I Will Be Posting at My Sewing Blog

Please visit me at my sewing blog, Sewing With Trudy. I am posting my sewing and art projects there.

I just wanted you all to know just how much I appreciate all of your comments. They mean so much to me. I'm sorry I haven't gotten back with you lately. I haven't forgotten you. I plan to make some time to do some visiting soon. I am now 28 weeks along in my pregnancy. Our little Samantha will be here soon.

I have been so busy trying to prepare for her arrival; so unfortunately, I haven't gotten a whole lot done on the art and sewing front lately. I am looking forward to getting back into a groove soon and carving out time for creating on a regular basis. I have a post coming out soon on my sewing blog on how to turn a regular skirt into a maternity skirt. And currently, I have a post up of our Memorial Day. And I have recently done a post with pics from my birthday including plenty of belly shots.

I have been doing a lot of thinking about having these two blogs. It is difficult to keep up with posting on both. I have been doing more posting and updating on my pregnancy over at my sewing blog. I've been pondering the idea of posting both my art and sewing projects there and not having to double post. I hope you will consider following and visiting me there. Please let me know what you think and if you are okay with that. Thank you for your continued support and feedback. Hope to hear from you.

Tribute to an Amazing Woman

I would like to honor my mother, Jonel, today. She is an amazing woman. She reared her three children as a single mother and did an amazing job. Times were tough. We didn't have much financially, but she never gave up. Somehow she saw us through. 

We never worried about where our next meal would come from or whether there would always be a roof over our heads, even though she did; she didn't let us know how much of a struggle it was to provide. We were oblivious. Kind of nice not to have that stress as a child. Life was hard enough as it was without adding more to it. I was made fun of in school for not having nice clothes. I was not in the popular crowd. I think it's all made me a more compassionate and loving person instead of one who thinks she is better than others.

She taught us to be strong and to have a good work ethic. She supported us in whatever we chose to do in life. Even though we were poor, that didn't mean that we were less than others. We were to care about the way we carried ourselves. She expected us to have good manners, speak properly with good grammar, to stand tall with good posture, to chose quality friends. 

Because she couldn't give us everything she would have liked, it made us stronger because we had to work for whatever it was that we wanted or needed. I bought my own car, paid for my own car repairs and gas, bought my own clothes, movie tickets, etc. 

My mother is also a breast cancer survivor. She didn't think she would live long enough to rear her children. She handled the situation so well. We were never afraid or thought our mother would die because she didn't share the scary details or possibilities with us. She kept them to herself. We didn't even know she was in pain or having reactions. We didn't know when she went to appointments. We didn't know she had lost her hair. She didn't talk about it. She wore a wig and went to the effort to still look gorgeous. She didn't go around feeling sorry for herself. She continued to go to work day after day in spite of the horrible reactions from the chemo. She never complained, although her pain was great. So we were able to enjoy our childhoods without a worry in the world. I am so thankful for that. Now she is a wonderful grandmother. She is so artistically creative and has an engineering mind. She can figure out pretty much how to rig or make anything. She used those skills in a decorating business where she and her husband, whom she married when I was almost grown, would decorate the malls for the holidays. And now she uses them to help the grandchildren with their school projects. 

Thanks mom for hanging in there and not giving up, for the example you've been, for all you have done and are doing. I dedicate this video to you.

A Fun and Interesting Post

To Learn more about me, please go to my sewing blog and read this post. I have written a fun and interesting post. Hope to see you there.

My Other Side/And you thought you knew me!

You thought you knew me pretty well by now, didn't you? Well, maybe some of you do. Did you know that I have another blog? I have this secret life. I've decided to come out of the closet. Okay. Here goes: (Taking a deep breath) I'm not just an artist. I'm, I'm, I'm a seamstress. Okay. I said it. Now you know. I hope you'll still like me. But that's not all of it. I also do crazy things. I do these crazy "What I'm Wearing" fashion posts. The two pictures above are just one example. There are actually six other pictures on my other blog, Sewing With Trudy, that go along with those. But there have been other "What I'm Wearing" posts, too. And then there are the things I've sewn. I like old things; so sometimes I sew vintage clothes, like a dress from the 1970s and one from a 1940s pattern. I know. I know. It's just shameful. You'll have to go have a look around and see if you still want to be my friend. Here is the link for my recent "What I'm Wearing" post and here is the one for the post about my favorites of the things that I've sewn. Please don't be too rough on me.

Thank You for the Condolences

Sorry it's been so quiet around here, but I haven't really felt like blogging or creating this week since I've just lost my mother-in-law. We've been crying buckets of tears, had the memorial service and going through photographs and her things. Because of my commitment to you, regardless of how I feel, I plan to start getting back into the swing of things next week. I would like to thank each person who left a sweet comment either here, in an email or on Facebook. It's nice to know you care, and I could feel your love and support. It's been very difficult to lose my mother-in-law as you can well imagine, especially for our children. Grandmothers are very special.

I have a very special post planned for Monday. I will be introducing you to one of our newest members and one of the projects she has made. Prepare to be amazed.

Have a lovely weekend. See you on Monday.

Dollies for Haiti Orphans

Thank you, Sarah, for the above photo.

