Remembering Our Senior Citizens: One Fine Blessing

You know the expression that one thing leads to another? Well, that seems to be true in a project I have decided to expand upon. My friend's mom started this endeavor a while back through facebook and I have really enjoyed it. Most of you know Georgie from Decisionally Challenged.....her mom is as sweet as she can be and a heart as wide as the Oklahoma skies, where she happens to be from. She post on facebook months when there is a senior citizen having a birthday and asks for cards to be sent along with a dollar bill.

The concept is very simple. Mail a Birthday card and a dollar bill for a Senior who is having a birthday for that month. Since most are over 70 years old, it is my goal that they at least receive a dollar and a card for each year of their life. How fun and special this will be, and certainly make their day. What a great way to let them know someone is thinking about them and they are important!

For so many seniors, the mail is a bright spot of their day. I am afraid that in our country today, our seniors are often forgotten. Some maybe live far from their own families and spend all the last days of their lives alone, feeling isolated and forgotten. It is a sad thing to think about, but it happens most times than not. Not only that, we all know how hard times are for this country and everyone right now. Just think no matter how hard we feel like we have it, some senior citizens have it harder than we can imagine.

So with my friend's permission and approval, I'd like to announce this project that I am excited about. "One Fine Blessing" This is a project blessing not only senior citizens in our lives, but I can tell you from experience, you will be blessed as well.

I am still working out all the details on this, and you will find a link on my sidebar once I have it all up and running. My plan is to have a calendar to track the birthdays. I have set up a special email for this project alone.

1) If you want to participate in this, just email me at onefineblessing (at) yahoo (dot) com and I will add you to the mailing list.
2) Feel free to email me any senior you would loved to add to the list. You will need to include their name, address and age along with the date of their birthday.
3) At the end of the Month, I will email all participates a list of Birthdays for the upcoming month. You can either chose one or all to send a card to along with your well wishes and if you can include a dollar, that is great.

One Fine Blessing came about with the idea of blessing one senior at a time with a birthday card and one dollar bill. "Fine" is part of my friend's last name, and it is a fine thing to be a blessing to one senior citizen at a time. I know we are all so busy, and I know myself that I try and do for others but time is always an issue. This is a small project that takes very little time to do and the impact really makes a difference one person at a time.

So many of you have emailed me from my post First, Fifth, Forever, a letter writing project, and this sorta will tie along with that project too. 

Be patient while I still iron out the details on setting this up. I will try and keep it simple. 

If you'd like to send a card this week, there is a special lady in Oklahoma who will be 89 years old on March 6th. Just email me at onefineblessing (at) yahoo (dot) com saying  you'd like to join in with me, and I will email you her address. By the end of the week, I should have a few more for the month of March. I will have it down eventually to only one email a month with a list.

Thank you friends, for embracing this project, because I am sure so many of you will love this idea. Please watch my post First, Fifth, Forever at the end of the week for more details, and a peek at how this project has touched seniors already. You will love it! Trust me.

Vintage Thingie Thursday: Vintage Girly Treasures

Welcome everyone to Vintage Thingies Thursday. If you have a love for vintage things, well....you have come to the right place. We have a "dog-gone" good time each and every week!!!
If you are new to this party, please take the time to read and follow the instructions for participating in Vintage Thingies Thursday, click HERE. I try and keep things fairly simple, so  please make sure you follow the instructions. Please only ONE link per week. Lastly, if you link in, LINK back to my blog, so everyone can see all of the vintage goodies being showed that day. If you don't link back here, they won't know who to visit......thanks so much.

This week, I'd love to share some real "girly" vintage goodies with you. Sometimes, when I get ready to do a post for today, I have one thing specific to show you and I will walk around my house for inspiration for something to put with that one item I started out with. That is what happened this week......so it is a bit random, but still girly!

Here are my vintage goodies for this week, and very pretty vintage card, crochet hooks, and a brooch.

