The Loss of Kathreen, Founder of Whipup, and her partner...

As many of you may have heard, Kathreen and her partner Rob, both died in a tragic accident while on the trip of a lifetime, with their 2 children and some friends in Australia, last month.

She was a big part of the crafting and creating blogging world, and founder of WhipUp.  Sadly their two much loved children have been left without their parents. Blessedly the children were with people they already knew, and not alone.

There has been a fund set up for the children by Jules, and I am posting a copy of that information here, and also a button that leads to the post.

I know I am in shock, and while I couldn't do a lot, I was able to make a small donation, which if we all donate what we can, will add up to much needed help for these beautiful children.  I am also keeping them in my prayers and thoughts, along with all of the close friends and family who must be just devastated.

This text is from the May 17th post on Whip-Up.

"UPDATE: You can now contribute via PayPal. The email address is otilijaandorlando@gmail.com. Hopefully this will remove some of the international barriers that have been encountered

For Australians :

BSB : 633-000
Account# : 149480667
Account Name : ITF Otilija and Orlando Shugg
Cheques and money orders can be sent to ITF Otilija and Orlando Shugg, PO Box 370, Dickson ACT 2602.

For International Contributions :

Account # : 633000149480667
Swift Code : BENDAU3B (International Banks will require this code)
Account Name : ITF Otilija and Orlando Shugg
Bank Details : Bendigo Bank, 161 London Circuit, Canberra ACT 2602 Australia
International people may require an address for the beneficiaries as well. That is PO Box 370, Dickson ACT 2602 Australia EDIT: Overnight I have been advised that some US banks will not accept a PO Box due to money laundering legislation. The physical address for this account is a home address so please email me procrasticraft at gmail dot com for details should you require this.

Enquiries can be directed to Julie McMahon via email to procrasticraft {at} gmail {dot} com or post to  PO Box 370, Dickson ACT 2602 Australia

*All donations, no matter how big or small are gratefully received. However, due to the cost of bank processing fees, we respectfully request that donations be more than $2 as this is the charge of processing an international transaction. Should international contributors wish to send a cheque (check), the fee for processing charged by the banks in Australia is $10.
^Regrettably, contributions are not tax deductible."

Here is the html for a button that will take you to the page itself on whip up. I don't know if I am doing this right, so I will also post the web page html below and put the button on the side of my blog.  I am kind of a newbie at inserting stuff other than pictures in my posts.

Kathreen Rickertson Memorial

This is the link to the page in bloglovin frame.

http://www.bloglovin.com/frame?post=1047119423&group=0&frame_type=a&blog=493165&link=aHR0cDovL3dpbGRvbGl2ZS5ibG9nc3BvdC5jb20vMjAxMy8wNS9vbi1sb3NzLW9mLWthdGhyZWVuLmh0bWw&frame=1&click=0&user=0

Blessings to all.  Fran

Sewing again, but missing my sewing kitty...

Pepper was my sewing cat. She was very smart, and had figured out when the light on my Viking was on she could stand on the big foot control and it would go. I learned to turn it off, even if I was just pressing, although I did let her have her fun sometimes -- with no thread. She would step on and off the foot control, over and over and over.... I always tired of it before she did. She also knew it didn't work on my featherweight -- the button you push is to small and hard to press for a cat, and she would have had to figure out just where to step.

Pepper sadly disappeared around Christmas. It is one of the dangers of taking on stay cats out in the country, sometimes you lose them. It's pretty tough to convince a stray or feral cat to become an indoor cat. She would never tolerated it, and everything breakable would have been broken. Pepper couldn't meow, so she would get our attention by taking things.if taking didn't get the proper response, she would start knocking things over;  glasses, jars of buttons, figurines, she'd knock it on the ground while staying right at me. The only expensive thing she broke was the shade to my antique bankers lamp, when she knows something off the bookshelf and onto the lamp. Fortunately I have a persistent antique dealer friend who found me an original replacement. Thank goodness for bartering, cause that shade would have cost over 200 bucks!

I just realized I hadn't seen at all since she disappeared, or blogged, so I got my featherweight out, since my roommate had worked on the bobbin case for me. There was a wee bit of corrosion on the bobbin case, which I was pretty sure was causing the driving problems I had been having. James worked a miracle, I thought I was going to have to supporting for another one. Betty Jean now sews like a dream again!