Sarah Hanson, the founder of Dolly Donations, providing dollies for orphans around the world, is currently doing an active dolly drive for The Abundant Ground Foundation - Haiti Orphanage.

The Abundant Ground Foundation is a wonderful organization that has an orphanage in Haiti housing 181 children between the ages of birth to 12. They also provide food and necessary items to displaced families through their Abundant Ground in Haiti program.

They would love to be able to give Dolly Donation Dollies to all of their orphans and will ship them to Haiti on 31st of March, 2010.

They need 103 Girl Dollies and 78 Boy Dollies
Yup, that’s a Total 181 Dollies by March 31st.

Sarah is asking for anyone that can to help by making a dolly or two and also asking anyone that will to spread the word by doing a blog post about the drive.

If we are lucky enough to make more than the 181 goal, Stephanie Victor, the President of The Abundant Ground Foundation, said they will be gratefully appreciated, shipped and distributed to the children of the surrounding area that have nothing to call their own.

Please send your Dollies to:

The Abundant Ground Foundation
96 East Raymond Avenue
Roosevelt, New York 11575.

By March 31st….. Remember the shipment leaves the US bound for Haiti ON the 31st of March!!!

Don't forget to pop a piece of paper in with your Dollies stating they are from the Dolly Donations Drive so we can get a tally of how many Dolls are turning up. Also, Sarah would love it if you would let her know how many you've sent.

Please let Sarah know if you would like to take part in this Dolly Drive by leaving a comment on her blog, and don't forget to send her your finished Dolly photos, or join the Dolly Donations Flickr Group and share them with everyone!

She has made a simple Free Rag Dolly pattern, all the steps photographed, and a couple of video tutorials also. It’s made to use up your left over material from past projects and easy enough so that parents can do it with their children. Please use a brown fabric skin tone.

A Call For Help

(Photo taken by Edwards Muzoz/Reuters and lifted from this site.)


(Photo taken from Somebody Cares America.)

I have been very touched by seeing the outpouring of people wanting to help on several of the other blogs. I know that we are all deeply concerned for the people of Haiti. I would like to recommend Somebody Cares America. Doug Stringer is the founder. They have a history of doing a lot with very little, and they have experience with disaster relief. My husband and I are personal friends of Doug and have known him for over 20 years; so we can vouch for the integrity of this ministry. I hope you will take the time to go to their website and read the "About Us" and other sections of their website and consider sending your donations to them. Thank you for your consideration.

The text below is taken directly from their site.

"Working with our Somebody Cares Caribbean chapter and it's network of churches, we are getting firsthand accounts of the situation and needs. The infra-structure in the Haitian capital is overwhelmed by the destruction. The scope of human suffering is unfathomable. But the Church is a beacon of hope and integrity in the midst of the chaos and pain.
RIGHT NOW WE ARE:
Gathering resources to assist Frienships set up a base for relief workers in Haiti. The ship is scheduled to depart a port in the Gulf the middle of next week. Specific needs include:
Generators of all sizes- gas or diesel
Rope/nylon line- ¼" in 600 ft. rolls. At least 1 pallet worth
100 lbs. of dried rice, beans
MRE's
Cooking oil
#10 Cans of beans and other vegetables
Portable halogen lights with stands - 500 watt
#12 extension cords (any length)
Flashlights
Work gloves
Powdered milk
Dust masks
UV Lightbulb for water purifier (The bulb costs $500 and is urgently needed).
Shower/toilet trailer (Length no greater than 24 feet, height no greater than 11 feet).

Please call the Somebody Cares office at 713-621-1498 and ask for Vickie Gaskins to discuss details and logistics of any donations.

DISASTER RESPONSE:

The Somebody Cares Disaster Response approach is that of Church-Based response. Throughout the many disasters the Somebody Cares network has been part of—from Tropical Storm Allison flooding in 2001 to the Southeast Asia tsunami to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Ivan and Wilma—we’ve seen over and over again how the church responds quicker and more precisely than any other agency. Even the government has taken note of this! A Homeland Security Institute report issued in December 2006 states: “It was neighborhood congregations….—the local fabric of America—that appeared to have carried the day to a great degree.”

That’s because the church is the heart of its community, and our highest common denominator is Jesus. We were made for adversity because we were made to be the peacemakers in the midst of the storms – to bring hope in the midst of despair.

Instead of spending tens of thousands of dollars on administrative overhead; the Somebody Cares network funnels donated funds and urgently needed resources directly to communities that are hardest hit – to be distributed by church-based volunteers who know and love their neighbors and neighborhoods. Being a tangible expression of God’s love to our neighbors means we must excel at unity, organization, and giving.

Our goal is to see churches empowered to reach their communities and be there on the ground with tangible resources to meet the desperate needs of disaster survivors. To do this we recognize that we need to work with government agencies and other organizations without losing our distinctiveness.

When disasters happen, real people have very desperate needs. Often, resources to meet the needs become tied up in bureaucracy and bottlenecks. We work with agencies like FEMA, the Red Cross, Salvation Army and others—to be an asset, but not to be controlled. They have great systems, but the church has people who know their communities. But these agencies are not our source for disaster response; rather we look are a resource to facilitate aid directly in communities affected by disaster – all across the country and around the world!

Join the Somebody Cares Disaster Response team by giving generously today!"