Workin' on a Saturday Night...

It's Saturday night.  8:37pm.  I'm at work.

As much as I would love to be relaxing at home with my beautiful family on a Saturday night, I must say...

I.

Am.

Blessed.

I have a job with a company that I truly love.

So many people don't have jobs right now or are struggling.  This is not to say that my family doesn't have its ups and downs financially or that we're what some would call "well off".

But we are definitely blessed in many ways.

And for that - I'm thankful.

Hugs,

Fight. Cure. Win.

This past weekend my wonderful friend April and I took part in the Cherry Blossom Foundation's Breast Cancer 5K.

We came up with a team name (well, actually my husband did) - "Leave It To Cleavage".  I made shirts for us, we had matching socks, matching bows - and we looked great!  Don't you think?!  Those are my beautiful girls with us :-)

Here are the awesome shirts made for us - by yours truly!

 

While we were thinking this was going to be a "Komen" race but on a much smaller scale, it was actually more of a "fun run".  However, April and I decided we were going to time ourselves anyway and do it right!

Here we are before the run started!

And a quick shot with our supporters!

We started out great - and then there was hill #1 right around the corner from the start line.  Now - side note for those of you who don't know - I have asthma.  But my bestie Jamie (you can read her blog here) told me that running would help with it and just make me feel better.  She's OBVIOUSLY a runner :-) 

April and I started the "Couch to 5K" program a little while ago and it has definitely helped.  However, this day was particularly challenging for some reason.  I used my inhaler more than I had hoped I would have to. 

But nonetheless, WE FINISHED!  And even better than that - faster than we (or our other halves) thought!  Funny tidbit for you...  We thought and our sweet hubbs thought that since it was our first race and because it was on trails we would be about 40-45 minutes.  However, we finished the race with a final time of... Wait for it....  29:05!!!!!  And because we thought it was going to take longer - our hubbs actually missed our finish!  They were so upset but had taken my gorgeous girls to get a snack :-)  Best of intentions right?

So, here we are "finishing" the race...  We decided to run the last little bit again because the girls were upset when they found out we had already finished...

There were so many people there both men and women, who were affected by this disease.  Some were survivors, some in the midst of treatment, some family members of people who had been diagnosed and lost their fight and some that were family members of those fighting it every day.

I was there for me.  I was there for my Mom.  My daughters.  My friends.  Women everywhere.

Here is an email that I received from my dear friend Annette's sister, Elizabeth. 

We were honored to have her name on our shirts as a survivor.

"Kristie –

I am Anet’s sister, Elizabeth Kelly.

I’m sitting here thanking God for all of the people who are praying for me, and praying that they somehow know how much they mean to me.  I am honored by your tribute to me on your shirts – wow.

God bless you all – and if you don’t mind I’d just like to bug you for a moment:  DO NOT skip your mammograms and self exams!  And, please pass this on to all of those that you love.

From the bottom of my heart, I thank you!

Elizabeth"

I can't say enough how much I can encourage my friends and family to do the self checks, see your doctors and by all means - know you have a support system should anything EVER happen.

  

My sweet girls and husband here with me after our finish...

April,

I'm so proud of us and can't wait to continue running together!  It was SO much fun and I'm so glad to have such a great motivation partner!  Love you!

Linking Up To Tip Me Tuesday!

Linking Up to Tip Junkie's "Tip Me Tuesday" here.



So I decided that I wasn't really completely happy with my original table runner that I made...

I was inspired by THIS and wanted to make another one!

So off I went!

Here's the supplies that you'll need

• Burlap
• White muslin material
• Natural muslin material
• Black ribbon
• Fall (or any other season if you prefer) decor - flowers, leaves, etc
• Alligator clips

 I cut the natural colored muslin fabric in about 6 inch strips and the white muslin in about 4 inch strips.  Runners can be made as thin or as wide as you'd like them to be depending on your table size.  I usually make mine about 10-12 inches from each edge of the table on either side.  After cutting it was time to SEW!

I have my Memaw's sewing machine on loan because the presser foot on my great grandma's is moving when I try to sew and I need to get it fixed...



You'll want to pin the pieces of material to make the ruffles on either end of the runner. 

Stitch the edge of the muslin material and then pin the ribbon on the opposite edge of the muslin material and stitch on.

Attach the natural colored muslin material to the burlap and then do the same with the white muslin on top of the natural colored material.

 

Then VOILA!  You have a sweet little runner...

 I attached some plain ribbon to the alligator clips just to hide the silver clip.  Then made a small bouquet of leaves and berries, attached them to the clips and added them to the runner to give it  a "Fall touch". 

I can definitely say that I think it will look adorable in the Spring as well with some bright daisies or other flowers maybe?

What do you think!?  I'm always open to feedback!

Hugs!

