chicky*bird

Aw, man

2009-06-10T13:03:00.000-07:00

Okay, so there are definitely still some things I need to figure out. I guess you can't just add www.tiffanyruda.com into your Reader. It's set up more as a website than a blog...

So, I added one of those little RSS doo-hickeys on the site that I hope when you click on you can go through a few painless steps to add it if you'd like.

But if not, hopefully pasting this feed into the Reader you use will do the trick too:

http://www.tiffanyruda.com/?feed=rss2

Sorry all! Still learning!

I moved...

2009-06-09T09:27:00.000-07:00

So, I made the big switch. Blogger really has been good to me but I decided that I'd like to make a little piece of the web my own. I tried and tried and tried to do some sort of promised fancy move that tells everyone who has my blog in their Reader that I've moved and make the whole process seamless, but I couldn't get it to work.

So, I'll announce the old fashioned way. I'm going to shut down this little chicky*bird blog and continue to share my heart at http://www.tiffanyruda.com/. You can just add the website into your RSS or Reader the same way.

The whole process of creating the site wasn't hard, but I've definitely spent many hours figuring out all the glitches and mistakes creating your own website comes with. Not fun. I do love sharing knowledge though...and I'd love to share what I've learned with you, so if you'd like to create a site of your own, please let me know and I'd love to walk you through it, start to finish. I found an awesome Wordpress Blog template perfect for posting nice big pictures if that's your thing. If you are wondering about cost, I bought a year of web hosting for $50. That's just the cost of having www.yourname.com. So, for $50 beans and a little time with yours truly you can have your own website too. :) I'll even help over the phone if we live too far away.

So, hop on over to my new home-when-the-babes-are-napping and relax a little.

I hope you enjoy the new look! Blessings to everyone reading!!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-06-03T03:28:00.000-07:00

Mud

2009-05-29T15:16:00.000-07:00

Little girls that play in the mud in tights, a dress and white Mary Janes are cool. I love my kids. And they like when I let them do crazy stuff when Daddy leaves. Plus, it makes for a great picture. Try it, you'll like it.

Giveaway!!!

2009-05-29T09:01:00.000-07:00

A bliggity blog giveaway. Because I like to make things and free things rock. I'm going to do it every month...here and there and everywhere.

This month, is a camera strap. And don't fret, if you have a point and shoot digital, the wristlet fits perfectly!!! Your pick.

So head on over to http://jenbaltgalvis.com/blog/ and give some love.

Daughter

2009-05-27T19:29:00.000-07:00

There truly is a special compartment in your heart for each child. God made it that way...

2009-05-26T13:01:00.000-07:00

Dear Beautiful Leather Orange Bag,

Why do you have to be $223? If you were $70...maybe even $85...I'd buy you and make you my own and lug you around for years until one of my daughters declared they loved orange and wanted to have you and then I'd hand you down.

If you ever decide that you are worth much less than your current price tag, please contact me because I'd like to make you mine.

Love,
Tiffany

Cleaning Up

2009-05-25T15:05:00.000-07:00

I'm just going to put it out there and admit that Jason and I really don't like to do a lot of house stuff anymore. By stuff I mean major (or minor, let's be real) renovation projects and yard work. Yuck. We did all that jazz already for 3 straight years and through 2 pregnancies. We gutted and refinished the entire house and rented backhoes at least three times and dug up the yard in many spots. We're over all that. So that is why we just sit back and watch Sven do all the landscaping while we sit and sip on ice cold sweet teas. It's great. Oh wait, that's a dream I had.

So, the quickest way to get us to do yard work that we've put off for way too long, is to invite people over. We weed whacked the tall grass, blew off the back patio and pulled weeds. We got out the patio furniture and made the grounds look purdy. We enjoyed a fantastic triple-date-night out on Friday with some delicious sushi eating and topped the night off back at our home with some wild trampoline jumping and tire swinging. It was great.

And I totally just used that story as a reason to share pictures. Enjoy!!

Tree Stump Tables

2009-05-25T08:40:00.001-07:00

I know some of you think I'm a little out there. Sometimes I think I'm a little out there too. This post may not help, but I cannot wait until this project is completed.

I spotted this tree stump side table in West Elm a while ago. I LOVED it. Loved it, loved it, loved it. Not $199 loved it, but it stuck in the decorating section of my brain. I've come to find out that Pottery Barn also sells them at $199 - $299. I think they are fantastic. So earthy and organic. They could go with any style decor.

And so, I will make my own.

My most awesome pals Dan and Amanda just had the most ginormous tree cut down out of their back yarn. We thought our maple tree in our own back yard was big, but one limb of theirs equaled our entire tree. Their backyard is piled with the lumber remnants of this massive tree and they told me that I could have some of the stumps. I went over there yesterday and they loaded three huge pieces into the back of my mama-mobile until the back end sagged. It was great. Amanda is such a warrior in her yellow work gloves.

I found this awesome seemingly easy tutorial on Martha Stewart. And I am totally making as many as are in the picture.

Okay...off to chisel a little bark and let these puppies dry out! You know I'll post a picture!

Day 1 of Our Personal Culture Shock

2009-05-25T07:04:00.000-07:00

Today marks day # 1 of our family's culture shock. No TV. None. Zip, zilch, nada. It started on Saturday when I heard the Lord tell me that we were supposed to remove the television from our lives for now. Not just limit it, because He actually gave me a very clear vision of us wrapping it in bubble wrap and storing it in the garage. I actually argued back to God and said "But what will I do with Reese while I'm homeschooling Abram?" I'm pretty sure God kind of snickered at me. Not a mean snicker, but more like..."I'm sure you'll think of something. You're creative."

