Bed Fit For A Queen.. Or At Least A Doll..

Kiddo's 4th birthday is just around the corner. I can't believe it. It seems like yesterday she was a sweet little bundle of joy in my arms, and now she's my creative companion most days. We have our ups and downs, but she has won me over heart & soul. For her big occasion, I have it on good authority that she will be receiving her first American Girl doll. And a doll needs accessories, right? 

I'm working on a completely decked out doll bed right now - custom mattress, fitted sheet, comforter, pillow.. 

Isa is not a traditional little girl. She is a solid mix of feminine and tomboy with a WHOLE LOT of boho chic. I'm doing my best to meet her style needs, but she may end up being my toughest client!

I can't wait to show you (and my darling birthday girl) the finished bed! Now if those kiddos would give me time to work on it...

*sighs*

One Of My Favorite Pictures From This Summer..

She is pretty sure that in just a few years that she is going to marry her Daddy...

Nope, they couldn't be any cuter..

Riley Blake, You Had Me At Hello!

Riley Blake, one of my most favorite fabric designers ever

is having a contest!

They were looking for pictures of apparel items with their fabric.

Um, hello - I would love to make a cute apparel item with your fabric!

Here is what I made Miss Isabelle

I love it!

She loves it!

The faux smocking is created with elastic - adorable..

And the patchwork is of her two favorite colors - green & pink..

I'll find out next week if I'm a finalist,

and if I am then I will be begging for votes!

The grand prize is a bike,

and with my Little Red Riding Hood event in June..

I need a bike!

I've got my toes, fingers, and eyes crossed!!

Isa in the Valentine Dress

Too Fast

Today the time is moving too fast.

My Isabelle, you're so sweet in your fluffy footie pajamas

With tousled hair, coloring on your easel.

It takes only a few pieces of fresh construction paper

and some markers to make you smile.

Too soon you truly will be my big girl;

wearing regular pajamas with neatly combed hair.

Your easel will be in your room

and it will be a special day when I'm privileged to see your art.

You won't be clamoring for my attention

or in need of my approval.

You won't be begging for cuddles and for a lap to share.

My sweet beautiful little girl, my little artist.

Today is moving too fast..

Can You Top This

Can I Top This?

You bet I can!

My best friend, The Desert Deals Diva posted about this crafty contest

I was all over it!

Basically you had to make something super cool with an Elmer's trifold.

I immediately had an idea on what my bestie should make,but I myself was a little stumped.

Sure enough my main source of inspiration,

my 2 little monkeys masquerading as my daughters,

came to the rescue.

Isabelle's 3rd birthday is in March and she already jabbers on about it nonstop.

We are going to have a "Dora & Dinos" theme at our local Dino museum.

At each birthday party I have made a themed bean bag toss game.

Don't ask me why I'm obsessed with this - I just am!

So it came to me.. Use the trifold for a fabulous sturdy bean bag target!

It is amazing! (and super easy..shhh)

Please excuse the awful pics

(it's 5 am - the only time the monkeys will let me take pictures!)

And did you see our annoying cat, Poptart, peering out of the first pic??

What a stinker!

Basically this is easiest thing you can do.

It is made of:

* 1 Elmer foam tri-fold

* 1 package of Dora wall clings (Target)

* some random stickers in my studio

* exacto knife

As I was making this I was bombarded with new ideas for this board!

You could make a single large hole and have the kiddos take pictures with Dora!

Or you could see your toddler fall backwards in awe at the biggest Birthday card ever!!

I love it, I know Isabelle will love it.

Here's the big question.. Can I keep it hidden till March?!

Cookies!

First cookies of the 2010 season with Isabelle!

Because she doesn't care if they are fancy,

she cares only that *she* made them!

Amen, Isabelle

This year Isabelle started a pre pre-school at a local church.

She has learned so much and loves it so much.

We can not say enough positive enough things about this experience for her.

Every once in awhile she'll break out in a new song, sentence, or dance

that we are pretty sure she learned at school.

The latest is especially sweet.

Out of nowhere yesterday,

Isabelle told T and I,

"God is great, God is good.

Let us thank him for this food.

Amen."

Amen, Isabelle, Amen.

CreamPuff

How do I excuse my looonnngg absence?

