Guess what I'm up to ...

 

Oh yeah ... this is "real life" for me right now.

Every night, after I get home from work, I try to unpack at least 2 boxes.  Sometimes, this actually happens.  Most times, not.  Not because I'm tired (I'm exhausted actually), but because I'm busy making dinner, chasing kids, paying bills, and all the other duties that are involved with setting up a new house. 

First order of business this week though is finishing the unpacking.  I can't stand seeing another cardboard box for at least the next decade!  Ugh!!  My goal is to have everyone over for Christmas Eve dinner at my new place.

Wish me luck ... I think I'm gonna need it!

I did manage to at least get the tree put up, with the help of my Little M.  This year, his ornament purchase was "Baby Sockey Monkey".  Every year, I let the little guys pick 1 new ornament for our tree.  Big T wasn't feeling it, but Little M was all over this monkey the minute he saw it at Cracker Barrel (of all places).


So, from our (new) house to yours - Merry Christmas!

Midnight snacks ...

Since I'm sleeping like ... well, I'm not sleeping really, so why bother pretending.  Rather, I've been up late at night, getting in some sewing. 

Like last night ... I went to bed at 1 a.m.  Why?  Because I was up making a sandwich.  Not just any kind of sandwich, but the good ol' quilty kind. 

I figured this was the perfect opportunity to finish one last project in my studio (not including the quilt blocks that I owe to my bee peeps).  I'm talking one last, honest to goodness, quilt for yours truly. 

This quilt was actually started this time LAST year.  So, I guess it's time to finish it anyway.  Right?  And who is really going to pay attention to the fact that the label was incorporated into the back piecing of the quilt (last year) and that it's dated 2009 ... no one's going to look at that, right!?

It's good to stay up late and get things accomplished.  Now if I could only feel that way about packing ...

I have no words ...

I have started, and stopped, this post about a million times in my head.  How do I say the words?  How do I explain what's going on?  I feel like I can't.

What I can tell you is that my husband isn't here. 

He hasn't been for about a month. 

Yes, I am still married, but I'll be doing the "single mom thing" for a while.  And I hate it.  I don't know how you single moms out there do it.  Granted, I was a single mom before I married my husband, but that seems like ages ago, and things have changed (gotten harder) due to the economy. 

I just have no words right now, but please understand that I'm still here, still sewing (when I have time), still working, and still holding the fort down.  I just may not be posting as often. 

Hope you all are doing better than I am!

We'll talk later ...

Winner!!

Sorry for the lateness in my announcement of the winner ...

So I went to random number generator, put my data in, and it picked lucky #13 as the winner!  Which happens to be:

Patty said...
Yes you truly are awesome. Thanks for the great giveaway.

September 4, 2010 3:50 PM

Patty, thanks for telling me how awesome I am (I don't feel like I am most days, but it's nice to hear, isn't it??) ... make sure you contact me with your mailing address so I can get these goodies out to you!  

:o)  Enjoy your weekend everybody!

Tomorrow is giveaway day!

Don't forget - the winner of my little giveaway will be announced tomorrow night!  Make sure you get your entries in before the deadline (9 p.m. EST).

And because this is a buyer's market, I figured I'd put this out there ... Anyone looking for a gorgeous house?

It's GIVEAWAY time!

I have been frantically cleaning up my studio, and I'll explain why in another post at another time, but I have been putting together this awesome little pile of goodies for you guys. 

How would you like to have these bad boys in your hands?

What you're looking at is:

"Pretty Little Cozies" which is chock full of little doodads and cutsie little things you can make for yourself or loved ones.  (Whoever wins this giveaway:  I hope you make me a sewing machine cover because I never made one for myself, and that was why I bought this book ... just sayin').

"The New Handmade, Simple Sewing for Contemporary Style" ... I bought this one for no particular reason, but it's also filled with goodies that you can sew up for gifts.

"Lots of Dots, Quilts & More" by Cotton Way.  Need I say more?  Bonnie is a genius and this book has several easy patterns to prove it - all with, you guessed it, dots!

