My First Front Page

Yesterday I spent a bit of time on the Etsy community boards and met a fellow seller with the screen name KitchStitch.  After we both had a laugh at our name similarities, I checked out her store, then her blog and really enjoyed her work.  I also noticed one of her posts was about the places her shop has been publicized since it opened.  A couple of times it had been on the front page featuring her items.  Her links to show this were to a Flickr account kept by an Etsy Admin of all the front pages since March 24!  She had found them by doing a Google search of her store.  So of course I then did a search on my store names and came up with nothing.

Last night I also made a sale, but no payment was received.  When I looked into it today, I noticed the buyer had written a note explaining about payment and also mentioned she’d seen this item on the front page and had to have it as she loves lemons.  Gah!  I missed it.  Then I remembered the Flickr account and went to check it out.  This is what I found!

To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time either of my shops has made the FRONT PAGE!  I’ve been in a few treasuries, but this was the first on the front page.  It was curated by an Admin at Etsy.  Pretty cool.

Down Time

Today was not one of my better days.  I had hoped that I’d feel much better but that was not the case.  I spent most of the morning laying around, took a nap and then spent most of the rest of the day redesigning my blog.  I think it took so long because I was not all that with-it today.  What do you think of my new look?

In the evening, Jason and I watched The Village, which I thought was actually pretty good.  I also received the first quarterly newsletter from Khaled Hosseini.  He authored a couple of my favorite books: The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns.  He has a big heart for the people of his country of origin and is quite an activist for raising money for humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. 

Here is a recent appearance he made on the Colbert Report.  It was very interesting to hear about his experience in his recent newsletter.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Khaled Hosseini
comedycentral.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor NASA Name Contest

Hello Christmas?

Today my son asked me why it snowed last night.  When I said I didn’t know, he suggested that maybe it was Christmas.  I had to laugh and tell him that was a long way off.

I’ve been extraordinarily patient this year with the winter weather.  If you know me well, you know I am not a fan of cold weather and in fact love warm weather and enjoying outdoor activities.  So today was hard.  On top of being sick and not getting much sleep as I was pretty bad last night, I was quite unhappy at the snow.  As you can see, we received quite a bit, around 6 inches.  I’d heard it was coming but held out that maybe, MAYBE it would just stay away.  But Spring can’t be that far away can it?

In happier news, the Unfortunate Fat Quarter Contest at Quiltplay (our local fabric and quilt shop) is closed and all of the projects are up for display and voting.  

Locals come vote for me!  See my mobile hanging way in the back there.  I hope people see it!!

Here is how it works. The voting is using a "Change Wars" format, so once you've picked your favorite (or favorites!), simply donate as much change as you want to the entry you want to vote for.  When voting ends on Wednesday, April 15, the winning entrant will receive 12 fat quarters of her choosing.  All proceeds from the voting will be donated to the Avon Township Food Pantry.

 

Bye Bye Spring

HOPEFULLY we are having our last snow/sleet storm of the season. Remember 2 weeks ago when I mentioned going to the ice cream stand twice and eating outside? Not tonight people!

I'm still feeling pretty miserable. Ella couldn't sleep last night when I went in to check on her, I asked what I could do to help her sleep and she asked to sleep in our bed with us. I compromised and said she could sleep in the guest bed with me. Co-sleeping is not a practice we do around here, but there are always exceptions. She fell right asleep once we cuddled up in the bed and I put my arm around her. She was up several times with multiple issues and I got up once to get her medicine when I felt her burning up.

I have had a slight fever all day 99-100 degrees, which I guess is nothing to be concerned about. Except that my throat has become sore and I feel really lousy. I feel so guilty because it has not been fun for Jason to deal with a wife that is not up to speed, I'm sure.

Luckily 3 of us got a nap today, including these sleeping beauties:

Ella's temp is now normal, but she still has a sore throat. I have not even attempted to try to get her to model the new outfit I made, you will have to wait a bit. Plus this weather really doesn't put one in the mood to try on shorts! But she did stand for me to show off this cute nightgown that my mom made for her.

I recently purchased some home improvement items. Here are some knobs I bought for the cabinet doors under the sink in the powder room. I found these at Hobby Lobby. They seem to have a bigger assortment now than I ever remember seeing in the past. I thought these were elegant. Of course I always seem to pick the most expensive things, but these were 50% off, so it was like getting 2 for one. None of the cabinets or drawers in this house had any hardware on them when we moved in which I hate. I've only since put knobs on cabinets in the master bath and the laundry closet. I also had Jason put knobs on the cabinets and drawers we had put in when we had our basement finished. All that's left now (after these are installed) are the kids bath and our kitchen (which has a LOT of cabinets and drawers).

