Visitor

Glad this never happened with the wild life in AK. Can't imagine a moose in our house!

See the little gecko up there?

Isn't he cute?!

New Item Sneak Peek

A new thing I've been working on

Hand embroidered with glow-in-the-dark stars

I'm thinking Autumn and Halloween around here, which is very hard since we are STILL above 100 temperature wise.

Strange Photo from the Drive

Kinda hard to make out in this picture, but do you notice anything "strange" about those billboards? They are completely blank! I took it as an ominous sign, or maybe I was just a LITTLE bit exhausted.

Howdy!

Howdy y'all! We are here in Texas now and slowly getting settled into our new lives. Of course we arrive during one of the worst droughts since the 1950's. The temps have been in the triple digits almost EVERY day that we've been here! And the humidity-yuck!
Well, at least our new house has air conditioning.

I've been able to do a little sewing and knitting since the move and have a few new items up in my shop. My favorites are these mini first aid kits:

They each come with the first aid supplies shown in the picture, but will definitely hold more! They are small enough to fit in a purse, back pack, diaper bag, etc. 

I've also knit up some fun flower barrettes:

Yep, that's the back of my head! See the lovely stenciled ivy on the patio posts?! 

I'll post pictures of the trip soon.

Kangaroo Farm

Yesterday we (my sister, nieces, nephew, J and I) went to this cool little farm in Arlington, WA called The Outback Kangaroo Farm. They have kangaroos (of course), llamas, donkeys, chickens, tortoises, and ring tailed lemurs. J liked looking at the animals, but he would not pet any of them. Maybe next time.

J looking at a mama kangaroo with a joey in her pouch.

I've also been working on some embroidery (oh, I didn't win the Prudent Baby contest). For the kids' rooms in our new house I want to try to decorate them with themes. For J-space, for C-fairy tales and for O-animals. Here is one that I finished for O. I'm going to have my hubby make a simple frame that I will wrap the fabric around.

Called the Sunburst Lion, I can't remember who designed it, but it was a free pattern online.

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Bye-bye Alaska

Me, Blogged About!

Guess what! I was blogged about! Check it out at My Taylor Made. Shan of My Taylor Made created the cutest Bubble Romper pattern and was having a contest to see who would test it. Well, I was chosen! It took me a little longer than expected to sew it up since J decided that was a good week to be sick, but I did finish it. I wish I could show a picture right now, but I'm not on my own computer. Again, check out the posting here and see pictures of my little cuties.

Oh, if you didn't already know, we are in the process of moving to Texas. Right now I am staying with my parents in Washington (yes, the state) while my hubby packs up the house (isn't he a sweetie). In a week or so he will drive down and together we will embark on the long drive from here to Texas, with 3 little ones. So much fun, so many unexpected "adventures" ahead.

So, I won't be posting here as often as I'd like, but I will try to keep you updated, show pics of the scenery, tell you what does and doesn't work to keep 3 kids happy and quiet on a week long drive. I also kind of put my etsy shop on semi-vacation mode. That means that the only thing that I have listed is a knitting pattern that can be sent through email. I may try to make some flowers here and post them, we'll see how that goes.

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Piles of Love

Embroidery Contest Entry

I entered a contest on Prudent Baby with this:

I'm new to embroidery, but I already am loving it! One of the conditions of the contest is that the embroidery contains some words. I love this quote (Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability-Sam Keen), because who doesn't love when laziness is okay! The prize for the contest is an Embroidery Machine! Fingers crossed!

All Better

We are all feeling much better now. Yeah! We've had some nice weather and some beautiful tulips to play with.

Boys! Oh, I did that embroidery on O's shirt. It's based on a board we have, I can't remember the name.

Deep purple tulips, my favorite. Kind of hard to see against her purple shirt.

And now that we are all back to normal, I can get some work done! Well, for a few days at least since this Sunday the kids and I will fly down to WA with my mom and then in a few weeks we all will move to Texas. Big changes ahead!

A Little Break

Taking a break for a bit. We have a sick little one here.

Cute pic from healthier times.

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Miss Matilda won't be a part of our family for much longer. I am trying to savor each moment with the best cat EVER!

Shorts-A Late Kids Clothes Week Challenge Entry

I made these shorts for J one day last week.

Made from a cute dinosaur print fabric, a little long-like board shorts. 

New Happenings Here

With spring comes some much needed color and life here.

Finally Finished-Calavera/Sugar Skulls

Finished this up this morning during the twins' nap and posted it in my shop.

