from shelly's belly

HP Mallory contest!

2011-09-24T12:39:00.000-05:00

I love HP, she is an amazing woman that has self-published her 5 books and has 3 coming in 2012 that were picked up by a publisher. I think that is just amazing. I think I need to push my older brother down that road with his books.

Anyway, she has this contest she's always done that let's you have the chance to be a character in her book. How cool is that? Your name, in print, for all to read! Sa-weet!

NaNoWriMo Begins!!

2010-11-01T16:26:00.000-05:00

I am sooo excited! I have just written my first bits for my novel -- I'm still working on the title -- but I have only written for a few hours and I already passed today's goal of 1600. I have written 2,001 words thus far! Am I done writing for today? No! Although, as I am typing this that annoying feeling in my eyes that say I want to close, I want to sleep is popping up. If only I drank coffee. If only drinking a coke would have the same effect. Sadly, no.

I have told myself at least 8 times today to stop deleting what I just wrote, no matter if I already used the word Towards 7 times. Just leave it. You are to leave your internal editor with the evil monkeys while you write your nanowrimo novel. I can edit the whole month of December. And January. And the rest of the year. Just get it out is my mantra for November. Just write it down, even if you're thinking about changing it in a few chapters. If it's a green honda civic this chapter, I could change it to a white or black one later. This month is about quantity and getting it done. that's it. Just write 50,000 words. Who gives a rip if it's lame. The fact that I can do it is the point. They will be 50,000 words of the same story. Not the word chocolate 50,000 times. Right now Pizza sounds better.

I used my Typewell Program to start typing. It is so much faster than conventional typing. I can write a whole sentence like this:

Normal typing:

I just don't think that my mother has the time anymore to get chocolate and buttercream frosting at the store today.

TypeWell typing:

i jst d't jk jt my mjr has j time anymr t get chclte x bttrcrm frstg at j stre tdy

k's not rlly j best exmple sntnce jt i cld prbbly cme up wj, but k'l v t d for now see how many less keystrks i v t use/ k's btfl1 i love m sme TW1

[It's not really the best example sentence that I could probably come up with, but it'll have to do for now. See how many less keystrokes I have to use? It's beautiful! I love me some TypeWell!]

You see?

Just typing this blog post in a regular way is a waste of my energy.

Just typing this post is a waste of my novel writing time.

Gotta go before I decide to take a nap instead of writing. Or watch Charlie's Angels instead of writing.

How about this -- I'll write another 1000 words today and then I'll take a break until later on today, or until tomorrow. I gotta rack up words for this weekend. I'll be at Time Out For Women in Portland, and I'll be missing 2 days of writing. I can't fall behind!

Sewing, creating, organizing

2010-10-08T12:22:00.000-05:00

probably procrastinating. It always seems when I have a certain project I want to get done, I remember all the other projects I want to do and do them instead. So while I went to sit down to write, edit, research, I wound up researching patterns for skirts and dresses and then made a pillow I've been meaning to make for months. So while I am excited that I finally have the bug again to sew and sew and sew and craft I do want to write as well, the bug's just not there right now.

If I can get my camera to work I'll start taking pictures and posting them. If.

NaNoWriMo

2010-10-05T19:45:00.000-05:00

I am trying to gather my thoughts for November. It is going to be a big month for me. NaNoWriMo is the month of November. It'll be my first year to participate, and if all goes well, not my last. I have two web badges here that you can click on to find out more. One is to indicate that I am a participant. The other is just because it gives a snippet of what it is about and I couldn't help but put it up there. If only I had a green typewriter to go with it.

I encourage all of you (all zero) to participate if writing is your thing. I'm trying to get my mother to do so... I will have to call her hubby to tell him so he'll force her to do it with me.

Right now I'm having a hard time deciding which story to use. Do I want to use the one that I have been thinking about and really putting my energy into thoughts and planning of it? Or do I want to use the one that I've only just thought of, that I will do someday, but isn't on my mind nearly as much? My hesitation is that you're writing it in 30 days. No editing, just writing. Do I want to use the idea I have and love and likely do it poorly. Granted, I will have the next months and months to edit it. Or do I want to use a fresh idea without fear of it turning out poorly, but risk burning out on writing it and not wanting to write for months while I heal from carpal tunnel?

Thoughts indeed.

Great Read and other thoughts

2010-09-20T01:34:00.000-05:00

I purchased both Writing the Breakout Novel and Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook by Daniel Maass. They are fabulous! When I was at B and N the other day I just read the foreword to WtheBN - and I never read forewords - and I was completely inspired! I had so many thoughts in just those few pages. Ideas for novels, characters, conflicts, etc. I read the first few chapters and the story that I had been composting in my head for the past month or so totally took a new turn and a new idea. I am so excited about it! It is going to be so much fun to write. Such a challenge, and so rewarding.

Being in Young Women's has been such a fabulous experience for me. When we were at girls' camp for whatever reason I started telling "scary stories' to the girls that were awake late at night. Most of the cabin had fallen asleep, just 3-5 were awake. While they were ludicrous stories they were so much fun to come up with. They are fun for us to remember and say "key lines" from them to each other. All we have to say is "meep" and we all burst out laughing. We were camping out at the coast a few weekends ago and they talked me into telling them another story. It is so much fun and such a good brain exercise for me to just come up with a whole story as I'm telling it. I'd come up with the premise right before I started, but 98% of it was come up with as I was saying it. Sometimes that was bad, but mostly it was great. I'd think of it and start laughing before I could even get it out. I keep telling myself I should try to remember them and write them out. I highly doubt I'd remember most of them, especially the first one I told at girls' camp. If anything I could start trying to write some out like that. Just to get my brain moving and to think on my feet. It could also help with figuring out how I best work. Maybe I can come up with premises of stories, but maybe my best work would be complete surprises to even me. Today I was reminded about the many stories I made up as a kid that were ridiculous. I'll have to share some of them this week. I'll have to dig through some of my stuff and type out actual notes and journal entries that I wrote. You'll break something from laughing at me. Not because I'm hilarious, but because I was stupid!

Okay, so this post was nothing interesting. I figured since I had started trying to write here I might as well keep it up. Even if I didn't really have anything to say.

Oh, I'll have to put up some things that my kids have said or done lately.

New Music

2010-09-18T00:11:00.000-05:00

Lately I have been finding new music and being completely inspired by it. For instance, Uprising by Muse is just fabulous. I can totally picture 3 guys in dark leather, stubble, cold eyes, and swirling fog curling around their legs and they walk purposely down a dark, wet - but not rained upon - alley. They are walking towards some thing or some one that is very fearful of them and should be so. They aren't really out to kill or hurt, but they will prove a point, a warning of sorts, a statement. Do not mess. I see it over and over again each time I hear that song and each time I get more and more details in that "story snippet."

I found Muse through an author that I like. I actually found quite a few singers and songs that I love through a few soundtracks. The movies, not so great, the music, fabulous. On many videos of these songs are people saying oh my gosh -- fill in some expletives as you see fit -- these people are so - expletive - they only like this music because of such and such, they aren't true fans. Or I saw one band member say, I feel as though I sold my soul to the devil by allowing them to use our song for this soundtrack.

You know what I say? No, you're ridiculous. I don't think you really get what you think you get. The type of music you listen to does not define you. It may fill in details. Why does me finding this song from this source make me appreciate it any less? Why does me finding this music from this source make me less of a fan? Why does it make me less than them? Where did you find it? Did someone else introduce you to it? What if that person was a horrible person, a "poser" - as they ridiculously say, or they turned their back on that music later on down the road? Does that make your love for that music any less real? No! I would think the creators of said music wouldn't care where you heard or learned to love it from. The fact that you love it, that it speaks to you should be enough. Muse has been around for a long time and unfortunately for me, I just found them in the recent times. I probably know some of their songs unknowingly, but now have a name for them and seek them out. Fortunately for me, I did find them out.

Everyone just back off.

Now that I'm done with all that, I do have to say that the soundtracks I am referring to are the Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse soundtracks. They really contain great great great music. The acting - that's another long long post. The music is beautiful. Well, to me at least, that's totally my style. Actually, I have lots of styles that I love, but I can listen to these 3 over and over and over again without tiring. That says a lot.

Done and done.

A Challenge

2010-09-16T18:26:00.001-05:00

I am a writer ~~at heart.~~ Therefore, I could probably stand to do some writing up here. Test it out on my poor invisible, non-existent audience.

In a conversation I just had with my mother, literally I just hung up, she said you should write a journal, or hey a blog - have you heard of those? ummm... yeah, I have 3 that I don't write a lick in and I follow at least 25 blogs everyday. So -- I thought -- since probably no one in the right mind is still reading this blog I could take a chance and just write what's on my mind and see where it leads me. Probably just the practice of writing will exercise (after 27 years I can finally spell this word correctly on the first try, that and ~~restaraunt~~ restaurant) my brain and writing muscle. -- there's another one of those words that sometimes alludes me. Muscle, in the sense of spelling, not in being. I am rather muscular -- compared to a baby.

Subsequently (a nod to my husband), here I am. Writing. Absolutely nothing in particular. And doing it improperly as well.

I recently finished a series, well the series isn't finished just incomplete. It is the Lady Julia Grey series by Deanna Raybourn. Very good.

My mother in law and sister in law (i am too lazy to put proper dashes in) both recommend me the series ages ago. For some unknown reason I never read them. Why? It has everything I love about a story. It's in London, it's in the 1800's, it's a mystery, and it's a love story. Seriously, all my favorite elements in one. Like Anne Perry. Another one is C.S. Harris, she has a great series as well! What made me chortle, yes chortle, is my sinful reaction to a statement that my sister in law, heretofore named Becky, said one evening. We were sitting around the fire, okay, at Grandma's house. We were discussing with a dear aunt this series and the c.s. Harris' series. I had but read 10 pages of the first book, but this aunt and Becky had read all 3 of this and all 4 of the other. keeping up? probably not. Said Becky, "auntie, you would love the St. Cyr series (c.s. Harris), it is very similar to the Lady Julia Grey series." Said I, "I don't think auntie would appreciate St. Cyr, it may be a bit too scandalous for her good and virtuous nature." Said aunt, "I don't know, she may be right, the Lady Julia grey series was a bit dark. . . " leaving a suspenseful and mysterious trail to her sentence. Becky said, "oh, the St. Cyr series is just as scandalous as the Lady Grey series, but a bit more violence and detail."