Speaking of the kids' bathroom, I am so ready to redo it! The wallpaper was ok for a while, but it is starting to peal and get on my nerves. The towel rods are ugly and bent and the lights one of those famous light strips with the big round lighbulbs sticking out. I already purchased a new shower curtain and a cute metal beach bucket for a wastecan. I wanted a beachy feel sign or artwork to hang and just found some signs at Homegoods that I decided to get. Then I found this... Just hanging out in the mirror section, all by itself and I knew I had to have it instead! Click on it to see a close-up. It is a chalkboard with wood paneling painted grey. A very beachy look and how clever! I can write sweet messages for the kids to see in the morning. Grr, can't wait to get rid of that wallpaper. Sorry you had to witness that part!

Other plans I have for in there is to paint a pale beachy blue, put up some new towel rods (already purchased at Homegoods), frame some photos of the kids at the beach, and get a new light fixture someday... Still don't have anything in mind for that.

Sorry for the not-so-great photos, I'm not so good with the point and shoot Nikon.

Sick and Switched

Jason came home this evening to a sick daugther and a sick wife. Unfortunately my sickness translated into a lack of enthusiasm for his great new photos from his trip. I'm sure I'll appreciate them more when I'm feeling better. Despite having a fever and feeling a bit off, I've been able to do a ton of cleaning around the house, though I'm sure it still looks pretty messy in spots. At least I can feel good because I know what I did.

Turns out the internet problem was that a DSL cord was plugged into the wrong outlet in the wall. I can only assume that Ella had something to do with this because I have not changed it since the computer wigged out when she was on it and I was in a different part of the house. As for the computer continually shutting itself down, I don't know what that was and hope it doesn't happen again.

One last thing. I was so sad to see an event take place that I think is absolutely wrong, and yet I am always the first to warn people about. I will not give URLs or name names, but a woman who writes a blog I read wrote a truth about her former employer on her blog. Nothing even that derogatory other than she has been asking for some of her personal belongings back and has not gotten them. She has not mentioned them otherwise since their apparent parting of ways, not even how or why this partin occured. Upon reading this, the former employer threatened her. To take down that entire blog post or she would not get her money owed her nor her personal belongings. I could go on about this but I won't. What do you think of something like this?

Out of Order

Sorry this post is all over the place but I have to make up for my lack of computer/internet time and indefinite date of return.

My hubby left early Tuesday morning for a business conference in Miami. Wouldn't you know, later that day the computer decided to explode. Well not literally, but it did make a terrible noise and displayed (apparently what computer people call) the blue screen of death. I've rebooted a few times and I can run some programs for a while, but then it blows up again shortly. And I have lost all access to internet on there every since the incident. Since Jason is the computer god, we will have to wait until he gets home for the verdict/fix.

I am currently at my parents house using their computer. We often come on Thursdays to see them, and today it was nice to catching up on all things electronic. Since I can't post any recent photos of my own from the past few days, I am giving you this wonderful photo from my husband's site. He took this Sunday morning of this week of the view from our back yard at sunrise and we love it and most likely will have it framed. I'm sure he will enter it into the next camera club photo contest. And his photo that won "print of the month" at the last meeting went on to a bigger contest and won a prize while earning a high score. He is certainly improving his skill and I am thrilled he is appreciating the things around him more as well as gaining a deeper appreciation for art. Ok, well I think he's on his way at least on the art appreciation thing.

This week I made a shorts and babydoll style tank for Ella. The fabrics are not necessarily your typical little girl fabric color combo, they are a tad muted, but I think I like them.

They are from the Wonderland Collection by Momo for Moda.

Garden Party in Sugar

Tweedle Dee in Sugar
Pattern is McCall's M5572 (Style on the Model on the Right)
As soon as I can, I'll post pic(s) of Ella modeling her outfit.

Applications are now available for artists for the local Summer Farmer's Market. I am so nervous, but I know I want to try it. So I should just press on and do it. I just need to jump over this fear hurdle and think of all the potential there will be for so many opportunities.

Funniest moment of the week so far. I was sitting down on a comfy chair (something I rarely do) and Miles asked if he could sit on my lap (maybe I should do this more often). He seemed to feel comfortable and "safe" because he confessed to me that he once tried some cat food at it was "kind of yucky." Hard to explain, but not only was it funny, it was a precious moment for me to have him share something "secretive" with me.

