Harvest Time

Last week we picked our first tomatoes from our garden!!! Hooray! We have been averaging at least two a day since. Does anyone have good canning recipes for tomatoes? Is ketchup possible?

*Adler added is night time binky to the photo! He thinks it is pretty important too :)

So Yummy

I have decided to finally try (and review) several recipes I have saved off of people's blogs! Julie has shared so many tasty sounding treats! I made her Cheesy Artichoke Dip and let me say YUMMO! This is so cheesy and so yummy! I used marinated artichokes in my dip and it was delicious! * I will post my review of her Salted Carmel Cupcakes soon too, it appears I only took pics with my cell phone of those. And I have made 3 batches of them so far!

Oopsie... I Made it Too :)

Thanks Melly for another great softie pattern! Can you believe this was a freebie? So generous! I used scraps from the quilt I made my sister for her birthday last year. Vintage sheets! I made this little Oopsie for her youngest son, Carter! He loves every softie I have ever made so I thought he deserved one of his own! Enjoy Carter Bug!

The Generosity Continues

Melly has shared an adorable pattern on Moda Bake Shop! Hurry over and check it out :)

Cell Case Orders

I have been making cell cases for family and friends for a while now. Over Father's Day weekend a fantastic thing happened. One of my friends that I made a case for showed it off to her family and just like that I had an order for 8!!! I know for some of you this is common occurrence, but for me I get asked to make one or two at a time! I was ecstatic!The best part was the feedback I received. I made the cases slightly wider (to fit an iphone) and added a pocket on the back to hold ID/debit cards. The strap is also a tad wider as well. I currently have an order for 2 more and I am going to make my salesman friend a new redesigned case as well.It feels so good to have people other than family LOVE the things you create (no offense Mom)!

*I got the original case idea from Moda Bake Shop, I LOVE that blog!

I Love Chinese Food, but the Aussie's have my Heart

I had a horrible summer cold shortly after school got out. My throat was killing and then I craved hot n sour soup. My sweet hubby brought some home for me and this was my fortune!!! The soup made me feel a 100% and the fortune help to motivate me!

A Childhood friend phoned me and asked me to make her grandmother a special gift for Mother's Day. Her grandfather had recently passed and she wanted a bear or something made out of his favorite sweater. The more we spoke she said everyone thought her grandfather reminded them of a turtle. I had remembered reading about Ernst on Jodie's Blog, but sadly the pattern was not yet available. She was getting ready for a big show so I was afraid to even ask if she had a rough draft copy I could get my hands on. But I asked (begged really) and you know what, she sent me a copy!!! What a complete sweetheart! It seems I heart many Aussie Crafters. It turns out they are all truly kind, supportive, and giving people (remember my Melly love affair)!

These little turtles are so sweet! The pattern is amazing! My dear friend's entire family has been slowing getting a turtle of their own from Grandpa's sweater. He had 8 children, so I have been busy. The turtles get a little crazy while waiting for their new homes. I find them all over the house, playing with the toys, climbing into craft supplies, even out in the garden!

Thank you Jodie for your sweet spirit and generous heart!

Happy Fourth of July!!!

I know my last post was LONG! If you made it through, congrats! More crafty goodness to come.

* I was playing with the new templates in blogger and now I can't get my boring old one back! Anyone know how?

Something to Share

I am coming back to blogging. Just took a little time off to craft and enjoy the summer. I have had this little tidbit from Andy Rooney saved from a few years ago. I LOVE it! It is so true. I thought you all may enjoy it too. More crafty posts to come! I have been super busy :)

"As I grow in age I value women who are over 30 most of all. Here are just a few reasons why:
A woman over 30 will never wake you in the middle of the night to ask "What are you thinking" She doesn't care what you think.

If a women over 30 doesn't want to watch the game, she doesn't sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do. And, it's usually something more interesting.

A woman over 30 knows herself well enough to be assured in who she is, what she is, what she wants and from whom. Few women past the age of 30 give a damn what you might think about her or what she is doing.

