Tidbits

Finally pictures of the beautiful clothing my mum made and sent to me. It took me longer to get the straps pinned and sewed on then it took her to make the entire dress... I am just so slow lately! I LOOVVVE this dress and the fabric- it reminds me of drapes (this is a good thing) which reminds me of the movie The Sound of Music when she sews clothing for the kids out of the drapes... and the mustard yellow color makes me so happy!
Uber was not doing a great job with the pictures so this is the best out of the bunch and I have no idea why I was pointing at the plant... I was trying to get the jasmine behind me in the photo to show my mum how huge it is. And I just realized that these are in the wrong order since I FINALLY got a hair cut... 7 months is too long to go without a hair cut! She had to chop a lot off to make it healthy... plus all the hair my stylist is cutting right now is being collected to make mats that will suck up the oil spill... not sure on all the details but hey why not give your hair for a good cause right?!
This skirt is great it feels like air on and is so comfortable to put on because it doesn't put a ton of pressure on my stomach. SOOOO nice ! The belly bands you can buy are great for extending your non maternity wardrobe but my stomach tends to hurt from all of the pressure by the end of the day!

My tiny garden is growing like crazy

And just for fun... hmmm fun maybe the wrong term... I came across this cleaner at Williams-Sonoma and had to try it out. This totally satisfies my OCD tendencies I have an awesome stainless steal cleaner that is environmentally friendly and does wonders for the inside of my pots but I couldn't get the bottoms of my pots clean (these stains long predate the cleaner and wouldn't budge). Bar Keepers Friend does an amazing job everything looks brand new again with very minimal scrubbing. I'm totally in love!

Feel free to laugh at my need to keep the bottom of my pots clean... I know I have issues!

Ready for Halloween

I'm all ready for Halloween after some quick projects with stuff I had laying around the house. Aslan got a witches hat. Which is totally cracking me up - it's HUGE! It took Uber a little while to figure out what I was doing... luckily he laughed when he realized!

After seeing Jennifer's bat garland I just had to do some for myself. It turned out really well though I wish the ribbon I found had been longer.

They're made out of felt with embroidered faces. I used a double stretchy stitch for the detailing on the wings so they crinkle and hold themselves up.

I wasn't to particular with my stitching just had fun with it.

This whole garland making thing is addictive I want to make more now!!

I really thought I had more to say.

My clematis are going crazy... definitely one of my favorite flowers... who know they could grow so well here!
I've been making bookmarks. I got an order from a girl at work for two for her mom, so I made 3 extra for the shop. I'm having a hard time not keeping them since they are so sparkly... MUCH better pictures are up in the shop... so go check them out. I will definitely be making more of these to keep!

Working on some cute packaging for things I hand deliver. This is my first try... I think the sticker needs to be smaller but other than that I'm digging it.

I was contacted yesterday by a local shop that is interested in having me rent space in their store... I'm not sure about the whole renting part. We are going to run by and check it out today so we will see. Either way it's nice to be contacted.

My Week

Tomatoes were used for hamburgers

Pepper was used in pasta

Cleaned and hosed off the porch... finally filled in every hole we could possibly find and so far no more lizards have gotten in. Ahhh!!! What a relief!

Sunday this started... and it hasn't stopped since...seriously we are flooding... I am REALLY hoping it is going to stop by tomorrow we have company coming in for a weekend of outside fun... at the moment not sure that will be possible... we were low on water... you should see the river it is CRAZY full now it's not as bad as the tropical storm last year but it feels like it... it's just a north eastern.

I just minutes ago finished this custom order growth chart - terrible pictures but it is going to it's new home tomorrow so this is the best they are going to get.

It's for 4 children 2 boys and a girl (the 4th isn't known yet). Monkeys, butterflies, and a turtle were requested.

I am really digging it.

Butterflies

the monkey.... this had me worried but I LOVE him! I think he may be showing up again.

I snuck in a cocoon and caterpillar. The turtle is hanging out in the grass.

I used my very first tag see it?

Well I am off. Hope you all have a good weekend!

April

How are we already in April? 1/3 of the year is gone! We had a killer storm take us from March into April... Florida obviously doesn't understand the rules of March.
I have been so busy. With lots of random things some of which I will be showing you shortly (hopefully). For now I thought I would show you the reason you don't see quilts being made around here...
We picked this fabric up in the L.A. fabric district for an unbelievably cheap price we were there over a long weekend and I guess everyone else had better things to do because the place was EMPTY. Needless to say the people really wanted to sell their stuff. I saw this and totally cringed at the $20 yard price tag.... I think by the time we left I paid $4 a yard. It is a two toned blue and gold silk. I had been looking for something to do a quilt in and figured - hey why not!

... let's just say I obviously had no idea what I was getting myself into. I started it with good intentions but quickly ran out of steam... did I mention I was hand quilting? I didn't pick it up again for a year and I think I finally completed it about 2 - 2 1/2 after starting. All of the quilting follows the vines stitched into the silk. I think it looks pretty neat- kind of like a shadow.

The funny thing is I don't really like to sleep under anything but a comforter so this sucker went directly into the linen closet when it was finished. I just pulled it out to snap a picture of it for you I think I am going to leave it on the guest bed though because I am kind of digging it now! I was getting an itch to do another quilt and I think looking at this again has successfully killed that thought.

