ruffle scarves

are on their way!

I'm excited about these scarves! I will be selling them at the Spoon River Drive and will have them in the shop shortly after that. There's red ones, dark pink ones, teal ones, brown ones, black ones, yellow ones, and orange ones. Ruffles are big right now!

day out at the mall

We went to the mall yesterday with Matt. That's right, Matt went to the mall. But only because he wanted a new pair of cowboy boots. (hahaha)  There was a photobooth right outside of the store and Matt is a slower shopper than I am. So the boys and I went out and took some pics. 







Hope you had a great weekend!

a little weekend inspiration

I painted my living room a few weeks ago. It's "sharkey gray" from Martha Stewart at Home Depot. It looked gray-er at the store. At home on the walls, it's a little more taupe. But I really love it. I also painted my woodwork white. Everything looks so fresh and clean now--that is, until someone takes a crayon to the lower half of the walls.



I finished up this little wall today. I love that canvas of the boys but on the new gray walls, it didn't really jump out. So I saw a blog (of course, now I can't find the reference) where they had a huge white frame with wallpaper behind it and then they hung pictures inside the frame. I found the fabric at Joann. I can't remember the name of it though.

The bench is my sister's old bed. Mom and I had the idea to turn it into a bench and Dad and Matt put it together. I think they did that the first year we were married. I don't really remember not having that bench since I've been married. Mom made the cushion for me (before I really knew how to sew). It's a toile. She did such a good job on it, I hate to redo it. But I think it looks cool with it still. The pillow is not finished yet. But it's that Denyse Schmidt fabric panel...it already looks like it's been pieced together.



The frame is just some trim from Lowe's. For the size I wanted, I had to buy two 8 foot pieces. They were around $7 apiece. The black "life" thing is wooden and from Gordmans. I just really liked the attitude that it had. I wish I always acted the second way. The little teal pot is from Gormans too. My mom made the other vase in a ceramics class that she took. It's signed "Sue '77" on the bottom of it. That was four years before I was even born. Cool, huh? I love that she made it.

Well, I will probably not get that pillow done until after the Spoon River Drive. I also have some fabric that I'm going to add to the bottom of my curtains to make them floor to ceiling. I got a lot to do! Hope this inspires you to spruce up your house this weekend!

just zippy

Getting ready for the Spoon River Drive. It goes on the first two weekends in October. I grew up just a mile from the Spoon River, so the drive is something that I grew up with too! You have to come, eat the food, and buy some handmade goodies or some antiques! I will be set up at "The Shed". It's on Rt 116 in between Farmington and London Mills (the best places to go on the drive).



These are just some of the little zippy pouches that will be available there. I'll be adding things to the shop after the drive so keep a look out for them!

just a quick post

I've been experimenting with the timer on my camera. I love this shot of me and Bo. I wish he'd get his fingers out of his mouth. And I wish we could burn that blanket (you would too if you could smell it). But this is the last year he will be home with me all the time. He'll start preschool next year.

MOPS

When I was a new mom and Slone was not even a year old yet, my friend Amy invited me to a MOPS meeting. I think she asked me 3 or 4 times before I went. I am so glad I did. Those women kept me sane, knowing that they were going through some of the same feelings that I was kept me strong. MOPS stands for Mothers of PreSchoolers. It's a nation-wide organization that has groups all over the country.



We get together to chat, to encourage one another, to pray for one another, and to have fun.



Those girls have become some of my best friends. Our group has evolved since then, some have "graduated" from MOPS, some got jobs, some moved away, and some new ones have come to join. But our group of girls is having a great time this year! We are having some awesome speakers come in. And we are doing some great new crafts.



I know that I sound like a broken record, but I would have never went if Amy wouldn't have asked me so many times. I really wish that you all would come and be encouraged!

Marci and Michelle got some air on this one:)

You know you want to try it out after seeing that:) Here's our website...visit it now!

Meeting Mattie

Yes, I call my husband Mattie. Yes, he hates it. Yes, I don't care...he calls me Sunshine. Glad we got that out of the way.

I went out to camp that night to be a counselor for the weekend retreat in May of 2000. I saw Matt but didn't know who he was, but I knew I wanted to find out. Our mutual friend Twig had been trying to set us up for a couple of months but it had never worked out. Well, Twig was there and grabbed me, telling me I needed to meet this boy. Tell me something I don't know, I thought. Matt was the most beautiful boy I had ever see in my life.  Seriously, look at him.



I was in love right then. I hardly even heard what Twig was saying when he introduced us. Then I realized he was telling us how we would be perfect for each other. I could've killed him! I was so embarrassed. But the next day, Matt and I started to get to know each other....far away from Twig. That night I had to work, and oh yeah, I had to break up with my boyfriend, because I knew I was going to marry Matt.  I was on the phone at work telling my boyfriend we need to meet that night and Charity came into the back room yelling he's here! Sure enough, Matt showed up with Twig, no less, but he was there.



After that we were pretty much inseparable, that is until that fall. Earlier that year, before I met Matt, my sister Laura had asked me to come to South Carolina and live with her for a semester and coach volleyball with her. I knew I didn't want to back out of that, but Matt thought it was a good idea for me to go. As excited as I was to live with Laura, I did not want to leave him. But I did. I knew he loved me when he drove all the way down there for Labor day weekend.