From a Keyka Lou Pattern.

Kids Clothes Challenge Week-Spring 2011

Here are some pics of things I've been working on this week:

Kids Clothes Challenge Week-Spring 201-Monday

Yeah, I know it's Tuesday, but I figured I'd show you what I made on Monday. It's actually something that I started this last weekend and finished up yesterday.

Sorry about the fuzzy picture, that girl would not hold still for me. I created my own pattern for this skirt (expect to see it in my shop soon). It has a ribbed waist and a fun ruffle. I can't remember exactly the name of the yarn but it is from Knit Picks. It is so soft and I love the color changes. 

Well, that was Monday, what shall I work on today?

Sneak Peek-Clutch

The only time I get to doing any cutting or ironing is at night while the kids are sleeping. Well, I can cut fabric when J is awake, and sometimes he'll let me iron. Most of the time his 3 year old hands are just too curious for me to do any work with hot stuff. Last night I cut out and fused the interfacing on for three new clutches. I really like how this one turned out:

I added a little embellishment to the fabric. I'm hoping to get these sewn up and in my shop by the end of the week.

Embroidery and a Clutch

I've fiddled with embroidery before, but lately I'm wanting to pick it up again. I found this Kanji print fabric at Jo-Ann's the other day and just had to pick some up (for my Japan-loving nephew). I decided to try to make it into a clutch using a pattern by Keyka Lou. Here it is:

It's up in my shop.

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Sharing

A Cape

I decided that C needed a cape to wear this spring. Found a great pattern for one at My Taylor Made. The pattern didn't specify a size, so I asked and she told me it was for 3-7 year olds. When I told her I was wanting it for my 1 year old, she very generously resized it for me. Then to add to her generosity she not only included the new size, but the original as well! So now C will get a cape made every year until she is 7, maybe! I think she like it, because she was walking around twirling it.

Even More Owls

Check out these new editions to my shop.

SOLD :)

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Dress from Aunty A

A Larger Owl

My wonderful husband enlarged the owl pattern for me so I now am able to make larger owl purses. These measure 5" X 3.5" and even hold a flip top cell phone. It has a pocket inside large enough to hold credit cards and plenty of space for change, make up, etc. Check it out here.

 It turned out so cute I almost couldn't give it up (good thing I have enough of the fabric left to make one more).

Owl Coin Purse

Trying something new in my etsy shop. Owl coin purses! Made from a Keyka Lou pattern. They measure 3" by 4" and will hold you change and other small items in your purse.

New Kanzashi Flower Petal Style

Here's a sneak peek at a new petal style I've been working on. I've also been experimenting with using beads in the center of the flowers. These will be up in my etsy shop as soon as I get backs put on them.

Kids Clothes Challenge Week-Spring 2011

Did you see my new button over there? Yep, it's happening again-Kids Clothes Challenge Week!! If you don't already know it is an event hosted by Elsie Marley where you commit to sew clothes for your kids for an hour a day for one week. The dates for this are May 9-15. I will be participating once again and this time I think I will try to focus on the boys' clothes, although I do have a couple more dresses for C in mind and a few things for nieces and nephews. We'll see, my plans always seem to change.

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Photo by my hubby, rocking horse by Little Sapling Toys

Springtime, slowly--Craft Hope Project 12

Slowly, very slowly spring is starting to show it's lovely green "head". Everyday I check on how much my tulips have grown and keep my fingers crossed that the moose don't return to eat them before they have a chance to bloom.

Little furry friends are returning (let's hope the BIG furry friends don't show up-AKA bears).

Soon all the snow will be gone and the puddles dried up and we can all go out and run around (and burn off energy). Good-bye cabin fever!

Please check out Craft Hope's latest project, making bracelets for the orphans in Russia. Help if you can, this is a simple project that most can do and it means so much to the children. Send 1, send 100. Every bit helps.

Sneak Peek-Infant/Toddler Headbands

Here's a sneak peek at the infant headbands I've been making:

C does NOT like things on her head (except for J's socks and the occasional toy). I'm still trying to decide if I want to leave it like this or to add a flower to it. And if I do add a flower should I sew it on or have it on a clip so it can be removed. What do you think?

Booties!!!

I finished the booties for the babies. I used 2 layers of fleece to make them nice and warm.

Now we are all set for springtime walks, including the MS Walk this Saturday.

Kanzashi Headband and Hairbands (Thanks Laura)

After some great advice I made some Kanzashi flowers into headbands and elastic hairbands. These are for children and adults (not infants, yet). Check them out here.