today in the shop: patterns

the pincushion pattern and patterns for these cute ruffle pillows pictured above (no you don't need a ruffle foot for this pattern!)

now here's some important info:

if you leave this blog (wow,thanks jodi!) a comment about what i'm up to (oh and i think you are suppose to leve me a comment too! that jodi!!) you get to enter a whole different giveaway from yesterdays giveaway (which by the way you can still enter till saturday).

I KNOW.

you.are.welcome.

now if you'll excuse me i'm going to take the next few days off.

i'm taking my chocolate and book in one hand and feminine hygiene products in the other hand, i'm making today restful, and hanging with the kids outside because my crankies have hit full blown.

and as we all know sunshine, a book, and chocolate make the crankies all better.

see you monday with something new i'm sure.

shop stocked with "things"

pictured is my aqua pillows for sale.
go to my etsy store to find this one and more.

okay so now go on over to the blog and get a chance to win a honey bun (you know the one i made my baby girl quilt out of) yeah that one.
go on go tell em what you like about my etsy store for a chance to win!
tomorrow i'll be updating (if all goes well) patterns for the ruffle pillow and for my pincushion.
thanks for playing!
phew now to air out my armpits cause i'm sweating up a storm!

just kidding shop update today and tomorrow!

okay so i totally goofed and well the giveaway will be today at 9 pacific time @ little birdie secrets so i'm updating the shop today at 9:55 my time (mountain standard time) and what ever i don't get in today i'll finish tomorrow morning (like the patterns) sorry for the confusion! obviously i've been sewing my brains out and have none left.

sheesh i think i need a vacation.

shop update

image includes the ruffle pillow.
pattern and pillow will be available to buy.

yeah i know it's early.
but i don't know when the other blog is going to do their spotlight so i have to make sure i get everything in there before hand.
and well, if i don't get spotlighted till like 10 pm then i guess you guys get the head start on things like that cute little ruffle pillow.
don't forget they are doing a giveaway of my choice that day as well. i'll try to stay on top of it and let you know when to run over there.
********
and no i haven't forgotten that i said i was making a tutorial on that skirt.
i've been busy sorry.
soon my friends soon...
hope to see you wednesday bright and early.

oh peonies

my peonies are coming out and smelling so sweet!
hope you have a fantabulous (that's fantastic and fabulous mushed together) memorial day!
see you tomorrow.

i've been sewing...

my rear off.

it should be indenting inward here sometime soon.

next week on wednesday this blog will be spotlighting me and doing a giveaway (of my choice...oh you know it'll be moda).

so i've been working on some more patterns to put in my etsy shop. just so all those people who don't really know me and come over here for the first time will think i'm like cool or something.

i'll keep you posted on when you can enter to win the giveaway.

(yes it's going to be moda)

(yes you can enter as well)

(yes you should be excited)

****

so have a fantabulous weekend.

the husband is trying to get livestock again.

hasn't he learned?

me and cows don't mix all that great?

doesn't he remember i killed one too?

and don't get me started on the goats and more goats.

oh and the best blog post about them devil's spawn here.

whatever it makes for some really great posts.

see you on monday.

wish us and whatever animal we end up having good luck.

famous gentlemen callers line on up

so i had to drag in the husband to show him my face associated with MODA.

i turned to him and told him he better watch out cause some famous gentlemen callers would surely be coming my way soon.

he rolled his eyes, walked away, and has been on his best behavior ever since.

mwaaaahhhaaaaahaaaa i made my bed today.

i know two posts one day...crazy go nuts.

how i tried to make it better

yesterday was...how should i put it?...less than desirable.
it's like i've been having a good streak and yesterday the universe decided that it needed to uh how do i put it?
hand me my rear end on a silver platter.

with the morning off to a super rough start, i ended up needing to go and buy some new sewing needles (i got 10 so that i can break 9 and still feel comfortable) then i went and bought new fabric.
just because i liked the green color.
and those look like polka dots so i thought "why the heck not." yeah i bought the rest of the bolt. why the heck not.

i've also been eyeing this necklace every.single.week.
my other favorite one broke not too long ago, so there's my justification. it was $10 and sooooo worth every penny.
why? well because when i thought my bad day that started before 7 am was starting to look up...
at the check out line at walmart...
after one whole year of avoiding her...the woman that makes me get hives:
jerry happened to me once again.
if you don't want to read the whole dang post dedicated to just jerry let me give you a little cliffs notes if you will of "us":
*the woman and i don't mix. (she doesn't know it and i would much rather have it stay that way) *i move in fast forward motion most of the time.
*she does not.
*i am known to sometimes be an "A" type personality
*she's a "Z" type... as in snoooooo"zzzz"e
*i am no nonsense when i am shopping with my kids. i want in and out as quick as possible.
*she likes to look at every.dang.thing.i.buy. and everyone else's for that matter.
*she likes to talk to everyone she knows in line before me after me and passing by me but not to me, probably because i'm having a nervous reaction to her and break out in hives.
*she knows a whole hell of a lot of people.
*she makes my eye twitch every damn time.
******
this time was no different.
but lets just say this time it also included me mopping up pee off the floor because after the thirtieth time that katie screamed " i go pee" she really did go pee.