Can I just say that at the beginning I did say that it was a sinful thought. My heart lept! How fun! Scandalous! Whoop whoop! I can't wait to read this whole book, nay the whole series, right now! Where are the scandalous bits? I had to keep my hand from flipping the pages so I could skim them for some naughty kiss in a darkened room, unchaperoned! Ooh ho!

I have yet to spell scandalous correctly. Do not be confused, I have gone back to amend these errors, I just wish to point out that I have made them every time I have the word was writ.

I do not know what to make of myself of late. I am turning into a regular diddy. I look forward to the scandalous bits and want them to appear more in the pages of the books I read. I do not want any full on scandal or written porn, but I do want love that burns so passionately that they are helpless to each other's presence. Okay, that sounds like porn. No, I just mean, I want them to be in love love, and I want to experience the love they share. I do not want an overly intimate play by play, I just want to read the times that they looked at each other across the room or touched one another's hand in the tenderest of moments. Neither of those are scandalous (they actually were in the 1800's in England). I want them to embrace tightly and kiss with an almost desperation, I want them to stroke one another's cheek and hold each other when they suffer or are joyful. When they are wed, I sometimes want a peek at their intimacy. Not really the actual acts involved, but that they are intimate.

Am I going to get in trouble for writing this? Absolutely. Well, only, if someone reads it. Someone will, I am sure. When my hubby is out there running for some public office, someone will run across this and see... oh Mr. Blabbitty-blah's wife is full of scandal and naughtiness! He cannot possibly lead this city/state/country to freedom and happiness! She will ruin us all with her flagrant disregard for propriety and her lack of virtue.

Well, the young women at church do always say, you're a good bad influence. They must be mind readers.

A Frock By Friday

2010-04-20T12:46:00.000-05:00

A Frock By Friday

I am so pumped to be joining in on this! It is a huge push I need t bust out my sewing machine and do something for myself! I love Grosgrain and I love the dress she chose!

Cherry Pop Refashion Frock GROSGRAIN GIVEAWAY!!!!

2010-02-08T17:38:00.000-06:00

Cherry Pop Refashion Frock GROSGRAIN GIVEAWAY!!!!

Georgia Grace $50 Gift Card GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

2010-02-05T14:48:00.000-06:00

Georgia Grace $50 Gift Card GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

I want I want, I need I need!

Only the Best of Etsy Sample Packages GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

2010-02-02T12:58:00.000-06:00

Only the Best of Etsy Sample Packages GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

String of Lights Advent Calendar

2009-12-10T20:00:00.001-06:00

I love Elsie Marley, she is always full of greatness! Her string of lights advent calendar is tops! When she put this up last year I nearly died! I never got around to it at that time, but I finally did it this year! I am soo excited that I got it done!

photo courtesy of Elsie Marley

So here it goes:

I am very happy with the results! It wasn't difficult, but I did make changes.

Pros: unique, beautiful, easy enough, and fun! The tedious repetition turned out to be soothing.

Cons: time consuming.

one of my goals is to improve my picture taking skills

What I did: I folded my felt sheet in quarters (I used craft felt b/c it's what I had and I'm cheap) and traced the bulb pattern. I then repeated for the other side of the sheet and then sewed just inside the lines on each bulb. I made about 4 bulbs per sheet. Her directions say to hand sew the sockets together. While this may be the prettiest option I loathe handsewing! Handsew 25 sockets??? No way! I used hot glue baby! Took me 5 minutes to make 50 of them (I was making one garland banner and 25 ornaments for the tree).

I took 3 strands of the yard and hooked it under a chair, stretching the yarn out as far as it would go and braided it. It went rather quickly and easily. I made a loose braid. I then repeated with another 3 strands and then wrapped the 2 braids around each other.

see, you can't really see my shortcuts. oh, I do wish I had flipped that seam to the back.

I then took green embroidery floss and put tied the socket to the yarn with the knot on top of the yarn, instead of hidden inside the socket. You can't really see the knot and it probably saved me another hour of project time.

I put little Christmas activities inside each bulb and hung it on my wall. We don't have a fireplace, so the wall will have to do!

in the end, I didn't think the bulbs matched the other ornaments, so I improvised.

For the ornaments I lightly stuffed them and hot glued the bulb to the inside of the socket. To hand I stuck a ornament hanger through the tops of the socket. Easy Peasy.

up close look at the ornaments. fun fun!

Next time: I don't think I'd ever hand sew everything, unless I was making it as a gift. I won't be making it as a gift. It took a long time to do them, but it was definitely worth it. The hardest part was being honest and telling everyone that I didn't come up with the idea, someone else did! Ha ha! Thank you Elsie!

First Up

2009-12-10T18:00:00.002-06:00

Okay, this is a simple easy tutorial just to get things going.

photo courtesy of craftstylish

I found this tutorial last year, and then SimpleMom reminded me of it this year. Since I love the look of snow, but really don't like the feel of snow [freezing, slippery, and freezing some more], I loved this idea! We are in the beautiful northwest with perfect weather: we get winter without the snow!

I bought floss 88 cents at Walmart and the stickers 560 in a pack for $1.68. We have a large 5 foot window downstairs that I picked to decorate.

clearly I'm no photographer.

Pro: Easy, cheap, and lovely when finished.

Con: Time consuming, and easy to get pulled down by my 2 year old.

a little better. It would be nicer without blinds, but I like my privacy.

Summary: It was fun picking random patterns to put the dots on. I ran out of dots for my huge window so I made some of the strands short and some long. This is probably good since the first few days after I put these up I spent numerous times picking them up off the ground.

Next time: I will buy more dots. I bought 2 floss thingys and only used one.

My changes: It said to tape them up with masking tape. I don't have masking tape so I used some of the spare dots. When I noticed I was running out of dots I changed them out for white duct tape that I had. (remind me to show you what we did with our white duct tape). When my daughter pulled off some of the dots and ate them (she must've been hungry enough to eat paper, well she does think everything is candy!), I used a piece of white duct tape to repair the damage.

My daughter has stopped touching the snowstorm now and thinks it's very cool!

Tried Tutorials

2009-12-10T17:32:00.001-06:00

I may be treading on dangerous ground here! I am a tutorial junky! Who isn't, right? I love blogs that have tutorials! I do love blogs for many other reasons too, don't worry, I'm not just strictly a mooch! I am also a project list addict. I have to always have an eternal list of projects to do someday. I have filled up 4 pages front and back with lists of projects I have to do!

photo courtesy of V and Co.
So... I am going to post about all the tutorials I've tried from blog-land. I am going to be honest (which is why this may be dangerous) about whether the tutorial was clear, easy, etc, etc. I will post my efforts, failures, and successes. I may lose friends, I may be blacklisted, but hopefully we'll all be wiser for it.

photo courtesy of Crafterhours

I will also be sharing my real reviews of sewing books. I have to be honest, I have a ton of sewing project books from well-known women in the blog-land. Some of my reviews aren't as glowing as I've seen around blogs. Yes, I do love these women, but if it takes me 2 hours too long to figure out their drawings/instructions/wording, I am going to say something about it! Don't worry, I'm not a Negative Nelly! Nor am I Rude Rudy! I am Positive, Constructive, Loving, and Honest Shelly!!

photo courtesy of Ruffles and Stuff

I will write pros and cons about each tutorial/project. I will write if I did something differently, if it was user error, or ideas for making it a bit easier for you.

photo courtesy of One More Moore

Get excited!

Oh! I will be developing my own tutorials to be put under the microscope!

Cheers!

ETA: I have not yet tried the tutorials in the pictures in this post! They are still on my list of ones to try! These are just preview of tried tutorials to come!

missing her brother

2009-12-09T17:19:00.000-06:00

It's certainly been fun to have Benji go off to preschool. Jenee is always asking for her big brother. Where's Benji? I want Benji! It's so sad. I try to take her to the park to cheer her up, and yet the swing just doesn't swing the same without Benj.

I let her stay up a bit longer before going down for a nap so she can have some good alone time playing. She usually just puts herself to sleep instead. Jenee just lays there in sorrow and then drifts off to slumber. She pops off her pillow (I've moved her to her bed by then) asking for Benji right away. Thank goodness though, she is playing by herself at this moment.

I think it's incredibly important for my children to get some alone time. In my personal opinion, a healthy person is someone who can enjoy being alone as well as being with people. I love being alone and crave some quiet quiet time. I need quiet and solitude to be able to center myself. I hope to bring this to each of my children. They need to be alone to reflect and re-center themselves. Also, they need to be with others to reflect and re-center themselves in different ways.

Enough of that. I love my little girl's sad sad face.

awesome christmas decoration!

2009-12-08T17:47:00.004-06:00

I nearly fell down laughing. I scared poor Jackson to death laughing so hard. This is someone's Christmas decoration! I first saw the picture and thought, who cares about some dumb lights?? Then I read the story that accompanied it - holy smoke - what a hoot!

"Good news is that I truly out did myself this year with my Christmas decorations. The bad news is that I had to take him down after 2 days. I had more people come screaming up to my house than ever. Great stories. But two things made me take it down.

First, the cops advised me that it would cause traffic accidents as they almost wrecked when they drove by.

Second, a 55 year old lady grabbed the 75 pound ladder almost killed herself putting it against my house and didn't realize it was fake until she climbed to the top (she was not happy). By the way, she was one of many people who attempted to do that. My yard couldn't take it either. I have more than a few tire tracks where people literally drove up my yard."

I could totally see that happening! Even if this isn't a true story, I do love the decoration idea. You better believe that I will be trying this at some point in my life!

I've been wanting these patterns for ages!

2009-11-10T12:23:00.004-06:00

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ETA: not sure why that didn't work, so here's the direct link to the page:

http://grosgrainfabulous.blogspot.com/2009/11/handmade-dress-patterns-guest-giveaway.html

Ha! So you thought I'd start blogging by now... hello it's been over a year! Life is just so crazy that I'm trying to structure my life so that I can get things done and not be stressed and unhappy. That means I have to prioritize as well. So my blog has fallen by the way side and such. Still... my promise to come back full force is still happening. I'm about a couple weeks away from it.

Well, I do love reading my favorite blogs, and thanks to google reader, I can read a billion of them and not spend hours on the computer just keeping updated. Now when it comes down to really diving in, I could be on here for a week straight and still not read everything I want. The problem with reading blogs is that my project list increases past 1000 items. argh! when will I learn?? NEVER!

I do love then handmade dress patterns, and think they are just perfect. I would love to win these patterns, but since about 2000 people probably a vying for the same patterns, it will be slim. One can dream though. And anyway, it was a good reminder of her work and that I do want her patterns.

