life brings a different dimension to it. I just hope that I am always ready for new things, be humble enough to be teachable by the experiences and enjoy the ride. What is your take on motherhood?

Autumn Scenes and Some News!

We were on a little autumn getaway! 

Wellies had to be purchased for puddle splashing and leaf kicking. The store was sold out of every color but yellow, but it was a good thing as they looked so cute in their matching boots. 

There was farm equipment to play on. 

Our little Graham was especially thrilled about that. 

Margaret was enthusiastic about taking the wheel too. 

Are they the happiest boys you've ever seen or what?

Graham let out a lot of enthusiastic, "Baaaaahs." 

The sheep thought that it was darn cute. 

I had to grab the camera when Margaret decided to get comfortable and catch up on some important reading! 

In other news, Country Living magazine is featuring our guest house renovation, which will come out in their February issue! The shoot is scheduled for October 31st so we're super busy getting things ready. More details on that to follow!

Also, my Canon Rebel has expired. It had a good life, served me well for over four years. I don't have time to shop for a new camera right now so my little point and shoot is all I have for the time being.  

Happy October days to you! 

Trip to Japan ~ Shopping Part 3

While I was there I bought some clothes (of course!). I bought a few items at the mall, but there were some great finds at the recycle shop. I was so surprised by their quality, and the range of selections. I will share the pictures of them in various posts.

I had so much fun window shopping at the mall. I still remember the time that the Japanese economy was strong (years ago), and people would spend lots of money on very expensive designer items. I guess for some people it is still that way, but most of the consumers are looking for more affordable yet high quality items.

When I went to the mall, I was pleasantly surprised to find many stores that carried budget friendly clothing. AND, they were so pretty! It was just so much fun to look at different things that I don't find in the U.S.

If you have been reading my blog for a while, it is no secret that I love clothing, but I am not big into following treads. I would add a hint of "in" items here and there to update my look, but I don't feel like I have to buy the hottest or greatest items.

Just like here in the United States, there were many different styles of clothing, but the particular style I kept being drawn to was clothing made out of linen, cotton, gauze and relaxed style. To some people such style may appear as shapeless, unsexy, untrendy, but I.LOVE.THEM.

I fell in love with this dress... it was love at first sight. The white skirt and the tank is something I had, it didn't come with the dress. It is made out of very light weight cotton.

I see you! I was messing with Mr.TRH while he was trying to take pictures.

Ivory white tunic: I found this at the recycle shop. I love the square neck with lace and it is made out of very soft gauze. I wore it with a skirt and ribbon that came with a different dress I had. I think it would be fun to wear it with skinny pants and flats too.

Blue robe: I honestly don't know what to call this. I guess it can be worn as a dress, but "robe" sounds like a better fit for it. When I found this at a shop in the mall, they had a soft black and Ivory as well. I loved them so much that I wanted them all, but I behaved and chose this one. It is very baggy, and I wish I had this while I was pregnant! :) It makes me so excited to think about the different ways to coordinate this unique piece.

As I mentioned, there are other ones, but I will share them as I have pictures to share. There are a few more posts to share from the "Trip to Japan" series, hang on tight; a giveaway post is coming up soon!

Uh oh.... Mariano Rivera May Be Leaning Towards Retiring

From Andrew Marchand:

New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Mariano Rivera, considered the greatest closer in baseball history, informed him earlier this week that he is unsure if he will play again or retire.

Cashman told ESPN New York that on Tuesday he and Rivera had a conversation in which Rivera said he was unsure if he will return for a 19th season.

"He wasn't certain on what he is going to do," Cashman said.

...

Now, with his 43rd birthday next month and as he's worked very hard during his rehab to return, Rivera has the familiar tug that he has carried for many years of possibly wanting to stay home with his family and call it a career.

In the past, Rivera also has emphasized that he expects to leave the game as an elite player. If he has doubts that he will retain his skill level, that also could tilt him to call it a career with the most saves (608) in MLB history and five World Series rings.

The negotiations for a new contract also could be a bit complicated. Rivera made $15 million last season, but even with the front office's utmost respect for him, it is unclear what it will offer him considering he would be returning after a season in which he pitched in only nine games.

...

During his end-of-season news conference on Wednesday, Yankees manager Joe Girardi hinted that Rivera may not return.

"From watching how he rehabbed and everything that he was going through, picked up a baseball sooner than he was supposed to and got his hand smacked a little bit, that would tell me that Mo probably wants to play," Girardi said. "But in saying that, it's a decision that I think he'll sit down with his family, evaluate where he is maybe a little bit later in this process and how he feels and how his arm feels, to feel like you think you can compete at the same level he's always competed at. But I don't think that you push a rehab like he pushed it unless you think that you possibly have some interest in coming back."

If Mo decides he wants to hang it up and spend more time with his family that's certainly something he's earned.

