googly eyed pumpkins

Saturday was a dark and rainy day so we pretty much stayed put. In the afternoon, we decorated our pumpkins that we got at the pumpkin patch earlier in the week.
Just a little felt for the mouth and googly eyes stuck on with a bit of glue stick.
And a button nose for one of them.

Oh yeah, we're going to get our Halloween on around here.

In costume news, Zebah was so last Tuesday. For a few days straight, it's been Rhino. So I ordered the costume and it should be here this week. Maybe we'll put on a show for you.

The costume has just one horn and since we hear the Rhino Song about 10 times a day we know by heart that Rhinos have "2 big horns on the tip of the nose". Until we looked it up to discover that Indian Rhinos indeed have one horn, I thought I'd have to make another horn. I might still do that because I do think Rhinos look more Rhino-like and less unicornish with two.

just a thought...

My sister's husband was in an accident on Tuesday night. He seems to be doing okay and was even released from the hospital today. But what a scare it was! He has a fractured skull (and had bleeding in his brain) along with broken bones in his face and hand. We are praising the Lord for carrying him through this recovery so quickly. It may be a long recovery still ahead but he's going to be just fine.

The thing I keep thinking is that accidents like his happen on the most ordinary of days. They can happen to anyone at anytime. It doesn't mean that we should necessarily live our lives paralyzed under a cloud of caution. Perhaps instead let's strive to have such an appreciation of the urgency and preciousness of today. I hope I don't sound like I'm giving a soap box sermon. We all live such busy lives and sometimes we need to be reminded and redirected just a bit.

Happy weekend everybody!

today

On this day last year, we packed up our little baby and flew with him to California. Isn't it incredible to think that it's been a year? And just look at where we are now. If you'd told me last year that this is where we'd be, with him here and everything so happy, I would have told you off or something. He's waking up from his nap...I can hear him making little noises over the monitor and any minute he'll come sweetly down the hallway looking for me or call for me quietly from his bed. Oh, here he is. All smiles and saying "It's morningtime!" I love this life.

Picking a Costume

So I'm not really a Halloween girl. I like the candy part but all the spooky, ghoulishness gives me the creeps.

But this little guy might change my thinking about the holiday...



I love how excited he gets! I'm glad to be back home playing with him.

just back...

Oh my goodness...you wouldn't believe what a fabulous weekend I had at Kim's event! Saturday in particular was one of the very best days of my life. It sounds like it would have to be an exaggeration but I assure you, it is not. I was in such a delicious whip-up of creative flurry that I couldn't stop. I crafted nearly through dinnertime and even when I got back to the hotel. There was no stopping me.

I'll share more later, but I wanted to show you my finished projects to back-up my statement about this being such a fabulous event. I've never loved class projects as much as these three. Seriously.


The effervescent Miss Lisa Kettell taught this fun class. It was supposed to be to make a dragonfly fairy but I decided to make her wings into little legs with pointed ballet shoes. I'm so pleased with how it turned out but just wait until you see how other people's looked. You won't believe it. They are all so unbelievably sweet.

This was the first class and it really revved up my creative engines.


Julie Haymaker Thompson is amazing. I love her generous spirit. Just being in her midst brought forth a creative flurry within me. She fills the room with creative light.
I just kept adding and changing and working and creating purposefully. I'm so tickled with it.



We finished the day with the amazing Ruth Rae. She lead us through how to put together layers and layers of elements and details to make a beautiful cuff bracelet. The kit alone was worth the price of admission. But Ruth's gentle teaching style was what made it over-the-top great.

I'm so pleased with how it turned out.

I'm already planning to attend the next one...I'd be crazy to miss it. Dare I say you would too? Stay tuned to Kim's blog for the announcement of what she's cooking up for the next one...and start saving your pennies because I have a feeling you won't be able to pass it up either.

Thank you Kim for putting all the care you put into the smallest and the biggest of details. You make it look so easy but I know all the work you put into it and I appreciate it with all my heart.

packing

Paint?Check.

Every itty bitty wonderful and blingy thing I could find?
Check.

