Heirloom Project

I am a sentimental person and like to keep all things that have sentimental value. Recently I heard an idea that has in turn given me some ideas for quilts I would eventually like to make. One of them involves saving all the Little League (or whatever) uniform shirts while your child is young. By the time they reach college, the shirt fronts with the team name and logo, and the shirt backs with their individual number can be used for squares on the front and back of a quilt. The border fabric could be a print fabric with baseballs, basketballs, or whatever is appropriate to match the squares.

Another similar idea is using fabric scraps either from sewing projects that involved special events for the child or from actual outfits worn by the child during special events such as a school play, a Halloween costume, a wedding they were in, or any other special occasion. It could even be a favorite outfit that would bring back memories of special events. I have an abundance of ideas in this same vein such as vacations, etc. I can't wait to have time to do use some of these ideas in quilts myself.

At this moment, I need to read my Server Migration assignment.

Bobbin Organizer

I don't know about you, but I have tried numerous ways to keep my bobbins organized over the years and have yet to find the perfect method. Here are a couple of ideas for you to think about.


Clover offers the Stack 'N Store Bobbin Tower, a freestanding bobbin keeper. I like the fact that each stand holds 30 bobbins, and the towers can be stacked on top of each other for even more bobbin storage. Individual bobbins are easily snapped in and out of the tower, and thread colors are clearly visible. Although this is not an inexpensive choice, it is the closest I have come to the perfect product for bobbin storage.



A less expensive choice is Bobbin Wraps. This is one of those products that you look at and think, "Why did't come up with this idea?" It really does tame those stray threads. Additionally, since my sewing machine utilizes a clear plastic bobbin, I am able to see the thread color through the top of the bobbin. However, if your machine uses a metal bobbin with a limited ability to see through to the thread color, this is probably not your best choice as it covers too much of the thread color. Bottom line: This product is inexpensive and keeps stray threads securely locked into place.

Holiday Buying Guide

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Dirt Devil. All opinions are 100% mine.

My favorite thing about Christmas is seeing the excitement on everybody when they open their gifts. Normally I wrap my gifts beautifully with lots of ribbons and trimmings. Besides having fun wrapping them, I want my gifts to stand out among other people’s gifts.

As for the content, I don’t think I want to give something handmade. The main reason is because I don’t think I can find time to make it. Also, not everybody appreciate handmade items. They though that if I make something from scrap, it is because I want to save money. They don’t know how much time and efforts that goes to handmade items.

I try to organize myself early on in this incoming Christmas. I made a list of things to buy as gifts for my family and I tried to find good bargain online.

I just found out last night that Dirt Devil published holiday buying guide. It lists over 300 websites, tricks, and celver ways to save when you shop online. For example, if you want free shipping, you just browse the links that the buying guide lists under free shipping. The buying guide also lists a bunch of link to website that provides coupons. So, before buying anything make sure you check these website, sometimes you find coupon that will save you even more.

I found it interesting that this buying guide also includes the links to handmade items. They list out etsy, but I can’t find artfire there. Probably it’s because artfire is new.

Anyway, I found this buying guide useful because I can find so many tricks and tips to find good deal, not to mention the “Dirt Devil” good deal itself. How can I resist a good deal like “A hand and stick vacuum in one” for only USD 29.99,- ?

Quilt Festival

The Palm Beach County Convention Center will be host to the first World Quilt Show on Nov. 13-15, 2009. The event will be host to the 2009 Grand Finale of the World Quilt Competition XIII. This international quilt contest draws entries from across the globe. Last year's 2008 competition displayed quilts from 10 countries spanning Europe, Africa, Asia, North and South America, and including Australia and New Zealand. It is the largest and most comprehensive showing of international quilts in the United States.

Hearts & Garlands by Liz Jones was the 2008 Best of World quilt in the World Quilt Competition.

Valley View by Pamela Druhen won third prize in the Innovative category in the 2008 World Quilt Competition

Scottish Dance by Linda Steele won third prize in the Traditional category in the 2008 World Quilt Competition.


The show will also present a Florida statewide prize-money competition. Entrants are required to be residents of the state of Florida. This, along with many other special exhibitions, is sure to create a spark of excitement with enough "eye candy" to satisfy any quilt-loving enthusiast in attendance. The festival will also boast a Merchants Mall with a lineup of nationally known vendors offering everything imaginable for quilters, wearable artists and home sewers. If you are in the Palm Beach area on these dates, swing by to see some beautiful quilts and buy a few yards of fabric to add to your growing collection. Go to QuiltFest.com to check out other locations of shows around the country.