This vintage brooch is so pretty, it is a purple color and I found this at an estate sale. The lady loved purple and she had almost all purple jewelry. I had never seen so many different pieces of jewelry in the shades of purple that she had. This was a old piece, and in good shape, and the price was right, so I took it home.

These are some very old crochet hooks that I found one day at Goodwill. There were lots of small silver ones and then these pretty white ones. I have no idea what type of crochet they are used for because I know I'd never consider using them. They have such tiny hooks, I'm sure it would be a challenge to work with them. I liked them, and they display great in my sewing room.

This very sweet girly card was sent to me by one of my friends. She knows my love of all things vintage, and thought to send it to me. She wrote me a little note on a separate sheet of paper so not to mess the card up.

Here is the inside. I love it. My friend, like me says she buys vintage cards at estate sales when she finds them. I love it so much! I have it in my glass mailbox that sits in one of my bedrooms. This little card has found a home there with some of my vintage post cards.

Have a great week everyone....come back on Friday, I'll be posting a project I finished and announce the winner of my survey I had posted HERE. If you did not enter, it is not too late!!

Design Wall Monday: Knitters, Quilters, Crafters: Tell Me What You Think Giveaway!

I am almost finished with a project I am working on, this is on my design table!! I should be able to finish this today and can not wait to see how this turns out. Lots of strips were paper pieced and joined for this project. Makes me happy looking at all the fun fabric scraps.

A Crisis With Identy

I am beginning to hesitate before I open my email! Seriously. This story is true. Every word of it. I will tactfully or at least with every bit of tact I can muster, try to explain how you just never know what might be around the corner....I kid not!

Last weekend, there was a message in my "comments" section of my blog waiting to be moderated and published. I read it, without even paying any attention to who it was written by. Confused by what the message said, I glanced again at who sent it....um..... imagine my surprise when I saw "coloradolady" sent it to me.

Here is said message:

"I want the readers here to know I am the original Coloradolady. I have been the Coloradolady since the 1990s. I do not and never will stand behind what is written here, nor support it. This was not written by me. I am the original. I hope my readers don't think I am this person."

OK....seriously....what the heck????. I read it again and then did a little probing into this statement. I quickly discovered whomever sent this, is correct, I have a feeling they would not like what I stand for or talk about. Original??????...I am not so sure.

I see no reason to quote the email I received, I think you can get a feel for it, and let me just say, it was not a "Hi! how are you? I'm so glad to meet you" type email. Nope. None of that!

Fact Number 1: My daughter gave me this name back years ago when Craigslist started, and we were helping plan a wedding and I sometimes posted in the "wedding Forum" It was a brief stint with that to be sure. So when I decided I wanted to have a blog, even when I really did not even really know what a blog was, that is the title I used as my blog name. If I had of had a better idea on blogs and what they were, and I am most sure I would have went in a different direction and  I would have chosen a different title.

Fact Number 2: When I made my blog, had this title been taken, blogger would not have allowed it. I actually found blogger last, and had looked into wordpress and typepad...but that name was not taken. So I chose it. End of that you'd think.

Fact Number 3: I never even considered searching the name online. Never. Who would have known that this very thing might be a good idea????. Like I said, I really had no idea what a blog was about. I thought you'd write a post and 1000's of people would come comment and love you! Ha! That first post only got one comment and I have no idea how they even found me. (see, I told you I did not have a clue, for we all know that is not how it happens!)

Fact Number 4: Someone else thinks they are Coloradolady, well, actually I guess they are...just a very different one...and they don't seem to approve of asking for prayer for sick children. The don't seem to enjoy old junk or turning things from trash to treasure. This person must have something against quilts, fabrics and crafts. I don't think they like GW or Thrift shopping. They certainly don't believe such a thing as a happy marriage exist. I am thinking they don't like the idea of "play it forward" as well. That is okay...we are all different, we have that right...identity crisis!

