WillowBean

A few finishes, a snowblob, and a crawler...

2011-12-08T10:02:00.000-08:00

Oh my word.

I thought I was getting a good start on Christmas gifts this year...

I was proud of myself.

By the 1st of the month

I had all necessary supplies purchased, everything cut and prepped,

tutorials tagged, pages of sewing books marked, and pins on Pinterest up the yin-yang.

Everything got stacked neatly in a laundry basket, just waiting to be picked up and

sewn together with love.

But, I think I got a little cocky.

Because now...

I am in complete panic mode.

The good news is that the first Christmas party is 9 days away.

The bad news is that the first Christmas party is 9 days away.

Am I excited?

Heck yeah.

Am I totally stressed?

You know it.

Should I even be blogging right now?

Not a chance.

I just love giving the perfect handmade presents

- maybe a little too much-

because I've actually overflowed into a second basket.

Oh goodness.

I would love to show

all the Christmas presents

I'm working on, but I can't, because that would ruin the surprise for those getting the presents.

DUH!

So instead, I will show other things I made that aren't Christmas presents, like this:

It's my latest finished quilt.

It felt good to finish up a quilt.

I haven't done a quilt in a while, and this one was, well, it was just nice.

I made it for a woman my hubby works with.

I love it.

I think it's perfectly girly and sweet.

I was sick of patchwork, but I had already cut all the squares,

so I turned them all on point.

It was my first time trying that out,

even though I've wanted to for quite some time,

and I dig it.

And I love the stripy binding.

But, I mean, who doesn't love a stripy binding?

I hand-stitched the sweet little name in one of the

less-busy squares

to add an extra little touch of 'special' to the quilt.

***

Here's my November contribution to do.Good stitches' Grace circle.

I took this picture at night,

so the colors are WAY off-

but that's a coral square and a navy square.

We all used this tutorial for the 'hole in the barn door' squares from Mary Catharine's blog. She's really sweet. And talented.

And I'm also using another one of her tutorials for a Christmas present.

But I'm not going to spoil it, so that's all for now.

***

And Willow got invited to her first birthday party

(that wasn't a family member).

So, of course, I decided her friend needed to have a handmade, hand-stitched dolly.

And I made this decision the night before.

At about midnight.

Hence the bad picture taken at said party...

***

We also made a 'snowman' who is actually more like a snowblob.

You need a certain kind of snow for the making of snowpeople, and we just didn't have it.

Note to self: check snow before promising snowman to small child.

So, with that preface, I introduce to you, Carl:

He's basically a pile of snow with a hat, scarf, celery nose, tomato eyes and stick arms.

He's actually quite adorable.

Or, was quite adorable. Carl has since vanished.

Note to self: Warn small child what happens to beloved snowblob when temperature rises.

We had fun in the snow while it lasted...

***

And this little one is getting SO big.

Look who's crawling!

That's all for now because the doctor's office just called to remind me of Ellie's well-visit today, which I completely forgot about,

and now I must go bathe, dress, and get 3 people ready for the public eye in a very short amount of time.

Wish me luck.

Crunchy Fuzzy Loopy Tag Blankie Tutorial - Handmade Christmas

2011-11-30T13:21:00.000-08:00

Ellie is completely enamored with anything that makes

loud crunchy noises.

She also likes to suck on blankets and put her fingers through anything that loops.

And I'm pretty sure fuzzy things make her really happy.

She hasn't exactly told me,

but I think I'm picking up what she's laying down, if you know what I mean...

I magically fused all of her baby loves together into something I like to call,

"The Crunchy Fuzzy Loopy Tag Blankie".

In case you didn't pull it from the name, the blankie is crunchy, fuzzy, and loopy.

In other words, it's an auditory/tactile playground for babies.

It was also extremely easy to make with minimal materials.

2 pieces of scrap fabric

1 empty cereal or chip bag

ribbon scraps

pins

sewing machine

So easy, in fact, that I decided to write a tutorial for it.

Now, as Willow would say, let's get this party started.

You need:

*2 pieces of fabric (quilting weight or flannel) that are the same size- go search your scraps.

Cut to any size you want.

I used quilting weight for one side, flannel for the other to get some different textures in there.

*1 empty bag of chips or cereal- go search your pantry.

You need any kind of bag that makes a crunchy sound and can get wet.

Clean the bags and let them dry.

Then, cut them up the back seam so they're easier to work with and lay flat like so:

Cut the bag to be the same size as your 2 fabric pieces.

*Scraps of any non-wired ribbon or ric-rac - pieces should be at least 2" long to work well

Cut longer pieces into 2"-4" strips to make the loops.

Take one of your two pieces of fabric and place it right side up.

You will pin all your 'loops' to the right side of this fabric.

Now, take your 2"-4" pieces of ribbon and, one at a time, fold them in half, making a loop.

Line up the cut edges of the ribbon with the outside edge of the fabric,

with the looped end pointing towards the inside of your fabric rectangle and pin in place.

Continue along all 4 edges of fabric.

You should end up with something that looks like this:

Make as many or as few tag loops as you want.

When you've finished pinning all your loops,

take your other piece of fabric and place it on top of the fabric you just pinned the loops to, right sides together.

(So the wrong side is facing up)

Pin in place.

Next, take your piece of crunchy bag and place it on top of the fabric you just pinned.

Pin in place.

You should have a 'sandwich' of those 3 layers:

Take your 'sandwich' to your sewing machine, making sure the crunchy bag is on top.

Sew together with 1/4" seam allowance around 3 edges.

On the 4th edge, make sure to leave a gap about 3 inches wide.

Now, carefully turn your blankie sandwich completely right-side out through that gap.

Use a pen or the wrong end of a paintbrush to push the corners out from the inside so they're nice and pointy.

Smooth everything out.

To close the gap, turn under the open edges of fabrics 1/4" and pin.

If you had any loops located in the gap, you will need to re-pin those.

Make sure you place the loops in between the two fabric pieces and 1/2" inside (deep), with the looped end pointing out this time.

Pin in place.

Now, stitch just inside the edge of the blanket (about 1/8") around all 4 edges.

Backstitch at beginning and end.

Congratulations... you're done!!!

Now you have a super-fun Crunchy Fuzzy Loopy Tag Blankie to give to a tiny human!

And, if they're anything like Ellie,

they will love it so much that they squeal with delight and whip it around faster than the speed of light to blur the colors and hear it crunch.

Let me know if you have any questions or if anything is unclear...

I'll leave you be so you can get to work on your new projects.

The Hunchback of Two Really Cute Girlies...

2011-11-21T11:29:00.000-08:00

This may just be my favorite thing of all time:

My girls.

Aaah.

I just love them.

But I love that they love each other even more.

They're perfect.

Big Sister loves Little Sister and Little Sister loves her right back.

It helps that they are the happiest kids in the entire world.

The happiest.

In. the. entire. world.

And funniest.

They crack me up.

Especially the big one.

She's a gas.

Just in case you thought all I was going to do was gush about my beautiful children...psssh.

I thought I had a pillow form for this new little thing, but alas, I do not.

So you will get a 'work in progress' pic instead of a 'finished product' pic.

Willow has one coming, too.

But I think it's got about 2 stitches in it... so it wouldn't be that fun to look at.

Maybe I'll finish it by her 4th birthday... haha.

*Hopefully*

All my laundry was finished last week.

Now- NONE of it is.

None.

I hate laundry.

I want a shirt that says 'I hate doing laundry' so I can wear it when I have no clean clothes.

So, I guess I would wear it for

10 days straight,

then I would have clean clothes for approximately 47 seconds,

then I could wear it again.

But it would have to wash itself or forget it.

Also... my back is out.

I can't move, really.

I think it has something to do with Ellie going from

sleeping through the night

not sleeping at ALL through the night

which meant I fell asleep in a sitting position while holding her because she wouldn't let me put her down.

So now I'm stuck in a sitting position while attempting to stand.

That, and the fact that I'm getting old.

Don't even get me started... please. This upcoming birthday has got me all messed up.

Just call me Quasimodo... it's more fitting.

Sneak peek because I can't wait any longer...

