Seriously, This Label Maker is Awesome.

Just for the heck of it, I'm having a sale for all my blog readers. Now through January 1'st, take 10% off anything in stock in the shop. Type in Blog Sale in the "notes to seller" section of check out and don't pay. I'll send you an updated invoice and you can pay then. Thanks for a great year and happy 2008!

Operation Organization

We live in a VERY small house - less than 900 square feet. Now that we've had our first official "toddler Christmas" (which came just one week after a 2 year birthday party), we've officially outgrown our living space. Where to put all the new toys?!?! We have thus embarked on what I call operation organization - it's pretty amazing how many things you can cram into a small space if you're organized about it! This cabinet has been a dumping ground for all kinds of weird things, and I finally finished wading through it all yesterday. Then it was off to target for plastic bins and a label maker (my new favorite toy) to copy my friend Karen's toy storage system, and voila - we have a toy cabinet! Next on the list: clean out my closet, which I share with Moses. Yikes. Wish me luck!

...And to All a Good Night

*sigh* Ah, the day after Christmas. A whilrlwind of opening and assembling toys, trying to find/create new places to store said toys, cramming more and more cardboard into the overflowing recycling bin, promising one's self that was the last hershey's kiss to be eaten, trying to meet up with friends from out of town, looking for that last AAA battery that will make the cars drive along the track, sneaking another hershey's kiss...

At last the little rascal is asleep. Hubby is putting on his America's Funniest Home Videos DVD and I am settling in for a bit of crafting. I'm hoping to finish up these little beauties for listing in the shop tomorrow. I hope you all had a blessed Christmas and are getting a bit of time on the couch of your own.

Preview of Things to Come

In addition to working on this last minute Christmas gift (the lighting made the color look a bit weird, but this yarn is the softest shade of green), I've been making up lots of new things for the shop. Here are a few pictures to tantalize you until Wednesday when I make my next shop update.

And what is this going to be...? I'm still figuring that out, so check the shop to see what I come up with. I hope you are all having a wonderful "Christmas eve eve"!

Just Imagine What You Could Do...

...with a $300 shopping spree to your favorite knitting shop! Knitting Daily is hosting a "Yarn Spree at your Local Yarn Shop" contest, and the first place winner gets a $300 spree to her (or his) favorite shop! The second place winner gets $200 and third place gets $100 - that's still quite a bit of yarn. Just follow this link to enter the random drawing by December 31'st - winners will be announced in January. Good luck! (Oh, and while you're there, check out the site - tons of awesome free knitting patterns and other gems.)

A Little Art Therapy

We're both still feeling a bit under the weather, so Moses and I spent most of our day inside with the two best standbys a mom could have: playdough and crayons. God bless the wonderful people who invented these things! It seems my drawing skills could use some improvement, though. Moses kept asking me to draw a chicken, and each time I did, he insisted it was a cat and asked me to "try again." Needless to say, there won't be any ACEO's in my shop any time soon. :)

I have a "Cyber BFF"

Many many thanks to Lauren over at Sweet Bean's for this flattering write-up on Junie None Designs. Sweet Beans makes the most wonderful diaper rash remedy and it comes in the cutest drawstring bags made of vintage feed sacks. Seriously, wouldn't this make the most wonderful gift? And if you want to try out the product before committing to a whole bag, you can buy a sample - what a great idea!

BLAH.

We've come down with the flu... all three of us. All blogging and crafting have screeched to a halt while we lay on the floor and feel sorry for ourselves...

Oooooh...

I just finished up this custom order for one of my customers, and it turned out SO beautifully that I had to show it off here... it won't be in my shop for long. I love working together with customers to come up with pretty things like this - and this particular customer has very similar taste to mine, so it's especially fun. Hooray for my new camera (thanks honey!) - I was finally able to capture the fluffiness of the backing material I use!

Last Few Weeks of the Year...

