Meet Grace. She is the youngest kiddo of some of our very best friends. Isn't she the cutest?! Her Grandma Lulu makes the sweetest sweaters for kids. She just opened an etsy shop this week, and I wanted to share the link. I am the owner of two of these sweaters, and can tell you that not only are they cute, but they have lasted through constant wearing by both boys. Check them out here!

Project of the week

The project this week was a quick small quilt for a new neighbor baby. The Fabric was recycled from another neighbor, and super cute. It gave me a chance to try out my new sewing machine foot. The red fabric was really soft, but the hardest stuff I have ever sewn.
I also started way too many new projects. Hopefully this week I'll have a few finished to post....

Score!

Look what I found at the thrift store yesterday. There are 52 of the most colorful shooter marbles I've ever seen. Some are a little dinged up but I don't mind.
I'm off to make magnets.

Last week I sold some of thumbtacks on Etsy, and realized I was out of bubble mailers. I usually save any that come in the mail to reuse , or grab them from a neighbor who seems to always have a supply coming in. I googled how to make my own and found a bunch of tutorials. I decided to combine a few and came up with this. It's made from a paper grocery bag and ran through the sewing machine. I wrapped the thumbtacks in bubble wrap instead of lining the envelope, so I was able to use the scraps I had. I'm so excited about these, they are so easy. Now I've got a pile on my table ready for the next order.

five

My project of the week this week was a campfire birthday party for Mitchel. As far as parties for boys turning five goes, I think this one turned out great. It was short and sweet, only an hour and a half, after dinner. We invited people who could walk or ride bikes, had a campfire, campfire songs, sparklers, glow sticks, and alot of boys playing tag in the dark. My favorite part, instead of a cake, we had a smores buffet. If you would like to see a couple of great pictures of the evening, check these out. This one is my favorite. Thanks for bringing your camera Melissa.
Last week I was "tagged" by my friend Leah. I was supposed to tell seven things about myself, since I decided to combine posts and wanted to keep a common theme... here are five.

1. I did not plan to be a stay at home mom. Things changed. I think it is the best/hardest thing I have ever done. Before I had Mason, I was signed up to begin a Master's of Education program. I was all ready to go and had him signed up for daycare and everything.

2. I am a cancer survivor. Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma. This halloween marks 8 years since I finished radiation treatments, and have been cancer free.

3. When I first decided to start my own business, I was making soap. I made wire and bead dragonflies to decorate my booth at a craft sale and people were much more interested in them than the soap. My wire and glass work grew from there.

4. I'm a nail bitter. I wish I wasn't!

5. I've had long hair as long as I can remember. I've thought about cutting it many times but always chicken out. It used to be bigger. I forgot how big until I recently found a picture of me with two college roommates on spring break.


According to the rules, I am supposed to tag more people. Since I'm already breaking them, I'm going to break that one too. If you've read all this and want to play along, let me know. Here are the rules;
1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, interesting, random, or weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by including links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.

I taught another mosaic class last night at the DIY Lounge. It's so fun seeing how everyone starts out with the same materials and comes up with such different ideas. If you are interested in signing up for classes check out the link above. If you didn't see the piece about the DIY Lounge on last week's Oregon Art Beat you can see it here.

Girly Headbands

Here is a quick pic of this week's project of the week. Headbands. They are gifts, so I didn't want to show too much. I found the free tutorial here, and am excited that we finally have girls in the family to make things for. I'm already late posting these, but really they were done, just postponed by the computer issues I was having. Matt completely reloaded everything. Now it feels like a new computer. I can't believe I let it go for so long. The other project that got finished around here....both raised beds finished and planted with garlic, broccoli, cabbage and lettuce. It is so strange to me to be putting things in this time of year. I'm excited to see how it works.

Project of the week

Last week, Lea brought it to my attention how quickly the holidays are coming. She started posting a project of the week on her blog on Mondays. If I can keep myself organized enough, I will be joining her by posting one here on Mondays too. Because we have a bunch of birthdays before the holidays, we decided to make cards this week. Mason was introduced to collage and artist trading cards at school, so we went with it. I don't have pictures of the finished products. I was scrambling to make it to the post office before they closed and forgot to snap some, but here you can see the in process shots.
Next week, I hope to have a more exciting project, and will take pictures. Thanks again Lea, for the great idea, and helping me keep organized for the crazy times ahead.

The Sampler

The Pdx indie city sampler is available for purchase starting today. There are only a limited number available, and they look awesome. Check them out here.