Birthdays all over the place!

WOW, this past weekend was filled with birthdays! We had a birthday party for my son and then a "family" get together at the in-laws along with my family to celebrate both my son and my hubby's birthdays since they are so close together. It was fun, but what a whirlwind! At the same time, our house has been a little "under construction" since March. We are big DIY-ers here (would seem logical being that I am all about *handmade*, right?) So beginning in March, our carpet came up! Then, slowly since then we have been putting flooring in and painting. It's funny because the rooms we are painting (the only two rooms left really to paint) have taken me the whole FIVE years we've lived here to determine what color I wanted in there! Seems crazy right to take THAT long to decide and find just the color I was looking for?! Oh well, it's done now. I am pretty happy with the end results so far. I decided regardless of how much I liked or maybe not so much liked the family room color, it would not change for another five years! It, for whatever reason, has been the most difficult room to actually paint! But it's all good. For now. :) Whenever my camera is not so much on the fritz maybe I will be able to get some pics that actually show the color better. Meanwhile, I will share a pic of my son's budding artistry. He got a new art easel for his birthday and he is beyond thrilled! I think he sat there for two hours just painting away. Gotta love that!

Happy Monday!

How the years fly by....

Four years ago today I became a mommy. I like to call it my "becoming a mother's day day". Silly I know, but without this blessed day of my son being born, I would not be a mommy! It's been a kinda bittersweet day for me. Of course it's wonderful to celebrate such a wonderful event in our lives, but a little sad to see him getting so big so very fast! I cannot believe the time that has gone by! Being our only child for four whole years has been a blast, however, lately he has been asking about a sibling. Oh boy. Long story short, we've been working on that, unsuccesfully, for over two years now. God willing He wants to give us another one we'd be thrilled! Meanwhile, we will enjoy every single minute of the joy God has given us with our son. *Sigh* I really cannot believe it's been four whole years. He really isn't a baby anymore. But oh the joy of a pre-schooler!

Happy Birthday Monkey!

Oh, Deer!

Not too far from where we live there is this amazing, quaint, quiet little bit of country in the midst of a growing and ever more bustling community. In this place, literally right off a fairly busy freeway, is this amazing gathering of deer! I think it's the last "country" area where we are. So much development is happening in and around where we are, that this type of sight is pretty rare. Deer, zillions of them! Mammas and babies, so, so very sweet! I could only manage to capture a few pictures since they were quite curious and I was just so amazed. Granted, I do live in Texas, so seeing deer is not THAT terribly rare, just not so many at once and in one place! It was awesome. My son LOVED seeing all of the "Reindeer!". Funny monkey boy. But they were pretty fascinating.

One of my favorite things

This has got to be one of my most favorite things ever in my house! It used to belong to my Gramms and I loved it so much growing up that when I got married she gave it to me for my own home. I LOVE it! On one side it says "coffee" (WOW, would that ever be a serious cup of java) and the other "snacks". I don't ever recall anyone using it for coffee being it's the size of a very large serving bowl. Like, it could probably hold enough salad for six or more people. Growing up we used it mostly for parties and get togethers and it would hold things like chips and whatnot. It always graced the table on the Fourth of July along with my moms burnt orange colored fondue pot. She still has it too! Ahh, the memories.......

Happy Thursday!

Oh the bother with it all

My machine, it's certainly not the best, but it works. Really, its the backup machine for when my other, work horse of machine, that actually used to be my mothers, is in for repair/maintinence. However, that one has finally gone into retirement for the people locally aren't able to either figure out or get the parts for whatever is making it not work right now. Oh, how I love that old Singer though. This other one, a Singer as well, newer (not nearly as great as the old work horse). But, for whatever reason it is being fussy! There is a blanket I have been meaning to get finished, so today, after organzing some things in my studio, I had some time to work on it. The right color thread was already in the machine, so I went to work. All seemed fine and none bunchy until I rounded the third corner. Havoc and mayhem is all I can say. I grabbed the fabric from the machine and stuck my tongue out at it. (like that really helps, right?). I have no idea what it could be or why it keeps doing this one thing! Ugh! I have had my eye on a Bernina for a little while now. Just not quite there yet. But, oh, how I love that Bernina and dream about the day it will sit over there atop my little sewing area. Oh well, frustrations. That Bernina is looking better and better.........

It is July, right?

I was working on some projects when I decided to take a short break and found this...my son putting on a pair of gloves and already had on his puppy hat and scarf I made him almost two years ago. Now, it's the month of July and here in Texas, well, it's hot (unfortunately not even the hottest part of the year yet!). I asked him what he was doing and he said "there is a fly in here bothering me and so I am putting on my hat and gloves". I asked why him putting on a hat and such would help and he responded, "cause it was buzzing around my head and this will make it stop." I appologize for the not so in focus pic, I was trying not to laugh too hard....

giraffes how we love them

Okay, trying to keep my mind focused on the present month of July and not December, so here is another applique design I have in progress. This one is very much inspired by a drawing of a giraffe my son did not too long ago. It's his current favorite animal and it looks very much like the drawing itself, with the adding of a mommy/baby theme to it. The only other "tweaking" I did was the legs. My son's giraffe legs were all in one big block like shape. I just added in a little arch and, voila, legs. I really like the mod kinda feel to this. The colors too. When I finish this one I think I will add it to my etsy shop. It will be a limited edition since there is only so much of this fabric left. Once it's gone, it will be gone!

Christmas time?

Is it too early to be thinking about Christmas? Maybe for some, but, as my dear spouse knows, it's about this time every year that I start getting all into the spirit of things. Which, honestly is rediculous since it's like 100 degrees outside! I think this happening stems from a Christmas pageant I was in for years that we started getting ready for in July. When you start practicing music for Christmas in the month of July, you can't really help but start thinking about hot cocoa and all that jazz. And I don't mean I am into decorating (way too early for that), I mean into all the thoughts of what I am going to craft this year. Since I am making all gifts (something I have done since I was like 10) this year (again) and my almost 4 year old is really wanting to "help mamma", I am trying to think up some creative plan of some sort that he can help me with. Last year we made new stocking for our family. He really enjoyed getting to pick out the colors and such. Being that his favorite color is green, pretty much all of them had some type of green theme to them. Hmmmm, what to do this year......

Gifts for Baby

There have been several new arrivals of little ones here lately. So, I have been busy sewing away on baby gifts. These are just some of what I have been working on. I am also planning on putting these up on my etsy shop as well. I am pretty new to Etsy, but have been making and selling (mostly special orders) for the last four years. I finally decided, after much prompting from friends and family to get my stuff out there! So, here it goes...we'll see what happens!

If you would like to check out my shop on Etsy, go to http://littlebirdcreations.etsy.com