Boring week post #2

I cleaned my craft room a little while ago. I swept the glitter up off the floor, cleared the table of scraps, and emptied every nook and cranny that was crammed with crap that didn't belong in there.
Then last week I walked in there and looked around. I realized I have a lot of stuff, purchased for a specific project, but never started.
See, I have four kids.
And a husband.
That works, like a lot.
Those are my excuses.
But last week, I got the sudden urge to make something.
So I whipped out the glue gun.
(most worthy projects involve scalding glue)
And the assorted Styrofoam balls.
And the twine.
And I got out the old plastic bead necklaces.
And I glued and wrapped and glued and wrapped.
And I spray painted a little.
And then I was done.
I liked it.
So I put it on my kitchen table.
My family thought they were weird.
But I don't care.
Cause my family is weird,
and I still keep them around.
So the balls are staying too.

lessons learned

When you have a seven year old daughter,
You have a person with strong opinions,
you have a person prone to pink,
prone to narcissism,
and prone to "decorating" everything that doesn't move.

So when I came home with a little pink hoody, I was only partly successful. I did get pink, but I neglected to take her strong opinion and decorate it in a narcissistic fashion.

So I did.




With a little spare fabric I added an H here and an h there and a heart for good measure.



The seven year old approves.



I am back in the running for that mother of the year award.

in stitches...

In keeping with our theme of this school year, COURAGE, I decided to do something crazy. Something majorly courageous and intimidating. Something that required this old thing:


(I told you it was old.)

It was scary. I could barley recall how to thread the thing. Just look at how intimidating the presser foot looks:

It looks like it could decapitate you very slowly and painfully right?

But I pressed forward through the fear to make these:



and these:
And you know what the craziest thing is? I am pretty sure you can all actually decipher what they are....
PILLOWS!!
It's pretty cool.

Then the craft princess demanded to join in on the fun.
Hailey thought she had died and went to craft heaven learning a new skill. she went crazy sewing little pillows and messing around with the different stitches. As I sat with her, I realized that this sewing thing, is more than stepping out of my comfort zone to learn something, but it's also teaching my daughter. But most importantly, its giving me an excuse to spend time with her. A chance to let her babble at me to her hearts content... saying things like, "mom? camping would be SOOO much better if you could do it in a hotel." (to which I replied "AMEN". To which she asked me why I said that if we are not in church, to which I said, "I don't know", to which she said, "you're weird." to which I tickled her repeatedly.)



moral of the story? sewing in a straight line is like, cool.

The jury is still out though, on sewing with any sort of difficulty involved.

want something for nothing?

Recently I won something. And it rocked. I walked around telling complete strangers I was a winner. OK, I really didn't, but I wanted to. I had so much fun being a winner, that I wanted to share the fun. So, in honor of my 100th post, I want to give something away. Nothing fancy, just something I could pull together in a day and not spend any money on. Why? Because I'm cheap. No, I'm broke. OK, I am both.

I call it the "He said She said" album. Its got pages of questions for you and your significant other to fill out:
It's also got pages all ready to go for 4x6 pictures of your handsome selves:
AND it has customizable pages. Like, you could totally write your names in there:
Does it get any cooler? I think not.
You want it? Comment.
My darling daughter will dress herself all up and pick a name out of a hat probably like Monday. So good luck and may the forces of nature (i.e. the secret) work for you.

random tidbits of information

I finished the book. (for those of you who care.)
Also, for those of you who care what I thought about it, I thought it was ok.
I love today's overcast sky.
My kids are in a constant state of fighting today. (I am not loving this.)
I wish my kids were starting school today.
I wish I had enough will power to eat a raw foods diet.

My camp crafts are coming together nicely. I am excited to see what the girls think of them.
Making stuff makes me happy.
So does Jason Mraz.
So does uploading pictures and finding some gems from Hailey like this:

I wish I had never rented Daddy Day Camp from redbox. (My kids begged me to, I swear).
I wish I knew a dentist that would work on my family for free, because I am so darned cool.
I think this is a total fun-see-in-the-theater-with-girl-friends movie:
I am exited for so you think you can dance tomorrow.
I am sad it is ending. It's been the only thing I turn the TV on for this summer.
I seriously need Mary Murphy from SoYo to take it down a notch. Lots of notches.

Come on and join in the randomness, leave me a comment with a random thought. Go on, I'm waiting....

(Breathe a huge sigh of relief here)

My friend Bri and I have been making all sorts of craftiness for years now. We have projects and mini albums for days that we have started but never finished. In fact, I think it would be safe to say we have never finished a project we have started for ourselves. But when someone comes along and hires us to do something for them, that gets finished. Go figure.


We have been making these custom wedding sign in albums for years now, and recently we were hired to make this really challenging album. I was really frustrated creatively for weeks, but last minute I think we had a spark of creativity and went running with it.
We finished it yesterday and the wedding is tomorrow. How's that for down to the wire? I like the way it turned out, and I did not think I would. The bride's colors were all different pinks, black, white and her theme is polks dots. I didn't know you were even supposed to have a theme. I guess that's why I let my mom handle my wedding decisions. I'm clueless.
Anyway, Bri and I have decided to go ahead and turn this into a full fledged business. But first thing we have to do is decide on a business name. I was thinking our initials, but seeing as BM wouldn't be all that appropriate, and our last name initials, BS, wouldn't either, that's kind of out the window. Any ideas?

My Saturday in a Nutshell

One of the nice things about Mother's Day for me, is that it always tends to be Mother's Weekend. I got breakfast made for me and a whole day of getting stuff done almost entirely uninterrupted. (thanks to my husband who was here and put off all his work and homework for my "craft time.") I was able to get all the above done in about 3 hours when it would normally take 8. Go me! So I had a little time left over to bowl on the Wii. Man, if only I could bowl that good in real life, I could actually say I had a talent.

This is me Learning a Little Slower Than Jonas

This is how I spent my 29th birthday, or as it is referred to the rest of the world, the first day of spring. A little painting with the kids. I don't know what came over me, but I felt like painting a canvas. Ok, now I know these are not great paintings but this was a first try for me. And they were fun. I think I will keep trying and see what happens. For me there is something about creating with your hands that really feels good to me. I wish I was an artist. I am always trying crafty things and loving the process but not loving the finished project. After painting one of the above canvas', I was complaining aloud about the ugliness of it and Jonas stopped me, looked me square in the eyes and said, "Everything you do doesn't have to be perfect. I wish you could realize that." And then he turned away and imparted his wisdom on his little sister on how to properly make a farting noise with your armpit. I have been thinking a little the past few days on his advice and I am going to do my best to take it in. I don't EVER expect perfection from anyone else in my life, but I seem to ALWAYS expect it from myself, and needless to say I am always disappointing myself. So in the spirit of changing, I am going to hang these paintings in my house where I can look at them every day and be reminded that this year, in my 29th year, I am going to learn to accpept the best I can do as good enough.