Charlie Brown Christmas

Tom's of Maine giveaway!

Giveaway

Add your recipe linky

Free craft projects!

http://www.craftbits.com/craft-project-categories

Pumpkin Pincushion

It has been a while, sorry I have been gone. Something still isn't right with my blog and I'm not sure I can ever fix it.

Tonight I found this great free pattern and thought I would share! Pumpkin Pincushion Enjoy!

Something is wrong, very very wrong

Not sure what is up with how my blog looks, but it shouldn't look this way and no pictures have been moved.....so please be patient with me, while I try to fix it all!

Make a quilt pattern from a picture

Very cool!

http://www.vam.ac.uk/microsites/quilts/patchwork

Make a custom dress-form

Very cool idea!

http://etsylabs.blogspot.com/2007/03/dress-form-tutorial-want-to-make-exact.html

Leaf pattern finished

A work in progress

I had a lot of fun picking these floss colors!

New hobby

Got a needle punch and starting punching..... this is a pokemon I made for my daughter.

New blog

http://ourroadtosimplicity.blogspot.com/

I started another blog today and wanted to share with you the site address!

Great article and goal!

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/110275/but-will-it-make-you-happy

Recent finishes

Life seems to move forward whether I'm ready or not! I haven't accomplished as much as I would like with my sewing and stitching, but I'm making progress.

This is a scrap of fabric that I found while cleaning out a drawer. I would love to find 2 yards or so of this....so if you have some or know where I can find it, please let me know!


Quilted this last night! Need to take out and redo the binding, but otherwise I'm happy!




Miniature quilt that I made for Uncle John. He creates room boxes, so hopefully this works!




Thanks for stopping by and looking!

Emma's Produce is going Green!

Emma had her first harvest yesterday....Plums! Turns out plums aren't the biggest seller, but she is having fun and trying! Yesterday we started out with plums in plastic bags, well the box went empty (it only had a few left when we started) and I had decided that when they were gone, that was it, no more plastic baggies. So today as we prepared to put more plums out on the table, I realized I needed a better, greener option. So now Emma's Produce has unbleached food safe muslin bags! Right now I'm just writing on them with a fabric pen, but I would love for Emma to create a logo and we find a way to "print" on them. Years ago my older daughter made a "stamp" using a rubber block, so maybe that is an option. We will see! For now they are cute and Emma is enjoying the job!

Pictures!

Buffalo


Sewed into a bell pull tonight


Fred guarding sewing machine pedal


Made this for my daughter. Stitched years ago, sewed into a wall hanging tonight.


Made this for my older daughter. Stitched years ago, sewed into a wall hanging tonight.

Finish all those pieces!

Today I sewed a piece I finished a while ago into a bell pull. My goal is to finish off all my pieces and hang them up! My current thought is on how to hang things. I had two sets of bell pull hardware which are both in use. I have 4 quilt wall hanging mounts and they are all in use. The cost of frames makes hanging everything not possible, so time to be creative! My current thought it to make small fabric frames and use a dowel to hang it on the wall. I do have some dowels, so there is no money to spend and I do have fabric.....so right now this is looking like the best option.

Would love to hear if anyone else has any creative ideas!

It's finished!!!!

The sewing room (for the most part) is finished!!!! I still need to finish winding the floss onto bobbins and get them into my floss cabinet and also find a better solution to the floss organization, but otherwise it is finished!

Sewing room


Looking into the sewing room from the kitchen doorway


Design wall


Ribbon holder and thread holder that I created! Ribbon holder is an old drawer. The Thread holder is a shelf that hubby drilled holes into and I glued dowels into the holes and then added the chain to hang it up!


Cutting area, our house came with this bar, but we don't drink.....it is however the perfect high to cut material on!


Storage for little things!

Some sewing room pictures

Using an old drawer that hubby wanted to throw away, I created a "cubbie" for my ribbon. It hangs on the wall. Hubby now wants to make a glass front for it.


