be the thread official kick-off!!!!!

Hi! Thanks for visiting. Here's my new and improved blog. Whaddya think???
For those of you who visited my old Sew Personalized spot, this will look slightly familiar. All the old projects are still hidden in the archives here. (click on "sewing" or "clothing" over there under labels) I've just chosen to make it a little more chatty and hopefully a little more friendly. I'm going to be doing weekly book reviews too. I just can't stop myself.

Have you checked out my ArtFire shop yet? There's a "Rapid Cart" feature on the sidebar on the right - I've picked out a few items from my shop that you might be interested in. You can just click on the items right there and it will take you through the checkout process.
***Don't forget - if you order an item online this weekend you will receive 10% off. If you are local, shipping will be refunded to you upon delivery. If you are interested in the deal, but would rather place a custom order, please email me by Sunday night. All orders will be processed in the order they were received, beginning Monday.

Are you interested in hosting a workshop? Check out what my friends made at the very first workshop held in early March... please excuse the poor photo quality. I was in a hurry to get the items to them! I think we can have a lot of fun creating something together, so please contact me soon to reserve a date.

Thanks for your support of me in this crazy endeavor. If you ever want to comment, click on the place below that says "thread thoughts" - then you can share your excitement with me.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend. Mine will be full of birthday happenings and Easter rejoicing. Please stop back next week!!!

baby Abby

Here is my little peanut, sweet pea, darling baby girl. She kept me up through the night, and greeted me at 6:20 in the morning a year ago. I'm not a morning person, but she was the perfect way to start off my day! (You better believe I requested french toast for breakfast!)

We celebrated tonight with cupcakes. She couldn't shove it in fast enough. And that was after a pretty crummy nap and feeling sick. I can't imagine what she'll do with cake and ice cream at her party Saturday! Watch out!

Check out the smocking on that dress. My grandma made it for me to wear when I was a baby. And wait until you see the smocking my mom did on the dress for her party. Yowza. Pretty impressive.
Anyway - happy birthday, beautiful girl!

a routine errand

Today I took a simple trip to the UPS store. To be exact, I was (finally!!!) mailing off my Mountain Baby Blankets. What seemed to be a routine errand changed into a thought-provoking trip into my family and my nation's past.

I was third in line, and I put down my bags on the floor next to me, and then set down my wobbly-kneed daughter to dance to the music and stand next to me. An elderly gentleman saw her and asked if she was learning to walk. Not quite, but she's trying, I responded. And a friendly comment opened up the floodgates...
"My great-grandson is too. I missed that stage with my son, since I was off at the war you know. World War 2."
gulp.
ummm... where does the conversation go from here?
"Where were you stationed - were you in the Pacific? Europe?"
(I'm not much of a war buff, but I figured that was the next logical question. My grandfather was in the Pacific and always loved talking about the ship and his buddies.)
"Yes, I was in the Pacific."
(now WHY oh WHY did I not ask the name of the ship? because I couldn't remember my grandfather's ship that's why. ugh. Should have asked anyway - I got the ship info this afternoon from my mom.)

This kind man proceeded to tell me that the atomic bomb probably saved his life, and numerous others. He looks at life differently now. How being in the Pacific taught him to value his life. And how he is 94 years old with a pacemaker, and the doctor says he's healthy as can be.

Then it was his turn to pay and leave. I wished him well, and he walked out.
The man behind the counter at the UPS store and I could hardly believe he was 94 years old!!!

I don't really know what more to say. Other than this...
Do you value your life?? What would it take to value yours as much as he does his?
Why oh why do we still have wars that tear away fathers (and mothers) from their sons and daughters... and all their special moments...
And just a little reminder to myself - enjoy the moments with my kids - - - my daughter will (hopefully) never again have to learn to walk. It is a precious thing to be a part of every experience.



***Want info on my grandpa's ship? Check it out at USS Barnes - that's where I got this picture from. If I was really cool, I would scan in some of my grandfather's pictures - maybe another time. That means digging through boxes at my parent's house, and I don't have time for that this week.

***If you want another little dose of viewing life through different eyes, please check out Blue Yonder today. Except for the fact that my grandfather wasn't bald, she could have been driving behind him.

bunny books

My mother started me on bunnies early. My 1st birthday was actually on Easter, and I had a bunny cake. I collected rabbit trinkets, stuffed rabbits, rabbit books. I was even lucky enough to have my rabbit stuff on display at the library once as a child. Woo-hoo! I felt special.

Here are my cute bunnies earlier this week.

Can you find Peter (Rabbit and Cottontail)? The bunnies from Goodnight Moon and Guess How Much I Love You?

So for today - just a quick glimpse at some of the literary bunnies I know and love.