But, I ignored Him. I did. I'm just being honest. I shoved that urging as deep as I could. Then on Sunday at church, it came on much stronger. So, I said to God in my head during worship, that if this is for real, than I needed to know how and when to tell Jason because He knew well enough that Jason would put up a fight. That mans loves some TV. He's a media fiend. Same with the kids. This was going to really stink. All He said was to tell him now. Meaning right then and there. So...I wrote it to Jason on the bulletin and he just smiled. That was it. No fight. No argument. No protest. We just took it off the wall together later that day.

The kids questioned it a little but I just told them that this is what God says to do right now. They were okay with that and they said their goodbyes. Literally. At one point Reese said that the TV was going to miss her. I made a comment about Daddy getting a guitar and learning how to play. Out of nowhere, Reese says she'd like a violin and Abram announced he wanted to play the piano. We are SO not a musical family...but God's up to something with us. I'm game for whatever.

It's weird. I don't feel the Lord saying stop enjoying a beer with your husband. Or to minimize your time spent on the Internet. Or don't pine after that new computer. It was very specifically the television.

And so here is a before of the living room corner. The prized flat screen.

Not any more...It's been wrapped up stored away and the wall needs patched.

The room feels empty. I'm hearing noises in the house that I haven't heard before. It's really strange. This morning was a little difficult. I usually plop them in front of the TV while I get down some coffee and check all the things I need to online. Not so today. There is definitely some withdrawal going on in this house with all of us. Our Pastor recently said that discipline, growth and pruning is not always enjoyable. Sometimes its uncomfortable, painful and just plain sucks. (Those weren't his words, they were mine.) But, I'm ready for whatever. Change is good. I'll keep you posted.

White Balance

2009-05-24T03:47:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd share what I've learned about White Balance. It's really kind of interesting. Our eyeballs and our brain work together to make sure that the light and white that we see is always white. Not so through a camera, which gets confused and makes white look yellow or blue sometimes.

So, on all of our cameras is a nifty little feature that lets you adjust the way the camera shows light and white. Depending on the time of the day or what lighting you've got going on indoors when you shoot the picture, people's faces can look unnatural. One thing I've discovered that I (and you) can control is the White Balance. It's an awesome feature and I've realized that I really like the look of cooler shades on the kid's faces and I get to change that setting right on the camera. On this D40 and also on the Canon Powershot A80 I had before, there were settings under White Balance like Incandescent, Fluorescent, Cloudy or Direct Sunlight depending on the light setting you're in when you snap the photo.

I'm liking going right into Auto White Balance and upping the value to make the picture more blue. High numbers cast more blue, lower numbers more yellow. Then just take a quick pic of the face and see which direction you want to go. Try it, you'll like it.

Must. Have. Color.

2009-05-22T12:53:00.000-07:00

God gave us some of the most beautiful colors on Earth didn't He? I can't live without them. I tell you, once you go color, you never go back. It didn't take long before I was thinking up ways to colorize carrying around the camera. I still haven't found a bag for her...I'm holding out for the perfect orange one. I did however, manage to infuse some orange by adorning her with some bright, funky, colorful straps. Yum-my.

Available in the shop of course. Thank you for looking!!!

Booya!

2009-05-20T03:09:00.000-07:00

I don't know why I titled the post that. That's what today's topic made me think of when I say it in my brain. "Booya!" is what I hear when Jason tortures me by making me watch Jim Creamer on Mad Money. Stocks are so not my thing. It's his signature outburst. Jim's that is, not Jason's.

Okay, totally off subject. Focus Tiffany. I just wanted to share with you a little something I've learned called "bokeh". Bokeh, as explained by yours truly, is basically the blurry part of the picture, but in a good way. It's that part of the picture that blurs and sort of takes a nice background backseat while the part you want to stand out is sharp and focused.

You want bokeh. Love the bokeh. Be the bokeh. Then there's good bokeh and bad bokeh. Bad bokeh would be sharp edged lines, while good bokeh is nice, circular blurred highlights of light.

Another term I'd like to share with you is the acronym SOOC. It means Straight Out Of Camera, meaning no editing, sharpening or color adjustments in a photo editing program, like Photoshop. That is what all my pictures are right now, as I whittle my way to a MAC and a copy of Photoshop. Photoshop is what makes a good picture great.

There. Now you all can start your morning right with your new knowledge of bokeh and the acronym SOOC. And just for fun, shout booya! in someones face today. Just kidding. I mean, who says that?

And I'll end with these pictures of our adventure playing near the major highway that runs through our backyard. Don't worry, it's still in construction mode...but the noise barrier is going up! Woo-hoo!!

Have a wonderfully blessed day!!!

Weekend

2009-05-17T18:28:00.000-07:00

D40 and I are getting along just fine. The excitement of seeing a face or a smile or a cry or a gesture and taking a snapshot of it and freezing that moment in time is addictive I tell you. I have to find a good bag to carry her around in. I'm a throw-it-all-in-one-big-bag-almost-always-have-a-bambino-with-me-so-I'm-stowing-a-diaper-sippy-or-snack kind of gal so I need to find something big and thick. Maybe leather. With some large compartments. And orange.

Here are some photos from this weekend. Enjoy!

