Winter has become rather TEDIOUS don't you think dahlings ........

......yawn....





Ho hum Blogland Neighborhood .... it's a BLAH Saturday afternoon and the Sewing Dept is becoming rather BORED with that winter scene they look out on from behind old reliable Betty the Featherweight .... so they're keeping their eyes on that pretty springy fabric and ....





......these fresh and fun scrapbooky doodad flowers and ...





.......purses for some inspiration .....





...and the Sewing Dept aren't the only ones tired of waiting for the snow to melt ...



...those Moonbeams Boys decided to (try) to ride their dirtbikes in less than optimal conditions...




....and some people just said the heck with it and put on their bathing suits....




......and other beach gear and dream of heading south for Spring Break ! (sigh)





Be back soon!
Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)

The Saturday night check-in for the Friday Night Sew-IN

Happy Saturday Blogland Neighborhood! Well, the Sewing Dept didn't get as much finished last night as Kitty had hoped......took awhile to get organized ....



...comfy jammies and "Queen Bee" slippers .....CHECK


...stack of movies to watch ... CHECK


...snacks and a cup of tea ... CHECK



...project supplies ... CHECK


...and of course Kitty and that stupid whistle... CHECK




....so FINALLY it was time to start !



...Kitty kept everybody in line and on their toes by blowing that stupid whistle WAY too much! She runs a tight ship ....




....some of the staff just couldn't take it anymore and went to bed....




...and FINALLY Kitty blew her whistle and called it a night at 1 AM ....



...so, here's the sum and total of tonight's accomplishments (in addition to some minor mending jobs of kids' jeans, etc that are just too mundane to show pictures of ). This little project is on it's way to being a backpack for a 4 year old little niece ... it started out as the packaging for a set of blue sheets from Walmart .... so, after the sheets were on the bed and out of that cute blue envelope/package never to be put back into the cute blue envelope/package (seriously, can anybody get sheets folded up neatly the way they were when they first came out of the package?) the Sewing Dept thought it was too cute to just throw out so..... the backpack idea was hatched .....(well, it will look more like a backpack after we get some sort of straps on it ...) AND there are also BIG plans for a "sit upon" to be made out of those Sandy Gervais "Frolic" charm squares to go inside the back pack .....everything a future Brownie will need for an indoor camping trip!

....well, Kitty is blowing that darn whistle again .... time to get back to the sweat shop ....

Be back soon!
Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)

Friday Night Sew - In

Good morning and happy Friday Blogland Neighborhood ! Well,after all the hoopla and excitement from last week's "One World One Heart" Blogland Extravaganza, we have been kicking back and relaxing a little here at MBIAJ Headquarters .....



...Kitty has been sitting by the fireplace with a cozy quilt and browsing through some new magazines .....



.....and catching up on some reading ....(she just LOVES this book she says!)





Kitty also has been spending time doing one of her other favorite things .... catching up on her blog reading .........






.......like this one for example by Heidi




WAIT !! WHAT'S THIS ?!?!?!! A FRIDAY NIGHT SEW-IN !!! Do some sewing or anything (but NOT laundry!) on Friday night (as in TONIGHT) then on Saturday do another blog post about what you worked on and THEN on Sunday there will be a give away over there on Handmade by Heidi's blog !!! ......uh oh ..... Kitty's got smoke coming out of her ears .... she's thinking ... we can tell !!! HOLD ON !!! LOOK OUT !!! She's about to say something .....




....."Fire up the sewing machines ..... we're doin some sewing tonight !!!......Where's my whistle? How do you expect me to get this Sew-In started and KEEP IT ON TRACK without my whistle ?!?!?!"



....and there she goes rummaging through the kitchen junk drawer looking for that stupid whistle .... oh, I guess she found it ....



.....OK, while Kitty is towing her whistle out of the junk drawer, I guess the Sewing Dept better figure out what project they will be working on tonight (that is after all other depts have gotten the rest of the day somewhat in order ...)

OK .... so check back later (MUCH LATER) tomorrow to see what the Sewing Dept has accomplished .... or kind of accomplished .... or planned to accomplish .....

Be back soon!
Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)

One World One Heart Drawing and Give Away !!!!! (FINALLY !)

Good evening Blogland Neighborhood ! Again we apologize for the delay in drawing our give away winner. We now have the situation under control ....



...the police department has graciously allowed Kitty to have her magic carpet back in order for her to get down off of the top of the world and down to the heart box to select a winner .... OK .....Kitty, are you ready ? (she's given the signal that she's ready) ....OK Kitty .... off you GOOOOOoooooo.......




