Buy Handmade!!

I know I might be a little behind on the bandwagon, but better late than never right? I pledged to Buy Handmade for the holidays and I'm going to encourage my friends and family to do the same. I'm thinking I'll send out a little e-mail sending them to the website, and also including a list of my favorite handmade online stores. So if you have one, let me know! You might think about sending out a little e-mail yourselves!!

And I'll be back tomorrow to tell you all about the craft fair, pictures and all!

Almost There

Holy Moly. The big day is tomorrow and I can't believe it! I'm having moments of feeling prepared, followed swiftly by those of nervousness. My mother in law was a saint yesterday and helped me with some finishing details. Not to mention watched Isaiah, who was actually himself behaving like a saint as well.

I made this banner today during Isaiah's nap. My plan is to safety pin it to the table cloth. I hope that it's easy to read. It was really hard trying to get a decent picture of it!

All in all, I feel pretty good about the situation. Although who knows what other unexpected things will pop up. My MIL I went to the thrift store the other day and picked up some leather skirts. She really wanted me to try using some leather, so this is what I came up with. It'll take some more practice because that leather can really be a pain!

I also wanted to share these gorgeous tags that I bought from the amazing etsy seller paperologie. She was super easy to work with and shipped quickly. (Although my apologies for the picture).

Alright.. wish me luck! If you're in the D.C. area tomorrow, come stop by and say hi! I might just give you something free ;)

DC Craft Mafia presents

The Unusual Suspects Holiday Arts & Crafts Festival

Saturday, November 3, 200712pm - 8pm

The Anastasi Room

5020 Battery Lane, Bethesda, MD 20814

Getting My Ducks in a Row

Things are starting to fall into place around here. I'm starting to relax and not worry so much about the craft fair. I've finished these bags, and a few more are lined up for sewing. I'm in love with this style and I'm having fun making them.

During this project, sewing became therapeutic again and a lot less stressful. Funny how that happened. All the linen for these bags came from one skirt I found at the thrift store. Can you believe that? I think I paid less than $2 for it! Much better than the $7.99 a yard linen from Joann's. I am having a little trouble with the pricing of some of my items though. How much should I price these bags for? They're about 10" wide, 5" high, and 5 " deep.

And all your well wishes must have really helped John out.By Monday afternoon, he was back to his old self. He wanted to play with Isaiah, help clean up and joking, and laughing. It's great to have him feeling back to normal. It really is amazing how this chemo is such a crazy cycle. I think all the good days really outweigh the bad days, and I'm really thankful for John only having to endure a few bad ones each cycle.

Happy Halloween to everyone. Hopefully I'll be able to get Isaiah to wear his costume. We'll see how that goes!

Running out of steam

Wow, it's been a long time since my last post. I've been feeling stressed, tired, and crazy for the last few days. My craft fair is less than a week away and I'm feeling like I'm running out of time. I'm excited, but of course, all those little fears keep popping into my head. What if I don't sell anything? What if I don't bring enough? How am I going to set up the table? How do I price my items? What if I forget my Starbucks with Vodka?

It's crazy the amount of preparation that goes into this kind of thing. I find it amazing that people do this all the time. Crazy people. Anyway, I've been sewing like a mad woman all weekend. Hopefully I'll be able to finish enough things to bring.

John has been feeling pretty bad the past few days. I definitely think that's adding to the stress. I've noticed (when I finally looked up from my sewing machine) that our house is pretty disgusting. I'm having a really hard time keeping up with all the house work, cooking, sewing, and playing with Isaiah. I think that after the craft fair is over with, that the sewing machine will go away for a little bit. More play time with Isaiah, and a lot more laundry will get put away. Hopefully.

Have a good Monday!

Birthday Quilt finished!

On the long days of John's chemo, we're in the hospital for anywhere from 3-5 hours, so it's nice to have some sort of project I can do with my hands. Luckily, I remembered to bring the quilt I had been working on, about a month earlier. I finally finished putting on the binding a few weeks ago, and mailed it just in time to be about 1 1/2 months late for the little birthday girl. Better late than never, right? I had started hand quilting it, but quickly realized that it would take way too long. I settled for some straight lines across the quilt. I know quilting would have been much easier with a walking foot. I'm starting to think I should invest in one!