I thought I would leave you with a little bit of green. My first tomato's have just started to grow- and I do mean just started that smaller tomato is less than 1/4 inch across! The little bit of garden that made it through our frosty winter is starting to take off. My jasmine is blooming and smell sooo good! My local Lowe's will hopefully be getting in the rest of the plants I wanted in next weeks shipment I am SO excited (so are they I'm sure I have been bugging them A LOT)

Also my guitar lesson are going awesome! I am loving it, though my fingers will never be the same again... or my nails for that matter I chopped them off finally and WOW has playing become SO much easier!

I am off to work --

I keep getting distracted by the sun

We have had an absolutely gorgeous weekend here. It was supposed to be overcast and possibly rainy but we have had nothing but sunshine... I even got burnt a little yesterday out at the driving range... Every year I forget how fast the Florida sun will do that to you.
We are relaxing out on the deck for the second Sunday in a row. It's SO nice. There is a very short time here where comfortable deck sitting can happen and somehow last year we missed all of it so I am going to try and make up for it this year! Uber is getting his homework done and I am finally getting back here to say hi (even though I am supposed to be sewing right now)

Speaking of sewing I have a custom order that needs to go out within the week for a Kitchen Aid cover which is my first priority but then after that is done I picked up this fabric last week and I am SO in love with it. The AMH print on the left I got to make a table cloth out of but unfortunately the print isn't centered so I don't think it will look right so I am scrapping that plan(which I am kind of bumming about) and I am going to use it for two new pillows for the living room. The Cotton print (by Alexander Henry) I just TOTALLY fell in love with and it was supposed to be for pillows in the living room but now that I am using the other print I am thinking about making this into a skirt... of the twirly variety. Let me know if you think this is a bad idea... I only have 1.5 yard so it might not even be enough... I don't make clothing so I don't know!

I finally got around to yanking up all of my dead plants yesterday and we ran to Lowe's for replacements. This Hydrangea is to replace a bougainvillea at our front door. The are supposed to do awesome with morning sun and shade .... this front faces the west BUT it gets virtually no sun because of how the entrance is situated so I am hoping that one-ish hour of afternoon sun will be fine for it... if not it will go to the back yard. I've always wanted one of these hopefully it works. The bougainvillea wouldn't bloom here at all.

I am on my third plant in the front planter hopefully this one takes! It's Mexican Heather and I am hoping I never have to plant another thing in this spot... or mulch for that matter ... hopefully it's as hardy as it promises. It sits below a white Crape Myrtle so I think it will be a pretty combination

My strawberry plant is doing awesome

I ate my first berry today! Looks like there will be a lot more.

I finally have my herb garden collected. Two different types of Basil, Cilantro, Chives (if they decided to grow never done them from seeds) and three varieties of peppers for Uber.

I am also doing tomatoes - I am very excited about this ! I ended up making my own upside pot instead of buying one... I think it turned out awesome (and prettier). I ended up doing two varieties the one on the bottom is a patio tomato that should have 2 inches fruit and the one on top is a grape tomatoes which is 1 inch fruit. We will see how it goes...

The rest of my plants I am waiting on to see if they are going to come back or not ... I am going with not but I will give them one more month. I am going to be moving to all container gardening With such a small growing space I think this will help... that way when a plant gets too large I can rearrange it and not have to cut it back. Plus when we have storms I will be able to bring them all in so they aren't damaged. We are playing with the idea of paving out planting area which I am excited about because I hate bark ... one of our neighbors did it and it looks lovely!

Here's a sneak peak at what HAS been taking up all of my time and keeping me from here. I put together a tutorial this last week to make this little bag. Mum is looking it over for me and once she has tried it out and made sure it's understandable I will be putting it up for everyone. I really just think these are so fun to make. So I am hoping you all will too.

Well I need to get to it I think I have procrastinated enough for one day!

Quiet Weekend

I wore flip flops and capris for the first time this year on Saturday. I am so ready for some warmer weather- not hot though!! Of course today was torental down pour and ridiculously windy and cold... go figure.
I couldn't resist the urge to go by Lowe's on Saturday for a few plants. I will have to wait a little longer to get the rest until I am sure there wont be any more freezes. I picked up a Strawberry plant. I am very excited about this, I may do a second pot if these go well.

We used our work table in the garage to get them all planted.

Uber picked out a new pepper plant to add to his others... I know the others look kind of sad, I stopped bothering to water them because I figured they would die with all the rest of the plants I forgot to cover during the many freezes we had this winter... they are going to make it though there is new growth all over them and even a pepper!

I meant to take a picture of how sad my garden is but...I chickened out! I was told to wait until mid-april to see if the plants come back or not... I am really bummed out I hope they do! Last year my hibiscus never stopped blooming so it is sad to see it all twiggish! It's hard to resist the urge to just yank it and start over... I miss seeing bursts of color out my window!

Uber went to the Monster truck rally with a friend. He'd never been to one (not that I have) he said it was fun apparently there were some 75000 people there- ridiculous!

I stayed home and baked a ridiculous amount of banana bread- all in little acorn shapes. And then I made myself a needle book. I can't remember where I saw the idea for this but is was on someones blog. I just winged it from the memory since I didn't have the time or patience to look for it again.

The cover is cotton and the inside 'pages' are linen with a fusible interfacing inside to keep the needles in place. It's all scrap fabric.

It measures 4"x4"

The pages are held to the cover by a chain stich of embroidery floss.

I am totally stoked about how it turned out! Hope you all had a good weekend, I really wish we had more of these available!

**Thanks for all the love on the pillow. The mommy-to-be should be getting it on Monday!