I Don't love Dogs.....

I really really don't love dogs or cats or little furry anythings. 
Why?
Waaaayyyy too many reason s to list.  really.



Last year, Garth's parents called to say they were going to serve a mission for our church in Taipei, Taiwan. 

The first thought that popped into my head was "we could take Penny"

What?  Where did that come from?  A dog.... in MY house?  For a whole year and a half?  Crazy.

I do believe my Mother-in-law was a little apprehensive about leaving her baby with her non pet loving daughter-in-law.  Her other one loves dogs.

I believe Penny and I have done pretty well so far.  She thinks I love her and I do like her a lot.  She is cute.

Little Penny is turning 7 soon if not already.  I think she was born in March.
She is a Trained Therapy Dog and really very well behaved. 

We've had her for 10 months now.  In those 10 months, she's learned to go potty outside. Yay!  She was used to potty papers at her house.  My in-laws live at the Running Running Y Ranch in Klamath Falls, Oregon.  Penny could be eaten by any number of bigger than her things.

She's taken over one of our family room chairs.

If there is a blanket on the couch she's gonna test it out.

She sleeps on Jensen's bed

Every morning she does this hoping for tummy rubs.  She usually gets them.

She believes all legs are for getting comfy on

We made her a bed for Christmas

This is her real Mom and Dad

We try to send pictures and videos to them often. 

I know My Mother-in-law Ellen misses Penny terribly.  They will be home in October and Penny will take up her usual position on Ellen's shoulders as she sits and reads by the window.

I might miss her.

A BIG change (for me) and a peek at my sewing room

About 20-ish years ago......

Rotary cutters and self healing cutting Mats were the things I drooled most over at the fabric store.  Garth was attending BYU and I was working and making about $6.00 an hour.  In other words, we didn't have a lot of moola so it was a pretty big deal when I purchased my first green cutting mat.  I wish I could remember what it cost way back then.  I can remember bringing it home and just staring at it with joy and anticipation.  I also had my new rotary cutter.  My very sharp new rotary cutter.

Over the years, I used and used and used them.  I made school clothes for Garth and most of my dresses and tops.  When our boys came along, I made them church clothes, play clothes, toys and big stuffed bear bean bag chairs. 

So, earlier this week there was a major tragedy...  I cut right through my faithful old green cutting mat!  I'd used some of the marking so many times over the years that they were hard to see.  The markings stopped "self healing" and were slowly just being cutt away over time.

Kinda hard to see but I cut right through on the left side there....

It now has a new home under my sewing machine.

I HAD to replace it so I went to Joann Fabrics armed with my 50% off coupon.  I stood there and thought and thought about which one to buy.  The ol Green Olfa mats were a whopping almost $60.00 so $30.00 with the coupon (yes, I can do some simple math!).  I looked at the Fiskars brand and it was about $10.00 less, double sided and already on sale so I could use my coupon on fabric.  So, feeling a bit odd, I got the Fiskars one.

Here is my new baby...

Beautiful.

I was a bit hesitant to make that first cut.  Kinda like putting a hole in your brand new house to hang a picture. 

I managed.

Ok, enough about that BIG change!






Here is a small peek into my sewing room....

My Baby.  See that pink paper over there on the left?  Those are my patterns that I designed.  Yes, me!

A work in progress...

I love the window and natural light!

A "bit" of my fabric stash

Some bags waiting to be photographed and listed on Etsy

a few more

The wall behind my sewing machine needs to be re-organized again.

Bag hardware and other things easy to grab as needed

I almost didn't add this one because it looks so messy.  Just ignore the poor turkey sitting sadly on top of my box of ribbing (t-shirt necks, etc.)  Off to the side there in rolls is my supply of oil cloth.   My awesome t.v. and roku box are there so I can watch netflix movies instead of Judge Judy all day.  Oh, and my zipper supply too.



bags in progress.

Well, There you have it.  A small peek into my almost favorite place to be in our house.  I feel a bit exposed.

I hope you are still awake!