Anyway, I wasn't able to get the best pictures of the finished product, but I'm happy with the way the quilt came out. I added a little embroidery of her name, Grace Vita, and I think it was the perfect touch!

Swap Update

Ok.. so it seems many of you are interested, but are worried about having to craft so many items. I hadn't thought it would be too many, but I'm definitely willing to lower the amount of items if people are interested. Sooooo.. here's the updated version:

Partners will send each other 3 items. Two will be handmade from your partner's list of their favorite Good Things. The 3rd can be anything Martha related. This does not have to be a handmade item. It can be a craft item from Michael's, a Martha mag, or just another "Good Thing". That will be up to you. Is this more reasonable?? I really hope some peeps out there want to do this!

WOW!

I guess not everyone is a huge fan of Martha's Good Things. Is this actually anyone interested in this swap at all? I can make amendments to the swap if there's a problem!

EDIT TO ADD:

Martha is known for saying "it's a Good Thing." On her show and in her MS Living Magazine, she frequently has Good Things for crafting. This link should bring you to the list of the "Good Thing" Crafts. For this swap, you will list at least 10 Good Things that you would like to have your partner make for you. For instance, if you really like these gift tags you would include them on your list. Your partner can then choose to make these for you. I said you would each make 5 things because basically the good things are usually quick, easy crafts. I hope that clarifies this for anyone interested.

Martha Good Things Swap

Ok! I've been wanting to host this swap forever, but have always been sidetracked. I participated in a similar swap months ago on craftster, and it was great. Basically, it will work like this. When you sign up (and I hope you do!!), you will send in a list of your favorite "Good Things". Your partner will choose to make 4 of those items, and will also send along a 5th item of their choosing. I hope that makes sense. I'm giving a month before you have to send out you package, in hopes of leaving enough time for crafting. Feel free to put the button on your blog. Let me know if it works. Please e-mail me if you have any questions. Here's all the info:

1. SIGN UP DEADLINE: October 23rd
2. SWAP PARTNERS: You should received your partner by October 24th
3. PACKAGE GUIDELINES

• Mail by November 24th
• Send a total of 5 items. 4 "good things" from your partner's list, and 1 of your choosing from anything Martha
• The 4 Good Things should be handmade (hope that's obvious), and the 5th can be anything Martha Related (i.e. a craft supply from Michael's, or just another good thing)
  

4. HOW TO PARTICIPATE: send an email to seekatieswap@gmail.com with the following details:

- first and last name
- address
- email
- blog address

Are you willing to ship internationally?

List at least 10 of your favorite Good Things

Any colors that you do or do not like?

Any Allergies?

Patchwork Bookmark Tutorial

Okay, here it is. My patchwork bookmark tutorial. I hope the directions are clear, although this is a pretty simple process. They're quick and easy to make. I plan on giving them with any books I give for Christmas presents. If you have any questions feel free to email me at katiebhandbags@gmail.com

Materials Needed:

• Various fabric scraps, varying between 1-2", must be at least 2" wide


• Small scrap of backing fabric, at least 2" x 7"
  
• Fusible Interfacing
  
• rotary cutter and mat OR scissors

Note: Since I am making a lot of these, I am showing the method I use to produce several at one time.

Step 1:

Arrange scraps in pleasing order and sew together. You can either sew them with straight edges, or cut the scraps at small angles. When finished, you'll should have a piece that is at least 7" long, but not longer than 9", and at least 2" wide.

Step 2:

Iron all seams in the same direction. Turn fabric over and press well from the front. Iron on fusible interfacing. If you wish to have a floppier bookmark, you can skip this step.

Step 3:


Cut one edge of the piece and use that side as a guideline for you next cuts. Cut into 2" wide strips. Depending on how wide your piece is, you will end up with several different bookmarks.

Step 4:

Cut backing fabric to the same size as the front of the bookmark. I used muslin since it's cheap and I had to make a lot of these. You can use any fabric that you have available. Using a 1/4" seam allowance, sew around all four sides, leaving a hole for turning.

Step 5:

Trim corners, turn out bookmark, and press.

Step 6:

Topstitch around entire bookmark, making sure that you have closed the opening.

et Voila! A plethora of bookmarks

I'm a factory...