We ended up getting engaged the following May. It was actually Lyn's idea for us to get married at the camp. We both thought it was a great idea since that's where we met. We got married on September 8, 2001. That morning was overcast and I thought it was going to rain all day. It actually cleared up and the sun came out, and in my opinion, had the best outdoor wedding ever. I remember thinking I didn't want it to end.



We lived here for the first 4 years we were married. Slone was born while we lived there. I loved that little house. It had stained glass windows and the cutest little porch.  We've since moved to the house we live in now, started the trucking business, had our share of ups and downs, but we've survived this far.

new shop and some baby bedding

Well, it's probably time for a little change up in how I sell my goods. Etsy is fine and dandy and it works extremely well if you are going to spend a lot of social time there. I did that for awhile, but for now, I just don't have the time to be part of their different groups and forums. I don't have any hard feelings, just ready to move on.



So my goods will be available here. It seems more streamline and simple to me. And you don't have to go through two checkouts like you had to on Etsy. The new shop will be a little bare until the Spoon River Drive is over. I'll be set up there so I don't want to have any double sales!

I've also spent the last couple of weeks working on a baby crib bedding set for an expecting momma. She picked out all the fabrics and I made a crib bumper, crib quilt, and crib skirt for her. They are going to look so good with her espresso furniture.



That's the bumper pad all tied up. I think they look cool like that:) All of the fabrics are from Amy Butler but the series of fabric has been discontinued.



I met the new mom and she had a pretty good idea of what she wanted. She looked around on different sites looking for crib bedding and found some fabric that she liked. We ordered it, and I got to work. That's about all there is to it! If you are interested, there is a link in my shop to order your own custom bedding.

Sew Fun 2 September Block

Well, this is the first time I have ever tried a block this detailed. Love the end result.



Was not so crazy about putting it all together. It was a pretty tedious block. I'm pretty sure I would never make it through a quilt of these. So, that being said, it's a terrific block for bees! Let everyone else do the work on them!

Really though, it's quite cool. Lauree picked out some awesome colors! Can't wait to see her end result.

I almost forgot...

Senior year. How could I forget? Well, I kind of want to forget. I was angry that year. Didn't have a lot of fun. My husband, Matt, always says he would love to go back to high school. NO WAY! I couldn't wait to get out of there. Our class had dwindled down to 5 kids...including me and a foreign exchange student. Emma, my best friend, had a boyfriend and asthma and somehow that always equaled skipping school. So I didn't really have anyone to hang out with...except the boys.

Oh sheesh, the boys. I had a crush on any of them that didn't have a crush on me back. There was a kid named Jonathan. He repeatedly told me he loved me. He was sweet but he was a sophmore. Someone dared him to kiss me one time. He did it. I was shocked, I didn't think he had the guts. He actually became a pretty good friend after that. We ended up working together at the Hungry Hobo...oh yes, the Hungry Hobo, it's a sandwich shop.

I was named to the all-tournament team for the four year in a row that year at our conference volleyball tournament. It was by coaches vote. My own coach didn't vote for me though, just because I had won it before. She evidently thought the love needed to be spread around. Really hurt my feelings. If that wouldn't have been the end of the season, I might have just quit.

For our senior trip the four of us...sans exchange student...went to Cancun. We raised money all year long, doing some crappy work for people. We collected pop cans, total waste of time. We threw dead ducks out of little hunting stands so these crazies could send their bird dogs out after them to retrieve them. That actually made us the most money. We ended up in a crappy hotel but it was right across the street from Senor Frogs. We laid out all day then went dancing at night. It was a crazy trip. I'm not going into many details on that one. But I'm sure that our Spanish for "virgin" strawberry daiquiris was lost in translation. (remember, we were Christian school kids...I still cannot believe they let us go:) 

I graduated third in my class...haha. I enrolled at the community college and worked all summer at camp and the Hobo.

The next year I met Matt. I knew I would marry him the moment I met him.  But I will save that story for next week.

a stencil bag

Not really a fan of stencils. When I think of them, I think of the little hearts and the country blue ribbons that everyone used to paint on the bulkheads in their kitchens. You know what I'm talking about. But this bag is just way too cool. I can't take credit for it though. Here's where I got the idea. But I'm going to show you how to do it.




You need a paper doily. You can find these with all the cake making stuff at Hobby Lobby or Joann. I found a pack of the bags (they come in 3s) and some fabric paint in the same aisle at Hobby Lobby. You also need some spray glue. I have some quilt basting spray which is esencially spray glue and it worked just fine. Just make sure to spray it all.

Position your doily where you want it and start painting. It works best if you "pounce" the brush instead of actually trying to brush it on. Make sure that you pull the doily off while the paint is still wet too. Then you need to draw your initial on the bag. I traced around a metal "w" that I have sitting on my desk. It turned out to be the perfect size.



Then paint it in.



Like it? Want to make one with me? Come to our MOPS group on Monday, September 13. It's the craft that we are going to do. Click here for some more info on MOPS.

What? No award?

Nine years, people, nine years. Nine years ago at this time (6pm) I married Mattie. I can remember talking to Lyn the week before I married him and she asked me to name off some of the things I didn't like about him. The only thing I could think of is that he bit his fingernails (still does). Oh brother, how naive.

Seriously, the first few years were the absolutely hardest thing I have ever done, hands down. But I am completely sure that it has been worth it...even if he did buy me an excursion for my anniversary this year.



Love you, Mattie. Wouldn't have it any other way.