Cooking

My husband likes to watch cooking show. Sometimes if the recipe is easy and the result looks good he would try to cook it. I can't cook and don't like to cook but I like to eat. So, it's nice to have someone to cook for me. Probably I should ask him to learn to cook at one of the culinary schools such as Northwest Culinary Institute. This school is a Division of International Air and Hospitality Academy. International Air and Hospitality Academy's main campus and corporate headquarters are located in Vancouver, Washington, just 12 minutes from Portland International Airport. This 15,000 square-foot facility accommodates up to 20 new students per quarter. For more information, visit: www.nwculinary.com.

Crocheted Necklace

Crochet isn't just for clothing or housewares. Some of the trendiest jewelry today is made from thread and beads. Even if you've never tried threadwork or beadwork before, this amazing beaded and crocheted necklace will probably be within your skill comfort level. Beads are threaded onto a double strand of thread, so it's fairly quick work too. It would make a wonderful gift for any girlfriend on your list, but be sure to make one for yourself too!

Need Better Vision

Embroidery has been around for a very long time. As long as people have sewn clothing, they have decorated it with stitching. Embroidery began in the Middle East and the Orient. I love to to embroidery, I just don't like the time it takes to do a project... or the vision to do it. When I was younger I used to be able to spend hours to do it without tiring my eyes, but not now. That is why nowadays I prefer knitting or crocheting. I can do it without looking.

Speaking of better vision, do you know that you can win $5,000 grand prize from Abbott Medical Optics Inc. (AMO) just by making video showing the impact of improved vision? If not, then hurry since the contest is still open for more entries. You can choose one from three selected theme:
1. My contacts are getting in the way of my good time
2. My favorite sport or activity would be so much cooler with better vision
3. You should see life after the iLASIK® Procedure

If I win this iLASIK Video Contest, I will do vision laser correction and nothing can stop me to do my beloved hobby again.

The Prizes
$5,000 Grand Prize
First Prize (one in each video category):
HDTV package — a $2,500 value
Second Prize (one in each video category):
The Flip UltraHD™ camcorder — a $199.99 value

Teaching Your Children to Crochet

One important key to successfully teaching children something new is to make it meaningful to them and have the result be something fun and creative. When teaching kids to crochet, it's generally best to use a smooth acrylic or wool yarn in a medium or bulky weight, and light or bright color, along with a larger-size crochet hook, such as size I, J or K. The lighter color and smooth texture of the yarn make the stitches easier to see, and the larger hook is easier for small hands to grip.

Naturally, learning to crochet starts with the simple chain. As kids get the hang of chaining, it's wonderful seeing them get "hooked" as they beam with pride at their accomplishments. Once kids feel comfortable with their chaining skills using the smooth yarn, you can then introduce them to a few novelty yarns with interesting textures.


What really makes learning to crochet "click" for kids is discovering what fun, cool things they can make -- even with those simple lengths of chain. Thanks to the flexibility of the crocheted chain, it can be used just about anywhere you might use a piece of string or cord.

Kids can turn longer chains into necklaces, which can be embellished with beads, buttons, charms, medals or school awards. Shorter chains are perfect for bracelets, anklets or even rings. Chains can also be made into cute hair decorations or colorful ties for holiday packages. With some cardboard, short chains and a hole punch, kids can make hanging tags to match!



For a personal, one-of-a-kind style, kids can string their shoes with their own unique crocheted chains, made to the same length as the original shoelaces. Colorful chains can also be shaped into pretty flowers and scrapbook embellishments or used to create simple bookmarks. Two or three long chains braided together make a cool-looking belt. The creative possibilities with the simple crocheted chain are virtually endless!


Not only will children enjoy putting their new crochet chaining skills to good use, but they can also help you use up your yarn scraps in the process. What's more, after seeing how much fun they're having with chains, kids will be eager to learn the next step -- single crochet.

Pocket Calendar

As a stay at home mom, I need to have 2 pocket calendars: a basic one (for doctor/dentist appointments, birthday/anniversary, etc) and the other one is lists of things to do.

I need to have a routine and stick to it. Monday and Wednesday are my doing things out of the house, Tuesday is cleaning bathrooms and laundry, Thursday is laundry again and Friday is dusting, mopping. If you like me and like to get organize, get pocket calendars and write things down so you can see what you have to do. They have nice selections and I am sure you can find one or two pocket calendars that you like.