Now, if the Yankees make money an issue and pull the same crap they did with Jeter a few years back than I think we all should be pretty pissed off. This is Mariano Rivera for crying out loud, if he wants to return you give him basically whatever he wants, especially if it's on a one or two year deal.

CC Has Bone Spur Removed

From Andrew Marchand:

New York Yankees ace CC Sabathia had arthroscopic surgery to remove a bone spur in his left elbow on Thursday. The team announced he is expected to be ready for spring training.

Dr. James Andrews performed the surgery and the club said that no other problems were detected.

"They found a small bone spur," said Yankees GM Brian Cashman. "It was a quick and minor cleanup. We'll take him along slowly through spring training and he'll be ready for Opening Day.''

"Quick and minor" are always good things to hear about any kind of surgery.

Ichiro Interested In Returning To Yanks

From Joel Sherman:

The Giants were working hard to obtain Ichiro Suzuki before the Yankees did in late July and probably would have interest in the free agent this winter. But a person close to Ichiro told me he strongly wants to stay with the Yankees because he so enjoyed playing in a professional, winning atmosphere with so many contemporaries near his age range.

The friend said he can’t imagine money being a factor, noting that to make matters work when he wanted to be in Seattle, Ichiro deferred $5 million a year on his last long-term contract. The implication was that a one-year deal, perhaps with an option, in the $5 million-to-$8 million range might get it done.

In 67 games for the Yankees, the veteran hit .322/.340/.454, stole 14 bases so to me bringing him back is a very easy decision.

MyColor™ inspired by Pantone® Painting Party! + A Giveaway

Today is a fun day here on the blog. Starting at Noon EST I’m participating in the MyColor™ inspired by Pantone^® Painting Party along with 5 other fab bloggers. We’ll all be sharing projects with you and giving you the DIY scoop.  There’s also a great chance for you to win a sample of MyColor™ paint yourself.

Here are the other bloggers that will be joining me for the party…

1. Sarah @ Alderberry Hill, 2. ME!!  3. Sara @ House Bella, 4. Jerusalem @ Jolly Goode Gal, 5. Katie @ Craptastic & 6. Ann Marie @ Twice Lovely

I haven’t really shared too much on my blog but I have some exciting news.  I’ll be opening a booth at Queen of Hearts Antiques & Interiors in about a week.  So, needless to say, I was so pumped when MyColor contacted me and wanted me to participate.  It was a great opportunity for me to finish some of the pieces that I’ve been meaning to finish for my booth.  The colors that I selected were Trekking Green, Lunar Rock and Blue Haze, and let me tell you I was so pleased with the colors.

I have been purchasing baskets for the booth but they are plain Jane.

After a little help from MyColor™ they are perfect!

This project was super-easy.  Since MyColor™ is self-priming I didn’t even have to prime the baskets first.  This saved me tons of time.  For the baskets with lines I used tape to give me a straight line.

I also used a craft brush for each of the baskets.  A craft brush gave me much more control then a large paint brush.  I painted a couple of coats of paint and then removed the tape. 

One of my baskets was woven in a herringbone pattern so I took full advantage and painted a zigzag.  This was by far the hardest one to paint because it was really hard to follow the pattern of the herringbone and stay straight.  Eventually I opted to use tape at the top and bottom edges so that I made sure my zigzags stayed the same length.

I was so happy with how my feathered basket came out.  I laid on the paint really heavily at the bottom of the basket.  Then once I had a good base at the bottom, I started feathering my paint upward (oops, sorry guys, but I didn’t take a pic of this).  I did it until I thought it looked even.  There really was no plan for it.  Once all of that paint dried, I flipped it upside down and painted the bottom with a thick layer of paint so that it really looked dipped.

I really couldn’t be happier with how the baskets turned out.  I can’t wait to put them in the shop next week. 

Now, for the part that you are really excited about…THE GIVEAWAY!  You have 3 chances to enter to win a sample of MyColor™ inspired by Pantone^® paint . 

1.  Leave a comment telling me how you would use MyColor™ inspired by Pantone^® paint for your own project.

2.  Tweet your project idea to @MyColorPaints with the hashtag #PassItOn, then come back and comment on this blog post for a second entry.

3.  Like the My Color Inspired by Pantone facebook page, post your painting project on the Facebook page, and leave me a comment saying you did so.

In all of your comments please be sure to leave me your email address so that I can notify you if you are the winner.  I’ll announce the winner on my blog on this coming Monday. You can post comments up to Sunday night at midnight.  Good luck and get inspired at the next party over at Sara’s blog House Bella.     

Happy Painting to Ya!

 

LiveJournal Tags: MyColor™ inspired by Pantone®,Queen of Hearts Antiques and Interiors

Holly Designs Giveaway

Today I'm excited to introduce you to Holly Designs on Etsy where they create custom handmade applique shirts, clothing and gifts for your little ones.

