artsy-crafty babe

Better than Christmas

Honestly y'all, the stuff I get in the mail from crafty bloggers is the best ever.  I am ashamed to say that this post is long over due.  I've gotten some lovely things in the mail over the last month or so.

First up is this homemade soap and cute snowman from Lera.  That soap smells super yummy, though I must admit that I haven't used it yet.  It's sitting all pretty in the soap dish next to *my* sink.  That little snowman hung on my kitchen cabinet this entire holiday season.  I love stuff like that!

Next, I got two surprise packages from Mary Ann.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again, this girl spoils us rotten!  Mary Ann is the most generous person I know.  I aspire to be like her.  Her first package was a box of velvety dress up clothes for Lily, in which she also included a dress for Ava, a book for Alex, and some cute push pins for me.  Here is Lily dressed up like a medieval princess:

Lily and Alex are thoroughly enjoying these lovelies.  Then a few weeks later I got another package from her.  Inside was these cards.  They're so pretty I hate to use them.  I have a thing for buttons, so I especially love these cards. 

From another Mary Ann, I got this nice thank-you package for participating in her Cookie Swap 2006.  That was so nice of her to do that!  I especially like that Santa hat wearin' "B".

Last but not least, is this awesome surprise package from Denice.  This surprise was so cleverly wrapped that I had to take a photo.  Let me tell you, it killed me to have to wait to find my camera because I wanted to dive right in!  Ironically, I had just been looking at 1930's prints online earlier that day.

As if that fabric wasn't enough, look what was inside.  Three beautifully illustrated cards that I plan on framing as part of my holiday decor, and two vintage prints that I plan to also frame and hang in the girls' room.  Am I lucky or what? 

The generousity that I have received from everyone is amazing.  I can't thank you enough, really. 

I love good mail!

Last week was a really good mail week.  I love good mail.  It really does brighten my day when I pull up to find a package waiting for me.

The first thing that arrived was this beautiful pumpkin from Catrina.  Isn't that girl amazing?  She painted that.  She had a drawing to celebrate her birthday and I was one of the lucky winners.  Lucky me!  This will be part of my fall decorations for years to come, if my kids don't destroy it, that is.  They seem to think that it is a soccer ball.  Maybe I should try putting it high up out of their reach?

The other goodie to arrive at my doorstep is for Ava.  Joanna made her these adorable shoes and matching onesie.  Aren't they cute?  I so love them!  Ava wore the shoes all weekend long.  I've always wanted some shoes like that for my babies, but never got around to buying or making any.  If you'd like to give making some a shot, she has a fabulous tutorial on her site.  What an amazing, generous gal!  Did I mention that she is also a mom of three with a baby younger than Ava?  Yeah, she puts me to shame.

Much crafting is on the agenda for today.  As of this very instant, the house is clean, I have it all to myself, and no one is expected home for about 5 hours.  Time to get busy!!!

Surprises in the mail

When I pulled up to my mailbox and it was empty, I knew something was up.  Rarely do I not have mail.  If the mailbox was empty, that meant that something was too big to fit, so the mail person left my mail at the back door.  When I drove up in the driveway I could see a box sitting on the table next to my door.  What in the world could it be?  I hadn't ordered anything recently, hmmm...

It was my Second String swap package!  I had totally forgotten about it.  When I saw the return address on the package, I ran inside to get my camera.  I knew that I had better take pictures as I opened it because who knows what state it would be in if I waited later.  Look at all the goodies!!  Karyn really spoiled me.  There was candy, fabric, notions, a tissue holder, some goodies from Japan - this box was jam packed!

And best of all were these handmade goodies.  The theme of the swap was organization - I just love, love, love this wall organizer Karyn made for me.  She also made that adorable free form softie and that cute bib for Ava.  It's all so lovely, really.

Just because I love it so much, here is the organizer hanging on the wall of my studio.  Thank you Karyn, it was definitely worth the wait!!!

There are a few more pictures here.

Spoiled Rotten!

I know it's been said a million times over, but the craft blogger community is the most generous out there!  Y'all are the best!   I have been so touched and moved by the thoughtful packages that have shown up in my mailbox.  The mail has been very good these past few days.