If anyone asks me if we can do something on a certain day, I can look right then and see if we are free to go.

Crocheted Halloween Cozy

I know that the Halloween was over, but this Halloween Cozies are a fun way to dress up party treat cups. After the party's over and the goodies are long gone, these cup cozies can be used to hold all manner of kids' treasures. Make the same cozy patterns in different colors and embellish them in a variety of ways to create other special themes or decorative looks for any time of year.

Yarn in Vietnam

I have been to Vietnam twice and both were for business. I went only to two cities, Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi. Although I went there for business, I managed to do some sightseeing and some shopping as well. If you like handycraft things like me, you would surely fall in love with Vietnam. Along the street you will find small shops that sell handycraft things like smocking dresses, crocheted dresses, embroidery bedsheet, etc. You can even find cheap yarns if you diligent enough to ask around.

Several times, when I was walking in various cities, i would see a woman knitting on the street. They were all right-hand throwers, some knit, some purl, one twisted all her stitches. After asking several people, I found a market which some of the stalls sell yarns. Each of these stalls is about 6-10 feet wide, somewhat deeper, and cheek to jowl up against its neighbor. In this market, there were many stalls that sold yard goods. Interesting to watch. Anyway, the yarn booth had a bunch of yarn, each color packaged tightly in bundles of about ten or so. The light in the market wasn’t bright, so I wasn’t sure at the time if the yarn was good quality. It seems to be good quality.

If you are planning to travel to Vietnam after reading this post (grinning), Accor hotels offers "Accor Hotels 3-Day Super Sale Asia Pacific". Travelers will be able to take advantage of savings when they book on-line between 27 - 30 October 2009. Over one million room nights will be on sale, with rates starting as low as US$30 per night. Stay period Dec 2009 till Apr 2010.

So what are you waiting for, book your hotel now!

Crocheted Christmas Character

It's the little things that make a holiday special. Decorations all around the house make a cheery welcome for guests of all ages. And they don't have to be expensive or time-consuming either. By spending a few evenings with a basketful of yarn scraps, you can create a cast of Christmas characters to make your yuletide season bright. These little ornaments can be used to trim a tree or a wreath, or they would even make a clever gift embellishment that the recipient could use later on his or her own tree. A dozen of these in a Christmas gift basket would make a great gift and become a part of someone else's holiday tradition. For pattern, you can click this.

On Demand

Nowadays, there is always a fight everyday in my household. It is a fight to get a remote control between my daughter and my husband. During the day, normally my daughter can get to see her favorite programs on the Disney channel since I don’t like to watch TV (I prefer to do my sewing project). However, when my husband comes back in the afternoon, he doesn’t like to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einstein or Pocoyo. He will switch the channel to AXN or cooking channel much to my daughter dismay. Probably it is my fault that I resort to entertain my children with TV when I am busy, but who doesn’t?

Recently, I read that if you have Charter digital, you have On Demand and it’s free to access. Charter Communications is an American company providing cable television, high-speed Internet, and telephone services, by the way.

There are over 6,000 movies and shows to watch anytime you want. No waiting, no schedules. Missed one of your favorite shows? There are many of your favorites the day after they air on TV. Free!

Your kids probably don’t understand or have the patience for TV schedules. When they want their Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, they want it right then. With this “On Demand”, they don’t have to wait anymore. You can learn more at charter.net/ondemand or you can get updates and fun extras on Charter’s Facebook page.

Raised-Shells Crochet Bag

If you are a big fan of shell and in the need to change your bag, then probably this Raised-Shells Crochet Bag is a perfect project for you. Made using a basic 5-dc shell with no space at the center, but with an added element to give the shells extra dimension. By working into the back loops only when creating the shells, you get a deeply textured pattern. Were these shells worked in rounds rather than back-and-forth rows, they would be worked in back loops only and then in front loops only on alternate rounds.

There is an interesting development when the raised shell stitch pattern is worked in two or more colors; the color that's the main color on one side becomes the contrasting color on the reverse, due to the projecting and receding pattern rows. So, if you use this pattern to make something like a scarf, for example, you'll end up with a reversible, two-for-one design!

One really cool element to this bag is the rulers that adorn the top edges. What a clever embellishing idea! The rulers not only give the bag a unique, eye-catching look, but they will certainly come in handy for quick measurements while working your projects. Click here for the pattern and enjoy your new bag!

