home sweet home

(Look away Colleen, Kristen and Kim...there's a spoiler below!)

It's been a little while since I made any Sugarville houses. I think making 60+ for Silver Bella '07 burned me out a bit.

As a doorprize for Artistic Affaire Printemps, I donated a Sugarville house. Colleen won and asked for it to be personalized with her son, daughter-in-law, and new baby. When I found this little buggy, I knew it would look sweet with a little Mama and little Papa. I like how it looks like Papa is playing with the baby.


I decided to try a new way of making a lawn for the houses. It was a bit tricky and messy...and I'm not sure if I'll repeat it for future properties. But I must admit I like how it looks in the photos.

This next house is a gift for Kristen Robinson. She made me something so wonderful (I'll show you this week!) and this is in exchange. Actually, she offered to make this very special thing for me and the only way I could accept is if she allowed me to make something for her.

I love so much this little family of three. I hope it reminds Kristen of her own little family.

This last gift is for Kim Caldwell for inviting me to teach at her event. I was so impressed with Kim's sweet family and the love that's evident in her home and I wanted to create a piece that celebrated her family.





p.s. I've been meaning to tell you that the rug in my living room is, believe it or not, from the Mary Kate and Ashley line at Target. Find it here.

my daddy

My parents just left...it was such a nice visit.

My father spent his mornings and afternoons out on the deck carving this eagle for my cousin. Can you believe how lovely the feathers are looking? Isn't it wonderful?

And I just love this photo of my father that Alfredo shot...isn't it fun? I love the angle of it and the banner in the background...too cute.

stitching party

I invited some friends over yesterday for a little stitching fun.

Claudine, Lorraine, Pam, Hope, Sue and Lia all came over for the afternoon and we talked and stitched and ate and laughed. It was a lot of fun. We're hoping to make it a regular crafting thing. I didn't take pictures but I'm hoping they will post their samplers on their blogs. Pam posted hers already.

Here's how mine is coming along...







I think I'll make a little wallhanging out of it.

My parents helped so much for yesterday's party. My father made his famous chicken salad and my mother patiently showed how to make perfect stitches (which nicely countered the imperfection of mine!)

The folks are here just for one more day so we'll try to make the most of it. We're having a great time and it's so much fun to have them around.

Hope you have a lovely day too.

toy ring

I saw these cute wooden shapes at JoAnn's the other day and I bought a whole bunch.

I used my crop-a-dile to punch a hole through the wood...
And I put them on a ring.
And it makes a really good quiet time toy for contemplation. (But I wouldn't make this for a baby who's still putting things in her mouth)

My parents are visiting this week (and are due to arrive in a half hour!) whoopie!

who knew?

Just look at my cute new shoes. When I saw these on Sherry at Artistic Affaire in California, I asked where she got them. I did not expect the answer to be Walmart for less than $15! They are so cute and so comfortable.

While there, I also picked up one of these...

after reading Scrappy Jessi's idea for using it as a wrap out of the shower.

Walmart? Who knew? I still hate my Walmart but I did step in just for these two things.

the visit with Seth

We had such a great time with Seth. We ate cupcakes, watched movies, wrestled, ran, laughed, and sang songs.

Seth is really a character. He says the funniest things, in the funniest Southern twang you can imagine. Poor Alfredo would often respond "Que?" to the simplest requests. For instance, Seth's "Come on" sounded more like "Mawn" which was completely foreign to little Alfredo.

We met my parents today in Fredericksburg, which is just about the halfway mark. We had lunch and then spent, no kidding, 2 hours at their relatively new Joann's Fabrics and Crafts. My father pushed Alfredo around in his stroller while my mother and I strolled down each aisle twice. Seth followed along practically begging for this thing or that thing. At one point I heard him saying to my mother that he neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeded a can of spray paint sooooooooooooo baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad. I think I have had that kind of need before. Hopefully it passes because he did not in fact score a can of spray paint.

One of the highlights of the visit was some splish-splashing fun with Alfredo's new water table.