Making changes on this blog

2009-08-27T17:08:00.002-05:00

Well, I would like to transfer the old posts to a different blog and just start this all over. I have a new idea for it, so just bear with me while I get this off the ground. I will be writing posts and figuring out the ideal layout that I want and how to do that for the next few weeks. The posts will be put up after I've got the blog figured out and how I want it all to go. Until then.. I'd better get back to packing for Oregon.

Smooch!

playground shorts giveaway!

2009-07-06T09:51:00.001-05:00

http://raegunwear.blogspot.com/2009/06/giveaway-playground-shorts.html

These shorts are adorable, the deer fabric is too too cute! I would love to have these on my Nae nae, but if I don't get to win, I'll be so excited as she's promised to put up a tutorial so I can make my own! Whoop whoop! I love her!

what makes my children happy

2009-04-24T10:09:00.003-05:00

I've just got to laugh. My kids are so funny.

This morning, I woke up in a pregnant "gotta run to the bathroom" stupor and there was my little boy sitting on the couch looking very secretive. He had stopped whatever it was that he was doing and gave me this funny little look. He raises his eyebrows and tucks his chin down --- think of what an adult would do that looks at a tiny kid who is not doing what they should --- which always makes me laugh. Then I see what's in his lap, he's trying to cover it, but he's really not good at stealth yet. It's a loaf of bread, it's still in the bag and there are about 4 slices left in it. I was wondering where that bread ran off to! He has a secret stash! He stole my bread out of the pantry and hid it! I found where he hid it too! I just pretended I didn't see it (remember, I'm in a stupor, wanting to go back to sleep) and went back to bed. He was up waaay to early. Nick would get up in a few minutes anyway to get them ready for the day and off to school (it's really daycare, but we call it school b/c school is cool). I got up thinking the bread would still be on the couch, but no... he has it shoved between the wall and the couch. ha ha! Ohh, that totally reminds me of me, but I did it with candy and sweets.

Such a weird child, who hides bread? Who craves it every waking moment? Benjamin! He comes home, "hi mom! I went to cool, bye pease!" --translation, hi mom! I went to school, bread please-- He wakes up or gets woken up, "bye pease!! bye pease!" He wants it for everything. He especially likes it when he gets tired, he just sticks it on the roof of his mouth and falls asleep -- sick, I know. We are trying to break this weird nasty habit, but it takes time.

Nick and I joke about what we're going to give them for their birthdays. Benji - a loaf of bread just for him. Jenee'- a box of wipes just for her. That girl is obsessed with wipes, we have to hide the containers from her. I've given her one filled with torn up toilet paper (she tore it up, I was just trying to make use of the scraps we could no longer use), and she was very snobby about it. We tear one in half to give her when it's time to change her diaper, and she tries to help wipe herself, it's too cute. She loves to clean everything in site (not with the same wipe she wipes herself with, we're not that gross), she wipes the couch, the tv (it's actually very helpful), her face, her clothes, the cabinets, walls... oh you get the idea. She always has to have her tray on her high chair clean. That doesn't mean she does it in a way we like. The plate/bowl and spoon go down on the floor (usually with food still in it) and she's way too fast to stop her before it falls to the ground. The remaining food on the tray is then picked up individually by those teeninesy fingers and thrown to the floor and she'll take her napkin (she has to have one!) and wipes the tray, her hands, and her face. Where did she come from?? I am not a neat freak at all. I enjoy neatness, more than I did when I was younger, but I'm still not a good housekeeper. Both my children love to clean and pick up and have to have their face and hands clean. Myself, I like to roll in dirt; the dirtier the hands the more fun I had.

It's so nice though that they're so easy to please. Bread and wipes. whew.. that means I don't have to make them all these things to try and be the mother of the year! What a relief. Will I still do that? H - yes! but at least I'll have the bread and wipes with the handmade toys/clothes.

am I alive?

2009-02-25T14:10:00.001-06:00

short answer: yes.

long answer: ohhh, it's too long to really give it the full attention it deserves.

We are doing well and are super duper happy. The kids are growing and growing and we've taken hardly any pictures. I am doing my best to catch up, but I find that I keep taking the same picture over and over again and when I find a great photo op, where's my camera? not with me! lame.

As I start to get myself in gear here, I just may really finally update you on life thus far since we left Texas.

Feel free to email, call, whatever whenever....

moving on

2008-11-13T16:33:00.001-06:00

I hate to say it, but I'm moving on with my blogs. I will be merging from shelly'sbelly and barlow bits. That blog -- fromshelly'sbelly -- will be for family and more personal updates. I may cut it out entirely... that's to be determined later.

I have a NEW blog for my NEW shop(s). It's very exciting. I'm in the process of building and designing it, so be on the lookout for the grand opening!! YAY!

still here

2008-11-11T17:06:00.002-06:00

well election day is far over, and still things are going on about it. oh well

I am enjoying some relaxing time being a mama, hanging out with my hubby, the in-laws, and a bit of reading (the hardy boys), with a bit of sewing that's getting started.

Soon I will have a wonderful surprise!! yay for me!

election day stress

2008-11-04T11:05:00.003-06:00

Here are some posters I've found here that are pretty cool. What's good about them is that they are party neutral. Just vote people! Save us from disaster!

I am so stressed, I think I'm going to hide away until the day is far over! I don't want to know what happens until tomorrow. I already have the tendency to stress way too much. For heavens' sake, I stress when watching silly movies and reading children's books.

Of course I'm going to get 500 ulcers today. I have been ignoring all the news lately. It's all the same anyhow.
No one really wants to know the truth, it's all what the media has decided to make us choose. I am so angry with them. When did they change? They weren't even trying to hide their bias. I want a media that really wants to share the truth, not their agenda. So I stopped supporting them.
I have been praying my guts out for our Father in Heaven to save this country from idiocy and ignorance! I feel like the time of wicked King Noah - if the majority of the people are wicked, so then will be our leader. Then we are toast. If the majority of the people are righteous (and do something about it) then we will be better off.

I just wish people would stop being fanatics: screaming, accusing, and ignoring everything and just listen and start to think.

I forgot about costumes!

2008-10-29T12:14:00.003-05:00

Halloween is this friday, in case you forgot. I'm not that big on halloween - it's just another thing to spend money on something unimportant in the scheme of things. Silly for me to think that way, I know. I loved halloween as a kid! I still like it and everything, it's just when it comes down to it I don't like that I have to spend money on a costume when I need that money for something else (new shoes, christmas presents, root canals, oh and diapers).

that being said, I am going to dress up my kiddos. I've been looking for some fun homemade costumes and found a few cute ones on martha stewart.... but are they going to be that much

cheaper this way? I'm not quite sure. well, the cheap ones are pooopy looking. I don't like character costumes (scooby, dora, spiderman, etc).

I love these two, but there are some key things I'm missing: everything! I don't have any of it, except the child. I was thinking of these two for jenee', but I still haven't found something for Benji. If I made jenee' the chicken I could make him a rooster or an egg. Or her an egg. or him a wolf to go with the lamb. oohh, but how!

any ideas?? help me!

vote people!

2008-10-29T12:02:00.003-05:00

I know, I know it's not that exciting for you, but it is to me! look at the poll to the right or I just may do something like post something really long and boring and whiny!

I'm going to be selling my goods (very exciting, i know!) and I'm wondering about my shop name. From Shelly's Belly - I do like Snap Dragon! I like too. I say it all the time (if you know me IRL you already know that). I don't want it to be confusing however my blog titled FSB and my shop something else.

think about it, and report back to me!

Toy-a-day

2008-10-24T11:08:00.005-05:00

I found the coolest site!

guess who?

I think edward scissorhands is my favorite!

At Toy-a-day you can download these files to make these characters out of paper! They have so many different ones it's insane! They even have contests to make up your own! I was looking for optimus prime because he's awesome, but I am in a hurry and couldn't find it when I'm supposed to be leaving to meet my brother!

danish

2008-10-22T16:59:00.005-05:00

my brother and sil have an awesome tv console thingy - it's this antique danish media center that is just gorgeous! I am going to steal it! I'll have to snap a picture of it next time I'm visiting so I can post it here. It is drool worthy!

My brother found me these sites that are vintage danish modern all in one.

this danish sofa is from here

this is from the same site. there were quite a few desks/storage pieces that are just lovely. I love those spindly legs. I usually like hearty, manly, sturdy legs on my furniture (nothing ornate, just rough and tough, with a great presence), but I just love this danish vintage goodies!

tea love

2008-10-21T21:17:00.004-05:00

I love this dress! I can't really tell if the white on the bottom is the lining, or if it is the hem. I want to make this dress and make the white part the lining - or maybe make it the fuchia color and still the lining.

At first glance I thought this dress was pleated, but it's just stripes. It's still really pretty! I want to make a pleated one!

Well, everyone knows how much I love green! Those sleeves are just darling! I love Jenee' with poof sleeves.

Poor boys, they just didn't have as much cute things. I do love this argyle vest though. With a little white with pinstripes shirt and nice pants, this would melt my little heart! I would definitely give in and give him some fruit snacks! did i mention this was from tea?

mmmm... so inviting

2008-10-17T13:39:00.005-05:00

I've got a new obsession - design*sponge. Yes, I've known about it for quite awhile, but I just get lost in their site for hours upon hours. I know it's bad to lust after all the furniture and yummies, but I can't help it! I want, I want! I need, I need!

Isn't this beautiful and inviting! It's so cheery. I could definitely see myself sitting there sketching out designs and ideas, even writing letters and notes to people I love. I think I could just sit there and gaze into the flowers until I'm summoned to wipe a face/bum.
This is in the sneak peak of the hammerpress studio. This is their business card bar! I want to have this so I can bake, cook, craft, sketch, sew, etc etc. My brother and I are going to be designing and building our own furniture line, and this layering of the different woods was already in several of our designs when I stumbled upon this beauty! Yay! It's gorgeous! I guess I'll just have to wait to build a special one just for me!

the last bits

2008-09-28T20:59:00.002-05:00

I am sitting here at the computer thinking there's so much to be done when in fact, there isn't. It's all been done. Why is that so hard to accept? It makes me laugh! We're packed, I've even packed everything we're still using. It still hasn't sunk in yet that we're really leaving. Today was my last day at our church, but it didn't feel like it. The house is clean, my hair is freshly cut, the kids are scrubbed, their hair is freshly cut - along with Nick's. Now all I have left is 1 asl class, and to finish sewing things for my friends. Reminder - Mimi if you're reading this I need your fabric!!