The Power of Internet

Internet is the most important invention ever. Because due to the invention of internet, people are experiencing more advantages than before it’s invention. I learned how to crochet when I was 5 years old. I learned it from my auntie. Sadly, she didn’t know how to knit and I didn’t know anybody that knit. Only 2 years ago, when I was searching for something, I stumbled across somebody’s knitting blog. From there, I found a link to a site where you can learn how to knit.

Barack Obama understood the power of connections on the Internet. In February of 2007, Obama met with Marc Andreessen, Netscape founder and Facebook board member, asking for tips on how to utilize social networking for his campaign. Rather than invent a totally new product, Obama tapped into existing systems. His organizers published thousands of videos on YouTube. Obama and his wife, Michelle, both had personal pages on Facebook which they updated daily, and his staffers created and formed Facebook groups. The campaign created a website for its supporters called mybarackobama.com which utilized familiar tools from other sites such as Linkedin, eVite, Google Maps, and Facebook. Obama embraced existing communities and websites and used them to his advantage.

There’s even a report out called Obamanomics that studies this phenomenon. If you are interested to read more detail about Obamanomics, you can click on the link.

Ruffled Sachets

If you have a lot of leftover thread, here is the perfect project for you. This is a pattern for three beautiful Ruffled Sachets that will make elegant gifts for the special ladies in your life (or for yourself, because you're special, too!).

Combined, all three designs use just one large ball (400 yards) of cream, 50 yards or less each of peach, pink and green, and only 10 yards of yellow. For those who prefer working with yarn, I'm sure with a little bit of trial and error the round and square sachet patterns could be crocheted in light or medium weight yarn to fit ready-made pillow forms for gorgeous sofa or bed accents. Worked in larger-size thread or fine weight yarn, they could even be transformed into beautiful little purses. Whatever your stitching pleasure, I hope you will enjoy making these pretty projects!

Online Shopping

I find internet is the most wonderful tool to find things. Not only you can find any information online, but nowadays we can buy almost anything from the comfort of our home. With internet you will often have access to options that you never knew existed. You will also have many more choices and can often find a better deal on items online than in a brick and mortar store. One of examples that are advantageous to buy online is buying car parts. With the ability to search millions of websites and many different stores, you may be much more likely to find the right part for even the most obscure type of vehicle online than in the offline world. You may also find a better price at the same time. Visit the link and you can shop with confidence and get free shipping.

Finding The Time

I always finding time to knit or crochet, or sometimes do some small patchwork project. I always bringing my project along, so when I have to wait for something, I can take out my project and do it. There is always people that curious and ask me what I am doing. After I explain to them, normally they comment that they don’t have the time to do it. Most of the times I just smile and let it go, as I don’t really want to waste my breath to argue with them. It’s not the time that they lack, it is the interest. People have different interest or hobby. When you have the interest, you can always find the time.

Speaking of hobby, for you who like to play games, there is a new game called heroes of newerth. Heroes of Newerth is a new DOTA-clone game which is currently in beta.

Charm Pack

Charm packs and other precut fabrics are a great addition to a quilter's stash. Charm packs include a varying number of squares from 30 to 42. The price reflects the number of squares in the pack. Each square is 5 inches square and no square is repeated in a pack. A charm quilt is one that is made without using one fabric more than once. This type of purchased pack can help you if you want to make a charm quilt. The squares may be subcut into small squares, rectangles, triangles or other shapes you might be using in your design

Motorcycle

When I was only a small girl, my parents didn’t have a car yet. We went everywhere using a motorcycle. Even after my brother was born, we were still using a motorcycle. Actually, it’s very dangerous to ride motorcycle with 2 children, to make it even worst, we were all not using any helmet. We finally managed to buy used car when my brother was 2 years old.

Speaking of motorcycle, if you are looking for harley davidson accessories, try to look at CruiserCustomizing.com. Over 30,000 different motorcycle parts and accessories to fully customize your ride. They also sell branded motorcycle accessories like Cruisers, Harleys, Sport Bikes, & Goldwings up to 60% off.

Summer Time

What do you like to do during summer? I like to read book and doing nothing except when I get up to fix some orange juice. Sometimes I also like to do some mindless knitting or crocheting using cotton yarn. I don’t like to overheat my brain with knitting to crocheting something complicated. Of course my children have another idea. They prefer to run around or ride their bike. Too bad that my house is far away from the beach, otherwise I don’t mind to get one of those beach bike (complete with beach cruiser accessories) and accompany my children to ride a bike.

