To Catch A Leprechaun

Miss E constructed her first Leprechaun trap. She anxiously awaited St. Patty's Day and was delighted to find that the trap had indeed worked... unfortunately the Leprechaun escaped, BUT he did leave her a nice little treat. In fact, she said the chocolate was the best she had ever tasted. Wow! I've gotta get me some of that Leprechaun loot!!

Finally Finished It

Well, I finally finished Miss E's sweater! I started it last July and was going great until the all day preggers sickness hit me; the poor sweater was put away with only one arm left to knit! I found it last month and showed it to E, who in turn asked me to finish it. So, here ya go... some photos of her new purple sweater and matching beanie. Not only is purple her favorite color, but it also happens to be one of the 'it' colors for fall - who knew?

This girl is in constant motion, camera setting must be adjusted to account for this. Can you tell I was a little slow on the uptake!Had to post this photo - doesn't she look like she belongs to a dock workers union!

The Playhouse

Here are a couple of photos I have of the playhouse construction. The first, my favorite, is of Pest grinding off the old metal fasteners from the slab... with a little help from Miss E. She really liked seeing all the sparks; Pest said she could stay and watch if she stayed behind him. Well, she stayed behind him all right! The second is a photo that I sneaked... Pest and his Uncle Fred and deep in thought - can't you tell by the look on Pest's face! There was a lot of figuring to do considering the existing slab has 6 sides! The last photo is of the framed playhouse. It may not look it from the photo, but you could probably sleep 6 adults in there! It looks great and the guys are doing a great job. I will post more photos soon, I just haven't taken a new photo lately. There is siding on it and the beginning of a roof!

A Dress For Miss E

Here's a front and back view of this dress I sewed for Miss E. It's a pretty easy pattern to sew and a fun and simple summer dress. Sorry the photos are so blurry, but she just couldn't stop dancing!

Fun With Felting

When I was at the local yarn shop I saw the cutest felted handbag on display. So, I tried to duplicate the look, but with different colored yarn (the sample was in a mustard-y yellow). Here is my 'creation'...

This is the bag before being subjected to hot water and agitation:Here is the bag after felting, shaping and drying for a couple of days... oh, and I added a cute flower!:I think it turned out pretty well - of course there will be changes next time! But, now I have a fun little bag to carry come fall... the color and fuzzy fabric don't really scream summer!

Look At This Face

I love this picture of Miss E. We went to the park on Wednesday for a little Easter card photo shoot. She had fun playing, dancing and running around while I shot pictures like a paparazzi! There's a full length photo below of her dress. I made this dress with a red gingham overcoat for our Christmas pictures. But, when I put the whole outfit on her that morning she looked very much like Violet from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory AFTER she chewed Wonka's special gum! The overcoat was very puffy and wasn't at all flattering. When she gets a few inches taller it might look better. The white dress fits her well and looks pretty cute on its own, so it'll be great for spring and summer wear. She was dancing and singing on a picnic bench in this photo!

Here's The Mystery Gift

Well, here's the gift I made for my cousin's bridal shower. I included this apron with some baking pans, a cute cupcake cookbook, some frosting spatulas and some fun cupcake cups and sprinkles. Hopefully she liked the gift! We had to leave before she opened her gifts... the party was going to be a bit long and we had a rain storm and L.A. traffic to beat!

Ketchup Post... Sorry, Catch Up Post

We do eat alot of ket-up around here. Ellie loves the stuff, especially on her nuggets and puppy-dog tails (her new word for french fries, thanks 'Ranny)! I figured I would share some cute Ellie photos from Valentine's Day and the day before.

Ellie enjoyed V-day this year. She had lots of fun 'signing' her cards and loved opening her cards and small gifts. One of her cards even had money in it - 'my monnie'! She's itching to spend her two dollars, but, she doesn't quite get that the money goes away when she spends it. She's also enjoying her Sees candy and ladybug plate set from 'Ranny. We've been doling out the chocolate a little at a time - she really does take her time with her piece of chocolate, really enjoys it. That's my girl... gotta have another chocolate lover! Her Idaho cousins, Garrett, Caleb and Ian (Thanks Sheri) sent a fun little box with little craft projects to do, a couple of books, fun socks (Cars has been the favorite) and a few other little goodies. Bepe and PopPop came up for dinner on V-day - Ellie had a fun visit with them and really liked her Dora The Explorer Valentine!