2011-11-17T12:40:00.000-08:00

So, remember when I was all excited about showing

you guys my new

Nursery/Big Girl Room

on a budget which was completely underway and actually

almost complete

but then we moved, so I had to

start all over

in a new room in a new house?

Before it was finished?

Remember?

No?

Well, I'm almost done with the new Big Girl Room.

Which no longer has '/Nursery' attached to it

because Ellie's crib is in our room.

I couldn't imagine Ellie sleeping in a room that we were not sleeping in.

It's just too weird.

Willow slept in our room forever.

She even had her own room and then we just ended up putting her big girl bed in the corner in our room.

She ended up in there at some point every night anyway...

But she's getting bigger, and therefore needs her own room.

Sniff. Sniff.

Well, since I'm not completely done with her room,

but can't stay away from the blog any longer,

but am super-swamped with holiday sewing and 'our' projects that need finishing up,

and can't contain my excitement for that much longer,

I wanted to give a little sneak peek into Willow's Big Girl Room:

It's almost all handmade/DIY, free, thrifted, repurposed, or upcycled.

And most definitely within a new (even lower) budget- just to see if I could do it.

It's turning out pretty sweet.

I'm pulling inspiration from lots of places...

And Willow has even been creating some art for her room.

Awesome.

I love that she loves making stuff as much as I do...

I just have a few things to finish up and then I can't wait to post the finished result!

Aaaand

- once I get the new room finished up and posted-

I'll be posting some tutorials for everything that we made.

That way you can have a super-cute room too without spending a wholelotta moola.

Yippee for everybody.

And I'm still working on making a PDF sleeve pattern for that upcycled dress.

Don't worry.

I didn't forget.

It's just a busy time of year. I'm sure you all can relate.

Happy Thursday!

All Hallows' Eve

2011-11-06T20:51:00.009-08:00

Halloween 2011.

It was a blast, I must say.

Willow was an 'Owl Princess'.

In case you're wondering... the pink pumpkin jack-o'-lantern candy thingy was a must-have.

Not orange.

Pink.

That's what made the 'princess' part of the costume.

Duh.

And Ellie was our little Screech Owl.

Believe me, she definitely earned the 'screech' part of that title.

Girl's got some lungs.

It was cold,

so there's not so many pictures of Ellie in her full costume...

which is a total bummer,

because she looked stinking adorable.

One of these years I will get all the pictures I want before the trick-or-treating begins.

You just watch...

***

At first Willow was going to be Elvis.

Hilarious, right?

But then I saw some owl costumes,

particularly this one and this one,

and persuaded her to change her mind.

Aaaand

I thought it would be a LOT easier to make an owl than it would be to make an Elvis,

not gonna lie.

It was super easy.

And way cheap.

The only thing I bought was the felt for the wings.

I used this pattern for wingy inspiration.

I used the general wing shapes the website provided,

-but I thought the directions were very Martha Stewartish-

which makes sense, considering it's her website...

So I just kinda winged it.

Get it?

Winged it.

I know. I'm hilarious.

I chose the colors based on those leggings, which I thought looked very Owl-y.

Cut all the 'feathers' from scraps.

Sewed them all onto an old t-shirt of mine that I cut the sleeves off of.

And I used safety pins to make it a bit smaller,

as well as attach the wings.

It's all about using what you have...

I think she liked it :)

She flapped away from almost every house.

Some of the houses were on a slight incline, and she ran down their yards

so fast

after each house that we had to kind of

block her from the road and act like buffers

just in case

she gained too much momentum and couldn't stop.

Or if she took a digger.

Which she did.

A few times.

It's all good though... CANDY!

Favorite shot of the night:

I'm pretty sure she's thinking, "Alright... I got this!".

Hope everybody had a Bewitching Halloween!!

And just for fun, here's a picture of Ty and my hubby,

-aka Dumb and Dumber-

all dressed up in their Halloween costumes:

Orange and blue tuxedos (made from a men's suit pattern)

complete with

matching orange and blue shoes (old shoes and spray paint),

orange and blue canes (dowels and a railing piece from Home Depot),

orange and blue tuxedo shirts(old button-down shirts dyed and ruffled up with cut up t-shirts),

and matching orange and blue bow-ties and top hats (pattern).

Just add a blonde wig for Harry and a blacked out tooth for Lloyd and you're ready to party...

Do we know how to Halloween or what?

Good times...

Upcycling- even though I totally hate that word.

2011-10-20T11:35:00.012-07:00

I've never liked the word 'upcycle'.

Not sure why.

It just bugs me.

But I actually like to upcycle things quite a bit.

As many things as I can, actually.

It's kind of addicting.

And I need to get used to the fact that I might start using that dumb word more often.

Welcome it to my vocabulary, if you will.

I'll only half-welcome it for now.

Invite it in,

but make it sit in the cramped corner with all the really catty words...

Make it earn its keep.

My usual 'upcycling' includes:

*covering stains on Willow's shirts with fabric appliques to give them a new life.

*adding ruffles to dresses that are too short to make them longer.

*hemming clothes that are too long to make them shorter until she grows into them.

*adding fun trims and things to basic secondhand clothes to make them more 'Willow'.

I am very interested in expanding my upcycling endeavors, however.

I have a few reasons for this:

It's fun.

It saves money.

It makes me use what I have.

It makes me get creative.

It makes me think out of the box.

It sharpens my skillz.

(I think everyone should say skills like skillz- really feel the word; it's way more fun)

It reduces our footprint on the environment (to a degree).

And it makes me feel all cool and stuff.

This is my latest:

I took one of Drew's old button down shirts

- I don't think he ever wore it-

and mish-mashed a few tutorials together to get a general idea of what I was doing.

The best part is: it was REALLY EASY.

You can do this!!!

I really love the way it turned out- exactly what I was going for...

I'm digging the sleeves.

I really loved the inside cuffs of the old shirt and knew I wanted to use them somehow.

So I made the sleeves kind of puffed - and cuffed.

Let's call it puff-cuffed.

Just because it's fun to say.

I took off the ugly/boring grey buttons and

replaced them

with mismatched buttons from my Button Jar.

The Button Jar is sweet.

It never disappoints.

It used to hold Northern Beans, now it holds a wholelotta awesome.

Upcycling? I think so...

The collar was boring.

Most tutorials called for an elastic collar.

Honestly, I hate making finished hems, and I really don't care for making elastic casings.

Insert the ruffled collar.

And I think it's WAY cuter.

If there's a choice between elastic or ruffles- you always choose ruffles.

Always.

Here's the old shirt waving goodbye...

Here's a really quick look at how I did it:

I laid the old shirt out on the floor and made sure it was completely flat,

with no wrinkles- front and back.

I took one of Willow's dresses (that fits) and centered it on top of old shirt.

Once I had good placement of dress- I cut off sleeves and collar.

Then I just used Willow's dress as a pattern.

I traced the dress onto the front of the shirt with a Sharpie marker.

I traced about 1/2" from the edge of dress to account for seam allowances.

After it was all traced, I cut out the dress from both layers of the shirt at the same time.

I'm telling you, this is easy!

*when you place dress on top of shirt, make sure the buttons are in a 'good' spot for you.

Here's what it looks like all cut out:

The sleeves were probably the trickiest part.

On the next dress I'm probably going to tinker with them a bit to get them just right...

Anyways, I knew I wanted to use the

sweet inside cuff of the shirt...

So I cut the sleeves in half and kept the bottom half for my project.

Then, I cut the bottom sleeves down the seam to make them lay flat- or to 'open' them up.

I must have been excited about my project,

because I seem to lack many pics from this point forward...

oops.

Now, I know this is going to scare a few people, but you have to make a pattern for the sleeves.

Don't give up! Please!

It's so easy, you just need to know the basics of a sleeve.

Now, I was just going to seam rip one of Willow's dresses that had the same kind of sleeve I wanted, but I couldn't find any.

Bummer.

SO...

I used this general pattern instead that I found when I googled 'sleeve pattern'.

For real.

It's for a short sleeve, but it gave me all the general info for making a sleeve pattern of my own.

I got to work on tweaking a pattern that fit my opened up sleeve fabric.

Once you've got your pattern figured out,

Cut 2 of them from your old shirt sleeves.

Now all you have to do is sew the pieces together!!!!