Mary Ann totally shocked me with this package.  She must love going to the post office because this isn't the first time she has surprised me.  This time I wasn't the only lucky recipient, all my kids got something too.  She sent the cutest books to Lily and Alex, both very appropriate for them.  Lily's is about going to school and Alex's is about a cockroach, which he insists is an ant.  Ava got the cutest little play romper.  I tell ya, I can't get enough pink - I love it!  And last but not least,  I was the lucky recipient of some yummy smelling soap and a soothing eye mask.  Thank you so much for everything Mary Ann!!!

Then yesterday, this lovely package showed up at my house all the way from Hawaii from Tasha.  Oh my goodness, isn't that the cutest little outfit?  Again, I LOVE the pink.  Little girl clothes are the best!  As if that wasn't enough, she also sent some great fabrics.  The blue one with barn yard animals on it and the one with strawberries are both flannels.  The orange one is precious Hawaiian themed fabric with bananas wearing grass skirts with "aloha" written all over it.  Too, too cute.  Thank you, thank you, I love it all!!!

One last little tidbit, can you send some "get well soon" vibes to Lily?  She is sick with a virus and has to miss her first ever day of school tomorrow.  My poor baby is totally bummed out, understandably so.  I wish I had a magic wand to make her better.

Friggin' mail!

Look what came in the mail yesterday?  It's that jewelry from the jewelry swap I participated in back in January.  The package clearly had "jewelry swap" written on the outside, but it took a while for me to figure out what it was (I had totally forgotten about it).  Then I checked the postmark - MAR 06 2006 - March 6th????  Since when did it take 4 months for first class packages to get from Texas to Louisiana???  This stuff has been lost in limbo land for so long that the silver was tarnished!  Maybe there's still hope on that long lost package from Brazil?

Enough about the crappy mail system, isn't this jewelry fabulous?  I feel so hip wearing it.  The design of the ear rings is totally cool. Thank you so much Chelsy for making this.  I doubt she even reads anymore after my not acknowledging the jewelry she sent.  Can you believe that she's only been making jewelry for 8 months?

I made another skirt last night, this time out of linen.  I love this skirt, wrinkles and all!  I'm so glad I decided to try it in linen.  I still have some white linen, but I think I'm going to use that on something else, maybe a gored skirt?  Y'all will be sick of me in skirts before this summer is over!

a bunch of stuff

First off, I want to give a great big THANK YOU to Gina for this fabulous painting that she made for Ava.  Oh, how I LOVE it.  I adore whimsical children's art, so this suits us perfectly.  It fits right in with the nursery that Ava has never slept in.  Gosh, I can hardly express how much I love this!!!

As you can see from this photo, I never did get around to making that bumper pad.  Oh well, an unfinished nursery is nothing new to me.  Now I need some more things to hang on the wall - that painting looks so lonely!

Last night I got the chance to spend a little time at my sewing machine, so I whipped up this black skirt.  It is the same pattern as this, made from Burda 08/2005.  The pattern is made for a woven, but I made this out of matte jersey.  To do this, I didn't sew the darts and added an elastic waist.  I think it works fine in a knit.  The only problem is that the skirt is a little big.  I guess I over estimated.  Once I am a bit smaller I'll take it apart and make it fit.  I'm too lazy to worry about that now.

See???  I still have quite a baby belly, especially in the upper abdomen (how did that happen?).  Please remind me never to wear that shirt again!  What was I thinking when I left the house this morning???  All it does is emphasize the largest part of my body - YIKES!!!  I didn't mean to chop off my head, but it was my first time using the self-timer.   My face is the only part of me that looks decent, LOL!

This morning I had to do a two hour glucose tolerance test to make sure that my gestational diabetes has gone away.  The only good part about it was that I had a little time to myself.  Lily and Alex went to my mother-in-laws and I brought Ava with me.  I wore my new skirt to the appointment and was reminded at how much I like this pattern.  I love the curve and the 'swish' factor at the hem.  While there it dawned on me that this skirt would look really nice in linen.  Linen is so summer!  So after my blood was drawn Ava and I ran to Hancock's to pick up some linen.  The selection was poor, but I bought some white and beige linen.  I think these will be some fine skirts.   They're in the wash right now, even though I should be doing "real" laundry.

This is my other work in progress.  I'm in the mood to play around with patch work.  With summer here I am in love with the cool blues and greens.   It will be interesting to see what this becomes.

I have more to share, but I'll save that for later.