Tuffet

2009-05-16T11:13:00.000-07:00

I finally did it. I finally put one of my bigger ideas in the shop. Suitably named, the tuffet. When you have a large family that likes to be together, not everybody fits on the couch. Plus, sitting on the sofa all the time gets boring. All that lovely square footage of floor going to waste. In other cultures, the floor is the hang out spot and place to be, even for dining.

I do love the versatility of a bean bag chair, but its a little too juvenile looking for my taste. I like furniture and pillows that can hop a ride to any room of the house and fit right in.

So, here it is. The original tuffet. I have a ton more fabric options on the way...stay tuned!

Day 1

2009-05-15T17:13:00.000-07:00

Fun, fun, fun. I named her Lydia. We're name people in our family. Maybe that's weird, but I know there's some of you out there. We name cars and vacuums things like "Little White-y". Try it, you'll like it.

I went with the D40 instead of the D90 and couldn't be happier. She feels so wonderful in my hands. I dressed her with the wonderfully sharp 50mm 1.4 Nikkor lens and we hung out all day long.

So, I'm trying to learn the whole aperture, shutter, ISO bit. I really don't get it yet at all, but I'm determined to master it. I'm not content to just put this puppy on auto. I need to learn her workings.

Jason really is Ham-Master Flex. This man loves a good picture of himself. (Sorry honey. Don't mean to call you out.)

Seriously honey, that's a little bit Rico Suave.

They weren't kidding when they said that this lens was sharp and that it could handle any sort of lighting. I'm hooked. I read on a photography tip website that the best way to learn a lens is to put it on your camera for a week and shoot, shoot, shoot. And so...that is what I will do.

Gimme S'more

2009-05-15T06:49:00.000-07:00

I really, really, really want to stretch out my mother hen wings and fill them with more of these guys. It's a sickness I tell you. Life is crazy, hectic and chaotic most days and I love it. I long to add to the team...

Jen captured all my babies and ladies so beautifully for Spring 2009. We drug our little brown IKEA couch into a wildflower field and climbed in and on all sorts of cool stuff. The kids loved it.

Thanks Jen!!

2009-05-13T08:52:00.000-07:00

I almost can't contain myself I am so excited. Like that kind of excited where your heart flutters. As I look at the kids get bigger, it makes my heart feel like it's going to burst with a weird combination of sadness and joy. I just watched my gorgeous 21-year-old sister get married and my nephew tugs on my heartstrings every time I see him. I need to preserve all of this life. I barely remember why I walk into a room so relying on memories is useless. You all know how I love photographs. I love them on blogs, I love them in albums, I love them on walls, I love them in magazines. I have stirrings in my heart to travel places with the whole Ruda clan...not vacation places...but places where life really is...and take pictures. Like pictures of mud huts and innocent faces. I don't know how to explain it...but it's there.

So I held Jen hostage and performed water torture on her until she told me what equipment to buy. Then my wonderful husband spent a few days searching every nook and cranny of the Internet for the very best price on everything. I bought a DSLR handbook from Borders. And now...I wait. I'm going to jump the UPS guy when he pulls up and hold him in a bear hug for 3 minutes. No wait, that might be weird. But that's how excited I am. Everything is coming in packages from all different directions. Jason bought the camera from one place, lenses from another, batteries from somewhere else and memory card from yonder. He's so frugal and smart that Jason.

Meet the newest members of our family:

The Nikon D90. I think I will name her Delila. Just kidding. But I might name her when I meet her.
The Tamron 17-50mm 2.8

And the Nikon 50mm 1.4...Jen told me to wait on this one and I couldn't. It drew me in. It made me buy it.

Now I just need to learn how to use it all. Because I know nothing. Seriously. Nothing. I know how to squeeze down the button on our Canon A80 until it focuses and then take the picture.

So join me on this journey that God has me on. I'll tell you what I learn and share with you all that I see. It's so flippin' exciting I just want to do a jig.

My Heart

2009-05-05T05:58:00.000-07:00

A little piece of my heart left this weekend...My sister got married!!! I never could have imagined how beautiful she would look on that day. Janell became a wife to the best husband I ever could have hoped for for my sister. Their love for each other shined all day long and it was such a beautiful, wonderful, tear-filled, laughter-abundant day. I'm overwhelmed with joy to call Justin my brother-in-law...and he totally sealed the deal when he told me "I'll take such good care of her" when I was sharing a dance with him at the reception.

I love you Mr. and Mrs. Horning!!!!

Lettin' It All Hang Out

2009-04-28T12:01:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe I am doing this. But, here it goes. This...is what the house might look like if you ever stop by without letting me know. Some have seen it. This is somewhat mild. Does anyone else with a medley of little hamsters feel like it's just downright impossible to try and keep up with it while they are awake? I love them, I really do...but man they are some messy little people. It's not just the little guys though...it's because we are all home together practically all. day. long. I mean we "live" in our house in every sense of the word.

So in this aerial view from the dining table bench I will give you abrief description of the scene you are looking at. There are a few binders I pulled out this morning full of the documents I need to complete the permit application for a privacy fence. Didn't put those away yet. A Chicky enjoying a graham cracker, some crocs tossed off someones feet, a bin that was on rotation in the basement full of old stuffed animals that I pulled out this morning, the Swiffer Vac waiting to be used or maybe it had just been used, pillows that never stay on the couches as perfectly as I place them and a knitting project. All typical.

