In my mind this post is potentially long, we will see what happens in reality:) I am going to rant and rave a bit, and show some fun photos. I try to keep the blog a happy place, but some things just need to be written.

I think I will start with the ranting and end on happier thoughts.

Another reason I hate word press, is the endless amount of spam comments, I get about 60-100 a day. I have also accidentally marked real comments as spam as they were in the middle of the million spam comments with no way to get them back. SO annoying.

I sent out a custom order today, and did not photograph it before I mailed it . UGGG You will have to use your imagination. My client ordered two vintage quilt wreaths for her double front doors, and she requested red bows. They turned out really cute. You can click here to see the vintage quilt wreaths I have in the shoppe.

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This is the part that may get long. About two weeks ago Gabby came home with a opt out permission slip for a survey they would be taking in Health class. The permission slip said there may be questions about sex, drug and alcohol use. So, we decided she did not need to be exposed to these types of questions and opted out. We have talked about sex and answered her questions, she is aware there are drugs out there and she is aware of alcohol as we partake.

Last Friday night she informed me that her teacher forced her to take the survey. WHATTTTT?? She said the teacher told her she turned in the permission slip to late. As far as I am concerned up to30 seconds before is not too late. She also raised her hand and said her parents did not want her to take it and the teacher stuck her hand out and basically said too bad.

To say the least, Chad and I are furious. On Monday Chad wrote a letter to the superintendent of schools MO GREEN. I am going to go off on a tanget for a moment. Mo Green is new as the superintendent this year, and he started a campaign “Mo wants to Know”. He asked to community to email and ask questions or state problems and he would address them. The beginning of October I wrote him an email because I found out that he thought he would cancel all holidays in the schools. The kids only get a spring and a winter party. NO HALLOWEEN, Christmas, VALENTINES day, St. Patricks you get the point. I am so upset, who doesn’t remember making/buying valentine cards and passing them out to your classmates. I guess I understand not celebrating Christmas since we have to be politically correct. The point being he never wrote me back and Chad never heard back from him.

Chad then wrote the principal of Gabs school an email. He has been emailing back and forth for most of the week. The principal talked to Gabby and the teacher. The principal has apologized numerous times, but this does not change the fact that our daughter was exposed to unnecessary information and the fact that we her parents we treated as if the teacher has more say then we the parents do. Chad got a copy of the survey sent home with Gabby.

Here are some of the questions my 11year old and other 6th graders were exposed to.

Have you ever seriously thought about killing yourself?

Have you ever made a plan about how you would kill yourself?

Have you ever tried to kill yourself?

Have you ever tried cigarette smoking, even one or two puffs?

Have you ever had a drink of alcohol?

Have you ever used marijuana?

How old were you when you tried marijuana for the first time?

Have you ever used any form of cocaine, including powder, crack, freebase? OMG-

Have you ever sniffed glue, or breathed the contents of spray cans, or inhaled any paints? Introducing a behavior she new nothing about.

Have you ever had sexual intercourse?

How old were you when you had sexual intercourse for the first time?

With how many people have you ever had sexual intercourse with? ( Making it seem ok to have multiple partners.)

Have you ever vomited or taken laxatives to lose weight or keep from gaining weight? ( Once again introducing behaviors she knows nothing about)

Here is one of the responses Chad received, Bureaucracy at its finest:

Mr. Smith,

Regarding the question about the Youth Risk Behavior Survey:

The Youth Risk Behavior Survey was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is administered approximately every two years by the State Department of Public Instruction in school districts across the state of North Carolina. This survey is also used in other states across the United States. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey was administered to all the middle and high schools in 2003. The School Health Advisory Council recommended to the Superintendent and Board of Education that the survey be administered again locally to all middle and high schools. The Moses Cone-Wesley Long Community Health Foundation provided funding for the survey via the Guilford Education Alliance which is overseeing the project. The data that is obtained from the administration of the survey is used by various community agencies/organizations and school system staff when developing and updating programs. Thanks.

There is so much more to be said on this topic, but this post is way too long all ready! Chad is thinking about writing an editorial to the local paper. This incident will be notated in the teachers file. BIG DEAL!

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On to other happier topics.

Autumn is done here, there are only a few leaves left on the trees. We have officially moved on to winter with temps in the 20’s-30′W. we woke up this morning to snow. Not a lot, but enough to delay the start of school for two hours. I took a photo of the front yard before it all melted.

May not be too exciting to a lot of people who have lived or live where it snows. But for me the CA girl it is neeto. The girls were outside in it this am,they are hoping for a real snow so they can sled down our hill.

