We are all overwhelmed with the economic news. If you are not careful, you will wrap yourself up in all the bad news and not be able to move forward. Well guess what, we don't have any choice but to keep moving forward. We don't have any control over what is going on in the economy. I heard someone in a meeting say this and I really liked it. "If unemployment is at 7%, well guess what 93% are working. The media doesn't put it that way. They only report the bad news.

So what can we do to stay motivated? Instead of thinking about all the bad news, think about all of the things you have to be grateful for. Live a life of gratitude.

Take advantage of the slow time to create your goals for the year and determine what you action steps will be. Take a class to increase your knowledge or skills in an area you are weak in. Read motivational books and listen to motivational audio tapes. Spend some time creating a vision of what you want your dream life to be like.

Practice turning the negative into positive affirmations.

I guarantee these suggestions will lift your spirits and will even attract good things to you.

I would love to hear your ideas and suggestions.

Interesting Awning Valance

These are the pictures of the finished valance. I have to admit, this was one of the funniest and most challenging treatments I have done. I did get to use some quilting techniques that I have been reading about.

I also made a trunk for the beautiful elephant. My client wanted a trunk that her children would be able to bend. She really wanted them to be able to swing on it, but I decided that probably wasn't a good idea.

This client had an incredible jungle scene painted on the walls of her children's play room. It is incredible. She contacted me because she wanted a valance that would carry on the theme. When the painter painted the mural, there is a tree that starts on one side of the window and continues to the other. I have been studying quilting and 3D quilting and fabric folding. It finally dawned on me to use this application on this valance. I am going to appliques the branches on the face fabric and then create the leaves individually using the 3D and fabric folding techniques. I am very excited about the project.

Today I cut out the valance and pieced it together, next I cut out the branches and glued them onto the fabric. Tomorrow I will be attaching them to the valance using a satin stitch. I'll let you know how that works out.