There are 4 random quilt patterns, 1 of which is an adorable paper piecing project by Paper Panache!

And of course a beautiful charm pack of Fresh Cottons designed by Joanna Figueroa (Fig Tree & Co.)

So ... there's quite a bit of inspiration packed into this giveaway, and it's all going to go to ONE lucky person.  Want to nab it for yourself?  Here's what you do ...

For ONE entry:  Leave a comment for this post.  Tell me how awesome I am, or how awesome you are ... or anything really.  Just leave a comment.

For ANOTHER entry:  Become a follower of my blog.  It's easy - just click the button right over there (yeah, the one on the right, under the other followers).  Leave a second comment letting me know that you're a follower (or already were a follower).

For a THIRD entry:  Blog about this giveaway.  Come back here, and leave a third comment with a link to your blog - hey, I want to see it, and become one of YOUR followers (if I'm not already).  It's only fair, right?

So, you have 3 possible chances to win.  I can assure you that I will probably ADD to the stash of goodies before it goes out, so I'm going to let the giveaway run a FULL WEEK to give me a chance to go through my stash of stuff in the back.  I'm not going to post about the extras that were included for the winner, you're just going to be surprised if you win.   ;o)

That being said, the winner will be chosen via Random Number Generator on Friday, September 10th at 9 p.m. EST ... give or take an hour or so.

GRADUATED!!

This evening, I graduated from The Salon Professional Academy in Tampa as a full specialist.  It was a bittersweet event.  Good, because now it's finally over ... and sad, because now it's over.

As a graduation gift, my husband told me that he bought me one of these:

This little phrase is popping up all over our house.  I have it hanging in my studio, there's a postcard hanging on the fridge ... you get the idea.  I say it a lot too.  Whenever someone is having a bad day, life is throwing lemons our way, or just as an everyday little "pick me up" ... there's usually not a day that goes by without one of us saying this catchy little phrase.  It's only fitting that I should be wearing it around my neck too.

If you find you need one of these too, you can find the Etsy seller here.  She makes them in all kinds of colors.

And on another note, stay tuned and make sure you visit me on Friday.  I'll be updating with the giveaway information!     :o) 

A productive day

I finally managed to lock myself in the studio long enough to get caught up with my bee blocks. 

Ahhhh ...

That's me breathing a sigh of relief.  One commitment down, only a gazillion to go.

I was thinking that I might rip apart Big T's closet to make it more of an office.  Here's my inspiration picture:

Here's what I'm working with:

Yep, it's going to be quite a feat!  First order of business is buying primer & paint and finishing his God-forsaken walls.  Those have been khaki and yellow for longer than I care to admit.  The hubster managed to prime the trim forever ago (think about how long ago he was laid off and you're somewhere in the ballpark of that time).  We haven't done anything else to them since ... yikes!

His closet is actually roomy, so I don't for-see having a problem getting this sort of design to work.  Now, if I could just get him to keep it organized, we'd be in business!

So, first order of business is painting the walls, taking down the closet doors, uninstalling the closet system, and THEN building his new computer area.  Little does he know he's getting a laptop for Christmas (I can say that here because he's NEVER visited my blog - it's too girly for him).  And by laptop, I mean one that we've had and don't use anymore.  His grandpa is going to fix it up for him (clean out the hard drive & make it faster).  But, it's new to Big T, so that's what really matters.

I'll be sure to chronicle the progress, so stay tuned!

And I haven't forgotten that I mentioned having a giveaway ... I'm still looking around for goodies to include!

It's the final countdown!

As of today (8/18) I have 7 days left of school before I can proudly call myself a full specialist!  Of course, 4 of those days are me busting my hump to get my services in before I can sit for finals on the other 3 days ... ouch.  I still need about 20 services (mostly acrylic nails and fills). 

So, for the last 3 months, my house has suffered, my kids have sacrificed, my husband has become slightly disgruntled over my lack of house cleaning ... BUT it will soon be over.

I've had 2 interviews, dropped off my resume at a few places, and talked to a few salon owners.  The prospects for finding work right out of school are amazing!  And I am so excited!

