Swirling in My Head

Now that I have had a few minutes to breathe and not just sew, new ideas for sewing projects have been swirling in my head! Here a just a few.....

-Fabric Guitars for Little Boys
-Lions
-Personalized Gifts

I am always open to new ideas and like to find inspiration from the web and then make the designs personalized by creating my own patterns! I have been thinking about making more personalized items as well. Here is a giraffe I personalized for one of my little cousins, I think it was pretty cute.

Who knows what will come next. I guess the next step is sitting down at my sewing machine and experimenting, just not at 2 a.m.!!

Worth It!!

Two weeks with little sleep and more help from friends and family than I could of ever asked, has ended in what I would call a success. My first Hillsboro Craft Fair as a vendor is now under my belt. I was nervous, pessimistic, cautiously optimistic and dog tired, but it was all worth it!

Saturday morning we pulled out of the driveway at 5:00 am, after two hours of sleep, and headed toward Hillsboro. The car was loaded with 8 totes filled with my stuffed owls, giraffes, elephants, aprons and coffee cozies. My dear husband, who needs at least 8 hours a sleep, went on the adventure with me! We got everything set up and then waited. The wait was soon to be over. Our booth was pretty busy most of the day and we got lots of smiles, kind words and thankfully SALES! By end of the day we were tired and hungry, but we did it! We packed up our things, did one last sale, loaded the car with only 3 totes of goods left and then headed home. On the way home it hit me, pure exhaustion. With only about 15 hours of sleep the entire week, my being tired finally caught up with me!

Now that the dust has settled and money has been counted, I can officially say I made a profit! Next year at Hillsboro is now a definitive maybe! I want to say thank you to all my family and friends that went above the call of duty and helped me stuff, sew, price, set-up! Because of them I had things to sell!!

Holey Moley my Dempsey is 1!!!!!!!

How time flies, a sentiment that is often stated, but not really understood until you are a parent. My sweet baby Dempsey is no longer a baby!!! Happy Birthday girl! Her real birthday is May 11 and we celebrated just with our little family and a giant cupcake. She loved it and the frosting!!

However we had our big family celebration today. When I say big, I mean just my immediate family, but as you know with my family, that means big! :) I always want a fun cake, but never know exactly what to do. So what does a girl who wants to make a fun cake do.......go search Pinterest of course! I found a few ideas and a recipe for a cream cheese pound cake. I jumbled all the different ideas together and came up with this cake......

It is a cream cheese pound cake, like I mentioned before, but made it a rainbow cake with the fun banner on it. I had never made a pound cake, had never used a bundt pan and jimmy rigged a banner using paper, tape, sharpies and small paintbrushes! To my surprise it all came together and ended up pretty cute. The inside of the cake was pretty fun to.

 

The in-laws made their famous homemade ice cream and fresh strawberries. I think that is actually why most of the family comes! Ha Ha. It really might be that good too! I love having all the family over!

Before I wrap it up I want to also say Happy Mothers Day to my own mom and my sisters! What great mothers and people they are! I can't say enough about all of them and how much I love them!

So Much to Do

Well, the first week after spring break is almost in the books! I think most everyone in the building is tired, yes even the kids. Most parents will probably enjoy sleeping in tomorrow since their kids are exhausted, but not this mom. I am sure they will all be up by their normal 6:30 AM. I guess they got their momma's sleeping gene, not their daddy's. Oh well, we have so much to do it won't hurt me to be up early.

We are hoping to get the flooring in the back room this weekend, I won't get my hopes up that we get the trim done, but flooring would be another step completed and I am ok with that. KU game starts at 7:49 Saturday night so things will stop by then and all attention will be on the TV. It will be tough to win, but hopefully our Hawks show up! Sunday we have our nephew Coopers first birthday party. How time flies! That means that our little one will soon be one as well.

My friend Lindsey got her baby quilt last weekend so I can post it now. I hated to post before on the rare chance she would read this and see her present. Hope "Mini Mo" will love it! We sure miss Lindsey! What a great teacher she is, I hope her new school is appreciating her talents!!

