A Candy Cane Creation

As promised, here is Sara’s skirt that she wore at the US/Canadian convention this year. Hers is even  easier to make than mine was!

Start with eight bell-shaped pieces (four each of two patterns; we used the large-dot and small-dot fabrics). The dimensions will vary, of course, based on your individual measurements, but you can determine the width of each piece by taking your hip measurement, divide by 8, and then add a bit for the seam allowance. The length will depend on how long you want the skirt. (Sara’s skirt length was approximately 23 inches long.)

You’ll also need eight wedge-shaped pieces, approximately 9 inches wide and 15 inches high; these are the pieces that are inset along the bottom of the skirt and create fullness.  

You can add a zipper for a more fitted skirt, or you can use a drawstring, like we did on my skirt, for a looser style.

Sew all the pieces together, hem it, then add the accents. This is where you can truly be creative! For Sara’s skirt, we sewed grosgrain ribbon along the seams down to the top of the wedge pieces, and then we added buttons (alternating colors)—but you can do whatever you want! There are so many possibilities. . . .

A Feeling of Halloween

I’ve mentioned my seasonal vignettes on my blog before—groupings of home décor items that we put out on a buffet in our kitchen/family room to celebrate the different seasons. Several of you asked to see them, and I promised to post each one as we set them out.

Here’s the Halloween one—we put it up last month to start setting the stage for Halloween. I usually add an item or two every year (I try to hand-stamp projects when time allows), so it just gets better and better!

I've included a bonus shot as well--another little Halloween corner that adds to the feeling of Halloween.

Hope you’re having fun decorating for Halloween—Happy Haunting!

More than 5,000 Bookings!

Woo hoo! Congrats to our Stampin' Up! demonstrators who booked more than 5,000 bookings during yesterday's Book-a-Thon! Our demonstrators are awesome!

Fabulous Fabric Creative Challenge Winners

Check out the winners of the Fabulous Fabric Creative Challenge! Loved the projects--you definitely need to check them out if you haven't already! Congratulations, ladies!

A Happy Birthday!

Sterling and I just got settled here in Australia (we’re here for the Australian incentive trip—a great way to reward and honor our top-achieving Australian and New Zealand demonstrators), but I wanted to take a quick moment to mention my birthday. Not that I want to mention my birthday, of course—it could come and go without any notice and I’d be just fine.

But I had to mention two things—first, one of our birthday traditions is to let the birthday person choose the menu for the birthday dinner. My sweet Shanna showed up at our kitchen yesterday and slaved away all afternoon preparing my birthday dinner; there was an incredible array of yummy food, and it was delicious! Thank you, Shanna!

Second, the Douglass family showed up with handmade birthday cards. The younger grandchildren had drawn and written poster-size cards, and Sara, Sidney, and Seth had all made cards with My Digital Studio—and they were adorable! Sara said the kids had made their cards completely by themselves (I was very impressed!).

I didn’t take the time to take pictures (we literally ran out the door because we didn’t want to miss our flight), but Sara blogged about the cards on the MDS blog site. (Click here to check it out and see the photos.)

I was enroute here for most of my birthday, but when I landed I retrieved my voice mail and had more birthday greetings than any other year! I also noticed several of you posted birthday greetings on my blog (thank you!). And I can’t think of anyone I’d rather be with on my birthday than my sweetheat! So, besides the sore tailbone that is the natural result of a VERY long flight, it’s been a great birthday!