I hope that you'll continue to bear with me through these final 2 weeks.  I promise to get back to my more crafty side then and I'll celebrate with a small giveaway! 

Until then ....

Here's the deal ...

Okay, so I started working.  That's why I've been pretty MIA in blogland lately.  I'm still trying to figure out this whole "juggling-of-the-schedule" thing, but I think I'm finally starting to grasp it a little bit. 

If you've been wondering where I am, that's it in a nutshell.

We also sent the oldest (Big T) to camp this week.  He left on Saturday and doesn't get back until Aug. 7th.  The house is peaceful, and quiet, but in an eerie sort of way.  There's definitely much less chaos in the house whenever you are able to get rid of your kids for a little bit ... or at least that's the way it is around here.

And in other news, Little M started preschool when I started working.  He's adjusted well, which surprised the heck out of me, but I'm glad just the same.

What's nice is that I'm working part-time hours, and my boss is the hubster.  Doesn't get much easier than that!  What's not so nice is that I feel like a mad-woman Monday through Wednesday because I work AND go to school those days, and by the time Thursday rolls around all I can do is catch up on housework and laundry.  Ugh ... however, I think that Friday I'm blocking out my afternoon for sewing ... I'll let you know how it goes.  

Toodles.

Life ...

I'm still here ... I'm still alive.  I'll update later, when life takes a bit of a breather ... maybe sometime next week perhaps.

Better luck next time ...

Today hasn't been one of those "hit it out of the ball park" days as far as sewing goes ...

First, I was trying to follow a tutorial for one of the requested bee blocks for Mary, and let's just say I was losing my mind trying to figure out what I was supposed to be doing.  After a lot of cursing (thank the man upstairs that the kids weren't in the room), I decided that it would be best to send Mary her stuff back, as is, and let her finish the blocks.  I'm sad to say that she's getting a bunch of fabric scraps randomly sewn together and nothing looks remotely close to a log cabin block.

Then, I was trying to finish up the circles block for Lori - and as I was cutting the circles out, the rotary cutter got away from me and made three tiny slits into her background fabric, making it useless to me.  Ugh.  So, she's also getting her block back, unfinished ... sheesh.

Finally, I thought I would try to redeem myself by tackling a Henrietta turtle pin cushion, compliments of the Heather Bailey pattern I bought forever ago.  My Henrietta looks incredibly bloated.  In fact, her feet don't touch the ground.  I won't be posting a picture, don't ask.

It's been one of those days, full of sewing, but little accomplished.

I did manage to get this finished though:

And I hope that my partner for the Scrappy Pincushion Swap on Flickr enjoys it.  It was the only good thing to come out of my studio this morning.

Happy Father's Day!

Make sure you hug Dad and tell him that he's still cool.

Movie night quilts ...

Between school, and the projects I've got going on here at home, there's not much time for quilting, but I am slowly (ever so slowly) working on sewing projects too.

I'm still participating in a couple of bees.  One of them is soon to be finished, and then I'll just be in 2 bees.  Whew ...

I'm also participating in a couple of swaps.  One of which (the Pillow Talk Swap), I've already completed the work for that one ... my partner got her pillow and loved it!  Here's what I sent:

I'm also participating in the Scrappy Pincushion Swap, but I'm still brainstorming as to what I'll make for my partner there.  Unfortunately, there's no Flickr mosaic for inspiration, so I'm sort of winging it here. 

And, on top of those things, I'm working on 3 quilts.  We're trying to start a tradition of movie night at our house.  At first, I thought this might be a once a week thing, but with the pressure of school, summer camp (for big T), work for the hubster ... anyway, movie night has turned into a "when there's a spare moment" thing.  It's harder in the summer to get us all in one place to watch a movie.  Not to mention that as soon as the lights go down, so do my husband's eyelids.  I think he's probably seen 1 or 2 movies in his life, the rest were just opportunities for him to take a nap. 