Here's another angle from the other side of the room. More stuffed animals, my own flip-flops tossed off my feet before I trotted upstairs to either get someone up from a nap or put them down. The cardboard boxes are Jason's fancy shmancy headlights for his super fast car that UPS dropped off and there are a few stacks of folded laundry piled on the dining room table from my multi-tasking folding/coffee-sipping/website checking moment earlier. Mmmmm...coffee...I should go make some.

So, if you do happen to call and we make plans for you to come over, it wouldn't look like this. It would be neat and tidy...smelling all good. I'd dust and put away and the floors would be freshly mopped. You might say to yourself "wow, Tiffany's so organized", but take heart, it only looks like that because I love you and I want you to feel at ease and relaxed in my home if only just for a few minutes or hours.

So can someone else please make me feel better and tell me your house looks like this too?

Photographer Love

2009-04-21T17:20:00.000-07:00

It's no surprise to anyone how much I love photographers. They are some of the hardest working, creative minded, beauty lovin' people I know. And they love texture and color as much as I do. Without them, I wouldn't be able to support my fiber fetish. Thank you--you're all great!

Here is some photographer love--

Heather Munson

Amy @ Sweet Pea Photography:

Michelle Yeager @ MY Photography:

AK of Anne Katherine Photography:

Jen at Jen Baltgalvis Photography:

2009-04-13T14:25:00.000-07:00

I have a special place in my heart for photographers. Their work is so amazing to me. I just love a good picture. I love texture and color and detail and just simple beauty. This is a pair of socks that my talented friend Elaine knit. I LOVE this picture. Not only are the socks themselves so cool, but to see them dangling from a simple line like that with yellow flowers in bloom behind them...a true piece of art. I follow all sorts of design blogs from sewing and cooking to furniture to knitting and they all have awesome, awesome photos.

So I asked a friend, who happens to be another talented photographer (I love my friends, I feel so blessed) if my crappy picture taking was the operator or the camera. She was straight with me...my pictures were part lame operator, but mostly it was my camera. Oh good, there's hope.

I love taking and looking at before and after pictures, and I want mine to be enjoyable to look at. When my kids turn into adults and are possibly living out some of the furniture rehabbing they've been bred into, I want them to have pictures that old mom took of all her curb rescuing adventures.

So, I'm saving up my cocoon dollars for a good camera. I have been told that this is the one to get:

A Nikon D40. Honestly, it looks really, really scary to me. When Elaine takes our family pictures, she pushes the button and takes a gazillion pictures in 3 seconds. I'm used to pushing a button, hoping it focused and waiting out the 3 minute delay that my digital camera does for some reason. Is there a way to change that?

Here's my little guy:

Looking all lame and old. That's okay though. I still love him. He's provided me 4 years of memories of my little people.

Along with my camera purchase, I'll be ordering this lovely book. I'm sure it will provide more insight into the camera for me than the manual.

2009-04-11T08:22:00.000-07:00

Back in the day, hair was my thing. People came to this old gal to get their tresses chopped, lightened, brightened, straightened, curled and all that other sassy jazz. I spent my evenings grooming men and beautifying woman and I really enjoyed it. 5 years and 3 kiddos later, it got more difficult to do with kids who cling to you like, as a friend has told me, little clip-on monkeys.

I still have to manipulate and create or I'll wither away, so now a-days, you can find me in the kitchen dyeing the locks of sheep and it is fun, fun, fun. I am lovin' on some good quality time over the stove...the smell of wet sheep in the air...a little stainage on my hands. Good stuff.

After my wool drys, I get to knit it into beautiful pieces of art and wait to see what it looks like through the lens of a talented photographer...All with my favorite little people at my side through the whole process. I couldn't do that before when I was doing hair. It just didn't seem right telling clients that my 3-year-old was going to hand me foil paper while I put in their highlights. It's torture taking Abram with me now to just get my own hair cut, since for the majority of the time I'm telling him to please stop whipping the hydraulic chair around and no you may not take that cap off the drain hose.

It's all about incorporating my little people in. I'm discovering that for me it's the secret to a good life. Another favorite outlet for my creative hankerin' is refinishing furniture. Love it, as most of you already know. I get to rip it all apart and put it back together however I'd like. That's what I'm talking about. The kids get to have at it with me and hold little tacks and rip apart stuffing and everybody is smiling. (Most of the time...let's be real here.)

Okay, so enough rambling. Here are some furniture sneak peeks. The new cocoons are up in The Shop.

Look at this ball of love:

These 4 little lassies called out to me at the Salvation Army. I love this style of chair. As soon as Spring decides to stay, I am taking these ladies outside for a strip down:

And I couldn't resist this. I have big plans for this little guy. He's a gift for a pal:

More to come. I have a major reupholster project I'm working on. I'll post pics soon. Now off to do some knitting...

2009-04-05T16:10:00.000-07:00

My hands have been a creatin'. It feels so good to be able to get some of the concepts out of my brain and turn it all into something. I ordered the pattern for the gumdrop pillows but it hasn't come yet. Since patience is not one of my strengths (working on that), I decided to create my own pattern while I wait. The shape of this beauty is more like a giant hockey puck and filled to the brim with beans like a bean bag. It is absolutely perfect for households like mine where brown monkeys jump off couches and Daddy's toss those same little monchichis into the air until their bellies hurt from laughter. Good stuff. Just because kids beat on it and feet get propped up on it, doesn't mean it shouldn't look good. I think I might put these in the shop in a few other pattern and colors. Everybody should have a hassock to toss around. How funny is that that I just said hassock? A shout out to my mom on that verbage. I think that word is funny.

