Today, I feel like I'm still dreaming. Today, I woke up in a new world for me, where I have a brother and a sister that I've not yet met, but my heart is bursting with love for them already. Their faces are so familiar and full of smiles, and it's going to be OK. I know where my father is and might know him before he's gone, and it's going to be OK. This is so big, so heavy....and it's going to be OK. Their have been many happy tears, and the release of a boulder off my chest... Continue reading

How many hours do we spend doing laundry, taking care of our families clothing looking at boring packaging of our various laundry products? (I hear a very loud groan in the background) I say it's time to pretty things up a bit and make laundry more fun and convenient at the same time by adding this little fabric dryer sheet holder. Can I get a little too excited about these little projects....yes. Do I think I have plenty of company....yes. So I put together a little tut for y'all if you want to give this a try. I am by... Continue reading

What do you do when you want a new colorful purse, but can't find what you like? Why not make one? I thought I would share my new little creation to inspire, and to give me a reason to finish it too, ha ha. I can sometimes loose track of time and not finish all of my little projects....please tell me I'm not alone with this! The little bloggity blog helps me because if you have an actual picture to prove you have been doing something...your husband doesn't think you have spent all your time on more "research" (aka surfing... Continue reading

I have always been fascinated by people with a serious talent for drawing like my brother. I have always wished I could draw as well as him and some others in my family. So, I was excited to see the mixed media pieces done by Christy Tomlinson from Scarlet Lime. She is offering a 3 week e-course starting on Feb 28th that I would love to take, but first I thought I would try a little piece myself to compare the before and after.... I was a little scared to throw this out there since it's just my drawing and... Continue reading

I've have sorely neglected my little bloggity blog during this last month. It was a whirlwind of Holiday fun and travels and my poor little hands were full of handmade projects for family and just couldn't write. I thought I would share a little late some of the fun projects I tried and give some inspiration for this new year. One of the new things I tried was jewelry making. This is a little necklace that I made for my daughter that turned out pretty well. I guess I should take a class to learn how to attach beads to... Continue reading

I love, love, love working with fabrics of any kind and canvas is one of them. I used some plain gray colored canvas and made my own min album recently and thought this idea would make a great gift. I made these pages by sewing the edges right sides together first, then flipping and putting a finish edge around them. On some pages I edged with a ruffle, some plain. The front is decorated with a pretty blue flower I made with some silk ribbon with a big pearl in the middle. I then made a bow with some lace... Continue reading

I have been a bad little blogger lately...MIA as it were. I am going to remedy that by filling up these pages with a lot of inspiration for my favorite holiday season of Christmas. My goal is to give some great links to some talented folks who have some great ideas for gifts, decorations, gift wrapping and such. I'll try to link up at least twice a week to keep you going. One thing that blows my mind are some of the free E-zines that I have seen around lately. The latest one I found has tons of Holiday inspiration... Continue reading

So I found this cute hoodie that was pretty plain and gray and decided to play around with some cool fabric scraps that my lovely daughter had just given me. I love mixing up old and new and thought these little mixes of fabrics would add a little hint of vintage. Yes this was for her...again...I think my son is feeling a little left out. I need to do some guy altering soon. I do love my boy (and hubby) too. Most of the pieces have ripped edges, but some don't. I just layered and moved the pieces around then... Continue reading

What do you do with a pile of thrifted men's clothes and some canvas? Why, you make a cool messenger bag for your daughter who can't find a bag she likes. Now smile and nod with me....sure, that's what I would have done too. I saw a picture in a sewing book of a basic pattern for this bag and started with that. I cut out all the pieces needed from canvas, then cut the pieces of the shirts and pants just where I wanted them to lay on top. Some of the pockets were sewn down to the canvas... Continue reading

In most parts of the country, it's getting a little chilly. Time to think about bundling up a little more each morning with a jacket or a scarf. Oh I do love fall time. I was thinking of fall when I decided to brush up on some crochet skills this summer. I found a great book that had some examples of scarf projects and found a technique I didn't know about called free form crochet. It's so easy, great for those of us that can't keep count of the stitches because you don't keep a straight pattern. With this technique,... Continue reading

I found this cute little glimmered up skull at the dollar store and wanted to do something with him for Hallow-scream. I'm not much into the creepy, scary, bloody stuff but I can get with some glam. Soooo, I found a cute little paper ma-che box at Michael's and painted it a black plum color, added a little flocked paper, some assorted faux moss and some handmade flowers and viola. And since it is a book box I added a little Tim Holz text tape around the edge too. I still feel like it needs something else, but I had... Continue reading