More wonderful things?
Check.

Fabulous vintage lace?

Check.

I think I'm ready. This time tomorrow, I'll be in sunny California.

stitch-along

Another thing I've made for Market Soiree (see how busy I've been?)


I hesitate to call these kits because they don't include detailed stitching instructions. But they do have everything you need to make a mini-sampler, including a tiny embroidery hoop, fabric with grid, needle, floss, and teeny tiny scissors all packaged sweetly in a 4" round tin. Oh, and best of all, an itty bitty book showing each square of the sampler.

I only made 4 of these to see how they do. I'll be making more for sale on etsy. What do you think? Do you want one?

doll trunk

I've had this sweet doll trunk for a while now. I'm crazy about the circus print lining it.

When I was working out how to get everything to California for the Market Soiree it occurred to me that this would make an excellent display piece...and I could fill it up with stuff to make transporting stuff easier too.

I added a few shelves and, voila!

bits and bobs

Another thing I'm selling at the Market Soiree are these tubes of bits and bobs from my stash. I just took jars down from my cabinet and filled them up with wild abandon.

Aren't they fun?

They are 9" tall and about 1.25" in diameter. I'm thinking $14 each...what do you think? Is that a fair price?

8 years

Lest we forget.

getting ready

I've got my nose to the grindstone, making as much as I can to get ready for next week's vendor night. As I'm working, I'm trying to figure out display details. It'll be difficult since I'm traveling across country but I think I've come up with some good plans.

One such idea was repurposing this old dresser mirror frame (small, only about 10" x 12") into a piece to display the little wreaths that I'm making. I put a piece of register metal in the back and then looped ribbons through, tying on the back. I'd thought about using a screen or chicken-wire but I had this on hand.

I'm so excited to be sharing a table with the fabulous Holly. I love her aprons and I can't wait to see them in person. It'll be fun getting to know her too. Yay! I'm getting so excited.

And if you are in the L.A. area, you can join in on the fun of the Market Soiree too. Click here for details.

Here are some of the wreaths I made...

Yeah, yeah, yeah

I thought you might like to see the entertainment in my backseat that I enjoy on a daily basis. He only really sings like this in the car so yesterday I took along the video camera to capture it.

ring-a-ling

My friend lorraine is collecting unusual stories about rings... coincidences, lost and then found rings... for a special project. If you have an incredible story about a ring, please contact her. She will be thrilled. Her email is pink23@aol.com.

surprise cakes

I've had this idea cooking for a while...maybe as long as 2 or 3 years! Back then, I bought up a bunch of jello molds with the idea that I could decorate them as cakes. I finally got around to actually making them successfully and I'm so pleased with how sweet they turned out. Best of all, they are filled with all sorts of crafting goodies!

I made these to debut at Kim's Market Soiree on Friday September 18 (which, by the way for all you L.A. girls has just been opened to the public!)

I'm working hard to make as much stuff as I can to sell there...lots of new stuff. Hope to see you there!

a lovely day

Today all our windows are thrown open in celebration of this beautiful day. The temperature is perfect...not too cool, not too hot. And unlike our usual after-lunch-so-we-can-take-a-nap walks, today's was refreshing, brisk, and only slightly sweat-inducing.

Earlier today we took a stack of books outside to read them. I'm noticing that we can read more advanced books with more words per page these days. It used to be that he'd want to turn the pages much, much too quickly and we'd end up adlibbing most of it. These days, though, he wants to read pages again and again and then he says "What happened?" and we talk about it some more in our own words. He still likes books of few words and now he recites what's on those pages. "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" is his favorite "not you" book (he "reads" all by himself). I know I'm biased but I do think he's advanced for his 2.5 years. :)



I couldn't resist snapping this as he sleeps...he's such a little cherub, isn't he?


I feel so blessed to have this time with him and to have this chance to be a mother to him. I don't know what our futures hold but I do know that today is precious. I may need the love and security of this day, this splendid and lovely day, to see me through what tomorrow has in store.

Hope you're having a nice day too.