I guess I'll go soak up and enjoy being done 1 week ahead of time. It's a little disorienting though. I keep thinking I'm forgetting something very important.

dress and breathing

2008-09-17T15:48:00.003-05:00

Here's one of the dresses I've made from Amy Butler's new book, that I just love! I've made another, I just don't have any pictures of Nee' Nee' wearing it. I'll have her wear it this week so just you wait!

I finished an apron I made for Seda, that is adorable! I just have to adjust a few things on it for length - I had to guess how big she was. I'll post pictures of that too when it's done.

Rude, I know for mentioning things and not even having pictures to match. Why read a blog without pictures, seriously?

So here's one of me during the hurricane when we didn't have power. I've got a head lamp on, a flashlight in hand, and my son's blanket as a cape - I'm super light lady (and I'm not referring to my weight). Just trying to get some humor from the situation. Hopefully I've made a big enough fool of myself on this here blogosphere. Keep in mind I've got no makeup on, unless you count the previous day's goop under my eyes.

Stressed a bit too much

2008-09-16T13:24:00.002-05:00

Well, Ike has left us, but he's left us with knocked down power lines, trees, cell towers, lights, and long long long lines for gas stations and grocery stores.

Last night Nick and I tried to go out to dinner for my birthday, but it was not to be. The restaurant we wanted to go to (30 mins. away) was closed and by the time we came back to our side of town the others were all closed due to "curfew." Curfew is at 9pm so you can't get in after 8pm. Oh well. It's just as well, Nick was REALLY car sick - probably due to my crazy angry driving.

I'm only crazy angry because I'm totally stressed out. I don't know why, but for the past week I've "had it up to here" all day every day for no real reason. I seriously need a vacation. When I say vacation I mean I'm the only one floating on an air mattress in the middle of a warm pool under a perfect warm sun (not too hot) with a light breeze. Drinks and snacks magically appear at my side when I think of them. When I'm done floating around then I can watch any girly movie I want, eat whatever I want, read whatever I want. Then if I want to do something productive I can, but only when I feel like it and without anyone interrupting. heaven.

Family stayed with us during the ike extravaganza, and it was wonderful to see them and have them close. I was so stressed that the kids were going to drive them crazy and that they'd think "those are horrible children!" I still have to get it into my head that even if you're a good parent it doesn't mean your kids will always be good. More important, if your kids behave badly at times it does not mean you're a bad parent. Oh, if only I could totally accept it. They were pretty good, just a tidge whiny and stressed by the activity going on.

Family is all gone now, but Mom is flying in tomorrow morning to help out with Grandma E. She is having a hard time (she is 93). That means I have 1 naptime to make sure this house is cleaner than clean! Yikes! I don't know if I'm going to be able to do it!

Obviously, I'm not doing it right now. I am procrastinating big time. Wednesday is anti-procrastination day, not tuesday. More on that later.

Let the cleaning begin. Hardy har har har...

Hurricane

2008-09-12T12:39:00.001-05:00

Hurricane, go away, come again another day (or not); little children, little children, little children want to play.

well, things are a bit crazy here in Houston. Hurricane Ike is headed our way, so we're hunkered down for now, waiting for the power to go out.

Will update everyone on how we're doing as we're able.

Grandmama, Grandpapa, and Kenneth are with us as well, so if you can't reach them on their cell phones, try our house phone.

Amy Butler help

2008-09-10T19:27:00.002-05:00

I am so impressed with Amy Butler! Of course I'm in love with all of her fabrics and patterns, but I mean I'm impressed for another reason. I have her book, Little Stitches, and I have recently made an outfit and am in the midst of making a second one. I have yet to post the completed one, but it is beautiful! Well, I was struggling on one point in the instructions, my brain just couldn't grasp the instructions that were written - I am an extremely visual learner and need pictures and diagrams for everything. This book has 1-2 diagrams per pattern. So I just do a lot of re-reading. It's still easy to do, except for this dumb sleeve. I couldn't figure it out. I sewed, and ripped out stitching, I re-sewed it and it didn't look right. Then I did 2 fake sleeves on throwaway fabric so I wouldn't ruin the nice fabric. I still didn't get it the way I wanted it. So, I emailed Amy Butler's company for help. A wonderful woman, Dianne, emailed me back right away and gave me her personal cell phone number so that we could talk about it! Holy CROW! Are you kidding me? I can talk to her? I have been super busy all day and am exhausted, so I won't be talking to her until tomorrow morning, but so far I'm mega impressed and so so grateful.

Poll anyone?

2008-09-08T11:57:00.004-05:00

I've found the new poll feature, and I like it! Now, I just need people to come to the blog to actually use it!

I would like you to answer my poll question about the blog layout. I'll have some other polls up later! Please answer, even if you don't even know me. You can find the poll here ----->

I've already thought of tons of polls to do, I'll have to restrain myself - oh this is gonna be hard!

Don't forget to read the new post below

moving, again?

2008-09-08T11:41:00.002-05:00

I have posted this on Barlow Bits already, but felt the need to post it again. I do that a lot, cross posting. I don't know if I should continue to do that, but I just want to cover all my bases. Let me know if you find it annoying and/or confusing.

We are moving! Yay! or Boo! Depending on who you are.

We are moving to Utah somewhere between SLC and Provo. Nick is planning on going to BYU, but he'll probably work somewhere close to SLC. Who knows. We'll be going up there sometime at the beginning of October (word on the street is the first weekend) to stay at Nick's family's place until we find a job and a place to live. We'll be moved in by Christmas time.

We are excited to be moving forward in the "education chapter" of our lives (I'm sorry about the cliche - no one detests them as much as I do). Sad to leave behind my parents and family and new friends. Thank goodness there's this blog business that'll keep us updated on our life events and daily happening. I just need to convince the rest of my family to get a blog (Jared & Erica, Mom & Alan, Becky & Phil, Angelina, Laura & Steve, Sarah & Tom, Lawrence & Melba, Lyndsay and Chad, Scott and Cathy, Chad & Michelle, Tim & Zyzlila, etc etc). I mean seriously folks, it's much better than me barraging you constantly with the constant phone calls, nagging and begging you to tell me what's going on and sending me pictures! If you need a walk through tutorial to do it, I'd gladly help. I'll even set it up for you, but of course, you'd maintain it with pictures, stories, extras, etc.

Let's say, if you don't set one up before 2009 I'll post your full names, addresses, and phone numbers all over the internet.

Not really. Or really?

Well, we'll be seeing you (those of you that are there) in Utah soon enough.

bandana skirt revisted

2008-09-05T10:28:00.005-05:00

I finally took a picture of Jenee' wearing it. She has her ballerina socks on, so I think it completes this outfit. She should have a bow or headband on, but since it's the middle of the week and we're just at home, it stays off. I couldn't get a great shot of her since whenever she sees me or senses me she has to get angry and come crawling over to me. I couldn't get her to stay standing where she was, nor could I get her to stand with me holding her hand - she just wanted to climb all over me. It's cute, but not cute for the sake of a picture. Or anything else I want to get done.

bandana skirt

2008-09-04T18:57:00.002-05:00

This is a bandana skirt I made, I was inspired by the bandana shorts on sew, mama, sew. I made the shorts, I just don't have a picture of it here. I made the skirt in 5 minutes - so easy.

However, I made the mistake of not washing the bandanas before sewing them. I didn't figure them for regular fabric, so when I washed the shorts the sewing got pulled from the shrinking. I can fix it, it's just a pain. I haven't yet washed the skirt because Jenee' hasn't worn it yet.

This is a mini tutorial on how I made it. Not that you need one.

It fits Jenee' who wears from 6-12 months size. It is about 18-19" wide (I roughly measured) and 8-9" long. I did french seams on the side seams.

French seams: sew 1/4" seam with right sides OUT. then turn wrong sides out and sew 3/8" seam. Iron seams to the side. Whatever you do make sure the second seam line is larger than the first. I love it because it encases raw edges.

Then hem to desired length. I did about 1-1 1/2" and then make a casing at the waistband 1" or however wide to fit your elastic. Put your elastic through with a safety pin and put it on your little one. Figure out where it needs to be. Take it off, sew the elastic down. Tada!

There is a twirly skirt tutorial that's way cooler you can use. I was planning on using it, but I wanted something extremely simple!

Tada.

I win! I win!!

2008-09-02T09:25:00.003-05:00

The apple orchard give-away! I win I win!! Yay! I read Kathleen's blog the other day to check any updates for winners just in case I won. Yeah right, I always think. It took a moment before it registered that that was my name I was reading. I literally jumped up and down and squealed like a little girl! How fun!! I'm so excited to see it when it gets here and put it on Jenee' - she'll look so cute in it, because the outfit is cute!! I love this woman! I'm so excited!

Wandering Waif Collection GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

2008-08-30T11:58:00.000-05:00

Wandering Waif Collection GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

I love this outfit, especially since we'll be heading towards a freezing climate by christmas!

Donate to Nie Nie

2008-08-26T08:54:00.000-05:00

I've seen this around a few blogs recently and never looked at it, until this morning. I am bawling right now about a family I don't even know. Three people were in a plane crash and one, Doug, died. Stephanie and Christian, husband and wife, have survived, but are in critical condition. Christian has 30% of his body burned and Stephanie has 80% of hers burned. They have 4 small children that are being taken care of by Stephanie's sister. If you go to the button on the sidebar you can donate and also see exactly who Stephanie (nie) is. Then you can go to her sister's blog to get updates and to really see how not only the neilsons (stephanie and christian) are, but their whole extended family. I am so grateful and happy to see the outpouring of love for this family. Heavenly Father is truly hearing the many thousands of prayers offered for them every minute. I hope that you'll take the time to look and remember this sweet family as you go about your life. If you have the means, of course, please donate what you can - their hospital bills will be in the millions. There are several blogs holding silent auctions I know one of my favorites, grosgrain, is and she has links to others as well.

Cell phone

2008-08-23T10:38:00.000-05:00

I am posting this on both blogs, because I don't know who reads what (if at all). For those of you who have my phone number pay attention, for those of you who only know me in blog-land, you can ignore this post.

I just found my phone yesterday, after letting Benji play with it (how stupid of me) and he stuck it in some random little hole. I haven't had it for a little over a month and so I have surely missed countless calls. I found it, charged it and am now accepting phone calls! Just thought you should know.

Apple Orchard Overalls GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

2008-08-22T09:46:00.000-05:00

Apple Orchard Overalls GIVEAWAY !!!!!!! This would fit Jenee' beautifully right now! She is so mobile and gets so angry with her dresses that this would be perfect for her! Plus it's hotter than hades down here in Texas, so it would definitely keep her cool when we're at the park!

