Ü Thrift Store and Etsy Gifts Ü

My sweetie Mom has been spoiling me *Ü*.
As I came home from soul-winning Saturday,
Mom surprised me with a package!!
She had bought me a nice suit dress!! (picture below)
(I looove ladies suit dresses and have been wanting to get one!)
Then we went thrift storing yesterday and I had picked out
2 shirts and a skirt I liked...
and she purchased them for me!!
She also bought me a pair of dress shoes that
I've been wanting to get some day!

Here are some pics of the newly bought clothes...

The ladies suit and matching shirt she picked.
I'm, also, wearing the dress shoes she bought =)



A white blouse and skirt I picked from thrift store.


Thanks for all the stuff!
What a sweetie you are, Mom!!

Finished school, picking strawberries, dress details, & my first bloom!

Busy, busy, busy!
That's why I haven't been very consistent with posting.
But now that I'm finished with 11th grade (!!!!),
the busyness should die down some.
(Although I do hope to start 12th in a month or so!)

Earlier this week, we went strawberry picking.
The weather was beautiful and we had a great time...


My friend and I

Beth and Carolynne

Will

Me

Afterwards we went to our friends' house to jam it.
Well, actually just the moms jammed.
My friend and I were exhausted and decided to rest

and then we sang a while later.
The jam turned out really good...



I was also very excited this week to have my first blossom.
I've never been able to grow things before,
but back in November I decided to try my hand at day lilies

(at least I'm pretty sure they're day lilies).
I've been taking care of them every day since,
and on Wednesday I saw my first bloom!
I was so happy the Lord blessed me with my 1st flower!

It was so pretty and smelled good too!
I'm glad to say that today I found 2 more
and lots more are about to bloom!

Recently, I was asked in a comment

about what dress pattern I use.
I make most of my dresses the same,
using the 'Women's square neck dress'
from Common Sense patterns. It's pattern 416E.
I adjust the neckline and the sleeves to my liking.
Also, I do not use the skirt pattern it gives.
I like my skirts really full! (Mine have a 12 foot hem!)
So I use the 6 panel medieval skirt pattern from NEWLOOK.
It's pattern 6614.
I slightly adjust the top of the skirt to make it wider
for more gathering to my bodice

and I also add on 4 inches in length.
Here's another sample of the dress.
My friend and I just recently made ourselves matching ones...

Well, I hope you all have a great weekend!
I plan to post again soon!


"Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation:

the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."

Matthew 26:41

A Weekend Review...

Busy, busy, busy!
There are so many times I want to post,
but I always find something else I need to do.
This week was especially busy with Thanksgiving.
I thought I'd share at least 10 things I'm very thankful for...

1. The wonderful gift of salvation!!!
2. A great family and church friends.
3. The privilege of audience with the King of Kings.
4. The freedom to worship the Lord and to homeschool.
5. The strength Christ gives me to face the battles.
6. The victory He gives in those battles.
7. The trials He has given me to grow me.
8. The grand piano He's giving us in church!
9. The ability to play various musical instruments.
10. Jesus' sweet fellowship,
always being there to hold my hand,
and His faithfulness of never letting go or failing me.


Wednesday evening we had a fellowship
after the church service and giving testimonies.
I made a cake for the occaision...



I also brought along my guitar and violin,
so after the service I played
while the children gathered around to sing...



I, also, played the violin while the men were moving the piano out
for the new grand piano that I mentioned we're getting!

Thursday we had a family Thanksgiving dinner...



We had ham, mashed potatoes, oreo fluff, and various other goodies.
Then afterwards, we set up the Christmas tree.
This, being a major bird lover, is my favorite ornament!



Yesterday I sewed my Christmas dress for our family photos.
Mom made hers and is now working on the girls' as I type...



Today we had some old friends visit, which was a blessing.
I decided to give myself the day off from schoolwork
Thursday and Friday, so I'll probably catch up some today.
I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Appointments, Baking, Chemistry, Dress, and Everything Fun!

Well, as you can, likely, tell by the title,
I've been very busy lately!
Yesterday we went over to our friends' house
and Stephani and I did our science experiments.
She's doing Apologia's General Science
and did the experiment with baking soda,
vinegar, a 2 liter bottle and balloon.
And I did an experiment with my elements!
I used the sodium ferrocyanide,
colbat chloride, ferric ammonium sulfate,
sodium carbonate, and something else I can't remember!
Anyway, LOTS of different colors! It was really neat!
(We didn't really get any good pictures)



Then we came home and I sewed a dress...