I dropped off the big ottoman and some other new stuff to one of my favorite photographers over the weekend and was blessed once again with amazing pictures. I just so love and appreciate my creative friends. These are Jen's two kiddos looking so cute and adorable.

Here is another earflap hat on a newborn boy. Still working on Jason about #4...He hasn't even budged... Maybe it's because life is pretty crazy with the other 3 all under 5 years old. For some sick reason I think I like the chaos.

More cocoons...

Every baby should have a matching outfit...

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-01T10:44:00.001-07:00

2009-03-31T06:17:00.000-07:00

What would I do if cotton didn't grow and sheep didn't give the fluff off their backs for me? I love fiber. I do. I love fiber and I love color and I love doing stuff with it all.

So, I tried dyeing my own yarn. Ever smell wet sheep? I'd put the smell in the same category as skunk or manure, and I don't mind any of them. Is that sick? I am so not an outdoor-sy girl AT ALL but for some odd reason I take deep breaths of those odors. I can't believe I just shared that...

My first attempt was a chocolate brown color and it turned out awesome. Now I can really start to get into it.

And I didn't dye these, but I bought these and the colors look amazing when knit...Pictures to come soon.

And here is one of my next sewing projects to come. I have been eyeing up these gum drops pillows for awhile and I'm just going to go ahead and order the pattern. And because I do everything in excess, I will probably want to make one for every room of the house. The pattern offers two sizes, an 18" and a 24". We're big floor-laying, rough-housing, someones-always-lounging people in our house and it satisfies my need to see color and pattern so they'll be perfect.

I'm Coming Out

2009-03-29T12:16:00.000-07:00

I don't know what happened to me there. I went through a weird inward, introverted moment where I felt like being creative and sharing it was a bad thing. Any perceived negativity that I got from anyone made me shrink smaller and smaller. But man do I have a few really, really, really amazingly wonderful friends and family who have encouraged the timidity right out of me. When I say that I have felt the love, I mean I have really felt the love. I feel alive when I design and create and God has SO called me to do it. I'm just so flippin' grateful that I've finally caught on to what He's got for me. So my lovely lovelies, I'm coming out with it all. I'm believing that God will make a way for me to create all that I have in my brain, home school my little man next year for kindergarten and take care of Studly, Reese (the 3-year-old) and Chicky (the 1-year-old) all with a giant smile on my face and on my heart. I might even keep the house straightened up too, I haven't decided yet.

He's already answering my heart's desire...I absolutely cannot get on my sewing machine while I'm at home anymore. We have all available rooms packed with kids and the makeshift sewing room at one end of the kitchen doesn't cut it anymore. Even if it did, I can't switch my brain off of the who's whining?, did I switch the laundry?, I should unload the dishwasher, maybe I'll just sweep the floors first mentality enough to sew something. So...I asked my mom if I could take all of my stuff over to her house and set up a sewing room in one of her spare bedrooms. She said yes! Yay! So sometimes with kids, sometimes without, I'll be going over to my mom's to "work" and her place is so nice and tidy and I won't have anything but putting my ideas into fruition on my brain.

I have an Etsy Shop up and running already. I love it. I love everything about creating and shipping it off and thinking about who will use the stuff and how it will impact their lives. Right now, I've been knitting props for photographers to use on newborns. The whole process from getting an idea to finding the yarn to going to the post office to sending the package gets my heart pumping. Do you know how excited it made me to have to fill out a customs form so that I could ship a cocoon to Canada? It's the little things that makes this girl happy. :)

Here is one of the cocoons I've created. How heavenly does Avalyn look?

Please let me know if you have a newborn or know someone that does and are interested in modeling for me. I need babies for my stuff!!! That tactic didn't work in trying to convince Jason for #4.

And for some reason, this hat doesn't make Jason want to have another baby either. I'm still working on that one...

These are some of the other items that I will be putting in the shop over the next couple of weeks...

These doorstops are so practical for homes with kiddos and us clumsy people who trip over hard objects. And they are so chubby and cute. They can be filled with rice or beans.

I think these bags might be my signature. I have made several for friends and I have two myself and it's just a great all-the-time bag. Now I'm a girl that just throws everything into one giant opening. My bag is a constant mess of receipts, diapers, a cell phone, underwear (not my own), Vaseline, yarn, needles, fabric, you name it. Every girl needs a bag that can be a diaper bag, handbag, gym bag on the fly and this one is it. There will be more pattern options to come. I've been eyeing up some gorgeous fabric on Etsy that is calling my name.

And because having a daughter is seriously one of the most amazing gifts in the world, a "mini" will be available for every handbag.

Another few of my ideas are chic, stylish and unique--

Baby blankets

Burp cloths

Changing pads

Diaper bags

and more!!!

All of those items will by available in the shop soon!

And I've been so very blessed with the opportunity to get amazing photos of all my products. Photography is so not my gift but I am in awe of the artwork that great photographers can produce. It's like they are able to pull little bits of hidden beauty out of anything and everything.

And before I sign off (I promise my new posts won't be this lengthy), I have to mention that my baby sister is getting married on May 2nd!!! I really still feel like she's 5 years old but she's 21. It's so weird. I can't wait to see her walk down the aisle. I will be a sobbing mess. BUT, let me just say that I will quickly get control of my emotions when it's reception time. For the first time in the last 6 years I am not pregnant or nursing! One of my best buds said she'd come and get the kids after their part in the wedding so that Jason and I could enjoy to evening adult-style. Woo-hoo!!!