I still miss Pepper, although we still have our other three helper cats, and my daughter found a nearly starved and obviously abused kitten (we thought) about the weeks after Pepper disappeared. Precious was so tiny we thought she was a kitten, then she doubled in size within a couple of weeks. Her tail had been broken in a couple of places and has nerve damage. She can swish the last four inches of her tail, but from the base to that break she can only stiffly twitch it. Her hindquarters are also shrunken compared to the rest of her. Precious is also terrified of men, she still won't let James pet her very often, although she trusts me enough to let me pick her up, and I don't have to fear blood loss when I pet her. She also lets my daughter pet her, but she is nervous about picking her up.

Precious always sleeps near me, occasionally on me. Sometimes the other cats will pick on her, and I am her savior. They are starting to get the idea that I don't approve. I also with a water sprayer next to me, and I'm not afraid to use it! Our make cat, a big orange tabby, is the worst one about it, but even he's getting the idea. Natural selection doesn't apply to our house. The vet told me someone must have loved her once, or I would have never won her over. We also found out she is 2 or 3 years old and had already been spayed.

We think Cassidy chose her name well, since it isn't likely she would have survived much longer if Cassidy hasn't found her. She's still got some hand ups, kinda like she'll shock, she asks to be let out, but sometimes will still his and growl as I approach the for. I am the only one who she will come to when called. James will see her at the door, but she won't come in, if she's upset, unless I call her. She's also afraid of brooms. The vet said someone probably threw her by her tail, this causing the nerve damage. She's not to sociable with the other cats, especially Teddy. She is starting to tolerate the other two females, and they are starting to accept her.

Precious had no reason to trust humans, but somehow she knew Cassidy was safe, and learned to trust me. She is slowly healing from her trauma, as are some of us. She may never completely calm down, but she has come a long way. We feel her trust and love is a special, precious gift. Tonight she watched me sew a bit, so maybe she can help me to.

May your weekend be peaceful, and you have precious gifts come to you that will help you heal too. We all have a few scars.

Cool Jewelry Display

Img_0225 - Copie, originally uploaded by PaT de Verre.

I really like the jewelry displays people are coming up with on Flickr!

Ready Made Belt Earring Holder

Ready Made Belt Earring Holder, originally uploaded by Naughty Secretary Club.

What an awesome idea!!! I will be looking at belts in the thrift shops with a new eye!

Thank You For Your Comments!!

Thank you everyone who has commented on any of my posts!  I guess I was surprised anyone was even reading it! I hope I am able to contribute something to this electronic world that has given me so much. Thank you everyone!

The Process Pledge.....

This is about showing the process of your projects, not just yoir finishes.  Of course I need to get better about blogging at all. The idea is a good one.I know I would like to see how people put their quilts together.  I have a quilt I am working on now using my collection of plaid and stripe squares.  I have some pictures on my  phone. I am gojng to learn to post to blogger from my phone!  So I will post the process of my projects as soon as I figure out all of this technology out! Now I will be posting the badge for showing the process on my sidebar.  Happy quilting and sewing!

More Upcycled September Sewing

So I have been pretty busy sewing baby and toddler clothes again the past few days.  I am making matching skirt/blouse sets for the little girls of some friends from Church.  I have the skirts done so far, and am still planning the blouses.

Here's the skirts:

They started out life as the ruffle for a bed.  I still have enough left to trim both shirts and to make a skirt for Sofia and Elise. 

This skirt is a bit big for Sofia, Purple Tie-Dye and Black Lace...

I picked up the purple tie-dye sheet at a thrift store.  Not sure if it was that way originally, or if someone dyed it at home.  I still have the middle of the sheet, that I think I am going to make a circle skirt out of.

I also put together a skirt out of two cloth napkins.  I just sewed the sides up to make a tube, cut about 5 inches off the bottom, in two 2-1/2" strips, and made 1 super long tube, which I gathered on the sewing machine to make the ruffle on the bottom of the skirt.  Then I folded down 1/2" of the top and put some elastic in and we have a cute paisley skirt.  Who would ever guess it was made from 2 napkins from the thrift shop?

So....I have been learning a lot as I create this week.  It's hard to put into words what exactly I learned.  Mostly just "be careful" stuff.  Like having to take a waistband off 3 times on one skirt I made earlier this week made these skirts' waistbands go much more smoothly.  As always, never give up, and don't expect absolute perfection.  It's been awhile since I have been sewing regularly, so it's going to take me a while to remember all of the tricks.and tips. 

I am having an absolute BLAST upcycling, recycling and repurposing!  It's fun to take something which was discarded or at least seen as having no value, and turn it into something beautiful!

Happy recycling!!
Fran