And the winners are........(I'm going to be very busy!)

Voting has ended and the results are in. The Watermelon and Rudolph Patterns were the most popular followed by the Fire Engine and the Santa's Lil' Helpers. So we will be making these for the up coming craft show. Because of the time of year and the difficultly of some of the patterns I've decided to make only 1 each of the Fire Engine and Watermelon and 2 each to the Rudolph and Santa's Lil' Helpers. I'm excited to see how they all turn out. Thanks to all who voted!

I've also been trying to compile a list of other projects to make for the craft show. I wanted something different but not too hard. I'm trying not to over extend myself (too late). Here are a few of the other projects I hope to complete in time for the craft show.

Since Nascar is so popular around these parts my sweat shop worker Kim thought I should try some Nascar tissue box covers. This is the one I made last year as a gift for her. I'm only doing a few so I don't get stuck with them. She suggested Dale Jr, Dale Sr, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. I'm trusting her on their popularity as I couldn't pick them out of a line up. But if there is some one that I don't have that you may want you can always place an order.

Sweat shop worker mom and I decided that since these little guys were so popular last year, so cute and super easy we are going to make a few more of these little fellows. They are turkey baskets. They hold candy and have place for a name card so can be used as table place settings.

These are a few of the really cool patterns I have found over the last year that I'm just dying to make. These pizza coasters are awesome and the football candy holders are small and easy to make. They would be a great idea to give out at a football/superbowl party. Remember I do take orders.
This angel tree topper is one my wish list of to do items. I hope I have the time to make at least one of her for the show. She is a lot of work but so beautiful. I have a list of about 19 projects that I would like to complete for the show. Not sure I will even get to half of them let alone all of them but I'm optimist. I still have some items from last year like the Winne the Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet, Tigger and Tweety Bird tissue boxes. I have a variety of ornaments. A few candle rings. Monkey, Church and Crow coasters. As well as a few Birthday Cake slices. I will have a really cute Santa Countdown to Christmas Calendar and of course the Football Helmet tissue box covers.

I will try my best to post works in progress and finished object along the way. Don't forget to check out my FLICKR badge of completed Plastic Canvas projects. I have some of the pictures to items listed above already in the set for you to look at. As always thanks for stopping by.

Wirlwind time with my fabulous husband

The hubby was around and in a close town so I had the chance to go out and visit him. The first trip was on Sunday, August 3rd. John was working for a few days in NYC and had some down time so I went to visit.

I rode the train up with my great friends Chris, Dave and Tim. It was nice not to have to ride alone. Makes the time go by so much faster when you are chit chatting. My other trips back and forth I spend working on Kim's baby carriage. Once we arrived at Penn Station we all parted ways. They were on their way to do some shopping, eating and catch "Avenue Q" I was off to catch a cab and head to the lower east side.

Once I arrived John promised me he would take me (and suffer threw) a trip to the World of Disney on 5th & 55th. So we hopped into a cab and off we went. My plan was to do a little pin trading and pick up a few new pins that were recently released. John was such a good sport. He was patient and pretended to have a good time. The characters come to visit every so often and I heard that Goody and Pluto were hanging out, so up stairs we went to have our pictures taken with them. This was John's first encounter with the famous friends. He grinned and took it like a husband who has a crazy wife. I appreciated it so much. It is one of my most favorite things to do while in Disney, character stalking. It is like searching and collecting treasure. The thrill of the search, the excitement of having yet another character checked off my list of who's who's. The pictures came out really cute........maybe I see a Christmas card photo......

After his Disney torture we went to Central Park. We just sat and relaxed and people watched. It was a beautiful day. John had mentioned that he saw a "duck tour" in Times Square we he went threw earlier. For those of you who do not know what a "duck tour" is I will try to enlighten you. It is a bus and a boat. These vehicles were built and used in war times and allowed the armed forces to drive threw the streets and then drive right into the water and then use the vehicle as a boat. We have done the "Duck Tour" in Seattle, Boston, Philadelphia and the "Hippo" tour in Toronto (same idea only Canadian). The tour guides are what make or break this tour. Our guide in NYC was not only funny but knew what he was talking about. So we drove around the city for a few blocks and then off into the Hudson River. It was great fun. I had to leave not too long after we returned to the hotel. I had to work Monday, I hate being a responsible adult sometimes. But I knew I would be spending more time with John later in the week so it was ok.