And speaking of the wedding, Reese is one of two flower girls and guess where we are getting the flower girl dresses? Etsy my friends. I LOVE ETSY. Here is the dress but it will be all white from head to toe. We even ordered little white bloomers that the designer is embroidering with their names and the date of the wedding in the apple color of my sister's wedding. Oh, I can't wait! And to top it all off, the ever-so-talented Elaine is photographing the wedding and I cannot wait to order prints of Jason and I all glammed up and my Reesie-girl's little bloomered hiney.

Thank You!

2009-03-17T16:42:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to give everyone a great big ginormous thank you for all of your wonderful compliments and encouragement after I spoke at the MIA meeting. Major breakthrough happened for me that day after dodging public speaking for 27 long years. I feel so much lighter after being able to ditch that heavy bag of timidity luggage and hand it off to my best bud JC to carry from here on out. Good stuff.

So, let me just tell you that if anyone handed me a mike now I'd say..."Hello? Is this thing on?" and give y'all what was on my mind that day. Fo' rizzle. Did I mention how awesome this feels?

Anyhoo, back to the point of this post. I'd like to give a recap on all the jazz I rambled on about that morning for all those smashing ladies who'd like a refresher and for those who weren't able to make it.

1. Living with children and maintaining style is totally possible! Purge, purge, purge. Keep things fresh and uncluttered where and when you can. For the rest, just shut your eyes.

2. Get some good toy storage in main living areas. Don't just use primary colored kiddie storage or random baskets. Wicker cubes and vintage wooden boxes are great. Use stuff you like to look at when toys are picked up.

3. Don't feel like a consistently messy house mean you should give up on style. Rugrats are messy. Toddlers are messy. Pre-schoolers are messy. Teenagers are messy. Looks like we're looking at a good 18 + years of mess. Just flow with it...and do it in style!! :)

4. Mixing styles is really fun! It's a really awesome and simple way to flow with different styles and not feel like you have to commit to just one. Old and new. Country and modern. Contemporary and vintage.

5. Budget - even if money isn't tight. Shop those discount stores. Big Lots is great. Salvation Army is wonderful. Flea markets and yard sales rock. Curb finds are like gold. Budgeting gives you the freedom to change and makes it easy to customize. Don't think your home needs to look like a snapshot of Pottery Barn magazine. No one lives like that. Seriously.

6. Work with what you have. You can take everything with you if you aren't living in your "forever" home or if you are currently renting. Don't live like it's just the interim or you'll end up miserable.

7. Artwork. Get creative! Pictures of your family are awesome. Use them as artwork. The candid, real, heart-stirring pictures that really show who your family is. Get those puppies blown up to poster-size and pop 'em in a frame. You'll love it every time you look at it. Cover an entire wall with them.

8. Snapfish.com. Awesome site for getting those pictures developed. Prices range from $6.99 for a 11 X 14 to $19.99 for a 20 X 30. The prints come right to your door in no time at all in a nice poster tube. Nothing beats a poster-sized print of the face of one of your bambinos.

9. Frames. Creating a picture wall is easy, looks awesome and you can change it out whenever you want. Black and white photos look so classy...and they look especially chic in a cluster of black or white frames that you are going to create. Stay tuned for a photo wall tutorial.

10. Use your wall space. Cork boards are great. Cover them with your favorite fabric and hang them front and center. Even with nothing on them they will become a work of art. Chalkboard paint rocks! It comes in quart-size cans from Lowe's and Home Depot and paints directly on drywall. Love notes, grocery lists and little monkey drawings never looked so stylish. Paint an entire wall in your kitchen or dining room.

11. Refurbish and re-purpose furniture. You can makeover a yard sale, Salvation Army, curbside or hand-me-down chair or bench for just a little smidgen of time and money. More tutorials to come! :)

12. Put a little cool and funky into everything you do! No matter what your decorating style is. Any style will benefit from some cool and funky. Country, traditional, modern, retro, undecided. Put your heart into where you place your furniture, what you add, what you purge, the fabric you cover your pillows with, the pictures you choose for your frames. It's the personal choices that make people say "I love that!"when they walk into your home or office.

So that's all for now. I welcome all your comments and questions, so ask away. You guys are awesome!

Color Me Happy

2009-02-18T17:50:00.000-08:00

I. Love. Color. Love it. I think that turquoise and orange should get married and have babies and name them green and light blue. The colors in this Nantucket Guest House from this month's issue of House Beautiful are so inspiring to me and I thought I'd share. My absolute favorite color combo is turquoise and coral. Yu-mmy.

We're Back On

2009-02-16T06:32:00.000-08:00

I really do enjoy spending time at my sewing machine. During this season in life though, projects that would take me 1 or 2 hours uninterrupted take about 6 hours after all the hiney-wiping, referee-ing, snack-getting, meal-prepping, naptime-tucking and question-answering. Those little brown-skinned monkeys mean everything to me though and somehow I fit it all in some days hopped up on way too much coffee.

I made this handbag as a custom order for the lovely Classic Mama. She said she needed a bag to tote around her bible, keys and a few other mama essentials. She gave me the decision making on fabric selection and had only one minor request for a firm bottom to the bag.

