What a roller coaster.

Just last week we were excitedly announcing to everyone about my husband's awesome new promotion. 

Yesterday his entire department was told that their location is being closed.  He was offered a new position if we relocate to their office in Illinoise, and there are few prospective positions he can apply for in the only other department at his current location, here in Washington.

Around 40 people were let go, some with only a few weeks until their last day, and no positions offered at other locations.

What a difference a week can make.

We're staying positive and know that we can get through anything.  2 years ago, right after our move to Washington, and days after we had our son Matthew, Allen was let go from his plumbing job in Seattle, and it turned out be a blessing.  He was without a job for 2 weeks, the first 2 weeks of Matthew's life, when I needed him at home the most, and then he found a new and better job.  So we're just going to keep reminding ourselves that all things come and go, and we've got a strong, happy and healthy family, and we can get through any trials that come our way.  (I'm reminding myself again, and again...right at this very moment.)  We'll be okay.

Exhale.

Sick little ones

It seems like we've been sick more this season than usual.  Poor Lilly, this is day three of not being able to keep down any food.  I've put a call into the Dr and they're going to call me back.  Poor thing, she's just such a little sweet heart, all she wants to do is lay in bed and watch Princess movies.  

Over the weekend we moved a little tv into her room for a special Fairy Campout, it wasn't supposed to be a permanent move, but it's working out nicely for now.  And we put a make-shift canopy (aka sheet) over her bed, that she LOVES.  

So one of our next projects is going to have to be to make her a real canopy for over her bed.  I've been looking online to find some good ideas.  I found this REALLY cute one from Pottery Barn Kids (of course! I love everything Pottery Barn!) :)

But I also think she might REALLY like one that covers her whole bed!  Maybe more like this one:

Except she doesn't have a 4-poster bed, so we'd have to figure something out.  But my dad just happens to be an AMAZING craftsman and artist who can make literally anything!!  So I know he'd help me whip something up if I asked.

But for now, the sheet is working wonderfully.  ;)

Free Amy Butler Blossom Bag Pattern

If you guys don't already stalk....I mean visit....Sew, Mama, Sew! you're missing out!  They have the best tutorials, free patterns, interviews and giveaways!

Right now they're featuring one of Amy Butler's adorable bags from her new book Style Stitches: 12 Easy Ways to 26 Wonderful Bags.

 This is her Blossom Bag, with directions for both the handbag and shoulder bag.

Download the free pattern on the Sew, Mama, Sew! website here.

I can't wait to try and make one...add it to the list.  :)

Have a great Friday everybody!!!

Quilted Nook Cover

My sister just got a Nook for Christmas, and after she received all of the little fabric gifts from me, she asked if I could make her a cover for it to match all of the other little goodies.  My answer...of course!!!  Plus, it doesn't hurt that her Birthday is in January, so that makes figuring out what to get her a no-brainer.

So I looked up different tutorials on how to make a Nook Cover.  But I didn't reeeaally love any of the ones I saw.  So, the next time I saw my sister, I traced the outline of the nook onto a piece of paper, with markings wherever the cords attach and the buttons are.  Then I did some math, picked out some fabric and cut out my pieces.  Here's the fabrics I went with:

And here's how it turned out:

Here's the inside:

After I started the embroidery, I immediately wish I hadn't.  I quilted first, and THEN added the embroidery, so it pulled at my fabric, and made some of my quilted lines look bad.  And the font was bigger than I thought, so it takes up a lot more of the cover than I wanted.

AND it turns out my math wasn't perfect, I was 1/4-1/2" short on my inside width, so it ended up a bit tight.  I was nervous it wasn't going to fit at all...but it did...almost perfectly.  I didn't get a picture of the Nook in it, I wish I had.  It looks good, except the 3 open sides leave the chance that the Nook could get damaged.  Sooo...I'm going to be making another one.  Just a sleeve that the whole things can go into.  Kind of feels like a failure if it's not usable...and now I REALLY wish I hadn't embroidered her name on the front, because then at least we could have given it to someone else.

Such is life, you live and you learn.  ;)

Overdue

Whew...what a week!  Big news...my husband got an amazing promotion at work!!!  Acting Manager!  He was shocked!  He's only been with this company for a little over 2 years now, and he was only promoted to Supervisor just last year.  He's so funny, he doesn't understand what it is they see in him, but I think he's absolutely amazing, and I'm not surprised that other people see it too.  I'm so proud of him.

Okay, so now on to some much overdue pictures of some recent projects! :)

I made one of these for each of my sisters.

I followed the tutorial found here (and also under the tutorials tab above), and just changed some of the measurements to fit my jelly roll. :)

I made more of these awesome I-pod cases for my nieces in Montana.

 Notice the awesome buttons!!! :)

 

I used the tutorial from Sew Mama Sew again, I love theirs tutorials!  Here's the link to ALL of them!!  You could just call this whole page my to-do list!

I made a Hanna Montana fabric necklace to match the I-pod case for my niece too.  (I hope Hanna Montana is still IN, I've been holding onto this fabric just for her for a while.)  I used Amy Butler's free pattern and tutorial here.

 

I also made some glasses cases and coffee cozies for my sisters.  (To fill up their bags) :)

Oh, and last, but not least, I made a Seahawks wallet for my nephew.

