Merry Christmas

It's hard to believe, but it's Christmas Eve already! Hopefully, you are finished with your Christmas shopping, baked your last batch of cookies, and picked up Aunt Edna from the airport. Now is the time to soak up the ambiance that is Christmas, sit down with a warm cup of tea (or cappuccino if you're at my house) and watch the twinkling lights on the tree as Christmas music plays in the backgound. And, let's please remember what Christmas is really all about, celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ who came into this world to save us all from our sins.

It is with a heart of gratitude that I would like to thank all of you for your support while I was getting Pink Florida Threads up and running. These last 3 months have been exciting, humbling, tiring, and packed full of the most incredible moments and people.......you! Thank you for sharing it all with me. I can hardly wait to see what 2009 will bring!

I have been so blessed this year, and one of those many blessings is a recent article written about P.F.T. in the St. Pete Times. For those of you from out of town, or if you just missed it, here's the link so you can read the original article:
www.tampabay.com/news/business/article936142.ece

I would like to wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year in 2009. Here's clinking my cappuccino cup to yours and drinking to your health and happiness.

Watch for our first ever class schedule coming in January,
Debbie

Art and about

Several days ago, I stopped in at The Coffee Mill to do a little last minute Christmas shopping. It's a wonderful store on Indian Rocks Road that has been an icon in our area for years, and I always find the nicest items for my friends there. Not to mention they have the yummiest coffee and tea assortment. And, we all know how I feel about my caffeine! As I was about to pay for my purchases, I spotted a calendar and asked the clerk about it. What a find!

The calendar has 12 gorgeous plein aire paintings of the quaint cottages on Indian Rocks Beach in the most beautiful, vibrant colors. (Plein aire painting simply means work done by the artist, on site, with an easel and their paints just like Monet used to do in Giverny, France.) I snapped one up especially after learning that the $20 price tag goes directly to benefit the Indian Rocks Library and Historical Museum. It turns out that these paintings were created by 3 local women who have been painting small homes on the beach for 6 years in an effort to capture them on canvas before they are all torn down to build McMansions.

If you love the beach, the arts, quaint cottages, or beachy scenes, you will go crazy for this calendar. I called the artists, left them a message telling them I'd love to have their calendars at P.F.T., and 2 days later they showed up at the shop with an armful of calendars! Yippee! So, come in and check out this wonderful calendar. Also, the artists will be at Guppy's restaurant on the beach January 9th with 60 of their oil paintings for sale. You'll be able to see the actual works in person. The show starts at 6PM and you'll get to meet these interesting ladies. I, myself, can't wait to go. Hope to see you there.
Here's the link to the artists and their work: http://www.pleinaircottageartists.com/


Feeling Artsy today,
Debbie

It's almost Christmas

Can you believe it? Christmas is only 11 days away and my husband and I just started our shopping last night. Opening a new business has most definitely altered my "free" time, so, I'm running a bit late this year.

Even though I'm crazy busy, I still love preparing for the holidays.....starting in late fall leading into Thanksgiving and then celebrating Christmas. One of the things I enjoy the most is staging our home with little touches that make me smile when I see them, and that show my family they are special to me.

In the shop is a wall where you'll see some of those seasonal changes displayed. I don't know why, but over the years I've developed my own vocabulary(didn't you notice all the bra purses have names?). When I was arranging the pillowcases and kitchen towels for the display, the name "Changies" came to me. Ok, not exactly a brilliant name, but it's descriptive, isn't it? So, come back each month to view the Changies for that month accompanied by some of my photography taken while traveling. Today I've included pics of the November and December Changies for you.

I pray you are just as excited as I am to celebrate this season of hope, joy, and love with those in your life. And, speaking of being excited, click on the link below to read the article written about P.F.T. in today's St. Pete Times. We are just so blessed!

'Tis the Season,
Debbie

www.tampabay.com/news/business/article936142.ece

How about an update?

Lots of you have been asking me for updates on baby Nathan, our water leak from earlier this week, and the upcoming St. Pete Times article, so I'll try to fill you in. Most importantly, Nathan has gained back the 10 oz. he lost and weighs in at 8 lbs now. He's been struggling with formula issues, allergies and gas tummyaches since coming home from the hospital, so, finding the right formula has been a little difficult. The pediatrician determined that he has an allergy to milk protein and that caused some blood in his stool. We believe the new formula has cleared up that problem, so, now we just need him to get interested in the taste of this formula and start packing on the weight.


As for our water leak, I'll NEVER store my hurricane water supply inside the house again! Joel is having trouble with his wrist, so, I made an emergency call to my mover who graciously drove over and hefted our huge china cupboard up onto blocks and we have had a fan blowing on the floor ever since Monday to dry out the hardwood flooring. Thankfully, I think everything will be alright. That same night, our son, Jarrad, called us when he left our house to say that he also came home to a leak.....he heard water running and the floor was warm in his son's room and hot water was running under the foundation. Holy cow! So, they've had to shut off their hot water heater and are waiting for Jarrad's dad, who happens to be a plumber, to fly in from Penna. and do the repairs. Thank goodness for handy family members. How much fun is that to deal with 2 weeks after having a baby?

And, now on to things here at P.F.T. A lovely woman, Chris Cosdan, called me Tuesday and came from the St. Petersburg Times to interview me for this Sunday's paper, Dec. 14th. If you're looking for it, the article will appear in the Largo Works section and rerun next Friday in the Clearwater and North Pinellas issue. How fun is that? I'm just knocked out by how blessed I've been in this whole new adventure of starting my very own shop. God has just been so good to me. So, keep coming back and see what happens next!