Better idea of where the ribbon box is. This room still needs work!


Fred gaurding the sewing machine!


Lu thought this was a job for more than one cat!


Cork-board I got today for 25 cents! This is after I got the black sharpie off!


Basket I got for 50 cents! Wish I had a few more this size! Can't wait to use it for fabric!


At a local antique shop I found canning jars for 25 cents each. I picked up some to use in my sewing studio. Some appear quite old with an art deco look to them.

Good Morning Blog world

It is going to be hot today! It is currently 88 here and it is only 10:30 in the morning. The news tells me that it will feel like 104 today. I went to the market this morning at 7 and had an asthma attack due to the air quality (carrying 50 pounds of potatoes probably didn't help either). I think I did pretty well at the market this morning. I got 50 pounds of potatoes, 3 pounds of carrots, 2 pounds of grapes, 3 pounds of broccoli florettes and 3 huge white onions for $17! $10 of that was for the potatoes. The carrots were $1, the grapes $2, the broccoli $2 and the onions $2. Not bad! I like buying local and visiting the market, but I am glad I went early because by now it would be a NIGHTMARE! It would take an hour just to get in and park, another 30 minutes to walk to the stand I always visit and another hour to get out. This morning I got in, did my shopping, rested after my asthma attacked, and even visited a yard sale and it only took an hour! I found a great basket for my sewing room for 50 cents, it is huge and sturdy. I would love to find two more like it at the same price, I'm going to use it to hold fabric. I would like the extra ones to hold scraps, patterns, and other supplies next to each machine. I also got this really cute cork-board with a beautiful decorative boarder for 25 cents. I'm going to use it to hang notices and class schedules in my sewing room. I think it was so cheap because someone wrote on it with sharpie that said "keys here" with this HUGE arrows pointing to the hook. I thought for 25 cents I would just repaint it, but I decided to try cleaning it first and with a magic clean eraser and a little elbow grease it looks brand new!!!! So happy! I hope everyone is having a great day today!!

Another piece finished!

Summer Pantry by Brooke's Books

Cross stitch finish!

Just finished this piece by Brooke's Books



Will sew it into a wall hanging tomorrow!

Finished!

The brown wolf was made for my daughter a few years ago and the grey one I started and finished on Friday for my sister's 30th birthday.

Pattern is by Silver Lining Originals

How cool is this?!?!?!?!

Make beautiful bows out of magazines!

http://craftsanity.com/2009/12/making-recycled-bows-out-of-magazines-newspapers-glossy-store-ads-and-phone-book-pages/#more-3735

Need help!

I'm looking to fill this page Sewing with Kelly, with tons of free craft, sewing, and quilting patterns. If you have a site or know of one, please let me know so I can add it!

Thanks!!!

Coming soon....

pictures of my sewing room. I have been busy cleaning out the toys and making room for sewing machines. I decided to start offering sewing lessons and today I found out I already have 5 interested students! Very exciting! Now I need to get start on my price list and projects.

It is also Friday (well in 45 mins), so it is post a link Friday. Looking for any and all exciting sites and projects!

My "baby" is 10 years old

My younger daughter turned 10 today! We had her party with her friends on Saturday, so it was just us today, which was very nice. While hubby took the girls to the movies I stayed home and worked on my soon to be sewing room. It is amazing how big the room is starting to look now that I'm cleaning it out. Now I just need to figure out what to do with everything that is leaving the room. I have lots listed for free on craigslist, but it is hard to get people to come. It is an event to arrange a time and then having to deal with no shows....it is just too much some days!

Hope everyone had a great day!

When life gives you lemons.....

create a website. I like sharing websites I find, so I'm thinking Friday should be "Discovered website day!".

Today's website is Find the Sugar. It is about finding the good in each day, if you have a moment go and check it out!


It's Official, I found that Linky tool and now we have Discovered website Friday! Ok, now for what links you may add. Do you know a great website, with great information or projects? Share it with us so we can all check it out!

