So things here have not gone nearly as smooth as I had hoped. I had planned on doing a giveaway a week until Christmas, but due to some unforseeable events, that didn't exactly pan out and for that I am sorry.

It seems that things are beginning to settle down around here (thankfully) and I look foward to the new year bringing some much needed new time. I will resume the giveaways here shortly, however it is obviously not for the holidays (although I suppose you could stash it away for
X-MAS 2010!)

Wishing you all a Happy, Safe and Prosperous New Year. Happy Crafting!

shame on me

So first off, a great big sorry to everyone for being super super super late on my giveaways. Lets just say that I cut it pretty darn close on our Halloween celebrations! Here's a pic of everyone nearly dressed and ready to go to the carnival.

Please ignore the fact that I look as though I had totally given up on myself-it was a long day and carrying around a 25 pound baby for like 4 hours isn't easy!

We don't really do trick or treating here, the houses are too spread out and it's pretty cold so we go up to the University and they do trick or treating in the dormitories. They also run a cute little indoor carnival and a haunted house. Best of all, it's free!

I promise to have some giveaways posted on Sunday. There will be more than one, so when you leave a comment, just let me know which ones you'd like to be entered for. I look foward to revealing some homemade goodies to you folks this weekend!

I hope everyone had a terribly fun, super safe, and a tiny bit spooky Halloween!

Winner Announced...

The winner of Gift Giveaway #2 is....Eema-le. Congrats! Thanks to everyone who entered. I was SOOOO excited to see more than like 2 names posted. Who would have guessed!

Eema-le, as soon as I get your info, I will mail it out.

Stay tuned for the next giveaway (it will likely be delayed since posting a giveaway without pictures of what you're actually giving away is really lame).

welcome kelty

A few days back The Yimmy came home with another addition to our family, a georgeous little blue totie cat named Kelty. It was definately not love at first sight for her and Rupert. I have kept her arrival underwraps for a bit because it wasn't looking like a match made in heaven at first. Well things have changed.

She just adores Stinker and lays with Thing 1 everynight while she falls asleep. We are not completely sold on her name, so this weekend we will be having a family vote to change it. She really is a wonderful little kitty and is settling in well.

In other pet related news, I have moved our two bunnies from our garage into our greenhouse. I would love to have them in the house with us, but our house is old and gets unbareably hot at times. I would rather not come home to find them "sleeping". The greenhouse is attached to our dining room by a large glass door.

It stays pretty much between 40-70 degrees at all times. They love it! They have no cage, they get to just run around and look out the windows, dig in the raised beds and generally make a huge mess with the straw. They have also learned how to climb the three steps that lead to the door, so when you are sitting down eating dinner, you will generally find a furry critter or two staring at your food. Gosh they are cute!

I just ordered a new memory card reader, so hopefully I will have pics up and running again soon. Blog posts just seem off with all these words and no lovely pics to go with them.

happy halloweenie stinker

Since this is Stinker's first Halloween, I really was torn as to what he should be. I wanted it to be super cute, and obviously something that I made for him. I made Thing 1 and Thing 2's costumes last year, and am doing so again this year. But Stinker's is different. I get to choose what he will be. This may be the only time that happens as I am sure in future years he will have his own opinions.

So this year he will be a turtle. Partly because who doesn't love a baby dressed as a turtle and partly because since he was born I called him my little turtle due to this wierd neck thing that he did that reminded me so much of a turtle poking out of a shell. See?

Okay, so maybe you don't see it. Apparently, no one else does either. But that's okay. I'm his mom and I guess it's normal to come up with little nicknames for your kids.

And so this is this years costume. Sorry there is no pics of him in it. He was sleeping at first. Then when he woke up I got some of him all dressed, but then my card reader went to shit. So....I guess I'd say not to expect too many pics over the next few days.

I used a McCall's snowsuit pattern. I added a tail and some "toenails" to his mitts and feet. The shell was made by draping remanant fleece over a basket and pinning until I got a shape that I liked. The green fleece was in my stash. The mustard was leftover from a baby blanket I made for a friend a while back and the brown was leftover from a fleece jacket I made for myself. I'm really really really happy with how it all turned out. I made an Large but since he is only 5months old, I was worried he's look like a partially skinned turtle. But alas, he's a chunklet and it's not nearly as big on him as I thought.