Thursday night, well more like Friday morning I drove down to Atlantic City. Thank goddess for my sister-in-law she chatted with me for most of my drive, she was working on her Olympic Countdown video, it is super cute, go and check it out HERE. After all was said and done we didn't get to our room at the Borgota until after 2:30am. John had some crazy drink so he was a bit buzzing and crazier and more goofy then normal. We had a great view of Atlantic City and the boardwalk from our room. We were on the correct side of the hotel for once. The lights at night were cool but of course they didn't come out in pictures so I took one in the morning.

Once John got up and moving (he is a night owl by nature meaning he hates mornings) we drove down to Wildwood. I haven't been there is years but it still looks the same.

The boardwalk is really nice and relatively clean but New Jersey standards. The beach was mobbed so we just looked at it from the boardwalk and didn't even bother making our way out there. Of course that meant that the boardwalk was pretty empty so we had a nice stroll up and back. Then we headed back to Atlantic City by taking the scenic Ocean Drive route. It is so beautiful. The houses are amazing.

Friday night was the opening ceremony for the Olympics so we watch it in our comfy room. Around 10pm we heard something outside that sounded like explosions. Considering we were up on the 39th floor they were loud. We looked out to see fireworks. It was really cool to see them from so high up.

Saturday we headed into Camden and took the ferry boat over to Philadelphia for a cheese steak. It was relaxing and Philly looks so pretty from out on the water. We floated right past the USS New Jersey which was neat. One of these day I will get done there to tour it. After returning to Camden John and I went to see a few songs of the show. John has liked the Counting Crows for a long time and turn we on to them. They have some really good stuff. I wish I could have seen the whole show but I had to leave to head home to catch the train to NYC, again.

This time I went at night and met up with John at the parking area and we went to the hotel together. I have to tell you that this hotel is very trendy and modern. The decor is cool and swanky. However I do have one complaint, do you think they could spare a large TV?

This little thing on a huge wall. It was really a funny site. We also had something that resembled Cousin It.But it was a nice hotel and the shower was great (fantastic water pressure) and the bed was super comfy , I want one. It was like a solid foam mattress but not memory foam. It was hard and soft at the same time and John and I both agreed on how much we loved it, which never happens with bedding. The room also had a balcony and a view..............I didn't say a good view, just a view. We went out for drinks at like 1am which is so not me. I was ready to fall asleep as it was and then add alcohol are you kidding me. Thank goddess we took a cab back because I would have never made the 15 block walk back, I barely made the 15 block walk there.

Sunday yielded yet another trip to the World of Disney. Last week I got a duffel bag with wheels for $20 additional if I spent the magic amount....I did. The bag is so nice John wanted one too. So we went back and spent the magic amount again and got another bag. I was kinder to him this time, no pictures with the characters.

Afterwards we went over to Central Park again to do some people watching. This time the weather was not as kind.....we got soaked. And when it rains all the cabs in the city either disappear or are off duty. Over 30minutes to get a cab. You would have thought we would have had better luck after seeing the leprechaun in the morning.

By the time we got one and got back to the hotel it was time for a nap. Of course the nap was more like a sleep and when I woke up I had to hurry up and leave to catch the train. That sucked. So I'm rushing around getting my stuff together, mad at myself for sleeping and worried that I was going to miss the last early train home. I wanted to be home before 10pm because again, I have to go to work on Monday mornings.

So much for rushing. No, it isn't what you think, I made the train. Got a good seat alone so I can work on my plastic canvas, departed on time and then it happened. We headed into the tunnel, you know the tunnel that goes under the Hudson (I have a fear of tunnels, a big fear, fear that leads me to believe that the tunnel will break or collapse or be terrorised while I'm in it leading it to fall on my head and trapping me and me dying) I don't like tunnels. We stopped. Stopped in the tunnel. The train was broken and after a few tries and an hour later we finally got out of the tunnel. I did better than I thought I would trapped in a tunnel. But I was very unhappy. Unhappy to be in the tunnel and unhappy that I didn't get home until 11pm. My wonderful SIL came and got me and showed off her Olympic Sweater. I was happy to be home and out of the tunnel.

