Last day for the giveaway!

If you've been putting off entering the giveaway, this is your reminder to stop procrastinating and head over to that post!

Sometime tomorrow I will be drawing one lucky winner to download their own copy of My Memories Suite! Don't forget, though, for those of you who don't win, the code STMMMS79028 is still good for $10 off the software and a $10 coupon code to the My Memories store!

Good luck!

Monday Moments

This weekend was my niece's fifth birthday party. Gabe was so, so excited to go that I was shocked when we got there and he wouldn't even talk to her. Turns out all those other kids around made it pretty intimidating. I actually had to talk him into a pony ride! When most of the other kids had taken their turns and were off swinging, he finally decided to go for it. He didn't laugh, or smile the whole time, but when the rancher asked him if he liked it at the end, he made this face, stuck one finger up in the air and said, "I just want one more."

He overheard me telling the story later, and he got quite angry at the fact that he never did get his one more pony ride. Poor spoiled kid!

P.S. Erin Bradley is having a giveaway!

You may have seen a bunch of digital scrapbook stuff on here lately, as I'm learning to use my new software and giving away a copy of it. Well, those of you interested in that may also be interested to know that Erin Bradley Designs is giving away a HUGE Halloween package with five sets of clip art and three sets of digital papers! If you haven't heard of her, she has the cutest owl stuff ever! Enter here before 8/28, and for those of you wondering, YES, you can use these papers and clip art with My Memories!

A small finish and some progress

My wonderful friend Erin bought me this fabric book panel in my nursery theme. I decided to put off any further work on the quilt until the bed skirt and bumper are done, that way I know exactly how much scrap I have to piece the backing. So, until the crib got here (which I wasn't expecting to happen for awhile), I pulled out this book panel and a purse that has been a work in progress for a long time.



Of course, the crib arrived yesterday and I never made it to the purse. Oh, how hard it is going to be to finish that purse now that my major baby purchase is in the house!

Wait a minute, does this page of the book look familiar? It should!



That's really similar to my painting! It doesn't seem like there is much work left to do on it, but I feel like there is a lot. About the same way I feel about her room!

Monday Moments & Giveaway Reminder!

We spent the day at Lake Michigan yesterday. I really didn't want to, I wanted to paint or sew, but sometimes my husband knows what I need to do.



The waves were huge! It was so much fun to play in them, even though the red "do not swim" flags were out. We only went about waist deep, but sometimes the waves were over our heads. The kids stayed in the very shallow water on the shore, but the waves were still a lot of fun for them too. We all had a good time, and there's plenty of time for painting and sewing today.

There is also still plenty of time to enter the My Memories Suite giveaway! I cannot believe there hasn't been a single entry yet! It's $40 of free software that can make scrapbook pages, quilt journals, birth announcements, custom invitations, etc. etc. with! Look at this thank you note I designed over the weekend!



Now, go! Enter!

Finished quilt top

Since the image in my giveaway post was a little small, and a little cropped, I thought I'd give the Care Bears quilt top it's own post today.



Here she is! You can't see it in the photo (I had to have something to hang it by), but there is a thin stripe of the aqua fabric across the top. I made it a little bigger than what I was planning though, and need to add at least two inches to the length and width of my backing fabric. I want simple piecing, so I'm leaning toward a nine patch type pattern in an uneven cross. Not exactly like the backs of my Log Cabin Stars quilts, but kind of similar to stretch my backing fabric.

I'm also praying to have enough to make her a pillowcase to match, since I realized that by the time she's using a pillow there won't be any of this fabric around, and a toddler sheet set (with pillowcase) isn't likely to match this quilt. I should be good. I think I over ordered, but I'm nervous to work on an "extra" when I don't have the basics covered.



P.S. You still have time to win your own copy of My Memories digital scrapbook software! Who can argue with free?

Review and Giveaway!

Have you heard of My Memories software for digital scrapbooking? Admittedly, I hadn't until I was contacted by them and offered a free copy for my opinion, but now that I know, I am so excited!

I no longer have to get out a variety of glues, tapes, scissors, ribbons and papers to scrapbook. I don't have to worry about the kids getting into my supplies and covering my oak table with stickers. With My Memories on my laptop I can actually find scrapbooking relaxing and fun...the way I used to, before I had the children I wanted to scrapbook about.

Do you know how awesome that is?!

My Memories Suite is so much more economical than traditional scrapbooking, too. Their website has pages of free downloads and an even larger selection of $0.99 downloads that they call the dollar store! So affordable, and you can use them repeatedly, versus the expensive stickers, papers and alphabets you buy and use once the traditional way!

Working with the software, nearly every time I found myself wishing it did something, I would magically discover the button or function that did exactly what I was looking for! I found it so simple to use, and I was able to make some really creative pages without downloading any extras!





This quilt journal page is my favorite! I will absolutely be making a page like this for every quilt I make from now on, and probably printing out books of them too! The fabric close-ups, selvage strip and little blurb about the project are just so fun! I can't wait to download more!