Women over 30 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course if you deserve it they won't hesitate to shoot you if they think they can get away with it.

Older women are generous with praise often undeserved. They know what it's like to be unappreciated.

A woman over 30 has the self-assurance to introduce you to her women friends. A younger woman with a man will often ignore even her best friend because she doesn't trust the guy with other women. Women over 30 couldn't care less if your attracted to her friends because she knows her friends won't betray her.

Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a woman over 30. They always know.

A woman over 30 looks good wearing bright red lipstick. This is not true of younger women.
Once you get past a wrinkle or two a woman over 30 is far sexier than her younger counterpart.

Older women are forthright and honest. They'll tell you right off if you are a jerk or if you are acting like one! You don't ever have to wonder where you stand with her.

Yes we praise women over 30 for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately its not reciprocal.
For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed hot woman of 30+, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of himself with some 22-year-old waitress.

For all those men that say, " Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free". Here is an update for you. Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage, why? Because women realize it is not worth buying an entire PIG, just to get a little sausage.

Angelman Syndrome

Please take the time to watch this wonderful video. The song is so true. No one ever plans for their family not to be "perfect". We all plan our lives based on "perfect". The "it will never happen to me" mentality. My sweet nephew Carter was born with Angelman Syndrome. My sister, his mom, is my BEST friend in the whole world. We live 4 minutes from each other. We wanted to raise our kids as siblings, not just cousins, yeah we are that close and crazy! Our lives are still close and TIGHTLY entwined. Her son Carter is turning 5 this month and our lives are FAR from the "perfect" lives we always had planned. Life is HARD! I encourage you to familiarize yourself with this syndrome. Awareness is half the battle in receiving proper funding for a cure. We are walking as a family this Saturday to support our Carter Bug. Feel free to click on the link on my sidebar. It is not just to donate, but is a great site for help and information. If you would like to join us to walk this weekend we would LOVE it!

The Kid's Art Center

A few months back I created this little space in my kitchen for the kiddos to do some of their crafting. We have had the table for a while, but I had it hidden in the basement. The paper organizer used to house some of my scrapbook papers. The shelves were Target clearance years ago. I had everything on hand. A fresh coat of paint and everything is good as new! It was great to transform a space just for the kids! They LOVE it!!! Adler got right to work :)
The polka dot bulletin board just isn't big enough for all the creating my two little ones do. With Summer coming and the kids around more often what will you do to help them explore their creativity?

The Crabs

Here are the Crabs! The inspirations behind the shirts! Really they are happy kiddos most of the time! I thought a photo of them actually wearing the shirts would be nicer than them just laying on the drive way :)

Cute and Ewwww.

If you have a bug phobia don't look past these crab shirts! I am warning you, you will feel creepy crawlies on you for a while after viewing the pics below. I wasn't going to let myself do any crafty until I got my craft space cleaned and organized, but then my mom lent me her newest cricut cartridge! I LOVE it! I am busy making oodles of appliques! My kiddos needed matching CRAB shirts, because they are always crabby LOL!
I got these organic cotton matching numbers at Walmart both for 5.50! They are sooooo cute!Look at this SPIDER I, Gina, found just outside of our garage! Thank heavens it was dead already, because I don't think I could have stepped on it! It would have crunched like a mouse or other small animal. Ewwwwwww. I can't even think about it. Worse I hope there isn't some big family of Tarantulas living in my garage or worse my house!!! I couldn't find a penny for size reference so I used a pack of gum. Remember it is DEAD so I think it looks smaller with it's legs all curled under it. This thing is fuzzy my friends. Can you see its eyes? I put it in an artichoke jar for Gina to take in to her class tomorrow. ( Sorry Miss Bode)

Oh Yes, Oh Yes, It's Springtime!

We picked flowers the other day at my Dad's house! It is always fun to spend some time with Grandpa Pat. He planted over 3000 bulbs a few years ago!!! My house smelled wonderfully!