Holly offered to send me a custom shirt for one of the kids. I decided to have her do a shirt for Matilda. I kind of feel like Matilda doesn't always get the special new things because if I have to choose, I usually will get something for Savannah in hopes that Matilda can wear it a few years later. But this time, it was all about Matilda.

At Holly Designs, you choose the shirt color, the fabric for the applique, the font style and whatever else you might like to customize. So this is what Matilda and I decided on. She likes that the fabric is kind of rainbow-ish and pink goes with lots of her clothing.

I was really impressed by the quality of the applique and it has hand-embroidered stitching around all of the letters which was such a nice handmade touch.

Holly also included this matching pinwheel clip that is just perfect in Miss Matilda's ponytail that she is always sporting on top of her head.

Anyway, I think you are really going to like these shirts. Here are a few other favorites from Holly Designs:

So what do you think? Would you like one of these custom applique pieces for a special little one in your life. Well, Holly Designs is giving away a $25.00 gift certificate towards anything in their shop.

Here's how to enter.....leave a separate comment for each entry. You can do one or both of the following:

1. Visit Holly Designs and come back and leave a comment telling us what item is your favorite in their shop. Click HERE.

2. Become a fan of Holly Designs on Facebook. Click HERE.

Giveaway will be open until October 26, 2012 at Midnight (CST).

Easy Eye Glass {or Rotary Cutter} Case Tutorial

Today we have a special guest, my mom (aka Grandma Jane) with another one of her quick and easy quilting tutorials. Take it away Mom........

I would really encourage any new quilter to find some sort of quilting group to join. It is a great way to learn from and be inspired by more experienced quilters, share quilting projects, get advice and support, and most of all, to make new friends who are as crazy as you are about quilting! There are a lot of online quilting resources out there (after all, you are reading this blog) but a group that you can physically be part of is a gift if you can find one. Most areas have quilting guilds that you can join, quilt shops may have classes and open sew times, or just gather a few of your friends together to sew up a storm.

Early morning Camp Allen and a porch just made for quiet reflection….

I returned recently from a weekend quilting retreat with a group of wonderful women! Our weekend retreat at Camp Allen north of Houston was filled with lots of sewing, sharing good food, plenty of laughter, personal reflection, prayer and fellowship. There were twenty women of all ages ranging from a 16-year old granddaughter of one of the members to a great-grandmother with 25 grandchildren and everything in between. I can’t tell you all the “details” of our weekend because what happens at Camp Allen….stays at Camp Allen… but I will say just say lots of new quilting tattoos went home. Shhhh….

I started quilting about two years ago when I was invited by my friend, Diane, to join the church quilt ministry group. The group meets several times a week with evening and daytime meetings to accommodate schedules for everyone with the focus on ministry projects for the church. These women make quilts for each baby dedicated at church, prayer blankets for hospitalized church members and recently sent 58 (yes, I said 58!) jelly roll strip quilts to missionaries in Guatemala. Margaret and Barbara, the leaders of the group, are an inspiration in many ways. Not only do they have awesome quilting skills but they are women of incredible strength and faith.

The service project that everyone worked on during our weekend, in addition to their own sewing, was a cute little glass case. The goal is to make 90 of these cases to be included in goodie bags for the breast cancer survivors being honored at a gala in March at a local hospital. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month so how fitting to be working on this project at our retreat. This is a really easy project that would be a great gift idea/stocking stuffer for Christmas, too. If you don’t need it for glasses—it makes a perfect holder for a rotary cutter for your favorite quilter!

This project is inspired by the Quilts and More Magazine project in the Summer 2012 issue. 

Easy Eye Glass {or Rotary Cutter} Case Tutorial

by Grandma Jane for The Cottage Mama

SUPPLIES:
(1) 9 inch square of batting
(1) 7 ½ inch square of outer fabric
(1) 7 ½ inch square of lining fabric—flannel works well
(1) 1 ¾ x 9 inch strip for strap

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Center outer fabric on batting and quilt as desired. I used a cross-hatch design that I marked with a fabric pen prior to sewing. Trim batting even with fabric.

2. Fold strap piece in half lengthwise and press. Unfold and fold in long edges to meet in the middle. Refold in half along pressed edge and edge-stitch.

3. Fold stitched strap in half cross wise. Pin to top edge of outer fabric ½ inch from left edge. Baste. If your fabric is directional—make sure to have it going the direction you want at this point.

4. Place lining fabric on top—right sides together and stitch ¼ inch seam across top, catching in strap.

5. Press open with seam allowance towards lining and edge stitch lining.

6. Fold edges together lengthwise and stitch a ¼ seam around outer edge, leaving short-end of lining open. Clip corners.

7. Turn case right side out. Turn in short edges of lining ¼ inch and press. Hand stitch or machine sew short end of lining. 8. Insert lining into case and press again! Easy!!!

Thanks so much for joining us today, Mom! It always so fun to have you here.  I definitely think these will be on my easy gift giving project list for this year!