Last week I had a terrible dream about my upcoming craft show. I dreamt that I arrived late and only came with 5 headbands to sell. Of course, after that, I was feeling very anxious that I had barely done any work for the show. It is only 3 weeks away now and I'm feeling the pressure. Thankfully my family was down this weekend and I was able to get a good jump start on all the sewing. My mom and sister even helped to cut out some of the headband pieces. It's amazing what you can do with a few extra set of hands.

We also had a get together at our house on Saturday. We were surrounded with lots of family and friends and had a great time. John was feeling pretty tired, but he enjoyed the company. I know it's hard for him not to be as active and social as he is used to being. That's probably the toughest part. Anyway, Saturday night we played a fun game, something I haven't done in a very long time. It was hilarious and I was glad to get in some great belly laughs.

Most of Sunday and Monday were spent sewing. My sewing table has been in a constant state of disarray (see above picture). For the craft fair we had the option of sending in "swag" for bags for the first 100 customers. I had originally set out to make a bunch of bookmarks. These are quick and easy to make, but still, 100 is a lot. I'm thinking about just sending in the 60 I made and sending in my business cards for the rest. What do you think? Is that bad? There's still lots more sewing to be done. Right now I'm in the process of making 60 headbands. I can't wait for those to be finished! I'm sick of this project.

Tomorrow, a quick patchwork bookmark tutorial. (Although it's so easy, I'm sure you could figure it out!)

Happy Mail, Fabric love

Mail makes me happy. But then again, doesn't mail make everyone happy? To this day, I still don't think John can understand my excitement to get the mail. I actually get mad at him if he gets it out of the mail box. Anyway, this past week was an excellent mail week. Fueled by my swap request, I received several packages of gorgeous fabric. Add two purchases from Sew, Mama, Sew, and Fabric Stash, and my stash has grown dramatically. Good thing it all just got organized by the MIL and SIL!!

I've been dying to have all the Katie Jump Rope, so I dove in and bought these from Fabric Stash on Etsy and Sew, Mama, Sew. Both were great places to buy fabric, and I highly recommend them. These were my rewards for being a damn good wife and mother during this whole cancer ordeal. (If I do say so myself).

I also participated in a scrap swap a while back and received my package from Carole. Lovely scraps, that I have big plans for.

A one-on-one swap with a new to me blogger, Mika. She sent such great fabrics, I keep touching and playing with them. Yummy 30's repros that I am so happy to have!

Another one-on-one swap with a sweet, talented blogger, Jenn Maruska. More 30's repros cute into neat little sqaures. Just waiting to be made into headbands.

And finally, a sweet, generous package of fabric, from the gifted Jen of BeebeeMod fame. She was nice enough to send me this group of fabric just because and I love her for it!

Thanks so much to all of you! I'll be sewing for days now. And, I hope you all are not too jealous, because I have more to show off tomorrow!

update #2

Wow things have been really busy around here. On Thursday, John and I spent the entire day at the hospital for his final tests before beginning chemo. He also had a blood transfusion, which ate up about 5 1/2 hrs. He was looking and feeling much better after that. I wonder if he's bionic now. hee hee. On Friday, he started his first day of chemo. We arrived early in the morning for him to have an echocardiogram, and then he had to have an IV of an antibody. That was about 5 hours. Then they gave him his little pump of the chemo and a fanny pack to carry it around. Oh how the fanny pack brings so much humor into the situation. So for 5 days (today being day 5), he's had to carry around the fanny pack of hazardous chemicals being pumped into his body, and return to the hospital every 24 hours to have the bag changed. Meanwhile, our house has been invaded by John's family. His mom and sister have been organizing our house like mad women. It's been helpful and stressful, but mostly helpful. It is really difficult having people come into your house and work like that! John's father and brother also finished putting up insulation and plywood in the attic, so we now have a lot of storage up there. whooohoo!

On top of all this, our washing machine decided to break again. I spent 3.5 hrs last Wednesday at the laundry mat, something I never want to do again! John's parents thought it was ridiculous, and bought us a new washer and dryer! I could hardly believe it, but now we have new whirlpool appliances that will last us a good 10 yrs (hopefully).