Go in this order (with right sides together):

Sew one sleeve onto shirt front.

Sew other sleeve onto shirt front.

Sew first sleeve to shirt back.

Sew other sleeve to shirt back.

Now, with right sides still facing each other,

sew the side seams of the dress together, starting at the sleeves and moving down the side of the dress.

Sew both sides of the dress.

Turn inside out.

You have a dress!!!

If you used the old shirt cuffs when making your sleeves,

all that's left to do is finish the collar and hem the bottom.

I realize the above directions would be much more helpful with pictures...

If there are people who are actually interested in one, I will put together a WAY better tutorial.

Just email me or leave a comment and I will put it together ASAP.

But this is what I have for now... sorry.

I'll also show you how to make these really cute headbands:

These are also super easy, and there's NO sewing involved.

Just some hot glue, felt, fabric flowers, and buttons.

So you'll be able to make matching headbands for all the cute little upcycled outfits you make.

Seriously, let me know if you're interested in a tutorial.

Raid your hubby's old shirts to see if you've got any potentials- then email me.

willowbeanmama@gmail.com

I'm out.

Chasing Charlotte and do.Good

2011-10-06T08:13:00.008-07:00

Way back in February

I got an email from a woman named Kelly who was interested in ordering some

WillowBean Creations for her little one.

I get these kind of inquiring emails all the time, but this one was different.

She told me she was in the midst of adopting her soon-to-be daughter from a foreign country.

It sounds funny, but I could almost hear the nervous excitement in her voice

through the words on the screen.

I was instantly hooked, because my family has gone through adoption, too.

I'm from one of those big, intricate, crazy families that's had the fair share of

divorces, re-marriages, and adoptions which results in plenty of siblings,

not unlike many other families, I'm sure.

Step-siblings, half-siblings, adopted siblings...

There's a lot of us.

It's hard to explain to others, really.

And those words- step, half, adopted- I never really liked them, to be quite honest.

We're all just brothers and sisters.

You have no idea how many times I've wished for a Venn diagram when asked how many brothers and sisters I have... for real.

I don't really know where I'm going with this.

Like I said, it's hard to explain.

But what I'm trying to get to is that 3 of my 4 little brothers are adopted.

Which is probably why I felt an instant connection when Kelly emailed me.

Especially when I knew she was adopting her little girl from the same country my brothers are from.

Weird, right?

But wait- it gets better.

So...

Oh yes.

There was an email, and then a couple more emails, and then Kelly told me her daughter's name:

Charlotte.

And then she told me that Charlotte had Down Syndrome.

And I'm sure some of you have heard of my husband's cousin, Kelle, and her blog,

Enjoying the Small Things.

If you haven't, go check it out.

Oh, And get out from under your rock.

Long story short, Kelle's blog is great and fun to read and inspirational and all that good stuff.

Her daughter, Nella, also happens to have Down Syndrome.

I mentioned the blog to the other Kelly

(I know, it's a bit confusing with the same name... stay with me.)

as something she might enjoy taking a look at.

Then she told me that Kelle, and the words on her blog, were partly what inspired her to adopt a special needs child.

CRAZY, right?

I mean, out of all the millions of blogs on the internet,

what are the chances

that she would find both of ours that were connected in so many tiny little ways?

Well, I'm a sucker for small world coincidences like that-

so I was super excited to get to make sweet Charlotte a special present that will wrap her up at night and keep her warm and snuggled.

Over 6 months and 60+ emails later deliberating over the perfect present...

this is Charlotte's quilt:

It's one of the softest quilts I've ever made.

It's big (80x88") and warm and soft and everything you need in a quilt, really.

And it's bright. And fun.

And soft.

I wish you could reach through the screen and touch this.

It's so soft I decided to hand-stitch the binding on this whole thing so I could have it longer.

Not. even. kidding.

Here's a shot of the back:

It's a pieced back with random prints from the front and that solid aqua color.

The quilt is bound in a solid pink, which I think works really well to frame the front of the quilt as well as the back.

And you can see from the back that I machine-quilted 1/4" from each side of the seams.

Here's a special label I made for Charlotte's new quilt:

Congratulations

to Kelly and her husband,

who are still in the process of bringing their little girl home.

You can read more about their story on her blog, Chasing Charlotte.

And thank you for letting me take part in making something so special for your daughter...

***

Here are my October blocks for the Grace circle of do.Good stitches.

2 Wonky Log Cabin blocks...

I haven't made these kind of blocks in a long time, they were super fun and a good way to use scraps.

Maybe there's a new quilt to add to my list!

Happy Thursday... the weekend is coming, the weekend is coming!!

Time-sucking black hole...

2011-09-28T09:04:00.012-07:00

The internet literally sucks time out of my life.

And I don't really have enough extra time to share it with the good ol' internet.

It's a giant hour-devouring black hole.

I'm pretty sure I can hear time's rapid exodus from my day

- like a big whoooosh-

and sometimes it's even a creepy screeching sound.

During the day, it's not so bad.

I usually get on for just a 'quick second' to check a recipe or something.

No biggie.

But nights are the worst.

My viable sleeping minutes just tick, tick, tick - gone.

It's terrible.

I really need to do something about it.

Don't even get me started on Pinterest...

I have a love/hate relationship with that pretty little time-sucker.

It really is so. pretty.

Despite the internet, I have gotten some sewing accomplished.

Like I said a few days ago, all my commission pieces are done and gone, and it really does make relaxing a possibility.

Well, if you call it relaxing.

I call it relaxing, so I'll stick with it.

I get to sit and think about what I want to make next.

(I know, I know- living in the moment- but I'm a work in progress, what can I say?)

My creativity part gets all buzzy and jumpy.

I even twitch a bit.

It's a good time.

I've even made a list of what I've been thinking about.

I will share said list with you later- because I just thought of a few things to add.

There's nothing worse than an incomplete list, no?

In the meantime,

how about I share a BOY nursery set with you?

It was all designed around some fave fabrics, a mobile and a print

the customer planned on using in the nursery.

I'm loving the zig-zag thing happening with this one.

Really.

I love the colors, so bright and cheery.

And boy.

And the way the chocolate brown is used to accent all the pieces and bring them together is great, too:

chocolate brown bumper ties, binding and accents in quilt, and bottom border on crib skirt.

LOVE.

I made the zig-zag quilt using the HST method, which is by far my favorite for making perfect zigs and zags.

I machine quilted,

on either side of the zig-zag seams to add emphasis,

using a light grey thread,

and then added lots of extra quilting lines in the

solid brown zig (or zag).

I love the effect it made and it might be my favorite part of the set.

The quilting looks snazzy on the back, too!

And here's the handsome quilt in all it's zig-zagged glory.

(That's a tiny helper, not a huge quilt!)

Working on this set really got me wanting to make a few more zig-zag quilts... we'll see.

But I did manage to eek out a fall-inspired HUGE pillow cover out of some scraps:

Extremely teeny tiny scraps that I can never ever just throw away!

And I got to do some

organic line quilting in bright green

for this one,

which I also love.

Yay!

I added a little strip of trees (Majestic Oak by Joel Dewberry) into the pieced envelope back.

Just for fun!

I love how this turned out, but unfortunately it doesn't match my home decor at all,

so I've decided to try and sell this cutie.

If you're interested in purchasing this 20x20" pillow cover ($28), you can using the button below:

And for those of you interested in buying a custom nursery set,

you can do that using the drop down menu at the right, towards the top.

That's about all the time I'm going to let this darn internet suck from me...

for now.

Happy Wednesday!

Exhale.

2011-09-24T22:11:00.003-07:00

Sometimes I forget to breathe.

And I know some people can turn that into a dumb blonde joke.

Whatever.

But I just exhaled,

like really, actually, literally, physically exhaled...

and it was amazing.

Like, stars-in-a-jar amazing.

Source: weheartit.com via Madison on Pinterest

Do it.

Take a big breath.

And let it ALLLLL out.

Doesn't it feel nice?

Mine was more refreshing than a long hot shower, and we all know how much I love those.

Weird thing, that breathing.

Source: keraleda.tumblr.com via Madison on Pinterest

breathtaking, right?