I chose a really soft grey canvas for the outside and a modern print for the lining.

I used sturdy grey webbing for the straps for comfort and strength on the days when the bag is packed full.

Lots 'o room. Mommies need lots of room in their bags...no matter what age the kiddos are.

And...my mom and I braved the cold at 6 a.m. this Saturday to hit up an outside flea market. I scored this gorgeous chair for $15 beaners. I'm going to replace the cushion with a very thick one upholstered in white canvas. I think. Unless Jason takes me to IKEA. Then I'd hit up the remnant bin for something funky instead for sure.

2009-01-12T14:49:00.000-08:00

I finished the baby blanket. It's so soft and snugly and all ready to become a wooby.

Here's my little mama test driving the blanket. Her baby is a member of our family. His name is Josiah and he sleeps on his tummy and is attached to a pacifier. For real.

I was so excited when I got the go-ahead from Jason to knit him a hat. He denied all my previous requests to make him a sweater vest, socks, a scarf or a cardigan. I think it looks splendid on his brown head and he's happy with it. Sweet.

Look At My Bootee

2009-01-05T19:31:00.000-08:00

Look at two of my bootees in fact. This is the perfect project for someone like myself who gets bored with something very easily. It's a very quick knit. Like in one hour-ish sitting unless you have to unravel it 15 times because you keep messing up while trying to watch Rocky II.

I did finish them though and they turned out alright. I need to really work on seaming though. If this was touch-o-vision you would get to see how wonky the toes on one of them looks, but of course I took the most flattering angle shot so that I would look like a professional knitter.

I got to spend an hour this morning under the tutelage of Elaine who is such an awesome knitter,

so hopefully I'll be pumping out some awesome projects soon.

We're Back On

2009-01-02T16:15:00.000-08:00

While Grammie had the kiddos for the first half of the day, I spent some wonderful time alone with my sewing machine. It was great. I got to finish a handbag. Wool, silver hardware and zebra print. Yum. My mother-in-law has two girlfriends who requested a handbag each, so this one and the next one I do is very special to me. My first two sales!

They have silver rings at the PA Fabric Outlet and I picked up 8 of them a few weeks ago:

And I completed one of the coffee sack projects I've been wanting to do. I made three bulletin boards with these gorgeous burlap beauties and it looks as awesome as I pictured in my mind when I hung it up on the wall. The bulletin boards are 2' by almost 3' and look smashing alone as artwork or ready to display many a picture and note with tacks and pushpins.

Here's what coffee beans look like pre-roast. These bad boys flew out onto my kitchen floor as I was whipping sacks around and making cuts:

Here are the other two display boards:

Showstopper--one of these are for you! You're pick...and I'll deliver :)

I put two screw eyes in the top corners of each board, so they can be hung with picture wire or I just put two nails into my wall at the angle and hung it that way.

How cool is this bird: I'd seriously hang these up all over our house.

This and That and Pretty Things

2008-12-29T13:02:00.000-08:00

I'm not really doing much of anything on the sewing machine. Olive Magic and I are going to take a little break. Unless I can devote a solid 3 - 4 hours to sewing on her, it just frustrates me and I don't see that happening anytime soon. Peeps under 5 years old are an all-day-every-day maintenance plan. So, I will knit. I think I always have to be doing something creative with my hands, or I'll start to rearrange furniture or rooms and that drives Jason crazy.

I successfully made Grandma Cook's apple dumplings on Christmas morning to take to friends. In the end, they could have been baked another 10 - 15 minutes, but after many years, I finally got the dough right!:

Packaged with love:

Beautiful new knitting needles from friends for Christmas. They are like heirlooms to me. Just gorgeous:

My current knitting project. A baby blanket for a friend who is having a baby boy. This yarn is so snugly. It feels like angora hair:

A beautiful bouquet of flowers I got from friends for my birthday. They are so Tiffany-esque. They make me smile every time I see them on the table:

Here is the first loaf of bread that I made with my fancy new bread maker that Jason got me for my birthday. Yum!!!

And I am on a purging mission throughout our home over the next few weeks. I'm not a New Year's resolution kind of gal, but I do have a goal of a good de-cluttering by the end of January. I am putting into practice a friend's tactic of "If you haven't hugged it in 6 months, purge it." This includes magazines, which is a doozy for me. I have 3 years of Real Simple in a closet. I'm not really even sure why because I don't ever read them. I look everything up online. Maybe because I bought IKEA magazine holders and having 10 of them stuffed with magazines and all neatly lined up in a row makes me feel good. Weird. So, today I purged about 20 old magazines I had piled into a really pretty magazine holder my mother-in-law had gotten me. Again, I think that because it's such beautiful storage, surely I have to store stuff in it. But in the end, I vacuumed out all the dust and gave some of my yarn a nice new happy home. Just lovely.:

Well, that's it for now. Nothing too spectacular, but blessings, feats and domestication accomplishments all the same.

I Love Sheep

2008-12-24T18:38:00.000-08:00

I'm on this wool kick right now. Maybe because it's winter and wool and winter seem to go together. I bought some wool at the PA Fabric Outlet. Wool is very soft and flow-y in it's original woven form, which is awesome for clothing, but not so much for handbags. (Actually, I really don't know what I'm talking about when it comes to wool. Or weaving. I'm apprenticing under Glamour Hippie in all things wool. She's had her hands on wool since she was a wee-ling taking clippers to a sheep's back.) But what I do know is that I love the feel of it and how it looks. Good stuff.