But I guess it didn't bother me too much because Thursday I was back on the train again. This time I decided to stay over night which was nice but this morning 5am came really fast and wasn't pretty. John asked not to go to the World of Disney this round so I agreed but we had to do something. He decided that he wanted to go to the Guggenheim. But we had to eat first. So after eating in the TGIFriday in Times Square and we will never do that again after seeing the cockroaches living the life in the bathrooms we hopped in another cab and went to the museum. Now Guggenheim is a little ways up there 89th street to be specific so it was a bit of a ride. We got there all excited to check it out and.....wait for it.......it is closed on Thursdays. LOL We finally want to do something with culture and it is closed....ha...ha...ha...ha....ha....figures. So we began to walk back down to the front of Central Park to maybe so to the Zoo. Well, John and I aren't having the best of luck with the weather....it started to lighting, thunder, rain and then pour. We found shelter under some building scaffolding and decided to wait it out. A HOUR LATER it finally slowed down and stopped. John treated me to a carriage ride in Central Park.

It was so sweet. I'd never done it before so it was nice and a beautiful rainbow appeared as we were riding.

Afterwards we headed back to the hotel. We had to walk a few blocks to catch a cab. We caught one on 5th ave.......right in front of, you guessed it.....the World of Disney. We didn't go in we just got the cab and headed back to the hotel. We got pizza delivered and watched the Olympics until I had to go to sleep. Like I said 5am came really fast.

I had a wonderful time with my hubby, wish we could spend more time like that together. And we will when we go on vacation in January. I will tell you more about that in a few days and the surprise I got when compromising on our vacation. It is a good one!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIM! Hope you like your present......

Today, many years ago, my dear friend and sweatshop worker, Kimmy came into this wonderful world a kick’n and a scream’n. I just wanted to wish her a very happy birthday and show you all her birthday gift before she even gets to see it. I’m giving it to her in the morning when I get to work.

And ladies and gentlemen it is hot off the presses. I just finished it and it is due to be given tomorrow. Nothing like sweating bullets and getting hand cramps trying to finish in time. It is not only a complex piece to stitch with the stitches in a non-traditional pattern; there is so much of it, 25 PIECES!!!!

I made one for myself many years ago and it became my first “I swear I won’t make another” or as like to call them “limited editions” because of how much of a pain in the butt it was.
……but I guess it is true what they say, never say never…………… She has been eyeballing my limited edition piece for as long as I can remember and dropping her not so subtle hints about trying to make one herself or just receiving one of her very own.

Last year sweatshop worker mom and I made her this cake. Look so good you could almost eat it.
As a special treat for her birthday this year I decided to make her a baby carriage of her very own.
Pattern info

Book: Best of Dick Martin -- Fun For Everyone

Pattern: Baby Carriage

Level Of Difficulty: Hard

Time: About a month on and off because trying to hide it from Kim

I hope she loves it. If not, I know someone who needs a shower gift to give…..lol (sorry inside joke)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIM!

What would you like to see us make......

Wanna help make us make a decision about what to make for the up coming craft show? Well, here is your chance! Each member of the sweatshop has choosen their five favorites from the "101 Tissue Toppers in Plastic Canvas Edited by Laura Scott released by House of White Birches". It is a great book with beautiful patterns and though it was hard to decide we did. Now we are asking for your help.....Pick you favorite five from our list. Please only pick 5. The top five we will be making for the craft show. Voting ends on Sunday, August 17th. Thanks for playing along.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY WONDERFULD HUSBAND!

On July 19th my husband, John, celebrated his birthday. I'm not going to say how old he turned but I will say next year he will be like Steve McGarrett in Hawaii.

John is a touched man. I would even goes as far as describing him as "special". He has a great sense of humor and makes every one laugh. I myself have grown immune to his comments but he still manages to get me from time to time.

Here is his most famous photo.......he takes one every time he gets my camera. I could do an entire photo album on shots of him just like this one.......

This is the first time in our almost 9 years together that John has been home for his birthday. John has an interesting job that keeps him away from home most of the time. So it was a real treat to have him home to celebrate. The brother and SIL volunteered to have a cook out for the special occasion.

