Make Merry Christmas Card

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july wreath

Okay so I was looking through Little Birdie Secrets and found an adorable Christmas paper wreath she has made. I have been looking for a 4th of July wreath and haven't found one that I want. When I saw this I knew I had to make one with the patriotic paper I already had :).



I cut the wreath backing out of a large piece of cardboard. I did spray all the stars with a clear glossy spray paint to add just a little bit of protection as I am hanging this on my front door. I looked for a die cut and couldn't find the size that I wanted so I looked for a star pattern online and used that. I love how just folding the stars gives dimension. So the total cost of my project $2.39 for ribbon, $3.25 for spray paint. That works! I have to admit I miss playing with paper, this was a fun project.

Mad Hatter Tea party

so the leprechaun...

well parents were off and the leprechaun must have drunk too much guiness...so we didn't get green colored pancakes as we have in the past. Thanks goodness for crafty clever blogging gals Little Birdie Secrets for calling my attention to Beth Proudfoot's cute idea, I quickly redeemed myself by getting a few items at the store. Here is the cute thing, this is Beth's picture from her blog. I used her tag and added rolos and Hersheys nuggets to it. The rainbow licorice had 5 of each color it was perfect. So cute! Grateful for creative people who saved me. I made the kids bed (like I said parents were off and we slept in) and then put the rainbow with pot of gold on their pillow.

Spring cleaning...

well not really but trying to get some of my thousands of pictures editted and do something with them. So I thought I would tackle some India photos from last year. Hard to believe we were there, let alone the fact that it has been a year??? Here are some favortie photos from the Agra section of our trip. The Taj Mahal has to have its own post :)

quilt kick

Ok so I get obsessed with things and have to just run with it...Well quilting has taken over my life right now. I LOVE IT! Wish I could spend more time doing it but one has to attend to the rest of life too. Why do we need exercise, food and sleep? it just gets in the way sometimes ;).

Well I took a stab at a small quilt for a friend. I saw this on Little Birdie Secrets and thought it would be fun to try and the fact that I could quilt it on my sewing machine was something I had to try. I think this won't be the only one I do. Really fun to piece, quilt and bind. I love tangeable progress! Now to part with it...that is another question...I will but I may have to look at for a little longer.


I saw this on Moda Bakeshop and had to make it. It is pieced but waiting for the applique and borders. Hoping to get this one to the quilters soon. Tried to get it done before Valentine's but end of February? or mid March....not too bad. So grateful to have found a website where I could still buy the same fabric jelly roll because I couldn't find the fabric anywhere in town. I think I will do another jelly roll quilt, this was fun!



This is a Christmas quilt I finished last year. It has stayed out year round because I need to make more :).




This is all L wanted for Christmas. He was at the fabirc store with me in November and picked out the pattern and fabric. Thank goodness my quilter knew who much this would mean to a little boy and got it quilted just in time for Christmas. It was the sweetest thing to watch him open it Christmas morning. "This is the quilt Mom built for me." Everyday he would ask if I had finished building his quilt. I had to sneak it away to drop it off for quilting and it didn't take him long to figure out it was missing from Mom's sewing room.




So I have an obsession with this fabric. Moda Figgy Pudding. My Christmas quilt is made out of this and don't worry I always overbuy fabric so I have intentions to do several more out of it. (I made a skirt for M out of this fabric too)


The first quilt I pieced. I had to tackle the most difficult first. I completed the blocks driving our moving truck across the country. Then it took me another year to finally pull it out and sew all the blocks together and another bit to find borders and then get it quilted after the Christmas quilt. It was hard to let anyone else touch it. I am so pleased with it.


And remember how I said I overbuy fabric well I made this one out of leftovers from the above quilt. Well my mom also said that there is no way that I could put the above quilt on her bed, so I still needed something to fold at the bottom of her bed. I also hand quilted this one to give it a whirl. Labor of love, I took it around with me everywhere I had to sit for a while.




itching to do more....my oldest has reminded me several times that he doesn't have a quilt yet. I offered to buy him whatever one he wanted out of Pottery Barn Kids (He has a Star Wars theme in his room) but he insists that I make him one. I finally found a pattern that I feel would be masculine enough for him but having a hard time finding the right fabric. Hopefully I will be able to do it soon. He is feeling left out. I did ask him if he wanted a little Star Wars quilt like the little crib quilt and he thought that would be good. I have leftover fabric from making Star Wars pillow cases that I could piece together and maybe buy me a little more time on the bigger quilt.

Puerto Rico Day 1

Okay I have put off posting about my trip long enough. I fell in love with Puerto Rico. It was very easy actually, when trading 5 degree windy weather with 80 degree sunshine and 80 degree water, can you blame me? I didn't want to come back. I can't tell if that is a good thing to do to break up the winter or if it has put me in depression at the thought of the months left of winter.
so I will start with day 1: we flew into San Juan and visited Old San Juan. Wikipedia's explanation, "The city is characterized by its narrow, blue cobblestone streets and flat-roofed brick and stone buildings dating back to the 16th and 17th century when Puerto Rico was a Spanish possession. Near Fort San Felipe del Morro is the Casa Blanca, a palace on land which belonged to the family of Ponce de Leon."

Monday love!

Okay I used to dread Mondays.. heading back to work after a weekend off. Well as years go by I have fallen in love with Mondays. The kids go back to school and new week is started. House can stay clean for at least a few minutes and I can hit the gym. I love my Monday schedule and actually get excited on Sunday night. I feel energetic and ready to take life head on...some times it only last a few of the morning hours and other times a few days. Goals begin on Mondays and my hope is each Monday gets a little better each week. Now if that could stretch to the whole week I will feel I have got it made...unrealistic? maybe but if I shoot for the moon maybe I just might get it :). Happy Monday!

Momix Botanica

Justin bought tickets for me and the two older kids to Momix. What a breathtaking experience. I think the kids and I had our mouths dropped open for most of the performance. I found a few images from the show for this post. Can't find all the pictures of my favorite pieces but here are a few. The piece that was mind blowing was with black lights, I still can't wrap my brain around it. Talented, creative people!!

she let me

And even gave me a full grin to document her stage of life right now. Love it! She has always been "only on my terms" type of baby and kid. That being said she has a very full tender heart. I have a very special love notes lunchpail that I get to add to everyday with her sweet notes she gives me or leaves for me to find. It is quite full and I will need to start another because I can't let go of even one note. Occasionally I can get a snuggle, especially when it is bedtime and she wants to stay up..."Mom can I snuggle you in your bed." I am a softy so that usually means dad takes her to bed when he is ready for bed.

sick of facebook

Well it is time to stop wasting time and the drama of it all. Now I haven't quite got to the point where I have deleted my account but who knows...I have loved catching up with everyones blogs. I have neglected mine and so have neglected yours as well. I will do better. I guess I had a false belief that everyone was on FB.

Our tradition: Valentine pics, my daughter still hasn't been willing and now I have to go buy new flowers because they are wilted. Darn :) Trying to get back into using my dslr. ahh I have missed taking pictures.