Here in beautiful California we're so blessed to be able to take pictures like this in the middle of December - Moses looking for bugs in an overgrown sage bush that is exploding with purple flowers. It is cold outside, but not too cold for our daily rounds: say hi to the sheep; check for chicken eggs; walk around in the pasture (with the occasional side trip to "play on daddy's trailer" if he hasn't taken it to work for the day); walk around the pond to the neighbor's fence where we say hi to his goats; then back through the pasture to collect the mail and home to warm up in front of the heater with a book. I have such a wonderful life! I hope you are all enjoying these last few weeks of the year!

TAG... I'm "it"

Amy over at Herbst Handmade has cyber tagged me (yes, I may not be able to "text," but I'm starting to get the hang of this blog thing), and now I get to share 7 random/weird facts about myself for all of you, my blog readers. I'm also supposed to post the rules of the game and tag 7 other bloggers to do the same. So, here goes:

The facts:

1.) I live on a farm. My parents bought it when I was a freshman in high school, and, apart from my time in college, I've lived here ever since. My husband and I moved into the "cottage" on the back end of the 3 acres when we got married. Although we bought a house in the "city" (which is really only 5 minutes away in San Jose), we decided to stay here after my mom died 2 yeras ago, to help my dad and youngest brother. It has turned out to be a wonderful place to raise a son - Moses and I spend at least a small part of every day outside with the sheep, chickens, and rangy old farm dogs. Pretty fun.

2.) I've had a terrible fear of small, fast moving animals, namely squirrells and chickens (which poses a problem... ref. item #1) ever since I was bit on the arm by a monkey in Bali. Yes, it really happened. Let's just say this: if you ever find yourself on the beautiful isle of Bali, do NOT go into the "sacred monkey forest" in the city of Ubud. Seriously.

3.) I am an aspiring spinner. Not the exercise class, although that does sound fun. :) My husband gave me a spinning wheel for our first Christmas after we were married, and I've tried on and off to learn to use it. Someday I'll find a class and put down my sewing long enough to spin some yarn worth knitting.

4.) I married my husband when I was 19 and he was 22. We're going on 8 years now and it's fantastic!

5.) If offered the choice between an action movie and a chick flick, I'll go with action, every time, hands down.

6.) I am a total sucker for "having tea." My mom taught me that "tea always tastes better when drunk out of a fancy teacup," and I completely believe that. Thus, my love for finding the most frilly, pink tea houses I can find and spending hours there drinking tea and eating those awesome little tea sandwiches.

7.) I am a terrible dancer. Just absolutely TERRIBLE. Ask my husband. But, if you were to ask my son the same question, he would probably tell you I'm great at it, since, when daddy's gone, he and I dance our heads off all the time.

The rules:


-Link to the person who tagged you and post the rules on your blog.


-Share 7 random and/or weird things about yourself


-Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.


-Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

The people I've tagged:

Gabrielle at Design Mom
Jen at The Perfect Umbrella
Lauren at Sweet Bean's
Raw Soil

...That's all I've got, so I guess I'm breaking a rule! Sorry!

Christmas Mint Patties

When I think of Christmas baking, I immediately think of making these easy treats, as they were one of my Mom's traditional holiday activities for us. This is a really kid-friendly recipe - there is no baking involved and you have to get your hands messy to make them. I have so many memories of "discussing" with my brothers which ones of us got to knead the "green blob" and who got the "red blob." The end result is sort of like edible playdough. Ironically, my little guy, who is constantly trying to sneak playdough into his mouth, would have nothing to do with eating these. Oh well, maybe next year. Here's the recipe so you can try it out on your little ones...

CHRISTMAS MINT PATTIES

1 3-oz package cream cheese, softened

1/2 tsp. peppermint extract

3 cups powdered sugar

A few drops of desired color food coloring

1. In a small bowl, stir together cream cheese and peppermint extract. Gradually add powdered sugar until smooth. Knead in the last of the sugar with your hands. Add food coloring (you can divide into as many different colors as you want) and knead until color is evenly distributed.