Peter Rabbit - such a classic. There is a little contest going on right now on their website. Find the Easter Eggs and get entered to win a set of Beatrix Potter's books.

Guess How Much I Love You - it is such a sweet little parent/ child interchange. I don't honestly love the fact that the parent has to always "one-up" the kid, but I've gotten over that and just think it's a nice story to read with my kids. Plus, the bunnies are cute.

I Am A Bunny - a classic Golden Book - a little bunny in red overalls.

Bunny's Noisy Book - I think this is my son's favorite out of the bunny collection. We love guessing the sounds that bunny hears, and trying to make them ourselves.

Little Bunny - the best part for my son is the little button in the corner that says "boing boing boing boing". (try saying that five times fast)

Who's your favorite bunny? What Easter books are you going to be reading this week?

dyed and hidden

My parents spend the season of Lent blowing eggs (and therefore enjoying a lot of cakes & french toast!) to get ready for Easter. Because they blow all their eggs, it is easy to keep them for decorating from year to year. Right now I think the count is up to about 25 dozen. Perfect for Easter Egg Hunts too - if you don't find them all, no big deal. The worst that could happen is you have to vacuum later!


Check out her cute window display - a cute little bunny and a chicken full of eggs (only some of the blown ones).


We got busy with about four dozen eggs. My son didn't seem to find much use for the cute little wire things that come in the Paas box - hands work much better, right?!?
My only question... how many times do you have to wash your hands before the dye will come off???!! My son's hands are a WICKED green color!


Then we headed outside for the Easter Egg hunt. My dad hid eggs all over their yard, and Conner went everywhere and eventually filled up the basket. Then they hid them all again for my husband and I to find. Neverending fun.

What are you doing to start your Easter celebration?

sugarfest 09

I have a friend with a passion for fondant. We decided to get together with another friend, our six kids, and start a new tradition. We named it Sugarfest.

We started with about 20 candy molds, 10 bags of melting chocolate, one cake, one batch of Rice Krispies, 4 colors of fondant, and I don't even know how many pounds of sugar.

The kids played in the room right off the kitchen and would roam in and out as the spirit moved them. I learned how to make fondant (YAY!! SO easy!!!) and my friend learned about the joy of Wilton melting chocolates.

We adorned Rice Krispies - perfect for the one little boy who has a dairy allergy. And pretty yummy for the rest of us, too! (so yummy they didn't even all make it to the photo shoot!)

We dipped Oreos & marshmallows. We painted the molds and made fancy candies.

And of course, we made our own cake pops. After the picture was taken we dipped the other sides of them for maximum cake coverage and chocolate enjoyment.

Best of all - I have a bunch of goodies ready to go for my daughter's 1st birthday party next weekend.

Luckily the weather behaved as well as the kids. We sent five of them out to play after tasting our goodies. The baby played inside and the three moms rested.
All in all - I would call it a successful day.

the times they are a-changin'

I was sitting there at my sewing machine cranking out some products for my artfire shop yesterday, and I paused for a minute to get the next pieces together and had to kind of laugh.
This was my set-up...

My new fancy Brother with more computerized functions than I ever thought I would be using, my pincushion, and my iPhone. (Luckily there's enough room that I can have it sitting right there cranking out the tunes and not getting in the way of my sewing.)

I remember all the times learning to sew on my mom's Singer. The times I ended up in tears, fighting with my mother that I knew what I was doing, or that I just didn't want to hear what she was saying. (Now of course, I turn to her for advice and tips. Well, sometimes. haha.) She can hardly contain the excitement when I suggest a trip to Joann Fabrics together.
My grandmother never knew so much about who I am as a grown-up. She died right before my senior year in college, so she never even saw me through my student teaching years, having my own classroom. That saddens me a lot, since she was a teacher too. Let alone my transition to Children's Librarian, or my transition to motherhood. She would be floored that I sew as much as I do... I was quite anti-sewing in high school and college. Or maybe she wouldn't be that surprised - she would know it was in the genes.
Let alone my other grandmother - a former home ec teacher. She died when I was in 8th grade, so I feel like I know her even less. But I wonder what she would have to say about how I spend my afternoons.
I'd like to think that they would both want to sit down and sew with me. We'd have fun with my new machine, fun fabrics like minkee, and they'd help me get over my [irrational] fear of zippers and doll clothes. We'd talk quilts and cottons, and maybe they would even try to convince me that handwork isn't that bad. [I know better!] They would tell me about the joy of smocking a dress for me as a baby.
Then, of course, we'd all have a batch of chocolate chip cookies with milk. Because that's how all perfect days end. And we'd make up our project list for the next day!
(sounds like fun, right mom?)