More and More and More

I think I might have a new addiction - shirts. I can get about 3-4 shirts done a day so they really don't take long. I have one more to paint and then I am all caught up on my orders :o( should that really be a sad thing? Oh well, here are some shirts I finished today and yesterday.






Whatever will I do once the 4th is gone?

Look what I made!

I get so excited when I make something - especially something that actually turns out like I envisioned. It all started with button shirts, then it quickly moved to hair bows, but ultimately I wanted to do more shirts, with paint. I made two shirts yesterday, one for my friends son Noah and one for Summer. Both shirts are inspired by the upcoming Forth of July, one of my favorite holidays. What can I say, I love a good BBQ and hamburgers, I am truly all American. Anyway this is what I created.

The Noah shirt, or more importantly a shirt for a boy, since I have been making so many bows for girls I wanted to make something for a boy.

A big curly bow, love it!

The Summer heart shirt, with sewn on bow, she liked it!

Another big patriotic bow, because you can never make them big enough.

So, who wants a shirt?

First Vacation in 2011

Our first vacation in 2011 was super quick but we managed to pack in a ton of stuff! We arrived late Thursday night and before heading 50 miles south to our hotel we stopped at The Black Eyed Pea for some chicken fried chicken. I guess we are one of "those" people who miss living in Colorado just because we loved that place, the fried okra, the peach cobbler ... anyway it was wonderful. By the time we arrived to our hotel we were stuffed and it was bedtime. Friday morning brought us an adventure further south to a mountain area with small lakes. It was a beautiful day and we managed to take a few cute pictures.






After we spent a few hours hanging out in the fresh air we ate at a small restaurant in some small town and the food was decent. We headed back to the hotel in the early afternoon to meet up with the rest of the incoming family who had finally arrived. After getting our hugs the girls decided it was time to swim in the motel's indoor heated to 90 degree pool. 5 hours later .... yes I said 5 hours! They swam so long they started to get a rash from the intertubes but they had a blast.


Saturday morning was the actual "reunion" and we had a big group of people. We ate, hung out and talked and the kids went swimming again for most of the day. I don't know how Summer didn't learn to swim as much as she was in the water. I am pretty sure she learned how to breath under water :o)

Here are a few people who were at the reunion - not all by far!

The girls playing in some rocks at the lake, the lake that was near our motel where many of the family reunion members camped.


Some train cars near our motel.


On Sunday most everyone left, well I guess everyone left - even us, but our flight wasn't until 7:30 PM so we had the entire day to find something to do. We decided we would go visit the sand dunes. It was pretty sandy but pretty cool!




Summer is such a pro at flying, she fell asleep and stayed asleep during the flight there and back. She is like me, the plane puts me right to sleep!

Next stop - the beach, coming in July so stay tuned!

Bows, Bows and More Bows

I have been busy making bows. Well that and running to craft stores to buy more bow supplies. Addiction might be the term I would use. Sure my daughter can wear some of these bows but not ALL of these bows, so I am slowly giving them away to my friends, the ones who have daughters anyway. Poor little boys, what could I make them? I have an idea and I am actually working on that ... to be continued.

In the meantime I figured I should take some decent photos of some of the bows I made. Originally I wanted bows for the 4th of July but I saw some really cute and cheap ribbon and made a few other bows too. Here are a few I created within the last two or three days.








I keep looking up "how to make bows" online, and as soon as I find a new bow I have to see if I can make it. So far I have been able to make everything I see. It isn't enough, I want more and more!!! It is probably a good thing we are going on vacation because I seem to be spending a lot of time with a needle, thread, ribbons, and the hot glue gun. Oh and I figured out why they sell needles in packs because I bent my first needle and it doesn't work so well when you bend them. I still haven't figured a use out for my thimble but I do have one, and I had to buy one of those red tomato things to stick my needles in it so I wouldn't stab myself. I feel pretty crafty, ready to tackle the next project I have in mind. In the meantime if you have any bow challenges just let me know, I can do it!

Tomatoes & Bows

I have been feeling 89.74% better, which is a lot considering how it all started. I usually feel great during most of the day - the worse part seems to be at night. I have been so tired at night that I haven't been reading, something I love, which is also why I am behind about 15 books! I will catch up eventually. Overall I guess things are going great, sometimes I don't even feel pregnant. I have been craving a lot of beef if I had to pick anything but I don't know how much of that is in my head...

Anyway enough about me - let's see some Summer! Today we picked our first garden tomato. It was juicy, ripe, red, and ready to eat. I guess anyway, I didn't even taste it but Summer gobbled the whole thing up!




I have also been feeling very creative. First was the button shirt/short set with a matching bow, next came patriotic hair bows. With the help of youtube videos I created two bows today, what do you think?


Next I plan on making some patriotic shirts, I can't wait!

16 Weeks

I made it to 16 weeks. I hate to continue complaining ... but I am still somewhat sick. Not as sick as I was but still not normal. Plus my energy level is not normal either. Nothing seems normal anymore. I can eat more food, which is probably not a good thing, because then I feel so full it feels like my stomach is going to bust open. Not to mention the unhealthy foods I have been eating, Arby's roast beef sandwich anyone?

I woke up this morning on my back and it appeared that my stomach was nice and flat. Of course as soon as I got up and had breakfast it came back - from who knows where. Oh and I almost think I might actually have a baby, I mean it almost seems real now.

I guess I can't really complain, besides feeling a little sick ALL DAY LONG and not having my normal energy I am happy, content, I have really been feeling the baby move around, things could be worse. I am looking forward to our upcoming trip to Colorado, and then to the beach sometime this summer. A trip to Idaho sometime in the next few months. Plus Summer has a birthday coming up and will be turning 4 years old :o) She is also pregnant too - see.

I actually made something!

I am a creative person, I constantly think of creative things to do or make or become. While laying in bed one night, because that seems to be where I do most of my creative thinking, you know instead of falling right asleep, I came up with the idea of making a button shirt. I thought it would be neat to make something out of buttons, some sort of design. I do not have a sewing machine nor do I really know how to sew, so buttons seemed like something I could do. I had zero materials but was determined to make this idea happen. I found a shirt at kmart for $2.50. I bought 2, a green one and a pink one. They were pretty plain. I also bought a pair of matching shorts for $2.50. I figured for that price it didn't matter if I ended up ruining them.


I bought bags of buttons for $5.99, thread for .99 cents, fabric glue for a few dollars, a pack of needles for a few bucks. Now I have a pretty neat little unorganized box full of stuff.

Oh I also bought some hair clips because I thought, you can't make a cute button outfit without making cute hair clips!

So, without further ado and a lot of button sewing by hand, I present to you my first creative piece of child clothing!



I would suggest one thing, don't sew the buttons on the back of the shorts. Now I have to clip all those off and redo it on the front of the shorts, but otherwise it turned out very unique!

I don't know yet how it will wash but I tied 6 knots in each button so I hope they stay on. I also don't know what my daughter really thinks of the insides, hopefully the knots aren't poking her, so far she hasn't said anything. Here is what that looks like.

I am so excited, I also bought a thimble but didn't end up using it, and some ribbons - I have an idea about a flag shirt and bows to match, so stay tuned!