P.S. the L is like 12-18 months or something like that. I'll dig up the pattern specs a little later and post them in case anyone is interested in tackling a baby snowsuit. It's really not that hard. I lost like 2/3 of the directions and still got it together. So I'm convinced that a somewhat experienced beginner can work it out.

* The pattern is McCall's M5220. It's sized from Newborn (8-12 pounds)to Large (22-25 pounds) in one envelope. It seems to be a pretty true fit. It works up fairly quick, the longest part is probably lining up the snaps! They can be a real pain in the ass!

How does he fit in his carseat with that you ask? Because I'm lazy and didn't want to add buttons, velcro or snaps, I just used diaper pins to attach it to his little back. I probably wouldn't rec. safety pins, diaper pins are made so babies can't really undo them.

I have just a wee bit of handsewing left to do, then this goes into the "FINISHED" pile. *breath a sigh of relief* One project down, like nine trillion to go....

Handmade Holiday Gift Giveaway #2

Yay! It's finally done (mostly). It's the Wein Library Bag. The only unfinished part is the library card holder, but I promise to have it done and in the package when this gets mailed out.

The main fabric is made from a twin sized dust ruffle. The polka dot is a remanat from my stash and the lining is some vintage goodness from my stash as is the big brown button. It's called the Wien Library Bag in honor of our local library that me and the kids visit at least once a week. It has one large pleat in the center front with a smaller tacked down pleat on each side seam. It's the perfect size for toting library books or whatever else needs a cute bag.

If you'd like a chance to win this neato tote, leave me a comment. I'll pick a random winner Saturday morning. Good luck!

Slacking Already!

Okay, so I know I said a new giveaway will be announced every Sunday, BUT...I'm not quite done with it. Stinker is teething again. He already has his lower incisors and now the ones on the left and the right of those are coming in.

And so this is what my days are filled with at the moment....

Needless to say, my sewing time is pretty irregular! I hope to announce it tomorrow afternoon. Sorry folks. Stinker says sorry too!

Winner Announced

The kiddos have spoken. The winner is The Lindahl News who said:

"Love the bibs! Pefect for our soon-to-be-born first grand-daughter (Yippee!)Answer to the question? I would like to be OCTOPUS WOMAN!!! Why? Because it would give me 6 more arms to carry, sew, hold books, cook, rake, clap, hug than I presently have!!!" (The kids thought that this was super funny!)

I will be mailing out your bibs ASAP as soon as I get your address. Congrats to the soon to be grandbaby too! And seriously, who wouldn't want 6 more arms?

Please be sure to check back tomorrow for the Handmade Holiday Gift Giveaway #2!

Handmade Holiday Gift Giveaway #1

To kick off my weekly giveaway until the start of the holidays, I'm offering up two upcycled denim bibs. Both are made entirely of fabrics that are either stash, or had a previous life in somone's wardrobe. They are both backed in a sweet pink fleece and close with velcro dots. In order for a chance to win, just leave a comment answering my random question. The answers will be run by the kiddos, and the best answer wins. Winner will be chosen on Saturday and notified, so please make sure I can contact you. Thanks! Michelle

Question: If you could have any superpower what would it be?

My superpower would be teleportation. I would never have to wait in traffic again and I could finally say goodbye to snow tires and driving on ice! Oh yeah, and it would take just seconds to see my parents, so I would do it all the time. How great would that be?

Ps. Sorry about the lame pics, our days are becoming quite short here so daylight is minimal!

Handmade Holiday Gift Giveaway!

Drum roll please.....

Announcing THE HANDMADE HOLIDAY GIFT GIVEAWAY!

So, in an effort to be 1. more environmentally responsible, 2. frugal, and 3. help out those folks who have had a hard financial time lately I am starting the first annual Gift Giveaway.

Every Sunday morning, a new gift will be announced. In order for a chance to win, you leave me a comment,(please throw your e-mail addy in there somewhere) and every Saturday morning a winner will be chosen. Winners will be chosen by either a random number generator or (if the kiddos are in the mood) names out of a hat. It's that easy.

