Happy Mail!

Yesterday I arrived home to find three packages waiting for me. One was an Amazon order, one was YOE flower fairy swap mail and the third package contained this beautiful bag. Sew Mama Sew hosted a giveaway day at the end of May. I happened to see it listed as I was reading one of my favorite blogs and went to check it out. It's amazing to see the talent and generosity that is out there in the blogosphere. I stayed up way to late perusing blogs and entering some of the giveaways. I was super tired the next day, but guess what. . . it paid of. I won this amazing bag! There were many amazing things in the give away but this bag was one of my favorites and now it's mine, all mine, I tell you! Yipee!

As if the bag wasn't enough, which is totally is, Stephanie sent along rainbow fat quarters too. I can't wait to get them washed and start planning what I'm going to create with them. If you get a chance pop by Stephanie's blog and take a look at the new bag she's giving away. Thank you Stephanie! I love my new bag! By the way Stephanie has an ETSY shop with more bags like mine for sale. Go check it out.

May's YOE theme was flower fairies. I was partnered with Val from Yarnigras! Val and I have been blogger friends for years so it was lots of fun to be paired up. Val always sends amazing packages! She certainly spoiled us once again. Val sent two flower fairy ornaments, flower hair clips, post it's(every teacher loves these,) items for my fairy house that I still need to build, a bookmark, book, and goodies for Nature Girl including paper dolls, candy and a pencil with erasers that Nature Girl uses as a wand.

My favorite ornament is this flower fairy house. Val crocheted the flowers and leaves then attached them to a little painted bird house. It's so unique! Thanks Val, I love my package! You can check out the package I sent to Val and other flower fairy packages here. June's YOE theme is ladybugs.

Making Progress on UFO's

Remember this skirt I made when Nature Girl was in preschool? Well, it finally got a make over this weekend. I hadn't worn the skirt in forever so I ripped it apart about 6 months ago and cut it up to be an apron. Unfortunately it sat in a UFO(unfinished objects) pile waiting to be sewn. I finally finished it on Sunday. Here's what it looks like now.

Exhibit A

It's my new favorite apron. Yes, I know I always say that every time I get a new apron, but can you blame me? There all so pretty! Really, I love this fabric! I've made Marilyn aprons for lots of other people but never made one for myself, until now.

This wasn't my only UFO, I've been uncovering them all weekend. I found a scrap quilt that was half finished in one of my craft buckets. I started it about 5 years ago, so it was definitely time to finish it. I worked on it this weekend and it's almost done. It still needs a binding but will be a picnic quilt when it's finished. I haven't gotten to the fabric store to buy binding but we were dieing to try it out. We took it outside for a family picnic in the backyard. It worked great!

Here's another UFO. A few years back my sister asked me to make an apron for her husband. This is a picture of the apron I made him. I had a little bit of the fabric left and planned to make a matching apron for my sister. Of course, I never got around to it. Over the weekend I finally used the left over material scraps to make that apron for my sister. She's been in Hawaii for a year but will be moving back here in July. I'm excited to see her again and thought this would be a good welcome home present. (The picture is a little dark. Nature Girl was the photographer.)

Exhibit B

I was on a roll with UFO aprons so I decided to finish this apron for Nature Girl's teacher. Nature Girl had requested that I make an apron for her teacher as a Christmas gift but I ran out of time. New plan, we'll make the apron for Teacher appreciation week instead. That didn't happen either as I was super busy at school.

Exhibit C

Now the end of the school year is approaching so I decided to I use left over fabric from the spring fling apron to create this reversible apron. Nature Girl wanted a purple apron for her teacher. When I finished it she said, "That's pretty but I think she'd like red with polka dots better." Ugh!

Exhibit C (reverse side)

While I've been on a roll, I don't think I will get around to making a red polka dot apron anytime soon. If she waits for me to make one, it will be another 6 months before it's finished! Now with it completed, I'm second guessing. I do hope her teacher likes aprons. While Nature Girl and I are apron crazy it seems that the rest of the world does not necessarily share our obsession. Go figure! Really, who doesn't love a pretty new apron? Every new apron I get is my new favorite. See Exhibit A above for proof.

Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day!

This hangs in our front foyer. It's made from an old ironing board top that I painted back when I was a stay at home mommy. The flag is a colonial flag because I knew I'd never be able to sew all fifty stars on. It's one of my favorite decorations and is a good reminder of how fortunate we are to live in the land of the free. To those who protect our country and our freedoms, we say thank you! Happy Memorial Day to you and yours!

May Artwork

Nature Girl created this crayon rubbing landscape in art class today. I just love it! The textures are perfect for each section of the landscape. This one is definitely a keeper. I'm thinking I might even frame it and hang it in my office. Of course the last piece I did that with cost me $70 for custom framing. I think I can buy a regular old frame for this one. Phew!

Nature Girl takes pride in her artwork and even took this picture of the paper mache piggy bank she made in art enrichment at school. She already owns several piggy banks so this one is purely for decoration. The paint has peeled from the plastic cup used to make the snout so we have been planning to re-do it. We just haven't tackled that yet.

Lastly she shared this apple doodle with me. I have to say my first thought was dang that's good! And my second thought was I'm going to copy that and start drawing my apples like that. Is that wrong to steal an art idea from your 7 year old? Ha, ha! I hope not. I don't think she minds as she likes to draw and craft with me and feels very proud when she's created something that is better than mine. She's competitive and a perfectionist.

I just love to watch her create and see her art growing. Not only is it a great way for her to express herself, but it's something she feels really good about. I've framed a few pieces, hung other pieces on the fridge and I've saved a lot of her artwork in a box with her school papers for her to look at later in life. I often wonder what else to do with her artwork. What do you do with your kids artwork?

May Friday Night Sew In

Tonight I worked on some fairies. This is a flower fairy I made for myself out of recycled wool. It's very simplistic and looks more like a bumblebee than a fairy but it makes me smile. She's destined to live on the desk in my office/craftroom. Now if only she was a cleaning fairy, she could clean up the craft mess or file my school papers while I'm asleep or at work. That would be great!

I worked on another fairy that looks nothing like this one but I can't share it as it's for a swap. Plus it's not quite finished yet. I'll post it after I mail it off to my partner.

A Few Firsts

Guess who learned to tie her own shoes???? That's right Nature Girl can tie her own twinkle toes now. She was surprised and happy when she finally accomplished this feat(sorry for the bad pun, I couldn't resist.)

Look at these sweet little feet. I snapped a picture of her first successful shoe tying experience. I was excited for her. Shoe tying seems to be one of the skills kids are losing or are greatly delayed in accomplishing these days. Honestly I have 4th graders who can't tie their shoes. So I'm thrilled that Nature Girl has finally mastered tying her shoes.

The last of our firsts is this rhododendron. We've lived in our house for eight years now. This little rhodie was here when we moved in. It hasn't grown much over the last 8 years, maybe tripling in size, so it's not very big. It hasn't bloomed either. We're very excited that it is blooming for the first time. I think all of the lawn fertilizer my husband has put down over the last three years is paying off.

Happy Mother's Day!

It's time to celebrate the joys of being a mom. Being Nature Girl's mom is the most amazing thing! I love being her mom and look forward to every moment of it. I'm very blessed and lucky to have such a wonderful little child! So today I celebrate my fortune.

I hope today, is a celebration day for you too. May your Mother's Day be filled with sunshine, flowers and love! Happy Mother's Day!