Because of that, I thought it might be nice for each of us to have our own movie night quilt.  Something that reflected our personalities or what not, or just pretty.  So, I'm working on 3 quilts at random.  Luckily, 2 of those quilts have had a lot of help from the 2 bees that I'm in.  But the third quilt (for Big T), I think I'm going to do all on my own, sampler style.

I love sampler quilts, and when I saw that Amy was doing a quilt-along, I couldn't pass it up.  Here's a button to her blog with all the info you'll need if you decide to join along!  I think I'm going to use scraps for this ...

Wanna win something cool?

I don't know why I'm sharing this news, because really, if you all signed up that hurts my chances of winning ... BUT, Amy is having an amazing giveaway where you have a chance to win a Go! Cutter!




Don't know what that is?  Head on over to her blog and check it out - the details and how to enter are there too.

Don't say I didn't ever do anything nice ...

I get by with a little help from my friends ...

I sent out the fabric yesterday for "Bee Addicted", since I'm now taking over June.  My idea was to have the girls do blocks for me based on Rita's block (pictured here).  However, what I failed to realize is that I suck at quilting math.

You might think that there's no difference, but oh yes there is!

I can add, subtract, multiply and divide about as good as the rest of you, but when it comes to seam allowances and things of that nature, I'm all of the sudden stupid.

You see, I sent out jelly roll strips of printed fabrics for the block, since they're already cut 2.5" wide.  I also sent out a 5" strip of Kona Bone for the solid.  What I didn't think of is that when you actually make the hst's (that's half-square triangles for you non-quilting peeps), your little square is no longer 2.5". 

DOH!

What I am lucky for, is that someone in our group caught my little mistake before the fabric even got to anyone.  She's also a killer quilting math person!  (Hi Debbie!)  So, Debbie was able to make proper cutting measurements for all of us and this is the result:

A thing of beauty isn't it?

What it boils down to is that you're going to cut a total of 16 solid squares at 2" and 16 printed squares, also at 2".  Then, you'll cut a total of 16 solid squares at 2.5" and again, 16 printed squares at 2.5".

To begin, take your 2.5" squares (16 solid, 16 printed) and make your hst blocks.  I like to follow Rachel's instructions here.  What I did differently is press open my seams rather than to one side.  I figured that since there were going to be so many seams close together, it might help with the bulk.  When you've sewn, cut, and pressed your hst's, cut them down to 2".  Now they're the same size as the rest of your fabrics.

Once that's done, constructing the block is a breeze.  See ...

And here's the finished back:

What you end up with is a block that measures 12.5" unfinished, rather than the 16.5" unfinished block that Rita made. 

So, there it is, a mini-tutorial compliments of Debbie and her fine quilting math skills!

Tutorial coming soon ...

In one of my quilting bees, it's my month in June.  I had thought about doing this block back in January, and time got away from me with everything that was going on in our little corner of the world.  So ... I was moved to October, but then the June person couldn't stay in the bee, so now I'm working the June month.  Cool, huh?  Did I lose anyone?   

Anyway, I'm going to have the girls working on this block:

Rita, from Red Pepper Quilts is where I first saw this block.  Now I'm seeing everyone on Flickr accomplishing it, but I contacted Rita anyway and asked if it would be okay to make a quick tutorial on this block on my blog for the girls in my bee.  She graciously gave me permission to do so.  Rita is awesome!  If you've never been to her blog, I highly suggest that you do so, and also check out her Flickr photostream.  You can be "oohing" and "ahhhing" for hours on end.

So, for all of my bee peeps, and the other followers I have here in blog land, you're in for a treat real soon, as I'll be posting a quick little tutorial on how to cut, piece, and make this beautiful block!

Check back soon - I hope to have this posted by Monday!

What I did on Mother's Day ...

I had a fantastic Mother's Day.  Did you?

The hubster went out and got us all donuts for breakfast (which I didn't need, but absolutely loved).  I played with the kids for a little bit, then got to hide out in the studio for a big chunk of the day. 

See ...

What does this mess mean? 