2. Form into 3/4 inch balls and place on waxed paper. Press each ball with the tines of a fork.

3. Cover mints with paper towels and let dry overnight. Store in tightly covered container in the refrigerator or freeze.

Words for Rice

A friend of mine recently forwarded me this really cool site where you play a vocabulary game (think back to SAT questions...) and for each word you define correctly, twenty grains of rice are donated to a hungry person. The rice adds up pretty quickly as you play. It's actually pretty fun and a GREAT way to help some people who are really in need this holiday season. So dust off the left side of your brain all you crafters, and get donating!

Personalized Toy Bag

I recently finished up this custom order for my super fun friend Jen, who is giving this toy bag as a Christmas gift to her guitar loving nephew. It turned out so cute that I made a second one (without the name, of course) and put it in my shop. Now it is just waiting for a name to be appliqued on it...

For the "Earthy" Baby

I think this Amy Butler fabric has all my favorite colors in it. I made up this Mini Security Blanket while the little guy was napping today, and it is now in my shop. I'm already jealous of the special little one who might end up using it...

Oh, Christmas Tree!

It was a VERY busy weekend, between two Thanksgivings and our nephew's birthday party, but I think this was the hilight. We drove up to the Santa Cruz mountains and cut down a Christmas tree. There are a lot of tree farms to choose from, and we ended up following signs to the very same tree farm that I used to go to as a kid with my family. (For anyone in the area, it is called Stagecoach Christmas Tree Farm and it is fantastic!) Moses had a blast wandering around in the "forest," telling us which tree to cut down ("that one, that one, that one!" as he points in all different directions), and petting the farm dog Lady, who was all decked out with a jingle bell on her collar, and who I remember from when I was a little girl.

After cutting down the tree, we headed into downtown Los Gatos for their street market, where we got crepes that we ate in the park. It was a fantastic outing and now our house smells like Christmas.

New in the Shop

I just posted these pretty gift tags in my shop. I couldn't stand to let these gorgeous scraps of fabric sit around any more, so I had to make them into something. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and is enjoying the rest of a relaxing weekend!

A Break from the Sewing Machine

In addition to sewing, I LOVE knitting. A few years ago my grandma gave me this old knitting pattern book of hers and I recently decided to try out one of the circular knitting patterns. I really like how it turned out. I used one of my favorite cotton yarns from Rowan called All Seasons Cotton in gray, because I intended to give this hat as a gift to one of my brothers. But now that it's finished I'm tempted to keep it for myself! :) That always happens with my knitting projects - by the time I finish them I'm so attached that I can't seem to part with them.



Moses got in on the knitting this morning too... I wonder if 2 is too young to start learning to knit?

Phew, that was a lot of cutting!

I'm getting ready to start assembling my largest custom order to date - a twin sized patchwork quilt in 8 different adorable blue patterns. I'm so excited because up to now I've only made quilts this size for myself. My goal is to continue posting new items in my shop at the same time as working on this project. Hmm... sounds a bit ambitious now that I've actually written it down, but this colder weather certianly brings out my craftier side.

Golden Gate Park

Last weekend (I know, I know, that's already 6 days ago... I'm such a blog procrastinator) we went to Golden Gate park in San Francisco and it was FANTASTIC! Even though it was raining and we were all freezing, the playground was so much fun it was worth it. Moses' favorite part was the carousel which he's read about in books but had never seen in person yet. He now tells everyone we see that he rode a "huge kitty cat up and down."

Can you see the fantastic playground in the background of this second picture? Seriously, if you have kids (or are just a kid at heart) and are ever in the San Francisco area you MUST go to this park - it is so fun! The icing on top of the cake of this trip was that I finished a knitting project in the car on the way home. A pretty productive weekend. :)

Ode to the Scrap Basket

Well, apparantly all my fabric scraps can be used for more than piecing together baby quilts. The other night my husband and son used some left-over binding material to become "ninjas," and spent the evening wrestling all over the house. And yes, that is chocolate on my son's face, which definitely helped fuel his ninja energies.