Garden Party Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

2008-08-22T09:45:00.000-05:00

absolutely gorgeous dress! I want one for myself too! I love love love that green it is so scrumptious. Plus, most children's clothes don't come in such beautiful colors - they're all pastel. Garden Party Frock GIVEAWAY!!!! One day I will win one of her beautifully sewn outfits!

like and loathe

2008-08-18T13:58:00.004-05:00

I thought I'd be a bit different in my post title today.

I like my camera (thanks Nick) and I hate it. It's a canon powershot A640. I have tried and tried to change my settings - shutter speed, aperture, etc. and yet my camera won't let me do it to the settings I want!

My camera claims it's being shaken like a mad dog and blurs everything.

Yes, she does have a nose.

no, this isn't a still from the movie, "the Ring"

The only way it'll be crisp is if there's a flash involved. Translates to mean I can't take anything close up. I try and try to step back and then zoom in and it won't work! It looks focused and then the minute I push the button blur mania! Then the flash makes everyone white and spooky looking. I've tried to fiddle with the flash settings... oh! whine whine whine complain complain complain.

trying to hide the flash..

When my camera behaves the pictures have good color and are crisp. It's a 10 mega pixel so they are good quality. The camera is mostly easy to use (when you're not doing advanced things). It's black with silver buttons (all down her back back back).

My son has hurt my poor camera. You know when you turn it off the lens retracts and then a shutter type thingy closes over the glass part? (admire my camera speak) well, it doesn't close anymore. They used to close but wouldn't open all the way and there'd be a shadow over my photos. ha ha. now they don't close, but they're open all the way because my son jammed them with his tiny little fingers. I can't complain too much though - there's no shadow over my pictures.

on the top corners you can see the shadow.

If only I had a gajillion dollars and after paying off debts, buying a house, and a new van-like car for myself, a car for Nick, and decorating said house with minimal but beautiful and functional things, equipping my children's playroom with intelligent hand-made toys, learning activities, and craft supplies I would then equip my craft room (or warehouse) with all the necessary things to sew, craft, scrapbook, photograph, and beautiful my life with. Oh, can you just imagine what it would look like? I can... walls covered with photographs of family, artwork done by my husband, children and myself. Fabric in organized shelves, drawers, displays. Camera equipment with a little studio to take family photos with. Computer, scanner/printer/copier, stacks of scrapbooking paper, drawers and jars and baskets filled with buttons, ribbon, notions, embellishments. Board covered in ideas for my next 30 projects. Thread, embroidery floss, embroidery hoops, needles, quilts, books and books. Overstuffed chairs, flowers, sunshine, bright happy green and blue walls. Comfy floor, music (but I do love silence best), magazines, pictures and the sounds of my children playing happily in the room with me. My husband would be curled up on the chair with a book, or engaged in a lively conversation. Oh I could cry with joy! Oh please oh please let this happen! Since it's a dream I can put any and all equipment in there that I want. If it's to come to reality - I can part with some of it (a few skeins of embroidery floss, a few yards of fabric, and some camera equipment). Now to find a job for my husband!

tulip dress

2008-08-15T21:08:00.002-05:00

Here's my little tulip. I didn't get a great photo shoot - I didn't think about it until 5 minutes before we left for church. If I didn't get them right away she wouldn't be neat and tidy after church! The top gave me troubles and I had to re-cut them out and used precious fabric.
This is my own pattern, though it was inspired by Katiedid (she is amazing). The top is bunchy - it'd fit best if she had boozies, but I don't want her to have any yet. I made it shorter because she's crawling and gets so mad when she gets caught up on her skirts. It's a wrap dress, with ties on the inside and button closure on the front. I even got her bow to stay in her hair by an idea I read here. Elmer's glue. The karo syrup and honey just left a mess with the bow lost somewhere.

cute little toes!

thoughtful wednesday

2008-08-13T14:41:00.003-05:00

The little red car just sits there sleeping in the dewy grass, waiting for its playmate to burst through the morning silence. I love the still moments of the day that give me time to notice the joy the little things bring me.

Paperdoll Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

2008-08-06T12:42:00.001-05:00

Paperdoll Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

another cute one. someday i'll win one of her dresses. sigh. someday.

paper magnet dolls

2008-07-31T17:01:00.004-05:00

two posts in one day! well, just you wait, I'm really holding back from doing 3-4 posts.

I stole this idea from chasing cheerios. It's a fabulous one! She did this for her daughter's birthday. If you want the direct doll link, go to her site and get it: I know it's from The Small Object, but I'm not sure where on their site it is. I printed it off, water colored it in -- since that was my first time, it looks a wee bit funny (computer ink runs when mixed with water). I poor man laminated it (packaging tape) and stuck magnets on the back at the torso, bum, feet, and head. I then made clothes out of scrapbooking paper (and laminated with trusty tape: time consuming, yet effective). It was very fun to do! I stuck magnets on the backs of the clothes, shoes, hats, and then on the folder so they had a spot to go on.

I'd have to say my favorite part of this whole thing are his rosy cheeks. so cute!

schedules -- routines

2008-07-31T16:33:00.004-05:00

I hate the word schedule! It is highly stressful for me; just thinking of having every half hour allocated a certain activity makes me break into hives and absolutely refuse to be responsible! Well, a few years back I stumbled upon FLYLady. She is awesome! She has routines! ie: you wake up, make your bed, shower, get dressed (to shoes), unload dishwasher, start load of laundry, make breakfast, eat breakfast, switch load, sit and drink water... etc etc.

What I love about it is this - sure there's an order to what you'd want to do things in, but there's no set time, and there really is no set order - just get that list of things done before you start your afternoon routine, and then your bedtime routine. It is so freeing to be able to manage what needs to be done, but do it in a way that's flexible and willy nilly - like myself (except the flexible part, I can barely touch my toes).

Introducing Benji and Jenee'. children like routines etc etc, we all know that bit. Well I used to get so bogged down in that I had to be doing this and this and this. I know I say "used to" like I've overcome those feelings. Hardly. I tried to schedule out so many teaching moments, activities, crafts (which he usually snubs his nose at), and other productive things. I usually would burn out before the 1st day was over - and even before I was done planning.

Somehow I forgot to apply my routines to their routines.

So, I have my activities I'd like to get done with the kiddos each day, and then I have a slot for an "extra" activity - which is rotated throughout the week of 5-6 different things to choose from. I figure they can be done once a week and the other things are more important for everyday.
I have this system where it has a picture of what's going to take place and then on the back a smiley face (to show it's been completed).

I also have two papers at Benji's eye level to show his morning and bedtime routines.

So far, I use them more than he is aware of them. I haven't officially introduced him to these things, but his routines are becoming more and more predictable as I am being trained into a better mama. I feel so much happier when I see we're all three accomplishing so much everyday.

FYI: the cards in the blue pocket holder say: wake up, breakfast, free play time, music time, nap, lunch, planned activity, lesson, creative time, individual play time, dinner, family time, play with mommy, play with daddy, clean-up, bath, read, bed time. not all of those are done every day... with the play with mommy/daddy cards - we always set aside time to have special play with benji and jenee - like I'll play with him for 5 - 10 minutes a few times a day (not including my planned activity, lesson, etc) -- but with this card he gets an extra special time slot for us - 15 -20 minutes (or until we're done).

hope this might help anyone else out there getterdone.

oh, and with these they work the same as my routines. sure he usually eats his lunch after his nap, but the other things I can do them as I please with my goal being to get most of the cards turned over in one day. If not, who cares? just move ahead and don't look back!

Popcorn Bloomer and Blouse GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

2008-07-30T14:16:00.000-05:00

Popcorn Bloomer and Blouse GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

another fabulous giveaway from grosgrain! even better, it's for clothes jenee's current age!

cute, but.

2008-07-25T17:17:00.006-05:00

I got to go to another baby shower this week! I love sewing baby gifts - hello! I took the handmade pledge, so I have to sew something! yipee.

Sewing has NOT been going well for me lately. I'm in a sewing funk. How many wee wonderful bears have I made? 6. that's right, and this last one was the worst. Ok, it wasn't really that bad, but the bottom part was wonky. which was a good thing that I had planned on putting a skirt on.

I was very excited to do this one because I thought of doing bloomers with a skirt - and I was proud of myself for thinking of it without anyone else already doing it (to my knowledge). The gingham fabric was very thin, so it got a bit wonky during the stuffing phase.

the scalloped blanket had a few tucks and folds in it. One scallop was wonky.

I am just so blah with my sewing lately. I'm not doing anything differently, but everything is coming out almost good enough. I thought I should take a break, so I stopped sewing for a couple of days, but I can't, I have too many projects swirling around in my head that if I stop they get even more backed up.

on a happy note, I do love the fabric! Oh, i really just think I'm still ticked about the apron I just did.

i'm still happy so no worries.

ugly ugly

2008-07-25T16:59:00.005-05:00

I don't even want to post a picture of it.

I don't want people to know I made it.

I'm a sucker for pity though.

I slaved for 2 days on this half apron. The 1st day was spent trying to decide what I wanted to make exactly. Then cutting. The 2nd day (and by days, I mean nap times) was spent sewing, and then re-working.

Everything that could go wrong did. The first pockets I designed didn't turn out, so I decided on one side having a kangaroo pocket, and the other side having a square pocket with ruffle trim. The pockets are the only things I like on the whole dumb thing.

I planned on what fabric to use without really remembering the fabric's qualaties. My mother bought me this fabric (thanks ma) in toronto, and I've been fretting over what to sew with it. This apron is made out of my least favorite fabric of the loot (she bought me tons of different kinds. also - don't feel bad mom about it being my least fav.), so I chose it to use first because I wasn't as attatched to it. I thought it was a heavy weight cotton. No, I think it's polyester or something. When I was cutting it I wasn't paying too much attention, and then thought - hey this has a bit of stretch to it. While sewing I thought - hey this has a LOT of stretch to it. hey - this is stretching too much! Hey - this isn't looking right!

My ruffle for the edge was short 5 inches, so I had to sew on an extender. My thread broke a few times for the ruffle and the gathering of the skirt part. Then sewing on the waistband, the fabric stretched so funkily (no matter what I did) that it twists a bit on the side. I was pretty upset. At that point I thought, you know what I don't care anymore.

After looking at the apron, before sewing on the ties, I thought -snap dragon! this is ugly! The fabric is so heavy, it's poofy, it's not laying right, and thank goodness I'll probably spill bleach on it next week. I do love the pockets though! I didn't sew pockets on my 1st apron, and I really want some.