at that point i looked up to the sky and said : okay you've made your point...move on already.
and i realized maybe all those times that i joked about going to hell...
really weren't worth it.

so. okay. sorry universe.
if i promise not to joke about going to hell anymore and promise to make my bed every morning will you promise to keep jerry in the other lane?
thank you and amen.
here's to a better day.
or a lot of alcohol.
wait i don't drink.
darn.

that's what i get

by claiming today as my "super productive day in sewing."

and by not making the bed.

i have a philosophy:

if my bed is not made.

i have a bad day.

the longer it stays unmade

the longer my bad luck and mood continues.

so far my 2 kids left at home have spilled two bowls of cereal, have managed to dump out all the crayons and color pencils to create right along with me (i don't really mind that one), and have decided that today is the day that they will not get along.

i've broken 2 sewing needles, have unpicked my project like a bazillion times, and now am tracking sticky sugary cereal all over the rest of my clean floors. as i type this i have a super squirmy two year old who keeps pressing random keys.

didn't know my computer could do so many different things with the touch of just one key.

hmmm.

so you win bed gods.

i'll go make my bed.

and then i'm off to the big town 45 minutes away

so i can continue along my super productive day.

*sigh*

a before and after (?)

this piece of furniture was given to me by my sis-in-law. she didn't have room for it and as you can see she started to strip it but didn't finish it. it has great lines and works great in my living room.
this last weekend (before we went up north to the big city for an army thing) i got the power sander out and the paint that i had on hand.

i chose to paint it this color. and i like it...i just don't looooove it. hence the question mark on the after part. i may wait and see how i like it as time goes on, but i have some ideas of what color i REALLY want.

oh and it ain't white.

update on garden: WE HAVE SPROUTS! WHOOT!

working on table cloth skirt tutorial as well...come back soon.

organizing 101: getting your kids to help

i did an organizing 101 of "where do i begin" read it here.

this time i want to talk about how to get the kids to help.

to help with the whole process of chores we use the token system in our house. granted we've modified it as the year has progressed. certain things are bigger rewards and therefore earn more tokens while other's aren't that important anymore. but cleaning and chores still hold their market value. earning tokens is basically earning "privileges" or money to buy toys or to put into a savings account.

they even have been known to pay for "maid" services (meaning i can't handle it anymore and i clean it up) that's a total of 10 tokens each ( i ain't cheap!) this system has SAVED our family.

something that is important to note is that you can not expect your kids to do anything you yourself aren't willing to do.

first you have to teach your kids what you mean when you say "clean your room."

cleaning your room in my house means picking up and putting away everything where it belongs. and it means i do it with them. as the years have passed by, my older boys know what i mean when i say "clean your room" and they actually are getting real good at it.

get rid of junk:

just like i said in the 101 on "where do i get started". you need to get rid of stuff starting from the closets and drawers first. make room for things that belong in that room

then go through all the toys and get rid of all the junk, or broken toys, and yes even toys that you have a hard time getting rid of, but realize that they don't play with them.

don't buy anymore clothes or toys

unless you have a place for them. if you don't have the room, refrain from buying it. my kids do not have many toys, but the toys they do have they love.

set a time every day that you pick up the room.

for us its two times a day. once in the morning (generally just making beds, and picking up and putting away pjs) at the end of the day right before we settle down we do a once over of putting away toys in bins, and making sure all dirty clothes go in dirty piles and in the laundry room.

weed out stuff regularly.

during the school year i do it while they are at school. once a month or so i look and i get rid of "junk" that gets collected. we also (as a family) around fall time do a big "get rid of stuff because birthdays and christmas is coming" the kids know that in order to get toys they need to make room for them. and that usually means we need to get rid of a few less loved toys.

make your kids pay for their own toys.

well except for birthdays and christmas...here's where the token system comes into play again. 10 tokens equals $1 my kids like to get 100 tokens and then go and spend their $10 on whatever they want to spend it on.