All items offered for the giveaway will come with a gift tag, some tissue paper, and a coordinating ribbon, so it's pretty much all set up for gift giving. Items will vary, one week it may be a baby thing, the next, a gift for dad....you get the picture.

If for some reason items are not ready by Sunday, or if I'm so ridiculously swamped with other goingons, I may make it worth the wait, we'll see. BUT, there will most definately be 10, that's right 10, gift giveaways between now and December 19th.

This weeks giveaway will be posted Sunday morning, 10/11 and will close Saturday morning 10/17. Item should be mailed on Saturday if I get your mailing addy early enough, if not they will go out on Monday.

Well, hope you folks find some fabbo gifts for the awesomely amazing people in your life. I look foward to revealing the first gift on Sunday!

YUM!

So over the past few days I have been on a baby food making spree. I think it has become an addiction. So far Stinker has some yummy Sweet Potatoes, Danish Squash, Pumpkin, Green Beans, White Potatoes, and local Alaska carrots to eat. He also tried Avadcadoes for the first time today and he loved it!

There's No Place Like Home

So I am finally home! It feels great. We were only gone for 4 days, but being away from home gets to me more and more lately. I don't like leaving the critters and really, a 10 hour drive with 3 kids is no fun.

We went to Kenai to visit The Yimmy's parents. We all get along really well and they were so happy to see the kids. The Yimmy and I even got a half hour to ourselves while grandma and abuelo watched the kidlets.

We stopped in Anchorage for some appointments. Stinker and I got to view the town on our own, so that made for a nice leisurely afternoon. It was cool out, about 40F, but really sunny and just all around beautiful!

Resolution Park, Anchorage, AK

Stinker at Resolution Park, Anchorage AK

Downtown Anchorage, AK


4th Ave. Theater Built in 1941

Stinker with a Stuffed (not real) Grizzly

An old Alaska Native Cemetary in Cantwell, AK. (I have this thing with old cemetaries, weird, I know.)

Isn't Alaska just beautiful? Now I know why I decided to stay here and start my family!

Anywhoo, not too much crafting going on. Getting readjusted to being home takes a while. I whipped up a hat/scarf/mittens set for Thing 1 to give a classmate for her birthday. I did it all this morning and the party started at 4. Nothing like waiting till the last minute. But really, I've always been that way. I don't see it changing anytime soon. And because I am such a procrastinator, I loaded up everyone minutes before the party started, and completely forgot a pic of the gift. Oh well.

These are the stuffed letters that I'm making for Stinker for Christmas. They are pretty basic, but seem to be good for little grabby hands. And who are we kidding, I have so much free time, that I thought hand embroidering each of the eight letters was a smashing idea. P.S....I'm only on the third one. I basically freehanded the letters to his name on the pages of an old calendar. I traced them onto some scrap fabric I had in my bin and a pair of his Daddy's too tight jeans. I am stuffing them with the insides of a ripped (and ugly) throw pillow. I then just popped them (or should I say just it?) into the washer/dryer and gave it the frayed edges. He has already stolen it more than once and so I think they will have to go out of reach until christmas!

And lastly I will leave you with a parting pic of Stinker in a hat I crocheted for him while I was pregnant. There is something so surreal about seeing him wearing it. I look back to just a few months ago, and I had no idea what he would look like, or if he was even a he. I couldn't be happier with the little chunklet that I had. He amazes me everyday. I crocheted that hat with A. Not really knowing how to crochet, just kind of making it up as I went along and B. the impression that it was much bigger than it is and that he would wear it next winter or so. I know now that there is nothing else in life that I would want to do or be other than being his mom. All the other things are just extra now, and frankly not nearly as important to me as I thought they once were. I love you Stinker Linker Poopy Tinker!

Fabulous Fall Flannel Freebie!

The air is crisp, rain is falling and so what better time to start sewing up some flannel goodies than now? Fabric Queen is newly opened, freshly stocked, and offering a fabulous giveaway. I am completely swooning over the Dick & Jane prints. How cute?

(Photo pulled from FabricQueen.com)

Check out her shop and her blog for more info on the super sweet giveaway.

Snow Day

I woke up this morning and guess what? It's our first real day of snow! It's pretty exciting for now since it is kind of a novelty, but give it a month and it won't be snow exciting anymore. I am so jealous of all those sewing projects that are getting done in preparation for fall, our fall is pretty much over. Old man winter, here we come.

