The Passing of an Angel

Hello Everyone,

I ask once again of friends near and far to pray for my family.

We lost an angel this year, last August.  My sweet little niece who was only 13 years old.  Though she fought valiantly, complications of diabetes ended up being too much for her small little body.  The Lord took her only a few short days after her 13th birthday.  She turned 13 on August 5, 2014 and died on August 16th.

I keep thinking I'll wake up from this nightmare, but every morning I wake with her on my mind, every day I miss her more and more and every day our entire family must find a way, must find the courage and the strength to continue on without her.

Please pray for all of us....

Bless you all,
Brenda

My Dear Friends....

Please pray for my family.

An event has happened in my family that I am asking prayers for.  The only worse type of event I would imagine would be a serious illness or death in the family.

I have a nephew who was just informed on Thursday that that was his last day of employment.  He and his family are devastated.  This nephew of mine who is a devout Christian, who comes from the old school…..you’re never absent, you’re always on time, and you put in a good day’s work, who is the type of person others strive to be, had to go home that day to inform his wife (my niece) and his two young diabetic children that, along with everything else that losing a job entails, that beginning November 1^st they will have no medical insurance.  No insurance to cover all the necessities that special needs diabetic children require.

They say that God never gives you more than you can handle, but sometimes you have to ask yourself…when is enough, enough?  Over the past 10 years we have had….my employer went out of business leaving me without a job, my husband had a heart attack, we had to file bankruptcy, I fell into a deep depression, my niece was diagnosed as bipolar and her two young children, within a month of each other, despite the enormous odds the doctors gave her, had both her young children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.  Not to mention....a young cousin was discovered to have anorexia, my sister had to have a double mastectomy for breast cancer, and her husband (my brother-in-law) was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. 

Okay God….I’m saying it….Enough!!!  Please….enough…..enough.

Please pray for my family…I would be ever so grateful.

Brenda

Hi There Everyone From a beautifully sunny, but also very humid, Indiana. 

I have a few issues I would really love to discuss with everyone and I WOULD ask that those who can please respond to these messages.  I really value and actually need everyone’s input please.  As my website and blog along with all of the free patterns, tutorials, etc., are aimed at pleasing all of you; that makes your opinion twice as important to me.

First I want to sincerely thank everyone who wrote me a note or signed my guest book thanking me for the free patterns.  You all have been so incredibly sweet…..and I will never forget nor will I ever take for granted that which you all have given me.

I also once again have to specify that my patterns are all copyrighted.  You may “sew” or “complete” the pattern to sell at craft shows, etc., but you may NOT sell the patterns.  The patterns are copyrighted and not yours to sell.  Not to mention that I am giving them away for free.  I, unfortunately, found another person on eBay who is selling my patterns.

So I would love it if anyone who has the time could go to my website, download one of my patterns, if you have not already done so, and please tell me if my copyright is obvious to you.  If not, then this is not their fault and I need to make it more prominent and obvious to those who are downloading my patterns.

Okay….here’s the real reason for this letter.  If you have not already noticed, I have not been actively creating new patterns for a couple of years now.  My sewing machines both went down at the same time.  That along with some other issues prompted my stopping.  I always intended to start back up again but for some reason I just never did.  Since then my attention has been demanded elsewhere and I’ve never had the time needed to jump back into pattern making.  However, I think I would like to start the newsletter up again.  Now the newsletter always had a new pattern in it for all of you, the subscribers, from Lillie Mae’s Crafts.  Since I’m not actively creating new patterns, I thought perhaps you all would like a little free advertising.  All of those who have their own businesses and even those who don’t would be eligible. 

It would, of course, be free.  Anyone who would like to participate would just email me with a description of their website, blog, etc., and a description of the free pattern they have to offer.  I would then get back with them and together we would design their “ad” for the newsletter.  I have a pretty strong and long following for my newsletter.

Those of you who might be interested in such a deal…..let me know ASAP!  Anyone who has any suggestions, questions, etc., please, as usual, don’t hesitate to drop me a note.

Thanks much everyone and have a safe summer.

  

Blessings,

Brenda

Hello Everyone from a VERY RAINY INDIANA….

First I want to sincerely thank everyone who wrote to me about my blog about a “Throw Away.”  I really debated with myself on whether or not to post it, but in the end, it was very therapeutic and helpful.  Please also accept my apologies for not answering everyone or posting anything more about it until now. 

To clarify a bit about that post which I’m sure seemed a bit cryptic to some, it was about a man who abused me.  It was physical, sexual, and emotional abuse which started when I was just a child and continued until I was a young adult.  I started in therapy as a young adult and have been in and out of therapy over this for years.  I really felt I had dealt with it and all of its issues.  I was mistaken.

Shortly after Bob and I married we considered moving.  However, Bob and I both have family and friends here, and neither of us really wanted to move.  So it was a happy surprise when this person moved instead…and had been gone for years and years. 

Unfortunately, right before I posted “Do You Know What a Throw Away is? he had moved back.  This brought back all the memories.  But on the other hand, shouldn’t we all rise to a challenge? And this has been a challenge for me. 

Every day since I posted that I would check in and read the sweet notes my “friends” left for me.  You cannot know what every little note and email message left for me and sent to me has meant.  You really do feel so very much alone when you’re going through such an ordeal….but I no longer feel alone ….thanks to all of you.