I have been feeling particularly sentimental as I spent a lot of time Tuesday night (without internet) going through old photos on the computer. By old, I mean a few years ago. And I was just LOVING seeing the kids at earlier ages. Very fun, sweet and sometimes shocking to see how they looked. It may have been enough motivation to finally start the scrapbook for Miles' first year.

It really has been a fabulous week with the kids. They have been pretty well behaved and I've been so happy watching them and being with them. Guess that's a good thing as their Spring Break starts next week!

Last night I checked out a DVD of Emma from the library. I started reading the book (by Jane Austin) but never finished. I started watching after the kids went to bed. At first I was a little uncomfortable with the oldness and somewhat cheapness of the production as well as the forced acting. But after 3 episodes it has drawn me in and I can't wait to watch the rest.

Miles still has a bit of a cough and Ella is complaining of not feeling so well. I didn't think she felt hot, but my mom took her temp and it is high. Poor thing!

Finally I will leave you with another one of Jason's recent photos from his 365 project because it will give you a glimpse into my sewing mahem that takes over the house. Kinda pretty though I think.

First Weekend of Spring

I cannot remember a first day of Spring in Chicago where it has actually felt like Spring. Until now.

Saturday was the first official day of Spring and we had already taken a trip to our local Tastee Freez (ice cream stand) and ate outside (well the kids ate, we watched).

Friday night I finished a pair of pants for Ella from some discounted Amy Butler fabric I'd bought a while ago from a local craft store discontinuing their fabric section.

On Saturday after Ella's singing class, a few errands and the boys going out for haircuts together, Jason's parents came over to watch the kids (Miles' fever was gone and he was dancing around the house) and we went out to shop at the Pleasant Prairie Outlet Mall in Wisconsin. We are not too far from Wisconsin, which I think is nice, but some of our friends make fun of us for. It was a fun and productive trip. Jason got some work shirts and other clothes, I got some Spring and Summer shirts, comfy wedge sandals and some cute Fossil bags which I would otherwise have passed by because of the original price. We also got some Pepperidge Farms bread and Goldfish (for the kids) and had fun sampling dips at Le Gourmet Chef. On our way home we picked up a movie and after putting the kids to bed watched "W". A very interesting movie. I just wonder how much of it is accurate.

Sunday was church, home for salads all around. And since the kids finished their salads (I think it took Miles 2 hours to finish), we took a walk to the Tastee Freez again. The kids got strawberry ice cream cones with a cherry on top and again we watched them eat outside. It wasn't as warm as the previous Tues but certainly comfortable in our coats or sweaters. On our walk on the way home we stopped in the local quilt store where I drooled over some new fabric arrivals, saw that the coffee shop that closed down in town was being reopened by a different owner and that a new store is going in at another downtown location which will be an upscale resale shop. WOOT!

While waiting for Miles to eat his salad and later after our walk, I did a ton of organizing and purging of clothes and boy did it feel good! I can't wait to do more of that.

After the kids took a bath we played a family game of Mexican Train dominos and then put the kids to bed. A LOVELY first weekend of Spring. How was yours?

Thanks I Needed That

My latest addition to the Store.

Just sold two other towels after quite a dry spell. That feels good. :-)

I also received an inquiry about whole sale orders which I responded to buy have not heard back about and another about consignment. I'm nervous about that. I'd have to ship stuff to another place. But would it be worth it for the exposure? Anyone have experience with this? It would be for a webstore.

I've also been made aware of a new "Slow Food" movement, the global, grassroots movement originating in Italy that links the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment. I am going to figure out how I can incorporate my products into this philosophy to develop a better niche for myself.

• Miles has been sick and sleeping all day but perked up a bit right before dinnertime. He didn't eat much but was very talkative and gregarious and he has cooled down considerably. Then he wanted to go right back to bed which is good. He needs the rest.



• It has been pure misery trying to get these cats to take their deworming medicine. It's in a powder which I am to mix in with a meat variety of baby food. Velvet wants nothing to do with it, so I tried mixing it with wet canned food. Still not interested. Called the vet who told me to try mixing it with the dry food. I don't think anyone's fooling Velvet. Paris is much better but gets a little tired of it after one helping. I have to divide the powder in half and give it twice a day. Plus I have to do the same with powdered probiotics for Paris.
  

  
  



• I have been reading advice and article and posting in the Etsy forums about how to get more exposure for my shop and feel a bit encouraged. I'm a little nervous about approaching some of my favorite home dec blogs to see if they'd be willing to feature my shop on their blog. Do you think I should try?
  



