Eurodam Gift bags... stuffed and ready!

I have been crafting up a storm 

in preparation for my nieces 

very first cruise. 

I am determined to make it 

extra special and 

extra memorable.

And finally... 

all but the shirts I am 

working on "with her" 

are complete and ready to be gifted. 

(In advance--- since toting these packages 

would require an extra suitcase!)

I put my designs together on 

cricut design space and then 

printed them out on my cricut xtra.

Thermal mugs with clip

 ons and handles...

These are the storage bags I embellished:

I even decided to make a set of tees 

in case the others are never completed.

I embellished magnets for the doors.

I plan to surprise them 

with one the evening before 

each port stop...

especially excited with the excursions they don't know we've planned for them!

And then I neatly folded and

 stacked all I had embellished in to each bag:

Eurodam... Here we come!!!

"Holland America Orange Party"

The Holland America Orange Party 

is a fun, themed event on 

Holland America Line cruises 

that celebrates the Dutch heritage 

of the cruise line.

It's typically held on one evening 

of each cruise and involves 

wearing orange attire, 

enjoying orange-themed decorations, 

drinks, and appetizers, 

and celebrating with live music 

and performances. 

The party is a nod to 

the Dutch royal family, 

the House of Orange, 

and is often held in conjunction 

with King's Day, a Dutch national holiday. 

While not mandatory, 

the party encourages guests to 

wear orange outfits and accessories, 

like wigs, hats, boas, and bowties. 

I ordered 3 orange shawls on line and 1 tie

(Forgot to take pics during embroidery stages...)

Alas, My orange blends a bit too well :(

HAL Eurodam

Alaska Explorer

August 2025 ⚓

For Scott I kept it simple 

and embellished a tie 

with an anchor and his initials

Hope they will be fun surprises 

and perfect for the theme night!

Duck Swap Keyrings for HAL Alaska 2025

Creating Duck keyrings 

for Swaps and Duck hunts 

for my Alaska cruise 

this summer on board the 

HAL Eurodam.

My Bernina 990 powerfully 

embroidered through every layer I added...

 as each step of applique added to the dimensions

to complete the orange themed duck keyrings.

I used various faux leathers 

in different shades and 

textures of orange for duck the centers.

I tried to vary all the beaks and waddles... 

from duck to duck

Once all the variations in vinyl 

are appliqued in place, 

the actual embroidery begins...

After nearly an hour to stitch these guys

 all around the edges, 

it was time to swap thread colors 

and let scripts begin.

After stitch work was complete... 

I added tassel, keyring, and tags.

I ended up embroidering and 

creating a total of 30 ducks 

ready to sail to Alaska!

finally back embroidering sweatshirts at my Bernina

Life was nearly back to normal when the phone rang.

Alas, it rang at the exact same time someone suddenly had started banging on my inner garage door in to the kitchen!

The one I had left UNLOCKED.

The one within the LOCKED garage.

I was stunned and jumped up to get to the door- to grab the phone, to... to.... tooooooooooooooo

AND DOWN I WENT.

I extended my left arm to protect my new BIONIC left shoulder replaced August 21st.

AND

I did protect it!

Alas... I also really injured my left wrist :(

It was unconfirmed if bone was only fractured or indeed broke...

since it hurt like hell- I truly did not care what the wording was. All that mattered to me was my bionic shoulder was unaffected.

ALAS,

It also meant I was back to not sewing- AGAIN.

During this time mayhem set lose in my future cruise world.

One was canceled... and another we would decide to transfer to another line before the line could cancel that cruise as well.

Since I couldn't sew... I spent enough time compulsively researching my cruise options to possibly become a travel agent specializing in cruises for the solar eclipse and Antarctica!

But this week I am finally back to doing some machine embroidery!

I'm starting back in my sewing with simple projects to avoid wrist stress.

I ordered 4 zip front sweatshirts, &

chose some basic ITH machine embroidery designs off the internet. 

I further embellished the with my computer fonts and here you have it:

Ready to cruise!!!