The dust on the mantle is just an added bonus! Life is about experiences not cleaning, right?

After picking flowers we spent the afternoon at the Botanical Gardens! I LOVE springtime!

Eggstra Fun Egg Swap

I mailed my goodies for Shara's Eggstra Fun Egg Swap. If you are participating and want to be surprised by what I am sending, please stop reading now! This is your SPOILER WARNING!!! If you are like Sarah and hate to be surprised, by all means read on :)

I packaged all of my babies carefully in their eggs!They were so excited to be sent off to their new homes.I was so sad to see them go. If you did not get a chance to participate, Shara will be giving away one of my little chicks along with some other swap goodies once the swap is over. Just check her blog out, she will add more details about the give a way soon! (I used a Melly & Me pattern for the sweet chicks)

A Simple Easter Wreath.

The weather is finally beautiful where I live. It may not last, so while it is here we are soaking it up. I let Adler play outside yesterday while I made this wreath on the front porch. It was so simple. Adler even helped by handing which egg he thought should go on next!I used an 18" grapevine wreath, a pack of 48 regular sized plastic Target eggs, and one 6 pack of Jumbo Target eggs. With my trusty glue gun we were done in no time! The whole project cost less than 6 dollars!!! Not a bad little front door statement. What do you all think?

Pinwheel Quilt!

Dana is hosting another Quilt a Long, so of course I am game! I Loved the quilt I made last time. She has such a great way of explaining things. It makes it so much easier for me to stay focused when I am part of a quilt a long. I am making this quilt for myself and using fabrics from my stash only!!! I hope the only thing I will have to buy for this quilt is the batting :)

New blog.

My sister and I have FINALLY opened our Etsy shop! Also we started a new blog to share our craftiness! I will still update this blog :) I just didn't want this blog to change into a never ending promo machine for our shop.

It is a Sad Day.

We had to put our beloved cat, Moofasa, to sleep today. He was such an important member of our family. Such a LOVER. He would talk your ear off, even when you wanted to sleep. He let you know when things around the house just weren't right. He was my design consultant when I was sewing, he had to touch each and every fabric. Most importantly he cared for each and every member of the family. When you were having a bad day he caressed you. When the babies cried he came to see what was taking me so long to get to them. He greeted every guest with a warm welcome.

It was a difficult decision today. He was always a LARGE cat, nearly 20 pounds. Today he barely weighed 7! His kidneys had failed and were very small. Even with treatment he may have made it 2 weeks to possibly 2 months. I couldn't let our gentle man suffer any longer. My husband had him at the vet. Gina and I said our tearful goodbyes to Moofasa over the phone. She cried so hard telling him goodbye. My husband, who rarely shows tearful emotions, broke down. He held Moofasa and asked the vet for a brush to brush him one last time. I could tell when Kerry got home he had cried during the 20 minute drive home. We are heartbroken. I am done with having pets for a while.

Goodbye Moofasa, you will forever be in our hearts. Thank you for being so good to us.

I Really do Like to Blog.

I know I haven't been blogging much. I have really been trying to get more things done that I have been neglecting. If I read my blog I probably would have quit checking it long ago! Thanks to all of you that still check in from time to time. Below is my contribution to Sarah's Heart to Heart Valentine Swap. I received so many goodies, most of which were immediately claimed by Gina and added to her room :)This afternoon Gina and I began making some new little dolls. She collects the Harajuku Perfumes and has been dying to make some of her own! I love my crafty little girl. I am off to see if the paint is dry so we can work on these girlies a little more :)

* I just noticed the summer Harajukus, if Gina sees these I will have to get a job to support her habit!

I Made the Deadline!!!

I finished the quilt! I LOVE the way it turned out! It was dark when I took the picture so the colors did not turn out the greatest.
Look at how happy he is! The 5 days of power sewing was all worth it! Happy 7th Birthday Bay!!!