Fact Number 5: THIS COLORADOLADY is real and what you see on The Coloradolady Blog is the real "me". This Coloradolady does not enter chat rooms, or post on controversial websites. This Coloradolady does not play online games using this handle. This Coloradolady does not record herself "singing" and post online for all to hear. This Coloradolady does not join on line dating services using this handle. I am sure from the unpleasant email I received, this person who calls themselves CL would be most happy for me to clear this up.

This really upset me, because I wonder what someone would think to find this online and not know there were two of us out there. Two who are very different in all aspects. Well, with the exception of the name and hopefully the love for Colorado.  I wondered if I should change my blog name, but I refuse. "The Coloradolady Blog" is something I have worked hard to build. It is honest, and real. It is not all  happy go lucky, there are real struggles and writing about them helps. But overall  I try and promote good things and thoughts. If someone has a problem with that, well, that really is not my problem.

But please, if you ever find something out there on line and wonder "What happened to her, that sounds nothing like Coloradolady" Please know....it is a mistake in identity. Please know, I only blog under this name...and absolutely nothing else.

I wonder if this happened to you, would you change your blog title? Am I really off the mark with this one? What would you do??? It sorta puts a whole new spin on a  Identity crisis doesn't it????

Vintage Thingies Thursday: Vintage Kitchen Treasures

Welcome everyone to Vintage Thingies Thursday. If you have a love for vintage things, well....you have come to the right place. We have a "dog-gone" good time each and every week!!!
If you are new to this party, please take the time to read and follow the instructions for participating in Vintage Thingies Thursday, click HERE. I try and keep things fairly simple, so  please make sure you follow the instructions. Please only ONE link per week. Lastly, if you link in, LINK back to my blog, so everyone can see all of the vintage goodies being showed that day. If you don't link back here, they won't know who to visit......thanks so much.

I want to apologize if I shook some of you gals up last week with my little announcement. It was not meant to cause alarm! Nothing you are doing now will be any different....it is the same for all practical purposes! Just a little added bonus by me per month....that's all I am sayin'

I found a few vintage treasures a few weeks ago. I love these little bowls, they are made by Taylor Swift Taylor.....so deco looking to me. I think these are berry bowls.

I love the orange and black in the design. These were a great price. $1.00 for five.

I think I have mentioned before I usually find things in threes. No different here. These are really small and dainty looking. I thought they were cute.

You know my love for vintage linens and red, this little tablecloth has chickens on it, and the one on the bottom just screams fried chicken and picnics..thought they looked cute with my chicken plates.

I love little pitchers, and found the two clear ones on the same day. I think they could be considered weapons, as they are super heavy. I loved them. The little yellow piece was found on the same day. I have a couple of light green pieces like this, but not a  yellow one. Of course, I had to take them home. HaHa.

Oh, and speaking of Vintage Linens....I am proud to say I was featured on Tip Junkie's Blog for my tip on cleaning vintage linens...I was so excited about that, maybe you'd like to stop by and say hello!!

Have a great Vintage Thingie Thursday friends!!!

Prayer Warriors Needed For Baby Reagan

I feel moved to ask all my blogging friends from around the world to pray for this baby girl and her family as they are making a very hard journey.

This precious baby girl was born in December of 2010. She is the beloved granddaughter of someone who was very special to me during my time in High School. Susie, was my drill team instructor and friend my senior year in High School. She was always so very special to me as she always seemed to say the right things and make you feel so much better about myself.

That being said, she never gave anything up for free, you had to earn it. Dancing in half time shows at the football games and pep rally's had to be earned. Honestly, I always thought I'd be the only senior girl to graduate and never get to dance at a pep rally. But I had to work for that if I wanted it.

And you know what? I will never forget the week I finally heard my name called to dance at the pep rally that week. The whole team cheered me on, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Susie, smile a knowing smile....she knew I had worked hard and had done it on my own. What a life lesson she taught me back long ago. One I have never forgot.

It feel like there should be more I could do than ask for prayer for this little baby, but I know so many of you will lift Baby Reagan up in prayer. I know you will agree and ask for God to touch this family and help them during this battle of cancer. I guess no matter how old I get, I will never understand a child fighting this horrible disease, much less, a newborn baby. It just boggles my mind.