• Forgot to mention that Jason gave me a "night off" Wednesday night and told me to get my nails done and come back whenever. It was great. I did get a mani-pedi, went to Panera for a salad and a cafe latte poring over lots of crossword puzzles. It was a nice break.

A week in the life of...

This morning I planned to share a recipe for a cake I made yesterday and then enjoy being alone to get some things done around here.

But last night after having a slightly sick sweet boy, the sweet boy's temperature spiked to 104, and I worried. And I woke up my husband. And he voluntarily ran out to get some children's acetominophen so we could do double duty with the ibuprophen we had on hand which didn't seem to be affecting the temp all that much. It did the trick, but he was hot this morning so I'm keeping him home from school. He was SO unhappy and cried. But this is good. He LIKES to go to school. He is no longer crying when he has to go or when he is dropped off.

And I can't find the camera on which I took pictures of the aforementioned cake and assume that Jason took it with him as he left the SLR. So today's post will not be a recipe. Maybe next post.

Yesterday my parents came up for a visit which turned out great for me as I had to bring both of our cats to the vet. The vet doesn't know what is going on with the kitten but we are going to systematically treat her for various potential causes of her blood in stool. So now I'm to feed both cats a deworming powder in meat baby food and a probiotic to the kitten. The problem is that the older cat will not eat the baby food nor the soft cat food I tried. Yet he is BEGGING for dry food. So I'll be calling the vet for advice on that.

I also got to run a few short errands including going to Joanns for some elastic. And I also ended up leaving with this (and a coordinating fabric for trim):

So you know what my next towel and potholder set will look like.

Sales at Kitchen Stitchen have been REAL slow. I'm looking into doing a local Spring Farmer's Market to see if I can do better in person. Still not sure on the Art Show.

Speaking of the store, here is the new packaging for my magnets. I love it. So much more professional than just throwing some magnets in an envelope. Though the packaging adds a bit to the pricing. I think it's worth it. Especially for gift giving. I am thinking of using a punch I have to put a paper background in the bottom of the tin behind the magnets.

And because of the small amount of the Red Beater fabric I purchased, I had to make the tea towels in a different style... In case I haven't mentioned this enough, I LOVE this fabric.

We have started focusing more on chores with Ella. We really need to take advantage of the fact that she LOVES helping out and loves the positive reinforcement. I paid her a quarter after she folded all of our socks and put them away. She has been putting coins in a piggy bank for a long time, so I had her count all her change and see if she had enough to buy something I told her about - a leotard outfit for her American Girl doll which I found at a resale shop. She did and we went to buy it. It was so cute to see how excited she was about the whole thing.

Another major incident* in our household was that I thought our dishwasher was broken. I ran it one night and in the morning the dishes were still dirty and the green "Clean" light was blinking and I couldn't get any programs to run or get the light to stop blinking. I phoned Sears for a service call and was not to happy with the pressure the customer service rep was putting on me to purchase the more expensive service charge which included parts and a warranty and a voucher if the machine turned out to be unrepairable. The dish washer is only 2 1/2 year old. I finally got off the phone with her using the excuse that I had to talk to my husband about this. She said she'd wait for me to call him and I explained I had to get off the phone with her to call him. She didn't like this and demanded "Can't you just make a decision right now?" Well forget that. I went online and found a quick fix at http://www.fixya.com/. It worked the blinking light stopped. We were able to run the dishwasher and it works. Ha!

I have REALLY been enjoying the sunny weather. We had one warm day this week and the others were certainly not as cold as it has been. I'm VERY excited about the warmer months!!

Have a GREAT weekend all!

*I consider this a major incident because I HATE doing dishes.

First Real Style

This past Saturday morning I took Ella to singing class as usual, but when I got there I was surprised to find out (because I never wrote it down) that it was parent observation day. Too bad I didn't have a camera with me. Overall it was nice to watch the class. I'm still pretty sure Ella can't sing any better. But you know, we'll see. What I did notice is that Ella's hair looked dreadful. Don't ask me why I hadn't noticed this before. Perhaps I was unwilling to look past the length. If you have known Ella for a while, you know that her hair has taken a LONG time to grow in and there are parts that grow slower that the rest, like the side. So what we had was shorter on the sides and long in the back. Trust me, it didn't look so great (once I actually looked at it objectively). So I decided right then and there I was taking her in to get it evened out. Even if they had to take off a bit of length, it would look better overall. I am very happy with it. Plus I have started using the curling iron a bit to curl it gently under. If I don't, it is so straight and looks like straw. Here she is. Front view and side, since it's not as easy to see the cut from the front.

