Fabulous Fabric Friday pt. 2

Today I'm highlighting some very popular fabric designers who have inspired so many crafters, new and established! The first is probably the most famous and is why my own fabric obsession began.



I adore Amy Butler fabrics and patterns. And her website's fabulous too don't you think? I wish she had a blog. I still want to have a Little Daisy's flower nap pillow made for Sugar & Spice. I found the pattern online today so I'll probably order it and then see if I can find someone to make it for me. Any volunteers? :o)



Anyhoo, here's a sneak peek of Amy's new Spring 08 collection called Midwest Modern:



The collection will be out this April. To see the rest of the colorways click here!

The next designer became an instant favorite with his first 3 collections in 2007.



Surprisingly I don't have anything made with Joel Dewberry fabric! I really will have to rectify that. :oP His newest collection called Ginseng will be out this May. It looks beautiful! Here's a sneak peek:



To see the rest of the colorways in this collection click here! Once again he has a beautiful website but alas no blog.

Lastly, I wanted to share a fabric designer who is new to me but probably not to most of you sew crafty ladies. ;o) Her name is Tina Givens. She has a blog too. I had seen her chandelier fabric here and there but when I found her blog and saw this fabric colorway...



...I fell in LOVE! I can't wait for her new collection called Chloe's Imagination to come out this spring. It is soooo my style! Check out the other colorways in this collection on Tina's blog.

Stay tuned for more "fabric love"...next Friday! :o)

Wordless Wednesday : Easter Gift

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Random Fun!

I've been a "busy bee" this past weekend and have a number of jewelry pieces done. Yay me! Unfortunately I haven't been able to take pics yet. I'm hoping to get that done this week and then list them on ETSY this weekend. I'm very excited! It's a spring collection and I have to say I've been very inspired lately. I can't wait to show you! :o) I'll also be revamping the design of the store banner to reflect my new "style".

In the meantime, here's some random fun!

Why God Made Moms
(Answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions)

How did God make mothers?
1. He used dirt, just like the rest of us.
2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
3. God made my mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What's the difference between moms and dads?
1. Moms work at work and work at home and dads just go to work at work.
2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
3. Dads are taller and stronger, but moms have all the real power 'cause that's who you ask if you want to sleep over at your friend's.
4. Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

Who's the boss at your house?
1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's such a goofball.
2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.
3. I guess mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?
1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.
2. I'd make my mom smarter. Then she would know it's my sister who did it, not me.
3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.


The above was in my Moms of Multiples group newsletter. I just had to share it. :o)

Fabulous Fabric Friday

Today I wanted to highlight some exciting new and upcoming fabric collections for 2008.

First off, my absolute favourite fabric collection out right now is Ginger Blossom by Sandi Henderson.



If you haven't seen her debut collection or heard of Portabellopixie then you need to surf on over and read her blog. You'll be treated to beautiful and inspiring pictures, children's clothing designs, patterns, tutorials and of course her spring-inspired fabric!



I've already snagged a headband for myself that I saw when I was perusing pics in her Flickr group. It's made by Island Girl Bags on ETSY. Want one too? She has a few left, just click here.

Alas, no fabric yet for me. :o( If my local quilt shop doesn't order any than I'll need to shop online asap. I hear it's selling out fast! Congrats Sandi and Happy Birthday too! :o)



Next up is Anna Maria Horner, a multi-faceted designer who has appeared on The Martha Stewart Show and already created two amazing fabric collections so far; Bohemian and Chocolate Lollipop.



Anna's newest fabric collection, Drawing Room, promises to be something quite different from her first two collections yet still has her distinctive design aesthetic. I can see this fabric used in a lot of home decor projects. To see a full preview of the fabrics and colorways in this upcoming collection click here! Anna's blog is another feast for the eyes isn't it?

I just discovered the designer Melissa Averinos and her blog Yummy Goods this week. I'm really loving her blog but even better just a couple of days ago she posted a preview of her debut fabric collection Sugar Snap!



I adore the colors and the interesting designs. I expect her collection will do very well. :o)

What do you think of these collections? Are there any new or upcoming collections you're really excited about?