So, what do you like to do during summer?

Temptation

When I wrote this post I was tempted to buy fabric for patchwork from ebay. I plan to make a pink patchwork blanket for my daughter. I should work but somehow I browsed in ebay. Not a very productive employee. LOL! That is the advantage of working from home. Nobody monitor and check on you.

Speaking of monitoring, ActivTrak is an Employee monitoring tutorial system for your corporate network. By tracking application and web usage on your company's workstations, it allows you to answer the question - "Who's doing what and for how long." With this program you will find out who is browsing in ebay and who is doing the work.

Eat Out For Less

We all like to eat out, but we all know that eating out can break the bank. Recently, I found out in the facebook there is something called Offeretti. It is a Search Engine for Special Deals, offers, coupons, promotions, discounts and bargains from local retail businesses. Using the best in search technology and social networking, Offeretti enables customers to explore, discover and share offers with friends and family. If you want to eat out for less, join me in Offeretti now!

I Drove

Normally, my father-in-law that drops my girl to her kindergarden, but last Friday something was wrong with his car, so he could not drive her to the kindy. So I braved myself to drive her. This was my first time driving her to her kindy, since I started to drive last month. Actually her kindy is not far away, only 15 minutes from home, I don’t know what kept me from driving her to school. Probably, it is because my Father-in-law pet his grand-daughter too much and he likes to drive and pick her from school. LOL!

Speaking about driving a car, do you know that you can lease a car. Yup, I just found out about it yesterday from www.BuyYourCar.co.uk. It is very different to any other car portal in the UK. It focuses on all aspects of car purchase and research. The uniqueness in BuyYourCar.co.uk is that it allows consumers to search and enquire on new cars, used cars, car leasing, contract hire and van leasing and even compare offers across all of these purchase routes.

Website Hosting

Time passed so fast. In just a blink of the eyes, I have been blogging for almost a year. I have been thinking to buy my own domain name. I hear that if you have your own domain, you can boost up your rank. I am thinking of buying my own domain if that is true, so I can get more opportunities to earn more money.

Many hosting providers claim to be the best in one way or another, but not all hosts can be the best! If you have a hard time choosing a good hosting provider, you should head your way to this website hosting review site. Since I am trying to find a best webhosting now, I find this site is extremely useful. It has independent customer rating of top 10 web hosting companies. Their host rating system is based on the customer satisfaction, affordability, reliability, uptime and techical support. Web Hosting Rating is the biggest searchable web hosting directory featuring complete information on all web hosting providers, their web hosting plans, promotional and discount coupons, and unedited reviews by real customers.

Don’t forget to look at their blog section. You can find a lot of interesting articles such as tips to choose a domain.

What is Crochet?

When people saw me crocheting, they often asking what was I doing. I told them that this is called crocheting. Their usual comment is always: Ahhh! My grandmother used to do that to make doily.

Recently I read an article about crochet:

"Crochet is that skimpy little high-fashion dress prancing down the runway at a designer show. It's a warm hat and scarf in bright colors worn on a gray winter day or a soft, cuddly teddy bear clutched in a crying child's arms.

Crochet is a glittery shawl thrown over a shoulder to accent a little black cocktail dress or a sleek little evening purse encrusted with beads. Crochet is a fluffy blanket that welcomes a new baby to the world or a pair of socks with a zingy heel treatment for a teenager to wear with clogs. It's a Christmas stocking, a gift from one generation to another.

Crochet is magically creating something from nothing. It's the love one pair of hands gives to another."

I think I am going to use that to explain about crochet the next time people ask me.

Disneyland

Have you been to Disneyland before? I have been to Disneyland in Anaheim and also to Disney World in Orlando. I love it! However some people don't like to go to Disneyland due to the price and the long queue.

For popular rides, the queue can be as long as 2 to 3 hours. Can you imagine waiting that long only to enjoy less than 5 minutes ride? But it wasn’t as bad as my description above would suggest. This is largely because Disney has truly mastered the art of waiting in line. First, they don’t let you see where the lines go. They just wind and wind through constantly varying surroundings and waves of distractions that are often more entertaining for the kids than the destination itself in many cases. Second, somehow the lines are always moving forward also.