And while I'm talking about Ella, she has been a very willing helper lately. Last night she folded all of our socks from the laundry and put them all in their appropriate drawers. I gave her a quarter for her effort. She is saving up for an American Girl outfit which I just discovered they sell at a local secondhand shop.

I completed photographing all my new creations for the shop and am going to work now on listing them.

I am also thinking of trying out selling at the local Farmer's Market and get a feel for whether my items will sell in that type of forum before deciding whether or not to do the art fair. I do have a friend who makes jewelry and has done that fair and she did very well.

I brought another unfortunate stool sample into the vet and they still see no parasites but were concerned about the bloody mucus so I'm actually bringing both cats in for the vet to examine on Thursday. Meanwhile I have to get a urine sample from Paris. Fun times.

Four Hundred Fifty

Last night Teen Mother Choices of Northern Illinois celebrated their 20th year of helping teenage moms learn to be good mothers, finish school, find jobs, build self-esteem, feel unconditionally loved and not judged.

20 years ago, a young woman named Christa March spent several hours in a shopping mall talking to teen moms she saw. She was wondering why they weren't in school. After speaking to them and listening to their trials and challenges, her heart felt for them so strongly that she was lead to start an organization to help such young ladies.

I have been a small part of this wonderful organization for almost a year and a half and am in awe of the selflessness and love of the volunteers and the transformations of girls into women who are GOOD mothers and SUCCESSFUL and productive members of society.

As of this date 450 girls (and their children) have graduated from this program. Think of all the changed lives. These girls would not have been able to be where they are today without the help from this program. And their children... think of them.

The photo of the candles (above) was a representation displayed last night of all the women (blue candles) who's lives have been changed and their children (white candles) who's lives are that much better because of this program.

What a glorious example of what God can do through His people to reach out and change lives for good.

Normally Omitted

I was talking to my husband and was kind of down. He asked what was wrong, and among other things I told him I was upset that my blog was not doing well and I really had nothing but boring stuff to post and he asked "Well what about the cat pee?" Occurances such as these I tend to omit. Not only do they seem boring to me, they also seem gross. So I'll try it, but tell me if I need to keep omitting these types of things.

We have a young cat that we got as a kitten in July. It has been my experience that most cats are very easy to litter train. As really, there is not much training to do. You show them where the litter box is, put them in there and they pretty much get it. Until they get old and onery.

Of course I've never had a kitten in a house as big as ours. We had a few issues early on with our kitten Paris. She left a few presents on our living room couch, and they were not exactly of the firm nature. We decided we need to move one litter box to the main floor from having them all in the basement. This seemed to work for a while, but we occassionally get a present right out side of the litter box. The presents are always worrisome looking. I even brought a sample into the vet for testing, but they said it looked fine? Really? I even saw blood and mucus in there. So I worry about her still, but not sure what else there is to do after talking to the vet multiple times.

And her latest trick? Urinating on OUR bed on Jason's side. The first time I was sure the cats just had spilled Jason's water over. You should see the nightstand on his side, the wood is completely ruined from his water spilling. There was no strong cat urine odor. The next time we thought it must be her. Two spilled waters in the exact same spot? And the third time I witnessed her scratching around and then found the wetness. I thought I'd curbed this behavior by pulling the comforter all the way up on the bed everyday. But no, she managed to do it a 4th time. It's a lot of mattresses cleaning and laundry after a while. So I'm not sure what to do. Maybe call a different vet. I don't know.

And to top it off, our older cat Velvet binges and purges. He's not bulemic, he's quite large. Anyway, I had three disgusting areas of puke (or as Miles' says "pupe") to clean when I got home from visiting a friend this morning.

And so the saga continues. Why would a cat pee on our bed? Should I continue to worry about her other "just mixed the box" presents with the blood and mucus?

Does anyone know what this means?

And now that I am about to post this completely disgusting post, I just wanted to announce for my TWO readers, that my favorite potholder from the other day is the RED BEATERS fabric.

Finally, I am struggling with a decision. I want to do an Arts Festival in my town in June. But we will have to buy a tent, a table (maybe we can borrow one) a credit card imprinter and a service through which to accept credit cards. But I would like to think I'd get great exposure, get sales and make connections. What do you think I should do?

Productive Day - Reward

They're here!