Stay tuned for Fabulous Fabric Friday pt 2...next Friday of course. ;o)
*So many fabrics so little time*

Wordless Wednesday : The Good Life

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Our Little Tiger Cub

It's official, Mr. Smarty Pants is now a Cub Scout!
Actually I signed him up a few weeks ago but I just got his uniform yesterday. Before that he was wearing his Tiger Cub t-shirt to the meetings. He's been to two meetings so far and he gets more and more excited about it every day. I was worried he would lose interest but this seems to be a real winner. Go mom!

When I got the uniform yesterday I tried it on him and took a couple of pics. Doesn't he look cute? He didn't want to take it off either! I hadn't added the patches at that point.



I plan on making him a Cub Scout scrap book with pictures, activities, badges/awards earned, etc so I'm going to take pics at all of the cub scout meetings and events. I missed the first meeting since I was down with the flu but Honey was able to take him. He didn't bring the camera though. The second meeting I left my camera on the table so the next day we went outside and took pics of the activities they did.

That meeting was all about hearing. First the scouts learned about Sign Language and what it's like to not be able to hear. Mr. Smarty Pants was a quick study and learned how to sign his name. Take a look!



Next they made "telephones" out of cups and cord. Remember these? They worked very well and the scouts got a real kick out of communicating with each other.



Lastly they talked about what kinds of animals have very good, or in some cases, specialized hearing. The cubs were asked to name some of the animals and of course dogs and bats were thrown out there but then Mr. Smarty Pants chimed in with "Bald Eagle". I nearly fell out of my chair. That's my boy! :oP
After discussing animals they did another craft where they made better "ears" for hearing, but mostly they ended up using them as megaphones. LOL!

I can't wait to find out what we're doing at the meeting tonight. Mr. Smarty Pants got to wear his uniform to school today. He was soooo proud this morning! I should have gotten another pic!

So are you wondering about my enthusiam for scouting? The reason why I've decided to be his partner (most of the time) instead of Honey is that I was very involved in Campfire Girls when I was a kid. I was involved for at least 7 years, including the camp every summer. I started off as a Bluebird. I remember I just LOVED the idea of being a "bluebird".

Sadly, the Campfire Girls do not exist in the same form as I remembered it. There's been a number of changes through the years and the latest was the organization changing their website, name and logo(again). They're now called Camp Fire USA and the logo looks too modern in my opinion.




Here are the older logos that I'm familiar with for comparison:
(they just kept getting more and more modern looking)




When I was in CFG in the 70's to 80's they were just starting to have boys join. I remember very few boys at our summer camp. Did you know that Campfire Girls was created around the same time as Boy Scouts? It was meant to be the "sister" to scouts so to speak. You can read more about that here!

Alas Bluebirds no longer exist either. Now you become a Little Star when you join. I'm a nostalgic sort so even though I know change can be good I really do miss the past. Campfire Girls was such a BIG part of my life growing up. I need to dig up all the old pics I have of me in parades and selling candy....ahhhh the memories! Time to start rummaging through the boxes in the garage. I did come across my patch vest and my hat/beret last week. THAT was fun! Mr. Smarty Pants got a kick out of it too when I showed him the patches and what they were for. I will have to take a pic of my vest, hat and beads to show off. My mom had actually sewn on all of my CFG beads in beautiful patterns on the vest but during my college days I took them off to play with making jewelry. Stupid college kid! Oh well. Atleast I saved the vest and most of the beads.

Btw, if anyone is an alumni of the Campfire Girls from the San Fernando Valley area in CA and/or went to Camp Yallani from about 75' to 82' please give me a shout. Oh and if you were a camp counselor then too I would love to hear from you. I had a favorite counselor my first year at Yallani that used to carve animals out of soap. I think I was about 6. I absolutely adored her! I was extremely sad to leave camp that summer. I couldn't find any info on Camp Yallani when I Googled it and also looked it up in the Camp Fire USA directory to no avail. I'm guessing the camp no longer exists. I would love to know what happened to it. I really do have to dig up all those pics and do a post dedicated to my old Campfire days. Won't that be fun? Oh come on, indulge me.