As a matter of fact, if you purchase My Memories Suite using the code STMMMS79028 they will actually give you $10 off the purchase price and a $10 coupon code to the My Memories Store! That's $20 exclusively for my US and Canadian blog readers!

Of course though, you could just win it! You're dying to know how, right?

MANDATORY: Visit the My Memories Store and tell me which paper pack or layout is your favorite in a comment here!

Earn extra entries for each of the following that you do:

1. Follow my blog (or let me know that you are a follower) and leave a comment here.

2. Post about this giveaway on your blog, then comment with a link back to your post.

3. Visit My Memories Suite Facebook page, like them and let me know you did.

I will randomly pick a winner on Thursday, September 1, and PLEASE make sure there is a way to contact you either in your profile or comment! If I can't contact you I will not consider your entry valid.

Fabric Giveaways

I didn't have a Monday Moment this week, which usually prompts me to go out and do something, but I'm getting to that point in my pregnancy where I have appointments all the time! Three this week for different doctors, nurses, classes...Yuck!

I did manage to sit at the sewing machine for quite awhile though and finish up the top of my baby quilt I have been working on. I'd show you, but I'm saving the big reveal as part of a giveaway I'm hosting later this week.

In the meantime, here are some other giveaways to hold you over.

Sara at FairyFace Designs is always putting up beautiful things on her blog and Flikr, and apparently she's been doing that for a year now. In celebration, she's giving away six almost fat quarter pieces of Amy Butler!

Green Fairy Quilts is giving away a huge fat quarter bundle, a jelly roll and a layer cake. Of course, they are encouraging donations to their charity, but you don't have to donate to enter, and if you do, in ANY amount, you get three extra chances at the fabric goodies. Amazing!

Bunting break

I decided to let the quilt sit for a few days while I tried to decide what to do next. I could have worked on the painting, but I needed a color that I didn't have to finish it up. So I decided to start yet another project.

I have had this paper bunting tutorial bookmarked for awhile now. I've been slowly building up a stash of pink and green scrapbook papers (my baby shower colors) and decided to sit down and try it out.



I really like the way it turned out. I haven't added any ribbon yet, and I'm thinking it doesn't need it. So cute! And much simpler than the banner I made for my sister's baby shower.



You know the best thing about having a girl? Cupcake stuff! How cute is that paper?

Another impasse

After finally finding a solution to the problem of measuring my rows wrong, I hit another wall last night. The fabric I was going to use to separate the pinwheels from the similarly patterned top of the Care Bear stripe is also the fabric I was going to use to bind and make ties for the bumper. And there isn't enough of it to do both jobs. I'm thinking I need to go shopping...

Monday Moments

We took the kids to their favorite state park beach this weekend. They had a great time playing in the shallow water of the little lake, then jumping over the waves in Lake Michigan after a very short walk. Some of my favorite pictures have been taken there, and I'm pretty sure I added some new favorites Saturday.

A solution!

After days of trying to make my rows fit and dozens of seams ripped out, I have finally found a solution to my problem! Can you tell what it was?

How about when I change the angle just a little bit?



Good, right? It still isn't ideal, but it's far better than ordering new fabric. This way, if it doesn't line up just right I have to rip out an eight inch seam instead of a 44 inch one. Plus, I'm thinking once it's all sewn together and quilted it will be almost unnoticeable. At least, I'm hoping!

Weekend work

Sometimes, sewing is this amazing process, where everything fits together and all of the seams are perfect and I stand back with a huge grin on my face saying, "I did that!"

Of course, that usually happens when I am using a pattern that has been tested to death by dozens of sewers. Coming up with my own design is much harder, even when it should be easy. I measured my quilt rows at least four times before cutting the fabric strips to mix them up with. You would think that would mean that they matched up perfectly, but you (and I) would be wrong. I hung the quilt up on the back of my chair and promised myself I'd rip out a bunch of seams after the weekend.



I worked some more on the painting instead. I am on a deadline, after all.

Giveaway Reminder

As of right now there are only 24 entries into the My Memories Giveaway! You still have amazing odds to win this software!

The people at My Memories thought that maybe a few more of you could be enticed by this video they put together. It really shows how easy the software is to use with a screen tour that points out where you will find your papers and embellishments, a tour of their website, a beginners guide to creating albums and an intro to some of the tools!

Welcome to the Family! from Lisa Jurrens on Vimeo.

And of course, don't forget the special code just for my blog readers! Just enter STMMMS79028 to get $10 off the price of the software and a $10 coupon code to the My Memories store if you can't wait to win it!

Monday Moments

It has been HOT here. Way too hot for me, which has meant my little boy hasn't been outside as much as usual. This weekend, we really wanted to sit inside, but we also really wanted to take him somewhere. We decided that fishing was low activity enough that we wouldn't burn ourselves out keeping up with him.

Of course, we got to the fishing spot and his enthusiasm quickly died down. My husband had just finished explaining that fishing was all about patience when we looked at each other and laughed. We were explaining patience to a three year old.

So I followed him as he ran around, and left my husband to hopefully catch the 12 inch fish that had been hanging around our hook (but just not biting) for an hour. It didn't happen.