Anyway, if you plan to go for holiday and not sure where to stay, you can look up at www.HotelsCombined.com.
They will donate to a charity every time someone helps them spread the word! This way, they can then benefit from word of mouth (or mouse in this case) whilst at the same time being able to donate what they normally would have had to spend on advertising.

There are 3 options to Spread The Word For Charity:
1. They will give $20 for a blog mention
2. They will give $10 for a tweet
3. They will give $5 for becoming a fan of our Facebook page.

Swedish Embroidery

The origins of this unique Scandinavian embroidery style are clouded by the rarity of surviving artifacts and documentation by the ancient Vikings who fashioned the earliest forms of the needlework we know today as Swedish embroidery.

Also called "Swedish weave" or "huck embroidery" (dubbed so from huckaback fabric), Swedish embroidery uses thread or yarn woven through the raised threads, referred to as floats, in the weave of fabric. Repeatable geometric patterns are used the most often in these designs.

The vertical and horizontal threads of crochet stitches lend themselves to be used as the floats on the finished fabric. For example, in our Swedish Embroidery Baby Blanket pattern included in this issue, designer Diane Poellot's combination of two basic stitches created the floats necessary to execute Swedish embroidery on the surface of the crocheted afghan.

Most Swedish embroidery designs are worked in rows, starting at the bottom of the piece and working up. The first row is usually started at the center and worked out toward the edges. This makes it easy to keep the overall design symmetrical. With the first row as a guide, the remaining rows can be worked from edge to edge.

The stitching is worked in a right-to-left direction. The basic stitch movements used are straight (passing the yarn under floats that will keep it in a straight or diagonal direction), offset (going under floats that create a stairway or zigzag directions), open loops (going under floats to create loops with an open bottom) and closed loops (going under floats that close the bottom of a loop).

For a neat finish, always keep the twist of the yarn intact. It tends to unwind as you work, so remember to periodically release the tapestry needle and allow the original twist to return.

The fun and relaxing simplicity of Swedish embroidery has made it a popular needlecraft for centuries. It has experienced renewed interest in recent times by being integrated with other needle arts such as crochet. It's an interesting technique that adds eye-catching detail to virtually any type of needlecraft.

Driving Without AC

When the heat is on, there are not many things more miserable than sitting in a hot car waiting for the traffic to start moving. I used to have those small battery operated fan for this kind of "occasion". Although nothing compare the real AC, but at least I feel cooler a bit. Another idea is to put A 10lb block of ice on the floorboards under a vent will help cool things down. The ice block can rest in a plastic pan or baking tin.

Anyway, if you are looking for Air conditioning compressor, auto air conditioning, A/C compressor, or auto A/C compressor click on the link. They have a great selection of new and remanufactured products available and ready to ship.

Tactical Pants at CHIEF

If you looking for durable pants for your husband, brother or boy friend, then you should look at this 5.11 tactical pants at CHIEF (CHIEF has outfitted the Fire, EMS, Law Enforcement and Surveying industries since 1977).

I bought one pair of these for my husband before and he just loves it. He always wears it whenever he goes fishing because he can put a lot of fishing gadgets and gizmos inside the pocket. I also saw quite a few men wear it on the plane, because you can shove in your ticket, passport and even a bottle of water in the pocket.

Knitted Blanket

Love this color combination. Orange and yellow are my favorite colors. I made several crocheted blanket before, but I haven't tried my hand to knit a blanket. To think that I have to knit something big and square really intimidate me, but it's in my "to do list". Although I am not sure when I will tackle it.

A Great Pair of Jeans

The number one must have in any fashion conscience person's wardrobe is undoubtedly a great pair of jeans. Either you are a man or a woman, jeans is something that you need to have in your wardrobe. My husband has many pair of jeans, some are branded, but mostly are not. On the other hand, I only have one pair of jeans. I “found” this jeans after trying hundreds of them. You see, I don’t have a “perfect” body to wear jeans, but I love the convenient to wear jeans. Jeans can be dressed up for a night on the town and they can be worn with a cute tee and trendy flats for a day of shopping.

The right pair can make you look like a million bucks so spending a bit more than you would like is going to be well worth it in the end. When choosing your signature denim, they are a few things to keep in mind. Most importantly, fit is everything.

If you still haven’t got your perfect jeans, and ready to shop for one, let me tell you something: Armani Exchange has new premium denim line starting at $98! Yes! You heard it right. That’s’ a steal for the quality and style you’ll get from these Armani Exchange Premium Denim jeans!