So excited!!!!

Can I just say how excited I am?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Tonight while reading one of my favorite blogs - Knock-Off Wood - I saw that my project was shown on a post!!!!! See my Spring Thyme box here

Spring Thyme

Recently I was inspired to create a new cross stitch design. This is what I created....Spring Thyme. I used an old pallet to create the wooden box that can hold tools, plants, or just about anything. Please visit Knock-off Wood to see the bookshelf she created using a wood pallet - Ana is very talented and creates incredible projects!

I attached the finished cross stitch piece using quilting pins that I cut in half. Make sure you wear safety glasses when cutting wood or cutting pins.

Mother's Day gift idea

Need a creative gift for Mother's day? Check out the blog Aly and Ash She has a tutorial for a tea towel cake, very cute! I love that she uses cardboard that many people just throw away!

Some neat ideas

What to do with those old drawers

Take them a meal

Stitcher Question

Lee from Lake Stitcher posses the question...

Suppose we say that there are two types of stitchers.

There are those who enjoy the “process” of stitching. They stitch for stitching’s sake and if something gets finished, so much the better, but it’s not necessarily the end goal. Primarily, it’s the application of needle and thread to cloth that makes them happiest.

Then there are those who are “project” stitchers. They move steadily through their projects, certainly enjoying their stitching time, but finding their greatest joy in the completed stitching.

If you had to pick one to describe yourself, which type of stitcher would you be? I imagine that we could all say that we fall somewhere in between, but really think hard about this and try to pick just one. And once you’ve decided whether you’re a Process or Project stitcher, tell us if your recognize that approach in other parts of your life.

Hummmmm, I am pretty sure I'm a project stitcher! I enjoy the stitching time greatly, but I'm thrilled to be finished even if the finish is never framed or displayed. I enjoy knowing it is finished!

Now to answer the second part. Yes I do see that in other areas of my life. I don't always remember to enjoy the now, but look forward to the "finish" of whatever I'm doing. The "finish" of organizing, the "finish" of work, the "finish" of school....I want to work harder to enjoy the here and now, but I don't always tend to the way I should. I'm also that way in pictures, I will show the before and the after, but rarely the inbetween (unless it is a tutorial). I enjoy seeing it done! Whatever it may be!

Communion Gift

Today we attended a party to celebrate the First Holy Communion of my daughter's friend. We got her a picture frame, but it looked lonely so my daughter picked out some fabric and I quickly made another fabric bucket. I also found a great quick pieced pattern to make a card.



Thank you Red Dawn for the small quilt pattern.
Thank you Elfie for the cards to put finished cross stitch or quilt squares in!
Thanks again Jodie from Ric Rac for the fabric bucket pattern.

Great blog

I stumbled upon another great blog this evening! It's called Confessions of a Sewing Dork. There is this great idea and instructions for making fabric gift bags for birthday parties. Check it out here. I am definitely going to do this for my daughter's up coming 10th birthday. Not sure I have a pair of khakis to use, but I will look! If not I'm sure you could do the same project with some other material....maybe an old pillow case, table cloth, or maybe some white pants!

Friday questions

I did try to link the above picture to the website, but it didn't work, so please visit Five Crooked Halos Here!
Ok Friday is over, but I really wanted to take part in this, so I hope no one minds!


1. If you could, would you go back to high school?
NEVER! Yes I was prettier and skinnier than, but I would NEVER want to go back. High School is hard and I really don't have a lot of great High School memories. Now if I could go back and have the fun stuff without going to school, that would be ok.

2. If a genie appeared and granted you two wishes, what would they be? (And, no saying "more wishes".) That my husband would be cured of his illness and that we would no longer have infertility issues.

3. What kids show do you secretly like? None, I rarely watch TV (we only have the 5 free channels) and when I do watch it, it is late at night and there are no children's shows on then.

4. What is your beverage of choice? I have given it up COUNTLESS times in my life, but I'm back to drinking Dr Pepper....my favorite drink!

