The "C" word

In 2003, just married, just had my first child, I couldn't have been any happier. Until the day I phoned my sister to let her know that my Tearbear had arrived. To give you some background my father had been married a few times, his last marraige resaulting in my brother and I, a previous marriage had given us Two half brothers and four half sisters. We didn't get to see them alot and niether did Dad. But I did keep in touch with my one sister LD. Phoning her house I got another one of my sisters on the phone, MR, when I asked MR if she was out for a visit she answered me with heart dropping words....No, I'm out for Dad.....when I asked her what was wrong she told me I needed to speak with my mother. After frantic phone calls my mom got ahold of me, she only asked if Scruffy was home. I ran from the house (He was mowing for the fourth of July) calling him. My Mother inlaw ran for the house thinking there was something wrong with Tearbear. Scruffy got inside and took the phone, everyone was sitting on the couch when my mom told him, Dad had Cancer and there would be no cure for him. He died three months after his diagnoses, I was there, his mother was holding him, one of his brothers, and one of his sisters. Cancer took another life.

Now nine years later cancer is playing a big roll in my family again. My mother inlaw, a dear and sweet Grandmother to her grandkids, a loving wife, and a great mom is in a hospital room while I type this. This time, (She has had a few operations since Scruffy and I have been married, they had to take a piece of her lung to remove the growths. Cancer is not taking this life today.

Over the years I have watched family and friends die. Cancer is a four letter word to me, and I'd be happy never to hear it again.

WINNER!!!!!!!!!!!

After a long wait in this contest we have a winner. Thank-you to all who entered you made this lots of fun!! Random.org has a resualt. I am not veyr skilled in Blogging, and for the life of me can not figure out how to add buttons and so forth. So I am simply going to tell you what has happened.......I gave you a number according to the order that you commented, if you have more then 1 entry you where issued more then 1 number (In sequence) If you were number 4 but also tweeted you'd be 4 and 5 .

And the winner is..........#3. CONGRATS TO SARAH OVER AT SARAH'S STITCHES!!!!!!!!!!

Breaking 500 GIVEAWAY!!!!!!

So after some thought about what to make (And not being able to decide) I asked a random bunch of "Likers" from my Facebook fan page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Designs-By-Kiva/111978168824026?ref=ts ) What they Liked the most out of my Albums. Suprised to findout that 23 out of the 25 asked liked my new set "Playing Chess" out of my "ON A SILVER WEB...." Album. So as we speak I am now making a matching bracelet, but can share pictures of the neacklace and earrings with you.....

Here's how to enter.

For 1 Entry comment on this post

For 1 Entry tweet about this post

For 2 Entries Blog about the contest and what you can win. leaving a link to your post under comments

For 4 Entries Anyone joining my blog and mentions that you sent them over

For 2 Entries post this blog link on your fan page and let me know that you have done so.

For 1 Entry Hop on over to my Zibbet shop http://www.zibbet.com/DesignsByKiva and tell me which Item is your favorite there

And for one more Entry take a peek at my Etsy shop

http://www.etsy.com/shop/DesignsByKiva and tell me your favorite item there.

Giveaway will run until 24:00 March 31. Winner will be announced on April 1st. Winner will be picked at Random.Org.

Good luck!!!!

From Scraps.....

Don't throw away your scraps!!! They are great for cute and quick patch jobs on you kids pants, pretty hair clips, and if you're up to it Fabric covered buttons. Here are some examples...I have made this hair clip by layering hearts (I started with the very middle heart and placed it on my next piece of fabric to trace and cut the next heart a little bigger), stitching the middle to hold them together and hand stitched onto a hair clip. The layers of the clip make it super cute and fun to wear for kids (And MOM!). The jeans will fray a little so if you are looking for something more polished try felt. Do it up in different colors, that would be AWSOME! For kids quick and cute patch jobs on those knees that need protection....Take your scrap material, find a cookie cutter, or other fun shaped thing you can trace. I like to use the "Wrong Side" of the fabric (The back) for tracing, sometimes wash away pens and pencils aren't so "Wash away". I use fusible webbing to attach the patch to the pants (Follow instructions on the webbing , or ask your fabric store personal if you are needing further assistance). Using embroidery floss, BLANKET STITCH (for hand sewing) around the edges. If you are using a machine, use a LIGHT WEIGHT FUSIBLE WEBBING or the webbing will gum up your sewing machine needle and go around the edges with a ZIGZAG stitch (BLANKET STITCH, you can look it up at youtube, Or if you have a sewing book handle take a peek and see if it has different stitches in it. Youtube is a great source of DIY projects and there is lots of helpful videos for sewing, knitting and crocheting. Trust me it is used often over here!!) The picture of the jeans is as far as I have got, otherwise I would show the finished product...Make sure you choose a shape that will cover ALL that needs covering, and stitch at 1/4" around...Forget to mention that :)

And if you are reading this and have some tips on how to upload buttons and all that stuff could you please leave a comment below, I have some great friends who have AMAZING shops whos buttons I can get, I just don't know how. Thanx.

New Season, New Item, New Thoughts....

With the cold weather (HOPEFULY) behined us, a promise of Spring is around the corner. Time to put down the knitting and finish up projects started, and time to get out the sewing machine. A horrible confession, I am using my Mother inlaws machine, I do not own my own (Hope to fix that soon!). One project is done, I made a purse out of an old pair of jeans (Well a pair I bought at a yardsale for .50c) . Today I will be working on my youngest daughters pillowcase dress. get it done today? Maybe, but if it's nice out, probly not. Hope you have a great day and I will keep you posted how the sewing is going! A promise to myself is that I am going to keep up with my blog and the crafts I am doing. I don't know how to add buttons (Trust me I've tried) I don'tknow how to add music, or do anything fancy, but I can type and if you can read then we'll be set. In the meantime, here is a picture of my spring time "Groovy" upcyled purse, the belt was given to me by my Mother Inlaw who got it with some shorts she bought, but didn't like the belt, so I put it to use on my purse and think it looks great! LOVE IT, will be using it as of NOW! LOL, And Now I somehow managed to get 2 of the same picture whil trying to move it. Ah well.

WHO WIL WIN.....

Allright here we go!! As od recent I have opened up a new page on Face Book, Where's Your Touque Eh. As a "Lets get this party started" I have decided to giveaway a free cap rndomly picked from the list of Likers. 42 of you have joined! I'm so happy you are here and I am happy to make you a cap :)....heading over to Random.org.....Lets save and see if the widget worked ;)

My Eagles!