I thought it turned out pretty cute! Bright colors in quilts set off by white always make me happy! Well hope you all have a great Friday! Monday will come too soon, but I will see just how much I can get accomplished this weekend! Projects, family, food and fun is a great way to be busy!!

Back to the Grind....

Spring Break is officially over (sigh)! Don't get me wrong, I do love going to work everyday, but boy is it nice to be home with the kiddos and get some stuff done. Hubby and I got the back room one step closer to being done. Tore out the paneling, took out a big ol' cabinet, sheetrocked and painted. Flooring won't come in until sometime this week, so hopefully if we can find time, before the KU game, to get it done this coming weekend.

Got a few other projects completed too. I finished an order for a pink sock monkey and patched a pair of jeans. My first ones. Hopefully they are patched cool enough for a high school girl to wear!

Our big girl Avery turned three a couple weeks ago!! How the time flies. She is our St. Patty's day baby!! What a blessing. She is such a little firecracker!! We choose to call her spirited, mostly because it sounds better than calling her a pain in the rear! :) She wanted a princess cake, but I took the easy road and made her a cake with a sprinkle crown and then rainbow jar cakes for all the kids (thanks Pinterest). Her day was a success and now I have a three year old!!

Well, have many more projects I am hoping to make, some involving upcycling some clothes. We will see if anything turns out! If so I promise I will post. I can tell you are all on the edge your seats now!! Have a great one!

Finally....I didn't procrastinate!!!!

Wow, didn't know I had it in me! I finished all of Avery's skirts, even got them ironed and it isn't Friday night at midnight (her party is Saturday)!! The rest of this week is gonna be a whirlwind, but in all honesty that is pretty much how our lives are! Carnival set-up tomorrow, Carnival Friday 5-9 pm, Avery's 3rd birthday Saturday afternoon and then our 3rd annual Irish family feast Saturday night! The best part of it all is Spring Break is right around the corner! Here are the skirts I made for my big girl Avery, hopefully I can get her to model them after the party and get some pics of her in them!

 

I think they turned out pretty darn cute. I was telling hubby that I love them, but in 30 years when we are looking at pictures I can just imagine Avery saying, "Mom, I can't believe I had to wear those skirts you made!!" Ha ha, I guess only time will tell. Have some new projects that I am hoping to get to soon! Even have a couple orders to fill. Love that! Can't wait for Avery to see her pretty skirts and have a wonderful birthday party!

A Busy Week Begins.......

Well, it is that time of the year! Basketball is over and Jump Rope for Heart is in the books. So what comes next? The Carnival naturally!!!! This will be Windom Elementary's Second Annual Carnival. What fun it will be. There will be food, games and a loaded silent auction table. This year I donated a coordinating sock monkey and apron. They turned out pretty cute. They would make a great Easter present for a little girl. Hint, hint people!

One week until spring break and I think kids and teachers alike are ready. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my job, but a week off sounds really quite nice! Going to be busy though. I need to finish three skirts for Avery's birthday. It is Saturday and I can't believe she is going to be 3 already!! How time flies! Well hopefully you will get to see the skirts soon and as soon as my friend Lindsay gets her baby quilt I will post it. I think it turned out cute, but don't want to ruin the surprise on the odd chance she would read this. Enough talkin, need to get going on those darn skirts!!

See, I Really Do Crafty Things!!

As you can see by my name I like to sew and craft, yet every post I have is about what I would LIKE to do not what I have actually done. I really didn't want to be one of those people who talks about things and never does them. You know the type, big talkers with no action!! Ha, Ha, so I decided to put a few things up to show projects I HAVE completed. My hope is to show these things and then find time to make and post things I have recently got around to making!!!

Small Hoot Owls

Large Hoot Owl

Quilt made for a friend's baby girl!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well that is my show and tell. Most of you know that our family's lives pretty much revolve around sporting events! I guess it just runs in our blood and we tend to marry those who feel the same way. This is the main reason it is so hard for me to find time to do the crafting I love. Sports, Sports and more Sports!!! I really wouldn't change it. I fear that if I didn't have a ball game to drag my poor kids to multiple times a week, I would be bored and feel cooped up at home! For those of you who don't know me here is a quick and dirty run down of the situation. I am the head Junior High basketball and volleyball coach. My husband is the assistant football and track coach at the High School along with being the head coach for the High School boys basketball team. My dad has coached his whole life and he is still the head girls High School basketball coach. My husband's assistant coaches in basketball are my cousin and brother-in-law. My dad's assistant is my brother! Whoa, did you get all that? I think it is awesome and humorous all at the same time! Well, as I end most my posts, I hopefully can get a chance to get some things done soon and get them posted. Until then thanks for stopping by and have a GREAT day!