Rosette Wreath Tutorial

 A couple weeks ago, I saw a wreath on one of the blogs I follow called Flamingo Toes.  She has the super cutest ideas on her site!  And have I mentioned "Think Pink Sundays" before?!  Oh wait - yes I have :-)

The wreath is called an "Ombre Rosette Wreath" and with the little rosettes on it and the light to dark coloring - I fell in love and HAD to have one.

You can see the link to their version here on Flamingo Toes.

Here is my version because I tweaked it a little bit.

Supplies:

• Grapevine Wreath
• Fabrics in graduated colors - I chose muslin material in white, a light natural color and burlap.  You can use any combination of colors though.
• Hot Glue

Start by getting your strips of fabric ready.  They should be about 1 1/2″ wide and the length of the material.  I would definitely recommend cutting the burlap outside or somewhere that you can vacuum - it can get messy!

First, tie a knot close to one of the ends of a fabric strip.  Fold the small piece of material under and attach it to the bottom of the knot with a small bit of hot glue.

Then you'll need to hold the knot in one hand and twist/wind the fabric with your other hand.  Make a small line around the edge of the knot and wrap the twisted strip around the knot.

Wrap the fabric until you have about 1/2"-3/4" left and tack it to the bottom of the rosette with a bit of hot glue.

And voila!  You have your first rosette!

I made 8 rosettes each out of the white and natural colored muslin material, but only 6 rosettes out of the burlap material because it's thicker and they came out much bigger.

Start placing the rosettes on the wreath in the top right corner.  Put them together as you like, making sure they touch and possibly overlap just a little.

Now for the finishing touch!  The bow!  Here is another part of the wreath which you can make "your own" and tweak it how you'd like.

I personally LOVE bows.

Take one piece of both the white and natural colored muslin (or alternate colors if you chose different ones for your own wreath).  Simply tie them together and make a bow!  If you cannot make the bow to your liking by just using the material, you can always tie around a pencil and then remove the pencil once you've tied your bow!

Then attach the bow to the wreath!  It's that simple!

You did it!  Your very own handmade rosette wreath!

If you have any questions, by all means feel free to email me at 3littlebugsboutique@comcast.net.  I'm more than happy to help any way I can!

Also - PLEASE leave comments or links to your own wreath creations!

Also - linking up to 30 Handmade Days Pity Party and to Flamingo Toes "Think Pink" Sundays!!!

Hugs!

Saving Second Base

It's October, which for me personally means PINK month!  Breast cancer awareness is something VERY close to my heart and I'm active for the cause.  Particularly in October though.  I have a couple pink bracelets that I wear all the time, but in October - I have something PINK on everyday!

 First and foremost I want to give you all some facts about breast cancer.

• About 1 in 8 women in the United States (12%) will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime.

• About 1,970 new cases of invasive breast cancer were expected to be diagnosed in men in 2010. Less than 1% of all new breast cancer cases occur in men.

• For women in the U.S., breast cancer death rates are higher than those for any other cancer, besides lung cancer.

• Besides skin cancer, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among U.S. women. More than 1 in 4 cancers in women (about 28%) are breast cancer.

• In 2010, there were more than 2.5 million breast cancer survivors in the U.S.  (I'M THE PROUD DAUGHTER OF ONE!)

• A woman’s risk of breast cancer approximately doubles if she has a first-degree relative (mother, sister, daughter) who has been diagnosed with breast cancer. About 20-30% of women diagnosed with breast cancer have a family history of breast cancer.

• About 39,840 women in the U.S. were expected to die in 2010 from breast cancer, though death rates have been decreasing since 1990. These decreases are thought to be the result of treatment advances, earlier detection through screening, and INCREASED AWARENESS.

How many of you actually do your regular checks on a regular basis?   How many of you know how to?  Don't know how to?  If you don't know how to then by all means PLEASE - click HERE for directions (It's about halfway down the page).

Now a little bit of background for you.....

In 2003, my Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. 

I didn't know what to do - but cry.  I cried and cried.  I didn't understand why it had to happen to my Mom.  Why my Mom was going to have to go through any surgeries or chemotherapy.  Why she would have to go through anything to lose her hair.  Or risk being tired at all from it - which would definitely happen.

She had her surgeries and luckily the only thing necessary was a lumpectomy.  Thank the Lord for that.  She had one round of radiation therapy after that, unfortunately right around Christmas, and it made her SO tired. 
 
Thankfully it was caught early and after her surgeries and radiation therapy - it was gone.  She has been in remission for 7 years now.  *One thankful daughter* :-)

Recently I have started running, exercising, eating better etc. as an effort to get in better shape, health and overall just a better feeling!  My friend April and I will be taking part in a race this weekend and the proceeds go towards the Breast Cancer Foundation.  We have a list of 7 beautiful ladies that we are running for this weekend.  Some have been taken too early but others are still here because of early detection and successful treatments! 

In Hope Of A Cure,

We Honor:

Gail Altman

Elizabeth Kelly

Betty Rosner

Jane Smith

And Remember:
Bessie Kearnes

Celia Kilbourne

Karen Tilquish