My Golden Post

Well... I made it post 50. That is only 1/2 way to the 100th post contest that is now almost expected out in blogland. Well, I think 50 is monumental enough...

DO YA'LL WANT A FREEBIE??

The jars above were sent to me by the lovely Leah in our April Affair Swap a few weeks ago. Could a girl get any luckier?? I mean seriously! Look at all of those vintage matchbooks and vintage buttons. And, what about that "Jar of Whimsies?" EEP! Need a closer look?

Yes... I find it all quite amazing. Dear Leah is the sweetest thing EVER and is more generous than anyone I've ever met. She sent me the most amazing stuff. But...we'll talk about that later. Right now we're talking about what I want to send you now.

Would you like your own little "Jar of Whimsies"? You should...even if you can't do anything with them, they sure look cute sitting on your shelf. I'll send a mini version of what Leah sent me, but it will be packed with an equal amount of goodness.

So, here are the rules. Comment on this post, and you have until MAY DAY (May 1st) to do so. I know there are only, like, 10 of you out there, but that only increases your chances, right! I'll have Cohen draw your name out of the jar before I stuff it!

Craft on (because I sure don't have a lot going on in my craft room lately!).

Inspiration

I have a few projects going that I am not really into so they are sitting in the W.I.P. pile and probably will for awhile. The paper piecing project is getting monotonous. The pieces are small and I am bored making little windows. Only 3 more...sigh... I cut out a quilt that I am making for a friend's baby. I was really excited about it and now sewing strips together seems boring.

I started browsing Craftster, Etsy, and Flickr for ideas of a new project, but I am stumped! Don't get me wrong... I am OVERWHELMED with beautiful things, but I just don't know what to start.

Bummer. I hate being in this mode. Potty training is wearing me out! Maybe tomorrow I'll have a great EUREKA! moment. Till then, do any of you have any ideas?

April Showers

What a surprise it was to see snow today... I don't know why. I've been glued to the nightly news to watch the coverage of the Virginia Tech tragedy. It seems like it would have slipped in my conscience (is that spelled correctly?) somehow. So, out I go in my flip flops and no coat like always. Sheesh. I'll figure out how to dress weather appropriate eventually.

Of course, I planned today to be "run-around" day. Nice. I headed to my cousin Lauren's office to pick up the stuff for her invitations marble magnets. She has such a cute invitation for her wedding. I am making 400 marble magnets using the same paper that the invite is printed on. She is sending them along with the invitations. A very cute idea, I must say. Listening to her talk about wedding plans made me want to re-plan mine... but only for a few minutes.

Then I ran to JoAnn's to pick up Mod Podge and E6000 (the magnets are sooooo strong). I think everyone else in the valley thought they'd run over there, too. Cohen was a trooper waiting in the long fabric cutting line (of course I bought fabric even though it wasn't on my list) and in the check out line. I am SO GLAD I put a diaper on him. I am sure it would have been tragic.

Now we are in our nice warm home. Cohen is watching Monsters, Inc. and I am deciding whether or not to work or craft... or sit on the couch and watch it with him. Days like this I wish I had a fireplace to lay in front of. Oh well... someday.

Speaking of fire, I made these matchbook sets for dear Leah. She loves Halloween and has a themed dining room, so this is the set for that room.


She has a teal kitchen, so I made a red and teal set for that room, too. These little buggers are addicting.
I decided to package them in little drawstring gift bags. I got the tutorial from a link on Craftster. I wish so badly I'd saved the link... I'll have to dig back through the thread I found it on. I would love to package up everything I give away in cute little coordinating bags.















Anyway, I thought they were cute. I need to post what I got from Leah. She sent me the MOST AMAZING package. Have a good snowy day!

**EDIT** The tutorial for the bags is found on the HappyThings blog. Here is the link! Enjoy!

Crafty Potty Training

So, I have been forced to stay pretty close to home the last few days because we are potty training the boy. He's doing really well and I am proud of him. Hopefully I'll get brave enough to take him out some day! ;-)

Being home has led to him watching a lot of television and me doing a lot of couching. Couching can be defined as crafting while sitting on the couch. Yesterday morning during Little Einsteins, I found myself sitting in a nest of scraps, pincushions, thread, and different scissors. It was time to get up!

The last few weeks of crafting have been strictly for a swap. I had SO MUCH to do, that I couldn't be distracted until I was finished. Well... the giant box went in the mail yesterday morning and is on its way to South Hadley, Massachusetts as we speak (type? read?).

First, I'll start with the crafting apron. I love this apron and have already begun planning my own.

I don't know where I collected so many black, white, and pink fabrics. This is not my normal color palette, but I just have a huge stack of this stuff right now. If I can pat myself on the back, didn't it turn out just great?? There are several different sizes of pockets for all sorts of crafting goods.

This pincushion is not my idea. I saw it once on some show on HGTV and then I saw it again on Craftster. My partner is diabetic, so I thought of a way to send sweets without sending sugary goodness. Do they kind of look like truffles? Fabric and puffy paint are always a good team.

I also experimented with ruffles. I've never really added ruffles to anything. I don't think I did it correctly, but I did do it, and you can tell it is a ruffle.

Isn't that Popsicle fabric wonderful?? I love it. I got it from ReproDepot (read: best store on earth!) I really really wish I would have purchased more, but I only bought a yard. Anyway, this apron is a three paneled apron, with pockets that ties in the back. I bought the pink and light green for Easter crafts, but I never got around to them, so I cut it up. Maybe next year I can use the scraps.

(Well... that alignment is weird, but I am having issues fixing it...so, WHATEVER!)

This is an embroidered and quilted table runner. I took these panels on my trip to Disneyland last month and I almost completed the entire thing on the trip. This project has been through Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California. It was a lot of fun to do, and very very hard to package up and give away after all of those hours of crafting. It ended up being bigger than I had hoped, but the finished measurements are 16" wide and about 60" long. I'm always so off on my math when doing this kind of thing. My mother used to tell me, "Measure Twice, Cut once." Maybe I should have listened to her. Haha! Sorry mom!

Cohen just informed us he needs to go poo... off to the toilet to witness the first big boy poop. That sounds bizarre. I'll be back later.

HI FRIENDS

My home has become a workshop over the past few weeks. I have a lot of projects. I know I stated that last time, but it really is true. My friend's mother in law is teaching me how to do paper piecing appliqué and it is fascinating. I love it! I have to buy some basting glue before I can continue my project and I cannot wait for 9:00 am when Piper's (hello Nicole - I know you live over there somewhere) opens its cute little doors!

After my trip to Pipers, I am headed to meet my father in Ogden. He is buying me new tires. I love that I have a dad who still worries about me enough to pay for some new tires. Woohoo! After today, I'll have a lot of finished projects to share. The weather is gloomy and the light is not good, but I'll take photographs of what I've been working on before I have to send most of it off tomorrow. Of course it is for a swap! Haha!

So... the photos are coming! the photos are coming!

Love you all. Thanks for staying diligent for the last BORING month!