5. What is something that you would change about yourself (or are working to change in yourself)? I interrupt people when they talk, not all the time just when I'm excited. I really don't mean to, I get excited about sharing something with them and I'm rude and interrupt. I ALWAYS feel horrible after I do it and I always apologize, but I wish I could control my mouth and NOT do it in the first place!

Busy weekend coming up!

It is technically already Saturday here, but I haven't been to sleep yet, so Saturday for me hasn't started yet. I have a full weekend of plans! I was originally going to go yard sale-ing, but I have too much to do and I really don't "need" anything. Tomorrow my goal is to make good progress on the soon-to-be craft and sewing room. Currently it is the toy room, but my younger daughter no longer uses it because it is a mess! Yes I could help her clean it, but it really needs a make over and a daily purpose. So, first I'm going to clean out what is there. Hopefully we can get rid of A LOT of it! My plan is to use the Saginaw table to hold the machines and my serger so they are always ready to use. I have never really used my serger because I purchased it second hand and I was never able to figure out how to make it work. I got a beautiful 3 drawer piece of furniture at a yard sale this morning for $15 and I'm excited about using it in the new sewing room. I haven't decided yet how to use it, but it is a beautiful piece. I will post pictures, hopefully tomorrow. The room already has a bar (we actually don't drink, it came with the house) that is great to use as a cutting table. I also have a beautiful china hutch that a neighbor gave me that I use to store fabric. The room also has a fireplace that is wonderful in the winter time! Lighting is a problem, but maybe we can find a solution to that. I hope everyone has a great crafty weekend!

Birthday gift

I made another fabric bucket for a birthday gift tomorrow. I filled it with hair accessories, wrapped it in tissue paper and put a ribbon on it....ready to go to it's new home with my daughter's 10 year old friend! I also made a recycled card using ideas from there two blogs.... Inspired and Made Celebrating Mom









Thanks for stopping by!

So much fun to make!

I have LONG wanted to do this pattern, but wasn't sure what I would use it for, so I wasn't really motivated to do it. Yesterday I saw it on a blog I follow being used in the bathroom to hold TP. I thought this was a great idea, so instead of finishing my chores (naughty naughty!) I made TWO of these great little buckets!

Thanks Jodie at Ric Rac for the great pattern! And thank you Anna at Noodlehead for the idea to use it in the bathroom!

I am going to make plenty more of these!

What inspires us

Today is my first "at home" day in a long time. Since I started working full-time an entire day where I stay at home is rare. I wish I could say I have been very productive and everything that needed my attention is caught up, but sadly it isn't. I spent the morning on business calls. It was productive, but my list is far longer than business calls. Yesterday I was reading one of my favorite blogs and she had these beautiful pictures posted of her new sewing room. I thought I would love to do that here, but there is just no room. Then I thought about the man in Hong Kong that has only 330 sq feet and he has done amazing things with it. So I am inspired to turn our toy/fabric storage/storage whatever room into a beautiful crafting space for my girls and myself. I had originally thought since I would be home all day today that today was a perfect day to start this project, but it is already afternoon and there is still more pressing things that need my attention. I know I'm more likely to accomplish a task if more people know about it....so my announcement to the worldwideweb is by the end of May I will have pictures of a beautiful finished crafting room! If I come up with any creative ideas I will be sure to share step by step how I did it.

Hope you find something today that inspires you!

Simply Amazing!

Cross Stitch Finish

This has been an UFO (un-finished object) for a while now, but I'm thrilled to say it is finished! At least the stitching part is finished! It is called Le Temps Qui Passe by A Mon Ami Pierre She has some beautiful patterns! I'm very very drawn to this one! It is definitely on my "dream" list!


Today was also the 1st Birthday Party of a sweet little girl. I made this for her (my own pattern), I don't think she was too impressed, but her mother loved it! All the sides are straight the picture was taken with it lending up against the wall which distorted it's shape.