I used the Renaissance dress pattern's skirt
with my regular pattern's bodice, to make the skirt much fuller.
Mom has a matching one too.

We also had one of those ‘fun nights with the camera’!
Be prepared… ;o)











LOL!!!

And when I was blowing the leaves Saturday,
(I'm still out of breath from it! LOL)
I came across a cute little guy…



Remember!
‘The 15 minutes it takes you to read this post,
you could save 15% on car insurance!’
LOL!




Today I worked on some schoolwork and
we just arrived home a little while ago from shopping.
We bought LOTS of fabric and
will be busy with sewing for a while!
We also picked up something to take to a fellowship
after church tomorrow night.
I'll be baking lemon bars tonight, too! Mmmm!

Tomorrow I have a doctor appointment an hour away.
It's worth the drive for us, though,
because we get to eat at a favorite place while there!

I thought I’d share something that we got in the mail
(junk mail) for a coupon to eat at Arby’s…
The ad was kinda funny...





ROFLOL!

I hope everyone's week is going great so far.


"Who is like unto the LORD our God,
who dwelleth on high,
Who humbleth himself to behold
the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!"
Psalms 113:5&6

"How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God!
how great is the sum of them!"
Psalms 139:17

A Finished Dress and Violin Progress...

I purchased a pattern a while ago
because it was 'medieval looking',
so, of course, I LOVED it!
The pattern is 'NEW LOOK #6614',
if anyone's interested.
I had to adjust it a LOT!
It took me a while to finish because the bodice
has 10 panels and I lined the whole dress!
Mom declared that she wouldn't be helping me,
so I could practice figuring out a pattern on my own,
and I did just that... all on my own!
I was so excited!
(She was willing to do the invisible zipper in the back, though,
because I didn't want to risk messing it up!
Thanks, mom!)
I finally finished it Friday
and thought I'd share...



It took me forever to decide on fabric.
Mom pointed it out and I wondered,
'Is this ugly?'
But I ended up liking it.
I have no idea what color it is!
Purple? Grayish?
Any ideas?

Anyway, our friends came over Friday
and we had a great time!
We did some duets on the piano and violin...



Her and I are teaching ourselves how
to play the violin.
I started my lessons 2 weeks ago, so I'm a little ahead,
but I'm sure she'll catch up fast!
We took our violins to church last night
and I tuned hers and played some songs.
It was fun!
I thought I'd share some videos
of 3 of my favorite songs to play so far...
(you can stop my blog's background music in the sidebar)

This is called 'Country Gardens'
(Please note I just started learning,
so there are some mistakes:)






This is 'Can Can'...





This one is really fun to play!
It's called 'Fanfare Minuet':



I also really like playing 'Dixie',
even though I'm a born yankee ;)


Oh! The Lord is so wonderful!
I read today in my quiet time:
"The LORD is good,
a strong hold in the day of trouble;
and he knoweth them that trust in him." (italics mine)
Nahum 1:7
He's really been speaking to me lately
about faith and trusting in Him.
As Louisa M. R. Stead finely puts it,

"'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
Just to know "Thus saith the Lord.

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I've proved Him oer and oer!
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more!"

He is so good to us!
To God be the glory,
great things He has done!

I hope everyone's having a great week so far!

A Ribboned Dress...

Last night we purchaed and washed some fabric
that I've been wanting for a while.
This morning I set my alarm for 7:30,
and put it across the room so I'd have to
get up in order to turn it off,
(a tip I've learned from a friend:)
but somehow I was in too deep of a sleep to hear it.
So I awoke at 8:45 and started cutting out my dress at 9.
I just finished it a few minutes ago and thought I'd share.



It was the first dress I added ribbon to...


I added the ribbon to the sleeves, the bottom hem,
and used it as my tie.
I, also, finally added pockets to one of my dresses!
Mom always sews pockets in hers and tries to convince me
that they're worth the extra work... so I tried it.
They are pretty handy!
I'm glad I was able to finish it so I could
wear it to church tomorrow.
Mom also worked at tracing a pattern
and cutting a dress for herself.

Tonight and tomorrow we're supposed to
be getting the effects of a 'sub-tropical storm'
in the Atlantic Ocean. We sure could use the rain.
Well, turkey is for supper and I'm hungry!
Have a blessed Lord's Day tomorrow.

Sewing, Schoolwork, and Doctor Appointments...

I apologize that I haven't posted in a while.
I've been very busy lately and haven't found much time
to spend at the computer.
Our summer is flying by!