I got me a new present!

Yesterday I went to the Post Office to pick up a box that my momma sent me. I knew she was putting in a webcam so she could see little Stinker grow into bigger Stinker. When I opened it she also sent me her "old" digital camera. I say "old" since it is old to her, but man, it's WAAAYYY nicer than the crappy 10year old one that I was previously using. Isn't she wonderful?

This morning while Stinker was taking a much needed mini nap, I started up on one of his christmas presents. I mean, Santa started up on it. I used scraps of amy butler, some vintage brown gingham and a zoo style kiddie print to make stuffed letters spelling his name. As soon as I figure out my new camera I will go back to posting pics.

Well I will be insanely busy over the next couple of days as I will be out of town, so no more for now. Have a great weekend everyone!

002: Freakin' Awesome Featured Shop

Today's shop:
Sweet Sydney Bean from Etsy! i HEART SweetSydneyBean! Back in the beginning of August I ordered a bottle of teething oil and my goodness...it works wonders. It smells wonderful, Stinker loves it and I still have lots left.

(Photo pulled from Sweetsydneybean.etsy.com)

I want to try out the soap bits. The sample she sent with the teething oil smelled delicious, it was lemon and smelled fresh picked. Go check them out and you'll see what I mean.

More for HannahBugs B-day

I just finished HannahBug's present. I decided to make her doll and her matching nightgowns. The print is kind of like a seersucker or something and was in my stash. The white was the part of a bedskirt that sits under the mattress. I used the rolled hem that was already on there for the cuffs. I coincidentally had green grosgain in my scrap bin to that worked out nicely. I even appliqued a little bird on both nightgowns. I have to say I am really pleased with how this gift turned out. I spent $0 and couldn't be happier with the result!

The whole shebang.

Close up of the applique. It's little birdie legs don't show up too well in the pictures, but they're there I assure you.

Well, I'm off to take a nice hot shower since Stinker is napping. AH....REST!

Peace
-Michelle

HannahBug's B-Day Gift

HannahBug's 5th birthday is just around the corner. For those of you who don't know who HannahBug is; she is my ex-husband's daughter. While we were dating and were married, I became very attached to her. I didn't have any kids of my own and I was around her from the time she was a bit over a year old. Leaving my ex-husband was hard, leaving HannahBug was worse.

On a lighter note, I don't get to see or speak to HannahBug except for maybe once a year when she is up here visiting her Daddy. She stays with him for a few months and last year her and I had a sleepover. This year, her Dad and I talked about her seeing me and we agreed that it was best to let her decide.

Since her birthday is coming up and money is VERY tight (and I am more than frugal), I wanted to make her gift. While her Dad and I were together, I made her lots of stuff, so I thought that it was fitting she got more handmade gifts from me. She was always very girly and has loved playing "Mommy" with her dolls. I made up this doll using this tute as a guideline. It came together super quick.






Beatrix, well that's what I've named her, has been made using 100% upcycled fabrics and even filling. The button eyes and bellybutton were from my stash as was the yarn hair. The body was a pair of The Yimmy's too small cargo shorts. I really like it with the cargo twill. It makes the doll really thick and should stand up to lots of rough dolly play. The stuffing came from a old throw pillow that has been sitting around waiting for a new life. The dolly quilt was salveged pieces from my constantly growing scrap bin. I used an old pilly baby blanket instead of packaged batting. Her little tiny doll mouth was embroidered on. I have to say that I'm pretty tickled with how it has turned out so far.


Obviously, giving a 5year old a naked doll is a major faux pax, so I will need to whip up some dresses or somthing. Since this has gone so quickly (both items made today inbetween dealing with a teething 4month old and making Taco Spaghetti Casserole, it sounds gross, but try it, it's really yummy and a total kid pleaser!) that I will be making like 5 more sets for the little ladies of our family.