******8

i hope some of these pointers will help with getting your kids started on helping out in keeping their rooms clean.

keep in mind i'm not a professional in any way shape or form, and my house does get lived in and isn't perfect by any means...one thing i do know is moving a lot and living in houses of all different square footage, and any size house will feel small if you have too much stuff in it, and these are some of the things that have worked for us.

new skirt for me

thank you for the vote of confidence and patience on yesterday's post about my garden. yeah i'll work on the patience thing ;)i made this skirt out of a table cloth that was on clearance.
did you read that amy?
no posiblities of sweaty hairy men on this skirt!
i think it was the martha stewart christmas collection at kmart.
i saw the pattern on it and thought it would make a really cute something or other.

now if i have made a handkerchief and put it on my head i would look like i belong in a tree singing "doe-a-deer, a female deer!"
but because i didn't, i think it turned out a little less sound of music-ish
while in the middle of making it, i thought to myself "should of made a tutorial out of this." well i think i will, but it has to wait till next week sometime when i go back to the "big" town and get me another table cloth. so stay tuned for a tutorial on how to make this skirt.
oh and did you notice the legs?
not so pasty eh?
yeah been working in the garden so freakin' much that they don't have a choice.

on the third day

you are suppose to see sprouts. guess what i saw...

yup.

nothing.

okay well i did see some weeds.

the husband is a researcher at heart. it's rather annoying. i can never claim "i had no idea." because the man doesn't let me.

as each day passes, he comes home with more and more info about gardening. he gets excited of the new found information...

as for me, my eyes glaze over, and all i hear is "blah blah then this happens. blah blah we should be doing this on the blah blah blah..." and so forth.

doesn't he get it?

my brain is too full.

i'm just lucky i remember my phone # and social security #.

and to know the difference.'

i'm off to do some of the "blah blahs"

i would say "wish me luck"

but lets face it...

wish me a miracle.

a couple of small before and afters

my latest little finds at the second hand store:this was on sale from i think $1 down to .25 cents.
a wire wreath thingy that i think is used for christmas cards. now that would be fine if it were close to christmas, but it's not so....

add some spray paint and some brainstorming and now i have a perfect place to hang my patterns in one place.

this little guy cost me .25 cents.

ugly yes...but with some spray paint...

not so bad and ugly anymore.

hope that all you guys made it over to my new url.

i'd be sad if i lost some of you guys.

edited:okay so i underestimated google reader (that was dumb) and i guess they re-directed everything for everyone of you 997 people but have already gained 7 new people on the other url...YAY! all is well in the google world. (those people must be rich)

seriously, i mean my boys thanks you for keeping me from mauling them as they come home from school to show them the new skirt i made. and the husband thanks you because that means i don't keep asking him questions like "does this look good on me." or "do you like how i did that?" no, no...that's what you guys are for.

well that, and to back me up when he calls me crazy for putting up baskets on the wall.

so thanks.

a conversation if you will...

so i read to the boys every night. (well most nights) and we've covered a wide range of books from star wars to classics. we just finished not too long ago "how to eat fried worms."

we were working outside fixing a busted pipe in the sprinkler system, when i spotted a big worm...and well here's a little conversation if you will:

me:OH look! a WORM! I DARE YOU TO EAT IT!

boys: NOOOOO!

me: haha! just like in the book! i.DOUBLE.DARE.you.

husband: (watching the exchange decides to chime in ) yeah it's not that bad. it just tastes like dirt.

me and the boys stare at him in disbelief...

husband: what? oh what? you never ate a worm before?

me: uh NO.

husband: (big grin on his face) yeah, i was a brave kid.

me: yeah, well i was a SMART kid.

husband: bends over stares right at me and takes the worm and EATS IT.

me: AHHHHH! GROSS i have to kiss you!

both husband and i look over to the two older boys because it got reeeeal quiet.

both boys with stars in their eyes say: OH MY GOSH DAD YOU ATE A WORM!!! THAT.WAS.SO.TOTALLY.AWESOME!

then the oldest picks one up and EATS IT!

then the second oldest picks one up and EATS IT TOO!

me: what the?!i can not believe you guys just did that.

husband: you double dared them to.

me:WELL YEAH but i didn't think they would REALLY do it!

both boys bouncing around super excited and chattering a mile a minute saying things like: "they aren't going to believe we did it! we're going to tell everyone mom dared us and we did it!!!! "WE ATE A WORM!!" (great all anyone is going to get from that is that I, THE MOTHER DARED THEM TO DO IT)

husband: uh obviously you don't know the first rule about boys...

me: oh yeah what's that?

husband: never double dare a boy into anything...because they have to do it.

me: hmmm i may have to remember that...

husband: hahaha...oh no.

he later confessed that the first thing that went through his head when he put the worm in his mouth was "nope, i was wrong, i think i just read the book. i don't think i've actually ever experienced this before"

to the women in my life

picture taken at my bridal shower in 1998
from left to right:
cousin alba luz, aunt bertha, cousin pam, my mom, cousin tania, me, aunt elba, and my grandma.