So I have a reversible apron, that's ugly on both sides. it's ugly ugly...
here's the proof:

You may think, hey it's not that bad. that's what I thought when I saw the pictures. Then I looked in the mirror. oh no, it's that bad.

Just so everyone knows, I have not lost any more weight - which is why I still look pudgy. don't judge me; I like my cookies.

under construction

2008-07-21T16:42:00.003-05:00

this blog is currently under construction (as you can tell). It needs some work still, adding buttons here and there - fixing the background, etc. When it's all done, I'll give a big reveal -- well you'll just see it and I'll just announce it. THEN when this one is done, I'll head over to Barlow Bits to redo that one. One at a time.

hope you like, and please feel free to comment on what you do or do not like. be gentle, i'm new.

bias tape

2008-07-20T18:15:00.004-05:00

I am not very happy at this moment! I am in the midst of making pajamas for my Benji from this pattern from habitual, and my bias tape is not working out! I have done it several times, and it's just aggravating for it to not work today! First off, I made the binding using Amy Karol's continual strip method, which has worked for me in the past and I think is genius, but oh no, not today! The first time my seams were switched -- one seam on one side and the other on the opposite side. Meaning, when the binding is folded in half, you'd see a seam (which would have pink thread on it b/c i was too lazy to switch thread). Soo... that didn't look too hot. Soo, second time: I make it, but when I go to cut my strips, my markings are off and then my strips turn out to be from 1 1/2 inches -3/4 inches wide -- very very wonky! I decide to try to make it work (by now I've used up the fabric I was going to use to make pj pants. I don't have enough to make shorts out of now and I'm not driving 30 minutes out of my way again to get more fabric!), but alas it is not going to work! not if I want the pj's to last - which I do. I'm making them to match his bear I made.

Just FYI - apparently I didn't know this. I bought a bias tape maker - wonderful - for 1/2 " binding - but it really makes 1/4 " double fold tape. Now I have to wait until there's more funds to go buy a 1" maker that really makes 1/2 " tape. Am I whining enough? No!! If it really makes 1/4" why not say it's 1/4" binding! Who leaves their tape unfolded? So, no pj's for benji and jenee' for a bit.

Train Stop Shirt Dress GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

2008-07-19T11:42:00.000-05:00

Train Stop Shirt Dress GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Tag!

2008-07-18T10:04:00.001-05:00

My friend, Shauna, did this on her blog and it seemed like a fabulous idea!

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Watch, I'll come back in a month and there won't be any comments. Surprise me!

I'll post this on my other blog to so I can try to get everyone (I have no idea who visits what blog, if any).

muffin tin monday!

2008-07-16T15:13:00.003-05:00

I swear I did this on monday - remember my camera batteries died, so I didn't think I could upload the pics onto the computer. Silly me. I found this idea from Chasing Cheerios, who in turn found it from Sycamore Stirrings. I love it! It actually helps me give Benji a more well rounded lunch. It was so fun! He felt very special eating out of it too. I'm going to continue to do this every monday, and hopefully I can do it more days as well. I want to eat out of muffin tins too. This is probably why I made that shepherd's pie in individual servings: jealousy.

bread with peanut butter, bananas, peaches, sharp cheddar, chicken nuggets, cookie.

my good boy left the cookie. he doesn't like peanut butter, but I thought I'd give it a try. I ate the rest of the bananas. yumm!

baking, sewing, playing

2008-07-16T14:16:00.004-05:00

jealous? you should be!

my week (i know it's only been 3 days so far) has been wonderful! I'm back to using my routines and staying on top of things and being organized. It truly is easier this way. I'm actually gaining time that I didn't know I had. I get 100x more done and because of it I am wiped out by the end of the day, forcing me to go to bed earlier, which in turn allows me to rise earlier: meaning I'll get even more done the following day! bliss!

I haven't posted so far this week because my camera batteries dies, leaving me no way to take pictures, nor post them. Actually, I just glanced at my printer and remembered there's a slot for my memory card on there! doh!

Well, since I'm behind, there are going to be several posts from one day. I don't know how you'll figure this out seeing as how the posts are in reverse order (newest on top), so you won't read this email unless you decide to read more than one post at a sitting. I do hope you do it. This post will just be a recap of what's been going on, then the other posts will be the actual sharing!

I've been sewing (of course) shirts, dresses, and pj's for the kiddos. I'm really looking for some cute boy clothes patterns and fabric! I made benji some pj's (the shirt is a bit wonky) from an old receiving blanket of his, and when Nick saw it this is our conversation.

Nick: that's girly looking.
Me: WHAT!? It is blue, red, and yellow striped.
N: No, that's light blue and almost pink, and yellow is a girl's color.
R: idiot.
N: (exit stage left) -- he didn't like that.

by the way, those are the shorts on benji. jenee' is wearing one of the shirts I made her. Her shorts are somewhere (we just had a diaper change, i can't be bothered to put them back on)

He's so funny sometimes, he is very into the whole "this is manly", "this isn't manly" thing. I'm not sure why he's so stuck in the gender thing, but he is. When Tim got married and he had to wear a lavender shirt and purple tie, you'd think someone was commanding him to do something illegal and obscene! he pouted and whined and fought it for weeks and the whole day he wore it! Another example, when we're watching tv at night we have a ceiling fan with a light in our living room. We're always battling with the lights. He wants them off, I want them on - I want to see what I'm doing (i think that's why they were invented)! When I win, you'll see him over there with his hand sheilding his eyes like he's staring into the sun! If I leave the room he dashes to the outlet slamming it off, "oohhh! I can finally see again!" drama queen! the light hurts his drama queen eyes! ha ha, don't i love him for it!!

well. back to business.

I've been baking as well. today I made cream puffs (yummm), 3 loaves of bread (mmmm), and later will be making me some rhubarb hand pies as seen here.

Last night I made shepherd's pie (which i love!); I've been trying out new recipes to see which ones I like best. Soon I will take the parts from each recipe and put into one grand and glorious recipe! BUT! I put a spin on it! Instead of baking it into one big 9x13 pan, I baked them in mini loaf pans and ramekins. I made 4 stuffed mini loaves and 2 ramekins full. So, we each got our own, and we'll have leftovers. Jenee' only got to eat the leftover mashed potatoes, no ramekin for her.

I've been starting montessori things with benji. i made color box #1, and will soon make color boxes #2 & #3. I made a color sorting activity as well. We've practiced pouring water and beans. We've been sweeping and cleaning and doing laundry together. I've tried to get him to help me cook, but so far he hasn't been interested. We've also been reading a lot more.

Last night was soo much fun! We were all in our study sitting around and playing. Benji had a cup of water with crushed ice in it (a la grandpa barlow), and the ice was freezing his tongue - oh my goodness - it turned him into a chatter box! He was talking so fast and so loud, mixed with laughter. Well, his talking wasn't actual words, except for a few doggy, daddy, and uh-oh's. While he was doing all this talking he was signing his story and pointing at pictures. Then he'd get so excited he'd clap his mouth with joy! Ha ha! I was crying I was laughing so hard. This went on for quite a while, then the ice ran out and so did his energy.

He moved on to instigate a pillow fight. He loves it when Nick knocks him over with a pillow (i sure don't love it)! He rests the pillow on his head and gets face to face with you and then "launches" it a few inches. When it's his turn to get hit with the pillow he stands there with his eyes all scrunched up and his whole body is bracing for the big hit.

He said a few new words last night too! "ready" and "go" we'd be holding the pillow and he'd shout "ready..go!", then we'd throw it. obviously. nick and i freaked when we heard it the first time! yay! new words! if you know us in real life, you know that's a big deal - he doesn't say many words, but he signs quite a bit. so, we're cheering and egging him on. i'm sure one day we'll regret this, but hey- most 2 year olds are speaking in paragraphs already, why can't i get excited for a few words here and there? I won't bore you with the rest, let's just say it went on for quite a while longer.

Benji has been developing so much lately. His little imagination is growing and blossoming. You can see his little brain working, it's great! He still won't do dress up or anything, what a bummer! I wanted to play pirates, super heroes, and stuff with him! I wanted to have an excuse to sew more things! Since he's been late with a lot of other things, I'm sure this will come, if not, Jenee' will do it!

speaking of jenee' - she's crawling! not fast, but still she can do it. She hates it when she gets on the wood part of the floors though; she immediately cries! She is very mommy centered right now - her life is horrible if i'm not in view. it's very sweet. I wish i had sewn that mei tei so i could've carried her around (she's far too big now for the baby bjorn). She and benji have so much fun together now! they play and laugh at eachother, it's heart warming! he is so sweet to her, and she just can't get enough of him! when she's watching him run around she gets quite upset if he's out of eye sight. she is such a cutie pie. she's getting good day time sleep, but she still wakes up all night and wants mommy to be her pacifier. lame!

(I'll fix all the uncapitalized i's later, i'm too busy right now)

Pinata Pinafore GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!

2008-07-13T14:07:00.000-05:00

Pinata Pinafore GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!

It makes me sick how amazing the clothes she makes! I wish she would teach me all she knows!! Plus the way she presents the cute clothes is just even more fun!

Ice Cream Social Frock Giveaway!!!!

2008-07-10T16:13:00.000-05:00

Ice Cream Social Frock Giveaway!!!!

A goregous dress I'd die if I won!! Die of pure joy, of course!

2008-07-09T11:07:00.003-05:00

cloth diaper give-away

2008-07-09T11:07:00.002-05:00

Win a Bum Genius 3.0 Starter Kit from Nature's Child - Wholesome Goods for Mothers and Babies

Cloth diapers are genius! I'm looking to make me some as well. I don't know if I'll ever really get around to it until child #3, seeing as I have HOW MANY projects I've put on my eternal list of things that "I can do that myself, instead of paying for it" list!

http://blog.thenatureschild.com/2008/06/beat-heat-summer-contest.html

the first link didn't work, so I'm trying this one to see if it'll work instead. Hopefully, it will count as me being entered! oh please oh please!!

sewing frenzy, again

2008-07-01T23:55:00.007-05:00

Well, I've been on another sewing frenzy. Although, truthfully a lot of it has been going on in my head. How is that possible?? I think about so many different projects I want to so much, that it's almost like I've done them. I have found a shirt pattern I want to do, but I've analyzed it so much and thought about, what I can do to it to make it different, "mine", that I've spent more time thinking about it than it would if I'd just sit down and sew it. I made this dress for Jenee' a while back, but it's too big. It's a wee bit frustrating because I checked and quadrouple checked the measurements to make sure they were right, and they always came out the same. I did want the dress to be looser, mostly because she grew out of the yellow dress I made for her after the 2nd time she wore it. Depressing. I just wanted to have her be able to wear it longer. She can wear it now, it's a wee bit baggy. When she's grown out of it as a dress though, she can wear it as a shirt, easily. So that's pretty exciting!!

