Catching Up

We had a wonderful time in Colorado with Tabetha, Jeremy, Ayla, and Sophie although we realized how much we are missing of their growing up. It also hit home how much I miss just hanging out with Tabetha, always one of my bestest friends even if she is my daughter. We celebrated Ayla's 4th birthday while we were there, a few weeks early, but she didn't seem to care. She talked all year of having a hot dog party and so her mom and I made her a hotdog cake and I have to admit, we impressed ourselves! Ayla announced the morning of her party that she wanted a pink cake so the hot dog was very pink! I had enough cake to make Ayla her very own hotdog and she loved that too! The weather was absolutely beautiful and so we took the party to the park and it was a perfect day. It was also so nice to have Jeremy's sister and her son, Vincent celebrate with us!


Mark went skiing with Jeremy and Jennifer and he had a great time. Fortunately, he came home in one piece!

Ayla loved the puppet theater I made her for her birthday and we laughed hysterically as everyone had to take turns putting on shows. Ayla also packed her new purse with her goodies every time we went out and I'm so glad she liked it. Tabetha used hers as well and that made me happy.

Sophie is not very vocal but she sure lets you know exactly what she wants! What a great smile she has.

Ayla had to wear Pop's ski helmet and goggles, of course, she certainly is his girl! She is holding a little puppy stuffie I made her.



Tabetha and I came up with another one of our "brilliant ideas" while we gallivanted about and now we have to put it into practice. Mums the word until our prototype is finished, but knitters will love it and we hope to have a lot of sales!

A Great Weekend for Productivity!

I will not start quilting, I will not start quilting. I will not quilt anything bigger than a table runner. That's my mantra since I quilted my table runner and enjoyed it so much I decided to make some for Christmas presents. Utilizing my new time management skills, I spend an equal amount of time on both Christmas gift making and my store inventory, more or less. I started Tabetha's table runner today; I just couldn't stand that beautiful fabric sitting in my project to tackle crate! The first major step is completed and it will have an outer border of rectangles and then to quilt, back and bind it. I think it's absolutely beautiful so far! I sure hope she loves it!




I decided to make Ayla an apron since it seems every time I talk to her on the phone she is cooking at the stove and frig Pops made her. I like the spring fabric of this reversible apron and plan on putting it in her Easter basket, with some new felt food maybe!





I made Tabetha a wallet to go in the purse I made her for her birthday and I don't know what it is, but I love making bags and their accessories! This wallet has an inner zippered pocket, 6 card holders, and an inner pocket big enough for a check book. All from two fat quarters (I'm starting to wonder why I love quilting fabric so much!)





Mark gave me my birthday present early, an iPod touch, and I haven't enjoyed a birthday gift more in a very long time. Not only does it do everything my old palm pilot did, but I have listened to music non-stop since I got it. I loaded a bunch of my CD's on it today and listened to music I love but haven't listened to in years! Of course, we loaded some of my new favorites and I have to say, it made an incredible amount of impact on my productivity today! I worked non-stop all to the beat of some great tunes! Every time I play with it, we discover something new and I doubt it will be long before Mark wants his own. I have worked up two prototype ipod cases and this is my latest. I decided I need to hang it like a pouch around my neck so the next one will have a strap. This one will be great to throw in my bag. All again from um, quilting fat quarters! The first one wasn't practical because of the head phone plug, so I put a button hole on the bottom of this one to accommodate the plug. Pretty cool!

Tuesday Tidbits

Not a creative week, but a productive one, none the less. After spending hours tearing apart my craft room looking for a pattern, I decided to forgo sewing and sort out the two full banker boxes full of patterns. A stack of notebooks, a paper punch, my label maker my wonderful husband bought me several years ago when he tried to encourage my quest for organization, and two full afternoons and I am proud to say, everyone of my patterns is filed, labeled and neatly put away! Small victories make me happy!
Baby Lizzie will make her way to Walla Walla, Washington next week, a custom order from a Hyena Cart customer. She has a cloth diaper and while I still have the snaps to put on her sundress and a blanket to wrap her to still make, I wanted to share her sweet face.

I loved the fabric I used for the puppet theater so much, I wanted to use up the large scraps I had left over. I made a friends grand daughter a personalized purse which her Gram decided to fill for Easter instead of an Easter Basket. I was pleased with the end result and in my excitement to give it to my friend, I forgot to take a picture! She was gracious enough to take one (staged with flowers no less) and email it to me!

A long day of sewing

It literally took all day and my neck is killing me from standing over the sewing machine, but I am quite impressed with the completed puppet theater. A birthday gift for Ayla who loves her puppets and certainly needed a theater for her imaginative shows! The theater hangs with a tension rod, has dowels for stablization, curtains that tie back, and it all rolls up to be stored in its matching case.