I'm back! After a long break, I have finally returned! Ever heard of Murphey's Law? Or the term, when it rains, it pours?

 

Yep, that's been my life these past few weeks. It all started with my camera. I almost always have my camera with me. After a trip to King's Island, where I took loads of pictures, I couldn't find my camera. The card in my camera contained several of my projects I had planned on posting.

 

I always tell my daughter that if she loses something, it's probably time to clean her room. I took my own advice and not only cleaned my room as normal, but decided to clean under my bed. I found the camera under my bed...in my shoe...turned upside down. I did a little victory dance then and there.

 

Since my camera incident, it seems like bad news has been coming in droves to the DeWitt family!

Please keep my husband in your prayers. He was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis two weeks ago. He was also informed he would need surgery on both of his feet to correct the problems he is having with his knees and hips.

 

Now we're battling insurance for the surgery pre-auth. Of course, with health in."

Insurance, we get ten different answers from ten different people.

"We don't cover podiatry

"We don't cover surgeries of any kind."

"Oh, you are in open enrollment, and can switch insurance plans."

"Your open enrollment isn't until July."

"My bad, I see where you checked (certain plan) on your application, but you were put on another plan. Sorry, can't change it now."

"Yes, may be covered, if medically necessary if coded right and not done by your doctor."

"We'll call you back in a week to let you know."

 

With this frustration, and spotting a couple of fleas on my two tiny morkie dogs, studying for classes and writing curriculum for our children's ministry, I obviously have not had much time for new projects.

 

I did make a small exception for my daughter's Paris-themed 12th birthday.

I bought some plain martini glasses from Goodwill for 99 cents each. I also found this glass thingamabobs for 49 cents each. I'm not sure what it was supposed to be. It almost looks like a Christmas bulb, but it's slightly wider and has two random leaves on the side. But when I saw them, I thought a placecard would fit perfectly behind the leaves.

For each girl attending, I cut their initials on my Cricut Expression. I cut them adhesive backed paper and pressed them onto the glass. I began using Mod Podge over the letter and around the cup before adding the glitter, but I found that a good can of spray adhesive worked much better. After we sprinkled on the glitter, I removed the paper initials.

 I had my husband spray them with a little clearcoat to keep the glitter in place. I filled the dip in the glass with M&Ms and Skittles, and placed a cupcake on top.

We also glittered up the ornament thingamabob and made placecards for each girl. A napkin, spoon (for the yummy ice cream) and straw was placed into our ornamental whatchamacallit thing.

 

The cupcake toppers were made by cutting the Eiffel Tower from the Cricut onto adhesive backed paper. I cut a cupcake wrapper and sandwiched a toothpick between the Tower and the cupcake wrapper.
 

I threw some fabric onto the table and pinned it up with a hairband/pin flower.



Girls Night In

My beautiful birthday girl.

Ciao!

     In the senior adult School of Discipleship, that my husband and I teach, we've been working our way through the book of Genesis. I've gained so much knowledge from our study, but if you know me, you know that I can't just learn the normal stuff. I have to find something weird or funny.
     Throughout our study we've been focusing on the family of Abraham. I've realized that if you follow his family, you come to an interesting realization. Abraham's family were the first known drama queens in the Bible. Think about it. If there were a reality show back then, his family would be like the Kardashians or some other reality show, of their time. Overdramatic, jumping the gun and lying to each other and those around them...
Abraham- God gives him a promise of a son, (before his name change) and instead of waiting, he tries to go his own route. (16:1) When he and his wife are in another land, he tells them Sarah is his sister instead of his wife out of fear. (20:12)
Isaac- (Abraham's son who eventually was born to Abraham and Sarah) Also lied about his wife, calling her his sister out of fear for their safety. (26:7)
Rebekah, Jacob and Esau- (Isaac's wife and children) Esau proclaims to Jacob, “Look, I am about to die. What good is the birthright to me?” Rebekah then helps Jacob deceive his own father. Esau later marries someone his parents do not approve of, out of rebellion.
Rebekah speaks of her son, Jacob, If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.” (27:46)
Jacob is then deceived by his uncle and given the wrong bride, (Leah) after working for her for seven years. He has to work 7 more years for his beloved Rachel. (29:15-28)
Rachel and Leah- Begin the competition of childbearing. Rachel pleads with Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!” (30:1)
     Drama, drama, drama! And you thought your Facebook friends were drama queens!
     I actually love this family. They truly show their imperfection, just like me. They go through cycles of extreme faith, and extreme lack thereof, just like me. But God still fulfills promises made to them, over and over.
     For some reason, that is what has spoken to me the most through this series. We all go through our highs, lows and the place in-between. Some days we trust God in every situation, and other times we can barely remember His name. But through all this, God is still faithful!
     Take heart. If this family could have such a special place in God's eyes, then so do you! I hope this brings encouragement to you today!

On with a flourish...
I've been trying my hand at sewing. (I have virtually no experience, and it's all new to me.) I saw a simple shirt on Pinterest, and thought, why not?

Before I began, I made a French ruler. I had never heard of this before, so I'm not even sure if I've done it right. But I cut mine out of cardboard in almost the shape of half of a heart.
Tracing around the ruler with a pen for my cut marks...
I measured from the widest part of the ruler the same amount of inches from my underarm, across the bustline to the other underarm. (I think it was about 22-24 inches) Make sure you leave your seam allowance.

I flipped my ruler over and cut the other side to get the shirt in the right shape. I then used this as a pattern to cut the second piece to make the back of the shirt.








                                                                                      

I measured a half inch hemline at the top and bottom of both pieces, and sewed this down, cutting off any overhang at the angles.

Both sides of the shirt were placed back to back, wrong sides out, and pinned into place. I kept the top in a straight line, measuring out the hole for my head, and just sewed each of the sides to that point.



 Of course, I hemmed the sleeves as well. I love the sort of bell shape they make!

 

Why, yes I am taking a picture of myself in my bathroom!

Checking the pose in the camera in front of a mirror. Redundant, huh? Ha-ha!

Ciao!