i just want to give a shout out to the women in my family who basically raised me as one of their own. either as a daughter or as little sister.

who call me and pray for me and laugh at my stupid jokes. seriously you guys are my rocks and i appreciate your love and kindness.

thank you for you and thank you for being an example of what a strong mother/daughter/sister is.
and mom
you
are
awe-
some

and to my mother in law who basically adopted me as a daughter (and personally likes me more than her son sometimes) i give you the shout out of thank you as well for creating a son that respects women and takes my BS pretty well.

and what would i be without you bloggers? you laugh and cry with me, and you guys keep thinking i'm funny and buy my stuff in my shop.

dude i love you guys
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!
now go buy yourself something nice and put my name on it.

now to tackle this

well!
all i have to say is wow,
and thank you.
thank you for making yesterday a wonderful etsy success.
as you can see i have an aftermath to deal with.
it ain't pretty.

and if i want a little bit of sewing for me time...i better get crack-a-lacking!
edited: okay more fabric bracelet tuts are now available thanks for the emails telling me that i was "sold out"
what would i do without you? ;)

please go do some damage

image includes "the fabric bracelet" and you can buy the instructions here in my shop sold out i will keep them stocked up as they run out follow this link
my shop has some new things in it
okay so some of you expressed wanting the stitchery in Katie's room:
find it here
i also included another stitchery that will be made available at fabric stores in utah by sometime later this month:
buy it here now (it's cheaper cause it's in pdf form)

also you will find:
throw pillows here and here sold out thank you
and table runners here sold and here
and "new" fabric by the yard here

phew!
thank you all for taking a gander of my shop.

i got real nervous last night that no one was going to like the things i made...i got sick to my stomach, and then i thought "well if they don't like it then at least i have some new stuff for MY house."
and then i didn't feel like i wanted to throw up anymore.

speaking of my house...
it looks horrible
i think my kids have been wiping their boogers on the couches.
they've been getting away with a lot these past two days.

so i'm off to register a kid for kindergarten.
yes, looking rather scary.
and then i'm coming home
i'm going to sweep up my house of strings, pieces of cut up fabric, and dirt from kids running in and out, in and out, in and out.
and then i'm going to take a shower.
i've been smelling something wierd and i'm starting to think it's me...
and then tomorrow, i think i'll clean, and scrape up some of the boogers off my couch.

you are invited

to my shop update.

i've made things that you would find in my home.

i didn't get to make EVERYTHING i wanted to...

so this will be the first of two updates.

so please come and support your love of handmade things by your crazy little blogger friend in the middle of nowhere.

hope to see you there.

gardening above 7000 ft

as much as the rain tried to derail our best efforts to start preparing for our garden this year, "we" (meaning my husband while i stood on the sideline and acted as cheerleader and took this picture) used the rototiller and started to prepare the ground. we live above 7000 ft area and so all the regular gardening rules don't apply to us. we're learning...and hopefully this year we will have a good trial run at this.

i've also been working my fingers off, trying to make sure i have more things in my shop. i'm still shooting for wednesday. so far some pillows and some table runners...still working on a few more things but we'll see if it all makes it this time.

i may have to do two big shop updates.

Q and A with "makebabystuff.com"

go see my little interview with makebabystuff.com here.
thanks amber love your site and thanks for asking me some great questions!
oh, and some other great news, you can see some of my ideas being used in the minneapolis examiner here and here .
thank you renee from cottage lifestyle for asking me to be a part of her exciting new gig!

shooting for wednesday

i decided to take a few days off of the blogging world.
as in i tried not to check other's people's blogs and tried to live as if blogging weren't a part of life. it was a nice little break.
i think i need those every so often.
in that time i made katie a little stitchery that goes well with her "colorful" room. her room has become the hodgepodge of colors. i think when i put her in a "big girl bed" i'll decide what exactly i'm going to do with colors and such things. but for now you will find almost every color of the rainbow except PURPLE... (okay there's a smidge of purple on the ballerina card in the picture but that's it for the whole room)
yes that's a quirk.
for some reason i do not like purple.
purple has never done anything wrong to me.
but i just don't like it.
i like it in other's people's homes and clothes...
but not on me or my house.
i know i'm weird.
anywho, i'm working on some pillows, table runners, and patterns for my etsy shop. i'm shooting for wednesday.
lets see if i can do it!
oh yeah did you see you can follow me on twitter now. yeah a friend told me to do it so i did. i'm not that exciting but if you want to follow just check out the side bar and go to "follow me on twitter" maybe i'll just start making up crazy things to make it exciting. ;)
have a relaxing weekend.
i need to start lighting a fire under my butt so i can make things happen by wednesday!