She was not happy with the photo shoot, I just thought she was too cute for words, so I let her cry while I kept clicking. I didn't plan on her having the onesie on with the dress, but I didn't want to strip her all the way down, seeing as how she wasn't happy to have the camera in her face. The ties on the dress aren't really my favorites, I wish I'd had the patience to make my own better matching ones than the premade ones I had. They match, the greens are the same, but it's just not as nice. I'm thinking I might add some rickrack to green fabric on bottom. *Note: she has grown since I made this dress 2 weeks ago, so it is fitting a bit better.

I just went to a baby shower for a girl in our ward, and I found this *adorable* (times 23) fabric and I just went nutso with all the things I made her! I didn't want to give them away they were so darn cute! I stopped myself from making too many things, it was going to be ridiculous (1 blanket, 3 bibs, 1 diaper holder, 1 burp cloth, 1 bear). All the things were very simple and quick to make. Sewing is sooo incredibly addicting. Out of all the crafting things I love to do (there's too many to list), sewing is by far my favorite. For the bear, (wee wonderfuls pattern) I wish I could say I was inspired to come up with the adorable skirt. Nope, sknittymama (I'll have to double check to make sure that's the right name) on flikr came up with it first. however, i did think of the rickrack "choker" .. I also embroidered a tiny heart on her left foot. Booyah. I was very excited about how beautifully it came together. the brightness of the fabrics is so cheerful! I have some leftovers of that fabric, and I'm going back to hobby lobby to buy some more of it, before it's all gone. I'll be making a whole thing for jenee', it's so fun! I might get enough (money willing) to make some of it into a quilt. oh, the projects are piling up before I even have a second to think of them. I tend to make things far more complicated than necessary. I just feel sorry they didn't have this fabric when I was scouring the store for some great fabric for Becky's gift. I thought the fabric was cute (it's cuter in person than on the pics), but this was by far cuter, and I think she would've enjoyed it much more! (sorry becks). Maybe when he sweet lil' brooklyn is a bit older (not in newborn stuff anymore) I'll send her some clothes and stuff. I'm not making any promises though. I'm desprately trying to find something for benji to sew - clothing wise. they have NOTHING for boys!! lame! I made his little bear out of gray and black, now i have the leftover material to make something out of for him, but I've gotta infuse some color into it! I'll keep trying.

I've started a quilt, but then I found more fabric for a different quilt, so I'm trying to finish the first one and not let my imagination run too wild about the 2nd one. Then I've got the hard task of not thinking of a 3rd one with the fabric in the pictures up there.

Oh by the way, I do have 2, yes 2, blogs. this one, for my sewing and crafting etc adventures. I did that so the people checking my 1st blog wouldn't have to read all this stuff that they may not find interesting. Not that many people will find this interesting in the first place, but it's kind of a journal for myself more than a place for others to come check out my "work". The point is, if you want to know what else we've been doing, check the other blog. There is a link at the top of page for "barlow bits."

click it.

Roosters-N-Rickrack Pinafore GIVEAWAY!!!!

2008-06-30T15:33:00.000-05:00

Roosters-N-Rickrack Pinafore GIVEAWAY!!!!

photo mosaic of me

2008-06-16T11:49:00.002-05:00

Questions:
1. What is your first name? Rochelle
2. What is your favorite food? burger and fries
3. What high school did you go to? cy fair
4. What is your favorite color? green and blue
5. Who is your celebrity crush? none (so I did another pic from #7)
6. Favorite drink? cranberry limeade
7. Dream vacation? london
8. favorite dessert? brownies and icecream
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? creative
10. What do you love most in life? my husband
11. one word to describe you. learning
12. your flickr name. shelly.belly

you take your answers and plug them into flickr. then you make a photo mosaic on Big Huge Labs' mosaic maker. I'll post the links later...

It was quite fun to do. Sometimes it was impossible to choose a picture I liked best, there were too many good ones.

Enjoy. and go make your own. i wanna see it too.

slide show (it's on the other blog too)

2008-06-14T16:22:00.000-05:00

books

2008-06-14T15:37:00.004-05:00

i finally got my copy of "the Creative family" by amanda blake soule. it's a fabulous book, i just wish there were more projects and ideas for applying her thoughts. I guess I wanted more projects for me to add to my never ending list. Don't misunderstand me, i still LOVE the book! It has the idea of a bedtime bag - soo cool!! I'm going to make me some (one for each kiddo), then I might see if I can make a morning bag, the same concept, but obviously for morning things to see if it simplifies, or maybe complicates things. If it complicates it in a fun way, then I'll go ahead with it (the morning bag)!! When I'm done, I'll post the end result.

I'm still wearing out my copy of "bend the rules sewing". i made a couple more of the bags. I just might make some bibs for jenee'. i forgot that i don't just have to make them as gifts, I can actually use them myself.

I'm wanting more and more and more books and fabric, but I just can't right now. I've got to slooow down a bit.

smock dress modeled

2008-05-30T12:02:00.000-05:00

here's nee'-nee' in her smock dress I made. Isn't she too cute!? uh, yeaah! I love the fabric, especially the green and flowered print together. I can't wait to get a hold of some more cute fabric to make more clothes for her. I'm eager to find fabrics that aren't traditional children's fabrics. My little girl looks lovely in navy blue, but just try to find it and it's nearly impossible! No more! I'll just go pick out some and make it myself.

Benji's birthday is coming up and I'm trying to figure out what I want to make him. I want to make him a birthday crown from the book, The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule (soulemama is her blog) but I don't have it, nor do I have a car at my disposal to get it (my mom's here and nick's at work - they're both using the cars). So I'm going to try and figure it out by looking at the pictures of it. Plus, I want to make a birthday cape -- or really just an any day cape, but especially for his birthday.

We're going to the zoo tomorrow with my mama to celebrate his birthday. So, I may make it for his day tomorrow, and then just have him wear it on his real birthday, next saturday. I can't believe he's going to be two!!

last sewing spree post

2008-05-29T11:48:00.004-05:00

I made a quiet book for benji/jenee'/rest of the future kids (if it lasts that long). It turned out pretty good, there are parts of it that didn't turn out as well. It took forever, and I still have some kinks to work out. Here are a few pictures of it, I didn't post pictures of every page - you'd get bored.

What's inside:
Flower garden (button on flowers)
bedroom (open shade and put people in and out of bed)
road (drive cars around track)
apple tree (apples in and out of basket)
fishing pond (fish for fish)
faces (make silly faces with several pockets filled with hair, eyes, noses, ears, and mouths)
veggie/fruit garden (plant and pick your crops)
doggies (feed the dogs their bones
color match (match color squares
final page (notebook and pencil in there for drawing)

I had a couple of other pages I wanted to put in there, but the book was huge already! The pictures I took were not so great - there wasn't good light in the room and my camera and I don't get along sometiems.

more sewing stuff!

2008-05-29T11:43:00.004-05:00

Here's more of the things I've been sewing. I'm doing the posts backwards, I know, but what can you do?

I made this pleated beauty bag (BTRS), which I gave to my other sister in law who flew us to Utah for my brother in law's wedding (make sense?). I made the tote and wallet (BTRS) for my mother in law who also helped fly us out to the wedding. The apple on the front is a pocket - way fun to do.

Oh, there's so much to sew I just can't make up my mind what to sew first!

I'm currently making a bear for Benji and then I'll make a pleated beauty bag for myself. There's a few other things I'll be making in the next week or so, but we'll see how my time goes!

I've got one more post to do...

sewing up a storm

2008-05-29T11:33:00.003-05:00

I've been sewing and sewing, which is why I haven't been updating or taking pictures of the fam. Here are some of the projects I've been doing lately. I made a dress with matching bloomers for Jenee'. I'm most proud of that! I took a pattern from the book Bend the Rules Sewing for a smock in size 2T, shrunk it, then widened and lengthened, and lined it to make a dress. Then I made up a pattern for the bloomers with a ruffle on the legs. I was very excited to get it done and nervous I'd mess it up with the buttons, however it worked perfectly! Now I've got the bug to start making tons of my kiddos clothes!

The other stuff if a scalloped blanket, 3 bibs, a tote bag, (Bend the Rules Sewing)and a bunny (Wee Wonderfuls)I made. I gave them to my sister in law who's having a baby girl in july.

I made some more stuff, but I'll post those pics on the next post...

My Celebrity Look-Alikes

2008-05-22T18:32:00.001-05:00

*eating issues

2008-05-12T15:48:00.001-05:00

this is why we don't order meals for him when we're at restaurants; he's perfectly happy eating ranch dressing! (so cheap!) no, we really didn't let him eat all of it for his dinner!

after crying for 30 minutes because he wasn't given fruit snacks (for the 30th time in one day), he passed out just long enough for a few pictures. his knees are up from trying to escape his food prison. poor lad, forced to eat spaghetti.

*little flower

2008-04-28T12:04:00.000-05:00

*almost done!

2008-04-21T14:51:00.000-05:00

Here's my little kitty I made, for Jenee', but she's too young for the buttons. I could've used felt, but the buttons were so cute! I forgot to embroider the mouth on - sheesh! and I need to find cute buttons for the shoes (they're removable). I wanted green buttons for the eyes, but I didn't have any. When I get some buttons for the shoes, maybe I'll get some new ones for the eyes. I've got great and grand ideas for many more of these. I want to make a bear for Benji too. I got the pattern from Wee Wonderfuls(awesome awesome stuff there!).

*happiness

2008-04-21T14:36:00.000-05:00

this little face brings me such happiness!

*here mousey mousey

2008-04-18T12:39:00.002-05:00

I got this mousey and bed tutorial here. I did get a little creative and gave him whiskers! I was quite proud of myself of thinking of adding it, and being able to. I know, it's really not that grand of an addition, but it made me feel good inside. It's funny. I have found sooo many crafting things to make I'm going nuts trying to choose which one to do first. I think it's more for me than for the kiddos. This was super easy to make, about an hour tops to do - well - for someone less experienced like myself, it took a wee bit more than that (plus i do have 2 kiddos to attend to). You can see his cute face, his profile, he's eating cheese, and then finally, snuggling in for a nice nap.