***

All commission sewing projects are done and gone

Pictures uploaded to computer

New sewing area (finally) created in new house

(the hubby was not a fan of me using the kitchen table- so, my plan worked- ha!)

Computer/office nook set up

(no more computer on chair, mouse on scrap of fabric on table, keyboard on lap)

Last of the boxes unpacked

40 envelopes addressed, stuffed, stamped and sent

Garage sale OVER

Dishes done

Babies sleeping

Laundry going

Hubby out with long-time-no-see best friend

Lights down low

TV OFF

Pandora ON

(sing it, Adele)

writing now...

... and EXHALE.

it just feels. so. good

Source: flickr.com via Madison on Pinterest

Sometimes, I just get way too caught up in what's happening next

that I forget

to focus on

what's happening now.

Source: 25.media.tumblr.com via Madison on Pinterest

It's a constant struggle for me.

I have to realize that

there will always be deadlines,

I will always have laundry,

some thing- whatever that 'thing' may be- will always need to be done,

there will always be DIY projects on Pinterest that beckon my name,

my inbox will always have emails that need replies,

I will never run out of family members to call,

someone will always be expecting something of me,

and my house will never be completely clean.

And that's ok.

Because there will also always be a 'now'.

Lots of things happen 'now'.

And I need to stop thinking about what needs to be done and worry about what is being done,

because there's nothing like the present

or something like that, right?

Source: etsy.com via Madison on Pinterest

I think a lot of women have this problem.

We try to be everything by doing everything.

Guess what?

That's stupid.

And we are a smart bunch, I like to think.
Oh, we can get shit done, if you know what I mean.
But nobody can do everything, let's get real.

Source: weheartit.com via kait on Pinterest

So, to all of you

stay-at-home-moms, working moms, single moms, new moms,

single ladies busting your butts, married ladies busting your butts,

wives, daughters, sisters, girlfriends, college goers, law school students, waitresses...

sit down, relax, and exhale.

And know- even if it's just for this moment- that you. are. everything.

You are doing exactly what you need to be doing.

You are being.

And that is a beautiful thing.

And so are you.

Source: singingthroughtherain.com via ty on Pinterest

***

I was going to post all latest quilts/finishes/sewing projects tonight,

but then I figured I couldn't post those until I posted Willow's birthday pics from August

(yeah, August),

and then I started thinking about my Grandpa Paul and how I really need to call him to let him know that I got his letter,

which got me thinking about all the letters that I sent out (wait-did they all go out?),

which got me thinking about the new big quilt that's in the works,

which got me thinking about my blocks I need to finish for my charity circle,

which made me think about the best way to organize my scraps in my new studioish area,

which made me think about where in the world I'm going to actually plug in my sewing machine down there,

which made me think that I never found a bobbin cover for my friend's sewing machine like I said I would forever ago,

which made me think of her birthday presents,

which made me think about Willow's party and the lack of post and/or uploaded pictures for the rest of my family to see.

See what I mean?

EXHALE.

I'm working on it...

I needed a little boost tonight,

so I figured somebody else out there might need one, too.

I tried to be as non-girl-powerish as possible while still keepin' it real.

Source: live-inspired.com via Rachel on Pinterest

One for you, one for me.

2011-09-06T20:14:00.000-07:00

Have you heard of do. Good stitches?

Well, it's a really cool.

It's a charity quilting bee.

Basically, a bunch of quilty peeps sew a couple assigned blocks a month and then send them across the country to another quilty peep who sews them all

together into a pretty sweet finished quilt.

And, since it's a charity bee, the sweet quilt gets donated.

That's the do. Good part... but it also feels good.

It's also a good way for me to learn new techniques and try out new designs

I wouldn't normally choose,

a few blocks at a time.

So, here are my Postage Stamp blocks for August:

Even though I've done patchwork before, I've never worked with

such small squares

(2.5" unfinished, 2" finished).

Turns out, I loved it so much I made myself a pillow cover!

The charity bee blocks were only 6x6,

so I extended the pillow cover with more squares to make it 8x8,

which used 64 2.5" squares.

It's a great way to use up your scraps!

I pieced the back as well, and I thought I took a picture, but I guess not...

oops.

It's made from my stash and super-cute.

You can take my word for it.

Anyway, the new cover looks nice paired with my

Happy Pillow

and placed on my

newly painted chairs

against my newly painted walls

in my newly inhabited home.

Love.

It's just another step forward in trying to live a more handmade life.
Next project for keeps are some handmade place mats for my new kitchen table...
I'll just add it to the list, right?

I can't find the USB cord...

2011-08-31T07:20:00.017-07:00

I've got so many new projects and fun stuff I want to share!

buuuut

I can't find my little cord that's kind of important for getting the pictures

from the camera to the computer.

(It's in a box somewhere- oh, and WE MOVED! <---- fun new thing!)

And I really don't think you'd want to hear about my new stuff,

which probably isn't all that interesting to you,

without a few explanatory pictures.

Am I right?

So, instead of uploading and editing new pictures, I've been going through all the

pictures from the summer.

We had a LOT of fun this summer, and since it's almost over (sniff) I'm feeling the need to document...

And it just so happens that BOTH girls are sleeping right now which means I get to write!

I seriously don't even know where to begin... so I guess I'll start with these:

Why not, right?

We've had some amazing sunset cruises on the lake this summer.

Ah. mazing.

Thanks Captain Dave! (aka Duffman) and Roxy.

Roxy has her own life jacket.

She does.

Not even kidding.

See?

And this is how Roxy measures fun:

She's always down for a good time...

Lake Fun, of course, serves as a prequel to the sunset cruises.

Willow's first tube ride with LaLa.

And so does good food and family.

Willow's version of good food.

Papa Frank, or as Willow likes to call him, "Frankie!"

***

And then of course, there was 4th of July:

Have I ever mentioned before that I LOVE fireworks?

Like, LOVE them. So much.

I wanted them at our wedding.

They cost a lot.

We didn't have them...

I could watch fireworks every day of the year.

Especially the really big ones that you feel in your chest.

The 'Big Boomers'.

Those are the best.

And, if you happen to live in Michigan,

the only- and I mean only- way

to see fireworks is

from a boat.

Preferably a really big boat so that if it's too far out into the river and the

Coast Guard makes you move it

and then it doesn't get anchored properly and starts swinging every which way compromising all the other boats

in the immediate vicinity,

they have to move out of your way, not the other way around.

You know, if that sort of thing were to ever happen.

This boat had a live band on the back rockin' out a dance party. It's what some people like to call 'awesome'.

Sometimes I look around and say, "Really?"

We are some lucky, lucky people...

And if you have friends that are more like family

and invite you to their shindig year after year, where they all fight each other to hold your babies,

you pretty much have it made.

I would know.

Especially when they love your kids and treat them to a mani-pedi complete with snacks and a drink as soon as we arrive.

And what 4th of July is complete without sparklers?

Or grown men doing stupid things involving sparklers in front of small children?

I mean, that's what really makes it a holiday, right?

Basically, I don't want summer to end.

They're just not long enough in Michigan.

Maybe all the gorgeous lakes and pretty sunsets and boat rides are a trade-off for the

few months of warm weather.

Maybe.

Or maybe the trade-off is capturing this face on camera.

Either way, I'm going to be so sad to see Summer go.

Really, very sad.

***

Now for some sewing news, I've been busy.

My two latest nursery sets:

Can you spot the differences?

I am very serious about making my things one-of-a-kind.

But I'm learning that the

more and more the word gets out and the more people I make things for,

the whole 'one-of-a-kind' thing

gets harder and harder.

Remember this nursery set?

Well, ever since then I've had lots of mommas wanting one

(which is awesome!)

To keep to my promise of only making one-of-a-kind bedding,

I've been making little changes here and there on each set.

I want the overall look that people are

originally drawn to

to be the same, while still making sure everything is

original.

So far, so good.

Patchwork is almost always one-of-a-kind,

but I still like to

switch up the quilt backs and bindings

to set them apart from each other just that much more.

So thanks to everybody out there who keeps my little tiny business going...

I love what I do!

I think that's all I have for today...

Four score and seven years ago...

2011-08-18T07:12:00.004-07:00

I'm just kidding.