......well, as you can see she still has not perfected landings .... Kitty, Kitty , are you alright? (she's signaling she's OK )



....well, she sure is a trooper .... there she goes diving into all the entries....


......she's going way down to the bottom...uh oh ... we may lose sight of her ....oh wait! I think she's about to surface ....






.....and there she is with our winner !!!! It's Donna !! (Donna W.)






CONGRATULATIONS Donna !!! Please email us your address so we can send you your prize ! (which is this wool felt candle mat ..... just in case you forgot!)













....AND we'd like to take a moment to once again thank everyone who participated and for all of the nice comments you all left !!! Thanks! Thanks! Thanks!!

Be back soon!
Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)

One World One Heart Give Away (slight delay....)

Good morning Blogland Neighbor-hood and happy "One World One Heart" Blogland Give Away Day!!! Well, we here at MBIAJ Headquarters have run into a slight glitch with pulling off our give away by noon EST ......Seems Kitty is stuck up there on top of the "world" and .....


....can't figure out how to get down there to pick a winner out of the "heart" .... so we are currently in the process of appealing to the police dept to get her magic carpet out of impound to use to fly down from on top of the world for this special occasion to pick a give away winner out of the heart ..... so, please excuse our delay and PLEASE do check back later today when we will hopefully have resolved this little dilema ....

Check back soon! (thanks!)
Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)

The "Better Late Than Never Happy Valentine's Day Project"

Happy Valentine's Day Blogland Neighborhood !!! We hope you're having a nice day with your Valentines !! After a lovely pancake brunch here at MBIAJ Headquarters, Kitty decided the Sewing Dept should whip up a little Valentine project with.....



....some of this PINK fabric we won a couple of years (yes YEARS) ago from a give away that Sharon had ..



.....and , yes, Kitty (thinks) she's back in charge of all depts ....she has completed her community service of shoveling snow (that is at least until the next snow storm supposedly dumps a few more inches in the driveway tomorrow night) ...so, she has taken off her snow shoveling hat and.....



......with the help of a little double sided tape , has repaired the "bling" on her "Queen of Hearts" crown and presided over the design and construction of .....



....the Valentine Goody Bag with detachable Valentine Brooch .....



.....and here's the Valentine Brooch worn on a beat up old comfy sweater ....




......OK , her majesty wants to know who ate that piece of candy!
They're supposed to go in the goody bags.....(however it seems she's chewing something while she's telling us get busy making more Valentine Goody bags out of the rest of that stack of fabrics ......)and she's trying to tell us something else with her mouth full...


..."and hond erged ha oud da Hon hurld Hon Hard hoghand iveaway awing amorrow"

WHAT ??? Kitty, please chew, swallow and then tell us again ....."OK, Don't forget about the One World One Heart Blogland Give away tomorrow" .....drawing and winner to be announced tomorrow (hopefully by noon EST ).

Be back soon! Happy Valentine's Day!
Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)

Snow, Snow, & more Snow = Kitty's community service !

Good morning Blogland Neighbor-hood ! Yesterday, like the rest of the east coast , found MBIAJ Headquarters snowed in . The Sewing Dept had the luxury of watching the snow falling from the warmth of the kitchen ... watching the birds at the bird feeder under the protection of the big Hemlock outside the kitchen window...


...and the mourning doves snuggled in among the snowy branches .....




....while planning a bright and cheery project and ......





.....snickering aloud about Kitty being stuck OUTSIDE .....





.....shoveling the driveway and sidewalk......(muttering to herself something about "this community service STINKS !!)







AAAHHHHhhhhh yes .... time to get another cup of tea and continue sewing .... (and maybe we'll put on some music to drown out that whining and complaining we're hearing from the driveway......)

Be back soon ! (and don't forget about the One World One Heart give away still going on ! (drawing and winners to be announced on Feb 15th!)

Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)

Kitty update ....

Good morning Blogland Neighbor-hood ! We have a Kitty update for you .She has been released on bail and will have to do some community service time. The Magic Carpet has been impounded.















Charges: 1) Operating a Magic Carpet without a license 2) Reckless flying 3) Endangering the public 4) then there is the little matter of a SLEW of unpaid parking tickets and ......



.....this was found to be in her possession at the time of the accident ....


.....it too has been impounded ...... Kitty's statement :"I wanted to join the thousands of "Happy peppy people" and not "poop out at parties" ..... I wasn't aware that you could not transport "Vitameatavega-min" on a Magic Carpet."



Well folks, there you have it .... now back to our regularly scheduled broadcast .... and don't forget the One World One Heart extravaganza is still going on .... so leave a comment to enter the give away !!

Be back soon!
Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)