Peace
-Michelle

001:Freakin Awesome Featured Shop

If you have little kiddos at home, or friends who may have any you have to check out this etsy shop. Gulf Coast Cottage PDF sells tons of felt patterns, both food and toys, which are all so cute. How would you ever just choose one?
This is my favorite of her food patterns:

(Photo pulled from GulfCoastCottagePDF.etsy.com)

Check out her shop and start sewing up your felt food christmas presents early! Every pattern is super affordable making it a great way to stock up your pretend pantry. I plan on making one or two of her patterns in the near future and will review them here for all of you who also want to try them out.

Freakin' Awesome Giveaway at Daddy Likey

Winona at Daddy Likey is hosting a bitchin purse giveaway. If you have never been over to Daddy Likey, and love fashion, I suggest you do it. She's hilarious and her Racoon posts just crack me up! Read it once and you'll sign up to follow her blog. She's that funny, I swear. SOOOO....if you too would like to possibly win beautiful bags such as these:

(Photos Pulled From DaddyLikey's Blog)

drop by her blog and leave a comment! Good Luck!

Great little girly girl dresses

So Leisel over at Sugar and Spice Creations is having a great giveaway and has kindly posted an easy to follow tutorial for a super cute twirly dress. Seriously, these are pretty damn adorable.

(Photo pulled from Sugar and Spice Creations website.)

These will be on my to do list for next summers sewing projects. Very cute! Drop by her website, check them out, and enter her giveaway if you have a chance. Good Luck!

BOO! It's nearly Halloween

So I found out what the girls want to be for Halloween. Stinker doesn't have much say at this age. Thing 1 will be a witch, Thing 2 a leopard and Stinker a turtle (since he was born I call him my little turtle because of this thing he does where he stretches out his neck and looks like a little turtle.

Of course I am searching my stash of fabric and recon worthy clothes for all the pieces for everyones costume. I know for a fact that I will be going to Value Village tomorrow for their 99cent sale in search of something leopard print. I think I found nearly everything I need for Thing 1's witch costume. I had a pair of old granny pants sitting in the recon pile as well as a strech purple floor lenth skirt. Both are velour and that is the only reason I kept onto them. I'm not really a velour type person, but what preteen doesn't love it?

I started construction for the witch and I am really pleased with it so far. I added a ruffle around the collar area of purple tulle remanant that I picked up at Joann's for 32cents. I added star studs from my new found GeMagic. I am also embroidering a scardy cat in purple on the cloak. The purple velour skirt will be made into a dress, and I am thinking of dying a found lace curtain black and making bell sleeves for the dress. So far so good. I'm really excited about Halloween this year. I think more so than my kiddos are!

Ah the mysterious red rash

So today was yet another trip to the doctor for the Stinker. He got his 4month vaccines and his pediatrician took a look at this rash. She narrowed it down to two things: 1. An allergic reaction to something metal or 2. Some type of an infection. She said not to worry, it's only just on the surface of his skin and seems to be somewhat reacting to the Clindamycin. He is otherwise still doing great.

Our local Value Village had their colored tag 99cent sale today. I scored a nice long sleeve mens knit shirt, a HUGE suede coat, and a brand new "GeMagic". It's like the TV order version of the Bedazzler. Way too Rhinestone Cowboy for me, but completely perfect for my two girls' jeans and such. They spotted it before I even got it out of the car and were poking around to see when we will use it. The thrift store prices originally totaled $35.00, but me, being uber frugal, scoured the racks and only paid $2.97. Oh yeah, and we have no sales tax in Fairbanks, so it was a total score.

The coat is in excellent shape, but really not something that I would wear. It's waaayyyy to big, and really, not many people can pull off a long column of tan, me included. It will however make like 500 baby bootie soles. Okay, maybe not really 500, but pretty darn close.

Well we are off to Girl Scouts. It's Thing 1 and Thing 2's first meeting and they can barely contain their excitement. We'll see how excited they are when volunteering comes up! Thanks for the kind words about Stinker and our rabbit. It feels great to know that people may actually read my blog, and care enough to throw some compassion my way. Thank you!

Whats Red and blotchy and swollen all over?

Last night after Stinker's dinner feeding daddy noticed a red spot on the back of his head. I thought it was just from laying down nursing but when I looked it was also a little puffy. It is right over his "Stork Kiss" birth mark, so that doesn't help it look any less red. I sat on it a while and by bedtime, it was twice as big. Off to the ER.