I made this quilt. It turned out fine, not exactly how I wanted. Last year I saw a quilt just like this but cuter on Sarah’s blog, I loved it and knew I needed to make one. I love the colors she used. I used what I had laying around.

I just added some vintage flinch cards to the shoppe. They are a bit different than the ones that are all ready there. You can find them in the emphemera category.

Another new item in the shoppe, vintage bingo cards- 10 pack. Check the ephemera category.

Off to knit and relax.

I have been sewing, sewing, sewing.  Everyday, I spend a at least three hours sewing.  In the evenings while we watch TV I cut out projects or knit.  I also added a ton of things to the Shoppe, some sewn some vintage. I have also been busy matching up partners for the Vintage Pink Christmas Swap.  If you are participating, I hope to get your partners info to you tomorrow!

Remember a couple of days ago I said MCcoy, here it is.  I picked it up at the estate sale I went to last Saturday.  It is in the Shoppe in the China cupboard.

New Ephemera packet. Be My Baby

Here are some of the reusable market bags I have made.  They are also now in the Shoppe.

Fun vintage pin, now in the Shoppe.

Fun bangles.

Pretty vintage Holly pin.  I entered a ton of other jewelry, so check it out.

Ok, had to show you this one, isn’t it pretty.

I will be posting all the fun sewing projects in the next few days.

XOXO Jen

I will start by saying this post is super long and there are a TON of photos, sorry.  I have been busy making things, and I wanted to share.  I have also added a bunch of new things to the Shoppe, which you will see in this post as well.  I told Chad the other night, ” even if I could craft and sew all day every day, I will never in my lifetime finish all the projects I want to do.”  But I’m sure going to try!!!

I finally finished this quilt I started last year. You can read the original post here.  I started out making this quilt for Graham, but Gabby being the dog lover she is begged for it.  I have since started cutting out a vintage cowboy quilt and Gwen and I are debating weather hers will be cute owls(me) or kitty’s (her), We shall see what happens and if it takes me a year for each one, yikes.

This is the quilt all folded up into itself.  It is called a quillow.

Vintage Story Book Pillow.

One of Chad’s co-workers special ordered this pillow. I love how it turned out.

I made these darling pumpkins a little over a week ago. Just got around to photographing them. I found the pattern here. They were super quick and easy to make. The part that took the longest was hand stitching the stem, worth it though. I also found the knitted snake pattern from this post, you can go here if you want the pattern.

I made this yesterday. It is a vintage quilt wreath. You can hang it for Christmas if you are not into traditional decor(like me)or year round. The fabric is mostly vintage feed sac from what I can tell. When I bought the quilt pieces, they were just that. They were cut and sewed into half moon shapes. I knew when I bought them, that I would not be making a quilt with them( too much work). So I was glad to finally figure out something to do with them. I have a few more in varying stages of completion. They will be in the Shoppe later this week.

A Vintage Rose

You can read the original post about this necklace and the next necklace here. They are now in the Shoppe.

“Pretty In Pink”

You can also find all of these vintage pins in the Shoppe in the Jewelry & Baubles category.

Perfect for the Holidays.

Add some sparkle to your life.

A couple of these started life as earrings, and somewhere along the way lost their mate. I altered them and now they are pretty pins.

This is perfect for your vintage kitchen. You can find it in the Shoppe in the Linen closet.

A Halloween bauble

- Skeleton-

This necklace was fun to make, I used a vintage dictionary page for the charm and added a vintage Skeleton key.

In the Shoppe just in time for Halloween.

After months of talking about it, I finally got around to making Ephemera packets. I had so much fun putting these together. I can’t wait to make more.

“Spooky” Halloween Packet. Each of these packets are full of vintage goodies, you can find a complete list of the contents in the Shoppe under the Ephemera category. There are only one of each available.

Close up view of this Spooky packet.

Here is a view of the back of this Spooky packet. Check the shoppe for a complete list of the contents.

Very Vintage Christmas Packet.

Close up view.

A view of the back of the Very Vintage Christmas packet.

Close up view of the back.

This is the “Vision of Loveliness Packet”

Close up view. For a list of the contents, visit the Shoppe.

This is the back of the “Vision in loveliness” Packet.

This is the Sweet Sepia packet. It is filled with all kinds of lovely vintage items in many tones of sepia.

Close up view. You can find a list of everything that is included, in the Shoppe.

This is the back of the Sweet Sepia packet.

If you there is something that I have made and you love it, I would love to make one special order for you. Just drop me an email.

Phew, you finally reached the end. Sorry for the length of this post, I have been a busy beaver and wanted to share. Off to bed.

XOXO Jen