"Sew" Grateful!

I have quite a "if only I had" list. If only I had learned to sew is on that list. I had access to some amazing seamstresses, my Aunt Kay & Grandma Shirley! Sigh, if I could turn back time I'd be one piano playing, guitar strumming, quilt tying, crocheting, little seamstress. Oh well, good thing I have access to some pretty talented friends in my old age.

So, in deciding what to do for my pillows I determined that I could probably pull it off on my own (sloppily no doubt) except I really wanted to add piping for a little extra detail. My friend Colleen (Martha Extraordinaire) let me invade her {adorable} sewing room for an afternoon to teach me and Mary (another super crafty friend) how to do it. By the time we were done Mary and Colleen had helped me finish 2 of my pillows! Check them out!

Overlapping in the back for easy cleaning! That is soooo key with little ones around. Plus it makes my decor very flexible! The picture shows a pin stuck through but I added some non-sew velcro to keep it "taut".

Now to finish the other 3! Hopefully they will be as beautiful. I will take pics of the process when I get around to getting them done.

I am so lucky to have so many friends and family who can help me fulfill my crafty cravings!

blurry pics, cute kids, fun project!

I recently helped my friend throw a baby shower for our other friend who is adopting a little one any day now!!!! So, for my gift I pulled out the usual from me...a diaper cake. I am kind of in love with diaper cakes!

Olivia LOVES any kind of project so I am trying to let her help more often. In spite of my hesitation to let them help (because I just really wanted to get it done quickly) this turned out to be a perfect project for the kids!

They were great at rolling the diapers and holding them for me while I stretched the little rubber-bands over them to hold them together. They rolled almost 50 diapers just between the 2 of them...I rolled about 40 without them and let me tell you it actually went a lot faster with their help! WHO KNEW!

We spent a lot of time talking about babies and what they were each like as babies. We had a great time together that afternoon.

It was such a great afternoon!

Trying something new!

A fishbowl! With a fish named Jasmine. Made from a decapitated head. I felt a little gruesome sawing it off!

Animals seem to be my new favorite things to paint. Check out the pug! This particular pug's name is Lulu! Isn't that the cutest pug name ever? They are a darn cute family.

Random Art Projects in the making

Hi! Sally here!

You know keeping enough things going on to keep this little bloggety blog interesting can be tricky. Lucky that I invited the adorable little sisters to participate so ya'll can see some good stuff. I am excited for the arrival of Katie's quilt and I happen to know that Mandy Moo has been working on some stuff for a craft fair. Can't wait to see more.

In the meantime my fidgety mind has moved onto some new ideas in the making. Nevermind that I am ice ages behind on the kids scrapbooks. Instead of doing their pages I have been playing around with designing my own digital papers. It is sooo much fun and super addictive. I still have a lot to learn.

This is a little sneek peek for a plaque that I am painting...although I think I am going to change the blue to red instead. It's all about transfer paper my friends. I love it! Anyone else feeling blessed?

And finally I was sitting in my Living Room watching the kids run around like crazy. My attention got stuck on the boringness of that room...the unfinished chair that I started (I am waiting on some $ to buy the final supplies that I need), the ugly faded blue "should I cover it or just replace it" couch, and the plain white boring lamp shades. I had this over powering desire to do something about the drab in there. So I walked into the craft room and returned with a sharpie ready to take on the ugly lamp shade. Is it exactly what I want? No, but it makes me feel a little better.

PS I should mention that someone else deserves the credit for the idea of decorating a lamp shade with a sharpie. I don't quite remember where I saw it, but it sure was a great idea. My mind has been turning with lots of other ideas for decorating lamp shades since then.

Do you have any great ideas?

Customs are in!

Hello? Does anyone read this blog? Just wondering! If you do...thanks a ton. We are trying to get it more interesting for you. Good blogs take time ya know. This is Sally by the way!

Ok so...not that anyone sees my Etsy shop but I am working on getting it stocked up and then drawing some attention in that direction. My little princess is off playing with a friend and Mason has been asleep...although I do hear him stirring now. So, I finally got a custom listing going on in my shop during my spare time. Take a look! There will be more to come...I promise I won't post them all on the blog.

This particular family is off to enjoy the company of my cute little niece who loves Minnie Mouse.

I promise my next post will be about something different...or maybe we are ready to hear more from Mandy!

Custom Families!

Hi this is Sally! So I am going to start listing custom painted dolls in my shop soon. If you are interested in having a little wooden family of your own before they show up in the shop please contact me! I would love to do it. It is so much fun to learn about different families in this way. Plus no family is the same so it really doesn't get boring at all. Once your order is placed I will have it shipped to you within 2-3 weeks as long as payment is cleared.

This family is a special family that recently adopted a little angel from India. Aren't they cute?