Throw Blankets!

After receiving a lot of inquiries about whether or not I make "adult blankets" I decided to start putting some throw quilts in my shop. This one was bought really quickly, but I'm working on more. It was fun working with black and white - two colors I don't get to see much when working on kids' stuff. So keep your eyes peeled for more cool big kid blankets coming soon.

Finally Finished

I have been working on this custom flannel baby blanket for a VERY long time and finally listed it in my shop. It's not like me to take a long time on custom orders, since they are my favorite part of what I do. However, having been sick for a while, this one took longer than usual. Thanks again to my fabulous customer Christine for being so patient with me!

Back in Business!

After being side-lined for a while due to some health issues, I am feeling much better and I'm slowly getting back to listing items in my shop and sewing away. Most importantly, I have the energy again to play with my two "best guys." Here are some pictures from our trip to the pumpkin patch last weekend. We couldn't resist getting this little pumpkin for Moses in addition to his big one.

A HUGE thank you to all of my super understanding customers as I've been very slow with orders over the last few months. I appreciate all of you so much!

On The Fence...

And I'm not speaking figuratively, as you can see. We live on the "back 40" of my dad's farm and are so fortunate to be surrounded by REAL farm animals, as my dad raises sheep and chickens for fun. There are also a huge flock of wild turkeys, the occasional raccoon or coyote, and plenty of deer to be seen on a daily basis. It is a fantastic place to raise a little boy, and he and I spend the majority of our time outside exploring the farm. Yes, it does make for more laundry and MANY more trips to the bathroom to wash our hands, but it is so fun I hardly even notice. (Having three younger brothers I already knew that little boys are supposed to get dirty!) This is one of Moses' new favorite locations: perched on the fence along the driveway on the lookout for turkeys. He does a pretty darn realistic turkey call, too!

Grommets!

I just love grommets. Something about being able to make a clean metal hole in a piece of fabric makes my imagination work over-time. Years ago I bought these huge grommets and used them to put holes in our rain boots so they could be hung on the side of the shed out of the mud. The left-overs have been laying around ever since, and I recently came up with an idea for how to work them into an apron. This cute apron will be up in my shop soon, as soon as I can manage to get some decent pictures taken of it.

A Nice Relaxing Day

Yesterday we actually didn't have to do ANYTHING, so Moses and I stayed home all day, which is pretty rare. It's good for me to squash my overly active nature sometimes and force myself to have a day with no visible accomplishments. Yes, the kitchen floor was still dirty at the end of the day, but Moses and I had a blast playing our heads off. Here's a picture of his awesome milk mustache - what a cutie!

Coming Soon...

I'll be posting this cute little patchwork quilt in my shop very soon, so keep your eyes peeled! Ever since having a boy I've been on the look-out for cute "boy fabrics" and ended up with a bunch of western themed fat quarters, which I've worked into this cowboy quilt. I just LOVE the polkadot fabric on the back!

Promo Items

These cute little promo packets are on their way to Kaylah of Kayla7 http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5022897 who will be giving them out at a craft show as part of some goodie bags she is putting together. Each one contains a couple fabric and paper gift tags I made up - a very fun little project. Thanks Kaylah!

This Should Explain it ...

I haven't listed many new items in my shop lately, and that is because I have been busy PLAYING with my son. 21 months is such a delightful age! He is constantly learning new words (we really have to watch what we say now!) and managing to climb on top of even higher pieces of furniture. Hmm... makes me wonder why I'm starting a blog! Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with this as I continue to figure out how to balance all the aspects of my life: mom, wife, big sister, business owner, and a person who needs a few hours of sleep once in a while!