Back to reality

My smooth week last week has not been so smooth this week.  That's life.  My house is a wreck, my kids are wild, and my scale is moving in the wrong direction.  Anyway, I'm hoping that this is just a phase and things will be better soon.  For the next two weeks Lily will be at a theater camp all day, so it will just be me and the two in diapers, which has its pros and cons.  Speaking of diapers, my days of diapering two are limited.

Look who decided to start pooping on the potty!  Now really isn't a good time for this, but I can't tell him no.  He's done this all on his own.  He'll tell me "mom, poop NOW", so I help him strip down to get on the potty.  He would rather pee on the floor than in the potty, so there is still a ways to go.  I'm so proud of my big boy!!  I really thought there would be a lot of regression on his part with the arrival of Ava, but the opposite seems to be happening.  He wants to do nothing with being a baby.

I wish I had pictures to prove it, but Ava has started smiling.  She's so sweet!  Breastfeeding is going extremely well and she has finally started sleeping longer than two hours at night.  We get a 4 hour stretch, then a 3 hour stretch.  Now if only I'd learn to go to bed when she first goes to sleep.  I really need to make myself a sling because all this baby wants to do is be on me.  I'd get a lot more accomplished (I think) that way.

Thanks for boosting my ego about the skirts in my previous post, but it really is time for me to buckle down and work on losing some weight.  I'm embarrassed to admit that the scale went up a few pounds lately.  All those oatmeal chocolate cookies aren't helping.  If only breastfeeding didn't make me so ravenous all the time!  I find myself eating constantly, unfortunately not on the best things.  I buy lots of healthy foods, but when you have to grab something quick to eat with one hand, those aren't my first choice.  I still have 20 lbs to lose before I'm back to pre-pregnancy, and I could still stand to lose more.  I think exercise needs to fit into the program, but finding the time is next to impossible.  I'll figure something out. I was able to get in an hour of walking this evening - YAY!!  I can tell already that I'm going to feel it tomorrow.

On the mail front, my back tack package finally made it to the post office.  I really should have mailed it sooner, but I was a little busy.  I was totally surprised to receive a goodie last week - a beautiful bib and burp cloth from Stacy of Mama's Doodles.

Isn't it adorable?  Thank you so much Stacy!!!  I didn't compress the picture so that you can click on it to see a bigger picture.  The detail is amazing.   I don't know how you did it Stacy, but it's wonderful.  Yes, the bib does say Ava on it.  I absolutely love it - I'm tickled pink.  I'm always so impressed with the things you make.

I wish I could report some crafting news, but there isn't much going on there.  Maybe I should make some more skirts?  I did trace and modify a top pattern, so hopefully that will get made up soon.  I'm not stressing about it, so don't look for it any time soon.  Actually, this weekend is the kids' birthday party, so all my energy will be placed on that.  Gosh, I have so much to do!

Is it Wednesday already?

Where has the time gone?  My days and nights blend together.  I have to constantly remind myself what day it is to keep all the Dr. appointments and events straight.  Whew!

We are all doing well, though still getting used to having a baby in the house.  It has not been a smooth ride.  There have been many temper tantrums, lots of tears, and countless wakeless moments (due to an infant and a toddler).  Alex, who for the past few months has wanted nothing to do with his big boy bed decided that he wanted nothing to do with the crib once Ava was home.  This means that he now has the freedom to get out of his bed whenever he wants.  Bedtime is hell.  So much for routines.  All of our routines have been blown out of the water.  Oh well, we'll make it.

Lily has adjusted the best, though she has her moments.  It takes nothing for her to have a meltdown and she isn't listening very well either.  I guess this is to be expected.  At least both Lily and Alex have birthdays coming up, to that's something fun for them to look forward to.

Ava still doesn't have the hang of breastfeeding.  I cancelled my lactation consultant appointment because the three feedings prior to the appointment she was doing great using the breast shield.  As soon as I cancelled she decided to stop all that.  We had one good nursing Monday morning, but it has been pretty hit or miss since then.  I'm going in tomorrow for some help.  It's definitely time to re-evaluate.  She is simply a poor feeder.  She doesn't do all that great with a bottle either.  She still isn't up to her birthweight, but she did gain some weight in the past week.  I have to keep looking at the positives.