Today is the end of his first chemo cycle. He'll received the last drug, which is a drug that can be harmful to the bladder. It'll be a long day, because in trying to prevent damage to the bladder, they give IV fluids before and after the drug is administered. I tell you, this is a very interesting process. After today, he will have his PICC line pulled, and then he will be receiving injections of a bone marrow stimulant. Plus, he'll have his blood drawn twice a week for the next 16 days. I'm just glad to put this first cycle behind us. Miraculously, John's symptoms have begun to subside, and I'm happy to say John's acting more like his old self. The drug he is receiving today may make him sick, so it'll be interesting to see what happens. I just hope that it doesn't happen as I'm driving him home in D.C. rush hour traffic!!

I've received some great mail the past few days. Nothing like mail to lift your spirits! Lots of great fabric from some very nice people. I'll be back tomorrow to show it off!

Another bend in the road...

Well, the thing about cancer is that it is unpredictable. If it were straightforward and clear, there would be a cure, and everything would be much more simple. My FIL had an old colleague look at John's biopsy slides and she reported that there is the presence of other cells that are not present in Hodgkin's disease. Basically, the way that Hodgkin's disease is identified is by the presence of certain cells called Reed-Sternberg cells. Upon initial inspection, these cells were present, but there are these other cells (cd20) that are also present. So, the bottom line is that his diagnosis is not as simple as it first presented itself to be. You can imagine my disbelief in finding this out. All my previous worries began to flow back like the flood gates had been opened. I felt like we were finally reaching a place where John could begin treatment and on the road to recovery, and now they were telling us he had something different.

They have diagnosed him with a so called "Greyzone Lymphoma." Basically, he has the classic symptoms of Hodgkin's, but he also has the presence of these cd20 cells,which are present in b-cell lymphoma. Since this is a rare form of lymphoma, treatment is tricky.

We are lucky in many ways though. The chemo that treats Hodgkin's has not shown to be effective on this greyzone lymphoma. Had John started treatment without knowing this, he could have potentially gone through the whole cycle of chemo without it working, and perhaps having to undergo all the diagnostic tests again. In addition, my FIL found a study at NIH that looks particularly at treatment for this type of lymphoma. We spent most of today with the researchers, talking with them about the treatment and study.

Tomorrow will be another long day. We'll be heading over to NIH in the morning, where John will have additional blood work, x-rays, CT, and then have a blood transfusion (he's very anemic and this will help with his fatigue). Friday he will meet with the doctors and begin chemotherapy.

The treatment is pretty rigorous and there are many different steps in a cycle. He will undergo 6 cycles, which are each about 21 days long. One stage requires him to return to the hospital every 24 hours for each dose, and another requires him to give himself shots and have his blood drawn every other day. I hope that once we get through on cycle we will get the hang of things, and it will become part of our daily routine. It's complicated and overwhelming, but I really feel that we are so blessed to find such a successful study.

I have no idea what the future holds right now. John has to figure out what will happen with work and if he will have to take a leave of absence. If he does, I may have to work part time to supplement his income. The doctors say that people generally feel pretty good and respond well to this treatment and continue to work. The only problem is the visits to the hospital and John has very few sick days left. I know that things will work out and that we will be provided for. The unknown is always scary, but I have to have faith that things will be okay. We're hoping that John will start feeling better after his first treatment, and the doctors are hopeful that he will.

I'll be sure to let you know how things are going. Thanks for all the support you guys have been providing! I really cannot say enough about the kindess, prayers, and support that I have received in these last few weeks.

I know a girl (or many)

that is obsessed with fabric. Over the weekend, I "shopped" for fabric. And by shopped, I mean, I went to every site known to man and filled my cart up with fabrics I've been dying to have. I only ended up buying these fabrics from an etsy seller. I cannot wait to get them! But there's so many good ones out there and I wish upon all wishes that I could have every single one of them. Being in my current situation, I've decided that spending a whole lot of money on fabric might be a little excessive. I only bought the DS fat quarters because I deserved it damnit.

