Current Mood : Lucky !
Dearest Son was supposed to have today off, but the snow we had last month made it a school day after all. So he was in a mood from the time he woke up. Can't say I blame him, I hate getting up early for school, too.
Today was wildly fascinating. While poking around Craftster.com, I found a few ideas for AG-clone doll food that were cute. But what was better was the link someone added in reply - I was able to download all six American Girl-issued pattern sets, for free ! Those same patterns as hard-copy originals run about $20. to $30. on eBay, since they're long out of print. Let me know if anyone wants the link.
In that same message (it was a goldmine, I tell you !), there were links to You Can Make This (http://www.youcanmakethis.com/) and it was awash in downloadable freebies, and not just for dolls ! Want to make chef hats for kids and you ? Freebie. Want a hanging star made out of recycled jeans lying around ? Freebie pattern and directions. How about some fresh spring headbands ? Several AG-size doll skirts and a blouse, a Smores-theme scarf, quilting and ruffler tutorials, crochet flowers, paper bag books, Santa pillowcases and window treatments ? Yup, all those and more are all free downloads, you just need Adobe Reader, and you can save a copy to your hard drive for later. There were also patterns for sale, but crafty types like us could go for weeks on selected freebies. That said, I have two patterns saved in my WishList...
Then, there was a link from there to SWAK Embroidery (yup, swakembroidery.com), and I was lost for at least an hour or so there. I found a solo ‘I sew stuff' design that I want - I'd seen it on another site, but it was part of a $20. set. Here, it was just $4. by itself. Hooray ! There was nothing else I wanted in the set ! By signing up for their newsletter, I got ten magnificent butterfly designs for free, too. Wow.
Only things I don't much like - and it's a weak whine, I'll admit - is that you earn a point per dollar spent with both sites. Which is nice, they don't have to do that. But if you wanna buy stuff with your points, the $4. design is 79 points ! Wow. But hey, free stuff often comes under someone else's rules, so I'm being petulant and spoiled. With such nice stuff on both sites, I'll soon have points to spend. I'll be so broke that's all I can spend, but hey.
I signed up for the sewing and general newsletters at You Can Make This, and the embroidery one at SWAK -and they sent me more freebie patterns and ideas ! I really like those guys ! (smile) There's also a newsletter for the yarn aficionados, but since I don't knit or crochet, it'd be wasted on me. Perhaps you might can use it though !
Gosh, I'm still so atwitter over the new sewing machine - and it hasn't even shipped yet. HSN says it has, but all UPS.com has for me is ‘we've received pickup notice'. I reserved some machine embroidery library books, but I'm about fifth in line, but that's OK. Again, ya can't whine when it's free, or you sound like a spoiled little snot. Surprisingly, our Barnes & Noble shop didn't have a single machine embroidery book on their shelves this weekend.
So instead, I reserved some other books, including the next three in the juvenile ‘Princess School' series. I read the first one I found at a thrift store and liked it, so what the heck. It's cute, and a fun read, but I don't need to keep ‘em forever. I'll probably pick ‘em up when we run to the Post Office tomorrow - amazingly, the item I put up on eBay has already sold as a Buy It Now, and I wanna get it on the way ASAP.