The creative juices were flowing today and I made several sparkly things - most of which will show up in the shop this week (sporadically, mind you).  So, make sure that you check out my Etsy shop throughout the week, because I'll be adding things just about everyday.

My hope is that once I've tapped the juices on the jewelry train, I can put this tote away again for a long time and work on some more quilting.  I've been working on squares for bees, but not much for myself ... although I am slowly working on one of these.  I'd like to make a few table runners or pillow slipcovers to put in the shop too.

So, what did you do for your Mother's Day?

I love beans ...

I've been seeing a lot of wreaths done with lima beans lately, so I thought it might be cool to do something with them as well.  However, I'm not very "wreathy" ... in fact, I don't know how to decorate a good wreath that is worthy of my front door, so I have this skinny, almost-falling-apart "thing" on my door now.  I think it used to be a nice circular grapevine wreath, but over the years somehow got stretched into the shape of an oval.  There's a lot to be desired there ... but anyway, moving back on to the lima beans ...

Since I've been changing the decor of the house, slowly transitioning into things that are more contemporary / primitive ... sort of like Pottery Barn meets an actual barn ... anyone know what I'm talking about?  No?

Well, I used to have this huge collage of photos hanging behind the couch.  Not lots of photos in individual frames mind you, just a bunch of photos in one frame.  You've seen them ... it's the lazy girl's way out of doing photos the right way.  I say lazy because we still have the collage hanging up (on a different wall), but the photos haven't been changed since the day I hung it the first time ... there are no pictures of Little M in there at all.  Yeah ... it might be time to do something about that.

So, now I have this big blank wall behind my couch.  I was thinking that it might be cool to do something with lima beans and showcase it on the wall.  And maybe later on down the road I'll hang some plates or something around it.  The jury is still out on that thought ...

Here is what I came up with:

And this is how I did it (in exactly this order):

Step 1: Get thee to a JoAnns and buy the biggest initial you can find in their cardboard section (you know, where they sell the boxes for decoupage and all that jazz).  They run about $8, but I used my coupon, so it was a score for me.

Step 2:  Go to the grocery store and buy yourself some lima beans.  I used the big fat ones and the baby lima beans.  The baby lima beans were good "gap fillers".

Step 3:  Take your supplies home, start gluing beans to the letter and realize after about 10 minutes that you're not cut out to use a glue gun.  The blisters on your fingers prove it.

Step 4:  Soak your blisters with some aloe gel.  You may or may not say bad words when you do this part (at least I did ... oops).

Step 5:  Call a friend who knows what they're doing with a glue gun and beg and bribe them to glue those suckers onto your God-forsaken letter for you.  (Thanks Glenna!!)  When they agree, get the supplies over to them before they have a chance to reconsider.

Step 6:  Wait patiently until your friend finishes the gluing for you.  This may take a while.  Your friend will probably get blisters of her own - be sympathetic, offer her some aloe.   ;o)

Step 7:  When you finally get that hot little letter in your hands, paint it, glaze it, or do whatever you like to it to make it your own.  Hang it up!

I thought long and hard about what I was going to do with my "S".  I was going to paint it initially because that's what I'd been seeing everyone else doing online.  But when I saw the work in person, the texture and the detail ... I just couldn't "cover" all of that, so I decided to let the beans shine in all their glory.  All I did was run an antiquing glaze over it, wiped it down, and let it dry.  Now, instead of looking like lima beans, it almost looks like it's covered in little rocks and pebbles.  I adore it - and I am so thankful to Glenna for doing all of that gluing for me - you are the bomb girl!

So, what do you think?  Do you like my "S"?  What else should I put on the wall?  Plates?  Photos?  Nothing??

Time Flies ...

Six years ago I went from having a super easy last name, to one that's constantly butchered and mutilated by strangers ... it's nice though when the telemarketers call, you can tell right away.  Sometimes I pretend I'm the cleaning lady, who just happens to have permission to answer the phone.  Anyway, I digress ... 

Six years ago today, we were having our rehearsal dinner.  Right now, as I type this.  The restaurant is no longer there - it's been changed into new restaurants twice since that night six years ago. 