It was four years ago.

Not four score and seven years ago...

Four years ago I married my hunky husband.

Sure did.

I would have never guessed on that day that 4 years later I would be

a momma

to two beautiful little girls...

amazing.

Thanks to this guy:

I love him. Sure do.

Sometimes, it honestly feels like we've been

together

as far back as I can remember.

And then other times I can't believe that

4 years

managed to fly by so quickly.

It makes me want to savor every single little moment we share together...

Life is a crazy thing, I tell ya...

I always smile whenever I look back through our wedding pictures.

It was such a good day.

Not just a good day, but a goood day.

The kind of good that requires extra 'o's and italics and bold print.

And I will never say it was the best day.

Why?

Because that would be sad.

If the 'best' day of your life is the day you get married, you're totally missing the point.

Because if you do it right, every single day

-from that point forward-

is better than the last.

I should know.

I've have 4 whole years of better-than-yesterdays.

Expecting Baby #1

Hello Baby #1!

And if I said we didn't have some

ups and downs and twists and turns,

you would call me a liar because it would be a line of BS.

So I won't say it.

Because you'd be right.

I'd be a liar and it would be a total line of BS.

But I wouldn't change a thing.

Because it's the ups and downs- and how you handle them- that make you stronger.

And it's good to know that I'll always have my best friend right there with me.

No matter what.

Expecting Baby #2

Hello Baby #2!

I can't wait to see what the next 4 years has to offer.

And then the 4 after that, and the four after that....

Happy Anniversary to US!!

I had too many fitting titles for this post... so this is what you get. Sorry.

2011-08-16T11:00:00.006-07:00

I have been working on some pretty fantastic things over here.

You know, other than raising two strong, independent, talented, intelligent, and kind girls.

Or, at least, trying.

I just crack myself up.

I don't know why. That's not even funny.

Maybe I need some adult interaction or something.

My brain's doing weird things.

I love this quilt.

I didn't really want to send it away to its owner.

That's how much I liked it.

ALOT.

I used the

Sexy Hexy "Love" Quilt

pattern from Amy Butler and then modified it a bit.

And I obviously didn't use any of the "Love" prints, although

they are all Amy Butler.

Lots of her older stuff, which I like.

And many of the prints were super hard to find because lots are

discontinued and whatnot.

The Sexy Hexy pattern is for a full/lapish size quilt, but I needed a Queen.

So, instead of just making more hexagons to make a bigger quilt,

(which was my first plan)

I thought that framing in the 'original' quilt pattern would showcase it better.

And I really like it.

So there's the hexagon part,

and then a grey border,

and then a pieced border of all the pretty prints,

and then another grey border.

I pieced together the back, too.

I wasn't a fan of the quilt back from the pattern.

It was kind of boring.

So, pieced backing it is.

And I added a blank label in one of the corners so they could

fill it in

with something perfect.

It looks nice on a bed, right?

(It's the wrong size bed... but whatever.)

Oh, and the matching shams.

I also happen to love those shams.

I think I'm going to make similar shams for my own room.

Shams. Shams. Shams.

And there was some hand-quilting involved in this puppy.

Yup, sure was.

I loved it so much, I added some stitches.

I think the yellow added some extra sunshine to the grey border.

And then I also hand-quilted inside the center of each hexagon.

(I machine-quilted the rest...)

Bye quilt!

Have fun in your new home :)

Funny story about this quilt.

I actually made it for an old friend that I knew pretty well when I was little.

We went to summer camp together and everything.

We grew up/moved apart/lost touch for years and then found each other again on facebook.

Good ol' facebook.

She and her hubby needed some bedding for their new house

(which is supercute, by the way, I know because I facebook stalked...duh.)

and thought of me.

We talked fabrics and ideas and then several* weeks later they got a quilt.

*I say several because I was on schedule until

I completely quilted the whole thing,

went to bind it,

hated the quilting,

ripped it all out,

and

re-quilted it (much better),

which pushed my deadline back quite a bit.

Thank you Heidi and Brian for being so patient.

It looks way better :)

***

And just look at these two:

Willow is so sweet to her little sister

when I'm in her immediate vicinity threatening everything that she holds dear.

So sweet.

Sidenote: Willow just came in and told me she really doesn't like brains.

I mean, what's not to love about this little critter?

She's the happiest baby on the planet.

Really.

I'm convinced of it.

If there was a contest for "Happiest Baby on Earth", Ellie would win.

Hands down.

***

And now I'm going to tell all of you to go buy Chalkboard spray paint.

They have it at Home Depot.

(every single time I say 'Home Depot' I think of Old School, anybody else?)

So anyway, this stuff is amazing.

I turned my 'stupid glass cabinet full of stuff nobody wants or needs to see'

into a fun little chalkboard.

See?

But be careful.

It's addicting.

Because now I have a whole list of things that I want to paint that really have

no business

being a chalkboard.

Adios!

Peace and Mustaches.

2011-08-04T10:14:00.008-07:00

I'd like to introduce you to our newest obsession:

The Mustache on a Stick

As you can see, they are quite hilarious.

They are also ridiculously easy to make and supersuper cheap.

Like I-made-fifty-for-three-bucks cheap.

Yeah, I told you.

Why would one ever need to make 50 mustaches on sticks, you say?

Well, because when this little almost-three year old was asked what she would like to give out as favors for her birthday party,

she answered quite confidently with

"Mustaches."

I mean, obviously.

What was I thinking?

Every little girl I know of wants to give people mustaches as party favors.

Duh.

As weird of a request as it was, my only option as a good momma was to oblige this sweet girl.

Yes, Willow gave herself an atrocious haircut. All her beautiful curls are gone. My husband has been calling her Travis...

And I'm SO glad I did.

She knows what she's talking about.

These things are awesome.

It makes the perfect accessory, no?

I highly suggest you make some.

Tonight.

They are fun for the whole family.

And when you do make them, I want pictures.

Seriously.

Send me mustache pictures.

Here's what you need:

Black felt

(I bought 1/4 yd of 72" wide felt at JoAnn's for $1.40

and I could probably make 50 more from my leftover felt)

Scissors

Hot glue gun

Wooden sticks

(I found these in the wooden craft section at JoAnn's for .99 a package)

Here's what you do:

Start cutting out some 'staches!

To make sure mine were even, I cut out a rectangle of felt, folded it in half, and cut one 'side' of the mustache.

Then just unfold to see the real deal.

Make a bunch of different kinds if you feel so inclined.

After all the mustaches are cut out and your glue gun is warmed up,

place a little dab of hot glue halfway between the middle and the edge of the mustache.

(So the stick is not right in front of your mouth when you hold up the 'stache)

Plop down your wooden stick.

There you go.

You now have a mustache on a stick.

Get crazy.

If you're doing it right, chances are your baby will look at you like this:

In other birthday party preparation news, here's Willow's party crown.

I have to say, I am in love with it.

I want one.

And that says 'Sassy', not 'Assy'... that wouldn't be very appropriate for a 3 year-old.

This was also super easy to make.

I was inspired by these crowns.

Believe it or not, I just dug into my stash of scrapbook paper and doodads.

And then I stuck a few fake flowers, buttons and some pretty sweet butterflies I found at Target on it.

This girl deserves a crown:

Ok, that's about all.

I'll show you how to make the Happy Birthday banner next.

I have to go wrap presents and stuff.

And clean.

Yeah, I should probably clean or do the laundry or something.

In the meantime, Peace and Mustaches.

:{)

Jumping Jacks.

2011-07-28T20:40:00.004-07:00

I miss my blog.

I miss writing about anything.

And also writing about nothing.

And when it came to writing, I was in a groove there for a minute.

But now I'm in a rut.

Kinda like working out, you know?

You're just killing it for a while, got your exercise schedule down pat, endorphins flowing.

Then something happens and you miss a day.

And then another.

And then you eat a brownie or three.

Endorphins are gone.

So is your motivation.

And you say screw it.

I'm so far out of my groove I don't even know where to start.

And I don't know where my sports bra is.

And there's no clean socks.

And all my workout pants are in the laundry.

And it is a little too hot out today.

And the iPod headphones are MIA.