Today I finished all of the new potholders I had set out to do and I LOVE them. I want to keep at least one style for our kitchen. But I'll probably just make us another set so I can list these. See if you can guess which one I like the best. Which one do YOU like the best?

I still need to take photos and will put them in the shop later this week or early next.

I also got started on another line of product for my store. I'll post more on that once I've got some finished and listed or at least ready to list.

I turned in my fat quarter challenge to the local quilt and fabric store QuiltPlay. They will be displaying all of the projects in their store starting March 30. If you live in the area, you can vote for your favorite for just 25 cents. The winner gets 12 free fat quarters!!!

I am also getting back to the design I started for a line of placemats for KitchenStitchen.

Tonight we attended a community night potluck for the church we recently started attending and I was happy to meet some new people. I will also be meeting up with some of the SAHMs from the church tomorrow morning with kids for breakfast.

But now I will get to the exciting part which had me squealing like a schoolgirl. When I came home I went to put my coat away and saw the box. My NEW SEWING MACHINE WAS SITTING THERE INSIDE THE FRONT DOOR. Hurray. Finally, the replacement for the new machine that I got a few weeks ago, but was malfunctioning is here. And I'm excited (in case you couldn't tell). I didn't "name" my first machine, but have heard of people doing so. So since this is the Marie Osmond model, I name this machine...

MARIE

Ever Wonder What Stay at Home Moms Do All Day?

I think the most offended I've ever been was when I attended a fancy evening fundraiser with my husband and he asked a woman at the table if she stayed at home to take care of the children or worked outside of the home. Her husband, who was sitting next to her, chimed in "Are you kidding? I'm not going to let her sit at home and eat bon-bons all day."

So to this is for those of you who don't know what us moms do all day and for all of those moms who are frustrated with those who think we have it "easy."

Click to enlarge.

In defense of the childless friend, I must say that her "best friend" with child ought to at least be able to call or email her once in a while. It's all about priorities. On the flip side, it is hard to truly know what it is like to have a child until you have me. Trust me!

This article was published in the May 2007 Washington Post and I do apologize if you've seen it before. Aparently is has already made its way onto many blogs and email forwards. I myself saw it just today on Facebook.

Proud Moments

One recent development around here that I have failed to report on yet is that Ella is really "starting" to read! She's read words very slowly for a while, but she can now read very simple books and is having an easier time with sight words. I just started letting her check out books from the "very" easy reader section of our library. I plan to let her read ALL the books in that section (it's not that big) and then move on to the next level of books. She will read with Jason or I and we will fill her in on harder/longer words. So I believe she is learning to read new words all the time.

The other proud moment (or 45 minutes) for me personally is that I had my large pre-ballet and tap class start on Monday with 10 girls and it actually went well! I am proud I was able to keep 10 mostly 3 year olds engaged enough so that chaos did not ensue!

Finally, here is the final result from my "unfortunate fat quarter" challenge with all the pinwheels. The pinwheel mobile.

The blue fabric was the "unfortunate fat quarter."

And lastly, I am chugging away at my latest potholders...

Getting There

I have many things I'd like to get done, some of which you know about if you've been reading along. However last week I had a nasty sinus related cold thing. Then I decided to reprioritize a bit and got lots of house cleaning and laundry done. And spent lots of good time with the kids. But I did try to keep the sewing and crafts going. Piece by piece. First I had two custom orders from my Sunnypond shop.

Two pinwheel barrettes on aligator clips (as opposed to a french clip) and smaller than the others I've made (though only one is currently listed in the shop I did make 2). They turned out so stinkin cute, I'll probably make more when I have some "free" time. These are about 3 inches in diameter from point to point.

And another fabric flower brooch. This was one enthusiastic custom order requester. I hope she LOVES it.

I also finished another T-shirt and shorts outfit from the rocket fabric which I sold to my LJ friend Kate in MA. She will wait for summer to try it on her son otherwise he'll want to wear it all the time, so I'll have to wait a bit for pics. I used a navy T to applique his rocket onto. I think it looks much better than what I did with Miles'. Much more of a contrast.

But now I'm seeing my "unfortunate fat quarter" challenge project come together. It involves pinwheels. Lot of them. And since I'm almost done, I'm going to wait to take a pic until it is complete. Maybe tomorrow?!

And more excitingly, I have started some new potholders for my sadly neglected Kitchen Stitchen store with new fabrics. 3 of which I am absolutely drooling over. Hopefully that 4th will turn out stunning once it is all put together. I have also cut out fabric to make more towels, but I'm running low on those, so I put in an order for a whole slew of new towel blanks. Plus a bunch of metal buttons to make fabric covered magnets. And maybe someday I can get back to that placemat design!