After ruling out a bug bite, a contusion, and some other various aliments, we settled on; an allergic reaction, staph/strep infections, or mersa. They gave him enough Benadryl to put down a horse but nothing. It didn't help his spot at all, but he did sleep soundly after that. They then gave him Clindamycin. and told me to come back in the morning if it didn't look great.

Fast foward to this morning......
It looks exactly the same. So we will be taking another trip to the ER. I am very worried about Stinker. He's only 4months old, so I get really nervous about him being sick. This is all news to him by the way. He feels great.

On a lighter note, I haven't gotten much sewing or refashioning done lately. With the move and being sick, I've been just too busy or tired to unpack the massive sewing area. I did get a ton done yesterday down there, so I felt a bit relieved. I did manage to dye some older stained shirts in our laundry soak sink. I went with RIT teal, although I really like how everything came out, I'd hardly call it teal. I also dyed a white granny sweater to what should have been teal, but is now sort of a baby blue. It's okay, not my favorite, but I guess I do like it much better than white. Now to take the shears to it and really make it something I would want to wear!

Off to the hospital for now.
Peace
Michelle

***I'm sad to say that our black Mini Lop rabbit, Bun Bun passed away today. The reason is unknown, but she has been losing a bit of weight lately, and just was "off". We all loved her and she will be sorely missed. You were a great little bunny Bun Bun and Fergus and Emmit won't be the same without you.

Movin on Up

So things here have been totally crazy. We move into our new house this weekend and so I am now trying to pack and move by myself and all three kiddos. The Yimmy does some when he gets out of work, but at that point, I just want him to take the kids so I can take a bath. It's getting there. I really like our new house. It was built in the 40's so it is full of charm. There is unfortunately carpet nearly everywhere. Stinkers bedroom/nursery has hardwood floors that are original though. However, it's also like a sickening powder pink gloss paint. So maybe at one time that was all the rage, but that time is long gone. His room will be painted asap. It's a pretty tiny room, but really, he's a tiny person so it's all good.

Thing 1 and thing 2 just love the new house. We have a great big backyard with two greenhouses, a garden, and a huge deck. They spent like an hour doing cartwheels in the grass the other day. It's a real family house, so I can't wait to get moved in.

I haven't done much sewing lately at all. I did a bit of organizing and salvaging of odds and ends off of old items before they hit the trash pile. The girls old cheese bookbags went to the garbage pail without their zippers or strap buckles. There really wasn't anything else on them worth keeping. I guess that's what you get for Toys'R'Us clearance bin vinyl backpacks. What can I say, it was last minute and they were all of $6 for both.

I have been packing up my fabric into bins to get it moved into the new house. YIKES!!! Where the hell did this all come from? Seriously, there is fabric in there that I am sure I have never seen. I don't think I had any kind of head accident that would have resulted in amnesia of my stash, but I suppose it is possible. I feel like I should be on the A&E show "hoarders". Okay, so maybe I'm not that bad. I mean I only hoard fabric and supplies, not like I hoard feral cats or mayo or anything, but still, now that it was all rounded up in one spot, it's ridiculous.

SO... Keep an eye out for a stash busting giveaway. Details are on the way, look for them next week. I promise to make it juicy!

Oh yeah, I ordered a darling little necklace for Grandma Millie (my mom, Stinker's Grandma) from LuluMcCleary . I can't wait to get it in. Let's just say it will be a teary Christmas for Grandma Millie! Here are the two pics I chose for the pendant and I will post pics of the finished product when it arrives.


Stinker at 1 week old





















Stinker at 3 1/2 months old

Isn't he adorable?

Peace-

Michelle

Lack of sleep makes folks delirious

At what age are babies decide that sleeping more than 4 hours at a time is something that they may want to try out? Seriously, it's been almost 4 months, and still Stinker wakes up to eat every few hours at night. Is he actually that hungry, or does he just want to cuddle up next to me? I love having him close by, but sometimes it's nice to have the whole bed to myself.

Since he was born, I have had these ideas of all the things I wanted to get done. The scoreboard: ideas-way to many to count, actually completed-maybe one. I don't know if it is the lingering effects of all the drugs they gave me before my c-section or what, but I feel like I have way too many ideas and not nearly enough time or patience to get them finished.

