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!