These are my favorites:

J11 - Indigo Destruction Skinny Leg
$125.00

J24 - Wing Printed Boot Cut
$125.00

J57 - Potassium Straight Leg
$98.00


Also, the Armani Exchange is giving away a pair of these awesome jeans everyday during the month of July. All you have to do is text the keyword “DENIM2″ to ARMANI (276264), or text AX. That’s it!

Right now, if you buy purchase a full price pair of denim from the Armani Exchange, via the web or at the store, between July 7 and July 19th 2009, will receive a gift card of $20 off your next purchase of $100 or more when you buy between July 30 2009 and August 15 2009!

Good deal, eh?

Variegated Vs Solid

Normally I don’t like to knit using variegated yarn. I like solid color. However, I love the one in this photo although it is knitted using variegated yarn. Actually, if you have hand-dyed yarn, I suggest you to use it to knit something like in this photo. This cardigan is simple yet elegant with lace details in the bottom suitable to showcase your treasure hand-dyed yarn (if you have any).

Lap Band Option

WEIGHT-LOSS surgery is successful because it permanently changes hormone levels in a persons’ body. They artificially boost the "I am full" hormone and reduce the "I am hungry" hormone. Contrary to what people think, weight-loss surgery is not about wanting to look good. On the contrary, people that choose to do this surgery mostly want to be healthy. If you are overweight and are thinking of choosing this surgical method, it is advisable to first consult with an experienced lap band doctor.

Dr. Richard Collier is a Lap-Band surgical specialist, who provides the premier, comprehensive Lap-Band® weight loss surgery program in The Woodlands, Conroe, Houston, Kingwood, Huntsville, and Spring, Texas areas. His acclaimed weight loss program combines his well respected 31 year level of surgical experience with a highly-praised aftercare team program approach for patients following their surgery.

Embelishment for Little Girl Outfit

Mothers and grandmothers love to crochet for their young children and grandchildren, and especially seem to enjoy using their stitching skills to dress up the little girls in their families.

I am a mother too and sometimes I also like to make something for my girls. However, since they are growing too fast, I feel that I wasted my time and effort to make something that they can only wear for only a short time.

I want to make something simple and quick, and pretty. And when I saw this picture, I immediately thought that it was a good idea. I can use my leftover yarns to create something quick, easy and pretty for my girls.

Here's an idea: As a special treat, take your favorite little girl on her very own shopping trip and let her pick out an inexpensive outfit for you to embellish with our cute crocheted accents. She'll love it and feel extra-special at being part of the decision-making for the project.

Here is the link for the patterns!

Buttons

The right button can make or break a sweater or jacket, but choosing the right one can sometimes be more difficult than you might think. Here are some hints for finding the perfect button that will enhance your garment rather than detract from it (or worse, cause an unexpected "wardrobe malfunction").

Try to purchase your buttons before making the button bands. That way, you can pick the button without fear that the buttonhole will be too large or too small. Once the buttons are chosen, you can make the buttonhole to fit the button.

Take along your gauge swatch when button shopping. If you have time, try stitching a small buttonhole band onto the swatch, using a couple of different-size buttonholes. At the store, you'll be able to try the buttons on your buttonholes to see how they look on your garment and which ones work best.

Decide whether your garment needs buttons that stand out as part of the overall design, or whether they should be unobtrusive. You may want to match the yarn color, or you may find that a great-looking contrasting color gives the best appearance.

Scale is important. Tiny buttons belong on garments made with fine yarns, and large buttons look better on garments made with heavy yarns.

Shank buttons generally work better on thick fabrics; they are easier to apply and provide good stability.

To sew on buttons, use sewing or embroidery thread in a matching color. A button can be stabilized to prevent wobbling, drooping or pulling through the crocheted fabric by adding a small "stay" button on the wrong side of the fabric. The designer button on the right side of the fabric and the stay button on the wrong side are sewn on at the same time in one operation.

Choose a stay button that is flat and at least as large as the designer button. Use a button with two holes for a designer button with two holes or a shank. Use a 4-hole stay button with a 4-hole designer button.

Mix button styles on one garment. You can create some fun, unique looks, and it's a great way to use some of those lovely one-of-a kind buttons in your grandmother's button box!