Sharon and Captain Jack......Sparrow......made the Angry Pirate, it was a totally awesome drink she sort of made up. Very yummy.

I made the cake. John has a slight monkey addiction. He likes monkeys.........a lot. Monkeys in the zoo, on TV, on clothing, in pictures.....you getting my drift. I got him some monkey balloons for him.

Told you he likes monkeys.

He thinks they are cute, so what else would me make for his birthday cake but a monkey. Wilton's has a really cute pan so that is what we used. I also made the icing from scratch (thanks to Kathy I had the confidence to do it). I used the receipt from the box of Domino Confectionery Sugar. The CEOreo looked on just hoping I would drop something.

It was really yummy. John also has a little thing for bright and loud Hawaiian shirts so of course the monkey had to be wearing one. I was very happy with the way it turned out.

It was a very nice day, hot and humid but nice to have him home for a few days and nice to have him here on his birthday.Looks like he had fun! Love ya honey! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

80's meme

Preppy or Rocker: Rocker always! Just wait till you see the pictures below.

Z Cavarricis or Guess Jeans and Espirit or Benetton?: Guess jeans and United Colors of Benetton. I have go clue who made my jeans, we shopped at K-mart and Sears. If I was lucky and hit a sale the Rainbow shop and DEB but that was a real treat. But no matter what brand they were they were pegged with wigwams.

Favorite Pop song of the 80s: I have one or two, I was more rock then pop but I loved
Tainted Love - Soft Cell (thankfully covered by Marilyn Manson)
Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) - Eurythmics (again, thankfully covered by Marilyn Manson)
Voices Carry - Til' Tuesday

Most Annoying Pop song of the 80s : Anything New Kids on the Block, remember I'm a rocker girl.

Hair Metal or Heavy Metal- Who was your favorite performer and favorite song?
Picking a favorite performer or song is like trying to pick my favorite child just impossible to do. But I will list who I listened to in the 80's and early 90's.....until grunge came along.....

AC/DC, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Baton Rouge, Cinderella, Dokken, Europe, Danger Danger, Trixter, Extreme, Firehouse, Great White, Quiet Riot, Twisted Sister, Night Ranger, Roxy Blue, Anthrax, Metallica, Ozzy, Van Halen (Van Hager), Lynch Mob, Poison, Motley Crue, Guns N Roses, Def Leppard, Warrant, Faster Pussycat, LA Guns, Tora Tora, Dio, Skid Row, Kiss, Queensryche, Winger, Bullet Boys, Steelheart, Whitesnake, White Lion, Kix, Tesla, WASP, Saigon Kick, Slaughter, Jackyl, Iron Maiden and more I'm sure I'm missing. If it was on Headbangers Ball I listened to it.

What posters were on your bedroom wall or college dorm room? Johnny Depp, the Monkees, Poison, Warrant, Nelson, Motley Crew, Europe, La Guns, Guns N Roses, Kix, Def Leppard, Steve Via......lets put it this way if you were in a metal band that made it to the pages of Metal Edge magazine, at some point you were on my wall

What concerts do you remember most from the 80s? Poison. It was my very first concert. It was just after the release of Open Up and Say Ahh! They opened for David Lee Roth. Droopy took me to see them because he knew how much I loved them.

Favorite 80s movies Dirty Dancing, Footloose, Gremlins, Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Heathers, The Christmas Story, Goonies, Breakfast Club, Better off Dead, One Crazy Summer, Spaceballs, Police Academy, Ferris Beuller, Back to the Future, Naked Gun, Outsiders, Mr Mom, The Lost Boys, License to Drive, Big, Stand by Me, Dream a Little Dream, E.T., Mannequin, Short Circuit, Ghostbusters, Howard the Duck, Karate Kid, Weird Science, Big Trouble in Little China, Nightmare on Elm Street, Adventures in Babysitting

Favorite 80s movie quotes
"Hey, if you hit the wrong note, we'll all "B Flat" Goonies
"Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die" Princess Bride
"Number 5 is alive!" Short Circuit

Way too many from The Christmas Story. We have seen this movie way, way, way too many times. Here is the proof.....go take the quiz yourself and see how you do!

You scored a 100%!