Though it is still cold-ish here, it is feeling a lot more like Spring is around the corner. The kids were excited when I pointed out some bulbs that were poking out of the ground. Ella had helped me plant them last fall. I hope she is proud when the bloom. Have a great day full of hope and joy!

Prize Winner

You may recall a few posts ago that I mentioned entering a photo of one of my product shots into the Chicago Area Camera Club chapter that Jason and I belong to. Well, last night was the competition and while my photo did so-so, I happen to know the "Photo of the Month" winner personally!

My husband!

And here is the winning photo!

Please to click on it to enlarge as I'm sure it will be cut off in my blog configuration. This is a mural he caught while on a work trip recently to Baltimore.

For more of his wonderful photos, check out his 365 blog.

Day of Love

Today is the big day that all of the participating Etsy shops have organized to donate the proceeds of their sales designated for the Cora Playground fund. In case you are just joining us. You can read more of Cora's story here http://themcclenahans.blogspot.com/. It is a very sad story, but one that makes me hug my kids a little tighter and appreciate my loves ones a little more. Because they may not always be there. You never know.

Today happens to be Cora's birthday too, if she had survived her cancer. But she didn't. So it has got to be an especially hard day for her parents.

With all of the buyers from my 2 shops, we have together raised $323 (through the sale of 47 items) which I have already donated today. And as of now, I have just been informed that all Etsy participants who have reported their numbers have in total donated $15,667.93 and not all of them have reported in yet! All of these funds will be used to build a playground at Cora's church in her honor, so that her legacy will live on.

Please keep the Mac family in your prayers and appreciate all of your loved ones today!

Tired but Functional

Yesterday was awful. My cold became a full blow monster and I thought my head would explode from all of the sinus pressure. Then last night I could. not. sleep. So while I'm mildly sleep deprived, I am in a physical state of happiness to not feel like I did yesterday.

And yet, I came up with a new product yesterday. Ha! It was after I took a nap, and the pain subsided temporarily. Sometimes it is just too much for me to sit still (even when I'm sick). Other times it's all I want to do.

I think this is so cute! I may make more of them, but a little smaller to put on alligator clips or on the head of one of those bendy clips. What do you think?

I was planning to make something for my fat quarter challenge with these. So I made a test one and it came to me (as the french clips were staring me in the face) that these might be cute as barrettes.

And did I mention I sold a casserole carrier yesterday! I'm still so happy. I listed the third one I made in the store too. I had kind of forgotten that I hadn't done that yet.

Today is also the last day in my stores to buy something for the Cora Playground Fund. I will announce the amount earned that will be donated tomorrow. I can't wait to find out the grand total from all of the Etsy shop participants!

A Ray of Sunshine

Today I am feeling quite yucky. I've been nursing a cold for a few days now, but today it has got me a bit wiped as the sinus congested has stuffed up my head. I made it through a dance class of 6 four year old, who honestly were on their best behavior since they started the class last fall. As a reward we did a fun popcorn activity which involved a 12 ft parachute and some small plastic balls. They loved it. I then had to run to the grocery store to get snacks for Miles' preschool class for tomorrow. I'm responsible for snack for the month of March. I came home hoping to check email, make lunch for the kids and then collapse while finding something to keep them occupied, and quiet.

My email told me that I had sold an item on Etsy. I figured it was another for the Cora fund. Which is certainly great and certainly would make me happy, but it was a bit of a surprise. I sold a CASSEROLE CARRIER!!!!!! I had just about given up hope on ever selling one. So that was a very nice discovery for me. Yay. I hope the stars will align soon so that I can get back to making more items for Kitchen Stitchen. I really want to use some new fabric for potholders. As well as make up more from some that sold out.

Another project on the horizon is a fat quarter challenge. The local fabric store has "The Unfortunate Fat Quarter" project going on. They give you a plain paper bag with a mysterious fat quarter inside and you take it home, make something from it and return it to be judged by customers. I know what I'm making... More on that when the project gets underway.

But for today, I just need to rest.

Allergic to Nothing

I took photos of my fabric flower barrettes to sell on Etsy for the Cora Paige Fundraiser and really liked how they turned out. Jason helped me do some good cropping and editing on this one which I'd like to submit for the contest at the camera club we belong to.

So much for the fun stuff, now on to life's business.