"Dear Valuable Girl, You don't always have to be so tough, you know. There are people all around who want to help and would jump at the chance if they knew how to help and what you really need and want. There are so many people who love you. You don't have to carry this alone. Somehow it happens that we isolate ourselves over time, stuck in a mode of survival, and forgetting that there's anything else to think about beyond how to get through the next day....or even the next few minutes. Life is not meant for that kind... Continue reading

I can't wrap my mind around the fact that the summer is gone...finito....poof. I sent my hubby out for his first day back with the students at school yesterday. Ah, I always liked going back myself when I was young, but it's a little harder when your hubby is a teacher. I sure enjoyed having him home for the summer. Anyway, this is a great time to start thinking of things you might want to do for the holiday season that will quickly be upon us. I don't think I know anyone who doesn't complain of no time at the... Continue reading

Sorry I have been MIA for a while. I am enjoying my husband being home with me, we are taking a break from stress and just enjoying ourselves for a while before school starts and it all starts to become a whirlwind again. I will try to post some inspiring, or just for fun pictures and ideas for you more often. Let's start with some adorable puppies..... See, you can't be mad....nothing cuter than a puppy's butt is there? Ok, maybe another baby butt... Sharon Montrose Photographs. Continue reading

Here is a story of a little T-shirt that was too small and a husband who liked the image on it. This is how I salvaged it for him and ended with a cute hat for myself too.....what? Seems random, but that's my story. Lets go..... You will need: -your t-shirt that you want to salvage -A newer, pre-washed shirt to attach the image to -rotary cutter or scissors -pins -power drink of your choice (optional) My power drink of choice is Diet Pepsi. For the summer it's in a ball jar with a cool straw (acrylic straw from Crate... Continue reading

I've been busy getting ready for a new summer this last few weeks. I've been thinking about all the pictures that I'll be taking, hopefully and what I'll do with them so I've made up some mini books just for summer time. This one is my favorite so far. I had a 12 x 12 sheet of colored chipboard that I cut down to 6 x 6 pieces to make a front and back cover, then filled with cream colored cardstock pages to fill with pictures. The cover has some fabric scraps, a little doily and some fun cardstockpieces. The... Continue reading

There have been a lot of great ideas popping up in blog land lately. One of them I found recently is this idea of a kitchen dish towel mat. I found the idea and good instructions on Toad's Treasure blog. Emily has great instructions, but as usual, I made up my own along the way. In the end, you have a cute towel mat to put beside your sink for those hand wash dishes that I'm sure we all have. I know I always hand wash all of my saucepans, good Pampered Chefitems, and all of my hubby's coffee mugs.... Continue reading

Soooo, I already shared this card with my friends at Simply Scrapping Crafts, so I thought I would share it here too. I love this image of a little girl with big brown eyes. These images are perfect for cards and scrapbook pages. These are just images taken from old children's books. This is another example, with the image added to a small tag then attached to a card. I have been making so many tags with these images...it can be addicting. I'm hoping to keep them around to use for more cards, and maybe even use with gifts....fun. Tags... Continue reading

I've been on a tag making frenzy lately. I just love how you can make a little tag a piece of art, just as fun as making a special gift for your friend or family member. Something as simple as a little silk flower can make such a difference. I started with a little bunch I found at a tag sale for next to nothing, maybe a $1.00. All you need to do is cut off the wire stem as far to the top as you can. Get your muscles ready, you made need them. Or, do what I do,... Continue reading

Have you ever been at the grocery store, kids ball game or some other place and run into an old friend you would like to connect with? Or, been at the kids park with your little one and find a new little friend? It's nice to exchange phone numbers but not always fun to find a pen or paper to write on. I was thinking of this when I came up with these little cards to slip in my purse. In my case, I put the address of my new little ol blog on it to give to some friends... Continue reading

I've been having more fun with old books lately. This time, I found several children's books. This is probably not a new idea, but new for me. You know what they say "nothing new under the sun". This is similar to my other post with butterfly shapes you can see here. This time I hand cut the butterfly shapes out....yeah that does take a while longer than punching them, but I wanted them to be more unique. I'm also working with circles, hearts and other shapes too. I found the frame at Ikea, always cool and inexpensive. I am making... Continue reading

I found this on another blog today....think of all you mini van drivin, PB & J makin, little league parents of young ones today. Sit back and have a laugh..... Continue reading

It seems all you need to do to make something look better is add some ruffles....at least I think so. It's so feminine and fun...just perfect to start out the spring/summer season. I used some bits I had here and there from fabric fat quarters that I had in 5 yummy colors making simple ruffles. I then made a pillow case in a soft yellow color to add the ruffles too. A pillow is an easy small sewing project if you are just learning or want something that can be done quickly. The hardest part is picking out the fabric... Continue reading