Valentines and a Little Inspiration

Tomorrow is the day, the day of love. Never been one for a bunch of mushy stuff, but I do know the kids are looking forward to giving their valentines out! They turned out super cute this year. Thank you Pinterest for the fun idea!

Onto what I am itching to do! SEW and QUILT!!!!! I have a few things cut out and some fabric picked for a quilt to make! Two friends are getting ready to have babies in May so I have to get busy and get some quilts done. Not sure what I am gonna make, but the fabric below is a possibility. It might look a little strange, but want to play with the black and whites and punch up the color with the green tones. Could be fun! The other fabric is gonna be two more aprons. They will be reversible and hopefully fun. Can't wait to get some done so I will have some finished pictures to show!! Well wish me luck! Ball games tomorrow so no sewing, but maybe the next day! Have a great day everyone. 

Apron Fabric

Quilt Inspiration

Tonight is the Night!

Well as I said earlier hubby is at a game so I am gonna get some things started. Kids are in bed and I need to stop watching the game on LiveStream and get busy! I went through the material bin and plan on cutting out 2 aprons and hopefully at least one quilt! To keep your interest here are a few pictures of the kids and their aprons and a giraffe I made for Lincoln for his birthday.

Just talking to mom tonight about my fabric obsession. I think I could own like every piece of material out there and still want more. The sad part is I hate cutting into any of it for fear of ruining it! Weirdo, I know! Hopefully my next post actually can show you some progress I am making. Fingers crossed!

I think I can, I think I can......

Well, I am gonna do it! I WILL start a quilt or project tonight. Enough dreaming already, I need some action. Hubby has a game tonight and it is just too far on a school night to take the kiddos. Boo, it really does kill me to miss a game. I know it sounds crazy, but that is our life. Not sure exactly what pattern I will make, but I will probably just kinda make it up as I go. I never have been much of a pattern follower. I will try to get some pics posted of the material so you can have an idea of what it will look like.

I was also thinking of making up some more aprons to go in the Little Red Shed uptown. My kiddos love theirs and always ask to wear them and help cook. Pics to be posted later. Hope everyone has a great day, even though the weather is a bit dreary!!

So Tell Me.....What do you REALLY want?!?

Okay, so I like to make stuff. All sorts of stuff, but why am I making all this STUFF? I guess there are many reasons. I simply like to create and be creative, to fill my time, not to be bored, for fun and of course it is always nice to sell some of the STUFF too! So this thought brings me to my question, What kind of stuff do you or would you want to buy from a crafty lady, a craft fair or an ETSY store? I guess I am curious so if I make stuff and it is good stuff then I might as well be making stuff that people would like to buy!!! Sooooooooo let me know! Leave me a comment and tell me what kind of STUFF you want. If you don't I just make stuff I assume you will want and we all know what happens when we assume!

Remembering Whats Really Important

Yesterday I got the news that a former student had passed away. This young woman had just graduated in 2009. I am sure no one in her family expected to wake up and find the shock of losing her! It makes you think a little about those in your life! I hugged my kids a little tighter than usual the last few days because you truly know not the time or place! Here are a couple pics of the kids that I love just as a reminder of what is wonderful in my life!!!

Back in the Saddle.....

Well, here we go again. This time I will try to post more often and keep my blog going. Maybe since basketball is done I will have more time for all of my interests! First of all my kiddos!! I love coaching, but man will it be nice to be done right after school.

I have the craft bug pretty bad. About a million ideas are swirling in my head. Anybody else have this problem? The real question is if I can accomplish any of the million ideas!?! Head bands, pillows, softies, dresses and skirts for the girls are just a few of the things I WANT to make!

I will keep you all updated on my progress!!!