In a single, sweet word - Creampuff

Nope not the yummy dessert treat, the yummy new addition to our family!

Our darling Juliette was born early this October.

(after 5 weeks of pre-term labor)

Yup, that's right!

5 weeks of daily contractions, bed rest, and stress.

((Thanks to my folks for staying 2 months to help us survive!!))

However Mother Nature agreed that 5 weeks of "labor" is just mean,

and I had an EASY delivery!

3 pushes and she was in our arms.

We are so much in love with her.

Isabelle has become the best sister ever!

And my recovery has been easy, peasy - so we've been doing lots of fun activities!

Our first trip outside the house.

We went to Daybreak to feed the ducks!

Lots of sleeping (well, Juliette has been..)

Our first visit with friends!

Our trip to the pumpkin patch at Wheeler Farm.

And a trip to the Zoo with Daddy & our playgroup.

I'm so in love and so happy being a mom to 2 beautiful girls

that I will probably put off re-opening my Etsy store till November.

Zzzzzz

Isa must be having a growth spurt.

She's been doing a lot of new things this week,

and she's being such a *pain*.

I hate to say it, but when she goes through a little spurt,

it usually leaves me desperate to book a single, one way flight to Bora Bora..

I've spent way more time this week napping when she naps.

I know, I know..

I can hear you..

I need to nap - I'm in my 7 month of pregnancy..

It's just hard to be resting when I have so many new ideas,

and I know my life is only going to be all the more crazy in a few months.

Alas...

I'm going to take a nap.

Here are some photos from the shower of my wonderful mother and I!

The Experiment

The Problem:

A family that is "teched in and tuned out"

Kiddo - addicted to videos

Mom - addicted to the Internet

Dad - not addicted, but gets sucked in to TV and/or internet like there is a force field

The Hypothesis:

Removing the TV, Videos, Internet, etc for 1 day a week will improve

the family connection and decrease the addiction on the other days.

The Results:

I checked emails and Etsy (my work) before either Thomas or Kiddo woke up. I was on for less than 10 minutes total. And yes I Twittered and Facebooked.

On Saturday we did not plop Isa down to watch "Dora" while we made breakfast and did our morning routine. Kiddo asked for it once or twice, but the response that the TV was broken seemed to suffice.

Thomas did go on the internet in a non-approved time (before Isa wakes, Isa's nap, and bedtime), but he jumped off right after getting the phone number he needed.

The Star Wars force field did not suck him in.

We had a fabulous time at Thomas' work carnival in the morning.

In general, Isa loved the undivided attention and did not seem to miss her videos.

I checked emails and Etsy again for about 10 minutes while Isa napped.

We did not sit Isa down to relax with a video before bed.

I read her a large pile of books and Thomas got her ready for bed.

We did awesome!

There were plenty of times I could have snuck on the Internet without notice, but I didn't.

There were times that Isabelle got bored,

but rather than a quick TV fix she found something to do.

I felt less guilt as a parent.

*****

We're hoping to do this 1 day/week for the foreseeable future.

We are going to reduce our cable service to the bare min and HBO

(come on, let's be realistic - I NEED HBO!)

Today, Isabelle was beezerko to watch some cartoons, but

our total TV time was at least 1/2 of what was the norm.

I didn't check my laptop every free second I had.

I feel good about this.

Technology is not the enemy, but it can quickly and easily consume us.

It breaks my heart to know there were times that Isa was tuned it to a video

and both Thomas & I were sucked into our personal laptops.

Our time together is something we should never take for granted.

It's important to balance the power of technology

with the power of a REAL connection.

If you're reading this and telling yourself that it sounds great,

but your family couldn't survive tech free for even a day..

I say to you, that your family may have the most to gain from it.

You won't die.

You're children won't die.

It will be okay.

It's 24 hours.

Catching Up

Oh my.. Time does fly!

I can hardly believe it's been months since I've posted.

Well.. I had 3 blogs and think that overwhelmed me.

I am now starting my 7 month of pregnancy and that definitely overwhelmed me.

I've decided to condense all my blogs into this one.

I'll tag each post so if you want to skip to Etsy, cooking, or family

you will be able to quickly.

In brief here's the news from the last couple of months..

