Blustery

It is super windy and should be for the next 3 days. Superb. It's days like this I'm glad for short hair.

I made a t-shirt bag the other day. I'm a little in love with it. It turned out really sturdy; there's nothing in this bag holding it up.

I have a bathmat made out of that lining. I thought husband threw out the fabric because I could not find it and I swore I looked everywhere. Apparently everywhere but the one place it was so I ended up with two yards of it. I do really like it though and I think I'll make Daughter a shirt out of the rest of it. Or maybe a dress if there's enough. I'll have to look through patterns.

I can only find Mr. Roger's on once a week now. And they're not in order anymore so Make Believe Land is just terribly confusing. It's a little sad to think that Son may never know who Mr. Roger's is. Thankfully we have Netflix.

BESTeam feature Minkee Baby Gifts

Minkee Baby Gifts is the place for all your baby gift giving needs. All items are made in the sewing studio in Northwest Arkansas. Check out this baby blanket. It looks so incredibly soft and cuddly which baby and mom will both love.

I'm also in love with diaper covers at the moment due to all my cloth diapering and I have to say, snaps are the best. They stay in place better than loop and hook closures and snaps have the added bonus of being harder to undo with little hands. Always appreciated in the middle of summer which is why I think any cloth diaper loving mom would love this diaper cover. Blue isn't just for girls, but if you prefer a different color, Minkee Baby Gifts welcomes custom orders.

You can view their full line of items here and they also have a blog with give away announcements and reviews of shops which can be found here.

Pillow Fight

I made Son another pillow case. We just recently bought him a travel pillow for his crib. It usually ends up outside the crib, but with this pillow case it will look just as cute.

I got the pattern from the book Simple Sewing and the first time I made it I was confused by the flap, but I'm now in love with it. It's genius. The pillow will not fall out of the case this way. As hard as Son tries, the case does not come off.

Just one more because I like it so much.

kitchen

Some painting and tile and my kitchen will be done. Today though is a day of sewing. On the agenda are 2 custom totes, two pillowcases requested by my children, and curtains for the kitchen. I'll post photos when the tile is finished late next week or early the week after. I'm so excited to be able to start organizing my house again. My inner nerd is coming through in that last sentence.

BESTeam feature UniqueDesignsbyMsP

I'm a little late with this week's feature. I've been spending time at my sister's house so that the trim and detail work can get done in the kitchen. It's been useable for a while and I've started decorating it, but it will be nice to have trim.

Onto this week's feature though, Unique Designs by Ms. P. Ms. P, or Paula, started out making Barbie clothes and expanded to crochet and knitwork later in life (which was still pretty early in life). These wrist warmers show off some of her cute design work. I especially love the ruffle detail on the top which give them a bit of a romantic twist.

She also does beadwork and would be happy to create something special for you or someone you know. My favorite is this chunky purple bracelet. I'm a bit of a sucker for the color purple.

Check out her shop here and her blog here.

new

We put a couple of new items in the CharlesAndSarah shop. I'm kind of in love with this pillow.




It's sitting on my couch for it's photo op. Measuring 14 inches by 14 inches this is a great throw pillow for either a couch or a bed.


The cover comes off for easy washing (it's already been washed) and it's 100% cotton. The inside is a pillow form made of polyester fiber. If the pillow form gets out of shape after a lot of use you can always go buy a new one and still have the awesome cover.

The body of the bird's are a really pale peach color. Just enough to add something but not take away from the simplicity of the overall design.

BESTeam Feature: Danizabeth

The first thing I thought upon opening a new tab and checking out her shop was all the vibrant colors. It is amazing that you can find this much color in salvage yards.

The colors are enhanced with photoshop, but it really works. I know that neutral and simple are all the rage, but I think she could really bring back color.

This is another photo that I really liked. My great grandfather used to have a farm and he thought he was collecting antiques, but in reality I think he just didn't get rid of anything. This picture just reminds me of something you'd see in his yard. I think that's another really great thing about Danizabeth's photos. It captures a nostalgia and things that you just don't expect to see in this day and age.

She also has a blog where she showcases other shops and on Thursdays has music picks. Check out the blog here and the shop here.

Liquid Silver

This shawl is gorgeous and as long as my queen size bed which is where I blocked it. In the beginning I debated about adding the bead because I knew it would make it a lot harder and more time consuming, but I'm so glad I did. It adds so much to it and I think it will look amazing with the dress that was chosen.

Where I show the length of it because this is a long shawl. Which will be lovely to wrap up in. Also because it's lacy, it can be used as a scarf after the wedding's over. Yay for double uses!
Just a little detail. I like the way the sun's shining through it and the drape of it. It has a really good drape and weight to it, but because it's wool should still keep the chill off.

The Liquid Silver Shawl on the designer's site (side note: I think I had those earrings).

a bit of a rant

I don't usually get on my soapbox on this blog as it is for crafts and cooking and all the good things in my life, but this new facebook thing about where you like to put your purse is utter bullshit. What does your purse have to do with breast cancer? And how is it doing anything for breast cancer when you exclude about 50% of people? Maybe I'm just missing something huge, but I don't know of anyone who isn't aware of breast cancer. If that's truly the point though, why isn't the original poster explaining to all those commenting what the status means? From what I've seen they don't and then you've truly done nothing for the cause.

And by excluding men you are excluding people who also have to deal with breast cancer either because they get breast cancer (yes men can get breast cancer it's just rare) or (more likely) because they know someone who's going through it/has gone through it. Not to mention that they could help the cause.

Let's just all hope that when prostate cancer awareness month comes up men don't tell us where they like they're balls.

If you truly want to help here are some good links:

Breast Cancer Research Foundation

Avon Walk for Breast Cancer

The Breast Cancer Site

Susan G. Komen

quiet

I've been working on things, just not taking photos. It's all for the White Rabbit Gallery and I tend to just finish and send out these days. The kitchen's almost finished. We're on to picking paint and tile for the backsplash, then the trim. I'm able to cook in it though which is so nice. I've been canning tomatoes like a mad woman. Right now I have stewed, crushed, and sauce in the pantry. In the freezer I have tomato soup. It's the best tomato soup ever. I also have lard in my freezer and when the kids are done being sick I'll roast some pumpkin to freeze. Also, I need to look up applesauce and canning. I think I've just exhausted myself.

From crafts

I need to make some more of these. They would make some great small Christmas gifts for the girls and the punk boys. For main Christmas gifts this year we're going to donate money in people's names. I feel like there's just too much stuff in the world and everybody we know tends to buy what they need. I just don't want to contribute anymore when there are so many people who could use the money more than the shops. Last year we did the handmade gifts only (we purchased them all; I used to make them, but it just got to be too much).

Feature - CKSilver

As part of the BESTeam I will be featuring a new shop here every week. This week it's CKSilver and there is some really gorgeous stuff. Everything is made out of sterling silver and there's really not one thing I don't like in her shop. My two favorites (so that I don't overload you with photos) are these earrings:

The colors are so vivid and gorgeous, like you would be able to find them in nature. A lot of the earrings also have bracelets and there are also some necklaces, so you should be able to find something you like from this Mother Daughter team.

There also keep a blog where they feature new items from their shop and other cool shops that you should know about it. View the store here and the blog here.