I know, it's too cute! Thanks Mollychicken!! Some of you may find some of these sent to you in the mailbox, just pretend you're as excited about it as I am!

*swing

2008-04-17T11:00:00.000-05:00

my cute little boy, watching his movie and he sees a swing; so he signs "swing" and shouts "ooohhh! yyeaaaahhh!" in this cute little sick hoarse voice that makes my heart flitter. How fun! he kept signing swing over and over again until I couldn't keep smiling anymore.

*plants, flowers, and trees

2008-04-14T19:25:00.000-05:00

This week's theme is plants, flowers, and trees. We did our first project today, our tree. I cut the leaves out and Benji glued them on. He did very well, I'd say it's fall in this picture. Well, he glued them on, then informed me that he was done, but hark! there were half the leaves left, so I just had him tell me where to put the rest. When he got up he tooted (that word cracks me up) and he just thought that was the funniest thing ever. Boys!! And so it begins!

*new haircut

2008-04-14T19:20:00.000-05:00

I just got my hair cut this saturday, and I love it, it's so nice and short. It'll be perfect for this summer! I didn't get that great of a picture, you can't see the haircut as well as I'd like, but you know what they say...

*much better

2008-04-11T20:24:00.000-05:00

this is the craft project that did go well! (http://www.kidscraftweekly.com/index.html) This site is amazing! I've found sooo many great ideas for things to do with Benji (and Jenee' when she gets older)! I'm so excited! This is a music shaker, no it's not a bunch of pills awaiting Benji's ingestion. This is an old pill bottle, but those are dry beans inside (which Benji put there himself, I'm so proud!), and stickers decorating the outside (which Benji picked out and put on himself, again I'm so proud!)!! Now it has a place of honor in his music area. His ribbon wand for dancing, his music (with Philadelphia Chickens CD inside, which is fabulous --thanks mama), and his horn (project in progress, but still used)! Yay!!

This picture, boring, I know. I just found these great books at the library! The one with the flower is a black/white book with pictures, but it gave me a great idea to do some applique on some shirts, bags, bibs, and the like for my little kiddos. It has tons of cute little pictures that I can use as templates. The other book is full of awesome ideas for activities, games, crafts and such. I'll be so sad when I have to return it, i'll just have to go hunt it down at the bookstore and buy it!

I have a list a mile long of all the things I want to make, do, create, sew, scrapbook I think I'll pass out with overwhelm before any of it gets done. I'm trying to remind myself that it's okay that I don't get it all done in one day (impossible!), that it's even okay if it takes me this whole year to get some of it done. I'm serious when I say my list is long, and each project isn't small, but if you know me, that's no surprise. I often take on more than is possible for any one human to try to do, and then only some of it gets done. As my friend says, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Well, i don't think this is the case, but I am full of good intentions, so maybe that's saying something. shoot.

*not so well

2008-04-11T20:14:00.001-05:00

I found this recipe online (http://melissagoodsell.typepad.com/day_to_day/2008/01/holiday-activit.html) for microwave puffy paint. It seems like fun, but I guess I have to have a child that's more interested in painting the paper than himself with it to see it's real results. I made the 3-eyed monster, unfortunately, we only had 2 colors of food coloring, so the pictures aren't so pretty, but the idea is great. Benji did the top one, with lots of prompting. The other one is me showing him to paint and him scribbling with the q-tips.

Here's the caterpillar project gone bad. This is the body of it, after it was torn to bits. He had legs, eyes, and pom-poms all over until Benji thought they didn't belong. The only thing he really was interested in was putting the pom-poms in the glitter glue. Maybe when he's older he'll be more interested in these types of things.

Here are its legs and body parts after I picked them up from around the house. So sad!

*craft time

2008-04-11T19:14:00.003-05:00

Benji and I have been crafting lately. I guess I should say, I've been crafting and he's been watching. I've tried to come up with things he'd be interested in, however I haven't been too successful. Things I think are fun, he doesn't agree with completely. I think I've figured it out though, and I'm getting pretty excited for this coming week, I've got some major plans for our crafting and learning future! I'll be sure to share them as we go along. I've posted some pictures of our successful crafting time and our not so successful crafting time. However, my leg has fallen asleep trying to hold Jenee' on my lap at this funky angle so I can still type, use the mouse, nurse and let her sleep simultaneously. I know, too much info, but you know what I mean.

*here kitty kitty

2008-04-05T21:51:00.002-05:00

Here's my little kitty I just made this weekend; I think I'll name her Henrietta, or something atrocious. She isn't very pretty, or impressive. The kitty this pattern came from is much better looking, but you do what you can with the skills you have (or don't quite have yet). I used some fabric from a dress Jenee' was given, but just didn't work anymore. I learned how to blind stitch and blanket stitch for this project. Actually, I don't know how to blind stitch really. I had to use it to attach her head, so I went around her head like 4 times to try and make sure it was secure. I think by the time I went around the 3rd time I made a blind stitch up that seems to work. I'm sure Benji could rip her head off in about 2 seconds with one hand. It's supposed to be for Jenee', however it has buttons on it, and I'm not sure how well everything will hold on, so I'll let this one be for Benji, or just my enjoyment. It is fun to look at and realize I made it, and I want to do one again and see if I can't make it look even better, with really fun fabric. The second picture is fun, if I could get a good angle you'd see that she looks like she's going to pounce, or jump off the fireplace. I think her nose should be bigger, and you can't really see her whiskers too well b/c it blends in with the fabric. Ah well. I'm off to watch a movie and think over my next projects!!

Oh! this pattern came from Wee wonderfuls! I am awaiting the arrival of my pattern book so I can create some great softies and dollies for my babies and my friends' and family's babies! Yay! So, don't go making them before me so I can still make one and give it to you!

*happy boy

2008-04-01T14:57:00.003-05:00

benji looks so cute!

I need to take some photography lessons, well that'll happen in a few years I'm sure.

*apron pattern search

2008-04-01T14:54:00.003-05:00

I'm on the hunt for a new apron pattern. Maybe a waist only one for cleaning and crafting and light cooking. Maybe a full apron, a sassy vintage-y one for full on cooking. I'll be out and about to search it out... but first I have other things I've gotta finish!!
**

*when inspiration strikes

2008-03-31T14:51:00.002-05:00

I currently have another blog, its sole purpose is to update anyone who cares (mainly family) about my family's comings and goings. Unfortunately, it's no updated often, and is a bit boring for me to do. I thought I'd give this a go: a blog for me. Regardless if people read it or not, it's purely a creative outlet for me for all things I love: food, scrapbooking, ASL, and anything that's a bit enticing for me at that exact moment. I have many loves and interests, they just bounce around so much I have a hard time sticking to just one, or four, I want to do it all. I want to be it all. So this is an attempt to channel it to one place and that perhaps I may see some real progress in any particular area.

Capeech? (I can hear "uncle Jesse" saying it, but I certainly don't know if I can spell it)

I've been traipsing along different blogs that bring such inspiration and guilt in one fell swoop. (gosh, I can't stop using all those irritating cliche's I hate so much). I'm in search of a new, inspiring project that won't take too much time or resources (read: money). It's taken up my valuable time (when Benji's sleeping) that I hear him playing in his crib and look around at what I haven't gotten done, that is more pressing than a silly project. In comes the flood of guilt, and out goes any productive feelings I may have had earlier. I did start out a bit better than I wound up. Well, the day is young and I think I can get something done. It may take me a few days to pin down the perfect project -- or I may find 10 more impossibly overwhelming ones I'm determined to do. Nevermind that I have a few unfinished ones that have just left me cringing at the thought of finishing them. Bitten off too much? yes. Set the standard of absolute, eat your heart out Martha, perfection a little too too high? definitely. One day I will be the perfect queen of anything crafty, ingenious, etc. Until then, I'm going to have to learn to let go a bit.

sewing

2008-03-21T18:05:00.000-05:00

here are some links that I've used for sewing tutorials, resources, inspiration, and free patterns. I have these also included throughout the blog and at my side bar for places I frequent. I'm sorry for the repitition, but I just can't help it! I may just change this later to add my current projects, tutorials, etc -- I just don't know right now. I'm just going to do what I can!

burda style

sew mama sew

angry chicken

grosgrain

what the craft

wee wonderfuls

two straight lines

one crafty mumma

soule mama

stephmodo

the purl bee

pink chalk studio

mayfly

just tutes

craftster

amy butler

elsie marley

heather bailey

katie did

house on hill road

now remember - this list isn't everything I visit! (yet)

food

2008-03-21T18:00:00.000-05:00

I'll be adding recipe sites here and there, as well as recipes I've made up, altered, or tried. I won't post anything gross!

allrecipes

food network

gastrokid

rachael ray show

montessori links and other kid resources

2008-03-21T17:34:00.001-05:00

chasing cheerios

montessori freefall

montessorimama

montessorimom

montessori services

starfall

gastrokid

babycheapskate

montessori for everyone

a to z homeschool

lapbook lessons

homeschool share

lapbook 101

montessori albums

kids crafts

2008-03-21T16:35:00.000-05:00

diy kids

kiddley

kids craft weekly

m.s. kids

preschool activity bags

susan striker

the artful parent

the crafty crow

unplug your kids

wondertime

about me

2008-03-14T17:16:00.000-05:00

This picture is me in 5th or 6th grade; my brother and I were playing pirates! Gosh we had so much fun together.

This blog is more for me than for anyone else. I post here about my crafting endeavors: cooking, sewing, montessori, homeschool, craft stuff, kids crafts, quilting, embroidery, blah blah blah.

I have 2 children (so far), and have been married for 3 years to my hubby, Nick. I grew up basically in Texas, but really all over. I'll think of something else to write about myself later, for now I've been trying to redo this blog for so long that I'm getting a headache...

I am still redoing this blog, and have yet to be satisfied with the layout and background. I thought I wanted white, yet it's not making me smile. I thought I wanted 3 columns, but all the ways I rearrange it aren't quite getting it either.

friends and family

2008-03-08T12:10:00.002-06:00

in no particular order. I apologize if you're site is not on here. Please leave your address in the comments section if you would like to have yours added here. I just may not have your address. If you want yours removed due to privacy, then let me know and I will remove it.

Lisa's Family
grandmama and grandpapa's site
STANding Strong
Heather's Family
Kandis' Family
Laura and Steve
Kristen's Family
Sarah's Family
Ashley's Family
Mimi's Family
Jodie's Family
The Whittles
Rice Family
Hayley's Family
Shauna's Family

2008-03-05T14:46:00.000-06:00