I've been meaning to post this, but haven't gotten around to it.  Here is a lovely gift I received from Alicia:

Isn't it all great?  She made two cute burp cloths for the baby, a fabric covered notebook for Lily, a beautiful felt bowl work of art for me, and not pictured was a frog bubble blower for Alex.  We all LOVE our gifts, thank you so much Alicia!  This gift arrived the day I got home from the hospital, so the timing was perfect.  It really brightened my day!

I wish I had come craftiness to show you, but I don't.  Gosh, I can't wait for the days where I can craft again!  My baby weight is falling off (down 35 lbs so far), so it shouldn't be too long before I start cranking out some new skirts for me. 

I hope all the Moms out there had a great Mother's Day.  I sure did.  As much as I dreaded the day because it was also my birthday, it ended up being a nice day.  My day started with breakfast in bed, shared with my kiddos.  They gave me some great, generous gifts, and let me relax most of the day.  We had family over for a late lunch of grilled hamburgers.  A nice time was had by all.  The day reminded me of all the blessings I have been given.  Being a Mom is great, isn't it?

Baby sweetness

Oh my goodness, look what Leanne sent for the baby!  Isn't it amazing?  I'm pretty sure I gasped when I opened the package.  Thank you Leanne, what an amazing gift!  She said in her note that it wasn't a big deal to make, but it sure looks like a big deal to me.  You'll have to excuse my yarn art ignorance, but I believe it is crocheted?  Really, it looks too precious for a baby to wear, perhaps a fancy baby doll.  She also said that she hadn't laundered it yet, but it smells wonderful.  Gosh, this baby sure is lucky!

After seeing this, it occurred to me that I never got the baby a 'going home' outfit, not that my babies ever wore their outfit home, but they did wear it for the hospital picture.  I'm not really a fancy person, just a simple white gown would do, but I have nothing.  Last night Lily and I went shopping for such a garment and didn't find a thing.  It's really tough these days to find simple, gender neutral clothing.  Everything has crap all over it!  I guess I'll try to whip up something before the big day.  Can you believe that I've never made anything for a baby, clothing wise?  This will be a first.  When Alex was born he received a little day gown that I'll use for a pattern, or maybe I'll use the Martha Stewart baby kimono pattern lengthened into a gown.  Decisions, decisions.  Of course I'll also need to make a blanket to use as the picture background, seersucker maybe?  Can you tell that my pregnancy hormones are going crazy?  I've been up since 4am thinking about this.

Speaking of crazy hormones, the nesting craze is in full swing.  Sunday I cleaned out my  toaster oven (totally nasty) and scrubbed the shower, which was equally gross.  It took three applications of soap scum remover to get the bottom of she shower clean (I probably shouldn't admit that), but it's sparkling now.  I even used a toothbrush to get all the little nooks and crannies!  Then yesterday afternoon I found myself on the floor scrubbing the bottom half of the walls, baseboards, and shoe molding in my back hall, where the dog lives.  Now that was nasty - imagine gunked up layers of dog juice, hair and dirt - ewwww!  I probably would have scrubbed the tile grout as well if I hadn't run out of Mean Green.  That stuff is wonderful for cleaning dirt and it doesn't have any awful fumes.

More goodies...

Look what came in the mail - a surprise from Rebecca!  As usual, I tore off all the pretty packaging without taking a picture - I'm so impatient!  I just love the hand knit hat, I can't stop touching it.  I don't think I've ever received anything hand knit before.  Hmm, I may need to start knitting (like I need another hobby!).   Also pictured are two adorable burp cloths (love those fabrics) that are backed with terry cloth.  Not pictured are the little gifts she sent to Lily and Alex, which was so thoughtful.  Lily has yet to remove the Hello Kitty necklace from her body, and Alex has been having a ball growling with the alligator finger puppet.  Rebecca, you sure know how to pick out the perfect gifts!  Thank you so much!!!

I really have been overwhelmed with the generosity from everyone, especially those of you in blog world.  It is truly amazing!  It's a good thing I finished my Thank You Card project this weekend because I need to start getting them in the mail.

Yes, it would have been much simpler to go out and purchase a pack of cards, but I wanted to use what I had.  I love paper.  I really don't know why I buy it because I don't do anything with it, until now.  I worked on these Friday night.  It took me a while to get in the groove and come up with some designs I really liked, but once I got going it was hard to stop.  Here is a sampling of what I came up with.  I really like the second group.  I ended up making about two dozen cards in all, which took much longer than I expected.  Now I need to get busy writing in them!