What have I been up to?
Last Friday, I started cutting out fabric
for matching dresses for my friends and I.
I sewed the bodices that evening.
Then Saturday, at around 6:00 pm, I finished all 3 dresses!
I was so glad I finished them so that we could wear them Sunday!



We've now made them our 'Friday dreses' because we
get together for pizza every Friday.
(So guess what I'm wearing right now... ;o)

I've also been extremely busy with trying
to finish up my schoolwork.
I've been keeping to my schedule,
so I should be done by the end of next week!
I hope to start up my second-to-last
schoolyear near the end of August.

Yesterday was a long day, too.
We had to drive 3 hours away for my MRI.
We arrived early to avoid rush hour,
so I played the piano in the hospital for about 30 minutes
while the children played around.





Then we headed off to check in.
I don't know why, but one of my favorite parts
of doctor appointments is filling out the paperwork!



I'm not so fond of the loud and tight-spaced MRIs, though,
but this one was quite enjoyable for a weird reason...

I must confess that I do like needles. I know... it's weird.
But I love getting my bloodwork done, IVs, etc...
And guess what I got with this MRI?
An IV!!!!!
Oh yes, the staff thought I was strange,
but I loved having the IV. ;o)

After an almost 2 hour MRI, the IV had to come out. :(
As I was trying to snooze in the noisy MRI tunnel,
Mom and the children were exploring the big hospital.
And when I was finished,
they showed me something that made my day.



A BABY!!!!
How sweet of the Lord!
He knows they are my absolute favorites.
We had one at our church we moved away from,
and I've missed it ever since. :(
Of course, I couldn't play too much
because of the IV that had been in my arm...
but I did play one song!!!

Well, that's what I've been up to.
I plan on posting Monday, so have a great weekend.

Sewing and Keeping Busy...

Last Friday, I found time to sew

while our friends were visiting

(as they do most Fridays) .

Here is the finished dress...



Mom and I had a great time sewing together,
as we always do.

Also, today, I finished sewing my brother's curtains.

They are camoflauge.
Here they are...

Also, I've worked out a schedule to get my schoolwork
finished by the end of July/ beginning of August!!
Then, hopefully, I can start my new year sometime next month.
Hope you all have a great week!

Scheduling, Schooling, & Sewing... Phew!

It's been a few days since I last posted

but now I have something to post about. *Ü*

I've been pretty busy lately trying to schedule myself

and finish up my education for this year.

And today I found time to do that and sew, too!!!

We bought some really nice fabric a while back

and I decided to use it today.

I was busy around 11 and just finished an hour ago.

I thought I'd share...

I ran into a problem, though.

I retraced the pattern beforehand,

adjusting it where needed...

after cutting, sewing, and all of that other fun stuff,

I was excited to try it on and discovered

that I made it A LOT larger

than what it was supposed to be :(

So I used an additional 45 minutes fixing it.

ugh! phew!

I also had to get out the seamripper twice!

But I am glad I'm finished!

I'm also working on a crochet project (an afghan)

but will wait a little while before I post a photo :)

Well, at least until I can figure out

the confusing-to-me instructions

of attaching the green to the rose.

Oops, I slightly spilled the beans!

Well, I'll be going.

Good night!

Finished Project and Answered Prayer!

Lately, I've noticed how I need some new dresses.

So I was going through Mom's fabric collection

(which occupies drawers of a few dressers)

and I found some fabric I really liked.

So I started on my third homemade dress and finished it today.

I just wanted to share some photos...

Here I am pinning to cut.

Notice the thing on my right arm?

It's a pincushin bracelet.

We found it at a Hancock's Fabric store and it's really convienient!

Here I was doing some of the sewing
and today, I finally finished it...

I lengthened it and adjusted it here and there.
I’m glad I was able to finish it so that
I could wear it tomorrow to church.
Mom also is working on a dress for herself,
so it was really nice getting out both sewing machines
and having a mother and daughter sewing time!

Also, I have news…
I’ve been feeling quite "abnormal" today and yesterday…
but in a good way!
I actually feel good! Not bad, or just OK… GOOD!
Wow! It feels great to feel so good!
I haven’t felt this well in about 5 months!
Thank you all for your prayers!
I’m so happy to see the Lord’s healing me!
In fact, I’ve felt great enough to play the piano,
sing, sew, and, yes, CLEAN!!!!
I even jumped on the trampoline this morning,
a little, with my brother!
Oh, praise the Lord, I hope and pray this continues getting better!

I hope y'all have a great weekend!