My first errand today was to go to the doctor. What an ordeal this has been. I had a blood drawn back in November to be sent off and tested for typical indoor allergies. I had this test done because I am usually quite sick with respiratory infections all winter, every winter and the common theme is ridiculous amounts of post-nasal drip. She had already put me on some nasal sprays and allergy medincine. And a good chunk of the winter has gone by with very few issues! It has been heavenly.

So after having to reschedule my appointment 3 times, at the request of the doctor, I finally got in today.We definitely paid the bill from the lab already and it wasn't small, so I was determined to get the results! The kids were behaving so well in the waiting room. Ella reading, Miles playing with Duplo blocks. I was supposedly the second appointment of the day. We waited and waited, much longer than I thought we would. Finally we were put in an exam room. The kids were GREAT. We waited and waited and waited, and waited some more. The kids started melting down. Each had to use the bathroom over the course of the 1 1/2 we were waiting. Next thing you know, the nurse came in to tell us to go back out to the waiting area because it would be easier on the kids and that the doctor had an emergency.

Finally we were called back in and the doctor saw me. Her emergency? She had to go to the bank... Really? First she explained how important it was that I came in so she could explain the results to me because they weren't straight forward. Try me, I am trained in reading all kinds of scientific data and I took Immunology. Anyway, all of the tests were negative. Not much explaining necessary. I am allergic to none of the typical indoor allergens. I don't have trouble in the warmer months, so I doubt I am allergic to outdoor allergens. She apologized for not knowing what was wrong and labeled my condition "chronic rhinitis" commonly known as "runny nose" possibly caused by irritants.

Well this doctor's flakiness with her respect for other peoples time does irk me. But she is the first doctor I've had that has helped me with my major health related issues (which really, thankfully aren't that major), even if she doesn't know what their cause is.

And oddly enough. I have a cold right now complete with rhinitis...

Exciting New Boy Stuff!

As you already know, if you've been reading for a while. I LOVE making clothes for my daughter from designer fabrics. I even bought a hand sewn dress recently made of fabrics from the Sugar Snap line by Melissa Averinos. Ella wore it today, but I failed to take a photo. It was so darling. Here are some photos from the Ebay listing by the creator
sugarplumsllc.

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OK, so that's not the boy stuff yet.

I recently ordered some fabric for making new towels and potholders. One of my strategies to lower costs is to purchase as much as I can from the same seller. So I was able to find a seller on Etsy who sold a lot of what I wanted. And really, in retrospect, I already have some modern birds and some chickens on yellow, so didn't really need the last fabric I wanted with more but different modern birds. Though I do love birds. I also wanted some special fabric for a special project for a special boy. So here is the fabulous packet of fabrics I ordered from Fabricworm. I tell you, I highly recomend this shop. She's on Etsy, but I found that she has an off Etsy store where you can be more exact ordering your cuts. The shipping was low, and speedy lightening quick. Also, just look at that neat bundle all tied up with twine. And I didn't even show the cute tag with the bookwo..., I mean fabricworm on it! I will definately be back to her shop.

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OK, OK where is the boy stuff right? Well it is right here!

A cute short and top outfit made from Keri Beyer Rocket Scientist Countdown Blue fabric.

This is a very new fabric line and I haven't seen anything sold on Etsy with it yet outside of a burp cloth.

I'm was/am very excited for a cute yet boyish fabric to make a custom outfit for my son. Isn't he a good model? He followed my instructions for posing very well!

And I must say I am so happy at how excited Miles was that I made this for him.

FYI these are meant to be a summer outfit, not pajamas. Though they'd work as pajamas I guess.

Here's the kicker. I'm fairly certain I have enough fabric to make an entire other pair of shorts in size 3/4 as well as a T-shirt applique. So, dear reader(s), do you want an outfit like this for your son? I know some of you have sons out there and have a hard time finding cute custom clothes. I can go smaller sizes too. I would just charge for the cost of materials and shipping. I think it would come out somewhere around $15 (including the T-shirt which is from Target). I would also probably suggest a black or white shirt. I don't know what I was thinking with the light blue. But if you like it, hey, that's fine too. The rocket doesn't show up really great there. If more than one person responds, I'll most likely go with a regular reader that I know. And if more than one regular reader responds, I'll go with the first regular reader commenter. I would prefer to make this for someone's son over a nephew or son of a friend or grandson, but we'll see.

My sewing machine saga continues. I got my old machine back from repair only to find that one thing I specified as broken and was promised would be fixed, was NOT. So I'll need to bring it back. As for my new one. I sent it back and I'm waiting for a replacement, rather impatiently I might add!