In about 4 hours from now, I would've been going to one of my best friend's (at the time) house to stay the night.  I figured that way I wouldn't have to have the groom see me the morning of our wedding (bad luck and all).  Sadly, I am no longer on speaking terms with that friend.

In about 12 hours from now, I would be driving to Publix to pick up bagels for everyone at my parent's house.  All the girls were coming over to have their hair and makeup done ... and we left on time to get to the church.  I never wore makeup back then, but now I try to have a little lip gloss or mascara on at all times. 

I got married May 8, 2004 at approximately 2:30.  I say "approximately" loosely because the groom was late.  The limo driver apparently thought he knew a short cut to the church.  Either way, it was a beautiful, and simple, ceremony.

And now, six years later, I'm still just as much in love with my husband as I was back then (probably more so).  And I'm happy to say that my dress isn't so out of style that I'm embarrassed to show this (blurry) picture.    :o)

On a side note, my wedding inspired a business that I ran from home for nearly 4 years ... and it's still up and running, but with a new owner.  (waving - Hi Shelli!!) 

Aside from no longer working out of the house, I can say that a lot of other stuff has changed over the past six years as well.  But it all seems like it happened in a blink of an eye ...

Spring to Finish Challenge 2010

Okay, so I didn't participate in this last year because I wasn't really sewing or doing much of anything at that time.  However, I did manage to start seeing (and following) a lot of blogs because of the projects I had seen that were finished on Flickr.

This year, I get to participate! 

I have a couple of quilts that I'd like to finish (probably 4 to be exact) - although I'm willing to concede that by finish, I mean I will do the tops and then send them off to be quilted.  Hey, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!

I also (desperately) need to finish the media center that I started way back here.  The side cabinets have been a thorn in my side for the last 2 months.  Time to get motivated again.

And the studio ... now that it's "finished" I really need to get going in there with organizing things and decorating it the way I want it.  Hello gnomes ...

So, those are my goals.  And you'll see over on the left that my finishes as up to a big fat, 1.  That's because today I managed to finally make the ironing board cover that I wanted for my studio.  Yay me!

Now, if you have your own list of things to get done around your house ... whether they're crafty projects, painting projects, building, whatever - you can join here:  Tallgrass Prairie Studio.

I am humbled ...

Mr. Matt came to my house today and started doing this:

I am both amazed, and humbled, at how quick and efficient a tile guy can work when he knows what he's doing.  Mr. Matt is awesome (and if you're in my area and looking for any kind of work, let me know and I'll give you his info). 

To think that this room started like this, and is now becoming something so fantastic is just mind-boggling to me!  I was so overwhelmed before, thinking that I would be stuck with some God-awful ugly (and incorrectly built) room forever to work in - and quite frankly - refused to work in, because of how it was ... just ... wow.  That's about all I can say!

Mr. Matt thinks that he'll be done by Thursday, completely.  I can start moving stuff in very soon, after we have the AC guys come in and work their magic so that the room is cool this summer!  (Yeah, apparently the duct work is all kinds of messed up too) ...  *sigh*  If that gets fixed, that means I can finally yank off the foil from the skylight!!  YIPPEE!!

Comfort

My comfort zone was tested this month. 

In one of my bees, I was asked to make a block featuring pieced circles. 

Pieced.  Circles.

Now, some of you may not know this, but I only started quilting last August.  That's less than a year ago.  I'm doing well to manage straight lines and only recently started doing an awesome job (if I do say so myself) of matching points.  But pieced circles?  No thanks.  They weren't anywhere near anything on my quilting radar to try.

But, I didn't want to disappoint, and I was lucky enough that another bee member posted a link to an AWESOME curved piecing tutorial.  So, I cut out the fabric, set my machine to sew as slow as possible (in case I screwed up), and got started.

And about 8 hours later (remember that I'm dealing with a toddler here, and a preteen that's home for spring break) I had this bad boy in all it's circle-y glory:

That's right.  It turns out, I can do pieced circles.  Is it perfect?  Heck no.  But, it's a good starting point for me and I think that I just *might* try this again in the future ... a table runner perhaps, but probably on a larger scale.  Smaller circles are hard.