And the list just goes on and on and on until you really start running out of 'reasonable' excuses and start saying things like

"I've gone up and down the stairs more than usual today, so that totally counts as exercise".

And you realize you are being a ridiculous freak and that all you really have to do is get off your butt and just run or something.

Anything.

Hell, do a couple jumping jacks in the kitchen to get the blood pumping again.

Well, that's how I feel.

I've been through a whole list of excuses of why I haven't been 'able' to blog.

(Which is total crap because I have been perfectly able. I just haven't. For no reason.)

First it was that I had a lot of pictures to upload.

(what that has to do with writing I don't know, but pictures are fun to look at)

Then I couldn't find my little USB cord thingy.

Then I didn't have anything to say.

(Lie.)

Then too much time had passed and I didn't know where to start...

4th of July? Mini family vacation? Visit to the Splash Pad? Sewing Projects? Home improvements?

(Like it matters.)

Then I found the USB cord but had a 489 pictures to sift through and edit.

Then I had to have a clean house.

Then I had to blah, blah, BLAH...

So, consider this post my literary attempt at jumping jacks.

There.

I did it.

My foot is back in the door.

And I no longer have any excuses to keep me from writing.

And here's a picture of cute little Ellie toes because,

even though it has nothing to do with this post,

pictures really are fun to look at,

especially when the subject of said picture are the toes of an infant.

Enjoy.

I Don't Know Jack.

2011-06-24T08:44:00.004-07:00

It's true.

I don't.

Neither do you.

Nobody does.

And that's because he isn't due until August :)

That's right... I get another nephew in August!

And his name will be Jack.

I know, I know, you're jealous of all the sweet little babies I get to hold, right?

You should be.

I'm lucky.

And babies are cute.

I've been pumping out some custom crib sets over here in my neck of the woods...

and the latest one just happened to be for my sister-in-law Emily and her hubby John.

Yay!

So, Em decided on her

beachy/nautical

color scheme and sent me some pics of fabrics she liked and I went to work:

I think it turned out great!

And I think Jack will be nice and cozy... don't you?

Here are the fabrics used:

bumper: Anna Maria Horner Woodcut in DayDream (home decor weight)

Amy Butler Sunspots in Midnight (home decor weight)

bumper ties: Joel Dewberry Nap Sack in Sunset

crib skirt: Amy Butler Sunspots in Tangerine with a border of Nap Sack in Lake

crib sheet: Leaves in Blue

And for the quilt (40x60") I used all the above fabric

(except for the Leaves in Blue)

and added in a little Amy Butler fabric from my stash.

The binding is a grey/aqua stripe Lacoste flat sheet that I found at TJ Maxx

that matched perfectly.

It is machine quilted, machine stitched binding, and made with LOTS of love :)

front and back of quilt

And here's Emily opening her new bedding (while Willow and Peyton help) at the shower:

Congrats to Emily and John!

They will be amazing parents and I can't wait to meet (read: hold) Baby Jack.

And for those of you who are curious, Jack makes the fourth new nephew in the last 11 months.

It's Babypalooza.

P.S. You can score your own custom bedding set over on the top right-hand side drop down menu!

Back into it.

2011-06-09T10:14:00.007-07:00

We're finally back into our groove.

Well, at least I am, anyway.

I was feeling pretty topsy-turvy there for a bit.

Not really comfortably seated in my new-but-still-my-old life.

It wasn't sad. Or bad.

But it just wasn't working for me.

I didn't really fit the right way.

For the past two weeks I've been trying to find my comfy little spot that means I'm good.

And I think I finally found it again.

Let's see...

This morning I found about $60 worth of beauty products in the toilet.

We're going on Day 10 of no (good) food in the house.

I ran out of Gain the exact moment I felt gutsy enough to tackle the laundry.

And yesterday, I got my first taste of projectile spit-up.

Well, I guess it would be my second first taste.

Thank you, Ellie.

And I don't mean literal first taste, because that would be gross.

But I'm sure it's bound to happen at some point.

Let's be real.

And, strangely, those events make me very, very happy.

(Well, except for the food thing. I like options...)

Yes. That's right.

Why?

Because, according to me, that means we're back to real life.

We've got an extra little puddle of baby to love on everyday now,

but life as we know it has resumed.

Willow was a serious booger for a good chunk of those last two weeks.

Like, to the point where I wanted to crawl under the table and just tell her to

leave. me. alone.

And cry.

Bad attitude, misbehaving, massive fits, driving my insane...

Yeah, serious boogerishness.

Willow taking a much-needed nap at the hospital. Being a big sister is hard work!

But now?

Now we're back to her fiesty-but-likeable attitude,

her funny little mischief that makes me laugh,

(but where she can't see me, of course)

her little spats that end with either a hug or big fat smooch on the lips,

and

she has made me fall in love with her all over again.

I'm glad to have her back.

I was starting to worry.

All the hospital craziness is over with.

We got to bring Ellie home.

We've accomplished the New Baby doctor appointments.

We remembered how to change diapers and work as a team.

Ok, pretend Willow is smiling and that the quality of the picture is a thousand times better...

The idea of our little family of four has turned into reality

and

I think we're rockin' it.

Wanna hear something super cute about the blanket Ellie's got?

Willow made it.

She sure did.

I had a small stack of little squares that I couldn't do much with,

so I asked Willow if she wanted to make a present for her little sister.

I gave her the stack of fabric

and told her to make a square without having any matching ones touching each other.

I sewed it all together, quilted, and bound it while she was taking a nap (it's very small)...

And there you go.

Awesome blanket for Ellie.

Willow is super-duper proud of it.

And I discovered that a stack of fabric squares keeps Willow busy for about an hour.

Everybody wins!!

Here She Is...

2011-06-08T09:35:00.005-07:00

I'd like all of you to meet the newest member of our family:

Ellie Drew.

We got to meet her little 8 lb, 21.5 inch body at 7:57 am on Friday, May 27th.

Our second daughter...

It was amazing.

When they held her over that little curtain and I got to see her for the first time,

the first thing that popped into my head was,

"She's so pretty!"

And she really is.

She's so petite and girly and... pretty.

So, if you've been wondering why it's been so quiet around the blog lately,

it's because we're quite smitten with this little lovey at the moment:

And I must say,

it's much more fun snuggling your new baby than it is uploading pictures of her....

obviously.

Mom and Dad and Willow and Ellie are all doing great!

I'm finally able to get up and around; recovery has been good!

Thanks to everyone for all the sweet emails and texts and posts and

whatever else technology has to offer...

I'm back to sewing and will be sharing what I've been working on soon...

along with more baby pics, I'm sure!

I've just started catching up on emails, as well, so please have patience and I will get back with you as soon as possible!

In the Middle.

2011-05-25T21:28:00.005-07:00

I'm in the middle of a lot of things over here.

I'm in the middle of changes.

(my dad will probably be freaked out by this pic... he's absolutely certain that I am actually shrinking.)

Not just physical ones, but every kind you can imagine.

I'm going from 1 daughter to 2 daughters.

Pregnant to delivering.

Sure to unsure.

Unsure to sure.

And then sure to unsure again...

And I cry about everything.

I shouldn't say everything. I cry about unimportant things.

Like commercials.

And Disney movies.

And any little anything that makes no sense to cry about.

FYI: I am so not a crier... so I find this whole crying thing very ridiculous.

At least Parenthood is over for the season... that would've been bad.

And then there's this little girl:

She likes to dress herself in tutus, furry boots, and winter vests to play soccer in the front yard.

In Summer.

And I love it.

I keep finding myself wondering about what she thinks of this whole thing.

She's going through changes, too, you know.

Only child to Big Sister.

Our baby to our first born.

How much does she understand?

I'm glad I don't know everything... that would be way too much to handle.

As much as this new chapter amazes me, it's got to be pretty big for her too...

Right?

I can't wait to see her face when she meets her sister for the first time.

I wish I could record what my eyes see.

That would be cool.

Somebody should get on inventing that.

***

I'm in the middle of moments.

She was mesmerized by this water...

I'm trying to sear every possible little detail I can into my brain lately.

I don't want to leave anything out.

I want to remember what it was like with her.

With just one.

My first little girl who had me all to herself for 2 1/2 years.