Isabelle

She is doing awesome! She is a chatterbox. Loves to sing and will be starting dance classes in August. Isabelle is very excited about the upcoming birth of her sister, Julie.

We had 2 summer vacations in Park City, 2 Thomas the Train rides,

a visit to WA for cousin Maggie's Confirmation, a visit from Nana and Myron,

and visits from Gaga & Gigi Bird.

She was sick for about 3 weeks this past month, but

all the blood tests revealed is that she had some sort of virus.

Right now I can hear her giggling in Gaga's lap, so all is well :D

Julie (Juliette)

I'm starting my 7 month of pregnancy.

It has not been an easy pregnancy.

I won't go into the details of every crazy detail, but let's just say I'm eager to meet my angel and have my body get back into some sort of normalcy.

We are bouncing back and forth on the name Julie or Juliette.

Our angel is named after one of the most life loving women I have

ever met that was taken from our lives much too young.

We are starting work on her nursery. Lots of Riley Blake cowgirl fabric and vintage western.

It is sure to be envied by all the other rodeo queens!

And no Thomas is not disappointed to be blessed with another beautiful, loving little girl.

Cooking Contests

I've won somewhere around 11 contests in the 2 1/2 months I've been entering.

The biggest prizes have been a check for $250, a $400 Le Creuset pot, 2 Magic Bullets,

and lots more fun things.

Thomas has even gotten into the action and started entering grilled recipes.

We have our fingers crossed he'll win a grill this summer.

I've taken the last couple week off from entering. During Isabelle's 3 week sick stint, we didn't know what was wrong and it was impossible for me to focus on anything but my angel.

Etsy and Other Crafts

Etsy is slow during the summer so I have been building up my inventory.

There are currently lots of baby cocoons and hats that are ready to ship.

I'm also really enjoying getting back into sewing, and have been adding a lot of new type of items.

I will stop taking custom orders mid-September and take a maternity leave for the first 2 weeks of October. From mid-October to January I will be taking a very limited amount of custom work, but I will add a lot of ready-2-ship items.

I'm doing a lot of craft challenges right now and have started entering quilt contests.

I'm still creating designs for A Charming Place. I was also finalist for Vanna's Choice yarn contest. I'm currently working on another Lion Brand yarn entry.

Personal News

I was nominated and accepted a director position for the Junior League of Salt Lake City. I'm still doing sub work at the local libraries.

Thomas has really gotten back into mountain biking since our last trip to Park City. He is busy moving his home office, since that room is to be Julie's nursery.

Wooh.. Lots of info.

I'm hoping to be blogging more now that I have 1 blog to care for..

but we'll see...

I'm on Twitter/Facebook daily and post weekly to my Flickr account

if you would like more pics!

Life is what happens when you think you'll have time to blog.....

Out with the Old and in with New!

Hope ya'll had a fabulous holiday & New Year's!

I'm so excited about this new year!

I'm hoping to really branch out at the shop and learn some new skills.

And can you believe I already feel behind!!

Valentine's Day feels just around the corner, and I have soo many ideas.

For my sweet Isa-pie, I will be making her a special quilt

since she's become quite the blankie queen.

I tend to fall in love with charm packs, but I'm tired of simply

sewing them side by side for a quick quilt.

After Googling for some ideas, I can upon this adorable

Stacked Coins Quilt

It's just the right amount of different for me to

not feel like I'm doing the same ol' thing,

but it doesn't look like an all time consuming masterpiece either.

Should have some pics of it for you in about 2 weeks...

Until then, enjoy a 15% discount off at the shop

Please mention "Sweetie Pie" in your checkout notes.

Time Out For Cookies

I take my Holiday cookies seriously.. very seriously. I have all this coming Saturday blocked out to bake and watch my favorite holiday flicks: "A Christmas Story", "It's A Wonderful Life", and "Elf".

My daughter is still a little too young to make sugar cookies with, she's barely 21 months. I really wanted to find a way to include her in one of my favorite holiday activities. As if Twitter read my mind, I came across this posting about pie crusts cookies. And in my freezer I have an obscene amount of pie crusts, why I do not know..but I do!

This is the *perfect* baking activity for a toddler! It's low mess, quick, and a great way to introduce your littlest baker into the kitchen.