I hope you enjoy your block, Melissa.  I didn't really know if I liked the fabric choice at first (it shouldn't matter to me anyway since it's your block and your choice), but I think it totally reminds me of some of the Pottery Barn fabrics I've been seeing around.  Like this one:

Winner - a little bit late!

We had some toddler tantrums tonight, which totally took my mind off of the giveaway. 

As I was laying in bed, replaying the day's events in my mind, I realized that I had failed to choose a winner for the Mill House Inn honey bun strips!  Without further delay, I got up, logged in, and the random number generator chose the number THREE as the winner, which is Henny!

Henny also happens to be in one of the quilting bees that I'm in, so Henny is getting a nice little prize and I don't even have to bother her for her address (I already have it). 

So, congrats Henny - enjoy your prize!  And for the rest of you, stick around because with the studio remodel going on, I'm sure I'll find lots more crafty goodies to give away soon!

My 1st ever giveaway!

Tomorrow, we're having craft night at my house.  That means that I've spent the greater part of today organizing my fabric so that we can mess up the dining room table ... again.  What, you think my dining room table is used for anything like eating?!?

Anyway, I was going through a lot of fabric today and came across this sweet little bag ... who doesn't love a honey bun every now and then?

I won this honey bun in a giveaway last year and figured I'd pass along the Mill House Inn goodness the same way I got it.  So, the winner will receive this gallon size baggie of Mill House Inn honey bun strips.  They're all there, I just managed to take apart the honey bun almost the second that I got it (I wanted to run my fingers through the strips and FEEL them).   Yeah, I'm weird like that.

I giving you a few chances to win here, so pay close attention.  For each entry, you'll need to leave a separate comment so that I can use a random number generator to pick the winner.

For 1 entry:  Leave a comment in this post.
For 1 more entry:  Become a follower of my blog (then leave a comment and tell me you're following me.
For yet 1 more entry:  Blog about, twitter, or facebook about this giveaway (then leave me a comment with the link where you did it, just so I can see that the deed is done).

The winner will be chosen on Thursday, April 1st @ 5 p.m. EST.  Ready ... set ... go!!

Answers to a couple questions ...

Apparently, ya'll are really liking my recovered stool.  So much so, that a couple of you have asked for a tutorial.  Well, I'm sorry to say that I don't have one, and I don't know if I could put one together for you either.  HOWEVER, I did get my inspiration from this tutorial: Round Cushion Tutorial.  That should help point you in the right direction.  Obviously, you're not making a pillow, but it will show you how to do the piping, cutting, etc., etc. for the round shape, then you'll just cover your seat as normal with the staples underneath.  No biggie.

You also asked about my fabric.  I LOVE that fabric.  It was made by Alexander Henry and it's called "Sew Now Sew Wow" ... here are the Google shopping results for you: Fabric.  It looks like a few places still have it available and in a couple of different colorways.  I still have about a yard and a half of it left myself, but I'm not quite sure what to do with it ... I've never made a sewing machine cover ... maybe?!?  I don't know.  I'll figure it out later.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

I can't believe that I've gone so long without posting ... time flies!

We spent last weekend searching and buying tile for the studio.  I settled on 20x20 neutral colored porcelain tiles.  Two different tones, that will be set on a diagonal, checkerboard pattern.  I can't wait to see it come together, it'll just be a while before it happens so we can save some $$$ to pay the guy to do it.

I have spent the last few days getting some things done for the studio.  I found this ugly chair at a thrift store yesterday.

I paid $12.99 (plus tax).  The stool was in excellent shape, heavy and sturdy, and the cushion was still bouncy yet firm.  All it needed was some fabric to bring it to life.  So, I worked on it this morning and came up with this:

I also worked on some artwork.  Now, those of you that really KNOW me, know that I haven't picked up a paintbrush (for this purpose) in several years ... like 10 years to be exact.  Shocking ... I know.  I felt like I was overdue in the art department, so I grabbed my curtain material (thank you Heather Ross) and made this little guy:

The room is finally coming together.  I can't wait.