 It turned out pretty good for my first one.  I looked at different tutorials, and just pieced together the parts I wanted for my own.  Check out Tipnut for links to 24 different FREE wallet patterns!  I can see myself making a lot of these for gifts in the future!

So that's it...for now.  I've got a couple of other things in the works that I'll share soon.  But for now, it's Monday...and back to caring for nutty kids.  :)

Like this one...

 and this one...

 Have a great Monday!!!

Free Calendars for the New Year!

I've been following along with this awesome blog Living Locurto for some time now.  They sell a lot of really cute printables in their shop, but they also have a TON of free printables! (Those are always my favorite!) :)

I already printed out a couple of these really cute Owl Lovers Calendars for Christmas gifts!  

And with so many more cute calendars available I'm going to end up with a calendar in every room!!!  I'll never pay for another calendar AGAIN now that I know I can print out my own super cute ones for FREE!!!

I really like this vintage looking one they're featuring.

I think it will be the next one I print, once I go buy more INK!  I've been printing so much stuff lately that I've already gone through what was a new cartridge of ink!!!  By the way...I didn't have to buy ANY Christmas tags this year...there were SO many cute printable ones to choose from!

A monthly bag Challenge for 2011

We all make resolutions at the start of the new year...and what better resolution than to commit to an awesome BAG CHALLENGE!!!

The blog jemjam is hosting this awesome Amy Butler bag challenge.  She's using the 17 beautiful bag patterns from Amy Butler's book Style Stitches (a couple months have multiple small bags).  Each month (in order of the book) the bag will be announced, and at the end of the month the results will be shared, and an awesome giveaway will be held.

I think this sounds like so much fun.  It looks like it's already begun and started with the Cosmo bag.

 CUTE!!! :)

So if you're interested you should hurry on over to her blog and check it out!  I'm on the fence, myself.  I really want to join, but I don't have the book yet...and I'm a little scared. ;)  But then again...all New Year's Resolutions tend to be a little scary, that's why we have to keep telling ourselves to just DO it.  So I'm going think on this for a bit and decide what to do.  ;)

Buttons Galore

THIS is why I love Freecycle!!!  (And the awesome people that use it!!!) :)

 I posted that I was looking for some buttons to do fun crafts with, and a WONDERFUL woman responded and gave me all of her unwanted beads!!!!  This was so much more than I was even hoping for!  There are beads of every color!  And they all came in these amazing old vintage containers!

My husband was making fun of me because of how excited I was (AM) about all of these amazing buttons!!  

At least the kids were excited with me.  I laid out a blanket for them to play with a couple of the buttons, and they did pretty good...only one ended up lodged in the printer...pretty good, considering.  :)

THANK YOU SO MUCH to the woman who was so kind as to give me all of these awesome buttons!  I love them all!!!  :)  And thanks to Freecycle for offering such an awesome program.  If any of you don't know about Freecycle yet, you should check out if they are in your area.  They're awesome!  :)

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a happy New Year.  We had some family over last night and just talked and played (mostly kids) games.  It was pretty funny, my brother kept saying that who would have thought on New Years Eve we would all be sitting around talking kids, poopy diapers, and princess movies.  :)

It was awesome, and the kids SOMEHOW made it until midnight!  I couldn't believe it, I was practically falling asleep on my feet...but they made it, and at midnight we took them out wrapped in blankets and banged on our pots and pans.  The kids thought it was hilarious, if not short-lived, because of the temperature.  :)

And today, although still cold, was a beautiful day.  It was deceptively sunny out, so while my husband took out his motorcycle for a ride, the kids and I bundled up and headed out to our frosty backyard. 

The kids had a lot of fun.  

When it get's cold we just don't get out enough.  (Probably me being lazy and not wanting to have to do the extra laundry and wash them up after they get dirty).  But I'm going to try to make a point of getting outside more, it was so much fun watching them play with the frozen toys and make faces about the dirty leaves on the slide.  :)

And then I made these curtains for the kitchen (don't mind the dirty dishes...I tried to get the picture without them as best I could.)  :)

I don't know if I really like them.  I like the print...but they're just kind of boring.  I don't know what I was expecting, but there's just something that I don't really care for about them.  Once I started making them I realized that I think I had the wrong kind of fabric....it's home decor fabric.  It just felt too stiff for a breezy-like cafe curtain.  I don't know.  But I may end up taking them down and putting something else up...(eventually) :)  Here's another pic with the blinds down, I'd like to remove the blinds all together...but not if I'm not sure these curtains are going to be up for long.  :)

I'm going to try and get some more sewing in tonight, since it's just me and the kiddos.  Tonight's a UFC fight, so the hubby is off to watch it with friends.  I'm not sure what to work on next, I've got a ton of unfinished (hmmm...side note-I thought to use the abbreviation UFO's because I've read it so much on other blogs, but I'm not 100% sure what the O is for...so I don't want to mislabel my unfinished Projects.  Any help out there?)....okay, back to my thought...finish other stuff or start one of the million projects on my to-do list?  Hmmm...we'll have to see.  I'm half tempted to dig out my decorating books (I have a couple specific ones for window coverings) and take down these, and try something else.  Hmmm...decisions, decisions.

Hope you all had a wonderful New Year!!!  I think 2011 is going to be a FABULOUS year!!!  :)