I've had my camera attached to my side these last few days,

trying to capture every last snippet of time,

but even then,

I find myself just watching instead.

I just snap a few

here and there,

hoping the rest will stick with me...

I think I like it better that way.

***

I'm in the middle of making memories:

***

I'm in the middle of projects.

A gaZILLion projects.

But good ones.

Ones that I'm glad I'm in the middle of.

There's the Big Girl Room/Nursery, of course.

Almost done.

Really.

And then I will share.

I'm so proud of the patience I've showed by waiting until it's all done...

so you have to be patient, too.

Deal?

Ok then.

Hint: these are for the above-mentioned room.

And then there's these beautiful fabrics that have already been

cut and semi-assembled into a

quilt like this one.

It will be fabulous, don't you think?

I love making quilts for other people and seeing what they pick and choose to reflect themselves.

It's just as much fun as the actual making of the quilt...

And of course there's a couple custom nursery sets in the making...

for friends, family, and strangers alike!

The fabric shows up in the mail every day!

SO much fun I get to have over here.

The UPS man says things like,

"Just a small one today."

"Wow, this one's the biggest so far."

***

Changes.

Moments.

Memories.

Projects.

Basically,

I'm in the

middle

of Life.

And that's right where I think I'm supposed to be.

My Sister is a Momma :)

2011-05-23T06:59:00.007-07:00

My little sister became a Momma

on May 17th at 4:42 am.

May 17th also marks the 1 year anniversary her hubby returned home from Afghanistan

Baby Cash was 9 days overdue!

He weighed in at 8 lbs, 12 oz and measured 20.5 inches long

I'm so glad he's here and healthy!

Isn't he so cute?

I wasn't able to be there since our due dates are so close together and she's all the way in Texas...

... but she was surrounded by family and people who love her, so that makes me happy.

Mom, Dad and Cash are doing great!

It took so long to post because getting people to actually send photos is like pulling teeth in my family!

And we just happen to be getting ready for a little one of our own..

I love you CJ and I'm so proud of you!

Surprises and Skirts.

2011-05-16T15:29:00.006-07:00

I love my job(s).

I get to be a mom.

I get to make things.

And many times I get to make things for other moms.

Yeah, it's pretty cool.

My latest project was for a couple who aren't finding out their baby's gender until THE day!

Oh, how I wish I had that kind of patience/self-control...

I HAD to know.

Both times :)

They went with bright greens and yellows with a little bit of navy and aqua thrown in for fun.

I think it's perfect to snuggle up either a little boy or girl, don't you think?

They really liked the style of the quilt in this nursery set, so that's what we did!

Here's the fabrics used throughout:

Bumper: Dandelion in Lime and Glass Tiles in Lemon

Bumper ties: Quarter Dot in Navy and Leaves in Blue

Crib sheet: Painter's Canvas in Lime

Crib skirt: Ta Dot in Apple w/ Quarter Dot in Navy border

The quilt used all the above fabrics and then we added in:

Honeycomb in Green

and

Large Leafy Stripe in Lime

Measures 45x55" ish, machine quilted, machine stitched binding.

The quilt back was pieced, and binding was Glass Tiles in Lemon.

Heather (and Hubby)- I hope you love your new crib bedding!

I, of course, would LOVE to know if you ended up with a boy or girl when the time comes :)

(because I'm nosy like that.)

And I would obviously also LOVE some pictures of your little lovey all wrapped up...

when you have time.

Of course.

Enjoy!

I've also been busy making clothes for my girlies...

I'm trying to do a lot more handmade this year than I did last year.

And I realized

(while uncovering, sorting, washing, organizing, folding, and kissing, and putting away all of Willow's old clothes for Baby #2)

that Big Sister has absolutely NO clothes.

None.

Well, none that are acceptable for public viewing, anyway.

So I went to work:

I had lots of fun.

No patterns, no plans really, just started sewing and embellishing :)

I used a mix of fabrics: some from stash, some from the scrap bins, some from Hobby Lobby...

(which had some surprisingly good quality fabrics, I might add).

And my favorite part was adding all the little details.

Vintage trims, funky trims, ribbons, jumbo ric-rac, decorative stitching, you name it!

I got a little carried away.

But that's ok, because they're for my little love-bucket :)

I think this one's my favorite:

And I've also been sewing like crazy for the nursery and the baby...

but it's been quite rainy/gloomy these last few days and I haven't been able to take any good pictures so far.

Stay tuned...

Did I Mention...?

2011-05-13T14:33:00.009-07:00

Baby Cash is still not here...

I believe that would make him 5 days overdue.

My sister has tried everything in the book.

No luck.

And it's like 100 degrees in Texas.

I just want to see him.

I'm sure she does, too.

And I want her to snuggle him up in these:

Cash's Crazy Quilt

My sister really liked this crib bedding set, so I used some leftovers from that and pulled a few other fun fabrics from my stash to make this one.

I think it's about 30x30"

Lots of AMH prints, some Joel Dewberry, Amy Butler, Michael Miller, Patti Henderson, and even a little Laura Gunn.

Cassian Blue Quilt

And then I wanted a more subdued, sleepy quilt, so I just grabbed a bunch of already cut 5" squares in blues from my seemingly never-shrinking pile of squares.

I love patchwork.

Simple quilts.

I whipped them up in a hurry so my mom could take them with her on the plane.

Yeah, they're cute and stuff, but they'd look WAY cuter with a baby in them!!

COME ON CASH!!!

***

Willow is a computer wizard.

That's right- wizard.

This pic was taken quite a long time ago, but maybe she was a computer whiz then...?

Don't believe me?

For example:

She can scroll, she can double click, and she can 'poof' applications off the menu bar like nobody's business.

She can navigate YouTube.

And by navigate I mean find her favorite videos to watch.

Such as this and this.

And watch them.

And replay them.

And even pause them.

She's eerily good at it.

I don't know how she does it.

I think she just scrolls until she finds what she's looking for.

She can also run Photo Booth like it's her job.

Seriously, pictures 180-371 are all of Willow.

That's 189 snapshots and 2 videos.

Videos.

They are all hilarious.

She even knows how to use the effects.

These are just a few of my faves:

I have no clue how she knows to put your hands up. She's never been on a roller coaster in her life.

The Warhol-esque pics- I love the tongue sticking out...

Her face cracks me up in this one; she found a new effect and she likes.

And this is just too funny. She obviously thinks she's the bomb. And she is.

Oh, and please disregard my trashed fabric storage/studio/dumping ground in the background.

After I saw these pictures it was immediately remedied.

Anyways my point is...

however funny this is, it also scares the crap out of me.

So much so that the hubby and I decided to password protect her out of the computer.

Really.

Just in case you missed that:

We had to password protect our 2 1/2 year old child from using the Mac...

See what I mean? It's scary!

That's not even the funniest part.

No, that would be when she stole my phone the very next morning while I was still sleeping and used it to update my facebook status to 'WTF'.

Not. Even. Kidding.

You think she was trying to tell us something?

Yeah, I think so.

Needless to say, I would never ever post that. Ever.

And thank goodness Drew caught it only about 30 mins after she did it so I could fix it.

Little Twerp.

Oh, and a few days later while I was putting away laundry or something super-fun like that,

I heard the storm door slam shut.

Not good.

That means there's been a security breech.

By the time I got outside

-I'm talking maybe 10 seconds-

I found Willow

stripped naked,

covered in chocolate syrup from head to toe,

flashing our poor old neighbor who was innocently mowing the lawn,

while sticking her tongue out.

I obviously avoided any eye-contact with elderly Mr. James as I swooped my charming daughter back inside.

He probably thinks we're heathens.

And he might not be too far off...

Happy Friday to you all!

The Truth Is...

2011-05-11T05:52:00.011-07:00

I've been writing posts in my head.

You see, according to me, I've been keeping up to date with all this blogging stuff.

I need to remember to actually write those mind-posts down so that I can look back and remember...

I write this blog more for me and for my kids and for my wanting to remember all the little stuff.

Willow the (grumpy) carpenter

I don't write a diary.

Although I do have about 15 really pretty ones with about one entry a piece.

I don't have baby books for the girl- soon to be girls- with an 's'.

I know. Weird.