(recipe courtesy of Rachel Hobson over at Craftzine)

1. Leave pie crusts out till the are room temperature. Roll out very thinly on a lightly floured

surface. Pre heat oven to 350.

2. Cut out fun holiday shapes with cookie cutters.

3. Brush cookies with melted butter.

4. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

5. Bake for about 17 minutes & enjoy!

** 10% All Etsy orders till 12/15 - enter code "Cookies" in the notes to seller. **

Chocolate Damask Taffeta For Isabelle

Isabelle has 2 meetings with Santa this week and I'm hoping to get "THE" Christmas card photo from one of them. Tomorrow is the Tree Festival and on Thursday she'll be in her jammies heading up to the North Pole on "Polar Express". I sewed Isabelle a holiday dress with some gorgeous chocolate brown damask taffeta (I will be creating a bubble skirt for myself later so that we match this holiday season!)

This was supposed to be an "Easy" pattern. It took me about 3 hours, and I still have to hem it. It's close to midnight, and I'm not waking the

baby to see where it falls. Also the pattern included hand slip stitching as well as a zipper. Not the hardest things in the book,but I think for a new seamstress it would have been aggravating. I did make some changes to how I

placed the yoke on the skirt,but that can be a tad dry reading.. so if you make it and want to know what I did, feel free to drop me a line.

All in all,I'm pretty happy with it.

I will probably add a hook & eye

above the zipper later. Just a thing that is bugging me, but no biggie. And if I made it again, I

would definitely use my serger.. for first time

around projects I only use my sewing machine (don't want unwanted cuts to the fabric!)

My Little Turkey

As my business has grown over the last year, I've felt myself putting projects for family & friends on the back burner so I can get a little more work done. This was heartbreaking for me. The point of running my own business was so that I would be at home with Isabelle (and future kids), and give more to those I love. So each weekend I "try" to set aside all work, and only do projects for those I love. It's not a perfect system, and this weekend I slipped. A lot of the photographers I had orders from HAD to have items this coming week, that meant I HAD to work overtime and then some. With all that said, I was bound and determined to create a dress for Isabelle for Thanksgiving. My original hope had been to sew 2 ties that matched for her cousins; had great visions of the family photos. Sorry Brycen and Bailey, the ties are probably not going to get done in the next 48 hours. I'm sure they'll forgive me.. Well after some Wii and pumpkin pie..

The pattern I used was Olive Ann Designs : Jump-N . Purchased it at one of my favorite local fabric stores, Material Girls over in South Jordan.

And I'm still on my corduroy kick; using a heavy wide wale green cord and small wale chocolate brown w/ matching green polka dot .

I made some changes, and honestly now that I'm done I will make more changes to the next one. I am not a flamingo fan, so that appliqué got axed. Also..

* Isa is skin & bones, so her body measurements put her at size 1. However, I didn't take into consideration that she has my head. Big heads means big ideas! It is super hard to get it over her head and tears usually erupt. For the next dress I will either push the sleeves out more or increase the width of the neck.

* It is supposed to be reversible, but honestly with 2 cords it makes it very bulky. With the next one I'd either use only 1 heavy fabric or not intend to make it reversible.

* Your bobbin thread color is important!! For this reason I will probably not use the polka dot side as wearable option. The bobbin thread color is distracting to me though I'm sure Isa is unaware :o)

* I added a machine embroidered turkey on the bottom for a little added holiday decoration. The original had that flamingo.. I bought the embroidery pattern at SWAK Embroidery

If I had more time to spend on the dress I think I'd be slightly happier with it. It really only should have took around 2 hours to sew, but with a toddler yelling "Go Diego, Go!" and deadlines looming over my shoulder.. I said this Turkey is done, stick a fork in it!

WIP for Isa

What is a WIP for a Hooker?

Got your attention there didn't I?

Well I'm a crocheter and we work with hooks.. So, just slap the label Hooker on me.

It's okay, I'm comfortable with my title.

And WIPS..

Works In Progress

<---- this is where I am at in making

this------>

for my cutie pie Isabelle!

It is from "Easy to Crochet. Cute Clothes for Kids" by Sue Whitling

It is such a fun shell stitch. Unfortunately when I work crochet from other people's patterns, I tend to do it very tight and tiny..

As skinny as my little girl is, this maybe one tight sweater..