Bless You All,

Brenda

P.S.  I want to draw everyone’s’ attention to my new picture.  It’s been quite a few years since I started this blog and posted the picture of me as a blonde (with my niece Debbie at her wedding).  Well I thought it might be nice for you all to meet the “present time” me….and yes, I’m a natural brunette.  The picture isn’t that great, but I really felt that ‘therapeutic-wise” posting the new picture now was a good idea.  I’ll post a better one when I have a chance to get one taken.

Do You Know What a Throw Away Is?

Do you know what a throw away is? 

I’m writing this I think as more or less a form of therapy.  Hoping, I think, that if I put pen to paper (so to speak) perhaps it will stop haunting me.  If I bring out in the open that which I have spent a lifetime hiding…perhaps then it will stop haunting me.  Since I know that most, if not all, of my family have no knowledge or interest in this blog….that makes it safe. 

Oh yeah…what is a throw away you ask?  I am a throw away.  At least that’s what I spent my childhood believing.

What do you do….where do you go…..when your world crumbles down around you??? In therapy for years to forget? no not forget…to cope, to be able to handle memories which haunt your every waking hour and even into the night.  Finally though, finally over the years you have to say to yourself, “I’m there.”  I can handle what I can remember and you file it away in the hopes that nothing and I do mean N-O-T-H-I-N-G happens at any time in your life that might spark one of those memories.  You file them away and you try with everything you have not to remember.  It takes a while before they are not the first thing that enters your head when you wake and the last to leave when you go to sleep.  But….after many years you’re there and you find yourself able to appreciate…no not just appreciate, you find yourself actually enjoying each day of your life.  And for several years you are able to skip by, to escape if you will….and it is heaven.  Then…something happens, the panic and fear almost forgotten grabs you and once again the darkness overtakes your life. 

I thought I was the only one, but I wasn’t….there was one more...a loved one.  I escaped thinking I was the only target.  A throw away…that’s how you feel.  As if your life and indeed your very soul have no worth…no value….which makes you a throw away.  Somehow I thought the other one was loved….safe…but I was wrong.  How do you cope with the feelings of guilt???....how could I have not seen it???  And the tears once more flow and you find yourself struggling to stay afloat….but you know you have to.   So you reach out to those who have proved to you over the years they can be trusted.  You reach out and you hold on….and you hold on.

Stolen Patterns

Hello Everyone from Rainy Indiana

I regret that family emergencies have taken "forever" it seems to work themselves out.  And just when I think it's safe to take my focus away from family and back to my passion, which of course is creating my patterns, then another emergency arises. 

I do so want to thank all of you who have been loyal followers of Lillie Mae's Crafts.  So many of you have written to express your gratitude for the free patterns....which definitely puts a smile on my face.  It is all of you that make it all worthwhile.

And it is those same loyal readers who were kind enough to alert me to the 2 stores on E-Bay who were selling my patterns.  As far as I'm concerned this is the same as stealing.  I have taken the steps I deem necessary and hopefully this will be resolved shortly.  Those 2 stores had other patterns for sale which unfortunately I have to assume are probably stolen from another designer.  For those of you reading this, if any of you are pattern designers yourself, I would be on the lookout for your patterns being sold on E-Bay also.

Regrettably I have to assume that there are probably more stores on E-Bay that have my stolen patterns for sale.  I am seriously considering taking my store down.  I love designing patterns though and actually have a few new patterns that I still haven't listed.  I have considered creating a store where a "membership" is required before anyone is allowed to download any patterns.  This at least would give me names of anyone downloading my patterns and perhaps a little more protection in that area.  I'm not even sure how that is done.

What I do know is that I'm so very disappointed...and very hurt.  

If anyone else has any suggestions on how to protect my patterns, please drop me a note.  And...if anyone else sees my patterns for sale somewhere else....please let me know.

NOTE:  If I do find anyone else selling my patterns on E-Bay, I will not give them the chance of taking them down before I take other measures as I have before.  I'm really tired of trying to be the "nice guy."  They certainly know that these are NOT their patterns...they know it's stealing.  The next person I find that has stolen my patterns and listed them for sale on E-Bay...I'll email or call E-Bay right away to let them know that this particular person has stolen merchandise for sale.

Hi Everyone,

Once again I'm asking for some advice...p-l-e-a-s-e (lol). 

The pictures below are of a lotion that I found and purchased at...one of my all time favorite shopping spots...Goodwill!!!

This is actually a brand of lotion that I have read about, but found to be a little pricey for me...so I was so excited to have found this at Goodwill...paid $1.99 for it.

However, there aren't any instructions given on the bottle and I haven't been able to find this same bottle anywhere yet on the web.

I took a close up of the bottle so you could clearly see the name ... and it says:

Shiseido

Skin Lotion (Rich)

Yes...it does look more like a toner, but I have found this brand to have some "whitening" lotions and other lotions that look the same as this lotion does, but they are in a different type bottle and, of course, do not say "skin lotion (rich)" as this bottle does.

I even thought that perhaps it was perfume (even though the label clearly says it's lotion), and it does have a wonderful scent, however, when applied to the skin, the scent disappears.

If anyone could advise me on this...I would be so grateful as I LOVE this find of mine and would love to be able to use this lotion.  From what I've read about Shiseido, this brand is suppose to work wonders for those fine lines and wrinkles...so...HELP!!! (lol)