If you'd like to follow Princess Reagan's story, click HERE to be taken to her blog. I know my beloved friend Susie, will appreciate you praying for her granddaughter Reagan and Reagan's parents, Jenny and Blake during this very emotional time in their young lives. Prayer is a powerful thing, and If that is all I know to do, I can do that.

Thank you all in advance, because I know how bloggers are, and know the outpouring of love you give to those who need it. Please pray.

Vintage Thingies Thursday: Vintage Red Treasures

Welcome everyone to Vintage Thingies Thursday. If you have a love for vintage things, well....you have come to the right place. We have a "dog-gone" good time each and every week!!!
If you are new to this party, please take the time to read and follow the instructions for participating in Vintage Thingies Thursday, click HERE. I try and keep things fairly simple, so  please make sure you follow the instructions. Please only ONE link per week. Lastly, if you link in, LINK back to my blog, so everyone can see all of the vintage goodies being showed that day. If you don't link back here, they won't know who to visit......thanks so much.

I have a little announcement to make: I have been thinking about this link party lately, and plan to add a new little twist with this starting in March. Life takes us all different places, and I have found myself overwhelmed with so much going on. I know over the last couple of months, I have missed some of your post, missed commenting and I have really felt bad about that. I promise to do better. It is my wish to visit each of you, but I have had a real hard time doing that and really feel bad about it. 

Some of you guys are new here, others have been here from the beginning....some have dropped off and don't post any more. I miss all of you guys who where here from the beginning. We have so many new people linking in, please consider coming back and re-posting some of your great treasures. I am really looking forward to getting to know our new friends who join in here.....I hope you do too!

So.....just know, I will be doing a little something different each month with VTT! I am excited too.....I think you will all like my plan......only a couple of more weeks to wait!!!

With Valentines around the corner, I felt it fitting for showing off some Vintage things with red in them....and of course a story. It would not be the same around here if I did not have a story to tell. hahaha :)
I told you a few weeks ago about shopping for mens shirts and disassembling them for the fabrics to work into some scrappy quilts I have planned for this year. This past week, I found some really great shirts and they were only $1.00. As I browsed the racks, I saw this one, stopped, looked it over and kept making my way down the isle looking for something a little more desirable.

I knew the shirt was vintage and I liked the fabric, it was really nice. But it took me several passes to finally toss it into my cart to purchase.

Here is the label inside the shirt. Great vintage label. I sorta half way wondered about the label, but I really just liked the shirt for what it reminded me of.....now I don't know about you, but when I first saw this shirt....

......the first thing I thought of was the little elephant from the Island of Misfit Toys. Don't you agree??? I really hate to admit this, but that is part of the reason I decided to get the shirt....it really had a happy look to it for me.

Now we all know Google is our friend, and I started googling the label and the names to see what I could come up with. I even emailed a clothing designer in New York, but I did not find much. I did find a article that was published on October 2, 1989 in the New York Times. It was a wedding announcement and confirmed that Linda Bach was president of  Linda Bach Enterprises, a garment design company in New York in 1989. So I don't really know if this shirt was sold in New York, or how it ended up here, but I do like the fabric and I think it will be so cute in a quilt.

I also want to show you my sweet little vintage goodies that Marian sent me for my begging quilt project. She had this package wrapped so sweetly, and it included this adorable red gingham apron. Don't you just love the little Sunbonnet Sue's?? I just love this.

This is a really unusual apron, and I will treasure it, and no, this fabric in this apron will not end up in a quilt top!!

Marian also included these great quilt blocks from the 1970's.......they are really retro and cute!

And lastly, was this fat quarter bundle of vintage sheets to use in my quilt. Oh, these are such right up my alley! Special thanks to Marian for sending these all the way from Australia, they were such a sweet surprise!!

In case you missed the update on my Begging Quilt be sure to check earlier this week, it is making some progress.....just slow!

