Okay kids, so check this out. First and foremost, I am NOT a Twilight fan. Yeah I know, I’ll probably end up on some CIA list for this or something, but I’m just not. My daughter, on the other hand, is totally into that little cutie Taylor Lautner, and if I have one more female tell me how much my son looks like “Edward”, I might just lose my mind.

However, I’ve found a contest where you have to choose a side and you could win an Amazon Kindle or one of several other prizes. Does this have something to do with the Twilight saga? Heck no. Weren’t you listening when I said I wasn’t a fan. I am, however, a fan of fantasy fiction and this contest is killer, (no pun intended).

Author Moira Rogers is throwing a Pick a Side contest until the 14th of June. She has created two interesting characters and it’s our job to pick the best. One is a vampire lumberjack and the other is a werewolf bootlegger. Yeah, I got all tingly too. But that’s not the big thing for me. You see, in my world ( the real one, not the one I put into my stories), I am the granddaughter of an actual bootlegger and I’m married to a guy who’s known as “Chainsaw”. No, I’m not making this stuff up, but I do feel a story coming on.

So, here’ s the thing. You have to head over to Moira’s blog and pick a side. But more than that, you’ve got to be ready to defend your answer because once you’ve made your decision, you’ve got to do a blog post about it then leave a comment (a real one, not one of those “great post” comments) about why you chose the side you did. Then, Moira will add a link from her site to yours and tell which side you chose. This is where you need to be ready, because others on that list of links may come by your site and either agree with you, or try and get you to switch sides.

So, which side am I picking? Well, that was a tough decision. As I said, my grandfather was an actual bootlegger in the late 20’s/early 30’s. From what I understand, he had a heck of a time trying to explain to my great-grandmother why there were bullet holes in the trunk of her car one Sunday morning.

But, my hubby has been cutting trees down for a long time and has been known as “Chainsaw” since the early 90’s. Plus, the idea of having a big rugged man nibbling on my neck does a lot more for me than the idea of a big furry guy peeing on my leg. So, I vote for The Vampire Lumberjack.

Okay, stop laughing and get over to Moira’s site and cast your vote before it’s too late. And remember, “Vote for the Lumberjack and you won’t get a Back Attack”.

I’ve been promising to show off some of my quilt “thingies”, but never seem to do so.  This is because I’m so worried that someone out there who knows WAY more about quilting than I do will come by and say, “Hey, that sucks”.  It would kill me and I’d probably never quilt again.  Yes, I’m speaking from experience (not quilts).  Anyway, here are a few of the things I’ve been working on.

First of all, I found a cute quilt block pattern that was supposed to be used as an edge.  I liked it very much, and gave it my own twist.  I call it Love Links.  Here’s the first one I ever did.

I totally dig the colors I used in this one.  The problem was that I had no idea what I was going to do with it once I finished.  It just kind of sat there staring at me, going “Don’t ignore me.  I thought you loved me”.  Then I got an idea to turn this into a purse pattern.  I had a cool idea and did what I could to put it together.  Here’s the finished product.

Laying flat

Upright position

Though it didn’t turn out exactly as I’d planned, I’m pretty happy with it.  I’m going to use it for my daughter’s Easter Basket.  She’s 16, and loves the little purse/bag thing.  I told her she could have it, but not till after Easter.  LOL.  She knows she’s getting it for Easter, so this post isn’t going to give anything away.  Besides, she never reads my posts anyway.  I’m just mom, I never do anything cool.

Anyway, there’s a couple of the things I’ve been working on.  I have a whole crap-load of other things, but not nearly enough room here.  Let me know what you think, but please be kind.  I don’t take rejection well at all.  LOLOLOL!!!

I know I said I’d be back in just a few days, but you should see what I’ve been doing.  I’ve been so busy with my quilting projects and reading all my new crafters’ magazines that I’ve completely lost track of time.  What felt like a couple of days has turned into a few weeks.  LOL.  Time really does fly when you’re having fun.

Anyway, my wonderful mother-in-law was kind enough to give me a whole tote full of fabrics, 2 boxes of ribbons, and a huge bag of lace.  But the biggest prize in my new lot was the whole box full of crafting books and magazines she gave me.  My mother-in-law is as craft crazy as I am, maybe more.  And though she has 3 daughters of her own, none of them are really into the whole crafting thing.  So, I get all her crafting hand-me-downs.  Whoo Hoo for me.  LOL

As I began going through this box full of books, I was shocked to see just exactly what I had in my hands.  She gave me books and magazines that go back to the late 40’s-early 50’s.  Here are a few pics I took just to prove how cool my mother-in-law really is.  She’s awesome!!!!!

Craft Works, Pack O’ Fun, and Family Circle magazines

As you can see, this one was issued in 1969 and only cost 20 cents

This is a huge pile of Crafting Traditions magazines from 1996-2003

2 books published in the 60’s on how to recycle things you already have around the house.  And you thought the whole Reuse/Recycle thing was a new idea.  LOL

A massive needlework book from McCall’s-Fall/Winter issue for 1964-1965-it cost a whole 60 cents.

And now for my favorite

This is a book that my mother-in-law put together herself when she was in college.  It’s full of little character drawings from the 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s.  It’s so cool.

From food and drinks

To scenes of various emotions.

Needless to say, I’ve had a ball the past couple of weeks.  I’ve found a ton of ideas to work with, some of which came from days gone by and I’ve come up with ways to give them a modern twist.  Now, if I could just finish one whole project, I’d be doing great.  LOL

Holy cow, where in the Sam Hill have I been????? Well, it’s been a crazy month so far. As most of you know, my son entered the United States Navy the first of the month. Since then, I’ve done everything in my power to keep my mind occupied so I wouldn’t spend all my time in tears. The result is that I’m in the process of creating some really cute items and will soon be re-opening my online store. Not sure which one I want to focus on just yet, but that’s not important right now.

Because of all the cool giveaways I’ve been entering, and all the wonderful people I’ve had the honor to meet, I’ve really gotten into making my quilting stuff. I don’t just make quilts, I make things like purses, clutch purses, and aprons with quilt patterns. I’m also working on a cool design for some place mats, but they’re turning out to be a little tougher than I’d imagined. Hopefully that means they’ll be really awesome when they’re done. LOL

As soon as I get a few more finished, or any of them finished, I’ll be sure to upload pictures. I’m pretty happy with the results so far, but almost everything is still in not-quite-done mode. LOL. My daughter keeps telling me that I need to finish up one project before I start another, but I’m one of those people who thinks to themselves, “I wonder what that would look like”, then can’t move on until I find out. LOL

So, as soon as I get a few more things done, I’ll show them off. I hope you’ll all stop by and tell me what you think, but please be kind as I don’t take criticism well. Ok, back to work. I’ll never get finished with anything unless I get off the computer and do some actual work. LOL

Time once again for Friday Follow. This is my second week and from what I witnessed last week, this is the coolest idea of the century. When I posted my Friday Follow last week, I was blessed with my first follower within minutes of adding my name to the list.

You can follow as many blogs as you want, and can do so all week long. However, you can only add your blog/site on Friday. As of tomorrow, you can’t add your site until next Friday. Then, we start all over again. It’s so much fun. But my favorite part of the whole thing isn’t in finding new blogs, it’s in meeting new people.

Say thanks to the girls who put this little shin-dig on: