artsy-crafty babe

it's been a good one

Well friends, another year has passed.  2007 was a good one, very good indeed.  I honestly have no complaints.  It was a year filled with new friends, new experiences, and lots of love.

This last day of 2007 was spent just how I like it, very low key.  Matt and I were lucky enough to get the chance to go out to dinner alone.  We needed it.  We've been going stir crazy with sick kiddos in the house.  Did I mention that Alex has pneumonia?  Yeah, my little asthmatic has pneumonia and Ava has an ear/sinus infection.  That means that we've been giving more snuggles than normal.  I don't think there's been any moment when I haven't had a child on me during the past 4 days!  Oh well, I'm not complaining.  The extra snuggles are kind of nice.

As good as 2007 was, I have a feeling that 2008 is going to be even better (hopefully with less child illnesses!).  Happy New Year! 

2007 goals in review

It's that time again, time to look back and reflect on this past year.  Back in January 2007 I gave myself some goals to accomplish in the upcoming year.  Let's see how I did:

2007 Goals:

• get to pre-pregnant weight yep
• eat healthier foods uh, I did that for the first half of the year
• include more physical activity another one I did for a little while
• make time for me yeah, I did this for the most part
• sell something from my etsy shop yay, I definitely did this one!!
• be more open to requests for making things another yep!
• take a class to learn something new or improve on something I already know I never did get around to this one, but I did learn to knit - I guess that sort of counts
• get comfortable with using my industrial sewing machine oh yeah, Richelle and I are BFF, remember?
• master zippers I don't know if I'd call it master, but I am quite comfortable with zippers
• use more of my “good” fabric stash yes, I did this, but it's still hard to let some of them go
• purchase less fabric (set a budget and stick to it) ugh, I definitely did NOT do this one - I failed miserably!!
• make more of my own clothing At first I thought I didn't accomplish this, but when I thought more about it I remembererd that I made 3 skirts and 2 tops for myself, along with 2 jumpers for Ava - not too bad
• make more gifts check
• give more things away, be more generous overall I think I did this, at least I tried to
• get my kids on a bedtime schedule this is an on again, off again battle, but we're definitely improved from last year
• devise a house cleaning plan never happened
• grow a garden I wish
• get organized with bill paying still working on this
• make a meal chart yeah, right!  does making a list of take-out restaurants count?
• have friends over to dinner not once
• establish a date night we did have more dates, but we didn't have a specific set time
• spend more one on one time with each child another one I failed at, thought now that Ava is a little older, this is easier to accomplish

The 'Year of the House' Goals:

• kitchen (paint cabinets, remove tile floor) in progress!!
• kids' bathroom (repair sheetrock, paint walls, make roman shade) nope
• master bedroom (new bedding, paint walls) unfortunately, no

Not too bad, I don't think.  Out of the 25 things I listed, I whole heartedly accomplished 12 of them, half way did 4 and failed at 9.  As long as I achieve or semi-achieve at least 50% of my goals, I call it a success.  This year puts me at 64%.  Hmm, perhaps I should up my percentage?  I think I'll shoot for a 75% success rate next year!

I'm sure this bored you to tears, but I think this is kind of fun, hee-hee!  Now it's time to start thinking about my 2008 goals...

a few gifts

I said that I wasn't going to make any Christmas gifts this year.  I know myself.  If I declare to make bunches of Christmas gifts I'll end up burnt out and totally stressed.  The holidays are stressful enough without my putting more pressure on myself.  But, as the holiday got closer I got the urge to make something, so a few little gifts were made.

These two little zippered bags were for co-workers of Matt.  I think they turned out kind of cute.

A dishtowel and pot holder.

This was a set of two dishtowels - one printed and one appliqued. I turned the printed one into a potholder and added rick rack to the dishtowel to fancy it up a bit.

Tissue holders and a zippered pouch.

I also made zippered pouches and tissue holders for Lily's teachers, but I forgot to take a picture of that.

Making these little gifts was fun, mostly because there was no pressure.  If I made them, great, if not, no big deal.  Thankfully, I think all who received them liked them.  Maybe next year I'll plan ahead and start making Christmas gifts, um, next month!!