Have a great week everyone! Happy Valentines day to each and everyone of my vintage friends!! See ya next week.

Fabric Shopping: Sherbet Pips, quilt kits, and dachshund fabric - I wanted to share!!

I don't know how many are super excited with this new line of fabric from Moda that is coming out in April. I was lucky enough to get my hands on a couple of charm packs of Sherbet Pips. I am loving this fabric line.  Sherbet Pips is sure to not sit on the shelves at your local quilt shops once it arrives.

Just look at this little girl, Oh, so sweet, and the colors are really great. I love the reds and gray fabrics in this pack.

I decided to lay some of these squares out in the snow this past week, tired of looking at all the white and ice and thought I needed a little cheer to look at.

Normally, I am not one to order a whole line of fabrics. I usually just find a couple of designs in a collection and that is all I want. Well, this is one line that I MUST have the entire collection, and have every plans to do so.

Aneela Hoey is the designer of this adorable new line by Moda, and I recently discovered she has a blog, she tells how this line came to be and I loved this so much. Click HERE to take you to her blog, look around at all the ADORABLE things made with her line of fabric.....You will really enjoy it, I know I did.

Begging Quilt Project - Update: Progress being made!

Finally.....I know, you guys have been looking for an update on this begging quilt project of mine. It's not that I have not been working on it, it is just that it has taken me forever to get to a point that I actually felt like I was making progress!

In case you are new here, and wonder what in the world I am talking about, you can go here and here to catch up if you want to.

Here is a picture of all the squares once they had been cut, counted and sewn into segments of two. After all the fabric was received from the generosity of all you guys, and what I started with, I ended up with 4574 two inch squares. WOW.

Once all of the squares were sewn into 2's, I sewed them into rows of eight. Each block will be made up of 64 squares. Here is the start of that step as you see in the picture.

Here are the rows of eight layed out on the floor. Oh, I love all the colors. It is fun to see squares and remember where and who sent them, and yes, I do remember most of them.....well. at least a lot of them.

Here on my design wall is three of the blocks sewn together. Now, don't get too excited, I only have three done, and have a long way to go, but there is progress. I am still amazed at the generosity of all my blogging buddies who contributed to this project, it is so heartwarming to work on this quilt. I just love it already, hopefully, after all the work is done, I'll still be saying that. Haha.

First, Fifth Forever: A Letter Writing Journey in 2011 - February

Here we are already in the Month of February. If you missed the first post on this journey, you can see it here and here. I am thrilled to have you join me and make a difference for someone each month.

As discussed, I sent out two letters in January. As of today, I have not heard from either one of the recipients. I did take your advice and include the return address. I am not too concerned about a reply, that is not what this was about. I just hope I warmed a few hearts when they read my words.

January also gave me the opportunity to send a Birthday card to a senior citizen and include a dollar for their Birthday. I have a facebook friend who heads this up, and it is really a neat feeling making a senior's day with such little effort. I am most grateful for the opportunity to do that.

January also brought a wonderful surprise in my mailbox from a wonderful and very thoughtful friend. The day it came, was not one of my better days, and their concern for me and how in-tune they have been to my well being that was shown with that letter, was very special to me. There really are no words that can convey how special this wonderful friend and their family is to me. I was blessed the day we happened upon each other and formed a friendship.

Now we are here for the second month of this project I have set up for myself. I intend to send two more letters to special people in my life from the past. These special folks may not really realize how special they are and what an impact they had on my life, and ultimately my children's lives. There are so many ways one of them impacted my adult life and it would be ashamed to not let them know what a difference they made in my life. I am really looking forward to sending this one out.

Valentines day is this month too, and in true dog lovers fashion, I found some Dachshund Valentines......and these will be going out as well. I am also thinking of something that would be easy to slip in the mail for special people in my life. It is a lot to do, but I am going to try and get it all done.

I'd love to hear from you if you are following along with me, if you don't have a blog, just leave your story in the comment section.

Together, we can make a difference....all it takes is a little time and a stamp! The impact it would make will last forever!