Yesterday I went to put the clothes in the dryer, only to find out that the washing machine won't drain the water. This is the second time it happened in 3 weeks. We had a company come out and fix it the first time and it was covered under our home warranty, but we still had to pay a $100 deductible. It worked for a while, but decided that it would stop yesterday, in the middle of the wash cycle, full of towels. Just my luck. So I squeezed out as much water as I could and put all the towels in the dryer (which luckily still works). However, the towels were too soaked and heavy for the dryer and the dryer proceeded to shake like crazy. The genius in me came up with the great idea to hang a clothes line. By this time I'm a hot sweaty mess and swearing like a sailor. I drag all the towels outside and as I hang the last towel up, the line breaks, leaving me with wet soapy towels encrusted with fallen, dried leaves. Eventually they made their way onto our fence, where they are sitting, and will still be until someone comes to rescue them (and it won't be me!). So after this fiasco, I decided I needed some fabric. Nothing like some fabric shopping therapy to soothe the soul.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone wanted to do a personal swap. I'm just about out of all my 30's repro fabric squares that I got from another swap. I've been using them to make my headbands, and I'd love to have some more. I don't need huge pieces, actually the 5" squares worked out well. So if anyone has some and would like to do a swap, just send me an e-mail to katiebhandbags@gmail.com . I'd be willing to send you some of my thrifty fabric finds, or a headband, or pretty much anything I make. Or if you have some extra of this fabric, or some other Joel Dewberry laying around, I'd love that too.

I really feel fabric crazy right now. I just can't justify buying so much when I already have a lot. Ok, so if anyone's interested, just shoot me an e-mail!

Hooray!

All your thoughts and prayers must have worked. The cancer did not spread to the bone marrow! I cannot tell you how relieved I feel knowing that. They said the results would not be back for 4 days, but apparently my FIL has some major power of persuasion.

Today we had a visit from a home health nurse. She showed me how to flush John's PICC line for chemo. That was an interesting experience. I never thought I'd be doing something like that. It's simple and easy enough, but strange nonetheless. I guess you could start calling me McDreamy.

John had to have another biopsy surgery yesterday. The sample that they retrieved the first time was too fibrous and it was hard to get a good read on it. Luckily he didn't have to stay overnight and was able to rest comfortably at home. He's tired, but feeling well. I'm tired because I kept waking up to check on him. Everytime he'd cough or move, I'd say "are you ok??" He'd respond, "I'm fine, just go back to sleep." Of course, easier said than done, and now I'm really feeling it. I would have taken a nap if I hadn't been so consumed with trying to clean up for the nurse. I didn't want her to think we were complete slobs. I wonder what she did think of our house anyway. It is a huge mess. One that I'm willing to live with for the time being.

Anyway, all is well for now. We'll probably meet with the doctor next week to discuss chemo options. He'll probably have the option to either do a less intense treatment for longer, or a shorter one that is more frequent. I have no idea how that will work out.

I'm glad to be past all the initial tests. They think that it is probably Hodgkin's disease, but we'll know for sure (hopefully) in a couple of days. Once the chemo starts it'll probably be a whole new journey.

I wanted to say thanks again for all your kind words. They really have helped me get through the initial shock of it all! I'll probably return for some regular crafting posts this week. I'm finally starting to feel like I'm not running around like a chicken with my head cut off!

Yet another headband

My mom came for a quick visit this weekend. I was definitely glad to have the extra help around the house and I was able to relax a little. I also fit in some quick and made about 25 more headbands. Hopefully I'll start making something else soon so you don't get sick of these. There's a few more in the etsy shop, and I'm keeping a few for my show in November. John stills wants me to do the show, but I think it'll depend on how his treatments go. There's no telling how he'll be feeling, so I'm not sure I'll be able to do it or not. Anywho, nothing really new to report. We have a long day tomorrow with the bone marrow biopsy, meeting with the doctor, and an echo cardiogram. Pheewww. Wish us luck!

Thank You!

I am overwhelmed at the kindness of bloggers. Those whom I "know" and those unknown to me. I appreciate every kind word, prayer, and support that all of you provided. I was amazed to visit other blogs and see my name mentioned. I truly am overwhelmed by the response and I cannot thank you enough. Reading your comments has really eased my mind.

John had his biopsy on Friday afternoon. He spent the night at the hospital and was released Saturday. He's recovering well and is just tired and a little sore. He went into work this morning and came home for a quick nap at lunchtime. I think it is really hard for him to not be as active as he is used to being.