Back to sewing now,
Debbie

Oh, what a night...

Yup! Last night was the Belleair Stroll and it was a fun couple of hours. I'd like to say a huge thank you to my friends that came to help serve punch and put out the homemade goodies, and brag on me to all the customers old and new. Teresa was a great help writing up sales and telling people what we are all about at P.F.T. Then, my sweet friends Carolyn and Melissa came and Melissa surprised me with our Treasure Island friend, Margie. It was more like a party than work! Carolyn brought her punch bowl for us to use, and Melissa provided the tablecloths....remember, all my stuff is still hidden deep inside the storage unit from our move out of the big house.

And,to put the icing on the cake, a lovely woman named Chris from the St. Pete Times came to interview me at 4PM just before the evening got started. I'll let you know when the article is due to appear in the Times. God just keeps blessing me in ways I never dreamed of to promote this little adventure of mine. Come on back and stay tuned for the next installment of Pink Florida Threads.

Deb

"Houston, we have a problem."

Oh, man....have you ever had things just kinda go wrong at the most inopportune moments? Well, I was all set to tell everyone about the Stroll in the Alley tomorrow, Tuesday Dec. 9th from 6-8PM. Today, I've been attending to last minute details for the refreshments we'll be serving, and buying a few more Christmas lights to hang up when it gets dark tonight.

Then, while I was on the phone with my daughter-in-law asking how baby Nate was doing, I spotted it. The fly in the ointment, the last minute problem, the "man, how am I going to fix that?" moment that life sometimes drops in our laps when we have way too much on our plates. Yup! That extra 2 gallon container of Zephyrhills water I kept in case of a hurricane....just sitting there next to my antique 7 foot china cabinet......had leaked. Not just a wee little bit, but almost all 2 gallons had slipped quietly, slowly out of it's plastic container and slid between the very heavy, flat bottomed cabinet and the hardwood floor of our rental dining room.

Hmmm.....mild panic was almost setting in as my mind raced about how I was going to take care of this one. Well, I have just finished emptying the cabinet, my husband and youngest son should be home soon, and when the oldest son gets here from work, we'll have to lift it up, set it on blocks to dry the underside, and survey the damage to the hardwood flooring. Yeah, and I'm expecting close to 1,000 folks tomorrow evening at the shop. This is EXACTLY what I wanted to do tonight.

No time to cook, so, I guess we'll be having hot dogs for dinner tonight....how about you?

A computer tech, I'm not

Oh, man, have I ever learned my lesson. Eight years ago when I was afraid to even turn a computer on, my husband used to say, "Just try, experiment, nothing bad will happen." So, I eventually sat down and let him teach me the basics. I even started to like doing things on the computer. Now, I'm on the third computer of my very own, with each one getting faster and smarter than the one before it. (Ok, maybe the computers aren't getting any smarter, I am just learning how to use them better.)

Then, I decided to try my hand at a blog. Hmmm, it wasn't so bad to set up, and I felt my confidence growing with each little triumph. So, when I read that I could link my website, http://www.pinkfloridathreads.com/ to the blog, I was ready to plunge in with both feet. After all, "nothing bad will happen." Ha!

I clicked that button that was supposed to do something magical to my 2 internet accomplishments, and then.......horrors! No more blog! Yikes! I could feel the panic rising up inside of me, but I forced myself to remain calm. The information I got from researching the blog's site said it could take up to 48 hours for the "connection" to go through. So, I waited for 2 days with an ever growing knot in my stomach.

Then, tonight, I could take it no longer. I swallowed my pride as I tried to walk nonchalantly into my 19 year old son's bedroom to seek his help. Is there anything more pathetic than a teenager's groans about how inept we adults are at something that comes so naturally to them? He ranted and moaned as he sat down at my beautiful computer and ran his hands over his face as I showed him exactly what I had done and how I had done it. After a few more minutes of his grilling me, he masterfully typed in a few things, and voila, my blog was back. I could hardly believe it.

He made me promise to never, ever, ever do that again. I promise....

Whew, it's great to be back,
Eating humble pie,
Debbie

Ta-ta totes

Alrighty now....for those of you who are uninitiated, here comes a little tutorial on bra purses. Most of the purses I make are constructed with 34C or 36C bras that have substantial padding in the cups. The padding prevents the cups from collapsing and looking, well, tacky.

But, the padding also makes the two cups sewn together take on the shape of a small basketball. Hmmmmmm.....that can be a problem when trying to use the basketball, oops, the purse because the contents fall out when the purse rolls on it's side. So, after struggling with a prototype for 2 months, I developed a technique to insert a base on the bottom of the cups that enables the purse to stand up and not roll over when placed on the countertop.

Well, I got bored(who me? never!) making the purses with the base, so, one day I choose an A-cup bra from my enormous tub-o-bras and sewed the two cups together. Ha! Cute as all getout! And, the Ta-ta tote was born. Of course an A-cup purse is much smaller than the regular bra purses, but they are just the right size to hold a lipstick, credit card and your keys. Perfect for a night out on the town. And, you can have one in every color to match every outfit. These two Ta-ta totes are the latest ones hot off the sewing machine. Hope you like 'em as much as I do.

Hot sewin' Mama,

Debbie