Congratulations! I applaud you on the multiple watchings of the movie. You must watch the marathons each year :^)

A Christmas Story
Take More Quizzes

Top 3 most memorable pop culture moments of the 80s for you President Reagan being shot, yes I know I was only 5 or so but it is one of my first memories. The Challenger Disaster because we watched it as a group in the all-purpose room. I have a bad memory that is all you are getting.

Favorite 80s cartoon The Smurfs, Fraggle Rock and Muppet Show even though not cartoons were directed towards us little ones, Capitan Cave Man, Grape Ape, Looney Tunes

Favorite 80s commercials:
Frosted Mini Wheats because they bring out the kid in you
Head and Shoulders because you never get a second chance to make a first impression
Juicy Fruit because the taste is really gonna moooovvve ya

Boy George or Wham? Rocker or not I have to go with Wham! and goddess bless his soul George Michael. I mean really, I don't think I've seen a finer ass on any man since the "Faith" video

Favorite one-hit wonder They don't know about us - Tracy Ullman

INXS or Depeche Mode As much as I like "People are People" did you ever see Michael Hutchence? I mean he was quite a hottie and he can sing, a perfect combination.

Poison or Warrant: Now you are just trying to rip my heart out. Of cousre I'm a huge Poison fan.....first concert ever remember but.....my goddess......Jerry Dixon....... (love you honey)

Did you ever meet a rocker or 80's pop icon? Where were you?

On my 18th birthday (thanks mom for letting me skip school) I got to meet Richie Sambora and David Bryan of Bon Jovi.

1998 Kiss 7th row MSG was incredible enough but after the show I got to meet Steve West of Danger Danger.
And Sebastian Bach of Skid Row! OMG! HE WAS HUGGING ME!!!! (love you honey)Of course I was shaking and super nervous when I got to meet Jack Russell from Great White. Love this man! Super sweet and the voice of an angel. And his incredibly sexy new (at the time) bass play Sean McNabb. Yummy! (love you honey)Steve Riley of LA Guns.Bill Leverty, guitarist from FireHouse.Mark Slaughter and Blas Elias of Slaughter. Blas Elias of Slaughter, again, YUMMY! (love you honey)I have also met but have no pictures of CC DeVille of Poison, all of Quiet Riot, Weird Al Yankovik, Tesla (they new I was getting engaged before I did), Dokken, Ratt, Tracii Guns, Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith of Iron Maiden and a few more that I'm probably forgetting.

Snap bracelets or Jelly bracelets? Sharon said "Jelly Bracelets and they would match my Wigwams (multi-colored socks we would buy from Trenton Joes)" I second that!

Fess up. Who had the garden weasel bangs? *see previous post* 'nuff said

Favorite 80s sitcoms: A-Team, Knight Rider, Dukes of Hazzard, Silver Spoons, ALF, Charles in Charge, Different Strokes, Facts of Life, Fraggle Rock, Head of the Class, Kate and Allie, Love Boat, Mork and Mindy, Moonlighting, Pee Wee's Playhouse, Perfect Strangers, Small Wonder, Smurfs, Tales from the Darkside, 21 Jump Street, Wonder Years, Tracey Ullman Show, Who's the Boss

Is Jon Bon Jovi still hot or what? Yes, yes and yes! (love you honey) Taken with camera phone at the Bon Jovi concert 07-15-06

"Double Dare" or "You Can't Do That on Television" Both. Love Nickelodeon. Watch out for the green slime

Who was your favorite Brat Packer? Judd Nelson, totally dude. Breakfast Club. hhhhhhhhot! Again second that!

Jellies or Reebok Pumps Jellies but my god how your feet would sweat in those things.

Favorite pizza parlor arcade game: Never played arcade games, my hand eye coordination not the best but I loved playing the jukebox at the local pizza joint.

Deep South "Good 'ol Boys" or "L.A. underground vigilantes wanted for a crime they didn't commit" Dukes of Hazzard

If you are reading this feel free to copy to your blog and have fun. If you are a regular lurker, why don't you take this as a opportunity to come out and introduce yourself, just say hi if nothing else. Please, I'd love to hear from you. Let me know where I can reach you back though. Blogger has a nasty habit of giving the "no reply blogger" response.