He will have his bone marrow biopsy on Wednesday and also probably start treatment. We should have the results of Friday's biopsy either today or tomorrow. I just pray that the cancer has not spread to the bone marrow because that would open a whole other can of worms.

I really want to thank all of you again. Your encouragement and sympathy have been awesome! I'll update when I can, probably sometime after Wednesday.

nightmare

I've been thinking about this post all night, and I don't even know where to begin. Yesterday, we got some of the worst news possible. I feel like I'm in a dream, and watching my life from outside my body. John has been diagnosed with stage 2B Lymphoma.

John's symptoms started a few months ago. He had a persistent cough for about 2 months, and John attributed it to some sort of bronchitis. After it continued, I nagged him to go to the doctors, but it was upon the insistence of his parents that he finally went to see the doctor's. This was on Saturday. He also had a chest x-ray which ended up showing a mass in his chest. John's father is a doctor, and was able to pull a lot of strings to have John seen ASAP. Yesterday we spent the entire day at the hospital, meeting with the doctor, and John having a PET/CT scan performed. Luckily his mother was able to watch Isaiah so that I could be with John the entire day. It still really feels like a dream.

So now I'm not sure what the future with hold. On Friday John will have a biopsy to confirm the doctor's diagnosis which will dictate which type of treatment he will need. He will also have a bone marrow biopsy next week to make sure that the lymphoma is not in there. Most likely, John will start radiation treatment late next week.

Right now I am feeling so many emotions. I am encouraged by all the support we have, all the new technology and advances in medicine. I'm having my good moments, and I'm having my bad moments. I feel stressed to think about what will happen financially. John was working 2 jobs so that I could stay home with Isaiah. I'm not certain what will happen with this situation. It depends on how John handles the treatments. If he does not do well with them and is unable to work, then we'll have to look into disability and other programs. If need be, I will have to go back to work. I feel lucky that we're going through this with people that will help us if we need it. I can't imagine families that have to go through this with nothing. I feel blessed to have Isaiah because I know that he gives us purpose and a major reason to fight this. I'm trying not to get too ahead in my worrying, because we're really not sure what type of lymphoma, what kind of treatment he needs, etc. I'm just trying to take things one day at a time.

So, for now, I'm here. I'll probably be sewing and keeping up with my etsy shop to keep my mind of things. I'll check in from time to time, but just not as regularly.

I also wanted to mention all of John's symptoms. If you or anyone else you know has these, please get checked out. Persistent cough, excessive itching, a sizable weight loss, and night sweats. John thought that these things were irritating, but livable. He doesn't feel sick or tired, and otherwise looks like a healthy person. Looks can be deceiving.

Quilt in Progress

I'm taking another trip to NY on Friday for a few days. Isaiah and I are flying up with a friend of mine from home who lives down here. My oldest friend's (I've know her since I was 2!) daughter is turning 1 year old on Saturday. Since I didn't already have enough going on, I thought that the little birthday girl needed a small quilt. I spent much of Saturday and Sunday working on this. I originally had 9 blocks, but decided that was way too big and only ended up using 4. So, I'll have enough to do another small quilt, or make 5 doll quilts. We'll see how that goes.
This is only the quilt top, and I still have to quilt and bind it before I head out on Friday. (Sorry the pictures aren't so great). I'm having trouble deciding how I should quilt it. Any suggestions? It probably has to be something simple as I don't have a walking foot. I was thinking about maybe hand tying it, but I'm not sure how that will come out. Ugh, I have no idea why I start these projects with such little time left! I know it the end it'll be worth it because it's a handmade gift made with lots of love.

Hope you all have a lovely start to your week. I'll be waiting around all day for the washing machine repair man to show up. Until then, I'll be sitting under piles of dirty laundry. I think a Starbucks trip might be necessary....

more headbands

My posts may get a little boring as I am doing nothing but sewing headbands. Here are a few more that I completed during Isaiah's nap. Pinks, yellows, and reds. Now if only I had some orange fabric. Seems I'm lacking those in my stash. Anyway, a few of you asked how they're secured and the answer is there is a piece of elastic on the ends. Here's a pic for those that are curious. So that's it. Oh, and there's a few available on etsy.