This thing is ingenius because really all Alfredo wants to do in the water is put things in and take them out and pour in water and pour it out. The last thing he wants to do is sit in the water.
The boys played for hours while I lounged nearby sipping my sweet tea.
And when I stood on the lounge chair to get a birdseye view of the fun, this is the look I got from Seth.
Can't you just hear him saying "Aaaaaaameeeee, what in da wooooooooooorld are you doin' up thar?"

what a great day!

Last friday I had a really great day. I was invited to meet up with some bloggy friends, old and new, for a day of shopping and friendship.

Here's a list of all the friends there:

Andrea - Everyday Beauty | Beth - Beth Leintz | Heather - Pretty Petals | Hope - Besottment | Jessica - Such Pretty Things | Karla - Karla's Cottage | Lori - My Faerie Window | Pamela - Pamela Jane's Studio | Robin - Thrifty Miss Prissy | Stephanie - Just A Little Bit Pink

We had so much fun hanging out, shopping, and chatting. Here's a picture (courtesy of Karla) of all of us at On a Whim, in their fabulous foufy prom dress room.



It was so much fun spending time with these friends...and they gave such lovely gifts. Check out their blogs to see the pictures of what each made.

On another note, I'm really hoping to be more regular in my posting. And I still have some little worlds to add to the etsy shop. My little nephew Seth is visiting us this week and we're having a blast...but let's just say that I don't have very many spare moments. None to be exact. :) Can you believe Seth is 7 now? We were supposed to go to Mount Vernon today but when Seth said he'd rather stay home and "make art"...well, I agreed. We're doing a million and one things...and you wouldn't believe the growing list of things to do when Alfredo is napping.

batman

I couldn't resist getting these batman pjs for Alfredo, complete with a velcro cape.

Isn't he adorable?

He's been here a whole month and we're loving every minute. He is just so much fun to be around. He sings so many songs, mostly in the car. My favorite to hear him belt out is "Beautiful Boy". He is, afterall, my beautiful boy. His favorites are the silly songs of Laurie Berkner.

hippo palace

One of the {many} highlights of my weekend in California teaching at Kim's event was being the swap partner of sweet Jenny Morgan. I'm not going to show you pictures of what I made her...so shabby and not in the least chic. Really. I'm sure you think I'm being modest but believe me, it was not up to par. Besides, I didn't take any photos of it.

But just take a gander at what she made for meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...









This sweet box was packed full of the most delicious assortment of pink supplies you've ever seen (which all got stashed in my suitcase and are now all over the place, never to be reunited for a photo op again)

When I showed this box to Alfredo, he giggled with delight. And he decided that it needed something...a little inhabitant.



Perfect just made perfect-er.

Hope you all are having a great week. And thanks to everyone who bought stuff from my etsy shop. I'm packaging it up and hope to get them out tomorrow. Thanks so much for your support!

etsy shop...

I've started filling up my etsy shop...I'm excited for you to see. Click here.

Here are a few things up now. I'll be adding more each day this week, so stay tuned...

behind the scenes

I loved being behind the scenes for Kim's event last week. Here's a peek of a happy bundle of "puff balls" waiting to be hanged. Kim had so many of these puff balls and they are so pretty. They remind me of pouffy peonies or prom dresses. And just look at that pretty rose ball that Kim made...Friday morning, before we started setting up for the event, Kim Hesson, Sherry, and I went to the flower mart with Kim. You wouldn't believe how many flowers Kim bought in just 30 minutes. We were her mules...just look at the haul we were toting for her. Happily, I might add.

It was quite an experience being surrounded by so many beautiful flowers...





When I talked to my father this morning (Hi, Daddy!) he complained about me promising another update for two days ago but not delivering. Anyway, here's that post...I'm trying! Oh, but I won't have the Etsy shop update until next week. A sweet friend asked me not to post them until she returns from a trip this weekend. Plus, the gloomy skies would mean grainy pictures.

How did it get to be Thursday already? Really...how did that happen?