Little M Gets Big

A week or so ago I noticed that Little M was trying to escape out of the crib.  I figured it was time for him to transition into his big boy bed.  Since I didn't want to buy some "cheap" toddler bed that would barely get him through the toddler bed years, I decided to build one, using Ana's plans from Knock Off Wood.  This is the Farmhouse bed, toddler sized, but of course to Little M - it's a big boy bed.

I used China Red stain from MinWax.  I also distressed it a little bit by rubbing the edges with my trusty sanding block.  All poplar, so it was a little more expensive than if I had used common boards, but I loved the grain in the poplar.  Not to mention, I think this bed will last through quite a few toddlers - not just Little M.

And speaking of the little devil, I couldn't get him out of the bed long enough to take pictures.  He seriously refused to budge.  So, we put the sheets and stuff on it and let him veg out in the living room while we took apart the crib.

I think he likes it.

Big plans ...

I have big plans for this window, so I felt it was important to take a "before" picture.  It's going to begin with a custom window treatment/building project that I'm going to do myself.

I'm even thinking of pulling this stuff out for it ... my last. two. yards.  Eeek!

As you can see, I spent a good portion of today painting the studio (the texture on the walls and ceiling are SO much better than what they were)!  The color is called "Skywriter", made by Valspar.  I LOVE this color.  It matches Heather's gnome fabric perfectly.
 

A little post I like to call ...

So, what's a girl to do while there's men working on fixing the studio and the craft bug bites?  Why, change something of course!

Little M went down for his nap and I began searching the house for something that's been on the "to do" list, but never actually got done.  Mission accomplished ...

I bought this clock at a thrift store AGES ago.  Case in point, the baby picture.  I put that picture in it when I bought it (it was a recent picture).  That kid is now 12.  Yeah ... time for an update.

First things first.  I filled the nail holes with wood putty.  I left some of the nicks and scrapes for "character".  Gave it a light sanding, then wiped it clean (then vacuumed it clean with the crevice tool since the layer of dust on it was just about jurassic).

I removed the picture from the bottom, covered and taped the top clock portion, and went to play in the garage with the spray paint.

Since I couldn't leave the house (there were guys working in the studio and the baby was napping, remember), I had to use what I had on hand.  Flat black will work.  I also sprayed a thin layer of poly for good measure (satin, because I hate shiny).

 
Let it dry outside since it's the perfect day for it - windy as all get out - brought it in after about an hour, popped a new picture in, which is only two years old, set the correct time and presto-chango!  New clock!

Not bad for about two hours worth of work and supplies that I had on hand, and I'm linking back to the Shabby Nest to share ...

You are TWO!

I can almost remember every detail of the day that I gave birth to little M.  It was a day, just like today ... a little cloudy, a little cold, but beautiful just the same.  He came (finally) in the morning, after 16 hours of labor and a little bit of pushing.

Little M was loved instantly.  And here it is, 2 years later, and you still make us smile and make our hearts swell when we see that sweet little face.  And boy, what a personality you're getting!

Right now, your favorite show is Yo Gabba Gabba.  You jump up and down (as best as you can) when it comes on.  You even sing along to the opening theme song.

You are a bookworm.  You can't read yet, but you could sure look at books for days and days and days.  Your favorite spot to "read" them, is tucked inside one of Mommy's Longaberger baskets.

You can count to 10, and have been for about 2 months now.

Your favorite letters are X, S, and W, because you push those letters constantly on your talking fridge phonics Leapfrog thingy.  Constantly.

You are all about Mommy, until the second that Daddy walks in the door.

You can tear up a room faster than anyone I know.

You yell at your big brother when he comes around for hugs and kisses, but he makes you laugh harder than anyone else can.  It's magic.

You're the best thing that ever happened to our little family of 3, and I'm so glad that you are the one that rounded us out to 4.  We love you Little M!