SALE

Just a little FYI, I've marked everything down at least 20% in my etsy shop.  I'd like to clear things out for the new year.  If you've had your eye on something, now is the time to get it!  I have lots of new fabrics and ideas I'd like to try out in the upcoming year, so making room for new inventory is a must.  Thanks so much for all your support!!!

over and out

With all the holiday hustle and bustle, I think it's time I took a little blog break.  I still have a little bit of shopping to do, along with some making and baking.  Once I get that checked off my list I plan to kick back and enjoy the holiday with my family.

But before I sign off I'd like to leave you with a few photos.  First, I have to give a big thank-you to Jen of Sanctuary Arts for this adorable Santa Key.  I won it in a drawing on her blog.   Isn't it great?  The kids get a big kick out of it.

I'd also like to show you my tree.  I love my tree.  It is full of ornaments, all from various places - from my childhood, Matt's childhood, given to my kids, made by me, made by my kids, etc, etc.  It's a medley of memories.

Look at this - Matt and I both painted the same ornament as kids - his circa 1977, mine circa 1982.

This little angel bell was given to my mother from her grandmother, which she then gave to Lily. So sweet.

In the evening when all is done, I love to sit on my sofa and stare at the lights on my tree.  So peaceful, so pretty.  If I don't get the chance to pop back on to share all the gifts I've been making, I hope that you all have a very Merry Christmas!!

Oh wait, one more thing - I whipped this up last night because my poor daughter didn't have a Christmas shirt to wear to her class Christmas party tomorrow.  Hand-me down shirt + pink applique tree = happy little girl.

good use of felt

New stockings for everyone! 

**I wish I had splurged and used wool felt.  These were supposed to be a temporary thing, but I love these much more than I thought I would!!

If you want a better look at them, I've created a flickr set with pictures of them all. Unfortunately, all the pictures are horrible - dark & grainy. Damn this dreary weather!!!

good use of buttons

After seeing meg's lovely wreaths, I couldn't resist.  I had to make one.

I don't think I can put this away when Christmas is over.  I'm pretty sure I can find the perfect place for it in my studio, oh yeah.

a few scenes

church birdhouses + church ornaments

I made that wreath at the upper left when I was in 7th or 8th grade.

poinsettias + gumdrops (no one here likes the yellow and purple ones)

That candy dish is the only one I own.  It's not exactly my style, but it was a wedding gift.

**sorry for the dark photos, lack of daylight sucks!

gumdrop trees

It has been a weekend of nonstop Christmas crafting/decorating.  So many projects in the works, so little time!  (oh yeah, we also worked on the cabinets, but that's no fun to talk about)

As you can see from the background of these photos, I decorated my tree and broke out the pom-poms once again.  I even bought more pom-poms to make more pom-pom garland to go on the mantle and armoire.  I thought I'd be able to get to that this weekend, but I ran out of time.

This was the perfect project to do with little helpers.  Alex helped too, but he got bored with it once he was full of gumdrops.  It was my job to stick in the toothpicks, their job to stick on the gumdrops.

I think these look nice nestled in with Lily's snow globe collection on the mantle.  Um yeah, we kind of ran out of gumdrops on that second one.  Oh well, maybe we'll finish it, maybe we won't.

I can't wait to show you the other things I've been working on, but they're still in the works.  Ugh, if only I had more time (or a few extra hands).  There's how many days left until Christmas????  Wait, I don't want to think about that!!

we're getting there...

Okay, I'm starting to feel it.  I've been listening to Christmas music since yesterday.  I bought a few gifts.  I'm beginning to have the urge to actually make a few gifts.

These are the first of the decorations to make an appearance.  I couldn't resist these little cuties from the dollar section of Target.  If you can't tell, I prefer a candy colored Christmas as opposed to the traditional red and green.  I don't have it all planned out yet, but I think I'll be making some new decorations this year.  Something with felt.  And buttons.  Oh yes, the wheels are turning. 

Uh-huh, the Christmas bug has bitten.