If you are using buttons that are non-washable or require special cleaning, fasten them onto the garment with button pins. These special safety pins have a curve to accommodate the button and allow easy removal of the button for cleaning.

Make your own buttons. You can purchase a button-covering kit and cover them with matching fabric, or use Fimo or Sculpy modeling clay to make eye-catching, machine-washable buttons. You can also crochet simple buttons to complement your garment.

It's easy to get even spacing for an odd number of buttonholes. Place pins at point where top and bottom holes will be. Fold piece in half so that pins are together. Place a third pin at center and unfold. Fold again so that center pin and top pin are together. Place a fourth pin at this fold, unfold. Fold again so that center pin and bottom pin are together. Place a fifth pin at this fold, unfold. If necessary, continue to split the difference between the pins until the desired number of holes is marked.

Here is a final tip: Sloppy, loose buttonholes look amateurish and don't stay fastened very well. Remember that most yarns stretch slightly with use over time, so your new buttonholes should fit snuggly over your buttons.

Try applying these tips and techniques when using buttons on your garments to ensure successful results. Buttons really can make or break the finished look!

If you have been in an accident...

Your insurance policy requires that you notify your insurance company to make a claim report. Once a claim report has been made, you may leave your vehicle at the auto body damage repair facility of your choice and notify the insurance company claim representative as to where your damaged vehicle may be inspected. Keep in mind that you are the vehicle owner.

CollisionRepairExperts.com is an assembly of experts in the field of restoring collision damaged vehicles to pre-accident condition. The auto body shops that you will find associated with this website are scrutinized and measured, like auto body anaheim, and they must conform to levels of performance that less than 1% of collision repairers can meet.

Crocheted Stuffed Button

Materials: yarn of choice, appropriate-size crochet hook and tapestry needle.

Rnd 1: Leaving a beginning 8-inch tail, make a slip knot on the hook. Ch 2, 8 sc in 2nd ch from hook, join with a sl st in first sc. (8 sc)
Rnd 2: Ch 1, sc in same st, 2 sc in next st, [sc in next st, 2 sc in next st] 3 times, join in first sc. (12 sc)
Rnd 3: Sc in each sc around, join in first sc.
Rnd 4: Ch 1, [pull up a lp in each of next 2 sc, yo, pull through all lps on hook (dec made)] 6 times, fasten off, leaving a 10-inch tail.

Stuff small scraps of matching yarn into the ball. With tapestry needle, weave the 10-inch tail through all sts on last rnd and pull tight. Thread the 8-inch tail down through center of button and use both ends to sew button to garment.

What Is Your Favorite TV Show?

One of my favorites TV shows is Closet Cases. It’s a TV show where style-challenged people are taken on a shopping spree for new clothes. Then a design expert transforms that cluttered closet into a hard-working space. If you like to watch it, you can watch it online on Spreety TV Online : Watch TV Shows Online Free. In fact, you can find any TV show on spreety. The site is 5,000 pages deep, and has many genre pages (i.e. home & garden, comedy, sports, westerns, etc.), classic TV pages (1950s, 1960s), pages about movies, most popular online TV, etc. Check it out yourself!

Travel Companies Publishing Their Events on Facebook

I notice that currently at lot of travel companies are trying to promote their charity causes or their other events using social media and social networking sites. For example: Laterooms , lastminute.com, expedia, eight hotels. While we are on this subject, let me tell you about the world's leading accommodation meta-search engine in terms of inventory and prices called hotel combine. They index the most hotels out of any other hotel price comparison website, and you can find the best price listed across more than 30 major websites in just one click of the button. By using them, you don't need to visit different websites one by one to compare rates.

My Own Yarn Shop

I always dream to open my own yarn shop someday. I like the idea to be able to fondle yarns all day long and helping customer to find the correct yarn for their project. I am sure a lot of you have the same dream as mine.

However, I realized that starting my own business is a big step and I will need to spend a lot of time researching and planning before go ahead. Running your own business is a rewarding but demanding career and life choice. There are many different opinions about how to start a business from writing and researching a detailed business plan to jumping into a passion and trying to make money out of it.

Having the right leads, in any successful campaign, is the most important aspect but also the most difficult to obtain. Relying on a company without being sure of their own success is a big risk. At Endless Resources, they try to be as transparent as possible to ensure that you are fully informed and know exactly what to expect. This includes knowing when you are dealing or about to deal with risky or model consumer scores. Their Consumer Mailing List will help you target those consumers that bring you more business.