There's a new cat in town

So it is offical, we just signed a year lease on a sweet little 50's gem. Pictures will be posted shortly, but The Yimmy forgot to snap some shots when going to pay the deposit, so they will be a bit delayed. Think June Clever prancing around her kitchen checking her cupboards for the ingredients for dinner. There, that's it. That's pretty much the whole look of the house.

Thing 1 and Thing 2 are super excited to be moving. They will still be sharing a bedroom, but there will be more space for all of us. Stinker Linker has no clue what is going on, so I have a doubt that it will affect him at all, other than he no longer has to sleep in our closet. I have a feeling that with all this packing going on, there will be a sharp decline in my sewing time.

Rupert and Panther will now have a lush jungle like greenhouse to lounge in. I think the bunnies will be spending a lot of time in there too!

In honor of the new digs, anyone that reads my blog gets a discount code for my etsy shop, good for 50% off of any one item and it expires 09/30/2009.

The code is: Meowskers Wowskers.
Feel free to copy and paste that when visiting my shop. Why meowskers wowskers you ask? Why not?

Peace
Michelle

Yikes!!!

So things here have been hectic to say the least. The girls started school on Monday and of course most of my time has been spent making last minute school things. Remind me why a 3rd grader needs a baby blue zebra satin lunchbag. It is pretty darn swanky though.

It is lined entirely in lavender polyester from a pair of granny pants. Not too bad huh? Quite a stylish way to carry milk and a PBandJ sandwhich to school.

Today me and the Stinker went for a walk around our neighborhood. It was pretty chilly, but at least the clouds parted and the skies dried up for a while. Like always, he fell asleep before we even left the driveway. I ended up talking to myself, not because I'm crazy, but I didn't realize he blew me off for a nap. I did get to pick some fresh tart cranberries. I can't wait to pick some more so I can make chutney. I use this great recipe from the Ball book of canning. It's heavenly to say the least.

I also saw Thing 2's teacher from last year at the post office. Apparently she is a bit "clingy" with her teacher this year. She's in 3rd grade now but still hasn't figured out that people need their personal space. She likes to hug. A lot. Seriously, it's a bit much. It's great that's she's loving, but we are working on the whole "not everyone likes to be touched and hugged". P.S. I am one of those people. I don't know why. Maybe it's because I'm an only child and value my space. Or maybe I just find it weird. I am more than comfortable telling all the kiddos that I love them, but hugs? I just don't get it. Can someone explain to me the allure of hugging? I guess it's just not my thing.

Yay for Recons!

So while washing my awesome finds from my local Salvation Army, I thought I would look up some recon websites. That's when I came across Nikkishell's ingenious "Wardrobe Refashion Pledge". I promptly signed up for the 6 month challenge. This really shouldn't be too much of a stretch as I am fairly broke when it comes to leftover money for clothes shopping. I have resorted to being quite...frugal.

The Yimmy makes fun of me and states that I need to realize we are no longer in the Great Depression, and that I do not infact, need to resort to salvaging zippers and buttons off of old clothes. But that's cool with me. A zipper is a zipper, wether or not it was on an old pair of pants or I just bought it.

The Stone Soup Challenge

Today I just signed up for The Stone Soup Challenge. If you aren't aware of what it is, check out http://www.stonesoupchallenge.blogspot.com/

Sorry I couldn't just have a highlighted word that you click on and it takes you to that website. I haven't delved that far into the workings of blogging just yet.

Anyway....here is an excerpt from their website:
The Stone Soup Challenge is a grassroots movement founded by artist Laura Bray. The goal of the challenge is for artists and crafters to help one another by promising to use a portion of their monthly profits to invest in a fellow artist's shop. To join us in helping artists everywhere and to read more about the challenge, please go to this post.

Really neat huh?

And since I'm on the topic of supporting your fellow crafters, check out www.handmademovement.com. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, they patronize a fellow etsy member...secretly. Awesome idea!

I am so old school

So today was the offical christening of my very first blog. I am still not quite sure how this all works, so please be patient with me. Sad huh? At 24 years old, I have no clue what I'm doing with blogging. I blame it on the fact that I'm in Alaska, and really, most of the time we're still doing things the "frontier" way. However, I'm from New York and really should know better.