So, surprise, surprise, I made a handbag with it:

What I don't like it how floppy the bag is:

So...I threw the rest of the wool that was left from the yard I bought into the wash on hot. Out came...felt. It was a very cool process. It's amazing to me that the feel of a fabric can change so much from a hot wash cycle. The felted wool was much stiffer and more suitable for a purse. Seriously, this is the same exact fabric. I'm officially hooked on the felting process. So, for the remaining three months of winter, I think I'll be felting wool.

I made the purse straps out of three strands of braided wool:

I also took my first go at embroidery. The flower is made from the same felted wool too, with some pink glass beads and a chocolate brown stem.

How'd I do B?

Burlap Beauties

2008-12-19T14:00:00.000-08:00

Oh I cannot wait to do some stuff with these.

Speed Stix

2008-12-17T18:36:00.000-08:00

If you've ever wanted to "try" knitting but aren't keen on the idea of a lengthy time-consuming project, Speed Stix might be just the thing for ya. They are ginormous! I think I bought them for about $12 at Michael's, but if you're interested shoot me a comment because I have two 50% off any one item coupons. They definitely are not comparable to using smaller needles in the way that you have to hold them, but they do offer instant gratification in the form of a scarf being completed by the time American Idol is over or a small afghan finished up in less than a week.

Now when I say ginormous, I'm not kidding. Jason thinks they resemble missiles. In my mind I have this really funny SNL skit worked out where I whip these beasts out of my purse while in the doctor's waiting room. The look on people's faces would be priceless when you start knitting your afghan with bright red missiles while waiting for your name to be called. If I didn't think my face would turn the color of the needles, I'd so do it.

Here's an idea of their size next to regular needles:

A sneaky peaky at a Speed Stix creation. Completed in about 6 hours.

Before & After

2008-12-17T11:40:00.000-08:00

Here is a rescued darling from a curbside pick-up. No one wanted it. It was put out for the trash men so I shoved it in the van and took it home. I stripped it down to it's bare bones, replaced all the foam and dressed it up in some happy orange. She's so pretty now and I sit on 'er often. I knit on it, sit in it to talk to my hubby while he's on the computer and my friend Elaine even requested it as a photo prop at our last shoot. It's a happy little chair.

Lovin' On Some Orange

2008-12-16T18:43:00.000-08:00

Everybody should have something orange. It's such a surprising color and it's so happy and wild and funky and vintage and neutral all at the same time. I love it. I made bright orange pillow covers for our sofas (for this month at least) and I rock them right along side our turquoise-y blue-green walls because that's how crazy I am and that's how much I like color.

Here is some more of the awesome orange bird-y fabric from IKEA. I had to make myself a bag. I was going to give it away as a gift, but I'm not sure if other people are that into birds or the color orange.

Beauty and the Beast

2008-12-10T06:06:00.001-08:00

I've always liked the look and feel of natural fibers. Burlap and canvas and two of my favorites. Burlap is made from the jute plant and is about as natural as it gets. It's all gnarly and rough and looks so gorgeous next to something soft. Burlap is used to make sacks for coffee beans and potatoes. What I really wanted was the recycled coffee sacks with the original stamping on it like "Colombian Decaf" but when I went into some of the local roasters around here and asked "What do you guys do with your sacks?" They look at me like I was crazy. So if anyone has an in with a coffee shop, local or not and could score me some sacks, I'd love to chat with you.

Instead, I had to settle for burlap-by-the-yard from my favorite spot.

First I made these fabric bowls to hold all kinds off craft goodies:

Then I wanted to make a handbag and later decided it would make a great knitting project bag. I know the feel of burlap isn't for everyone, but it really is an interesting look when you pair it with a girlie soft cotton like the lining in this bag:

I'm going to give it to a friend who is a wonderful blend of hippie and glamour.

2008-12-07T09:27:00.000-08:00

We recently took a day trip to IKEA and I picked up a remnant of this awesome fabric with birds on it. I made a little bag for Reese to carry her cell phone and baby clothes in. I borrowed the material for the purse straps from Abram's lunch box. I don't think he'll miss them. He's too cool to carry it like a purse. She just loves it. Reese is my little confidence builder.

Breaking Into the Stash

2008-12-07T09:12:00.000-08:00

I've made many a trip to the fabric stores over the past few weeks and Jason hasn't said anything. He keeps a close eye on the accounts via the Internet and hasn't said a single word about the frequent transactions. I can't help myself. I'm an addict. I love it all. Especially the natural organic-y stuff like burlap and wool. Sometimes I buy it with an idea in mind, but a lot of times I buy a yard or two just because it's so beautiful. So after my last rendezvous, I promised myself that I would try and deplete my stash and just hammer out a ton of projects before I bought anymore. I'm not sure if I'll last. I'm already getting the shakes.

Here is a lined wool handbag I made with cream colored felt. I think it would look smashing with a clasp on it, but I don't have any clasps and I need to stay away from the stores.

Isn't She Lovely...

2008-12-04T17:12:00.000-08:00

I picked up my needles again. Well actually I bought new ones after my wonderfully crafty friend inspired me to start knitting again. She had really cool bamboo ones so I snagged a pair at the fabric store with some awesome chunky "Thick & Quick" yarn. Love it. Whenever I am making something, Reese always says "Is that a pretty bag for me?" so I decided to make her an ear warmer for winter. She is always so appreciative of my creations.