*I used the Wonky Star tutorial again for the border on this quilt.

May the Force be with You

My nephew, Baylor, is turning 7 this week. He has such a great imagination! Last year I made him this great Tattoo Shop. I was wondering what in the world might come close to that. I had purchased some vintage Star Wars sheets at the thrift last summer. Bay loves Star Wars and has been asking his mom what I was going to do with them ever since he saw them at my house. Well since I had made his brother an I spy quilt I thought it might be perfect to make Baylor a quilt of his own. These boys are snugglers. I finally came up with a plan for the fabric while in the shower last week. I started the quilt this afternoon and have 5 days before I need to gift it. Needless to say I will be one crazy quilting machine LOL!

I have to add some more to the sides. I am thinking wonky stars of various sizes? Any thoughts?

Heart to Heart Swap

I am participating in Sarah's Heart to Heart swap . Here is a little sneak peek of what I am sending. Well really I am not sending, I am driving them to her house and helping her package up the goodies to be resent :) I love meeting people in blog world only to find out you live close to them in real life!
If you would love to receive a beautiful bit of Valentine goodness rush over to Saucy's and enter to win her gorgeous conversation heart charm bracelet!

I am in LOVE!!!

Check out this blog! Absolutely AMAZING! I want to build nearly everything she has made plans for. I can't wait to get into all of my husbands tools and get building :)

Alice in Wonderland!

I am really getting excited for the new Alice in Wonderland movie!!! I was wondering if anyone else would be interested in an Alice themed swap? I was thinking just a swap of something crafted/created that was inspired by the film? You can view a trailer of the film here. Let me know if you are interested I will get the swap organized quickly if there is enough interest.

I Spy Quilt

I participated in a great I spy swap last year! It was so exciting getting all of those different novelty prints! I have a very special little nephew that I just knew would adore a gift like this. I was so thankful that Wendy developed a pattern and shared it. This is a twin sized I spy quilt.

Sorry for the terrible photo.

I struggled a little with finding the right binding fabric and backing fabric in my stash, but I LOVE the way it came out in the end. My own kids LOVED it too. They were playing with it up until I gave it a final wash and wrapped for Christmas! I am participating in another swap now to make one for my own kiddos :)

An Earring Holder - My First Tutorial

Wow I can't believe this is my first tutorial!
Since Gina got her ears pierced last year her earring collection has been growing. She informed me that she needed some place to keep them all. We looked all over for a cute affordable earring tree and found nothing we liked. I thought there has to be a way to make one. This project is super affordable and in my opinion super cute. I had all of the supplies on hand, but even if you need to purchase them you will spend less than $3!!!

Supplies needed: An unfinished wood 4x6 frame from Michaels ( $1 )

Plastic Canvas (mine was from the flea market, $1 for 20 sheets)

Craft Paint (on hand)

Embellishments (I just used a ribbon, but the sky is the limit)

Glue (on hand) Set up your work space.

Open the frame and remove the cardboard frame backer (for lack of a better word). Set this aside, we will use it as a template later. Paint the wooden frame any color your heart desires. I used two coats making sure to get the outer edges and the inner edges.

While the paint is drying take the cardboard backer from the frame and trace it onto the plastic canvas.

Next take you scissors and cut your canvas just inside the line you traced. It will need to be just slightly smaller than the piece you traced.

Make sure your frame is dry and flip it over. Place your piece of plastic canvas in the frame.

Then fold down the metal holders to keep the plastic in place.

There was a peg that came with the frame. Place this peg into one of the holes in the back of the frame. Depending on which hole you put it in your earring tree will be either vertical or horizontal.Finally stand your frame upright and embellish. I just used hot glue to attach a bow on mine. I figured simple was best, let the earrings shine!

Place your earrings in the holes and PRESTO! A super earring holder on the cheap :)

Please let me know what you think? Too many photos? Too much instruction? This was my first one, so I am open to any feedback. Thanks! Oh and if you make one leave a link I would love to see it :)