Anyway if you're interested in getting your kids into any of these "camping/service" type of organizations here's a list of links so you can check them out:

Boy Scouts of America

Girl Scouts of America

Campfire USA

American Heritage Girls


Do you know any other organizations to add? Leave a link in the comments.

WO-HE-LO! :o)

Puppies Are Sooo Cute...

...when they're small!

When we first got the puppies they were so cute and itty-bitty...but now they're frankly getting to be a BIG hassle. I really hate to say that as I'm an animal lover but Honey and I had talked for a couple of years now about not being tempted into getting any new pets. We did really good until last month when a friend of ours offered one of their puppies for free.

Some background:
Mr. Smarty Pants has wanted a puppy for quite some time now and has been very specific about what kind he wants. When he was 2 years old he had a pretty bad fall and I got him a stuffed chocolate lab toy as a comfort gift after leaving the ER. He named him Brownie and it has been his favorite "buddy" ever since. He's always said that someday he wants a real "Brownie". We had two(very old I might add) Pomeranians, rented a house with no backyard, and we knew we would be having more babies in the future and felt it wouldn't be a good idea to get a puppy any time soon. I also thought he should be older and more responsible before taking on a pet of his own.
Ok, so fast forward to the present. We have our own home(our first) which we moved into a little over 2 years ago, both poms have passed away, the babies are now toddlers and we're being offered a chocolate lab for free by a friend. How could we say no?

What was NOT given much thought to in this decision:
Cost. Training. Mr. Smarty Pants is really not an outdoorsy-type and has other "issues"(I'll save that for another post) that might make taking care of a dog not a good idea right now. Puppies pee in the house!!! This is a HUGE pet peeve of mine! The Poms lived for 16 & 18 years and peed all the time in our rental houses, especially as they got older. I cut baby diapers for the dogs to wear. Seriously! Guess who always had to clean any messes? Ummm yah, that would be me! Sooooo, I'm taking care of a house that frankly is too big for just little ole me to keep up with, twin toddlers entering the "Terrible Two's" stage, a hyper 6 1/2 year old with behavioral issues, and now I'm supposed to take care of, train, feed, clean up after, give attention to, a puppy! On top of that when we go to see these "conspiracies against otherwise sane adults"...um...I mean puppies, we end up getting 2!! What?? Honestly, I have NO idea how that happened. I think my brain got left behind at the house. I really do love animals, especially baby animals. *violin strings in the background* Besides, if you place any type of temptation in front of me...let's just say the results are usually predictable. My family is completely no help to me whatsoever in these matters. Normally they encourage bad behavior. I don't buy soda, cookies, cake, ice cream, etc, when I do the grocery shopping. Honey inevitably brings something "bad" into the house when he does the shopping and if it's in the house I'm completely and utterly defenseless. *sigh*

Soooo Honey drags me and all three kiddos out to see these adorable "temptations" and then everybody gangs up on me. "Awwww, these two are sooo cute together" (We're told the smallest ones, brother and sister, are the runts of the group and bonded with each other as the others picked on them.) "I don't think they should be parted"..."Aww couldn't we get them both?" so I say(drumroll please), "OK!"
Brain? Braaaaiiin?? Where are you??????

I'll admit at first everything went great and Mr. Smarty Pants loved playing with the puppies. They were adorable and cuddled up with us and were quiet and SMALL. Now, they're getting big, chewing on everything, barking and whining all the time and Mr. Smarty Pants has lost pretty much all interest in playing with them, let alone taking care of them. It doesn't help that the girls are kind of scared of them. Especially Sugar since there was a little biting incident the first day we brought them home.




I have no time to train them or give them much attention and of course no one else is training them or taking care of them. Our backyard is wayyyy too small for 2 large untrained dogs, who like to pee on the cement patio instead of the grass, oh and in the house too if we let them in(why do I always get the pee dogs??) and now the girls can't play outside because the puppies jump up and knock them over and generally terrorize them. These dogs are not even full grown yet. I'm afraid for my patio furniture. Did I mention that they are big on chewing things?

So in the spirit of nostalgia I thought I would post some pics of the puppies the first day we got them.



I know I'll eventually look back on all of this and laugh and the puppies will probably turn out to be exceptionally good dogs but right now?...I'm kinda losin my mind! :oP

Have a great weekend!