Yeah, don't judge.

All of our pictures are on the computer,

and even though they are backed up,

there's just something about the possibility of losing them that makes

my heart race and my hands shake for just a split second.

And I'm sure my eyes get all wide and scared-looking.

She's dressing herself now... this is tame.

Back to the point... I'm realizing this is how I will keep memories.

I never thought I would be

or ever really even wanted to be a 'blogger'

- it just sounds so... dumb.

Really, it does.

Please don't ever call me that.

However, this is where I get to write, sound off, dish, express, show off, relate, and be me.

And those things are very important.

So, I think I last left off a while ago.

I was recuperating from my daughter.

Ha, that sounds so awful. But true. I really was.

It's been kind of surreal over here.

I can definitely feel a real change happening.

Winter has turned to Spring, although very briefly, and now we're heading into Summer.

I love Summer.

We are realizing that this family of 3 will become a family of 4 in just a matter of days...

We've known this for 9 months, but now it's just so immediate.

So about-to-happen-any-minute.

Rooms are being rearranged to accommodate a Big Sister and a new baby...

The nursery/big girl room is almost done and I can't wait to show pictures

(and brag about my good deals)

No. But really. I found a brand new crib for $29.99.

Not kidding.

And just wait to see what I did with the rest of the room...

Willow is all of a sudden changing from our baby into a little girl.

A girl.

It's this unexplainable transformation...

our little one is growing up just in time for us to add another little one.

Willow's cousin Peyton took this picture. I love it.

Amazing.

And she has a new morning ritual which seriously melts my heart every. single. time.

When the hubby leaves for work, she's right there, ready and waiting,

to chase him out the door so she can give him a

'car smooch'.

She's very particular about how it must go, and he knows exactly how it's supposed to work.

He has to get in the car,

she gets to shut the door for him,

then he has to start the car,

she bangs on the window,

he opens it,

and then she tippy-toes waaay up and he leans waaay out

and they smooch.

Sometimes once, sometimes 3 times.

It's usually Drew who asks for 'just one more time'.

And I get to watch all the magic from the front porch.

I get to see both their faces.

I'm pretty sure it's the best way to start the day in the whole world.

***

Oh, and there was somewhat of a family reunion this weekend on my hubby's side.

Remember Leesburg?

Well, it was kinda like that- but better.

They get better every time.

They really do.

The reason this time,

not that they really need one,

but we all got together for his Aunt Kris' wedding.

And then some.

It included:

Jammied, coffee-fueled mornings.

Way too many kids (and grown ups) on the 'Boing Boing'. (aka trampoline)

Impromptu dress-up sessions accompanied by mini concerts.

Patio talks.

In-depth, tear-streaked conversations.

"When did that happen?"s and "I can't believe it"s about all the beautiful young women that were just little girls last time around.

Lots of laughter.

Lots of love.

Tons of memories- old being relived and new ones being made.

Babies being passed from person to person.

Sharing birth stories.

Anticipating the arrival of new babies...

Oh, and a wedding!

I can't believe it all got smooshed into one weekend.

And since I barely took any pictures (I know- I'm so bummed)- I can just send you here.

And here.

And even here to check it all out.

Thankfully, Drew's cousin Kelle is an amazing photographer and captured every single little moment.

Every one.

I did manage to snap a few, however.

Willow and Peyton :)

And she got to meet her cousins... Lainey and Nella (above with Uncle Tim) for the first time.

They came all the way from Florida.

Willow asked me today if she could take Lainey and Nella to story time today, wearing tutus.

That girl loves her cousins.

Speaking of cousins, the Virginia family all got to meet Baby Gabey for the first time.

He's also known as Uncle Ferguson, Mr. Grunts, Cornelius, Eduardo Fiesta Montego, Creepy Snakes,

and basically any other name BUT his own.

It's this weird thing my hubby and his brother do.

They don't use anybody's real names.

It's very confusing to others, but I find it absolutely hilarious.

Uncle Graham (or Jan, Kelly, Linda, Remus, Darryl, Rita etc.)

has called Willow 'Edna Jo' since birth.

Pretty, right?

Oh, and Francis! He love to call her Francis as well.

And Drew is fond of calling her Fanny, Lady Fanny, Lady,

Ung Lady

(not to be confused with Young Lady- totally different)

Nugget, Silly, Silly Nugget, Chuchumunga, Chuchy... and the list just goes on and on. And on.

I've learned over the years, especially through family reunions, that it's a genetic disorder.

Everybody has a different name.

Even dogs.

Nobody's safe.

***

And last, but certainly not least, my sister Chloë is about to have her baby boy.

I mean, I don't want to jinx it, but her due date was Sunday, so what's there to lose at this point, right?

She's SO over being pregnant.

And SO ready to go into labor.

And SO hot in the 105 degree heat.

My mom's with her all the way in Texas.

And they're just waiting.

Catching up, having fun and waiting.

All without me.

Because I'm due in 16 days.

In typical Chloë fashion,

my sister warned me that if I had my baby before she had hers she would never let me live it down and would always hold it against me.

Forever.

And I totally believe her.

So I will do my best.

And I am SO tempted to show you a picture of her that she just sent me, 3 days overdue.

But I won't.

Because I'm a good sister and I don't want her to hold that against me either.

I'm Better.

2011-04-30T20:12:00.007-07:00

Well, I'm glad I got that out of my system.

There's nothing like a sunny day, a midday nap and a late-night photo-editing session to cure a case of the blahs.

Am I right?

***

Today was great.

I absolutely love this picture. L-O-V-E-love-it.

The hubby took Willow out on the town so I could take a nap.

It was glorious.

(Naps are so underrated. SO.)

Apparently, he took her to Chuck E. Cheese's

- but he said there was a kid there who smelled like poo-

so they left and went to the park.

Daddy time is Daddy time, no matter what you're doing.

And Willow came back glowing... that's what counts.

***

The weather was nice and springy- finally.

So, of course we had to go and officially celebrate.

With ICE CREAM!!

Willow kept saying,

"I want sprinkles. You know, because it's Spring now. Springkles."

Man, I love her.

***

She's just getting so big...

so fast.

***

I got some more work done on the Big Girl Room/Nursery.

I can't wait to show some pictures.

Just to give you an idea of what we started with:

Yup.

Lots of work.

I've got lots and lots of before and after shots to show.

Oh, and I'm still under budget!!

Yaaaaay me!

***

I just went through and edited a bunch of pics from April,

including Easter,

which I just realized I never even posted about.

And to be quite honest, I may never get to an Easter post.

So, how about I just share my favorite pictures?

I think we all know what happened, right?

There were some Easter egg hunts:

Willow would find and egg, inspect its contents, and move on. Not the fastest egg hunter...

Favorite cousins:

Photo ops:

I also happen to adore this picture. It's like Big Version, Little Version.

And photo ops:

Not a fan of how humongous this dress makes me look, (yeah, like it's the dress), but there are hardly any pictures of me and the hubby during this pregnancy... so there you have it.

And more photo ops:

I can't wait to frame this one. We really need to update our photo wall. It's almost like time stopped or something. Creepy...

Basically, life is good... and I'm better.

Also going up on the photo wall.

I'll have some actual sewing things to post later.

Because I do still do that.

You know... sew.

Dealing.

2011-04-29T18:43:00.005-07:00

So....I've been dealing with a lot of this lately:

It's very tiring.

Very time consuming.

And, well, it just doesn't leave much time for anything else.

My patience is wearing thin.

And I'm starting to feel like I could quite possibly be the worst parent ever.

I'm serious.

So, I just wanted to tell someone that I am here.

And there is a lot going on over in my neck of the woods.

And I have lots that I would like to show.

There are several projects waiting in the wings...

I just need some time and a bit more of my sanity to return and then I'll be all good.

Right?

You may think I don't love this parenting thing... but you're wrong.

I do.

I really really do.

But, I'm not going to sugarcoat the crappy parts because I know there's someone out there who's having the same kind of shitty day and it feels good to know you're not the only one failing at the moment.

So there.

And yes, there are plenty of happy times and I love them and savor them.

However, today is the day where I get to lament to my computer so that I don't lose it.

I will get to the happy times later.

Promise.