We've been working on getting Ellie's sleep issues under control. After yet another really bad night on Sunday we were about to lose our minds! With little sleep I headed over to the library (I love that the Temecula library is open every day!) and loaded myself down with sleep therapy books! The best one so far has been this one, by Dr. Ferber. The information that he gives about how sleep works is really interesting and his suggestions so far have been helpful. It was nice to find a book with sound advice - most of the books I've looked at (and I've looked at a lot) have been very new age-ish with unhelpful suggestions. We are on to night four, the last three have gone really well... KNOCK ON WOOD!!!

Today Ellie helped while I worked on a gift I'm making for my cousins bridal shower on Saturday. I gave her my container of scrap fabric and she had fun making 'arrangements'. She was doing a great job so I told her we could sew one together and make a card out of it. She loved that idea and headed to my sewing table. She picked out and arranged everything in the photo below - all I did was sew it in place. I sewed down the orange fabric, then Ellie said 'buttons' and pointed to my jars of buttons. So, I grabbed a glue stick and she glued 'em down. Since the glue was just temporary, I hand sewed the buttons down with the yellow thread that she picked out. It was really fun to see what she created and she's really proud of her ART. When Wes got home she showed him right away. Keep in mind that I may have the orientation wrong, I'm not sure which way Ellie's creative vision faces!

Here are photos of a couple of the things I've been working on. The first is a sweater that I knitted for myself from a pattern in this book. The pattern was great, easy to knit and no errors that I found. The error was my own. I made sure to lengthen the arms (so it would fit my freakishly long arms), but didn't pay attention to the length of the torso..! I tried it on after sewing it up and it hit a bit above my belly button!!! That's a bit too short for my liking, but I might try it with a white button up shirt sticking out from under it. I still have to knit the v-neck contrast... after that I'll make a decision. Under the sweater you can see the fabric I'm using for my bridal shower gift. I'll take a photo and post it next week! The second picture is of a flannel quilt that I'm making for Ellie. She really likes the one that Bepe Brenda made for her when she was born, but she's getting too tall to use it for night-night. I've actually sewn all the pieces together, now I'm working on sewing the front and back together, then I have to tackle the quilting! It's really soft and should be warm enough for her.

Well, that's enough rambling for me! Have a nice weekend, see ya next week!

The Ellie Hat Completed

Hi All!

I finished my first and second knitted hat for Ellie. The hat that I posted about below turned out to be way to small for Miss El's sweet little head. My mistake, but it taught me to measure, measure, measure!! I found a different pattern and knitted up the cap you see Ellie modeling below. It turned out really well, although I'm not too crazy about the way the variegated yarn knitted up into 'clumps' of color. But, oh well... lesson learned. I'll probably knit another so that I get it the way I want it! We'll have a bounty of caps! Ellie had fun modeling her cap for pictures and insisted that I get in on the action too! It's difficult to take a good photo with your arms stretched out and no eye on the viewfinder. Oh well, at least we're smilin'!

This is the 'too small' hat completed. I think it's a pretty cute little cap and I love the bamboo blend yarn that I used on it, so soft! I'll have to find a baby girl to give it to...

Knitting A Hat For Ellie

I've taken up knitting again, only this time I have actually gotten past picking up the needles, trying to figure out how to cast-on, and giving up. I made myself a hat as my first project (I might post a picture, we'll see) and it came out pretty well. Of course, I can see every mistake I made, but isn't that always the case? Anywho, I found a sweet little hat pattern in this book and decided to make it for Ellie. I found the nicest bamboo yarn at JoAnn's a couple of days ago and I'm knitting it up in pink with a white contrast tie. I'll post pictures when I get it finished - hopefully Ellie will be a cooperative model!

Exciting.... Well, For Me Anyway!

Just thought I would share my good luck, rarity that it can be! I actually won something... so exciting! One of the blogs that I like to visit regularly, SewMamaSew, hosts a fabric giveaway every Friday. All you have to do is comment on the topic of that day and you are entered into the drawing for a free yard of fabric, your choice. This is the fabric I chose. If you are into sewing or quilting, check out their store; they have some beautiful fabric and cute patterns for sale.